Crab
Pan Yue paused for a moment, then said, "Let's go back."
Zhu Shiyi's breath hitched.
Her heart ached and felt numb; she couldn't quite describe her feelings.
Zhu Shiyi feigned nonchalance: "Then why didn't you answer your mother's calls? Is it because you didn't want to go back?"
She could probably guess that Pan Yue wasn't answering his phone because he didn't want to go on blind dates.
But she still wanted a definite answer.
“…” Pan Yue took a sip of barley tea. “Some things are hard to control.”
Zhu Shiyi is unknown.
What do I need to control? Is it hard to refuse blind dates?
...Is it because it's difficult to control the conditions of blind date partners?
After much deliberation, Zhu Shiyi finally asked, "Then why did you go back?"
"Go home," Pan Yue said simply.
Zhu Shiyi belatedly realized her rudeness. Someone was just going home; what right did she have to ask so many questions?
What other reason is needed to go home?
New Year's Day, a day for family reunion.
Home is where your loved ones are.
"Your home isn't far, is it?" Zhu Shiyi tried to smooth things over. "You should go home for New Year's Day."
“Not far,” Pan Yue replied, “but not close either, it takes more than an hour to drive there.”
Zhu Shiyi nodded.
Jinrong lives in a very big city. Her university and her company are not even diagonally opposite each other; it takes about forty minutes to drive there.
Pan Yue's home is not exactly close to the company, but it's not far either.
Zhu Shiyi's date plans fell through.
The 1st is a Sunday, and it's also the last day of the New Year's Day holiday.
Pan Yue's schedule was packed.
The waiter serves the food.
"You ordered so much!" Zhu Shiyi exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise.
Not many.
That's not much!
Zhu Shiyi took Pan Yue's words as mere politeness.
Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, steamed hairy crab, osmanthus rice cake, roast duck, red bean glutinous rice balls...
She was genuinely afraid she wouldn't be able to finish the food.
How much would that cost? And there are hairy crabs too!
"Have some glutinous rice balls for good luck," Pan Yue said, pushing the small glutinous rice balls towards the table.
Zhu Shiyi felt a warmth in his heart: "Happy New Year in advance!"
After eating a few bites of small glutinous rice balls, Zhu Shiyi went to fetch hairy crabs.
There were crab-eating utensils on the table. She picked them up but didn't know where to start.
Who could possibly understand how to use this fancy stuff? She certainly wouldn't. When she eats crabs, she usually just bites into them directly.
Zhu Shiyi silently put down the tools. He didn't want to use them, and he was too lazy to learn. It was more convenient and tasted better to just chew on them.
Aside from being a bit inelegant.
Zhu Shiyi really wanted to find another place to enjoy this delicious treat.
If it weren't Pan Yue sitting opposite her, she wouldn't care about elegance or anything like that.
Pan Yue glanced at it, then withdrew his hand from the scissors. With a little force, he broke off a crab leg, picked it up, and squeezed out the crab meat.
Zhu Shiyi's eyes lit up.
Pan Yue also ate it directly!
There's no such thing as elegance or inelegance when it's just a casual meal.
Straight men don't care about table manners at all.
Zhu Shiyi glanced at Pan Yue a few times.
He snapped off a crab leg with a snap, poked it with the crab foot, lowered his head slightly, and took a bite of crab meat, chewing slowly. On his head, a small tuft of hair stood up at some point, moving slightly like a cowlick.
Zhu Shiyi chuckled to himself.
To be honest, it's actually quite cute when a man nibbles at something like that, like a greedy little kitten.
Without thinking twice, she broke off a crab claw, fiddled with it for a bit, and popped it into her mouth.
Chew, chew, chew, it's delicious!
Right place.
He fixed his gaze to the side.
Pan Yue's lips curved into a smile.
......
Pan Yue was really not being polite.
They managed to eat every last bite of the food on the table.
Okay. The guy definitely eats a lot.
Two bowls of ginger tea were served after the meal.
"Sir/Madam," the waiter said, "this is your order, ginger tea to dispel cold."
--
The New Year's Day holiday has officially begun.
Yu Fan still had to go to work, and Zhu Shiyi, having nothing to do, wandered aimlessly around the living room. Suddenly, she noticed a cute little gadget among Yu Fan's musical instruments—
It's a ukulele.
Zhu Shiyi, out of curiosity, picked it up, placed it on his lap, and plucked the strings a couple of times using guitar fingering.
