Chapter 46

After a moment of silence, Dan Ráo asked Bian Xuedao, "How are things with that girl surnamed Xu?"

Bian Xuedao knew Dan Ráo would ask.

"She has a boyfriend."

"Ah?" Dan Ráo was clearly a bit surprised: "Isn't she a freshman this year? So quickly?"

"Yes, they probably started dating in high school and got into Dongsen together," Bian Xuedao said.

"Is that so!"

The coffee arrived, and the two chatted casually.

The light music in the café paused for a moment, and when it resumed, it played Wu Bai's "Norwegian Wood."

With "Norwegian Wood" as the topic, when Dan Ráo heard that Bian Xuedao could play the guitar, the conversation opened up. Dan Ráo said she had always wanted to learn the guitar, but her mother said it didn't look good for girls and didn't let her learn. When she got to college, she shared a dorm with eight people, and some of her roommates preferred quiet, so there was no environment to practice. Dan Ráo asked Bian Xuedao about some of the difficulties in playing the guitar, and he told her one by one.

Listening to "Norwegian Wood," Bian Xuedao recalled another classic song by Wu Bai, "Reunion." He felt that "Reunion" had elements that resonated with his current emotional state. Sitting in the café, Bian Xuedao thought he should buy a guitar.

When they left the café, Dan Ráo casually asked Bian Xuedao, "Where are you going?"

Bian Xuedao didn't hide it and said, "Talking about the guitar made me itchy. I want to go to the music street and look for a guitar."

Dan Ráo said, "I want to go and take a look too."

The two hailed a taxi and headed to the music street.

After visiting a few stores and trying out the feel, Bian Xuedao spent 1300 yuan on a solid wood guitar. Dan Ráo was a bit surprised to see him spend over 1000 yuan without hesitation, but she didn't show it. She had a few hundred yuan on her and originally wanted to buy one too, but seeing Bian Xuedao's spending, she gave up the idea.

After parting ways at the school gate, Bian Xuedao hurriedly walked towards the Red Building. Dan Ráo watched his back, actually quite curious to hear how well he played the guitar, but they weren't that close, so she couldn't bring herself to ask.

Back at the Red Building, Bian Xuedao went online to search for "Reunion" but couldn't find it. He then searched for "Suddenly Myself" but couldn't find that either.

He found a piece of paper and hummed and wrote, quickly jotting down the lyrics of both songs. Looking at the lyrics on the paper, Bian Xuedao thought about his relationship with Xu Shangxiu. Suddenly, it felt like a revelation, and the knot that had troubled him for a long time melted away like snow in the sun.

"Dimly, there is you, with you, it is enough..."

"Simple love, what your heart loves, the world becomes bigger..."

Bian Xuedao gradually realized: no matter what their relationship would be in the future, he was indeed the third party between Xu Shangxiu and Tao Qing. In this life, Tao Qing was a variable, and he was a bigger variable than Tao Qing.

In Xu Shangxiu's life, he, who was supposed to appear in 2009, ended up appearing in 2002. Now, he was like a train that arrived early and couldn't enter the station because the schedule was full. If fate had a path, forcing his way into Xu Shangxiu's life might bring her more pain than happiness, just like changing majors.

Seven years was enough to change a woman's view on love and choosing a partner. So why couldn't he, like in his previous life, just treat Xu Shangxiu as a fellow student in college, even though he already knew her, still stand far away, watch her, wait for her, and protect her, rather than rush to get her and even hurt her.

Bian Xuedao picked up the guitar, strummed a few times, and found the feel. Just as he was about to try playing "Reunion," Professor Shen coughed heavily in the room, and Bian Xuedao quickly put down the guitar and closed the door tightly.

Recently, something seemed to be wrong with Professor Shen's family. The old man's mood was particularly bad, and the old lady's smile was rarely seen. It looked like he could only practice the guitar when the old couple went out.

Bian Xuedao and Li Yu's driver's licenses arrived. Li Yu finally said goodbye to his days of driving without a license and no longer had to break out in a sweat when he saw a traffic cop on the road.

In the dorm, Tong Chao asked Li Yu, "I've completed 'Need for Speed.' Can I use the save file to get a driver's license?"

Li Yu snatched his driver's license and said, "Why don't you try? What if it works?"

That night, when Bian Xuedao was in the dorm, Yang Hao's girlfriend called him. Yang Hao took the call to the balcony and didn't return until the lights were turned off.

Seeing Yang Hao come in, Kong Weize sighed, "So in love. This time, whose phone ran out of battery? I say, Old Seven, can't you get your wife to come to Songjiang for a visit? We'd all like to meet her!"

