Chapter 3 3. Please listen to the song I wrote
In the library and information building of Pingnan No. 1 Middle School, in the corner of the last row of Class 3, Grade 12, Xie Kang and Zhuang Yongyuan sat with the fan above their heads whirring non-stop, the sun scorching.
At the top of the note paper, Xie Kang wrote the four words "What kind of person" neatly with a black fountain pen.
Zhuang Yongyuan frowned and asked him, "You want to write a song in Minnan dialect?"
Before Xie Kang could answer, Zhuang Yongyuan curled his lips in dissatisfaction and said, "How weird! Why do you have to use dialect?"
"I grew up speaking Minnan dialect. Everyone in my family speaks it. Don't you?"
Zhuang Yongyuan looked unhappy: "I don't like Minnan dialect."
Xie Kang touched his nose and then remembered that Zhuang Yongyuan's family situation was special. To sum it up in one sentence, his father was a drinker and his mother ran away with someone. After his grandmother died, Zhuang Yongyuan was bounced around among the relatives, asking for food from one family and old clothes from another.
He must have heard a lot of bad words spoken in dialect.
It was so hot that he felt dizzy. Xie Kang smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. If you don't like it, I won't write in Minnan dialect."
"We agreed that you would write the first song. You can write whatever you like. Do you believe that I can play it no matter how difficult it is?"
Zhuang Yongyuan only became excited when he talked about playing the piano, his expression unusually proud. Xie Kang rubbed his leg and said, "I know you're good."
The chemistry teacher on the stage finally lost his patience with them. He threw a piece of chalk at them, slammed the podium, and yelled, "Xie Kang, you've been talking since the bell rang, and you haven't talked enough yet? And the student next to you, you're from the liberal arts class, right? Why are you in our classroom?"
Xie Kang lazily leaned back in his chair, raised his right arm, and said, "Teacher, the students in the liberal arts class also want to learn scientific knowledge!"
A burst of laughter erupted in the classroom, and the teacher's face turned even worse. He pointed at the door and shouted, "Get out! Zhuang Yongyuan, right? All the teachers in the grade know you! You're famous in school for not doing your job properly, you know? You've watched too many Super Boys and want to be a star too? I'm telling you, if you don't study hard, you'll suffer in the future!"
"No matter how well you play the piano, can it add extra points to your college entrance exam?"
Zhuang Yongyuan lowered his head and held up his textbook in front of him, looking very depressed. Xie Kang patted his shoulder and said, "Let's go out."
He stood up and said to the teacher, "Teacher, I will take Zhuang back to class."
Without waiting for the teacher's response, Xie Kang headed straight for the back door, turning back to wave at Zhuang Yongyuan, signaling him to follow. With his hands in his pockets, he staggered to the door. Suddenly, he turned back and shouted to the others in the classroom, "Remember to come see our Lily Heart Band perform at the graduation party in July! We're going to write our own songs!"
"When we become famous, you will be our most senior fans!"
The teacher threw a piece of chalk at him, muttering, "Xie Kang, don't think you can do whatever you want just because you have good grades. I'm telling you, there's a saying that goes, 'Pride comes before a fall.' You'll regret it later!"
Xie Kang reached out and grabbed the chalk, winked at the teacher, and said, "Teacher, if you come, I will reserve a seat in the first row for you!"
They ran out like that. In the deserted corridor, Zhuang Yongyuan asked Xie Kang, "Where are we going?"
Xie Kang took out the notepad he brought from the classroom and waved it in front of Zhuang Yongyuan: "Of course, I have to find a place to continue writing songs."
He looked around, still seeing no one, so he boldly took Zhuang Yongyuan's hand and pulled him upstairs. Zhuang Yongyuan was embarrassed and tried to shake off Xie Kang, but Xie Kang held on tighter. They ran all the way to the rooftop and sat cross-legged against a water pipe as thick as a person, panting heavily.
Zhuang Yongyuan sighed: "If you wanted to make me get scolded by the teacher, I shouldn't have listened to you and ran to your class."
Xie Kang interrupted him: "Go ahead and scold me, what's a teacher for? Only people who can't make it in life become teachers." As he spoke, he hugged Zhuang Yongyuan sideways, rubbed his head against him, and said with a smile: "I really wanted to hug you just now in the classroom."
"I like you so much." he said again.
Zhuang Yongyuan blinked, his dense eyelashes casting a shadow under his eyes: "Am I really that worthy of love?"
"Of course, you don't even know it yourself." Xie Kang looked at Zhuang Yongyuan, his face full of smiles: "And you will be liked by many people in the future. However, the person who likes you the most is still me."
"I'm the best!" Zhuang Yongyuan's face flushed. He snatched Xie Kang's notepad and read, "What kind of person is that?"
Xie Kang looked at Zhuang Yongyuan's slightly upturned upper lip, and for some unknown reason reached out and touched it with his index finger. It was warm and soft.
Zhuang Yongyuan was startled by him and jumped up. He opened his mouth to ask Xie Kang what he was going to do, but when he met Xie Kang's eyes, he was speechless and sat back quietly beside Xie Kang.
