Chapter 22 Love Letter Chen Jingchi is acting very strange today!
The following afternoon, during the break between the first and second classes, Fan Xin saw a Weibo post that Chen Jingchi had recently made, announcing that he would be performing three songs from his new album at the music night that evening.
She took a screenshot and shared it in the group, saying, "Judging from the program schedule, I estimate he won't be on stage until nine o'clock."
An Kejia looked regretful: "Then I won't be able to see it. I have to have dinner with my senior tonight."
"You're so busy," Fan Xin remarked.
"There's no other way. We're holding a garden party soon, and I'm having a headache over the plans. I've revised them several times. I'll have to ask my seniors for help tonight," An Kejia sighed.
"Alright, good luck." Fan Xin looked at Zhou Yu sitting on her left, "Zhou Zhou, let's watch it together."
Zhou Yu glanced at the picture she posted in the group chat and smiled at her: "I also have something to do tonight."
"Oh, you're busy too." Fan Xin said disappointedly, "Then I'll look at it myself."
An Kejia leaned closer, her eyes full of curiosity, and asked, "Why have you been so busy these past two days? Is it because of that 'male friend' you mentioned last night?"
Zhou Yu reminded him: "That's a hypothetical situation."
"Who knows?" An Kejia chuckled. "You've been acting very strangely lately."
"Is there? No."
Zhou Yu said this, but in reality, she already felt that something was very wrong with her yesterday. From the moment she heard Chen Jingchi's voice at the back door of the classroom to her subsequent encounters, her unconscious physiological reactions were beyond the normal range. She dared not delve into the reasons, knowing in her heart that the only solution was to avoid contact with the source of the problem, but she also felt that missing such a good opportunity tonight would definitely lead to regret later.
As Du Heng said, tonight is Chen Jingchi's new song debut, and he's singing a song by him and her. Zhou Yu really couldn't convince herself to resist the temptation.
My phone rang, and a friend request popped up on WeChat. It was a contact card recommended by my friend Du Heng.
XY: [I am Xu Yue]
Zhou Yu hesitated for a second before accepting the friend request.
His WeChat nickname reminded Zhou Yu of the person who had messaged her in the freshman group before; it turned out to be him.
Xu Yue: [Do you have class in the second period?]
Zhou Yu replied: [Yes]
Xu Yue: [Let's meet at the east gate after class.]
Zhou Yu guessed that they were going to watch the live stream together, so without asking any further questions, he replied, "Okay."
Although she had met him for the first time five years ago, she didn't know much about Xu Yue.
He and Chen Jingchi have been friends since junior high school. From street performances to forming a band together, the band disbanded, and then going to university, they were almost always together. However, because Chen Jingchi was so outstanding, he attracted most of the attention, causing many people to overlook that Xu Yue is also a very good guitarist.
Both are musicians, but unlike Chen Jingchi's flamboyant style, Xu Yue doesn't sing lead vocals but only plays supporting roles, rarely appearing in public and having a low profile.
Xu Yue, being my buddy, will definitely be watching tonight's live stream.
Zhou Yu wasn't familiar with him; their only connection was a pen he'd borrowed from Chen Jingchi when they discussed lyrics last time. Considering Fan Xin's guess that Chen Jingchi might not go on stage until nine o'clock, it meant she might have to sit with Xu Yue and watch the performance for several hours.
I wonder if it will be very difficult to get through.
After the second class, Zhou Yu arrived at the east gate of the school as agreed. The music academy was closer to the gate, and Xu Yue was already there waiting for her.
After nodding in greeting, Xu Yue hailed a taxi, and the two sat together in the back seat. Just as Zhou Yu was wondering if remaining silent would be awkward, Xu Yue broke the silence: "Zhou Yu, did you go to high school in Xianhai?"
Zhou Yu suddenly turned to look at him, her eyes filled with undisguised surprise: "How did you know?"
The Weibo post that broke the news only mentioned that her junior high school was Quanshan Affiliated Middle School, but Xu Yue directly asked about the location of her high school. She was shocked because she wasn't sure if Xu Yue already knew this.
"I'm sorry if I've offended you," Xu Yue explained. "I happen to have a relative studying at Quanshan, so I inquired about it."
It wasn't exactly offensive, but her story had spread throughout the school in the past two days, and her reputation had plummeted. From being called "Chen Jingchi's personally selected talented woman" to now being referred to as "judge" and "family judge," Zhou Yu was no longer surprised.
She paused for a few seconds, then answered, "Yes."
