Chapter 37 37. Singing Late-Night Folk Song
They rehearsed a total of ten songs for this performance. After all, it was a commercial performance, so most of the songs selected were songs that were familiar to the audience, such as "Marshmallow" and "Preference".
These songs were not Zhuang Yongyuan's favorites. The first performance was different from what he had imagined. He was even a little depressed at the beginning of rehearsal, but after each song, the continuous cheers from the audience made him happier and more comfortable.
The customers were delighted by what they heard and kept placing orders for drinks. Yang Haining, who was watching the performance from the side, also smiled happily.
The sweat on his forehead flowed into his eyes. Zhuang Yongyuan didn't bother to wipe it away. He blinked hard at his stinging right eye and said excitedly into the microphone, "The last song is Zhang Xuan's 'City'."
The prelude came from the earphones, and many cameras in the audience were facing him, round black cameras of all sizes. The accessories on his body bound him like chains, bound him on the stage, and bound the four members of their band, closely connected, never separated, at ease, and eternal.
Zhuang Yongyuan and Xie Kang looked at each other, and sang the song he was most looking forward to that evening amid the hustle and bustle of music played by the four of them.
"You are so rare, the city keeps turning." On the empty street, Xie Kang took two steps at a time, singing as he walked.
Li Xiuyu looked up at the sky. Unlike the gray night sky in Beijing, the night in Pingnan was a lonely dark black. The factory across the river did not stop working late at night. The lights in the factory trembled gently in the early summer night breeze, and at first glance it looked like a starry sky.
Li Xiuyu then sang: "And I love you, you must remember."
After singing, he quickly glanced at Du Jiahao.
To his surprise, Du Jiahao did not avoid it, but looked back boldly.
Li Xiuyu didn't know it was the timidity on his face that attracted Du Jiahao. Du Jiahao found it new. In the year they had known each other, Li Xiuyu had always been aloof and confident about everything. He had never known Li Xiuyu to be afraid.
Du Jiahao couldn't remember the lyrics, so he whistled a bit as a way to sing along. He rested his hands folded behind his head, walked backwards, and looked at the three people in front of him.
"We were once together, intertwined in the city's pop song." Zhuang Yongyuan sang the last line of the lyrics slowly, enunciating each word.
Zhuang Yongyuan said: "In fact, after singing it so many times, I still don't know what the lyrics mean."
Du Jiahao shook his head and said, "I didn't know you still like it so much?"
"Because this song sounds like a big city." Zhuang Yongyuan looked at Li Xiuyu and asked him, "How is Beijing?"
"Well enough."
"Say more." Zhuang Yongyuan said dissatisfiedly.
Li Xiuyu smiled and said, "I've been so busy training for the competition that I rarely have time to go out. If I had to say anything, it would be that there are a lot of people everywhere, and they're all strangers."
After he finished speaking, he asked everyone, "Are you in a hurry to go home?"
Xie Kang checked his watch. Zhuang Yongyuan dropped his hand and said with a pout, "It's still early. You're not allowed to go home."
Xie Kang has been coming home very late every day due to group rehearsal recently. He has been questioned by his parents many times and it seems that he can no longer fool them.
But Zhuang Yongyuan looked at him with sparkling eyes, and he couldn't say no.
"Then where are we going?" Xie Kang asked.
Zhuang Yongyuan said: "Just taking a walk is good."
Xie Kang said, "There must be a destination."
Du Jiahao hit Xie Kang on the head with a drumstick. Xie Kang covered his head and looked at him angrily. Du Jiahao looked at Zhuang Yongyuan and said, "You see, we just can't get along with this kind of good student who has so many goals and directions in his head."
Zhuang Yongyuan burst into laughter. He had never drunk alcohol, but he felt that being drunk might be what he felt like now.
Li Xiuyu suddenly said, "Let's go to school. Du Jiahao, didn't you often say you wanted to visit our school?"
Du Jiahao was stunned for a moment, then said something without thinking: "That's because you refused to take me with you before."
