Chapter 21
yun1yun yun1yun
1 year ago
Zhao Wenhua put his arms around Ji Sheng, lowered his head and sniffed his neck.
The scent of the body wash was mixed with alcohol, mingling into a different kind of appealing aura.
Zhao Wenhua grinned, intoxicated and lewd.
He had been eyeing Ji Sheng for a long time. In Qingchu, apart from the austere young lead singer, what attracted him most was the unruly drummer.
Unfortunately, the beautiful lead singer was underage and looked like a rich kid, so he'd probably get into trouble if he did something.
Zhao Wenhua could only regretfully let it go and put the drug into Ji Sheng's glass.
The big teenage boy was as unsuspecting as he expected. He passed out after drinking it, leaving them to do whatever they wanted.
Zhao Wenhua dragged Ji Sheng closer, and during the movement, the hem of Ji Sheng's t-shirt rolled up, revealing his thin waist.
The boy's waist was really narrow. Because of the lack of sunlight, his skin there was much paler than in other places. The contrast between cold white and a black t-shirt was intense, giving one a great sense of visual impact.
Zhao Wenhua pinched it in fascination, thinking that it must've felt nice to hold this thin waist.
His mind was full of filth, when he suddenly heard a few exclamations.
He raised his eyes and saw the beautiful kid he had just been mentally masturbating over rushing in like a madman and snatching Ji Sheng out of his hands. Then he raised his foot, kicked Zhao Wenhua hard in the stomach and knocked him straight over the table.
"Fuck!!" Zhao Wenhua yelled in shock and anger. His back slammed on the edge of the coffee table and knocked it over. Bottles of alcohol fell to the ground with a clatter. Zhao Wenhua lay on the table, grunting in pain. After regaining his senses, he was furious, "Do you dare fucking touch me?! Do you know who I am?!"
Xie Xuanming ignored him. He looked down to check Ji Sheng's condition. After discovering that he was unconscious, he raised his eyes and pierced Zhao Wenhua with a bloodshot glare.
Zhao Wenhua was shaken by the ferocity and madness in his eyes, feeling a bit of fear in his heart inexplicably… Finally reacting, he spat out "fuck", got up in anger and cursed.
"What are you idiots waiting for? Beat the shit out of him for Lao Tzu!"
The rest of the people in the room couldn't be called Zhao Wenhua's subordinates but they had to give Zhao Wenhua a bit of face anyway. At this moment, Zhao Wenhua was kicked and thrown on the table. If they sat idly by, they were bound to be held accountable by Zhao Wenhua.
They made a quick decision and rushed forward, shouting and with his fists clenched.
Xie Xuanming put Ji Sheng on the sofa behind him, turned around, picked up a beer bottle and slammed it at the closest attacker neatly.
The man was hit so hard that his jawbone deformed, and he fell screaming.
Xie Xuanming raised the bottle and swung again, hitting the man's head fiercely. The beer bottle shattered, and the people around hurriedly backed away to avoid glass fragments.
The second guy rushed up and punched Xie Xuanming's jaw. Xie Xuanming's head snapped under the blow. When he raised his head again, the corner of his mouth was bloody and a bruise appeared at the corner of his eye.
His eyes filled with anger. He slammed his elbow into the man's throat. When the man screamed and fell down clutching his neck, Xie Xuanming broke another beer bottle on his head.
Glass scattered everywhere.
The attackers were so frightened by the madness in his eyes that they hesitated to move. Even before they came into contact, they had already lost most of their nerve.
Street fights are all about "fierceness".
At this moment, a desperate lunatic was standing with his back to the wall. The rest of the men were so scared that they lost all will to fight and were smacked down one by one like sandbags by Xie Xuanming, struggling to get up only to receive a few more blows.
Xie Xuanming was here in a blaze of glory, and Zhao Wenhua was shocked and angry at the incompetence of his backup.
"Fuck, where does this kid come from?" He cursed, wanted to yell "punk" and then take his own weapon, but the crazy light on the boy's face horrified him into immobility.
No wonder Zhao Wenhua's legs felt weak. At this moment, Xie Xuanming's eyes were blazing red. He stood, holding two broken bottles in his hands, blood leaking from them as he swung them around. He looked crazy and ruthless with his white face stained with blood, as terrifying as a legendary serial killer.
Xie Xuanming's eyes were wolf-like as he slowly swept his gaze past the people who surrounded him. A little brother staring at him trembled. He had no doubt that this mad dog-like kid would plunge the beer bottle into his heart.
In fact, it was naturally impossible for Xie Xuanming to have beaten seven or eight adult men by himself. But his desperate madness was indeed terrifying in terms of momentum.
So when Xie Xuanming walked out carrying Ji Sheng, no one in the room dared to stop him.
"You fucking son of a bitch!" Zhao Wenhua yelled angrily at his back, "This is not over, you wait. You, that kid in your arms, your whole ragged band, I won't let any of you…"
Before he finished speaking, Xie Xuanming put down Ji Sheng, crossed the crowd that tried to block him, grabbed Zhao Wenhua's neck and slammed him to the ground.
He had a lot of strength in his hands, enough to strangle someone.
Deprived of breath, Zhao Wenhua let out a croak of pain and fear, and people around him rushed over in shock, trying to stop Xie Xuanming's brutality, kicking and punching him.
But no matter whether they punched, kicked or tried to drag him away, Xie Xuanming remained motionless.
Zhao Wenhua was suffocating. His eyes rolled up and he squealed desperately, like a pig to be slaughtered.
In a daze, he heard the young man above him speak grimly.
"There is a hemp rope in my house… do you know what this means? This means that I don't want to live and it also means that I don't want to die… if you really dare to do anything, I'll strangle you before I go up the beam… If you're not afraid to die, go ahead and do it."
After saying that, Xie Xuanming got up.
The onlookers hesitated and shrank away, not daring to go up to help Zhao Wenhua, let alone stop Xie Xuanming. They watched Xie Xuanming walk back to the sofa, pick up Ji Sheng and leave the private room.
The return trip was more difficult than getting out of the private room. The streets of the old town were narrow and no taxis could drive there. Xie Xuanming could only limp to the rental house with Ji Sheng on his back.
There was no way to be uninjured in a fight. Xie Xuanming received a few heavy blows on his back, shoulders and legs. At this moment, his wounds throbbed with pain.
However, he didn't care how many wounds he had on his body; he just gritted his teeth and walked forward step by step.
Fortunately, Ji Sheng was only drugged, not anything else.
If Zhao Wenhua was worse, giving him narcotics or other substances…
Xie Xuanming didn't dare to think about it, so he stopped thinking.
The effect of the drug came and went quickly. Halfway through, Ji Sheng's eyelids twitched and he groaned hoarsely.
Xie Xuanming paused, asking tentatively: "Brother Ji? Are you awake, how are you feeling, is there any discomfort?"
Ji Sheng muttered a few words in a low voice. He didn't wake up thoroughly, his head was dizzy and his consciousness was erratic, so he couldn't digest Xie Xuanming's series of questions for a while.
"I'm dizzy…" He opened his dazed eyes, "Xiao Xie? Why do you have six ears?"
It seemed that he hadn't woken up; Xie Xuanming explained roughly: "You are drunk."
"Oh. Is that so?" Ji Sheng was confused, "Did the six-eared monkey get drunk too?"
After this question beyond common sense, Xie Xuanming was silent for a while. "Six-eared monkeys don't drink alcohol."
"Oh… drink… will Chang'e and Zhu Bajie last?"(1)
"……
"They don't seem to have been together."
"Do you like elephants?"
"…generally."
The drunk and drugged Ji Sheng was clearly not in his right mind, grunting and yapping on Xie Xuanming's back.
Most of his questions were confusing, but Xie Xuanming tried to answer them one by one.
As the moon rose above the trees, Ji Sheng hiccuped and continued to ask.
"What kind of girl does Xiao Xie like?"
"…I don't know."
"Say it, say it, I want to know."
"…that likes me."
"Ah." Ji Sheng laughed out loud. He inexplicably found some logic in the question, dwelling on it and refusing to change the subject, "Our Xiao Xie is so handsome, the girls who like him must be lined up from East Street to West Street. Women are fickle like running water…
"If she likes me, I like her too…
"…What a perfunctory additional condition."
Trying to shut him up, Xie Xuanming shook him up and down sullenly; his movements pulled the wound on his hand and the pain made him groan softly.
"What kind of girl do you like?" He asked rhetorically.
"I…" Ji Sheng yawned and didn't speak for a while.
Just when Xie Xuanming thought he was not going to speak, Ji Sheng said in a daze:
"I don't like girls, I like your brother Sheng."
Xie Xuanming paused; the sound of steady breathing came from his back.
Ji Sheng passed out again.
Xie Xuanming returned to the rental house and kicked the door with difficulty.
Sheng Kongzhi opened the door and was shocked seeing his face bruised and covered in blood: "Xiao Xie! What's the matter? Were you robbed…"
Before he finished speaking, he saw Ji Sheng lying half-dead on Xie Xuanming's back. His face instantly went pale and he said in a low voice, "Ji Sheng!"
He took a step forward and cupped Ji Sheng's face, asking anxiously, "What's wrong with him?"
"Brother Ji is fine. "Xie Xuanming replied quietly, "Zhao Wenhua added something to the drink, and I had a conflict with them."
Sheng Kongzhi's expression was extremely ugly. He paused for a moment and said decisively, "Come in."
Sheng Kongzhi naturally took the sleepy Ji Sheng from Xie Xuanming's back, picked him up, quickly walked into the bedroom and put him on the bed.
Before Su Jing came back, Xie Xuanming limped into the room and saw Sheng Kongzhi with his back to the door, bent over, whispering Ji Sheng's name.
After Ji Sheng responded a few times in a daze, Sheng Kongzhi began to check his body again to confirm whether there were any wounds. Finally Sheng Kongzhi breathed a sigh of relief. After five or six minutes had passed, he straightened up.
When Sheng Kongzhi turned his head, Xie Xuanming was standing at the door with a cup in his hand. He lowered his head and his expression couldn't be seen clearly, only the wound at the corner of his mouth was dazzling.
Startled, Sheng Kongzhi quickly walked to the cabinet by the wall and skillfully pulled out a bottle of a red potion from the drawer.
He walked up to Xie Xuanming with the medicine and was about to say something, but Xie Xuanming said first: "I'm fine, I'll give the water to Brother Ji first."
Only then did Sheng Kongzhi notice that he was holding a cup. The liquid in the cup was clear and slowly steaming.
"Thank you, Xiao Xie." Sheng Kongzhi took the cup, "I'll help him drink it later, but now I'm afraid he might choke."
Xie Xuanming put down his hand and said, "Oh."
Sheng Kongzhi saw the bruises under his eyes and couldn't help frowning: "You're hurt like this…"
Before he finished speaking, the phone rang.
He took out his mobile phone; Xie Xuanming lowered his head, and both of them saw "Li Tan" displayed on the screen.
Sheng Kongzhi's expression sank; he stuffed the medicine to Xie Xuanming and ordered: "Disinfect it first, and by the way, help look after your Brother Ji, and I'll answer the phone."
Xie Xuanming agreed quietly, and Sheng Kongzhi went out.
When the door closed, Xie Xuanming stood still for a few seconds, then slowly walked to Ji Sheng's side and squatted down.
He didn't rush to disinfect his wounds; he just stretched out his hand to push away some of Ji Sheng's messed hair hanging over his eyes.
The sound insulation of the rental house was extremely bad, and Xie Xuanming clearly heard Sheng Kongzhi question in a low voice.
"What do you mean you didn't know this would happen… Ji Sheng is still unconscious! Are you telling me that normal drinking should be like this?"
There was uncontrollable anger hidden in his restrained voice.
Xie Xuanming squatted in front of the bed, thinking silently that this was the first time he saw Sheng Kongzhi angry.
Because of Ji Sheng.
Outside the door, Sheng Kongzhi yelled something at Li Tan.
Ji Sheng was alarmed by the sound; his eyebrows frowned uncomfortably, his lips moved and he murmured meaningless sleepy words.
Xie Xuanming looked down at Ji Sheng, who was restless, and smoothed his brows with his fingers.
Are you happy?
Xie Xuanming himself was taken aback by the suspicion he expressed aloud.
He immediately shut his mouth and pursed his lips into a thin line.
But his thoughts couldn't stop spreading.
Would you be happy?
Seeing someone you like worrying about you.
When Su Jing returned, Ji Sheng was still asleep.
When Su Jing entered the bedroom, he saw Xie Xuanming applying medicine. The wounds on his hands were hideous. Su Jing was shocked and asked what happened.
Xie Xuanming briefly explained the situation to him.
"Fucking surnamed Zhao." After listening, Su Jing was furious. He walked around the room in a rage, saying fiercely, "Don't let me see this son of a bitch, dammit, the whole obscenely impotent thanks-to-beer-belly absolute douchebag."
Xie Xuanming disinfected his wounds in silence and waited for Su Jing to finish cursing before speaking:
"Li Tan called Sheng Kongzhi and they had a fight, and Brother Sheng was very angry."
"Of course he is angry." Su Jing was angry too, "He and Ji Sheng have known each other for more than ten years, I don't think it's too much to ask for an explanation after my childhood friend has been screwed over like this."
Xie Xuanming lowered his eyes and said nothing, then listened to Su Jing say:
"What's more, Sheng Kongzhi has always taken care of Ji Sheng. Their relationship is closer than that of ordinary couples. Now that someone touches Ji Sheng, can Sheng Kongzhi not get angry?"
1. Characters of 'Journey to the West'
Chapter 22
yun1yun yun1yun
1 year ago
Xie Xuanming stood at the door of the bank, with a homeless man lying at his feet. He glanced at his watch and found that it was 8:55, five minutes before the bank opened for business.
Xie Xuanming had been standing here for 20 minutes. During this period, he went to the convenience store next door to buy a loaf of bread for breakfast. As soon as he bought it, his stomach ached from a hangover. He didn't eat a bite and gave it to the homeless.
Ji Sheng woke up in the middle of the night. His memory was stuck before he passed out; he didn't even know how he passed out, he thought he was drunk. He looked confused and ignorant, completely unaware of Zhao Wenhua's nasty thoughts. He opened his mouth and asked if they were eligible for the competition. When the others saw him like this, they didn't have the heart to tell him the real situation. They could only tell him vaguely that Xie Xuanming and Zhao Wenhua had a conflict, and the chance to qualify for the competition was likely lost…
"Huh?" Ji Sheng was dumbfounded. He turned to look at Xie Xuanming. He was shocked and angry when he saw his injuries. "Did they bully you? How did you get like this?"
Ji Sheng's face was full of anxiety, and Sheng Kongzhi secretly shook his head at Xie Xuanming slightly.
