Chapter 32 Love Letter: Do you like Chen Jingchi?
When Zhou Yu left the courtyard, no one noticed he was gone. But his return with Chen Jingchi immediately caught the attention of the others.
Chen Jingchi walked ahead, and Zhuo Wencheng spotted him immediately, exclaiming in surprise, "Hey? Aren't you out of town?"
He had just finished speaking when Zhou Yu followed him in. Tan Bei, distracted from her phone, walked over to her and tilted her head, asking, "Did you go to pick him up?"
Zhou Yu nodded, her expression looking somewhat unnatural. Fortunately, the fireworks were still going on, and Tan Bei was preoccupied with taking pictures, so she didn't notice anything unusual about her.
Chen Jingchi walked up to the group and explained, "The first to perform will finish early."
“We didn’t know you were coming.” Zhan Li pointed to the stone table where they had eaten hot pot and barbecue. “We’ve put all the food away.”
"It's nothing, I ate something on the way," he said.
Zhou Yu was still standing on the steps in front of the gate, the deafening sound of fireworks exploding in his ears. The flames, like brilliant stars, lit up the night sky, blooming for a few seconds before disappearing in an instant. The sparks left after burning disappeared into the night, replaced by new heat.
Her gaze involuntarily drifted to his back, thinking of his explanations, the words he posted on Weibo, and his wish for a Happy New Year, but she forgot to respond because of her panic.
The more she thought about it, the deeper she thought about it, the more her heart was filled with something soft, full and warm. She could no longer suppress the impulse surging up from the bottom of her heart, and could only let it run rampant, shattering the little rationality she had left.
New Year's Day, a holiday she had never paid attention to before, suddenly seemed to hold a special place in her heart, becoming a vivid and memorable image along with the people and events associated with it.
The fireworks display lasted for about ten minutes. The last glimmer of starlight left a trace on the night sky before disappearing completely with a hiss.
Back at the villa, Tan Bei was eager to share the videos and photos she had just taken with Zhou Yu, and pulled her upstairs together.
The second and third floors of the villa were all bedrooms. Tan Bei chose the master bedroom with an ensuite bathroom on the second floor and immediately pulled up her photo album upon entering. Zhou Yu had originally wanted to film a video, but Chen Jingchi called her out halfway through, and she didn't have time to film it when she returned. After seeing Tan Bei's video, she thought the angle and clarity were excellent and asked her to send it to her privately.
As Zhou Yu closed her bedroom door, she could hear the boys talking downstairs. After hesitating for a long time, she felt that the opportunity had been missed too long, so she had no choice but to postpone her New Year's greetings for the time being.
Tan Bei went to the bathroom to wash up. Zhou wanted to save the videos and photos she sent. When he exited WeChat, his finger casually tapped into Weibo.
Almost half an hour had passed since midnight, and the first post on her Weibo homepage was still a song by Chen Jingchi, with an astonishing 50,000 comments.
The top-rated comment wasn't a controlled comment with emojis and posters: 【Ahhh, honey, you're here! Thank you for the New Year's gift!】
Zhou Yu stared at the words "New Year's gift" and finally understood why Chen Jingchi had chosen to release the solo version of that song at midnight today.
She really wanted to retweet this post, but she was worried about the overwhelming reaction, so she held back in the end.
She took out her headphones and listened to the solo version. After listening to the whole song, she realized why the performance at tonight's New Year's Eve gala on TV had made her uncomfortable.
In the solo version, Chen Jingchi's emotions were full from beginning to end, perfectly matching the artistic conception depicted in the lyrics. However, the duet version was just a forced insertion of Zhu Qi's singing part. The fact that the two sang in separate parts during the New Year's Eve recording caused Chen Jingchi to be unable to get into the mood and completely fail to evoke his emotions.
His performance clearly showed that this choral version was not his original intention. Zhou Yu didn't know the reason, but he could guess that releasing the solo version was probably not an easy task.
*
Zhou Yu rarely stays up late, so today was an exception. It was almost 1 a.m. when she got into bed, but she still couldn't feel sleepy and was abnormally excited.
The bedroom lights were off, and Tan Bei asked softly, "Are you asleep?"
"Not yet." Zhou Yu stared at the dark ceiling, her mind blank.
“Let’s chat.” Tan Bei turned to the side, the two pillows very close together, her voice almost whispering in his ear. “I heard from Zhan Li that you, Xu Yue, and Chen Jingchi went to the same high school, is that right?”
Perhaps it's because it's late at night, and having a girl by his side significantly increases his urge to confide in her, and his defenses also loosen considerably. Zhou Yu truthfully replied, "Yes."