Xu Yue then asked, "Is it No. 1 Middle School or the Affiliated Middle School?"
Zhou Yu looked at him without saying anything, then added, "Chi Ge and I are both from No. 1 High School, so I wanted to ask if we are alumni."
He seemed to be just looking for common topics to break the ice. Fellow townsmen and alumni are identities that can quickly shorten the distance. When strangers meet, the first thing they say is about their hometown, which is to seek a sense of identity. After all, most people have a sense of regional identity.
However, this presents Zhou Yu with a dilemma. He had previously told Chen Jingchi that he had only heard of him by name, but if news of his alumni status reached Chen Jingchi's ears, he wondered if Chen Jingchi would become suspicious.
But at this moment she had no room to lie. Whether he believed her or not, she could only honestly confess: "No. 1 Middle School."
"You really are alumni." Xu Yue looked surprised. "No wonder your lyrics give me a sense of continuity."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu was momentarily stunned, and whispered, "It's just a coincidence."
Xu Yue turned his head to look at her and asked, "Have you seen our performance? Back in high school."
He deliberately added the word "high school," which eliminated Zhou's chance to use the welcome party as an excuse.
The Tidal Echoes performance at No. 1 High School only has two official performances: the New Year's Eve party for the first and second year students. The school would set up a stage in front of the square, and before the party started, students from each class would carry their own stools from their classrooms and sit in their pre-designated classroom areas. Zhou Yu was always the last one to arrive, standing at the very back of the line, where the noise from the people next to him was even louder than that on stage.
Tidal Echo is positioned as a rock band. They sing about youth, passion, the freedom and unbridled spirit of sixteen or seventeen-year-old boys and girls, and their boundless aspirations and longings for the future.
What I remember most vividly is when I was in my second year of high school, they performed "Run Away" with a much faster tempo and a new arrangement.
At that time, the band had been working together for more than a year, and it was the performance in which the four members had the best chemistry and the strongest team spirit.
As soon as Tide Echo came on stage, the students in front of her stood up excitedly. The boys were tall and completely blocked Zhou Yu's view. She couldn't even see the people on stage. She could only hear the screams all around her, which almost drowned out the accompaniment from the speakers.
At that time, Zhou Yu, like many others, only cared about that one person. But unlike others, Zhou Yu was only sensitive to his voice, not his face.
The audience heard "I want to elope with you," while Zhou Yu heard "Walking through flowers and thorns just for the land of freedom."
That was the last performance of Echo of the Tide that Zhou Yu had ever seen, and it was also the memory in his mind of Chen Jingchi that best fit the label of youthful spirit.
"I've seen it," Zhou said, pulling himself out of his reverie. "The Elopement."
Upon hearing that it was this song, Xu Yue nodded: "That performance was indeed impressive."
Noticing that the emotion in his eyes was gradually calming down, she pretended not to know and asked, "Why didn't you perform together later?"
"The band has disbanded." Xu Yue didn't hide anything and told her frankly, "There were some internal conflicts that couldn't be resolved."
The reason why Tide Echo disbanded back then was all rumor. Zhou Yu had already met the two people who knew the truth. Chen Jingchi was someone she had to think twice before speaking to, and Zhou Yu didn't dare to mention the past to him at all. Traveling with Xu Yue today might not be a bad thing. Zhou Yu felt that she could get some information from Xu Yue.
She was incredibly grateful that Xu Yue had used the rapport of being from the same hometown and alumni to build rapport, so she had no reservations and asked, "May I ask what the conflict is about?"
Xu Yue smiled helplessly and said, "Back then, the other two members of our band had a very ugly breakup and didn't want to stay in the band anymore. At first, Brother Chi didn't agree and asked them to endure it for another month. But they couldn't stand it, so they made up an excuse to have a fight and disbanded."
So that's how it is.
Zhou Yu frowned. The "excuse" Xu Yue mentioned must be the content revealed by the classmate in the rumors, that the girl said she had always liked Chen Jingchi, which led to the two arguing outside the classroom.
However, her focus wasn't on that. Zhou Yu asked again, "Why make them endure it for another month?"
“There was supposed to be a stage that October,” Xu Yue said, “but because we signed up as a band, we couldn’t perform solo.”
He spoke casually, but Zhou Yu vaguely felt that something deep in his memory had been awakened. As he tried to grasp those invisible clues, he was suddenly interrupted by a ringing bell.
Xu Yue glanced at his phone screen and said, "Brother Du Heng."