Xie Xuanming got the hint and kept silent. Sheng Kongzhi remedied the situation: "Xiao Xie couldn't help being angry that you were drunk, so…"
"Huh?" Ji Sheng's complexion changed slightly; he was silent for a few seconds, then frowned and scolded, "Because of this? What's wrong with me drinking a few drinks as an adult? Xie Xuanming, why are you so impulsive and act out on such a trivial matter? You also fought with a bunch of guys and came back with injuries!"
Angry, he stood up from the bed, swayed twice and fell back. Sheng Kongzhi quickly helped to steady him and whispered to him to calm down.
The untold truth, the poor state of Ji Sheng under the effects of the drug, Sheng Kongzhi's concerned attitude, Su Jing's earlier unintentional words, the burning of the alcohol that had not dissipated…
These things stuck in Xie Xuanming's throat like fishbones, and the dry sharp pain made his veins throb, an uncontrollable fire rising to the surface.
He resisted his anger and said that he wanted to talk to Ji Sheng alone.
As soon as Sheng Kongzhi walked out, Xie Xuanming almost roared.
"Don't you fucking know how to say no?" Xie Xuanming's face was ugly, "Still no brains, if I hadn't come back in time yesterday, do you know what might, no, what definitely would happen to you!"
His hoarse, broken voice made Xie Xuanming look like an unreasonable child, and Ji Sheng's astonished and confused expression made him feel embarrassed afterwards.
After Xie Xuanming finished scolding, he stared at Ji Sheng, gasping.
He actually regretted it a little bit. After all, Ji Sheng didn't know the situation… He just learned that they lost the chance to qualify for the competition and before he had time to get angry, he was slapped by the culprit and lectured…
Xie Xuanming felt that if he were Ji Sheng, he would have walked out with a cold face, slamming the door.
He tried to save face and maintain his fierce expression, but in reality his heart grew apprehensive, hesitant and afraid of Ji Sheng's anger.
However, Ji Sheng didn't get angry. He only looked at Xie Xuanming in surprise, faintly feeling that the things that must have made him mad were probably not as simple as they seemed.
However, instead of asking for the truth, Ji Sheng chose to look after the exploding minor first.
He relaxed, his expression returning to his usual casual nature, smiled and hugged Xie Xuanming's shoulders, squeezing his face, both molesting and soothing him.
"The sun is rising in the east, and our good boy actually used two dirty words in one sentence. Come on, go, go, share the joy with Lao Sheng and the others."
With Ji Sheng reacting so unreasonably, Xie Xuanming was stunned as if he had punched cotton.
Finally regaining his senses, Xie Xuanming pushed Ji Sheng away like a frightened bird and walked away with a flick of his sleeves.
To be precise, it was inappropriate to call it walking away with a flick of sleeves, it should be called running away.
Xie Xuanming's face was hot and painful; he was angry for no reason and he was generously forgiven, he realized his own childishness and he was ashamed to face Ji Sheng, he could only wretchedly hide in his room, huddling in his bed, constantly torn about what to do, whether to apologise, how to apologise…
People always find themselves worthless when they are shown kindness.
Xie Xuanming had never been forgiven or treated kindly by others in the family where he was imprisoned since he was a child.
He was not at all familiar with this social process and clumsily decided to exchange for emotions the material things that met the urgent needs of those he wanted to please at this stage.
This was why he came to the bank early in the morning.
At nine o'clock, the bank opened.
Xie Xuanming went in, walked straight to the ATM machine, lowered his head and touched his pocket.
The last time he came to the bank was after his mother died and the man gave him a card.
It was the first time Xie Xuanming went to the bank and he had a lot of zeros in his account.
Looking at a long list of digits, Xie Xuanming suddenly remembered his mother. Money was the best care product. The man's generosity extended his mother's youthfulness, allowing her to bloom as brightly as a flower for decades.
In the end, she withered like a flower.
Xie Xuanming didn't want to use the money.
The more generous and charitable the man was, the more pathetic and cheap he appeared.
But he didn't care anymore.
The reason for the need for money was more important than the senseless dignity.
But his assets were frozen.
Xie Xuanming was silent for a few seconds when he saw the screen prompt. After turning to manual service, he was told that only up to 10,000 yuan could be withdrawn from his card.
The man who claimed to be his father probably wanted to teach the rebellious child who did not want to return home a lesson, but he was afraid that Xie Xuanming would starve to death, so he did not forget to leave a narrow path back.
Ten thousand yuan.
The narrow backroad.
Xie Xuanming wanted to laugh inexplicably.
The "basic living expenses" that rich people allocated lightly might be a huge sum that other people struggled to earn by rotating through a dozen bars at night, staying up all night to practice the tracks for a temp job or distributing flyers for ten hours in the 30-degree sun…
"Take it all out, thank you," he said.
Xie Xuanming went to the convenience store next door to buy an ice cream and got a plastic bag there. He loosely put the banknotes into the bag and left.
When he walked out, he broke the card and squeezed it in his palm.
One really cannot be poor, Xie Xuanming was thinking carelessly, holding the ice cream.
After being poor for a while, breaking the card like that actually physically hurt.
But it felt really good to have contempt for money.
He finished the ice cream in three bites, waved his hand casually and threw the wooden stick together with the card that was broken into the trash can on the side of the road.
Xie Xuanming returned from a rewarding journey and knocked on Ji Sheng's door.
Ji Sheng had just woken up from his nap, opened the door with sleepy eyes and stared blankly at the visitor.
It wasn't until Xie Xuanming opened the bag and a stack of red banknotes showed up that he suddenly woke up, full of excitement.
"You are not…" Ji Sheng's eyes widened, and he said in amazement, "Have you gone to extort medical expenses from Zhao Wenhua?"
"No." Xie Xuanming said, "I originally wanted to withdraw 15,000 yuan from the card… but… they froze the money at home, and I could only withdraw so much. Just take it and make an album for Qingchu."
Ten thousand yuan of cash was a pile of red, and the impact was so strong that it took a while for Ji Sheng to look away and say, "Qingchu can't ask for it."
"Why?" Xie Xuanming said, "Everyone is saving money for the album, and I also want to help."
"…just sing a good song, don't worry about money."
"No." Xie Xuanming was more serious, "Am I not a part of Qingchu?"
"This is not a question of being a part." Ji Sheng scratched his head irritably.
The puppy you picked up casually on the road suddenly brought back a gold medal. He wagged his tail proudly and said that although you couldn't tell, he was actually a noble puppy, so let him steal the assets of his family and buy you fancy canned food…
Ji Sheng's face was gloomy and Xie Xuanming stared at him without blinking. The beautiful bruised eyes were shining, just like a dirty puppy waiting for praise.
Ji Sheng didn't want to eat the puppy's food. Ji Sheng just wanted the puppy to bark nicely, so he invited him to join the group.
Thinking about it, Ji Sheng sighed: "You give all the money to Qingchu, what are you going to do?"
"I can make money." Xie Xuanming said seriously, "I can do anything you can do by handing out flyers and singing in bars."
"You are still in school." Ji Sheng frowned, "You will be in your senior year when you start school."
"I don't want to go." Xie Xuanming wrinkled his nose, showing a bit of age-appropriate rebellion, "I'm not up to it anymore."
"It's not a question of whether you want to or not." Ji Sheng was taken aback and his expression changed, "You are angry."
"No." Upset, Xie Xuanming said stiffly.
Don't treat me like a child, he wanted to say.
However, Ji Sheng spoke first, interrupting him.
"I am very worried about you."
Ji Sheng frowned and looked at him seriously: "Xie Xuanming, you have no plan for the future. This will not work. It is very worrying."
As he said, he got a little angry inexplicably.
"You may think that you have 10,000 yuan in your card and you can use it whatever way you want. You will spend it impulsively today and earn it tomorrow. This is a trivial matter, but it is not… This reflects that your attitude towards life is very perfunctory. You are only seventeen years old and it's fine to skip school and play in a band, but to drop out of school is beyond the limit of 'willfulness'. It's not good and it's not allowed, I don't agree with it and I won't allow it. If you really want to drop out of school, then you will no longer be welcome at Qingchu, you will quit the band tomorrow, no, today. Get your ass back to school and go to classes honestly!"
Xie Xuanming swallowed hard.
Ji Sheng's tone was stern; he assumed the posture of a full-blown elder and lectured long-windedly.
As a rebellious seventeen-year-old boy, Xie Xuanming felt that he should be unhappy.
However, in fact, Xie Xuanming was happy, he was very happy.
On the one hand, he suspected that his head must have been broken yesterday since he was so happy to be scolded, on the other hand, he couldn't help being excited.
Ji Sheng was worried about him.
Xie Xuanming's heart moved; Ji Sheng's words were like the first wave of sea water revealed when the harbour melted, icy and cool, bringing the scent of spring.
Xie Xuanming suddenly realized why there were so many rebellious teenagers in the world who loved to do stupid things.
If rebellion and immaturity could be exchanged for worry and love, Xie Xuanming was willing to be called an asshole kid for the rest of his life.
Ji Sheng paused to catch his breath in the middle of the tirade, frowning and ready to continue educating the young lead singer in front of him who had turned into a punk in less than a month.
Who knew that before he could speak, the rebellious boy who was as stubborn as a mule just now would suddenly sniff and say softly: "Okay, I understand."
Ji Sheng's education-related topic stuck in his throat, making him choke.
Xie Xuanming lowered his eyes; his voice was quiet, a little embarrassed and a little aggrieved: "I'm sorry."
Ji Sheng watched Xie Xuanming raise his eyes in a daze. His bruised eyes, the wounds in the corner of his lips and scabs on his face all made him look a bit pitiful.
After apologising, the pitiful Xie Xuanming said softly: "It's my fault to get angry in the morning and it's my fault to say that I'd drop out of school. I was wrong. Brother Ji, don't be angry."
Xie Xuanming's words, like a ball of cotton, were shoved into Ji Sheng's heart, unreasonably squashing down his anger completely, while the floating cotton choked him with stifling discomfort.
Fuck.
Ji Sheng thought.
This kid was really good and realized the true meaning of life in just a few minutes.
Worse than a seventeen year old dead stubborn mad dog was a seventeen year old dirty puppy.
If it was the former, you could still wave a big stick at it angrily; but the latter rolled in front of you and you could do nothing about it.
Chapter 23
yun1yun yun1yun
1 year ago
Ji Sheng was probably a model of eating soft but not hard. As soon as Xie Xuanming showed weakness, he was helpless. He swallowed all the words he was about to say, reached out and patted him on the shoulder, and asked him to deposit the money back for a while.
"I threw away the card." Xie Xuanming said frankly.
"…which trash can did you throw it in? Hurry up and see if you can pick it up."
"I broke it and threw it away."
"…" Ji Sheng facepalmed.
Xie Xuanming's eyes were so innocent that Ji Sheng couldn't scold him, so he could only nag, "Then you can hide the money first and go open a new account to deposit it in a couple of days."
Xie Xuanming obediently said, "Okay."
Ji Sheng wanted to say something else when the doorbell rang.
There was a brief argument at the door, and then the door of the bedroom was knocked on, with Sheng Kongzhi's deep voice coming from outside: "Xiao Sheng, Brother Tan is here, come out."
Xie Xuanming's face changed as he turned to look at Ji Sheng.
Ji Sheng didn't respond. He got up with an 'oh', lowered his head and asked Xie Xuanming, "Do you want to stay here? Or go out."
"Go out." Xie Xuanming looked down coldly.
Ji Sheng glanced at him a few times, then stopped talking and finally reached out and rubbed the back of his neck.
Li Tan huddled on the sofa. Both Sheng Kongzhi and Su Jing called last night to inform him of the situation. He was so guilty that he didn't sleep all night. He asked for a leave of absence at work in the morning and came here immediately.
"Xiao Sheng, I'm sorry." As soon as Ji Sheng walked out, Li Tan quickly got up and said guiltily, "I didn't investigate who Zhao Wenhua was when I contacted him. I thought he was just a little muddled… I didn't expect… I'm really sorry."
Ji Sheng let out an 'ah', a little confused. He didn't understand how everyone's attitude had become so strange when he had just had a few more drinks.
He scratched his head and responded: "It's okay, Brother Tan, you don't have to apologise. I just drank too much and got drunk… It's not that I haven't been drunk before."
His words were clearly a roundabout way of giving Li Tan a way out.
But it was clear that no one in the room had grasped the meaning.
The guilt on Li Tan's face did not dissipate but his words were silenced by a cold snort from Su Jing in the corner, while Sheng Kongzhi, who was standing against the wall, looked unhappy, and Xie Xuanming, who was standing beside Ji Sheng and was most directly affected by last night's situation, had a gloomy look in his eyes and stared at Li Tan coldly.
The atmosphere did not ease, but became more weird. Ji Sheng coughed and changed the subject: "Brother Tan, why do you come here early in the morning? Is there anything wrong?"
He asked the question badly; everyone here but him could guess that Li Tan had made the trip specifically to apologise and nothing more.
But Li Tan hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "There are some things."
"What?"
"Qingchu passed the registration for the band competition."
There was two seconds of silence in the room. Ji Sheng was overjoyed. He took a couple of steps forward, patted Li Tan on the shoulder and said excitedly: "Yes, Brother Tan, we passed! I didn't drink for nothing yesterday."
The reaction of the rest of the people was not as happy as his. It was good to sign up for the band competition, but considering the chaos last night, it was hard to imagine the conditions for obtaining this qualification.
Su Jing took the lead in gloominess: "So, who will be asked to drink this time?"
Sheng Kongzhi also frowned and said, "Did Zhao Wenhua make any more conditions? If so, this opportunity is better left alone."
Xie Xuanming said, "En."
Ji Sheng also reacted a little. He glanced back at Xie Xuanming with injuries on his face and his expression changed: "This sign-up… Is that Xiao Xie was beaten and they want us to let things go? If so, I don't agree to take this opportunity."
"No." Li Tan said helplessly, "It has nothing to do with that bastard surnamed Zhao. The organiser took the initiative to contact me, and I have agreed."
"Organiser?" Ji Sheng was taken aback, "Why?" "
"I don't know." Li Tan said, "Maybe he has seen our performance and thinks it has potential? Or some big boss recommended us, asking to give him face, and pushed the boat along the water."
"Which big boss?"
"No idea." Li Tan was a little impatient, "Anyway, now that we are eligible to participate in the competition, shall we go or not?"
Sheng Kongzhi and Su Jing glanced at each other. If it had nothing to do with Zhao Wenhua, this opportunity could be taken.
After a few seconds of silence in the living room, Ji Sheng smiled and said, "Go, don't we need those fifteen thousand?"
At the end of the meeting, Xie Xuanming's mobile phone suddenly vibrated.
Unknown caller.
He seemed to think of something, and his expression changed slightly.
"I'll answer the phone." He said, walking out.
Xie Xuanming walked all the way to the opposite end of the corridor before stopping.
