035 | (Thirty-four) Music
"Xie Qingyan, what are you staring at? Give me a straight answer." Zheng Hui was unhappy about being ignored, so he leaned closer with a sheepish grin and snapped his fingers on her face, his long, slender fingers rubbing against her skin to make a crisp sound.
Xie Qingyan snapped out of her daze, deliberately ignoring the persistent gaze from ahead, and said with a smile, "Go, why wouldn't we go?"
"What were you looking at?" Zheng Hui followed her gaze and looked over. The classmates were in groups of two or three, chattering away, but he couldn't make out what they were looking at.
"It's nothing." Xie Qingyan slumped back onto her desk. Her mind was in turmoil; she didn't understand why Su Xingmao was watching her like a spy.
The rest of the day passed in a daze, and Xie Qingyan remained restless throughout the class.
Even when the sound of reading aloud in her ears was replaced by melodious and bright music, her mood did not improve.
In the evening, Xie Qingyan went to listen to the wind band rehearsal as promised, but he was absent-minded and found even the musical experience boring. On the other hand, Chen Huaixu listened attentively.
"Does it sound good?" she asked, feeling drowsy.
"It sounds nice." Shen Huaixu listened intently, counting the beats on his knees with his fingers, and turned back to smile in response.
Shen Huaixu was the first friend Xie Qingyan made at Jincheng Middle School.
They were deskmates when they entered high school, and were lucky enough to be in the same class again after the class placement exam. She was a well-known aloof academic star with excellent grades, ranking at the top of her class.
Unlike Xie Qingyan, who barely squeezed into Class 8 of the second year of high school by just barely meeting the cutoff score.
The undulating, well-arranged musical scales drifted into Xie Qingyan's ears, but she couldn't tell which grand symphony it was.
"How wonderful, I'm so envious. It's a pity I'm tone-deaf and can't appreciate these 21g of fine chaff." Xie Qingyan was a complete commoner, and she could sing any song off-key. Highbrow music was like playing the lute to a cow for her.
Heaven opened a window to art for her, but then welded the door to music shut for her. That's pretty fair.
Listening to the melodious and cheerful tune, Xie Qingyan listlessly propped his chin up and looked at the handsome men and beautiful women in the crowd.
While I was still in a daze, several voices whispered into my ears: "Guess who I just saw?"
A woman's voice asked, "Who is it?"
"Su Xingmao, the top student in the science stream in the second year of high school, is the one who often gives speeches under the national flag."
Upon hearing the familiar name, Xie Qingyan immediately snapped to attention, pricked up his ears, and leaned his body in that direction, trying to listen more carefully.
"People often ask for his contact information on the confession wall... What's he doing here?"
"Who knows? Maybe he was just passing by. He's so aloof."
Aloof? If she hadn't personally heard Su Xingmao's erotic remarks when he was toying with her, even she, who had known him for almost ten years, would probably have been fooled by his pretentious and sanctimonious cold exterior.
Xie Qingyan remained expressionless, popped a strawberry candy into his mouth, and chewed it dry, making a crunching sound.
He thought to himself, "Why is he here to join in the fun? I've known Su Xingmao for so many years, and apart from catching a glimpse of his dusty violin at his house, I've never seen him resonate with music."
Speaking of which, Xie Qingyan also has a children's harp locked up in his toy room, which is just for decoration.
When she was little, she read fairy tales and saw stories about princesses playing the harp under the moon, looking elegant and beautiful.
She immediately had a wicked idea and started making a fuss, begging Xie Jinyu to let her learn the harp as well.
Xie Jinyu couldn't refuse her, so she had to agree and asked a retired teacher from the Central Conservatory of Music to give her one-on-one instruction. The teacher was very serious and said that to learn music, you have to lay a solid foundation. The teacher first taught her sight-singing and ear training, how to read sheet music, keep rhythm, and learn music theory. Just these things were enough to exhaust her. She couldn't even stick to the year-long course for half a year. Before she could even get her pitch right, she gave up.