“What a coincidence! You three went to the same high school as the three of us,” Tan Bei said.
Zhou Yu knew very little about the other two boys, and even thought they were all in the same major until she overheard Zhuo Wencheng and Xu Yue chatting on the way to the villa and realized that they weren't.
Hearing her say that, Tan Bei smiled and explained, "Only the two of them studied music performance. Zhan Li and I studied directing, and Zhuo Wencheng studied musical theatre."
A question popped into Zhou Yu's mind, and before she could even speak, she had already guessed: "Are you trying to ask why Chen Jingchi chose the two of them for the freshman party?"
Having her thoughts guessed, she smiled and said, "Yes."
“Because they tried to form a school band in high school, but it didn’t make much of a splash. They were stopped before they even sang a single song. When choosing their major for the arts exam, the teacher told Zhan Li that the path of music is too difficult.” Tan Bei’s voice was very soft. “It’s an industry where talent determines the ceiling. Without top-notch musicality and aesthetic sense, an ordinary person can only make a living by working hard all their life.”
"How many people study music, and how many can actually stand on stage and sing? What you see are only the top tier of the industry."
"So we all feel honored just to perform with Chen Jingchi. His current level of achievement is something they can only look up to."
Zhou Yu listened quietly without interrupting.
Of course she knew this path would be difficult. When Chen Jingchi first appeared on "I Hear Your Voice," several mentors commented that he was one of those people who were naturally gifted.
Even for him, life wasn't smooth sailing. His journey was full of hardships and setbacks, and he even lost all his confidence several times.
"Have you ever heard Xu Yue sing?" she suddenly asked.
Zhou Yu hesitated for a few seconds: "No."
“I’ve heard of him,” Tan Bei said. “When we went to karaoke before, I found that he sang quite well. He also studied music performance, but I guess he never thought of becoming a singer, since he was too inconspicuous standing next to Chen Jingchi.”
Although it was unpleasant to hear, it was the truth. Zhou Yu felt that the problem wasn't with Xu Yue, but rather that Chen Jingchi was too dazzling.
The first time she saw Chen Jingchi perform on the street, all her attention was drawn to him alone, even though Xu Yue was standing right next to him playing the guitar, she didn't spare any glance for him.
She recalled the "By Myself" stage performance at the freshman welcome party, with a live band playing, but her eyes were still only on him.
To be honest, Chen Jingchi's singing six years ago also lacked technique. What moved her was the conviction in his voice, and what resonated with her was her persistence. Both were indispensable.
“So I’ve always thought that compared to Zhan Li and Zhuo Wencheng, Chen Jingchi is quite lucky. He met his company and then you.” Tan Bei said, then changed the subject, “I saw his Weibo post when you were taking a shower just now.”
Zhou Yu was still pondering the first half of her sentence, not keeping up with her erratic train of thought, and subconsciously repeated, "What's wrong with Weibo?"
“That ‘she’ refers to you, right?” Tan Bei smiled.
She was referring to the text on Chen Jingchi's Weibo post.
I asked her if she could write love songs.
Zhou was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to respond.
“When I first met him, I was also intimidated by his expressionless face, but after getting to know him, I found that he was quite easy to get along with. When I saw him singing with Zhu Qi at the New Year’s Eve party, I was surprised. He wasn’t expressionless, he was just cold-faced.” Tan Bei leaned closer and said, “Just now, when I saw the solo version he posted on Weibo, I pretty much knew it. He even posted it right at midnight on New Year’s Eve.”
Zhou Yu turned his head to face her, having roughly guessed what was going on, but still asked, "What do you know?"
Tan Bei didn't say it directly, but laid the groundwork by saying, "At the last birthday dinner, Zhuo Wencheng mentioned that Zhu Qi's friend wanted to find someone to introduce her to Chen Jingchi, but they ended up working together this time. It's hard not to think that they were set up."
Zhou Yu hummed in agreement, but she wasn't sure if it was a valid guess; she was just listening and didn't dare to be certain.
“I guess this song wasn’t originally intended to be a duet?” Tan Bei said. “Zhu Qi is the female lead in that drama, so if she wanted to get involved, it would be up to her.”
Zhou agreed, "That's possible."
“Normally, it doesn’t matter who sings a commercial song,” Tan Bei finally got to the point. “He specially released a solo version today, and that’s when I realized that this song might be different. Is it because you wrote the lyrics for him?”
The previous guesses may all be false, but this statement is 100% true.
Zhou Yu was still organizing his thoughts, trying to figure out how to explain things to her in a way that would seem both reasonable and logical.