When he picked up the phone, the familiar voice made him frown suddenly.
"Xuanming, it's dad."
Since the funeral, Xie Xuanming's father had called him many times to persuade him to go home. Xie Xuanming didn't bother and simply blacklisted the number to get some time off.
Now that the cheap dad changed his number and called, Xie Xuanming didn't know what he was going to say, so he didn't bother to talk. He listened silently to the man full of delusions of intimacy eagerly speaking on the other end of the phone.
"Dad was busy these days and had no time to contact you. In the last two days, I found out that you participated in some folk music events. This is very good… Dad is a tolerant person. If you like music, your family can send you to study abroad. Schools such as Berkeley and Juilliard… are all good choices. Which one do you like, dad can contact the school now, and you can go there directly when you go home."
Sure enough, he still persuaded him to go back to Xie's house, just in a different way.
Xie Xuanming sneered: "I'm not going back. The Xie family is not my family."
There was silence for two seconds on the other end of the phone, and then the man said, "Xuanming, your father understands your mood, but you also have to understand your father. Dad is worried about you, afraid that you will have a bad time outside, hungry and frozen…"
"It's summer and I can't freeze." Xie Xuanming interrupted coldly, "If you're really afraid that I won't have a good time, it's more effective to send money directly."
"In terms of money, dad will naturally not be stingy. I am very supportive of your hobbies. But the friends you have around you – dad still has to warn you as someone who has been there – see the good and the bad, these unmotivated people are fine to be around but there is no point in making a deep friendship."
Xie Xuanming's face darkened: "These unmotivated people have given me two bites of food when I was hungry, which is much more than some people who gave birth but didn't raise."
"Xuanming, don't talk to dad like this, you have to understand dad. Dad also has hardships."
"Bullshit." Xie Xuanming finally couldn't help it. The man called himself "dad" in every sentence, making him extremely nauseous. He growled, "What the fuck is wrong with you? You haven't cared about me for over ten years, and then you show up as a wild father after forcing my mother to die. I'm sick of you, why should I understand you! Why should I call someone I've only met once a father, do you deserve it? Do you think you're worthy?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone, then the man spoke.
"Xuanming, dad used to be a bit negligent in the past. But you have to believe that dad loves you.
"It's almost your birthday, right? Dad saw that you didn't touch the money in your account much and changed it to the gift that you might like.
"Xuanming, happy birthday, and at the same time, enter the compe…"
Xie Xuanming hung up the phone abruptly before he could finish speaking. He held the phone tightly in his hand, the blue veins on the back of his hand pulsating. He didn't throw the phone away in the end, he just shoved it rudely into his pocket.
He gasped for breath; above his clenched fists, the muscles of his forearms couldn't stop trembling with anger.
His chest fluctuated violently more than a dozen times until he finally calmed down.
Xie Xuanming was not naive enough to think that man called to wish him happy birthday. The "gift" in his mouth —— Qingchu's eligibility for the competition, when compared with the man's previous words, was not so much a gift as a naked threat.
In a little band competition, if the man could ask to give him face and sign Qingchu up for the competition, he could just as easily kick Qingchu out, and even block Qingchu in the entire industry without giving it a chance to develop.
Xie Xuanming's expression was gloomy.
This was forcing him to go back to Xie's house.
The man still had some tolerance for him now, delusional to exchange "fatherly love" for his enlightenment, but one day he would lose his patience…
Xie Xuanming thought of his mother's grey-purple hypoxic face again, and the desire to throw up became even more intense.
He then thought of the hemp rope hidden in the cabinet in the room, the rough, suffocating feel of it real and clear…
He thought for a long time, and finally walked back slowly, hesitated between the two doors and walked to the right.
When Xie Xuanming entered, the members of the band were in the living room. Having to fill in the preliminary round track on the registration form, the members were arguing over the selection of a song.
"I think it needs to be pop." Li Tan said, "Think about that, the Jinyinhai band, you know, I have heard them live, and their pop songs are so on top that you can hum them after listening to them once."
"Nonsense." Su Jing said sulkily, "Their whole songs are just three chords of the most basic kind. If you can't hum this again, you can quit the circle, complete musical illiteracy, certified."
Li Tan was choked by him all morning and also became a bit angry: "Can you kid stop butting in everything, I just want to express that the songs are popular and catchy… "Stray dog" is good, but it's too niche. Let alone the audience, we are a fucking band but only Xiao Sheng can sing it with the right feeling."
"I agree with Brother Tan." Sheng Kongzhi said, "It is indeed necessary to consider the popularity of participating in the competition, and the style of "Stray dog" is relatively depressing and crazy. Xiao Xie is too well-behaved to probably show the feeling easily."
Su Jing sulked again: "Look at his bruised face, does he look well-behaved? Man Xiao Xie is the guy who dared to beat up a bunch of bastards by himself."
Ji Sheng saw Xie Xuanming coming in at this moment, straightened up and waved his hand: "Xiao Xie! Come here, we're talking about you."
Xie Xuanming sat down beside him.
He calmed down and sat quietly as usual. Sheng Kongzhi looked at him twice and said helplessly: "The key is that Xiao Xie is neither "Stray' nor "dog', which is very inconsistent with the atmosphere of the song."
"I think he is quite a 'dog'." Ji Sheng said, stretched out his hand to hold Xie Xuanming's chin and shook his head twice, "That dirty puppy feeling, kind of wretched and cute."
Xie Xuanming let him fiddle with his face without saying a word even when his injuries were squeezed.
Su Jing couldn't bear to look at it.
This obedient and quiet Xiao Xie was a far cry from the hostile Xie Xuanming last night.
"Quite a dog." Su Jing spat, "And recognising the owner."
Ji Sheng smiled triumphantly: "Of course the child I picked up listens to me. If you have the ability, you can also pick one up on the street."
Su Jing rolled his eyes: "Cut the crap, you hurry up and take your stand, now two against one, 'Stray Dog' two and 'Green Plum' one, yours are two key votes."
"Green Plum" was also Qingchu's original song in a pop style. Xie Xuanming sang it several times during their gigs.
Ji Sheng unhurriedly turned his head and asked Xie Xuanming, "Which song do you want to sing, "Stray dog" or "Green Plum"?"
Xie Xuanming said: "Stray dog."
"Then I will also vote for "Stray dog"." Ji Sheng said with a smile, "Xiao Xie is so cute, I want to be with Xiao Xie."
Su Jing slapped the table and stood up: "I can't bear it anymore, Ji Sheng, it's disgusting to describe a man as cute."
"Thank you." Ji Sheng was polite and sweet, "You are also very beautiful."
"Fuck!" Su Jing kicked the table, swept his eyes over Xie Xuanming's face, stopped suddenly and asked in disbelief, "Why are you blushing like Bukubukuchagama?(1)"
Xie Xuanming's answer was simple: "Hot."
Su Jing looked at Xie Xuanming, whose ears were feverishly red, then at Ji Sheng, who was yelling at him to stop bullying Xiao Xie, and was speechless.
"Just fucking spoil him." Su Jing said, "I'll be the first to laugh at you when it backfires one day."
"Shit, cursing is cursing, Su Jing, why are you still cursing?"
"The curse is on you, you shallow wanker pool that can be filled with two glasses of wine."
"You little treacherous keyboardist who looks more delicate than a girl!"
"Fuck! "
"……"
Looking at Ji Sheng and Su Jing, fighting like two cats, Xie Xuanming lowered his head and quietly touched his chin that had just been kneaded by Ji Sheng.
The hemp rope flashed a few times and gradually faded out of his mind.
The author has something to say：
Xie Xuanming in his own eyes: evil dog of hell!
Xie Xuanming in Ji Sheng's eyes: little pomeranian yip yip~
1. Character of light novel Overlord, looks like pink slime
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Chapter 24
yun1yun yun1yun
1 year ago
Half a month later, the preliminary round of the band competition.
The band competition required all bands to bring their own musical instruments. Su Jing relied on his indefatigable tongue to grind hard for many days and finally borrowed a complete set of musical instruments from a music shop owner.
The band could not afford to hire a hauling company, so they hired a second-hand pick-up truck at their own expense and brought the instruments to the site like an old ox pulling a broken cart.
Grunting, they moved the musical instruments to the designated waiting area, took a break for a while, and turned their heads to find that Ji Sheng was gone.
"Where is our drummer?" Li Tan asked.
"He said he saw an acquaintance and went to say hello," Sheng Kongzhi said.
"Call him back, we're almost ready to play."
"Okay." Sheng Kongzhi was about to go but saw that Xie Xuanming had already stood up and walked out first.
Ji Sheng leaned over the camera of a curly-haired girl and looked at the photos.
The young man in the preview was divided by the light, half of his face bright and half of his face dark, creating a strange sense of fragmentation.
"Are you a photographer?" Ji Sheng couldn't take his eyes off.
"No, of course not." The girl who was asked smiled, covering her mouth. Her bright red nails were as gorgeous as her pendant earrings. "I just like to take pictures." "
"Nice shot." Ji Sheng genuinely complimented, "It captured me beautifully."
"That's because you are so good-looking." The girl's eyes curved, "Why else would I take your pictures?"
"Wow." Ji Sheng covered his heart with an exaggerated expression, "Thank you for your recognition of my appearance."
The girl said heartily: "You're welcome."
The two of them were talking and laughing until a faint voice from the side reached them.
"It's time to play, Brother Tan told you to go back."
The two turned their heads; Xie Xuanming stood expressionless not far away.
The girl said hesitantly, "This is your lead singer."
"Correct." Ji Sheng grinned and hugged Xie Xuanming, habitually pinching his cheek, "This kid looks good, you can also take his pic."
Xie Xuanming slapped his hand away on a rare occasion. Ji Sheng was undeterred and touched him again, and was slapped away again.
"Okay." The girl said with a smile, "You are going to prepare, compete well!"
Ji Sheng said, "I borrow your good words."
Before he finished speaking, Xie Xuanming broke away from him and left on his own. Ji Sheng hurriedly smiled at the girl and turned to catch up.
The girl watched Ji Sheng take three or two steps and hug the lead singer's shoulders. The lead singer reluctantly wriggled a few times. After being patted by Ji Sheng, he gave up struggling and walked forward with a large human pendant by his side.
The two figures disappeared around the corner, and the girl retracted her gaze.
So emotional.
She thought, the song selected for the preliminary round was "Stray dog". That little lead singer looked too peaceful and quiet, who knows if he could hold up.
When Qingchu came out on stage and the performance began, the girl knew that she was overthinking it.
The gentle and delicate little lead singer on stage looked like a different person when he opened his mouth.
His voice was a bit hoarse, revealing the unique romanticism of a very young man, inexplicably reminiscent of sweet red cherries on the top of a cream cake. No matter what the flavour of the cake was, the cherries were always the most eye-catching.
But at the same time, the young lead singer was not a cherry.
He was not sweet or soft.
He was a double-edged sword, swinging at the target, ready to be drenched in blood.
He was naked, uncomfortable and angular.
Maybe the audience did not understand the chord rhythm of the song and maybe it did not understand the meaning of the words for a while.
But they all saw the injured dog, licking its wounds alone in the corner, baring its terrifyingly sharp teeth at those who tried to approach it with a collar.
It would rather die in a stinky ditch than live in iron chains.
If Ji Sheng's "Stray dog" was unruly and debauched, Xie Xuanming's "Stray dog" leaned towards stinging despair.
When the girl was taking Ji Sheng's photos, she unconsciously turned the camera and put Xie Xuanming into the lens.
Qingchu got a perfect result in the preliminary round. They defeated their opponents with crushing scores and and also had the unexpected pleasure of qualifying for the next round.
After their great victory, Qingchu threw the musical instruments in the pick-up truck and happily ran to drink and celebrate. Unsurprisingly, they collapsed in broad daylight.
Ji Sheng was undoubtedly the one who went down the fastest, and Su Jing, who was madly mocking him for his poor drinking capacity and being unable to stand more than two glasses, fell down on the third glass.
Sheng Kongzhi was obviously better than these two shit shooters. He still maintained a decent smile after half a dozen beers, but his body swaying back and forth and his blurred eyes clearly showed that his inner state was different from the calm outside.
In the end, only Li Tan, an experienced alcoholic, and Xie Xuanming, a minor who could not drink, were still sitting steadily at the plastic table.
The two looked at each other for a while, then Li Tan got up and said, "I'll go pay the bill."
As soon as he left, Xie Xuanming stretched out his hand, trying to take Ji Sheng's glass while no one was paying attention and steal a taste of the liquor. However, before his fingertips touched the walls of the glass, his wrist was grasped by Ji Sheng who was suddenly awake.
"What are you doing?" Xie Xuanming moved his hand guiltily but couldn't free it.
"I want to hear a story." Ji Sheng's eyes were confused and he shook Xie Xuanming's hand back and forth, "Mom, I want to hear a story."
"I'm not your mother." The stress was multiplied when Xie Xuanming, the proud son of heaven, was suddenly upgraded to a young mom.
Ji Sheng said "huh", accepted the reality of "your mother is gone" and said softly:
"Dad, I want to hear a story."
Xie Xuanming stretched out his hand blankly, pinched Ji Sheng's face and pulled it to the sides as if in revenge: "I should really record it… and play it for you if you bully me later."
"Don't pinch." Ji Sheng's eyes watered, "Big brother, don't pinch it, it hurts."
His cry for 'big brother' was so powerful that Xie Xuanming stopped as if electrocuted and looked around unnaturally.
Fortunately, everyone was down.
Xie Xuanming felt guilty and relieved, and suddenly felt outraged—it was Ji Sheng who had to be ashamed, what was he ashamed of?!
"Big brother, big brother." Ji Sheng still didn't stop, patting his hand coquettishly, "I want to hear a story."
Xie Xuanming was so dazed by his shouting that he reluctantly spoke in order to stop him from continuing to shout: "Once upon a time there was a black rooster."
"En en."
"It went to bleach."
"En en."
"It turned into a white chicken and was eaten."
"En en."
"……"
"En en?"
"It was gone."
"Huh?" Ji Sheng shook his hand again, dissatisfied, "I don't want to listen to this."
"…then what do you want to listen to?"
"A story of a real person!"
"Okay." Xie Xuanming sighed, "There was a child who had a mother and no father, and no birthday."
"Why was there no birthday? Obviously everyone has… birthdays."
"Because there was no cake, no gifts and no 'happy birthday'." Xie Xuanming said, "Today is his eighteenth birthday. Guess, does he have a birthday this time?"
Xie Xuanming finished speaking, waiting for Ji Sheng's response.
But Ji Sheng only looked at him blankly, motionless.
After a few seconds, he blinked twice, yawned, and fell to the table.
Xie Xuanming was silent for a while, then stretched his hand forward silently, letting Ji Sheng sleep on his arm.
What a time to pass out, he thought.
