Chapter 113 Bian Ji Returns Home

An airport in country Y.

Amid the hustle and bustle of the waiting hall, an announcement rang out in English.

"Attention passengers, check-in for your flight CA6832 is about to begin. Please bring your personal identification documents and belongings and proceed to check-in counters 32 to 36..."

Then a Chinese announcement was broadcast, which was repeated several times in both Chinese and English before stopping.

The young man glanced at the time, raised his hand to gently adjust the collar of his trench coat, and stood up from the waiting area.

Dragging a black suitcase, he walked unhurriedly through the crowd.

His posture was as upright as a pine tree, and his broad shoulders and narrow waist were even more clearly defined under the neatly tailored clothes.

The flowing crowd attracted many people to turn around and look.

The young man maintained an indifferent and aloof demeanor, ignoring the stares of those around him, and walked straight toward the security checkpoint.

Most of the people waiting at the boarding gate after passing through security were Chinese, speaking to each other in their native dialects.

Bian Ji was scrolling through his phone with his head down, looking at the pile of unread messages in his email inbox.

Just then, a voice came from the side.

"Hello, handsome! Are you traveling back to China alone?"

A girl saw Bian Ji standing alone, with no one talking to him, so she mustered up her courage and went up to ask him.

"Um."

"Judging from your appearance, you seem to be studying abroad here, right? Me too, maybe we can team up?"

"..." Bian Ji didn't really want to talk.

"Can we add each other on WeChat?" the girl asked, her eyes sparkling.

Bian Ji said "sorry" and took a few steps forward. Fortunately, it was time to board the plane, and he followed the crowd and was the first to board.

This summer, he finally earned his MP (Master of Music in Composition) degree from the Royal Academy of Music in Y country.

He hadn't originally planned to pursue graduate studies. If he hadn't, he would have returned to China two years ago. The school's retention efforts and Lu Yinzhao's unconditional encouragement led him to continue his studies.

I remember when I left six years ago, Lu Yinzhao was only 12 years old, and now she's 18.

During this time, Bian Ji would occasionally take some time to go back, but not very frequently. Many things were more complicated than he had imagined, and he didn't know if Lu Yinzhao had any grudges because of it.

Over the past six years, Bian Ji has established his studio abroad, a location that was found with the help of Ms. Giovanna, and it is filled with a group of like-minded friends.

Even though he left Country Y, his studio will continue to operate.

All the songs I've released online in recent years were recorded in this studio.

After dealing with matters in Country Y, Bian Ji can finally return to China and live a good life for a while. He wonders if he can adapt to the pace and changes in China.

And also, Lu Yinzhao...

Although they occasionally video chat, the two don't seem as close as they used to be.

When Lu Yinzhao was a child, he was like a sticky white dough ball, and people would always look up and call him "Brother Aji". It seems that he has never heard him since he went abroad.

I feel a strange sense of nostalgia.

This was Bian Ji's first job after returning to China, sent by the director of "The Voice of China".

Many people are curious about what "Ji" looks like, but "Ji" has never appeared in all these years.

When the production team invited "Ji", they never thought the other party would agree.

When Bian Ji expressed his willingness to participate, the production team was overjoyed.

Their show was suspended for a long period of time due to a series of complicated reasons.

Now that it's been so many years and is going to be rebroadcast, they'll definitely have to select some contestants who generate buzz.

And "悸" happens to be the one that has generated the most buzz.

Because of its mystery, and also because of its formidable strength...

His original creative abilities have even been praised by some senior figures in the industry on social media platforms.

The fact that the usually low-profile "Ji" is suddenly about to make an appearance is a major point of interest.

The production team was under a lot of pressure, but now they can finally relax a bit.

Speaking of which, Lu Yinzhao said many years ago that he would definitely be able to appear on this show in the future. At that time, Bian Ji did not think much about it, but now it has come true.

If we consider the release date of his first EP as his "debut," then he has been in the industry for eight years.

However, because he has never shown his face on a public platform, he is only regarded as an "expert" on the Internet.

Now that his studies are completely finished, he has no other worries.

Let this stage be his first real debut after returning to China.

This can be considered as fulfilling Lu Yinzhao's expectations of him...

Looking at the fluffy white clouds outside the window, my heart, which had been pounding, gradually calmed down. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

*

Domestically. Huaxing University.

Inside the swimming association's venue.

The moment the whistle blew, the boy on the take-off platform leaped down.

When the boy jumped into the water, his body was like a fish that had been poised for a long time, rushing forward in a flash.

His splash when he entered the water was half that of the people next to him, and his arm strokes were also more powerful than theirs.

Each swing of his arm was accompanied by a precise rhythm, splitting the water in front of him layer by layer, leaving long water streaks behind him.

The people who had been cheering for their seniors on the sidelines gradually quieted down, and their eyes invariably turned to the person who swam the fastest.

"Is this the new junior who recently joined the school?"

"Holy crap! He swims so fast!"

"He clearly has a foundation. What's his major?"

"I heard it's in the photography department."

"Huh? Not a sports student?"

"Awesome!"

"I thought most of the people who come to our association are beginners, and even those who are only at a normal speed."

"Indeed, someone as talented as him, and not even a sports student... we haven't recruited anyone like him in the last few years, have we?"

"Yeah, he's the only one."

"What was his name again?"

"Lu...Lu what...I forgot, we'll ask him when he comes up later."

This is a world that admires strength, especially for passionate boys like them who admire powerful people the most.

As soon as Lu Yinzhao's hand touched the pool wall, his head popped out of the water.

He pushed up his swimming goggles, wiped his face, and took a few breaths.

Just then, someone reached out their hand to him, saying, "Hey junior, you swim really well!"

