Chapter 41

8:30 PM.

Water Through Stone Cafe.

On the stage, Hao Yuan, wearing a red and black checkered vest over a white shirt, was leading a small jazz band with her deep, neutral voice.

This woman, who exuded a strong and masculine presence, had a surprisingly soft and gentle quality when she sang.

Jazz is all about the rhythmic swing on the blues scale, and Hao Yuan's singing style and voice swayed with the rhythm, sometimes powerful and dynamic, other times soft and low. At its lowest, her voice even had a baritone quality, making her vocal range quite distinctive.

Her stage presence was also very mature.

Facing dozens of friends and customers who had come to support her, Hao Yuan showed no signs of stage fright. She sang while interacting with the cat-holding female owner, Lu Shishi, who sat below, looking very content and enjoying herself.

In a corner,

Lin Zaishan was watching Hao Yuan's performance from a distance with a smile.

From a professional perspective, Hao Yuan's jazz singing had many flaws. Her rhythm was not very precise, indicating that her innate musical sense was not particularly outstanding. However, these flaws were overshadowed by her unique, neutral singing style.

Her singing had a very special flavor. With your eyes closed, you couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman.

Some people might find this androgynous singing style repulsive and hard to accept;

But others were fascinated by this voice, finding it very flavorful.

Everyone has different tastes, just like how some prefer radishes and others prefer cabbages.

Lin Zaishan, for example, found Hao Yuan's singing very interesting and unique from a professional standpoint. Such a voice was rare in the music industry.

Lü Chen, sitting opposite Lin Zaishan, found it a bit hard to accept.

At the dinner earlier, Lü Chen had drunk more than half a liter of white wine and was in high spirits. Now, seeing Lin Zaishan, the fat owner of Qilixiang was even happier, and the alcohol was starting to kick in.

Listening to Hao Yuan's gender-bending, swinging voice, Lü Chen's fat head was getting dizzy, and he felt a bit nauseous.

The two had been chatting for over half an hour.

Most of the time, Lü Chen did the talking.

When people drink too much, they tend to talk a lot.

Having not seen each other for so long, Lü Chen wanted to pour out all his thoughts to Lin Zaishan.

After sitting down, his fat mouth hadn't stopped moving, reminiscing about their youth and the past, and lamenting the passage of time and the swift flow of life.

Although Lin Zaishan had the memories of the old man, he hadn't personally experienced the old man's life, so Lü Chen's constant talk about the past left him a bit overwhelmed, as he couldn't remember many things.

When Lü Chen spoke, Lin Zaishan pretended to listen attentively, but in reality, he was listening to Hao Yuan's singing.

"Almost forgot, I saw Hai Long last year."

The "Hai Long" Lü Chen mentioned was the bassist of the band Lin Zaishan had formed back then, Liang Hai Long.

"He has three stalls in the seafood market and is a small boss now. I never thought his son would be in junior high and so tall. I saw his son in the seafood market the other day, and he's half a head taller than Hai Long. Haha, and he's only in the second year of junior high!"

"Haha." Like a supporting actor in a crosstalk show, Lin Zaishan smiled in response to Lü Chen's laughter, not just for Lü Chen but also for the guests at the table next to them.

Lin Zaishan had been paying attention to that table for a while. It was a group of one man and three women who seemed to be deliberately causing trouble, always clapping at the wrong times.

At first, Lin Zaishan thought they didn't understand jazz, so they were interrupting Hao Yuan at the wrong moments.

Later, Lin Zaishan realized they were not just ignorant of music but very knowledgeable about it!

They were deliberately clapping at the wrong times, especially when Hao Yuan's rhythm was off. This showed they were very knowledgeable about music.

Hao Yuan had heard them and had even glanced at Lin Zaishan a few times.

Lin Zaishan's white hair stood out in the dim light, and Hao Yuan thought the one man and three women were troublemakers brought by this professional musician.

"Think about it, when we first met Hai Long, we were just little kids in junior high. I never thought that the next time we met, our next generation would be in junior high. Time really flies."

"Do you have any children with your ex-wife?" Lin Zaishan asked Lü Chen, showing genuine concern. After all, Lü Chen was his former and likely future best friend.

"No, not with my ex-wife. But Yu Bing is pregnant now. She's almost four months along, hehe. We checked, it's a boy." Lü Chen said happily. There was a local tradition that women shouldn't announce their pregnancy until after the third month.

"Congratulations, you're going to have a son." Lin Zaishan congratulated Lü Chen.

"Thanks, it's the result of our efforts." Lü Chen smiled drunkenly and then urged Lin Zaishan, "Seriously, Brother Shan, you're not young anymore. This time, seeing you, I feel you've changed a lot, living more freely. Shouldn't you settle down? Grandpa Lin's biggest wish was to have a great-grandson."

Hearing "Grandpa Lin," Lin Zaishan's throat tightened. The old man had deeply wronged his grandfather, and the deep-seated emotions in his memory made him feel very heartbroken.

Seeing Lin Zaishan choke up, Lü Chen slapped his own mouth, "Sorry, I'm drunk and talking nonsense. Don't be too sad, Brother Shan. During your time in prison, I helped Grandpa Lin with the incense and tomb sweeping every year. He didn't die alone, and I did my best to fulfill his wishes for you."