After a while, Li Tan came back. He looked at the three prone bodies and said loudly: "Let's go back, you move one, and I will move two."
"Okay." Xie Xuanming helped Ji Sheng up and picked him up on his back.
Ji Sheng slept drunkenly for seven hours and only at six o'clock in the evening did he get up from the narrow bed.
He rubbed his head; his forehead was red and swollen from where he had hit it and his skull was as painful as if it had been hammered by eighteen arhats.
Ji Sheng was hard pressed to get out of bed and with the similarly swollen and dishevelled Su Jing went into the bathroom where they taunted each other.
When he took a shower, he felt that he had forgotten something, but he didn't remember it after washing, so he just scratched his head and plunged into the ocean of music.
Ji Sheng's work lasted for four hours. When the time approached eleven o'clock, Ji Sheng suddenly stopped writing.
A conversation resurfaced in his barren mind.
"No cake, no gifts, no 'happy birthday'."
"Today is his eighteenth birthday. Guess, does he have a birthday this time?"
Ji Sheng's body stiffened inch by inch. He picked up the phone, hesitated and sent a message to Xie Xuanming.
Xie Xuanming finished washing and was about to go to bed when his mobile phone suddenly vibrated.
Unread message.
Ji Sheng [The story you told. 】
Ji Sheng【Is the protagonist yourself?】
Xie Xuanming 【Yes】
Ji Sheng【……】
Ji Sheng was silent.
Xie Xuanming waited patiently for a while, but without waiting for a reply, he heard the door of the next room slam open, followed by the banging on his own door.
He opened the door, and Ji Sheng was standing in the corridor wearing pyjamas and nondescript sneakers. Seeing Xie Xuanming open the door, Ji Sheng didn't say a word. He clasped his wrist and dragged him out: "Follow me to a place."
Xie Xuanming wanted to say that he was wearing slippers, at least let him change them.
But when he saw the faded lazy sheep printed on Ji Sheng's pyjamas, he shut up.
Forget it, no matter how embarrassing he looks, it can't be worse.
Ji Sheng dragged Xie Xuanming all the way to the underground garage used for practice.
He hurriedly fumbled for the keys and unlocked the door with his hands shaking.
"What are you doing…" Xie Xuanming looked at his hands that shook as if he was feeding chicken. He had a guess but he still said, "So anxious."
"Nonsense, there are only fifteen fucking minutes left." There was a drop of sweat hanging on the tip of Ji Sheng's nose as he angrily scolded, "What are you so leisurely for, is it your birthday or my birthday? No sense of urgency, how can you be the lead singer of Qingchu!"
Not only did he not receive a blessing for his birthday, he was also reprimanded.
Xie Xuanming was innocent. Xie Xuanming was very aggrieved.
Ji Sheng finally opened the lock and walked into the garage quickly. Xie Xuanming closed the door and turned around to see Ji Sheng already sitting down in front of the drum set.
"This is a Qingchu tradition, okay? You don't know, you are new to it." Ji Sheng tapped twice, found the feel and then looked up at Xie Xuanming, "Let's start with a song to create the atmosphere."
He raised his hands and the drumsticks officially fell.
The very rock-and-roll rhythm and Ji Sheng's consistent unruly style were so wild that Xie Xuanming didn't recognize it was a birthday song until the first sentence was sung.
Ji Sheng lowered his head, beating the drums, his singing mixed with the drumbeat, smashing into the listener's ears.
This scene should've been a bit funny.
On a midsummer night, the young man in his sheep villagers' pyjamas tapped out a clear rhythm, and another young man in slippers stood woodenly, silently listening to the first 'Happy birthday' of his life.
A crazy rock remix.
Without any exaggeration, it was quite unique.
The last drumbeat fell and Ji Sheng put down the drumsticks. He was a little short of breath. He scratched the back of his head and was about to speak when the garage door was kicked open, and Su Jing and Sheng Kongzhi hurried in with things in their hands.
Su Jing rushed up and wiped something on Xie Xuanming's face without saying a word.
Xie Xuanming's face felt cold, and he realized that a large swathe of cream had been pasted on him. He was wondering which infernal cake shop was still open at this point but when he looked down, he realized that Su Jing was holding a huge loaf of bread in his hand.
Su Jing smeared Xie Xuanming into a civet cat and said with emotion: "I've caught up, I've caught up, there are four minutes left, it's so close."
Sheng Kongzhi breathed a sigh of relief: "Only the convenience store is open, we could only buy bread… and this…"
He took out a bag of pokey biscuits and inserted three fragrant sticks into the loaf of bread with lightning speed.
"Make a wish."
Xie Xuanming looked at the nondescript "cake" and couldn't laugh or cry. He opened his mouth but didn't make a sound.
While he hesitated, Ji Sheng put away the drumsticks and walked up to him.
Xie Xuanming, looking at him with a cream on his face, was hugged tightly.
Ji Sheng patted him on the back, then raised his hand and rubbed his hair.
"Happy birthday." There was a smile in his voice, and also rare earnestness and gentleness, "Our Xiao Xie is eighteen years old today and is going to become a healthy and happy adult."
Chapter 25
yun1yun yun1yun
1 year ago
Qingchu won the next few rounds very smoothly. They passed all the way through and finally encountered a problem in the semi-finals.
The semi-finals required an original track with a compulsory theme.
Su Jing glanced at the topic and cursed: "Theme 'school life', fuck! Who's coming up with these things? It's not because I have lived a good school life that I'm here."
"Xiao Xie should have an idea." Sheng Kongzhi interjected, "Xiao Xie looks like a good boy who goes to school properly."
Ji Sheng, who was slumped on the floor, propped himself up at once and asked with his head tilted, "Right, oh, Xiao Xie, hurry up and share with us so that we, the delinquents, can also be enlightened."
The members of Qingchu looked at Xie Xuanming.
Xie Xuanming felt a lot of pressure.
It's not that Qingchu deliberately put pressure on him, but the rest of the members really couldn't help it——two of them went to school to play hooky, one of them entered the society directly after nine years of compulsory education, and the remaining one dropped out of school in the fifth grade and went to work to support his family.
For such a crooked bunch, it would be better to write about the underworld than about school.
Being stared at by all the members, Xie Xuanming was also a bit overwhelmed. He recalled his school life and recounted diligently: "Get up at 6:15, morning run at 6:25, breakfast at 6:50, then morning reading, memorise words from 7:30 to 8:00, go to class from 8:00 to 12:00. Ten minutes between classes are used to sort out wrong answers or ask teachers if you have questions…"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Ji Sheng cut off his schedule reiteration and said, hating iron for not being made of steel, "This is called school life, huh? It's called the Shawshank Redemption! Xiao Xie, you really made the right choice coming to hang out with us!"
"Don't lead Xiao Xie astray." Sheng Kongzhi said helplessly, "However, although Xiao Xie's school life is very… full, the audience will hardly like to listen to a song about it."
"Hehe, right?" Su Jing sneered, "Take his school life as the background of the composition, and the song will be called 'Persuasion', guaranteeing that everyone will leave as soon as the music is played. It's like evening self-study in my fucking second year of junior middle, there are people everywhere but in the classroom."
The creative session of Qingchu ended without a result. They finally decided to adjourn and go back to work on their own ideas, and then gather again in a couple of days to see what happened.
As soon as the meeting ended, Su Jing and Ji Sheng jumped up and rushed to the rental house.
The old rotten flat was 40 or so square metres, with only one toilet and a faulty water tank, and those who washed afterwards were likely to be faced with the embarrassing situation of lathering up with shower gel and running out of water.
Sheng Kongzhi usually took a shower in the morning, and in the evening there was a big battle between Su Jing and Ji Sheng, who fought fiercely and refused to give way.
Today's war ended with Su Jing's victory. Su Jing, who wanted to take a shower and didn't care about face, wisely bought a nightgown to take one less piece of clothing than Ji Sheng.
Ji Sheng watched as he slid into the bathroom like a loach, impotent and furious: "You fucking little girl, wearing a nightgown!"
"You fucking caveman, slow to move and not taking a shower."
As Su Jing's exasperated reply came from the bathroom, Ji Sheng slammed the door angrily, then suddenly thought of something, didn't wrangle with him anymore, turned and went out without saying a word.
Thirty seconds later, the door of Xie Xuanming's house was opened after being knocked on, and Ji Sheng appeared at the door with a bright smile.
"Xiao Xie, have you taken a shower yet?" He smiled like a weasel wishing Happy New Year to a chicken(1).
Xie Xuanming said quietly: "I washed in the morning, so you can use the bathroom."
Ji Sheng's eyes lit up, and after thanking him, he walked into the bathroom quickly.
The door closed, and the sound of water came from inside.
Xie Xuanming paused at the door for two seconds, then went back to the room, sat down, picked up the pen and continued to perfect the music he was writing.
He rewrote his scribbles absent-mindedly.
About five or six minutes later, Xie Xuanming caught Ji Sheng's cry.
"Xiao Xie——"
Xie Xuanming put down his pen and walked up to the bathroom. Ji Sheng poked his wet head out of the door, his hair covered in bubbles.
He said, "My pyjamas fell on the floor and got wet, so can you lend me something to wear?"
"Okay." Xie Xuanming went back to his room, took out a white t-shirt from the drawer, walked back and handed it to Ji Sheng.
Ji Sheng stretched out his hand to take it, bubbles sliding from the top of his head to his collarbone.
"Thank you."
The door closed.
Xie Xuanming stood outside for a while, touching his nose in embarrassment.
His waist was so white, was it because it didn't usually get to see the sun?
Ji Sheng took a shower, changed his clothes and wiped his hair.
Instead of leaving, he walked into Xie Xuanming's room with a big grin, put his hand on his shoulder, leaned over and asked curiously, "What are you writing?"
"A song."
"School life theme?"
"Correct."
"Are you inspired?"
"No…" Xie Xuanming couldn't help but raise his head, "Brother Ji, water is dripping from your head on my body."
When he said this, another drop of water fell and landed on his cheek.
"Sorry, sorry." Ji Sheng apologised, wiped the dripping water with his thumb and straightened.
The scent of shampoo was gone; Xie Xuanming quietly took two deep breaths to erase the weird feeling in his heart.
Ji Sheng didn't leave, but sat down on his bed smugly and wiped his head, as if he was going to stay here.
Xie Xuanming paused for a while and finally turned his head: "Won't you go back?"
"I don't want to go back." Ji Sheng muttered, "I have to quarrel with Su Jing again when I go back, and I don't want to quarrel with him."
Xie Xuanming remembered the scenes of his scuffles with Su Jing, full of sharp teeth and sharp claws, and couldn't help but doubt the authenticity of Ji Sheng's words "I don't want to quarrel with him."
But in the end Xie Xuanming only said: "Brother Su is indeed, generally quarrelsome."
Who knew that with this sentence he poked Ji Sheng's sore spot. He slapped his thigh and said passionately: "It's not that I can't quarrel with him!"
Xie Xuanming was fortunate enough to have witnessed Su Jing's battle in an Internet cafe where he fought one against eight, beating a group of keyboard warriors into obedience to the point of them not even daring to open their mouths.
Therefore, he again questioned the authenticity of Ji Sheng's words and said "hmm" in embarrassment.
Ji Sheng continued to argue: "I'm just letting him go. You can't tell his age, but that kid is actually just half a year older than you, and he's still like underage… Don't call him brother in the future, don't let him take advantage."
"Okay." Xie Xuanming said obediently.
Ji Sheng continued to mutter: "I respect the elderly and love the young. With children like you, I can't bear to be really angry. I'm just spoiling…"
Speaking of this, Ji Sheng suddenly remembered something.
"That's right." Ji Sheng jerked the towel away; the half-dry hair on the top of his head swayed twice and fell softly, "This is for you."
He took out a small package from his pyjamas pocket and stuffed it into Xie Xuanming's hand.
Xie Xuanming opened his hand and took a look. There was a delicate fruit candy in his palm. The package contained unfamiliar words in French or German, carrying a high-end vibe that distinguished it from snacks in the 50 cents shop.
"The lead singer of Bell is about the same age as you. His brother brought him this candy from France and he likes it very much. That guy bragged in front of me while chewing it and ridiculed me for not being able to eat it… I snatched one while he was not paying attention." Ji Sheng wrapped the towel on his head again and rubbed his hair in a messy manner, "The green one should be green apple flavour. If other people's children can have it, our children have to have it too."
He finished wiping, stood up and shook his hair: "I'm going back, Xiao Xie, take a break early."
He walked out quickly. Xie Xuanming didn't have time to say goodbye, so he could only hold the candy, raise his hand and shake his fist twice.
When the door closed, Xie Xuanming opened his palm, and the wrinkled package of the candy appeared in front of him.
Xie Xuanming tore open the package and put the candy in his mouth.
The taste of green apple spread on his tongue. Xie Xuanming sat with his eyes downcast and tasted it for a while, then suddenly was inspired, turned to take the paper, crossed out the original writing and started scribbling in the margin.
A week later, the Qingchu band showed a completely different style with the new song "Fruit Candy" in the semi-finals. The opponent was caught off guard by the transformed Qingchu and yielded the qualification for the finals.
At the celebration banquet, the members of Qingchu unsurprisingly got drunk again. Probably because of advancing to the finals, even Li Tan was affected and dozed off with his head propped up after three rounds of drinking.
Su Jing put down the glass and wrapped his arms around Xie Xuanming, his face flushed: "Awesome baby brother, I recruited you back then with the intention of bringing in someone to make up the numbers, but I didn't expect that! Hey, you can compose music! Awesome."
Xie Xuanming barely broke free from his arms, was hugged by him again and had his shoulder slapped vigorously: "Come, tell me, which girl do you have a crush on, we'll slay tomorrow and propose a marriage for you."
Xie Xuanming was taken aback: "I don't."
"Stop kidding." Su Jing waved his hand, "Don't try to lie, that song is clearly… absolutely… you're definitely in love with someone, I bet Ji Sheng's breakfast for a week…"
While Su Jing was shooting shit, Xie Xuanming caught a glimpse of the slumped Sheng Kongzhi suddenly getting up, walking quietly to Ji Sheng's side, calling him and saying something. Ji Sheng got up and the two slipped out in silence.
Su Jing was still babbling; Xie Xuanming had no intention of entangling with him, stuffed a beer bottle into his arms to replace himself and walked out the door in the direction where the two disappeared.
Before he took two steps, he heard a chuckle coming from a corner not far away.
"…I want to hear you sing that song today." It was Sheng Kongzhi's voice.
"My voice is not suitable." Ji Sheng said with a smile.
"I want to hear it." The drunk Sheng Kongzhi was much more straightforward than usual.
"…Okay, don't complain then that I don't sing well.
"You are a sour taste on my lips, a phantom of my night, a glimpse in the mirror…"
Ji Sheng sang softly, with some hoarseness and an unspeakable shyness hidden in his voice.