Lu Yinzhao recognized the other person as Ge Yinghao, the vice president of the swimming association, who was trying to pull him up.

"Thanks……"

Lu Yinzhao thanked him but did not touch his hand. He simply pushed himself up with both hands from the side and landed on the shore.

Ge Yinghao awkwardly withdrew his hand and continued to ask, "What's your name? I've almost forgotten."

"Lu Yinzhao".

After giving his name, Lu Yinzhao headed towards the changing room and shower room.

He really didn't intend to make a scene.

Huaxing University is supposed to be one of the top universities in China, but I didn't expect the people in the swimming association to be so mediocre...

Lu Yinzhao goes swimming at her uncle Lu Wangchi's swimming pool every summer.

He has now gained some understanding of freestyle swimming. He certainly can't compare to professionals, but he's considered one of the best among amateur swimmers.

He had only been in university for less than half a month and didn't want to be too flashy.

Lu Yinzhao signed up for two associations: a photography association and a swimming association.

Because they are all things I like.

Today is an internal challenge competition of the swimming association, open to everyone.

He just went into the water for fun, but unexpectedly he became number one.

There were so many people crowding around that Lu Yinzhao felt like she was becoming socially awkward.

I'm outta here...

It must be said that Huaxing's infrastructure is quite good. This swimming pool is very new, as if it was only built two years ago.

There weren't many people in the shower room at the moment. Lu Yinzhao quickly took a shower, dried her hair, and went to change her clothes.

As Lu Yinzhao stepped out of the swimming pool, he let out a sigh of relief.

I patted my stomach; I was a little hungry.

Swimming really does consume a lot of energy. He felt like he had just eaten breakfast, but not long after, he wanted to eat again.

I went to the cafeteria, ordered a bowl of beef knife-cut noodles, and found a secluded spot to eat.

Occasionally, he would hear freshmen passing by him talking about military training starting in a couple of days.

They also notified their class group about this.

Military training was supposed to begin as soon as students entered the school, but due to continuous rain, the school postponed it by half a month.

I heard that Huaxing's military training is pretty intense, and Lu Yinzhao thinks this is a good opportunity for him to get some experience.

Lu Yinzhao knew her physical condition all too well.

He is in the best shape every year in the summer because he swims frequently during the summer. After swimming for several months, he can develop some muscle.

But once summer is over, especially as winter approaches, it will immediately return to its flat and moist state.

He still has muscles, and hopefully he can maintain them for a long time.

This is also the second reason why he joined the swimming association. After all, what boy doesn't want to have a good physique?

Lu Yinzhao only grew to 1.8 meters tall this year.

God knows how moved he was when he measured his height.

He was always just barely above the height limit since he was a child, so he's considered normal now, right?

At least he didn't embarrass the Lu family too much.

Everyone in his family is tall; if he were short and stout, people would doubt whether he was even part of the family.

Thank goodness...

Lu Yinzhao felt that she could still make a push before graduating from university.

After finishing his noodles, Lu Yinzhao returned to his dormitory.

Their room 506 is a four-person dormitory, and there are also six-person dormitories upstairs.

Two of the four students in Lu Yinzhao's dormitory were top scorers in the national college entrance examination: one was the top scorer in the city, and the other was the top scorer in the province.

He's really stirred up a hornet's nest.

Of course, the students who can come to this school are all academically good. Anyway, his score was over 700 points, ranking third in the entire Xingbei City, which is pretty good.

Lu Yinzhao was satisfied with this result.

The top scorer will be publicized everywhere and will be the focus of attention for schools and the media. If this is reported, the whole country will know, and he will be a celebrity in college.

Lu Yinzhao quietly cherished his No. 3 honor and maintained a low profile since entering the school.

He was also traumatized by his past experiences at Xingyao.

The feeling of being the center of attention wherever he went made him feel as if he had lost a lot of freedom.

Lu Yinzhao became even more certain that he was not suited to be a star, and thankfully he didn't have to follow in his family's footsteps.

Otherwise, he would have been promoted to be an entertainer by now.

There's no one in the dorm right now.

Lu Yinzhao just turned on his computer and started editing the photos.

During this period of classes, the teacher has been teaching some basic theoretical knowledge. Although Lu Yinzhao has known about these things since childhood, he still listened carefully and took notes.

Huaxing's photography department can admit students with general education backgrounds, not just art students. However, all students need to take the entrance exam, and are admitted based on their professional scores from highest to lowest.

Lu Yinzhao's college entrance exam score was the highest, a score recognized by all the teachers.

Not only did they achieve high scores on the written exam and submit exquisite photographic works, but they also answered questions fluently during the on-site interview, demonstrating a thorough understanding of a range of issues related to their major. They can be considered outstanding role models among the candidates.

He started teaching himself photography post-processing when he was ten years old, and then gradually built up his photography account on Weibo.

Now I occasionally take on part-time jobs working for celebrity studios.

Many original images need artistic processing to become more refined and beautiful.

Lu Yinzhao figured it wouldn't take much time and could even make money, so he took on some jobs whenever he had free time.

To date, the customer satisfaction rate is 100%.

Many celebrity studios wanted to hire him as a professional post-production retoucher, but Lu Yinzhao refused them all.

Are you kidding me? He's aiming to be a proper photographer! The photo editing is all for the purpose of his own photography.

I was editing the photo when the green WeChat icon below started flashing.

Lu Yinzhao opened the message and saw an important message from someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

[Bian Ji]: Lu Yinzhao, I'm at the dessert shop next to the east gate of your school. Do you have time to come?

"Depend on!"

Lu Yinzhao stood up abruptly in disbelief.

The chair beneath him was knocked over with a thud.

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Author's Note: Zhao Zhao: Sorry, I swore [clown] (Brain: Be quiet, I'm barbecuing)