The emotional switch was triggered again, and Lin Zaishan looked up, trying hard not to let his tears fall.

The old man's memories and emotions resonated with Lin Zaishan's own inner feelings.

Having been in this world for some time, there was something Lin Zaishan had always been afraid to think about:

How did he end up here?

Was his other self already dead?

If he was dead, what about his parents?

Would he have friends like Lü Chen to help them?

Even if he did, his parents would be devastated by the loss of their child.

His father, a former soldier, might be strong enough to bear the blow, but his mother certainly couldn't.

The more Lin Zaishan thought about it, the more he didn't want to think about it.

In his last memory of his previous life, he had just stayed up late, composed a song, and then went to sleep. There were no dramatic events like earthquakes or car accidents, everything was normal.

How did he end up here?

Lin Zaishan didn't dare to think about it, nor did he want to.

He preferred to believe that in the other world, he was still alive, and his soul had split, with the other part coming to this world.

Thinking this way made him feel more at peace.

At least in the other world, his parents didn't have to suffer the pain of losing a child.

Reflecting on the old man's guilt, Lin Zaishan understood his feelings.

If it were him, and he had gone to prison for fighting, indirectly causing the death of his grandfather who had raised him, he wouldn't know how to face life.

"Damn, I really can't talk! ... Slap!" Lü Chen slapped himself hard, finally sobering up a bit, "Brother Shan, don't think about those sad things. It's all in the past, let's look forward."

Taking a deep breath, Lin Zaishan suppressed the sadness in his memory, pretended to yawn, rubbed his eyes, and smiled, "Chenzi, I must thank you for what you did for my grandfather."

"Don't mention it, it's what I should do. Let's talk about something happier since we finally met."

"Alright, let's talk about something happy. I haven't told you yet, but I have a daughter, she's 19 and studying at Dongyi University nearby."

Drunk and a bit slow, Lü Chen counted on his fingers, "You have a 19-year-old daughter? Is she your biological daughter? Or adopted? Or is she your girlfriend, and you call her your daughter?"

Lin Zaishan laughed, "What kind of thinking is that? Who calls their girlfriend 'daughter'? Of course, she's my biological daughter!"

"Really? A 19-year-old biological daughter, I didn't know that before?!"

"I didn't know either. She found me three and a half years ago."

"What's the story?!"

Lü Chen was immediately interested.

Lin Zaishan briefly explained the situation with Bai Ge.

After listening, Lü Chen sighed, rubbing his fat forehead, "Bai Yun? Bai Yun? I don't remember her at all."

"Neither do I."

"Brother Shan, you were really popular in your youth. Someone loved you so much that they secretly had your child. Ha, I'm impressed!"

"Why are you laughing so lewdly?" Lin Zaishan took a sip of American coffee, cleared his throat, and lowered his voice, "Honestly, I suspect there might be more of my seeds out there. I was so wild in my youth, never used protection, and I didn't get any diseases, it's a miracle."

"Ha, you were as tough as iron in your youth. I never saw you get a cold or fever. I suspect your immune system is different from ours. It's so strong that even HIV couldn't affect you."

"Stop it!"

Lin Zaishan made a stop gesture, "That's too disgusting, don't say it. The past is not worth revisiting."

"Why not? I miss the days we played with Beyond. I want to play rock again." Lü Chen said with deep emotion.

The "Beyond" he mentioned was the English name of the band they had formed.

Coincidentally, Lin Zaishan's band had the same name as a famous Chinese band.

Even more coincidentally, one member of Lin Zaishan's Beyond band was no longer alive.

"Are you thinking about playing rock even though you're a big boss now?"

"Don't make fun of me. I'm married, but I haven't really established a career. I took over my grandfather's restaurant, which you know. The early development of Qilixiang was funded by you, and my father managed it. Later, it was run by Lü Yang. As the eldest grandson, the restaurant is now in my hands, but I'm just a nominal owner. I don't really run it; I just implement the strategies set by Yangzi."

Drunk, Lü Chen spoke the truth. There was nothing to hide from Lin Zaishan. He had few people he could truly confide in.

"Brother Shan, I really envy you for still playing music. I wish I could play with you. It would be great if our Beyond band could reunite. But unfortunately, Jiezi is gone, and Jun Kai has disappeared. Our Beyond can never be as complete as it was."

The "Jiezi" Lü Chen mentioned was Hao Jinjie, the band's former keyboardist, who died in a car accident five years ago.

"Jun Kai" was Lu Jun Kai, the band's former lead guitarist, a very unique person.

The last time Lü Chen heard about Lu Jun Kai, he had gotten into trouble and fled to Southeast Asia, and then disappeared.

"If you want to play music, you don't have to form a band. Just come to me when you have free time, and we can play together, cultivate our spirits."

"I don't just want to cultivate my spirit. I want to make a big impact with music!"

"How?"

"Brother Shan, I'm drunk, but not too drunk. I'm serious. I've always had this idea: I want to start an independent label called 'Beyond'—we want to surpass ourselves, produce the best albums, and create the most energetic label! But I never had the motivation to do it. Now, meeting you and hearing your new music has reignited my passion for music. I really want to do this. I can't wait to dedicate myself to music again."