The low sound of singing was coming quietly, carrying the young man's thoughts that he couldn't hide.
Xie Xuanming stood behind the corner, listening to Ji Sheng use his own song to express his heart to another man in a subtle yet candid way.
He lowered his head, listening for a while, then turned and went back.
Xie Xuanming returned to the table and pulled the bottle out of Su Jing's arms.
"Fuck, my bottle… bottle… the bottle is flying!" Su Jing's eyes widened in amazement.
Xie Xuanming ignored him, emptied the bottle in three gulps, then pulled out another bottle, popped it open with his teeth, drinking its contents like water, expressionlessly.
"Fuck!" Su Jing was in a daze, watching him drink. The beer slipped into his throat and fell into his stomach before he could taste it.
When Ji Sheng and Sheng Kongzhi came back, they were shocked to see Xie Xuanming nearly lying on the table, with a pile of beer bottles piled up beside him.
"Damn, how much did you drink?" Ji Sheng came over and counted suspiciously, "Seven, eight… Su Jing!! Fucking Xiao Xie has just come of age, how come you let him drink like that!"
He snarled at the heartless, giggling, drunken Su Jing at his side, but before the end of his sentence, his wrist was suddenly yanked.
The drunk young adult clutched his wrist with one hand, propped on the table with the other, kicked over two or three beer bottles and stood up swaying.
He leaned towards Ji Sheng and sprayed him with a sour smell of alcohol as he spoke.
"You, sing to others." Xie Xuanming's face was expressionless but there was an unstoppable flush on his cheeks and the tips of ears, "Still, my song."
"Huh?" Xie Xuanming's voice was low and vague. Ji Sheng didn't hear him clearly, only faintly noticed a bit of grievance in his words.
Why? Did he feel isolated that they didn't take him to drink?
Ji Sheng wondered.
Are the little boys so sentimental now?
Or is it that Xiao Xie was originally an emotional child like Sister Lin(2)?
Soon he didn't have the heart to think about that.
The sentimental little boy somehow got the strength to yank violently—
When red eyes dilated in front of him and the smell of alcohol invaded his private space, Ji Sheng sensed something was wrong and tried to withdraw—
Too late.
Ji Sheng lost his balance and leaned back, his head and waist suddenly hurt, hitting something; the bright light above his head irritated his eyes but before he had time to close his eyes, the shadow of a man came up and blocked the blinding light…
Xie Xuanming pressed Ji Sheng onto the plastic bench fiercely, lowered his head and bit his lip.
The author has something to say:
It's Xiao Ji's first kiss
Bitten on the first kiss hh
1. Wolf in sheep's clothing
2. Probably, the character from "Dream of the Red Chamber" with a charming poetic temperament
Chapter 26
yun1yun yun1yun
1 year ago
When Xie Xuanming woke up, he was lying on the floor, and his face pressed against the ceramic tiles ached.
He glanced around in confusion and realized that he was not in his room. He raised his hand and touched the corners of his eyes, feeling significant swelling and dull pain.
He got up slowly and saw Sheng Kongzhi who was asleep on the sofa next to him, not sobered up yet.
It was Ji Sheng's place, Xie Xuanming made a judgement.
When he thought of Ji Sheng, his skull ached.
Xie Xuanming felt as if something had happened at noon, but his fragmented brain was blank and he couldn't recall anything except passing out and feeling vaguely flustered.
Xie Xuanming touched the back of his head, walked into the bathroom, glanced at the mirror and was shocked by his bruised and swollen reflection.
The guy in the mirror had a split at the corner of his eye, the left half of his face was swollen like a steamed bun and even his eye was squeezed into a slit.
It could be seen at a glance he had been beaten.
And not lightly beaten.
Xie Xuanming knew his mad dog temper; he raised his hand to take a look at his intact knuckles, wondering why he was beaten like this without fighting back.
Was it because he was drunk and didn't have the strength to fight back?
Or was it something fanciful that he had no reason to resist?
The disconnected Xie Xuanming had no way of knowing.
He washed the blood stains on his face with cold water, wiped the water, walked out of the bathroom and bumped into Su Jing who came out of the bedroom yawning.
When Su Jing saw him, his narrowed eyes widened: "Wow, it's so scary."
Xie Xuanming knew that his new face was scary but he wanted to know why he was so scary.
"After I was drunk, what happened?"
"Heh, you're not good when you're drunk." Su Jing rubbed his swollen face, his pretty eyebrows raised in glee, "You hugged Baby Sheng and kissed and gnawed on him, like a mad dog, Lao Sheng and I couldn't stop you, but Baby Sheng was self-reliant. He got up and punched you twice. After beating you down, he felt more at ease."
Xie Xuanming's usual indifferent expression gradually cracked: "I, hugged Brother Ji… and gnawed…"
He couldn't talk anymore; his face turned pale but the tips of his ears were frighteningly red.
Seeing his face pale with astonishment, Su Jing's non-existent motherly nature was stirred up a bit and for a moment he forgot the zombie-dog crazy appearance of the kid at the celebration banquet, on the contrary, feeling that he looked like a lost boy.
"Ji Sheng is in the bedroom, go and apologise." Su Jing patted him, "Baby Sheng has a big heart and is easy to soften. If you act coquettishly a little, he won't be able to help himself."
Su Jing walked past Xie Xuanming and entered the bathroom, leaving Xie Xuanming alone at the door of the bedroom in a daze.
After a few seconds, he took a step forward and knocked on the door hesitantly.
No response.
Knock again.
There was silence.
Are you asleep?…
Xie Xuanming hesitated for two seconds, opened the door of the bedroom and raised his eyes to see Ji Sheng sitting on the bed, staring at him coldly.
Xie Xuanming: ……
"Brother Ji." Xie Xuanming closed the door, "You are awake but no one answered. I thought you were asleep…"
Before he finished speaking, he saw Ji Sheng's current situation and stopped, stunned.
Ji Sheng's lips were swollen, clearly split, and a small bruise at the corner of his eye was very eye-catching. It didn't look like he had been beaten by someone, but it seemed that he had bumped into something. The most shocking thing was his cheek. There were deep tooth marks on his smooth left cheek making it look like a bitten apple, obvious and alarming.
Xie Xuanming couldn't close his mouth; his expression was horrified.
"You hugged Baby Sheng and kissed and gnawed on him"
Su Jing's words echoed hauntingly in his ears, crumbling his vague ambitions and shaking him to the core.
Xie Xuanming really didn't expect that Su Jing didn't exaggerate at all. He was telling the true story.
Xie Xuanming hardly dared to look up. Ji Sheng's miserable and slightly funny "battle damage" face had three large words written on it—
"Kissed and gnawed".
"Have you seen enough?"
Xie Xuanming seemed to tremble like a willow branch by the door for a while; Ji Sheng finally couldn't bear it and spoke in a gloomy voice.
He was in a bad mood. No one could stay calm and kind after being chewed (literally) by the puppy they picked up. Ji Sheng felt that not blasting Xie Xuanming out of the house and grabbing a rabies vaccination already made him as benevolent as Guanyin Bodhisattva reincarnated.
Seeing Xie Xuanming's confused and devastated face, Ji Sheng said coldly: "Don't tell me you don't remember."
"I don't remember…"
"……"
"I'm sorry…"
Xie Xuanming stood at the door dejectedly, looking a little aggrieved.
When Ji Sheng saw him like this, his anger flared up seven metres high.
Obviously it was him who was bitten and taken advantage of, why did this kid look miserably like "I'm a victim"!
Furious and unable to maintain a decent demeanour, he stood up, pointed at his cheek and cursed, "Xie Xuanming! You're a dog, aren't you! Or a zombie! I've been treating you well, so where did you get all this resentment from?"
"It's not resentment…" Xie Xuanming defended himself in a low voice.
"What is it then? Young man's anger? Or a spermatozoa brain attack? Don't tell me you have a secret crush on me!"
Xie Xuanming's heart thudded and he unconsciously looked up at Ji Sheng.
His eyes were full of shock mixed with some panic, and he looked pitiful like a small, dumbfounded animal being yelled at.
Ji Sheng took two deep breaths and suppressed his anger: "You'd better give me a satisfactory explanation."
Xie Xuanming nodded quickly.
The excuse of recurrent madness was definitely not good, as no one would want to keep a hidden danger of a mentally ill by their side. The excuse of having a crush was even more choking. Xie Xuanming felt it was better to hang himself on the spot…
Several excuses flashed through Xie Xuanming's brain that was temporarily paralyzed by alcohol, and finally, a bold and outrageous movie script plot surfaced.
"Actually, I have a first love." Xie Xuanming's expression was solemn, his eyelashes fluttering, "Looking a bit like Brother Ji."
He said this with a sense of uncertainty, feeling that this outrageous reasoning would be debunked in a minute.
"I have been secretly in love for a long time… I probably was not clear-headed when I was drunk. I thought you were… I just…"
But Ji Sheng believed it.
"Excuse me, did I have to suffer on behalf of others?" Ji Sheng sneered, "You're lucky, Xie Xuanming, that I am a big guy. If there was a girl looking like your first love, you could go directly to jail."
"I'm sorry…" Xie Xuanming apologised in a low voice, ready to accept the blame.
Seeing him so dejected, Ji Sheng gradually calmed down.
Ji Sheng was angry because he was bitten raw. The pain produced some anger; he was not thinking of it in terms of being insulted or taken advantage of. Now Xie Xuanming presented his first love that ended in failure and his pitiful appearance was very softening…
At least it could soften Ji Sheng's heart.
"All right, all right." Ji Sheng waved his hand impatiently, "Look at yourself, you're suffocating yourself into a frenzy like this. If you like someone, go after them and confess your love. What's the point of sulking… your first love, does she go to the same school as you?"
Xie Xuanming assessed Ji Sheng's tone and figured out that if he said yes, he would be forced to go and confess.
"Used to but now went abroad." Xie Xuanming lied without blinking.
"Is there a phone number?"
"No contact information." Xie Xuanming said, "One level older than me, we haven't even exchanged a few words."
"Outrageous!" Ji Sheng hated iron for not being made of steel, but on second thought it dawned on him, "No wonder you gave me Hercules just after meeting me, it turned out to be evocative of the past."
"Rolex." Xie Xuanming corrected timidly, "And 'evocative of the past' is not used like this."
"Damn." Ji Sheng said angrily, "Are you here to apologise or to bicker?"
"I'm sorry…"
Ji Sheng glanced at him helplessly: "Forget it, don't look so bitter, those who don't know might think I'm bullying you… Don't drink so much in future. Also, if your first love comes back, or you find someone you like, don't be so wimpy, express yourself a little bit, and maybe you'll get what you want. You are so good-looking, if you are bold enough, you might find that the little girl likes you too."
"Not a little girl." Xie Xuanming whispered, "It's a boy."
"Boy——" Ji Sheng's mind was blank for a moment, and then he said fiercely, "Boys also like good-looking!"
"Oh." Xie Xuanming nodded obediently.
Ji Sheng was completely helpless against him: "Come here."
Xie Xuanming went over uncertainly and his neck was hugged and pressed down, his face squeezed fiercely.
The corners of Xie Xuanming's mouth twitched in pain and he pursed his lips tightly without making a sound.
Ji Sheng squeezed his face vigorously until leaving red marks, let go and snorted, "Now we're even."
Xie Xuanming straightened up and rubbed his cheek.
Ji Sheng sighed: "You don't even make a sound when you're in pain, you're a jerk when you're drinking, do you have some kind of alternative alcohol allergy?"
He patted Xie Xuanming on the head: "Don't drink in the future, I'm afraid you will be bullied when you are drunk."
Xie Xuanming raised his eyes and caught a glimpse of the eye-catching tooth marks on Ji Sheng's face. It was me who bullied you when I was drunk, he said to himself.
Of course, he couldn't say it aloud. Xie Xuanming didn't want to make Ji Sheng, who was finally coaxed by him, mad again.
He only let out an "en", demonstrating how harmless he was to humans and animals.
"Go back and get up early tomorrow to practise." Ji Sheng rubbed his head twice turning it into a bird's nest, "Whichever girl… guy you like in the future… tell your brother, I'll give you a hand, if nothing else, I'm good at courting people."
"En. "
"Go back, bye." Ji Sheng pushed him.
After Xie Xuanming said goodbye and turned away, his face changed.
The obedience and gentleness quickly disappeared. Xie Xuanming pulled the door with an expressionless face, nodded slightly as he collided with Su Jing who was about to enter, and walked out.
"I see you've scolded him, his expression is so ugly…" Su Jing yelled in amazement, entering the room.
Xie Xuanming closed the door, cutting off the noise, and walked straight out of the apartment.
He stood still outside the anti-theft door and rubbed his stiff face.
It would be absolutely impossible to tell Ji Sheng that he liked someone.
That would not be not called intelligence sharing, it would be called confession.
Of course Xie Xuanming knew that Ji Sheng was very good at courting people; the gentle singing in the corner was the evidence.
Ji Sheng was brilliant at expressing emotions in singing. If Xie Xuanming was only suspicious before, he was basically sure after listening to the low singing.
Ji Sheng was borrowing his love song to express his affection for Sheng Kongzhi.
Xie Xuanming was also good at putting his feelings into songs, whether it was about stray dogs or ambiguous fruit candies.
So, when he was on the stage, did Ji Sheng hear the throbbing in his voice?
Xie Xuanming walked to the door of the rental house, took out the key and inserted it into the rusty keyhole with a squeak.
At the end of the show, Xie Xuanming turned back with a calculated motion and his eyes flew to the drum kit area at the back.
Ji Sheng sat there.
He smiles wantonly, his eyes containing a fine light that quietly spilled over to the corner of the stage.
Boldly and gently, he looked at the bassist who bowed his head, stroking the guitar.
Seeing Xie Xuanming turn around, Ji Sheng was surprised for a moment and his gaze moved.
He gave Xie Xuanming a cheerful smile.
The author has something to say:
The source of all evil——actually, I have a first love
Previous / ToC / Next
Chapter 27
yun1yun yun1yun
1 year ago
The finals were going to take place four weeks later, with an original song and an unlimited theme.
The unlimited theme was like loosening the reins, and the wild horse, Qingchu, let out a cheerful neigh and galloped towards the victory.
The members quickly settled on a repertoire, and after making a more dramatic and audience-engaging adaptation for the stage performance, rehearsals began.
The rehearsals in the first two weeks went smoothly. The choreography and stage movements were perfected over and over again, and the members were on their way to the championship, with Su Jing jokingly asking more than once where they should go to celebrate after the competition, or maybe have a little tour…
Everything seemed to be moving rapidly forward on the right track.
But accidents always happen.
Since the third week, Li Tan had been absent from rehearsals frequently. When the members asked him about the situation, he only answered vaguely that something happened at home and his embarrassed expression made it difficult to ask more.