Zhou Yu stared blankly as he made the phone call. That tiny budding idea was nipped in the bud, and her thoughts were all jumbled up, leaving her unable to make sense of it all.
After hanging up the phone, Xu Yue told her, "He will meet us at the back door later."
Zhou Yu nodded, offering no objection.
Upon arriving at the venue, Du Heng led the two backstage through the work passage, saying, "The artist lounge is full of people. I'll take you to your seats first."
Chen Jingchi did not have a private dressing room. Since it was shared by multiple artists, it was crowded with makeup artists, artists, assistants, etc. Zhou Yu only glanced at the door as she passed by and saw only heads.
I didn't even see Chen Jingchi.
The audience had already begun to enter, and the two were seated in the front row VIP seats in the inner area, very close to the stage with an excellent view; they could see the people on stage clearly with the naked eye. Apart from them, almost all the audience members around them were friends or associates of the celebrities.
Zhou Yu had just sat down when his phone vibrated; it was a message from Chen Jingchi.
Chen: [Have you had dinner?]
After receiving Xu Yue's message, she went straight to the school gate after class, without even having time to eat. She replied: "Not yet."
Chen: [Backstage]
Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment, remembering that there were staff coming and going in the backstage passage when he first arrived. He turned to ask Xu Yue if he wanted to come along, but found that Xu Yue was making a phone call, so he had to give up.
She got up from her seat, walked around the fence, and came to the backstage entrance. As soon as she pushed the door open, she saw Chen Jingchi standing at the door waiting for her.
Chen Jingchi had already done his makeup and styling, looking quite different from his usual relaxed appearance. His makeup was very light, his hair was styled in a fluffy way, and he wore a silver-black suit. With his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs, the well-tailored fabric hugged his body, making his proportions look absolutely perfect.
This was the first time Zhou Yu had seen him in a suit; the ascetic style made him appear much more mature.
She couldn't take her eyes off it.
Zhou Yu could understand why Chen Jingchi received so much attention when he appeared on the variety show "Hear Your Voice". He had a face that looked like a star, with three-dimensional and heroic features and sharp eyebrows and eyes, but he himself was not proud of it.
While she was lost in thought, Chen Jingchi suddenly reached out to her, only to remove his hand in less than two seconds. Zhou Yu looked down and saw a small blue name tag clipped to the side of her collar button, which read "Artist Assistant".
“There are meals available in the break room, go eat over there,” he said.
Zhou Yu looked at him blankly, then, thinking of the people who had come with them, subconsciously asked, "Where's Xu Yue?"
Just as Chen Jingchi was about to turn and leave, he heard her words, paused, and looked back with a strange expression.
"You two are very familiar with each other?"
His tone was somewhat subtle when he asked the question.
Chen Jingchi stayed in the dressing room that afternoon and probably didn't know that she and Xu Yue had come together. Seeing his strange expression, Zhou Yu realized she had said something unnecessary. Under pressure from somewhere, she shook her head slightly, distancing herself: "We're not close."
Chen Jingchi didn't reply, but looked at her for a few more seconds before saying, "He's eating at my house after the live stream. Do you want to come too?"
This sounded strange, but Zhou Yu couldn't quite put her finger on what was so strange about it. She avoided eye contact and pretended to be calm: "No, thank you."
She thought the strange conversation was over, and Zhou Yu took a few steps forward, but then heard Chen Jingchi's considerate explanation from behind: "It's not that you're not welcome, it's just that it won't end until after ten o'clock, and your dormitory has a curfew, right?"
Zhou Yu suddenly turned his head and looked at him in disbelief.
"You want to stay in my house..."
Zhou Yu opened her eyes wide, anticipating what he was about to say, and without thinking, raised her hand to cover his mouth.
"I don't want to!" Zhou Yu lowered his voice, saying whatever came to mind, "I'm not familiar with him, but I'm... just as familiar with you."
Chen Jingchi raised an eyebrow, seemingly quite satisfied with this statement, a hint of a smile appearing in his eyes.
Zhou Yu suddenly let go of his hand, created some distance, glanced at him quickly, and then turned and strode towards the lounge.
Her heart pounded like a drum as she drew a conclusion amidst the noise.
Chen Jingchi is acting really strange today!
-----------------------
Author's note: Thank you for the nutrient solution, everyone!!
Reader "", watered with nutrient solution +20 (Baby, where is your name? [scared])
Reader "Qiqiqiqi" added 1 unit of nutrient solution to the water.
Reader "Lily" watered with nutrient solution +4
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