After a two-second pause, Tan Bei asked softly again, "Do you like Chen Jingchi?"
Zhou Yu suddenly fell silent, plunging into a long silence.
In the dead of night, past one in the morning, all was quiet. The large bedroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only the soft sound of breathing.
She thought she could perfectly blend those unspoken thoughts into a TV drama theme song, but she never expected that people would still see through it. In the silence, she tried to find any flaws she might reveal, but in the end, she found that traces were left everywhere, in her works, in reality. She habitually hid them, and over time, even she herself couldn't tell whether she had successfully disguised them or not.
A few seconds passed, or perhaps a long time, before Zhou Yu finally faced her true feelings and whispered, "I like you."
She breathed a sigh of relief as she said those two words. She had thought it would be a heavy burden, but unexpectedly, admitting that she was moved wasn't as difficult as she had imagined.
Instead, I felt a sense of relief and ease.
Tan Bei sidled up to her, pulled her into a hug, and whispered with a smile in her ear, "When I had a crush on Zhan Li, he couldn't hold back and confessed to me in less than half a month. I'm passing on my luck to you too."
Zhou Yu was at a loss for words, unsure how to explain to her that she had never intended for anything to happen between them.
Not wanting to spoil the mood, she smiled and said, "Thank you."
*
Zhou Yu had just fallen asleep when he was woken up by thirst.
The air conditioner in the bedroom was set too high, and the room was too dry. Plus, they had eaten a lot of oily and salty food for dinner. When Zhou Yu woke up, she reached for her phone and glanced at it. It was only two o'clock; she hadn't even slept for an hour.
Without waking Tan Bei, she quietly got out of bed, put on her down jacket, and planned to go downstairs to the kitchen to get some water.
The hallway lights were on, and there was no sound outside, so it seemed the boys were asleep too. Zhou Yu walked down the thick carpet in her slippers to the first floor, only to find the kitchen light was on.
She thought they had forgotten to turn off the refrigerator before going to bed, but when she got to the door, she suddenly noticed someone in front of the refrigerator—it was Chen Jingchi.
He took off his coat, revealing only a thin gray sweater on his body; it was hard to tell if he was cold.
Hearing footsteps, he turned his head and looked over. The moment their eyes met, Zhou Yu's still sleepy mind seemed to have been forced to turn on, and he instantly woke up. The things he had talked about with Tan Bei before going to bed immediately appeared in front of him like an error pop-up.
It left her flustered and incredibly guilty.
He was the first to speak: "What's wrong?"
"Drink some water." Zhou Yu looked away and asked him, "What are you doing here?"
"Hungry." Chen Jingchi leaned against the refrigerator, helpless. "I'm too hungry to sleep."
It was already past midnight when he arrived. The kitchen had been cleaned up long ago, except for some pre-prepared ingredients in the refrigerator that hadn't been eaten. Zhou Yu reached out and opened the crisper drawer, saying, "Tan Bei and I made a cake. Do you want some?"
Chen Jingchi reached out and placed his hand on the back of her hand, using the leverage to close the refrigerator door: "No sweets tonight."
His hands were a size larger than hers, easily covering them completely. His palms were warm; he shouldn't be cold.
Zhou Yu stared intently for two seconds, then, flustered, blurted out, "Then I'll make you something to eat."
Chen Jingchi readily agreed: "Okay."
After finishing her reply, Zhou Yu felt a headache coming on. She took out the leftover ingredients: a bowl of handmade noodles and several plates of vegetables, just enough to cook a bowl of noodles. Water was boiling in the pot. She habitually touched her coat pocket and remembered that she had left her phone on the bedside table.
Seeing Chen Jingchi standing by the refrigerator watching her, she felt a little embarrassed and asked, "Did you bring your phone?"
"I brought it, so why?"
"Check how many minutes it takes to cook this kind of ramen."
Chen Jingchi laughed out loud and walked to her side: "Use your eyes to see."
His tone was so self-righteous that Zhou Yu took a small step back to create distance between them: "Then you do it."
Chen Jingchi didn't say anything, but stepped forward to the kitchen counter. The water was boiling, and he picked up chopsticks and held them out to her: "Give them to me."
Zhou Yu handed over the plate of lettuce, then, after thinking for a moment, took an egg from the refrigerator and placed it in his hand.
Chen Jingchi glanced at it and pushed it back: "Take it, give it to me last."
The eggs were so cold that Zhou Yu kept turning them back and forth between his hands. She watched as he scooped out the cooked vegetables and added them to the pot, without adding a single drop of oil. She couldn't help but think of the time they ate hot pot at his apartment before, when he only ate the clear broth and his diet was very bland, clearly to protect his voice.