One day, on the way to rehearse, Xie Xuanming turned a corner and suddenly heard Li Tan's voice.
"One more week, okay? It really can't be done in a short period of time… I will find a way, please be a little more lenient…"
Xie Xuanming listened silently; Li Tan's voice gradually changed from eager pleading to anger and helplessness. He finally hung up the phone in annoyance and sat down weakly.
Xie Xuanming leaned against the wall motionless, intuitively feeling that something was about to happen.
He felt right. At the end of the third weekend, Li Tan came to the rental house and said that he wanted to talk to the members about something.
When Xie Xuanming came from next door, Li Tan was sitting on the sofa, holding a cigarette in one hand and holding his forehead with the other, his face gloomy and haggard.
"You know my younger brother." He gritted his teeth and cursed angrily, "That loser kid, I knew sooner or later he will cause trouble."
"What did he do?" Sheng Kongzhi frowned, "Gambling again?"
Li Tan didn't answer, just lowered his head and kept inhaling the smoke hard.
Xie Xuanming, not used to the smell of tobacco, frowned slightly, Ji Sheng glanced at him and said to Li Tan: "Put out your cigarette, Xiao Xie is not used to it."
He asked again: "How much do you owe?"
"A hundred thousand or so." Pressing the cigarette into the ashtray, Li Tan said in a hoarse voice.
"Fuck." Ji Sheng and Su Jing cursed simultaneously.
They knew Li Tan's family situation. His father was bedridden and unable to work. His mother passed away early. Li Tan started working after graduating from primary school to be able to survive with his six-year-old younger brother and his sick father.
Although in the past two years Li Tan had a stable job and his family's situation improved a bit, in a month, together with the extra money from the performance, he would make just 5,000 to 6,000 yuan. This 100,000 yuan was an absolute huge sum for Li Tan's family.
"What is he doing?" Su Jing's face was flushed with anger, "He still goes out to gamble in this situation in your family."
Li Tan raised his hand, wanting to smoke again. When he found that the cigarette was put out, he could only clench his fingers and say bitterly: "Who knows what he thinks. The debt collector came to the door and said that if he couldn't pay it back, he would cut off one of his fingers for 10,000 yuan. My dad almost fainted when he heard it. I really…"
He couldn't go on; the Qingchu members looked at each other, and Sheng Kongzhi said after some hesitation: "What are you going to do?"
"I have 50,000 in my account." Li Tan said, "And then go to relatives to borrow… may be able to put together more than 10,000, the rest… my father told me to mortgage the old house for some money…"
"Isn't your dad living in that house?" Su Jing was shocked, "You mortgage it, where will you live?"
Li Tan slapped the sofa irritably: "I don't know, I can't leave dad without a place to live. I thought I really could sell a kidney and be done with it, I happen to know a few people who do this business…"
"No way!" The members of Qingchu said in unison.
Xie Xuanming frowned and said, "It is illegal to buy or sell organs."
Ji Sheng followed up: "Xiao Xie is right, we can't do illegal things, and this thing is not regulated and not safe. Can you live like before with one of your organs missing?"
"Then what can I do?" Li Tan rubbed his temples and said bitterly, "Watch my brother's fingers being cut off?"
Everyone went silent again.
"There's actually another way." In the silence, Ji Sheng spoke abruptly, "We have 30,000 in hand, and we can get another 15,000 if we win the competition."
Li Tan was startled for a moment, then suddenly raised his head: "But that's the money for the album."
"The album can be released in the future. Can your brother's fingers grow again after being cut off?" Ji Sheng said angrily.
"I agree with Baby Sheng." Su Jing said.
Xie Xuanming frowned slightly, somewhat disapproving.
He was actually not so obsessed with making an album but he knew how eager Ji Sheng was to do it.
He thought for a while and said, "Actually—"
He wanted to say that there was still 10,000 yuan that had not been deposited in the bank under his bed, but as soon as he made a sound, Ji Sheng turned to look at him and shook his head vaguely.
Xie Xuanming shut up.
Li Tan looked at the members of Qingchu with some confusion and excitement. He was very happy with the appearance of this game-breaking method, but the possibility of destroying Qingchu's dream made him feel guilty.
He stammered: "This, how can I…"
"There is nothing to be embarrassed about." Sheng Kongzhi, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said, "The band was an unstable combination from the beginning. Even if such a thing didn't happen, Qingchu would probably dissolve after successfully releasing an album."
His voice was as peaceful as usual: "Xiao Sheng and I will return to school in three months. It is estimated that we cannot continue the band playing life. I originally wanted to talk about it after the competition… But now it's come up, let's talk about it."
Ji Sheng and Sheng Kong were going to withdraw from Qingchu.
Xie Xuanming was taken aback. He instinctively looked at Ji Sheng, but found that he was also looking at Sheng Kongzhi with an expression of astonishment, as if he had never been told about it.
Qingchu ended the conversation, stating the imminent loss of the guitarist, determining that the plans for the album would be falling through and announcing the date of the band's dissolution.
After the competition, Qingchu would disband.
When Li Tan left, Ji Sheng calmly called, "Sheng Kongzhi, come here."
He rarely called Sheng Kongzhi's full name; his expression was obviously uneasy.
Sheng Kongzhi's face remained unchanged and he even gave Su Jing, who seemed worried, a soothing smile, as he went to the balcony with Ji Sheng.
Xie Xuanming could not resist glancing at the balcony.
Ji Sheng stood opposite Sheng Kongzhi, his expression gloomy, while Sheng Kongzhi looked helpless.
Su Jing thought he was worried about a conflict between the two and patted him on the shoulder: "Hey, lovers spat."
Xie Xuanming retracted his gaze: "Oh."
On the balcony, Ji Sheng said, "What about the dissolution? I never said that I was going back to school."
"You have to go back." It was a rare occasion for Sheng Kongzhi to be tough, "Last year, our senior year, you failed at least seven or eight subjects, and if you don't retake them you will not get your graduation certificate."
"I don't care about that lousy certificate." Ji Sheng was sullen, "Don't lecture me like an adult."
"You don't care, I care." Sheng Kongzhi said, "During the days of playing in the band, my grade points have plummeted. I got a scholarship in my freshman year. What about my sophomore year? What about senior year? Ji Sheng, we agreed that we would take the university entrance examination together and go to the big city together. Senior year of high school was so hard, you needed to grit your teeth and survive. Now you tell me you don't want the certificate… What do I have to think, what will you say next, that you don't want me anymore, you just need your band, your musical dreams, your freedom!"
Ji Sheng was stunned by his tirade, and after a while he said, "Why do you… want to oppose the band and you? There is no conflict at all."
"But the truth is there is." Sheng Kongzhi calmed down and whispered, "The situation at my house… You also know it. My dad called me more than a dozen times and asked me when I would go back to school… It wasn't easy for them to pay for me to go there. Not to mention anything else, at least I have to study for an undergraduate degree, and then find a job to give them a pension… But now the band hinders my plans. I thought about telling you that I quit and you should find another bassist… but…"
Sheng Kongzhi paused: "Do you know how many times Auntie called me?"
Ji Sheng raised his eyes abruptly: "My mother?"
"Right." Sheng Kongzhi said, "The school called her. She didn't know how to tell you, so she asked me what the situation was and whether you could graduate…"
Ji Sheng was speechless.
Sheng Kongzhi saw him hesitate and softened his voice:
"Xiao Sheng, the band can be gathered again after it is disbanded. You can get your certificate first, wait until you graduate, find a stable job, and then play in a band, already having a solid financial foundation, okay?"
Ji Sheng and Sheng Kongzhi finished talking. The other members of Qingchu didn't know what they talked about; Ji Sheng didn't say anything when he came back and seemed to acquiesce in the dissolution after the final of the competition.
Li Tan had to work hard to pay his debts. Ji Sheng and Sheng Kongzhi were going back to school. Even Su Jing said after being silent for a while that it was fine, he was planning to participate in an e-sports competitions and he really couldn't do it while in the band…
"Xiao Xie, what about you? What are you going to do?" Ji Sheng asked as he collected his things after a day of rehearsals before the finals began.
"I…" Xie Xuanming hesitated.
The man calling himself dad called him several more times, and his attitude gradually changed from tolerance to impatience.
Xie Xuanming thought that he should be going back to Xie's house.
But he didn't want to say it; it seemed that as long as he didn't say it, compromise and helplessness would not exist.
Ji Sheng didn't notice his hesitation and continued to ask, "You will be in your senior year when you go back. Where do you want to take the exam?"
"I haven't thought about it."
Ji Sheng threw a few music theory books into the box, stood up, and looked at Xie Xuanming: "Haven't thought about it, or have never thought about it?"
Xie Xuanming heard some meaning in his words and raised his eyes to look over in surprise.
Ji Sheng looked at Xie Xuanming intently for a while, lowered his head, and smiled subtly: "That day at the bar, I saw the rope in your bag.
"At that time I thought, such a schoolboy-like child, not going to school, not playing, just wandering aimlessly with a piece of rope…"
"Did you pity me?" Xie Xuanming interrupted.
Pitied him, so he borrowed the rope to save him, gave him the bracelet to go to the show, took the initiative to invite him to join Qingchu, spent his energy to fix the watch, took him around, bought cotton candy and sat on the ferris wheel with him…
"You can call it pity, but it's better to say what a pity." Ji Sheng smiled at him, "I thought at the time, what a pity if I didn't get to know such a beautiful child. So I knocked on your door and forcibly took you to run here and there… Did you wonder in your heart what was wrong with this big brother, he is rude, has no sense of boundaries and rolls around like a noisy hamster."
"No." Xie Xuanming denied, "Brother Ji, you are very good."
After being acknowledged, Ji Sheng smiled again. He squatted down and continued to collect his luggage, saying:
"There should be many little girls who like you. If you don't go to school, will they be sad? Will they look over their shoulders every day and say that little handsome guy didn't come today either… And you, your first love went abroad, haven't you thought about going to meet him? You have 10,000 yuan in your card, that should be enough to buy a round-trip ticket. Fly over, find him and confess, be young, be unrepentant…"
Ji Sheng looked up at him with bright eyes: "This world is terrible, but there will always be a few people who care."
"I have people who care." Xie Xuanming whispered.
"Uh-huh."
"But…" Xie Xuanming said, "I don't have my own life."
Ji Sheng didn't answer, tilting his head slightly.
Xie Xuanming continued, "My mother was just shaping me into a replica of my half-brother. She was counting on the fake to enter the family and replace the original. I was my mother's expensive tool. My life is an imitation of others. I don't have my own life."
He confessed his bleak life story all of a sudden; but even though his tone was as flat as if he was telling someone else's story, the anger and loss between his words still seeped like water.
Ji Sheng was silent for a while, then said, "But the person I know is Xie Xuanming who has been shaped by your life experience."
He looked up at Xie Xuanming, the mole at the corner of his eye dark and bright. "I really like Xiao Xie now. If you deny his existence, I will be very unhappy.
"It doesn't matter if you don't have your own life, it's okay. Imitate the lives of other people and add your own colours to them. That's your own life."
The author has something to say：
So Xiao Xie went to drama school~ in order to perceive and imitate more lives of "other people"~
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Chapter 28
yun1yun yun1yun
1 year ago
The expiration of the lease and the day of the finals were both at the end of the month. It could basically be said that Qingchu would finish the competition and then would be evicted from the rental house by the landlord.
Ji Sheng started collecting his luggage one week ago but procrastinated until finally putting it all away till the day before the competition.
Ji Sheng, who had finished packing, pounded his waist, turned around, sat down on the suitcase and looked up to find Xie Xuanming standing at the door for who knows how long. Ji Sheng was taken aback for a moment and then smiled: "When did you come, why didn't you say anything?"
Xie Xuanming said, "Just now."
His face was absolutely blank. Ji Sheng swayed back and forth gently and asked, "Sad?"
He joked again: "You need to pack, so as not to be too embarrassed when the landlord throws you out."
Xie Xuanming lowered his eyes, neither agreeing nor refusing.
"People always have to part." Ji Sheng comforted him, "It's not that we won't contact each other again. I'll be the first to contact you if I start a band in the future."
Xie Xuanming finally moved and said, "Don't sit on the suitcase and sway, you will fall."
"How can I!" It would be better if he didn't say it, but since he did, Ji Sheng swayed almost triumphantly, "I have long legs and I can stand up as soon as I need to.
"Look, it's okay to sway like this… damn!"
Ji Sheng happily lost his balance, falling over, and the suitcase fell down with a crash as well, the flimsy zip breaking and clothes scattering everywhere, while Ji Sheng lay on the floor in a mess.
Xie Xuanming's expression finally changed from gloomy to helpless.
"I said you would fall." He wanted to add a few words to scold him but when Ji Sheng looked up and smiled at him, he couldn't scold him at all. He reached down and pulled Ji Sheng up, then squatted down to put the scattered clothes back into the suitcase.
Ji Sheng also wanted to help, but Xie Xuanming's movements were neat and organised and there was no chance for him to intervene.
Retracting his hand, Ji Sheng simply sat down, propped his head and watched Xie Xuanming pack up, his eyes smiling.
"Xiao Xie is really like a little wife, so sensible and beautiful."
Xie Xuanming paused and said, "I don't help for free, I want to get paid."
"Ah, I've just praised you." Ji Sheng lowered his head, "Did Su Jing teach you kid bad things, what do you want?"
"Sing."
"Huh?"
Xie Xuanming slowed down his movements and said clearly: "I will help you pack up and you will sing for me."
"You really don't wrong yourself, it's very expensive to order me to sing." Ji Sheng raised his eyebrows, "Okay, what do you want to listen to?" "
"Fruit candy."
"Love song, ah~" Ji Sheng chuckled, "You wrote it yourself… Could it be that you want to hear your little first love sing and come to me for a mood?"
Xie Xuanming patted his clothes a few times: "Will you sing or not?"
"Sing, sing."
The gentle song rose in the narrow room, and beneath it, the 18-year-old quietly raised his eyes and stowed the intently singing 19-year-old in a treasure box of memories.
On his wrist, the hands of a fancy modified watch spinned, quivering, as the young man who could not keep time became eternal in his love.
On the day of the finals, Qingchu appeared with a new song "Monster in the Box".
They announced their disbandment before the start of the performance, calmly plugged in the instruments amidst the regretful wails of the audience and started the performance as always.
Every year, countless bands are formed, perform and disband.
Qingchu was only a small part of that vast tide.
They formed silently, went through many difficulties and finally had a pretty beautiful ending before disbanding.
When the melody started, Xie Xuanming waited for the beat and leaned closer to the mic.
We are all monsters trapped in boxes
Every day trying to bang our heads against the wall
Insults are sucked into the lungs with the air
Chains of discipline and love work together as partners
We will eventually be shattered to pieces
Dying with our backbones pointing to heaven.
