coincide

After confirming that Zhao Qinfeng's recording was finished, Lin Ting asked him, "What happened? Did someone upset you?"

Zhao Qinfeng nodded and said, "Do you remember when I told you about the music festival I couldn't attend before?"

Lin Ting remembered, but he still had some doubts: "Were there any other singers among the guests who participated in the recording this time?"

Zhao Qinfeng explained, "Strictly speaking, I should be the only one participating in the recording as a singer, but the second male lead in the production team used to be a singer, the one who wanted me to temporarily replace him at that music festival."

Lin Ting thought of a possibility, and he frowned and said, "Could it be that he talked about this on the show?"

Zhao Qinfeng nodded.

Lin Ting was utterly shocked: "There are people like this?"

Zhao Qinfeng said calmly, "There are all kinds of people."

However, after talking with Lin Ting for a while, Zhao Qinfeng's mood improved again. After all, he had long since moved on from the predicament of that year, so why bother worrying about it again?

Although Lin Ting didn't know what the second male lead said during the recording, he paid extra attention to the show because of it and kept track of when it would air.

Online program recording was originally just a transitional measure, and everyone was hoping that everything would return to normal, but the actual situation is not optimistic.

Life began to feel cramped and confined, with living spaces gradually shrinking, food becoming scarce, and access to and from the residential compound becoming restricted. Lin Ting and Zhao Qinfeng, both of whom rarely left their homes unless absolutely necessary, experienced some degree of discomfort during their quarantine.

To pass the time, Lin Ting began playing the upright piano that Zhao Qinfeng kept at home.

At first, he played in a scattered manner, as if he were playing whatever came to mind, with a very chaotic rhythm and melody. After Zhao Qinfeng could barely make out two phrases, the melody changed abruptly, requiring him to spend another amount of time guessing.

After a while, Lin Ting finally got the hang of it and began to play a complete piece.

Zhao Qinfeng didn't need to guess this time, because the melody was so familiar; it was the title track from his first album. He had come up with it note by note in his rented room back then. It wasn't the first melody he had written, nor was it the most perfect, but it was precisely the one that left the deepest impression on him.

He still remembers the pain of not being seen by anyone, as if his life was buried in a deserted corner, with only a few branches showing, yet unable to receive the sunlight. He wrote this song with a belief in self-salvation, and the countless times he sang it in the years that followed strengthened his resolve to keep going.

Lin Ting's playing was a bit clumsy, and she made a few mistakes with the chords. Not only did she realize it, but she also keenly heard Zhao Qinfeng's muffled laughter.

However, Lin Ting ignored Zhao Qinfeng for the time being, and instead gritted his teeth and relied on muscle memory to play the next move, and actually finished playing it.

"Don't laugh at me. I studied piano in college, and I'm already doing well enough to be able to play a few pieces." Lin Ting turned and glared at Zhao Qinfeng.

"Okay, okay, I won't laugh anymore. If you want to pick it up again, I have some teaching materials here." Zhao Qinfeng finally managed to suppress his laughter. Actually, his laughter wasn't entirely from trying to hold back a laugh; a significant portion of it was from happiness. After all, hearing such an important song played by someone important to him made him incredibly grateful to his past self and also incredibly grateful to Lin Ting for seeing him.

Zhao Qinfeng asked, "Is there any song you'd like to hear?"

Lin Ting rattled off a long list of dishes as if reciting a menu, seemingly in retaliation for Zhao Qinfeng's earlier mockery.

Zhao Qinfeng started singing from the first song he announced.

He wasn't exactly a professional pianist, but he was far better than Lin Ting, who was only a mediocre player. Lin Ting sat beside him, listening intently, his eyes fixed on the black and white keys, completely absorbed.

When the song ended, Zhao Qinfeng asked, "What was the second song you just announced?"

Lin Ting tried to recall, but forgot, "It's fine, you'll sound good no matter what you sing."

Lin Ting couldn't remember which song she was in when she and Zhao Qinfeng kissed.

"Wait a minute... the curtains..."

Zhao Qinfeng stopped what he was doing, patted Lin Ting's head, then got up and drew the curtains, closing the piano as he did so.

Lin Ting sat on the piano bench the whole time, silently calming his breathing. Before he could regain his composure, Zhao Qinfeng kissed him again.

Lin Ting and Zhao Qinfeng were embracing and kissing, and a hand was stroking him from behind, making him feel a little itchy.

The indoor heating was already on full blast, and Lin Ting gradually found it hard to breathe, feeling his blood surging. He put his arm around Zhao Qinfeng's neck, but turned his head slightly away.

"Ha..." he gasped for breath, saying haltingly, "How come you... aren't out of breath at all? Your lung capacity is so... good?"

Zhao Qinfeng patted his back to help him catch his breath and said with a smile, "It's alright. After all, for someone who makes a living by singing, lung capacity and breath control are very important—you should know that very well."

As he spoke the last few words, Zhao Qinfeng pulled Lin Ting close, supporting his buttocks with his hands, and lifted him up.