After rehearsal, Zheng Hui came from backstage to find the two of them.
Playing the clarinet is extremely taxing on lung capacity. After a performance, he was sweating profusely, his black hair clinging damply to his face. Another boy who played the oboe offered him a cigarette, and the group huddled together, puffing away as a form of entertainment.
Unlike art students, academic students are allowed to practice their special skills in a dedicated classroom during evening self-study sessions starting in their second year of high school. With evening classes approaching, Shen Huaixu politely declined the cigarettes and bid farewell to everyone.
Zheng Hui half-squatted in front of Xie Qingyan, his lips curled up in a smoky smile as he asked with a hint of smugness, "How was it? I blew it pretty well, didn't I?"
He has bright eyebrows and eyes, and his teeth are white and shiny. His smile is quite sunny and energetic.
Xie Qingyan waved his hand in disgust, dispelling the smell: "Are you trying to choke me to death?"
"Why don't you give it a try?" he said, handing her one as well.
Xie Qingyan refused: "I don't want it."
Zheng Hui scoffed: "You wouldn't dare, would you?"
She has always used her beauty to her advantage, and she refuses to back down in front of others, especially when provoked.
"Who are you saying wouldn't dare?"
When Xie Jinyu feels anxious at work, she will occasionally light a thin women's cigarette and stand silently in front of the glass window for a long time.
Xie Qingyan would pause briefly every time he passed by.
She didn't like the pungent smell of nicotine, but Xie Qingyan considered herself the bad student representative of Class 8 in the second year of high school. Her rebellious heart began to rise up regarding smoking, a bad behavior in the eyes of good students.
As if possessed, she reached out and took the cigarette.
The flickering orange-red flame danced at her lips as she held the cigarette loosely between two fingers, watching the smoke rise slowly, but never actually putting it in her mouth.
Xie Qingyan didn't really intend to smoke it; she just wanted to accept it to prove she wasn't a coward. Unexpectedly, Zheng Hui was so understanding and considerate, immediately helping her light it as soon as she took it.
Now she was in a difficult situation.
"I'm going to the bathroom." After thinking it over, she decided that leaving was the best option and she would make a hasty escape to urinate.
Zheng Hui smiled knowingly: "Go ahead. If you don't want to smoke, just throw it away. Don't force yourself, okay, friend?"
"cut."
Xie Qingyan walked out of the concert hall alone. The sky had completely darkened, with a thin misty purple hue in the distance, and a few stars scattered across the sky, twinkling faintly.
Evening self-study was about to begin, and the crowd gradually dispersed. She walked around a flower bed full of daisies, and the restroom light was on ahead.
Between the fingers holding the cigarette, a tiny spark flickered uncertainly in the night, as if a small star from the sky had been plucked from the sky and was held in the hand.
At the corner, a tall, slender figure in a blue and white school uniform leaned against the wall, blocking her way.
...A malevolent star reigns supreme.
Su Xingmao looked at her quietly, his gaze calm, like the water of a deep pool, unfathomable, devoid of emotion, yet subtly cool, making her feet feel cold.
He was dressed neatly in his school uniform, his tall figure hidden in the shadows, as if he had been waiting for her for a long time. His cool gaze swept over Xie Qingyan's slightly surprised face, finally settling on the point of scarlet light between her fingers, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.
Xie Qingyan stopped in her tracks.
Seeing that this guy was staring at her hand holding the cigarette, her heart skipped a beat and she cried out, "Oh no, is this guy going to tell Xie Jinyu on me?"
Xie Qingyan instinctively wanted to hide the cigarette behind his back, but then thought that since there was no evidence, why should he be afraid of him? He forced himself to remain calm and stopped.
The night breeze brushed against my cheek, carrying the sweet fragrance of early-blooming osmanthus and a faint scent of tobacco.
Xie Qingyan stared at him blankly. The two looked at each other, speechless, neither of them uttering a word.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment, and all was silent.
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