Xie Xuanming sang with all his might, abandoning his musical skills and personal style, leaving only the catharsis of emotional outburst.
The audience was so infected by his passion that many shouted themselves hoarse, and a few of the older audience members who had watched Qingchu all the way from the bottom to the top shed tears unconsciously.
At the end of the song, Xie Xuanming ignored the noise in the audience and turned around, showing his thin stubborn back to the audience.
He looked straight above him, towards the drums of God and the low chants of demons.
The stage lights spread from the cluster in all directions.
When thousands of beams of light came, Xie Xuanming opened his arms and leaned back slightly in a sacrificial posture.
The audience reached their hands, ready to welcome the fall of the rebel.
But Xie Xuanming did not leap down in the end, he only opened his arms unhesitatingly, like a fledgling eagle stretching its wings and gliding into the sky, or like the lonely and painful cry of the undead, embracing his lover in the void.
When Ji Sheng woke up, his vision was blocked by grey and black striped pyjamas.
The moment he opened his eyes, Xie Xuanming happened to get out of bed and stood in front of the small couch. Ji Sheng slept on his back today, his head coincidentally aligned with the unmentionable organ.
Ji Sheng was stunned for a moment, then quickly closed his eyes.
Although his reaction was not slow, the terrifying protrusion under the loose pyjamas still caused a great impact on his brain.
Not everyone had the experience of waking up and facing someone's reproductive apparatus next to them.
Anyway, Ji Sheng chose to sound the SOS alarm in his heart, wishing that his brain would be able to forget that startling glimpse.
He closed his eyes and pretended to be dead until he heard Xie Xuanming's footsteps gradually move away and the wardrobe door open.
Ji Sheng squinted and opened his eyes slightly; Xie Xuanming, with a towel and clothes in his hands, entered the bathroom.
Hearing the sound of water, Ji Sheng sat up and combed down his fluffy hair.
Good God, when did this guy develop so well?
Recalling that protruding piece with a strong sense of presence, Ji Sheng 'tsk'ed slightly, and some unique unwillingness pertinent to men surged into his heart.
But he quickly balanced it out.
No matter how well-developed you are, what's the use?
You don't use it anyway.
You still have to get up early in the morning and take a cold shower.
Ji Sheng yawned, got up from the couch and went downstairs to the guest bathroom.
Xie Xuanming, how could he become so unlovable from head to toe, including his unmentionable organ?
Ji Sheng sniffled; where did Xiao Xie, the good wife and mother who would pack his things with his eyes downcast, go?
Miss him so much.
For the next two weeks, Ji Sheng was preparing for the Double Twelve Light Festival.
He was temporarily added to another band, performing as a secondary drummer.
"A secondary drummer? That means there's a primary one?" Ji Sheng asked on the way to the practice room.
"Not really." The agent said calmly, "It's actually two drummers but the other company wouldn't have it. So I told them about adding a musician, and the organiser automatically set the primary and the secondary according to the celebrity list position."
Ji Sheng: "…"
Ji Sheng: "Then the other party didn't know that I was also a drummer."
Agent: "Yes."
"What about the rehearsal?"Ji Sheng was shocked, "I play alone? No joint practice?"
"In fact, there is no need to rehearse." The agent said indifferently, "The organiser has made preparations, and the other company is also full of confidence, and can guarantee that there will be no mistakes in any case."
"What are they going to do?"
"Play the recording without turning on the mic." The agent's words were concise.
Ji Sheng: "…"
Ji Sheng: "Okay."
He ducked his head and absentmindedly spun his phone.
The agent looked at him from the rearview mirror: "Do you still have to practise? The boss said you could go straight back to the villa and rest."
He didn't even let him practise during rehearsals.
What kind of impression does Xie Xuanming have of Ji Hui?
He was really too arrogant.
Ji Sheng raised his eyes, smiled at the agent in the rearview mirror and said lightly: "I will practise, why won't I practise. Even if you are fake drumming, you have to make a qualified fake drumming."
"Okay." The agent stepped on the accelerator and sped out.
After two weeks of practising alone, Ji Sheng went to the scene of the Double Twelve Light Festival.
In the past two weeks, not to mention that he had not rehearsed with the band he would cooperate with, he had not even met the musicians of that band once. If it weren't for the agent's reassurance that there would be staff guiding him at that time, Ji Sheng would even wonder if he would miss the show because he didn't know anyone.
The stars of the Double Twelve Light Festival gathered, and the fans and spectators waiting in the audience excitedly held signs, talked and shouted, and the preparation area behind the stage was also very lively.
"Is Emperor Xie coming this time?" A little idol asked in the dressing room for mish-mash paste coffee(1).
"How is it possible?" A little paste actor replied, "If Senior Sheng comes, he won't come. They are incompatible like fire and water."
"My God, I thought it was a rumour."
"Of course not… but I heard people say that Emperor Xie talked to the director and stuffed someone into the party."
"Who the hell is he? For Emperor Xie to personally step out for him, impressive."
"Some 18th tier guy surnamed Ji, he was on a hot search before… he looks a bit like Ji Sheng, you know."
"Got it." The little idol understood in seconds, "What's his performance? A hundred people chorus, a group of sixteen sketch?"
"Can someone from Emperor Xie do the same kind of show as us paste? A proper band performance, as a drummer, with a fixed mic and a fixed camera kind of thing."
"So good… can the 18th tier play drums?"
"Who can't fake it, put a recording, it is the same thing if I do it, or you do it, or whoever…"
While they were talking, a staff member quickly walked to the dressing table next to them and said to the young man who was reading the program list: "Mr. Ji Hui, what can I do for you?"
Her voice was quite loud and clear, and the little idol and the little actor froze.
The two looked at each other and saw a face seven or eight points similar to Ji Sheng's in the corner seat.
Reacting to the fact that the person they were discussing behind his back was listening on the sidelines, the little actor and the little idol were so embarrassed that they sheepishly stopped talking.
The little idol thought unconvincingly: really, it is the 18th tier, sitting there for half a day without being recognized by anyone.
The little actor said sourly: There is special staff here, Emperor Xie is generous.
The two of them were so sour that you could almost feel the smell wafting off the screen.
But there was one thing that they were right about. This staff member was indeed specially assigned by the director's team to take care of Ji Sheng after Xie Xuanming mentioned it. The agent told Ji Sheng that he could find her if he needed anything.
At the moment the babysitting staff member had a smile on her face and an overwhelming sense of helplessness in her heart.
This kind of good-for-nothing artists with powerful backers were the most difficult to please, each one more incompetent and more temperamental than the other.
She was ready to be made to suffer but she had the professionalism to meet this young lover of the movie star with a smile, no matter what kind of fit he was going to throw.
Unexpectedly, the little paramour was surprisingly polite.
"Hello, can I ask you for one thing?"
Ji Sheng, who was looking down at the programme, raised his eyes, and the glittering tear mole was dazzling and bewitching.
The staff was dazed for a moment.
Even if it was a good-for-nothing, it was still a beautiful good-for-nothing, no wonder Emperor Xie threw a lot of money stuffing him in…
She returned to her senses: "Please tell, I will help if I can help."
The beautiful good-for-nothing smiled slightly and his slender fingers tapped on the corner of the program list.
There was the name of the performance he was about to star in, followed by a word written in big letters—"pre-recorded".
"I'm sorry to say this, but can you turn my mic on later? Please."
Artists who are not popular, yet or anymore
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Chapter 29
yun1yun yun1yun
1 year ago
Ji Sheng finally met the drummer he was working with half an hour before he went on stage.
The drummer's name was Bai Fei, and he had recently won a contest on a music show. He signed a contract with a large company at the end of the show and went to the Double Twelve Light Festival in the third month of his debut, which could be said to be quite smooth.
The common problem of artists with smooth careers was craziness, and Bai Fei was no exception.
Backed by a big company, with strong financial support, but also strong in his own right, he belonged to the best group of musicians of the new generation.
He had the power to be crazy.
This was why Bai Fei had a black face after seeing the list of collaborating musicians.
"One trash, two wankers and one little toy boy." Bai Fei's expression was extremely unsightly.
On such a big stage, the lead singer couldn't sing, the guitar and bass couldn't make a squeak, the drummer pretended to beat the drums, and all of them rushed to perform a pantomime.
That was a fucking monkey show.
Bai Fei's expression was grim and angry, and he didn't even bother to answer when someone came forward to greet him. Until the "little toy boy", a few centimetres shorter than him, stood in front of him, tilted up his girlish face to look at him and said, "Excuse me, could I perhaps discuss something with you?"
Only then did he begrudgingly give him a few glances.
Ji Sheng pointed to the staff who brought him over, smiled and said, "I am the drummer who is about to work with you. I would like to discuss with you whether I can turn on the microphone for the performance. The staff says I can if you agree."
The boy took the initiative to ask for the mic.
Bai Fei was a little surprised.
He frowned and re-examined the little drummer with smiling eyes in front of him.
He looked pretty; his forearms were too thin and his temperament was not like a drummer's, but like a dancer or an artist student.
"Can you play drums?"
"I can." Ji Sheng said sincerely, "I don't dare to guarantee anything else, but I have practised for a long time for this show, and I definitely won't drop the ball."
Bai Fei still didn't trust Ji Sheng. He glanced at the staff member with a perfunctory expression behind him. She apparently didn't trust Ji Sheng either and was afraid that giving him the mic would affect the performance, so she came to him, hoping he would veto Ji Sheng's request.
Is it really possible not to offend anyone?
Bai Fei sneered in his heart and said, "Yes, just don't affect the overall effect."
Ji Sheng's eyes lit up, and his smile became even more sincere: "Thank you."
About to go on stage, the remaining three musicians also slowly came out of the lounge to greet Ji Sheng and Bai Fei. The three of them belonged to a band. The lead singer was the son of the owner of an entertainment company, and the remaining two were also relatives or friends with backgrounds. Unlike Ji Sheng's rare and odd background, the strength behind these three was a bit more hardcore, which was why it was possible to bring a prince and two prince chaperones to the public's attention despite them not being good looking, not being good at playing or singing and basically not being good at anything.
The lead singer's name was Wang Pengpeng; he had a large face that couldn't be saved even by heavy makeup, dark circles under his eyes that were as thick as if he was poisoned, and severe puffiness, a standard sign of kidney deficiency.
And every case of kidney deficiency in the world has cause and effect.
As soon as Wang Pengpeng, a kidney-deficient man, saw Ji Sheng, his eyes lit up, and when he introduced himself, he gazed fixedly on Ji Sheng, in the words of Bai Fei, a bystander, like a rodent in lust.
"Yo." Wang Pengpeng stared straight at Ji Sheng, "You look like that… that…"
"Senior Ji Sheng." Ji Sheng completed with a good temper, "Senior, the old man has passed away, so don't mention him."
"Hey, look at this nasty mouth of mine." Wang Pengpeng smiled and slapped his mouth, but his eyes were like snakes wrapped around Ji Sheng, slithery and dirty, "Little Ji, have you joined any bands? Do you want to come to our company and follow me?"
Bai Fei didn't like him harassing newcomers and said coldly: "Before you go on stage, don't bark around like a mutt in heat."
Wang Pengpeng turned his gaze and became furious: "Who do you call a mutt?"
"Whoever casually excretes is." Without looking at him, Bai Fei took two steps forward, separating Wang Pengpeng and Ji Sheng.
With Bai Fei standing between the two, Wang Pengpeng was very annoyed. "Bai Fei, what do you mean? "
Bai Fei ignored him with disdain. Wang Pengpeng's background might be able to force some people to bow to him, but Bai Fei, who was also hardcore enough, did not belong to the type who needed to lower his head.
But considering that the staff had already given a signal that they were ready to play, Bai Fei said for the sake of the performance: "He belongs to Xie Xuanming."
"Xie—" Wang Pengpeng's voice stopped abruptly. Bai Fei's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, freezing him in his tracks.
There was a consensus in the industry on how crazy Xie Xuanming was. Whoever provoked him, whether it was a newcomer, an old-timer or someone with a backer, his artistic career would basically be over.
No one wanted to be targeted by a lunatic, especially a lunatic who had power and the right to speak.
"Do you understand?" Bai Fei said coldly, "Dare if you understand."
Just as the host finished the curtain call, Bai Fei took the lead on the stage, followed by Ji Sheng.
"Brother Wang…" The guitar and the bass reminded in low voices.
Wang Pengpeng gritted his teeth and strode onto the stage.
Bai Fei felt that this was the most indescribable performance he had ever participated in.
Even though there was a pre-recording, the scene on the stage was still too bad.
The guitarist's motions were not right; he touched the wrong strings again and again. The bassist simply played the air; the camera occasionally pointed at him and his floating fingers appeared on the big screen, making Bai Fei embarrassed for him. Not to mention the lead singer; Bai Fei couldn't think of any kind of waste that could not sing well in the recording studio. As the pre-recorded track of the electronic music was played in 3D surround sound, Bai Fei frowned and dreamed of calling Pikachu to crash the party.
The only one who made do with it was actually the drummer that Xie Xuanming stuffed in. The intensity of his beat was extremely accurate, no different from the drum beat in the pre-recording. If Bai Fei hadn't caught a glimpse of the drum set in front of him trembling slightly with the beat, he would almost suspect that this guy's drum beating action was just acting like it.
But two serious drummers could not rescue the three drowning musicians.
Overall, the stage set up by this makeshift team was very strained.
Forget it.
Bai Fei thought violently to himself.
The end-of-year reunion-style group faked the scene, perfunctorily copying the pre-recording.
His thoughts settled down: he raised the drumsticks and brought them down according to the rhythm.
Boom!
Bai Fei was suddenly startled and his hair stood upright for a moment.
What's wrong?
Did he strike so hard by himself?
Why for a moment did it seem that only the drums were left in the whole stage?
Without time to think, the drumsticks fell again.
His muscles tightened several times as the drumsticks rose and fell.
It did not seem.
Bai Fei finally figured out the situation in front of him and his forehead broke in a cold sweat.
The pre-recording stopped.
The throbbing music came to an abrupt halt and Wang Pengpeng's opening and closing mouth froze awkwardly, comically like a pantomime.
In silence, only Bai Fei's drums were left.
Bai Fei's heart clenched in apprehension. He knew the skills of Wang Pengpeng and the two backstage musicians. Instead of expecting them to play on the spot, it was better to hope that the unlucky pre-recording would miraculously come back.
Fortunately, the moment the pre-recording stopped, it happened to be Bai Fei's solo part.
The drums were solid and the microphone was normal. The audience couldn't hear anything strange for a while. They just thought it might be an alternative performance plan.
But after all, Bai Fei couldn't carry the load from beginning to end. That was too weird. It was simply telling the world—hey, on this stage, except for me, Bai Fei, everyone else is rubbish.