Lin Ting suddenly tightened her grip, pulling Zhao Qinfeng's neck even closer, and wrapped her legs around his waist. The feeling of not having her feet touching the ground was always unsettling, and Lin Ting's breathing, which hadn't fully calmed down, became even more rapid as Zhao Qinfeng lifted her up.

Zhao Qinfeng lifted him onto the sofa and laid him down, then pressed him against the sofa and continued kissing him, each kiss deeper than the last. Lin Ting felt as if he could only get a little oxygen through his nose with rapid breathing; the rest of the time he could only endure Zhao Qinfeng's kisses.

The contact of lips and tongue was like a match being rubbed on sandpaper, igniting sparks. Lin Ting closed her eyes, feeling as if something in her mind was cracking, and her vision was flashing.

Zhao Qinfeng stroked down Lin Ting's waistline, and before touching her pajamas, he paused for a moment during their kiss to ask, "Is it... okay?"

Their bodies were pressed tightly together, both fully aware of each other's physical changes. As often as before, Lin Ting clearly understood what Zhao Qinfeng was asking.

He reached out and lightly stroked a certain part of Zhao Qinfeng's body, his eyes smiling, his ears turning red, and he leaned forward to peck at the corner of Zhao Qinfeng's mouth.

...

Lin Ting lay there with her eyes half-closed for a while, then sat up a moment later, leaning against Zhao Qinfeng's chest and nuzzling his neck with her head.

Zhao Qinfeng felt a little itchy, so he reached out and pulled Lin Ting close to stop him from rubbing against him.

The two remained close together quietly for a while.

Afterwards, Zhao Qinfeng found the basic piano textbook and handed it to Lin Ting. Lin Ting took it and hid in the practice room, preparing to close the door behind her.

He poked his head out from under the door: "I won't lock the door, but can I close it?"

Zhao Qinfeng said, "It's okay, you can lock the door if you want. I'll knock before I go in."

In the end, Lin Ting simply closed the door.

The music room had soundproof walls installed, so Zhao Qinfeng couldn't hear anything inside after closing the door. He sat on the sofa for a while, savoring the moment, then neatly arranged the cushions that the two of them had accidentally messed up. In a good mood, he hummed a little tune as he went to cook.

The couple lived a slow and peaceful life, and they also received good news that the pandemic was improving. Zhao Qinfeng received a long phone call, and the recordings that had been changed to online or postponed were all put back on the schedule.

The episode that Zhao Qinfeng participated in recording online is finally going to air.

Nearly a month passed between the recording and the broadcast of the program. Lin Ting immediately opened the program and started playing it at double speed.

In the latter half of the video, he found the part where the second male lead talked about past music festivals, so he turned the video playback speed back to x1 and started listening.

The hosts and guests who participated in the recording basically set up their own cameras and pointed them at their own faces. Everyone's backgrounds were very varied, some were bookshelves, some were a white wall, and when they were edited together, it looked very chaotic.

Second male lead: "Haha, actually, I met Teacher Zhao once before, but it was a long time ago."

Host: That's really a coincidence!

Zhao Qinfeng smiled but didn't reply. His smile was overly standard and polite, and Lin Ting realized that he should have realized by now which meeting the second male lead wanted to refer to.

It seemed that no one noticed Zhao Qinfeng's unusual behavior. After all, everyone was separated by screens and network latency. Although they were briefly gathered on the same online platform, it was still different from a face-to-face recording.

The second male lead: "Back then, I was a singer participating in the Haidu Forest Music Festival. I didn't expect to run into Teacher Zhao backstage. But you probably didn't know me at that time, so I didn't greet you. But it was strange."

Zhao Qinfeng: It's alright, we're all in a cooperative relationship now.

Host: "Yes, yes, Zhao Qinfeng sang a really beautiful theme song for your TV series..."

The topic was glossed over lightly, and it didn't seem like there was anything wrong with it, so the host and guests on the screen continued to interact normally, and soon they moved on to the next segment.

But Lin Ting froze. "Haidu Forest Music Festival"? He recognized the name. It was as if the memory from more than nine years ago had been strapped to an airbag and was rapidly rising from the depths of his memory.

The music festival he was dragged to was called that. That day, he didn't look at the program, didn't watch it completely, and quietly walked away, even overhearing others listening to Zhao Qinfeng's songs on the way.

He searched for the music festival online, but it had been so long that information was hard to find.

Finally, after searching through multiple platforms, Lin Ting found a somewhat blurry photo in a corner.

The photo shows a paper program schedule from that time; the program names, singer names, and corresponding time slots are barely legible. Lin Ting found the name of the second male lead in it.

He realized that hearing someone playing Zhao Qinfeng's song that day was probably not a coincidence...

Click, the door opened. Zhao Qinfeng returned carrying groceries.

Lin Ting instinctively closed his laptop with a snap.

Zhao Qinfeng looked over in confusion: "Did I disturb something?"

Lin Ting shook his head violently.