Her thoughts drifted away again, and she didn't hear Chen Jingchi calling her until he reached out and took the egg from her hand, his fingertips touching her palm, and asked, "Would you like to try some?"
She had agreed to cook for him, but Chen Jingchi ended up doing it himself. Zhou Yu had already eaten enough for dinner, so she shook her head and said, "No need."
Chen Jingchi brought the soup bowl to the dining table outside. Zhou Yu opened the refrigerator and looked around for a while before taking out a bottle of green vegetable juice and sitting down opposite him.
The restaurant's overhead lights weren't on, only a ring of small lights were on, providing soft, non-glaring illumination. Zhou Yu had just unscrewed the bottle cap when he heard him remind him, "Don't drink anything cold tonight."
"I've never tried it before, but I'll give it a try."
There was no drinking water in the kitchen, and Zhou Yu hadn't had a sip of water yet. She was incredibly thirsty, so she looked up and took a big gulp. Immediately, a bitter and astringent grassy taste surged up on her tongue, so bitter that she almost vomited in front of him.
Seeing her frown as she swallowed, Chen Jingchi reached out and took the vegetable juice from her hand, laughing at her, "Didn't you see the bitter melon drawn on it?"
Still wanting to save face in front of him, Zhou Yu forced herself to swallow it all, tears welling up in her eyes. She managed a weak assessment: "It tastes awful."
Chen Jingchi pushed the untouched soup bowl in front of her: "Drink this."
Zhou Yu looked at the bowl of noodles in front of her, somewhat hesitant. She knew some people were germaphobic and wouldn't eat food that others had already eaten, and she wondered if he was. She cautiously asked, "If I drink this, will you still eat it?"
Chen Jingchi chuckled: "I didn't see you thinking this much when we were all eating hot pot together."
Since he had said that, Zhou Yu stopped hesitating. There was no spoon at hand, so she held the bowl and drank a few mouthfuls of soup. Although it was low in oil and salt, it was at least edible compared to bitter melon juice.
After finishing her drink, she pushed the bowl back in front of him.
"Zhou Yu, I have a question for you."
Chen Jingchi suddenly called her name, which made Zhou Yu perk up: "What?"
"Was the contract Kong Junliang signed with you a buyout or a revenue-sharing arrangement?"
Kong Junliang was the person in charge of signing "The Falling Star". Zhou Yu told him in detail: "Buyout, six thousand."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Jingchi frowned, and his face darkened. Just as he had expected, this company not only wanted to annoy him once, but also wanted to squeeze more money out of Zhou Yu. It was one thing to buy out a song for a popular TV series, but the price they offered was too low, completely taking advantage of her ignorance of the market.
Seeing that his expression was off, Zhou asked, "What's wrong?"
“From now on, quote me the prices I give you.” Chen Jingchi said, but quickly changed his tune, “I’ll help you negotiate the contract.”
Judging from his tone, Zhou Yu knew she had been tricked. She didn't know much about these things, and since he was someone Chen Jingchi had pushed over, she wasn't on guard against him. She agreed to the deal for the sake of cooperation.
In retrospect, Kong Junliang was not a good person.
She also took the opportunity to ask, "Would it infringe on your copyright if you released a solo version?"
“Logically, yes.” Chen Jingchi explained to her, “This song was commissioned by the production team to be produced and distributed by a record company. The recording copyright was with Kong Junliang’s company, but Sheng Yu negotiated with them and bought the copyright.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu was stunned.
Even though she wasn't an expert, she had heard of some cases involving recording copyright disputes and knew how complicated the interests involved were. With "Under the Sunset" still airing, Zhou Yu didn't even dare to imagine how much money Sheng Yu had spent to buy the recording copyright for this song.
Whether they could recoup the copyright fees after releasing the solo version was a problem. It was a losing proposition for Sheng Yu, but they still did it for Chen Jingchi.
She felt a mix of emotions. She wanted to say that it wasn't necessary, but she also felt that such high-sounding words were just meant to deceive herself, since she cared more about who sang the song than anyone else.
"I'll be more careful when accepting songs in the future, and I'll put this kind of thing in the terms and conditions," Chen Jingchi said. "I'll learn from my mistakes."
Zhou Yu lowered her head and remained silent. Thinking back to Chen Jingchi's explanation to her, she wondered whether buying the copyright was for his own sake or for hers.
She didn't dare to think too highly of herself, hoping to be fair, perhaps splitting things 50/50.