It was not that Bai Fei was unwilling to expose the true faces of those cowards, but this occasion was really wrong. This was the first time that Bai Fei attended such a large-scale party. If the performance was ruined, let alone the fact that the large-scale stage resources would be difficult to obtain in the future, even the online ridicule after the end of the show would be enough to make him have a hard time.
If no one came forward to pick up the slack after his part, the crash would be a foregone conclusion. Bai Fei's reputation would plummet and he would be associated with the stigma of "fake drumming" for life.
The solo part was about to end, and the next part was the responsibility of the little drummer that Xie Xuanming arranged to come in. Bai Fei was sitting on pins and needles, in cold sweat, like a death row prisoner waiting for the guillotine to fall.
The last drum beat fell; Bai Fei had never known that half a second was such a long unit of time.
From the moment he stopped beating till Ji Sheng hit the first note, for Bai Fei every second really felt like a year.
Ji Sheng hit the first drum beat; Ji Sheng matched the second note…
Ji Sheng successfully took over Bai Fei's baton and ruled the stage firmly with the drumsticks flying up and down in his hands.
Bai Fei breathed a sigh of relief, but after a few seconds his heart dropped again.
The drummer's part was connected to the lead vocal part, but Wang Pengpeng…
Bai Fei glanced at Wang Pengpeng, whose costume was soaked in cold sweat, and couldn't bear to look away.
It was still going to be over.
The two drummers couldn't hold up a big band performance.
At least one tune had to stand up.
Bai Fei was right.
The two drummers really couldn't do it.
But a drummer, a drummer and a lead singer could.
Bai Fei was shocked to see Ji Sheng, not far from him, lean to the microphone and sing the lead vocal part clearly while maintaining the stable rhythm of the drums.
Ji Hui had a good voice. He usually spoke softly and gently, with some natural coquettish lilting sound. Now when he sang, his soft tone became a hook in the bait, making the audience feel itchy, eager to stretch their necks to see what beauty hiding her face was singing quietly.
Bai Fei was stunned, the audience was shocked, and Wang Pengpeng couldn't help but look back in amazement.
A lead singer and a drummer.
This novel configuration made people raise their eyebrows in surprise, and Ji Sheng's complete and stable display perfectly responded to their doubts.
Bai Fei was going to raise his hands three or four times, guarding against Ji Sheng's slip in case he was unable to drum and sing.
But he didn't have to.
There was no need to back him, either in singing or in drumming. Ji Sheng had a good balance and accomplished it flawlessly.
He took it in stride, as if he was not saving the show, but completing a concert of his own.
In the front row of the audience, the preschool teacher station sister pressed down the shutter with her hands shaking. The face of the young man captured in the frame was known to her for a long time.
A few years ago, there had already been such a thin figure, with the drumsticks flying in his hands and his voice singing loudly.
His voice had been lower than that of the young man in front of her, his facial features had been more heroic and his drums had been more violent and free from restraint.
They were so different.
The young man in the past had been a wounded wolf in the quagmire, and the young man now was a well-behaved delicate bird in a golden silk cage.
But they were so similar too.
At the corner of their eyes, there was the dark dot that was the kiss of God's love but was also evil and seductive like the curse of the devil.
Their eyes were like fiery hardness of a volcanic rock, with the passion and freedom never to be extinguished under the intricate texture.
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Chapter 30
yun1yun yun1yun
1 year ago
Backstage, VIP lounge.
Sheng Kongzhi sat in the armchair with his eyes closed, relaxing.
The two makeup artists by his side whispered: "Is he asleep?"
"Maybe, isn't he in the finale? There is still more than an hour…"
"Which show is it now?"
"Now?"
The makeup artists raised their heads and turned on the TV on the wall. The screen was broadcasting the stage. The young man's drumsticks were flying in front of the camera, his voice clear and beautiful.
The makeup artists forgot what they were talking about, drawn into the drummer's performance.
Behind them, Sheng Kongzhi opened his eyes when he heard the sound and suddenly looked at the screen with his gaze full of disbelief.
The first performance of "Ji Hui" on the big stage, not to say that it ended perfectly, but at least it didn't ruin the show.
But obviously not everyone was satisfied with the result.
"You did it on purpose! You deliberately embarrassed me, didn't you?!" After the show, Wang Pengpeng demanded fiercely, grabbing Ji Sheng's collar.
"I was just filling the gaps." Ji Sheng said calmly, "The audience doesn't spend money to watch pantomime. You didn't make a sound for various reasons, so I could only bite the bullet. If I didn't sing well, please forgive me. After all, my job is a drummer, I only sing to make up for other people's mistakes."
"You!" Wang Pengpeng, red in face, roared, "You bitch sleeping for money, dirty farmer out of a poor neighbourhood. Believe it or not, I can block you with one phone call! Even if you go begging from one gold master to another, you won't even get on the fucking stage."
The corners of Ji Sheng's lips twitched as he watched his incompetence and anger coldly.
Wang Pengpeng was angered by his mockery and raised his hand to hit him.
Bai Fei quickly stopped his fist with his hand and said angrily: "Have you been crazy enough? You have the gall to scold someone who did a good job after your own mistake. Besides, can those uncouth contacts of yours touch Xie Xuanming?"
Upon hearing Xie Xuanming's name, Wang Pengpeng's anger quickly melted away like ice under fire.
After the performance, he just lost his face. With his backing, the company would give him another job and there would be no accusations.
If Xie Xuanming was offended, no one could protect him.
Xie Xuanming was always beating people without looking at their background.
Wang Pengpeng's chest rose and fell violently, and he felt that the arc of Ji Sheng's lips became terrifying in addition to being hateful.
He pushed Ji Sheng away fiercely, threw a dignified "You wait", turned and left.
His two sidekicks also followed.
After Wang Pengpeng left, Bai Fei's expression relaxed; he turned to Ji Sheng and said, "Thank you just now. Without you, the performance would be ugly."
"It's okay." Ji Sheng tidied up his collar, "Thank you too, for speaking for me twice."
"Huh." Bai Fei shrugged, "I have long disliked these guys. Venting for you can count as speaking for myself."
Ji Sheng smiled.
"I still have an interview, I have to go. Hope we'll have an opportunity to cooperate next time." Bai Fei glanced at his watch, "Your drums are really good, and you sing well. You shouldn't be buried. See you later."
"Thank you for your compliment." Ji Sheng waved his hand, "Goodbye."
Sending Bai Fei away, Ji Sheng breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his wrist.
It was a bit of a struggle for Ji Hui's body to sing and play, and he even suffered from hypoxia by the end of the song. Fortunately, the pre-recording was interrupted already in the latter part and there weren't many words left to sing, so Ji Sheng was able to finish it without any mistakes.
However.
Just a few lines, not too difficult, and Wang Pengpeng couldn't even sing them.
Ji Sheng secretly thought, their ability was really incomparably bad.
Ji Sheng rubbed his wrist while walking forward, not noticing that someone in the distance strode towards him anxiously.
Ji Sheng didn't look up until his shoulder was suddenly grasped.
"Xiao Sheng?" Sheng Kongzhi's face was full of shock when he met his eyes, his lips trembling, "Xiao Sheng, you are alive, why are you here, why didn't you come to me?"
That familiar face made Ji Sheng freeze for a moment. He saw the gentle young man from a few years ago, smiling and begging himself to sing him a song, his expression full of sentimental innocent love.
Ji Sheng returned to his senses and made a muffled grunt from being squeezed by Sheng Kongzhi. He pushed Sheng Kongzhi away: "Senior, I don't know what you are talking about, you must have admitted the wrong person!"
Sheng Kongzhi seemed to be stunned. He murmured "Xiao Sheng" and "This is impossible", holding Ji Sheng firmly and not letting go.
Ji Sheng pushed him three or four times but couldn't get free. Sheng Kongzhi's hand was like iron pliers; he couldn't break away from his grip at all.
Ji Sheng frowned in pain and said deliberately: "You have admitted the wrong person, please let go!"
Damn, both of them like to use force.
Ji Sheng and Sheng Kongzhi were in a stalemate in the corridor, when a cold voice came from behind.
"Ji Hui." Xie Xuanming stood not far away, looking at the two of them with a vague expression, "Come here."
Ji Sheng's body stiffened; he struggled twice, still to no avail.
Don't I want to come here? I can't get away!
Seeing Xie Xuanming's expression getting darker and darker, Ji Sheng felt very helpless.
Aren't you good at fighting? Come here and help me pull these iron pliers away!
Sheng Kongzhi turned his head.
When he saw Xie Xuanming, his expression changed and his hand relaxed a little.
Ji Sheng took the opportunity to break free but as soon as he took a step towards Xie Xuanming, he was stopped by Sheng Kongzhi who grabbed his wrist again.
"Xuanming." Sheng Kongzhi glanced suspiciously at Xie Xuanming and then at Ji Sheng again. He suddenly understood something and his expression turned ugly, "Xie Xuanming, do you know what you are doing?"
"It has nothing to do with you." Xie Xuanming was cold and said louder, "Come here, don't make me repeat myself."
Ji Sheng set off again, but was stopped by Sheng Kongzhi once more.
He was helpless: "Senior…"
Before he finished speaking, Xie Xuanming quickly walked up to the two of them, pulled off Sheng Kongzhi's hand holding Ji Sheng, and pushed Ji Sheng to stand behind him.
He didn't even look at Sheng Kongzhi, saying to Ji Sheng, "Let's go."
He was about to drag him away.
Sheng Kongzhi seemed to want to stop them but was afraid that Xie Xuanming would overreact and make an ugly scene.
He finally gritted his teeth and growled, "Xie Xuanming, what do you mean by finding a kid who looks like Ji Sheng to keep beside you?!"
Xie Xuanming paused, and Ji Sheng felt the grip on his wrist tighten.
"That's what it means." Xie Xuanming sneered, "The old ones are gone, and I am not as innocent as the King of Songs Sheng, I can't help but find new people to talk to."
"Treating Xiao Sheng like this, it's not even fair to this kid." Sheng Kongzhi said angrily.
Xie Xuanming's expression changed, grimness crawling out of his eyes, enveloping his entire face.
He sneered in a low voice:
"If you had saved a little of this hypocrisy for Ji Sheng, he wouldn't have died."
Sheng Kongzhi stiffened and shut up.
Xie Xuanming paid attention to him no longer and dragged Ji Sheng away from the scene.
On the way back, Xie Xuanming frowned and said nothing.
When he didn't say anything, Ji Sheng naturally didn't make a fool of himself; he didn't ask nor did he want to ask why he was at the party and if it was another planned arrangement.
Ji Sheng had already been neatly subdued by this unpredictable master and knew that no good information would come out of a dog's mouth.
Xie Xuanming would talk when he wanted to talk. When he kept his mouth shut, even a tiger bench(1) or a whip wouldn't force him to speak.
Back at the villa, Xie Xuanming finally remembered that he still had a language function.
"You are really top-notch and dedicated, even replicating emotions and eyeing Sheng Kongzhi in front of me." Xie Xuanming sneered, his voice sarcastic, "Why, are you so short of money that one substitute job is not enough for you, you have to take two?"
"I already have two jobs with you." Ji Sheng was neither humble nor overbearing. "But you are right. There's never enough money, so who would refuse to be a substitute for you?"
Xie Xuanming's face changed instantly to a gloomy expression: "Are you threatening me?"
"How dare I." Ji Sheng chuckled dryly, "After all, you are the boss, and you are in charge of how to play. If you make me play drums, I will play drums. If you don't let me sleep, I won't sleep. If you tell me to undress, I will strip without saying a word. Even if you make me meet your old enemy by coincidence, I can only bite the bullet. And then I have to come back and endure your anger for no reason."
Ji Sheng wanted to understand something on the way back. Xie Xuanming spent a lot of effort to send him to the Double Twelve Light Festival just to let him and Sheng Kongzhi "meet by chance".
He himself appeared there to observe Sheng Kongzhi's reaction after meeting "Ji Hui", so as to judge whether Sheng Kongzhi was the one who attacked "Ji Hui".
The result was negative.
So Xie Xuanming appeared suddenly as if teleporting and picked up "Ji Hui".
Everything was very clear and was perfectly executed in accordance with Xie Xuanming's plan.
Ji Sheng thought it through and only wondered what Xie Xuanming was throwing a tantrum about at the moment when his plan had worked.
He couldn't figure it out and could only attribute it to the genetically inferior nature of males— their insane and silly possessiveness of their belongings.
Simply put—
Xie Xuanming felt that he had a toy named Ji Hui, and now this toy was touched by other children.
The child Xie Xuanming was very angry and turned his head to scold the toy for being indiscriminate.
Toy: ……
Toy: It's none of my business!
Ji Sheng was very upset; not to mention that he did not like Xie Xuanming's action of classifying him as his property, but this kind of Xie Xuanming's unsavoury temperament made him very angry.
How cute he was when he was a kid.
What kind of dog did he become now?
Ji Sheng was angry when the door was suddenly knocked on.
"Hello! Sofa bed installation at your home!"
Ji Sheng was taken aback and blurted out: "What are you going to do with a sofa bed?"
Xie Xuanming gave him a look, mixing "you are an idiot" and "too lazy to flip you a bird". He went over and opened the door without saying a word to let the furniture company brother in.
The little brother came in with a big load on his shoulders. He was stunned for a moment when he saw Xie Xuanming but in the end he didn't ask any questions due to his professional ethics and only said, "Excuse me, where do I put this?"
"Master bedroom." Xie Xuanming didn't lift his eyes.
He knew it with his butt that Xie Xuanming bought this bed for him to sleep on.
In normal times, Ji Sheng might get a bit emotional. Xie Xuanming was still somewhat human in the end. But taking into account the previous scene with Xie Xuanming regarding him as his property, Ji Sheng guessed that when he bought a sofa bed, he was just changing the toy's display stand to a better one.
Ji Sheng's spikes rose all over his body; he was so angry there was nothing he wouldn't dare to do, so he choked out, "Please put it in the living room, thank you."
"Master bedroom." Xie Xuanming said coldly, "This is my home."
"This is my bed." Ji Sheng was not to be outdone, "Living room."
"Master bedroom."
"Living room."
"Master bedroom."
"……"
Brother: "……"
The little brother couldn't help it and said angrily in a dialect: "You two melon babies, while you quarrel, my shoulders ache, can you unify your opinions!"
He looked at Xie Xuanming and shook his head bitterly: "Especially you! As the head of the family, don't let your wifey yell so much, he's too stubborn!"
Xie Xuanming: ……
Xie Xuanming: He is not.
Ji Sheng seized an opportunity and won the game by a narrow margin: "Living room! Thank you!"
Torture method in which the victim sits with legs extended horizontally along a bench, upper legs held down with straps while bricks are inserted under the feet, forcing the knee joint to bend in reverse
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