The little wooden figure hummed a cheerful and melodious tune.
Zhu Shiyi became interested. She could play the guitar and knew that people with guitar experience would find it easier to learn the ukulele, but this was the first time she had ever touched this lovely instrument.
The ukulele has soft strings and only four strings, two fewer than the guitar, which means it is easier to learn than the guitar.
Zhu Shiyi found two tutorials and did a simple study of ukulele chords and fingerings.
She plans to find a sheet music for singing and playing.
......
Garden Party.
With only one answer in her mind, she searched for the sheet music and started playing with it to amuse herself.
Although the ukulele is simple, there are many details to playing it well, especially since she had never touched the instrument before.
She practiced for over an hour straight.
The next morning, Zhu Shiyi couldn't wait to play the piano.
But Yu Fan gets off work late and needs to catch up on sleep in the morning, so she was afraid of disturbing Yu Fan's rest.
Zhu Shiyi stayed up until 12:30, then cooked two bowls of noodles and went to wake Yu Fan.
This was an unspoken agreement between them: on weekends, when Zhu Shiyi was at home, Yu Fan would send her the food she wanted to eat, and Zhu Shiyi would be responsible for making or buying it.
Of course, Zhu Shiyi's cooking skills are not good. Apart from cooking noodles and a few simple home-style dishes, she can't cook much else. Most of the time, she has to buy food.
Zhu Shiyi served the noodles, and Yu Fan also finished washing up and sat down at the table.
Zhu Shiyi couldn't wait: "Sister Fan, why did you suddenly decide to buy a ukulele!"
“It’s almost the end of the year, so I need to save up some money. I can’t afford to buy one now; it was sent to me by my parents when I was in college,” Yu Fan said, mixing his noodles. “But with the New Year coming soon, I’ve had some inspiration lately and want to write a light and cheerful song. The ukulele’s tone is perfect for it.”
Zhu Shiyi was very supportive: "Can I have the privilege of hearing it first?"
“Absolutely,” Yu Fan snapped his fingers and pulled out his phone. “I recorded a new demo, but it’s only a short clip.”
Zhu Shiyi put down his chopsticks and listened attentively.
The demo is indeed short, with a bright and warm overall style, and the chorus has a catchy melody.
"That sounds great." Zhu Shiyi clapped.
It's a nice song, definitely a nice song, but to be honest, she wouldn't put it on her playlist.
But she's not a professional; she wouldn't comment on Yu Fan, nor would she spoil her friend's fun.
"Is it really that good?" Yu Fan slurped his noodles and laughed. "There's something wrong with it, isn't there?"
Zhu Shiyi was taken aback.
My thoughts have been exposed? She raised an eyebrow: "What's the problem?"
"You don't know?" Yu Fan blinked, shook his head, and said with a hint of teasing, "Don't tell me you can't tell."
"I don't know if what I think is the same as what you think."
“It’s okay,” Yu Fan said, cutting off the demo. “Just tell me directly, I really need advice.”
“Okay,” Zhu Shiyi bit her lip, “It’s mainly the accompaniment. The piano part at the back doesn’t sound very good.”
Yu Fan explained, "This is a temporary electronic synthesized sound. My piano is at the piano store. I'll record this part when I go home for the Chinese New Year."
Zhu Shiyi pouted and said, "Actually, I think it's better without the piano. The guitar and ukulele are both string instruments with bright tones, and together they are enough. The piano is softer, and adding it to the chorus, although loud, actually makes the overall feeling weaker."
Yu Fan sat up straight, his expression becoming more serious: "So what do you think is good?"
Zhu Shiyi closed her eyes and imagined it for a moment. She scratched her head and tried to find the right words: "The intro and the first half of the verse can be played on a ukulele alone, the second half of the verse can be played with a guitar, and the second verse can be played with drum beats."
Zhu Shiyi paused, then hissed, "That's not right."
"Um?"
“Playing string claps or cutting notes,” Zhu Shiyi mentally rehearsed, “better than drumbeats. It’s rhythmic, but not too abrupt.”
"Just strings?" Yu Fan asked in surprise, clearly not quite believing it. "Wouldn't that be too thin? It would sound even drier and too monotonous when recorded."
“I think their timbre is very bright,” Zhu Shiyi said. “If you do good harmonies, it shouldn’t sound monotonous, right?”