He then began to regret it. He had put so much effort into this song, but she hadn't retweeted it the moment she saw it on Weibo. Zhou Yu felt ashamed of her hesitation and fear of being attacked by netizens, which led her to become a coward.
She decided to take action as soon as she got back to her room; she couldn't be a coward anymore.
He quickly finished the bowl of noodles. Seeing Chen Jingchi washing dishes in the kitchen, Zhou Yu hesitated before following him, thinking that if he didn't ask now, he probably wouldn't have the chance later.
Standing behind him, she asked hesitantly, "Why don't you like celebrating your birthday?"
Chen Jingchi paused, then asked, "Did they tell you?"
"Hmm." Zhou Yu looked at his profile, and the unconscious little movements of her hands stopped without her noticing.
Chen Jingchi put the washed dishes into the sterilizer and said calmly, "My parents got divorced last year on my birthday."
On the day he turned eighteen and came of age, his parents no longer bore the responsibility of raising him. Their marriage, which had been barely maintained for so long, had long since fallen apart and finally came to an end, in the most dignified way that was most in line with their status.
Last November, thinking about what a turning point it was, Zhou Yu suddenly realized that she had asked a question she shouldn't have.
Zhou Yu regretted insisting on knowing the result and apologized for accidentally touching a sore spot: "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"It's nothing." Chen Jingchi closed the door of the sterilizer, turned around to face her, and asked, "When is your birthday?"
"Huh?" Zhou Yu didn't expect him to ask this, and answered faster than he thought, "June 28th."
Chen Jingchi nodded, a faint smile appearing in his eyes: "A date that's easy to remember."
Zhou Yu didn't understand what he meant, but echoed, "It's very auspicious."
After finishing her late-night snack and washing the dishes, Zhou Yu had no reason to stay. She walked to the stairs to go back to her room, but after only two steps, Chen Jingchi called out to her from behind.
Zhou Yu turned around and met his gaze at eye level.
“If you’re unhappy, you can tell me.” His voice lowered, and his expression softened. “Don’t sulk alone.”
Chen Jingchi knew that Zhou Yu would definitely mind if the duet version was released, since he had asked her to write it under the pretext of the postcard, and he had made it clear that it was for him. But so much time had passed, and he hadn't received a single inquiry from her, nor had he seen her show any dissatisfaction.
If there was any indication, it was when he was called as a punishment on a variety show, and she childishly said the nickname in his contacts, which made Chen Jingchi both amused and helpless.
Afterwards, he thought that if it weren't for this variety show, Zhou Yu might have perfectly hidden all her secrets and never let anyone see them.
He had gone to great lengths to get her to open it, and he didn't want all his efforts to be in vain.
Zhou Yu was somewhat surprised to hear Chen Jingchi's words.
These words easily lead to speculation. For someone like Zhou Yu, who habitually closes himself off to protect himself, sharing emotions is a very private matter, especially for him.
She didn't want to cause him trouble, perhaps he wouldn't even want to listen, she didn't want him to think she was meddling... all these reasons seemed pale and powerless in the face of his words. He was telling her that he could handle all her emotions.
Perhaps it's because it's late at night, but my sensitivity to subtle emotions seems heightened; it feels like a feather is gently brushing against the most sensitive part of my heart. I rarely experience the feeling of being valued by others; it feels so good.
She didn't dare look him in the eye, and unlike last time, she didn't remain silent. Instead, she lowered her gaze and nodded, "Okay."
She agreed, but Zhou Yu told herself not to act on her emotions so easily in the future. Chen Jingchi had already been good enough to her, and she shouldn't use her usual negative way of thinking to speculate about him.
Back in the bedroom, Zhou Yu brushed her teeth again, sat on the edge of the bed, and picked up her phone.
After opening Weibo, she immediately forwarded the post Chen Jingchi made at midnight.
@Zhou Yu: I said I could give it a try. //@Chen Jingchi: I asked her if she could write love songs.
Just one minute after posting the Weibo message, as she was about to go to sleep, she noticed a red ① appear in the upper left corner of the WeChat icon.
I opened it and saw a message that Chen Jingchi had just sent.
Chen: [Did you forget to tell me something?]
Zhou immediately clicked on the input box.
Zhou Yu: [Happy New Year]
-----------------------
Author's note: Thank you for the nutrient solution, everyone!!
Reader "541888" irrigated with nutrient solution +20
Reader "DaDaFu" added 5 units of nutrient solution to the water.
Reader "彤彤266" added 1 unit of nutrient solution to the water.
Reader "Qiqiqiqi" added 1 unit of nutrient solution to the water.
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