Xie Kang cleared his throat, but his voice was still a little hoarse.
"Is it okay?" he asked.
Zhuang Yongyuan pursed his lips and didn't answer. Xie Kang then touched his lips again. This time, Zhuang Yongyuan didn't dodge, and both of them were breathing loudly.
As the sunlight moved, they were gradually shrouded in the shadows of the electrical facilities not far away.
Xie Kang turned his head and quickly and lightly kissed Zhuang Yongyuan's lips. His heart was beating fast and his mind was like a kaleidoscope with colorful blocks of color spinning in a mess.
Zhuang Yongyuan placed his hands on Xie Kang's shoulders and held him close. Their foreheads and noses touched awkwardly at first, then they kissed successfully. It was almost sunset.
After the conversation ended, Zhuang Yongyuan wiped the liquid from his lips. The two of them remained silent for a long time. Xie Kang laughed first, and Zhuang Yongyuan laughed too. They laughed together for a long time, inexplicably. Zhuang Yongyuan picked up the notepad again and put it in Xie Kang's hand, saying, "Hurry up and write."
Xie Kang held the pen in his hand and couldn't help glancing at Zhuang Yongyuan's face.
The four words "Shakuanren" (what kind of person) means "what kind of person" in Mandarin.
Sixteen-year-old Xie Kang fantasized about these four words for a long time in the sunset on the rooftop, imagining what kind of people he and Zhuang Yongyuan would become in the future, and wrote the lyrics in one breath.
Twenty-eight-year-old Xie Kang was completely different from what he had imagined himself to be, but he still used the pick from Zhuang Yongyuan, whom he had met again after a long absence, to play the guitar in his arms.
After not performing for so long, Xie Kang thought he had forgotten how to play the piano and sing on stage. But after playing the first few syllables in a chaotic manner, Xie Kang's hands moved freely over the strings.
It's not surprising, after all, he wrote this song himself. He's never forgotten something he's done for six years, just like he and Zhuang Yongyuan were in a relationship for six years and he can't forget Zhuang Yongyuan.
"I am still an ignorant shadow. When the sun comes up, who will I be?"
Xie Kang strummed his guitar and sang into the microphone. Aside from Zhuang Yongyuan playing a few decorative notes, no one else on the stage moved, only watching Xie Kang.
After all, Xie Kang hadn't sung for several years. When his colleagues gathered at KTV, he was only responsible for clapping, changing songs and ordering songs, so the performance in the first half minute was not very good. The audience gradually calmed down and started talking about it.
But he quickly regained his past feeling and got into the state.
Xie Kang's voice is lower and gentler than Zhuang Yongyuan's, with a little hoarseness, which fits well with the soft tone of Minnan dialect.
The first part of "What Kind of Person" was Xie Kang's solo, and the only accompaniment was his acoustic guitar. When the chorus was almost here, Zhuang Yongyuan plucked the electric guitar in his hand, adding to the original simple and clean acoustic guitar accompaniment. He also moved closer to the microphone and sang harmony with Xie Kang, just like countless times in the past.
But the addition of drums and bass was completely unexpected by Xie Kang. This part was not included in the original version of "What Kind of Person".
While singing, Xie Kang glanced at Zhuang Yongyuan nervously. Xie Kang didn't know how Zhuang Yongyuan adapted the song, and he was unsure.
Zhuang Yongyuan made an "OK" gesture to him, so Xie Kang had no choice but to continue playing and singing.
Fortunately, Zhuang Yongyuan's adaptation was very close to Xie Kang's original version, with the rhythm and tone unchanged. The drums and bass came in smoothly without any problems or abruptness, making this song, which was originally incompatible with the current Lily Heart temperament, the most suitable finale for this performance.
The cheers from the audience reached a peak again. Xie Kang listened attentively for a while before he breathed a sigh of relief and continued playing the piano and singing to complete the finale.
From Xie Kang's current perspective, this song is really simple, completely a student exercise, but he wanted to cry when he sang it, and his nose couldn't help but feel sore.
I am still an ignorant shadow, what kind of person I will be after daybreak. I still don’t know what kind of person I will be after daybreak.
Xie Kang's hands, which hadn't played the piano for a long time, were finally rubbed by the strings until the pain became too severe to ignore.
When writing this song, Xie Kang firmly believed that he and Zhuang Yongyuan would stand on the stage for the rest of their lives, and that one day he and Zhuang Yongyuan would escape from the mediocrity and boredom, where every day was the same, and from Pingnan, who had killed one of his friends when he was eighteen. He never thought that one day in the future, he would abandon Zhuang Yongyuan and surrender to Pingnan.
Xie Kang played the last note, pressed the guitar string, and stopped the resonant sound of the string.
The phrase "What kind of person am I?" written at sixteen, ripped through the stage, shattering Xie Kang's current life: work, clocking in, public classes, skills competitions, blind dates, family dinners, Volkswagens, Lunar New Year shopping cards, laundry detergent, rice, flour, and oil. His eyes, stung by sweat, burst into tears.
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