Yu Fan frowned, closed her eyes, as if deep in thought. After a while, she nodded: "I'll give it a try."
I don't know if they were just being polite.
Zhu Shiyi was afraid that Yu Fan would be unhappy, so she tried to smooth things over: "Just do what you like. What I say may not be right. It's all based on imagination. I don't know how to write songs. I'm not even an amateur."
“Don’t be modest,” Yu Fan said, his eyes crinkling. “I told you the first time I met you that you’re a natural talent, a gifted player.”
"No way," Zhu Shiyi waved her hand, secretly delighted, but modestly replied, "I just listen to a lot of songs."
"You've studied music, haven't you?" Yu Fan asked. "How long have you been studying?"
Zhu Shiyi did the math: "If I start counting from when I joined the choir in elementary school... it's been about ten years, but I only joined very amateur, free student clubs. Later, although I enrolled in paid extracurricular classes, I only went once a week, just for fun."
Yu Fan's eyes flickered: "Have you studied music theory?"
"I haven't studied much, I only learned some basics when I was learning guitar."
“Honestly,” Yu Fan tilted his head, “you have a good foundation. Why didn’t you think about going into music? If you had studied it more professionally in your junior and senior years of high school, you would have had a good chance.”
Zhu Shiyi shrugged: "It's so difficult to pursue art. My level is nothing special in a crowd. Besides, my grades aren't bad either. Giving up my academic studies to study art is too costly. I can't make that decision."
"Where are your parents? They sent you to extracurricular classes, but didn't they ever think about letting you pursue a professional career?"
“In our area, almost no kids don’t attend extracurricular classes,” Zhu Shiyi explained. “My mom sent me to sing lessons, probably just because it’s trendy or because she sees I like it? She never thought I would pursue it professionally.”
......
After dinner, Zhu Shiyi couldn't wait any longer and started playing the ukulele again.
“You have to do this muting,” Yu Fan demonstrated with a hand gesture. “The ukulele is different from the guitar in some ways, mainly in the right hand.”
Zhu Shiyi immediately changed his hand gestures and began to strum the strings.
The movements were already fluid and coordinated.
Yu Fan crossed his arms and listened quietly with interest.
"Would you like to try composing music?" Yu Fan asked on a whim.
Zhu Shiyi paused, covered the strings, and looked up: "What did you say? Arrangement?"
This is unbelievable. There's no way she could possibly do something so difficult.
Yu Fan drew out a long "hmm," and said, "I think you're capable."
Zhu Shiyi shook his head violently: "I can't. I don't know many musical instruments, so I can't do it."
“Software will do,” Yu Fan said, picking up her ukulele and putting it away. She took a step forward. “Do you have a computer? A tablet will do too.”
"Yes." Zhu Shiyi followed Yu Fan to the computer in the living room.
“The next DAW,” Yu Fan sat down, “is a digital audio workstation, also called host software. It’s a unified base station that can call different virtual instruments or music effect simulators without worrying about format compatibility issues.”
“There are many types of host software,” Yu Fan said, turning on his computer. “If you’re a beginner, I recommend this one. Its advantage is its simplicity.”
"And what about the drawbacks?"
Yu Fan paused for a moment: "...It's simple too."
Zhu Shiyi laughed: "That's your great god's weakness."
"You're so good at talking," Yu Fan said with a smile, fiddling with the computer for a few moments. "Composing music is actually quite fun. If you just want a simple accompaniment, you can make it yourself by doing some research."
Zhu Shiyi leaned down and listened attentively.
Yu Fan used the mouse to select the first instrument: "Let's start with the guitar. You understand guitar chords better, so it'll be easier for you to learn."
“Personally, I usually start by laying out a motive and setting up the framework. Then I adjust the tempo, and oh right, remember to adjust the beat. I’ll just randomly set it to 48 bars first.”
Yu Fan's movements were fluid and effortless: "Then you can play it."
Yu Fan pressed down on the chords and cybernetics strummed the strings, as if playing a rhythm game.
Zhu Shiyi became very interested: "Is it the same as playing a real guitar?"
“Yes,” Yu Fan continued, “I need to establish the rhythm now. But the sustained note just now lacked a strong sense of rhythm, so I need to use a muted tone.”
After Yu Fan finished setting the tone for the main song, he returned to the main screen and played it once.
“The second chord,” Zhu Shiyi frowned, “I feel something’s off.”
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