Zhuang Yongyuan smoothed things over: "Now is the best time to go. The phoenix flowers in our school are in bloom and they are very beautiful."
Li Xiuyu looked straight at Du Jiahao and asked him, "Let's go?"
After saying that, he extended his hand to Du Jiahao.
Xie Kang winked at Zhuang Yongyuan, who understood and walked over to him. Xie Kang leaned close to Zhuang Yongyuan and whispered, "What happened to them?"
Zhuang Yongyuan replied in a whisper, "I don't know either! They were fine before Li Xiuyu went to Beijing."
Du Jiahao ignored Li Xiuyu's outstretched hand, but said nonchalantly, "Just go."
He glanced at Li Xiuyu's hand that was suspended in mid-air and said, "I dare, do you dare?"
Li Xiuyu raised his hand a little higher, his usual provocative expression returning: "Let's make a bet. There's nothing I wouldn't dare to do, except what you wouldn't dare to do."
Du Jiahao took his hand, squeezed it hard, and said, "I think you will lose."
"Then let's try it." Li Xiuyu said, and ran straight to the middle of the intersection with Du Jiahao in his hand, and boldly kissed him under the red light.
The roads were sparsely populated late at night, but not empty, not to mention the cars that might pass by at any time.
The kiss was short but deep. After it ended, he brushed his hair and said to Du Jiahao, "I win this round, don't I?"
"Just once." Du Jiahao smiled wickedly and said, "I told you, you shouldn't mess with people like me. How can a good student hang out with a thug?"
"You can play as many times as you want." Li Xiuyu lowered his voice, "As long as we can keep playing."
He then waved to Xie Kang and Zhuang Yongyuan on the side of the road, shouting, "Why are you standing so far away? Hurry and catch up."
Du Jiahao and Li Xiuyu were walking very fast in front, so Xie Kang and Zhuang Yongyuan had to half-run and half-walk behind them. The four of them were covered in the shadows of the tiny leaves of the trees on the roadside, and their footsteps sounded very loud in the quiet night.
"Slow down!" Xie Kang, feeling a little hot, shouted to the two people in front of him.
Li Xiuyu and Du Jiahao didn't look back. They each stretched out a hand and gave Xie Kang a thumbs up, then simply ran away.
The four people were like competing, chasing each other on the road. As they ran, Zhuang Yongyuan felt a few drops of water on the tip of his nose.
"It's raining!" he shouted.
No one answered him; everyone just quickened their pace, running faster. Threads of spring rain fell on them, gently trapping them in a curtain of rain.
The raindrops catalyzed many things. Someone started singing, the tone and rhythm were a mess, and the professionalism on the stage not long ago was completely thrown away.
Amidst the singing, a word from Zhuang Yongyuan was mixed in.
"Can we all go to the same city and continue playing in a band together?"
"Of course!" Xie Kang said without hesitation.
"I'll try my best." Li Xiuyu said with some reservations, then changed his words: "I definitely will."
Du Jiahao's voice was the smallest. He said, "It's not bad to go to a big city."
The gate of No. 1 Middle School was locked, and the security guard was dozing in the security room. From a distance, he could hear the singing of Taiwanese opera playing inside.
They came at this time and had no intention of going through the main entrance.
Li Xiuyu, who was familiar with the place, led everyone to the entrance of the Internet cafe where the boarders climbed over the wall. Someone had already placed stepping stones there, and the four of them climbed in one after another.
Zhuang Yongyuan dusted off his hands and looked around the campus at night. The banyan leaves rustled in the wind.
He asked Xie Kang, "What time is it?"
"It's almost twelve o'clock."
There were insects chirping and birds singing, but no ringtones from the radio or the voices of teachers lecturing. This was a place where I spent more than twelve hours a day, yet it felt completely unfamiliar.
Only the three people around him were familiar. Zhuang Yongyuan looked at them, panting. With everyone together, some things that were important before became unimportant, and the unimportant things became the most important.
A dull spring thunderclap exploded. Du Jiahao nudged Li Xiuyu and said, "Run! Are you standing here waiting to get wet?"
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