Yang Hao smiled and said, "When the courses in the third and fourth years are less demanding, I'll definitely have her come."

Tong Chao, lying in bed, said, "Have you heard? The class president of Class 2 broke up with that ice queen from the Foreign Languages Department."

Ai Feng asked, "I know her, what's her name, Liu Xiumei?"

Kong Weize said, "Yes, her. Ice queen, my ass. The story of her calling the class president of Class 2 from the water room balcony has spread."

Li Yu, who clearly didn't know about this, became interested, "What happened? Tell me!"

Kong Weize sat up in bed and, in the dark, pinched his nose to imitate Liu Xiumei's voice on the phone: "So bad, so bad, you're a bad guy! Ow... so bad!"

Kong Weize's "ow" gave everyone goosebumps.

Li Yu said, "I never would have guessed. Seeing her face on the street, as stiff as a People's Daily editorial, I always thought she was on the Virgin Mary route. Who knew she had this skill? Were they doing phone sex?"

"How could they break up if they were so high?"

Kong Weize said, "A 0.5 pen core in a 1.0 pen, how comfortable is that? If it's not comfortable, how can it last?"

Ai Feng said, "Forget the 1.0, how do you know she's 0.5?"

Kong Weize said, "I saw it in the school shower room!"

Li Yu, whose mind jumped, said, "Why can't the penis be exercised like other muscles in the body?"

Chen Jian, who had been silent, joined the conversation.

Chen Jian said, "What are you thinking? Have you ever seen a cannon get longer while firing?"

Tong Chao said, "We should have applied for the film directing program."

Li Yu asked, "Why bring up the film directing program?"

Yang Hao said, "Old Eight means that as a director, there are more women who come to you."

Chen Jian said, "Most directors marry actresses, and being an actress's husband isn't easy."

Tong Chao said, "Directors not only have women, but if they do well, they have money too!"

Yang Hao said, "Compared to officials and those controlling state-owned enterprises, directors are practically penniless."

Ai Feng said, "That's true. Spending your own money doesn't count for much, but spending others' money is what makes a successful person. Many state-owned enterprises are losing money, not because they aren't profitable, but because of the billionaires in China. Do you think they all got rich through hard work?"

Li Yu asked, "Do you think those billionaires, with their vast wealth, need to bring a lot of bodyguards when they go out to eat?"

Bian Xuedao couldn't help but join in, "They usually just order takeout."

"Old Bian, you're not asleep?" Everyone thought Bian Xuedao had fallen asleep because he wasn't participating in the conversation.

Bian Xuedao said, "How can I sleep with you guys chatting like this?"

Li Yu poked his head out from the top bunk and asked Bian Xuedao, "Old Eight is obsessed with that freshman hostess from the party. Did you know?"

Bian Xuedao said, "Yes, what about it?"

Yang Hao said, "He hasn't succeeded. Old Eight is now not eating or drinking."

Kong Weize said, "Stop thinking about it. Look at it this way: behind every woman you daydream about, there's a man who's had her so much he's sick of it. Think about that man, how do you feel now?"

Tong Chao said, "I want to be like Big Brother Three and spray you with a face full of mosquito repellent."

Kong Weize said, "That's not hygienic!"

A "ding" sound, and Bian Xuedao received a text message.

"Are you asleep?" It was from Dong Xue.

Bian Xuedao replied, "You're not asleep either?"

"Uh-huh."

Bian Xuedao asked, "Is school busy?"

"Uh-huh."

"Take care of yourself."

"Have you heard that you're interested in a freshman?"

"..."

"Have you succeeded?"

"She has a boyfriend."

"Have you missed me recently?"

"..."

"I miss you, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Bian Xuedao remembered that he had planned to go to Tianjin to see Dong Xue during the National Day holiday but canceled the trip because of Xu Shangxiu. For this girl who had been entangled with him since his rebirth, Bian Xuedao couldn't quite define his feelings—closer than a classmate but not as close as a lover.

The next morning, after the class ended, Bian Xuedao called out to Li Yu and asked him to go to the Aile Studio with him. In the car, Li Yu asked what they were going to the studio for, and Bian Xuedao said to record another song.

Li Yu asked, "Did you write it?"

"Uh-huh."

"Is it for Xu Shangxiu?"

"Uh-huh."

"Is it good?"

"Very good."

Unlike the previous production of "Dedicated to Li Xun," this time Bian Xuedao signed a formal copyright assignment contract and a production contract with Aile Studio.