Chapter 4 Love Letters: I Desire to Have My Own Choice
After the weekend, classes officially started. The three of them got up very early and arrived at the classroom ten minutes ahead of time. They saw the girls in the first few rows gathered together discussing the lyrics.
Upon seeing them arrive, someone asked, "Have you submitted your work?"
An Kejia went to bed the latest and woke up the earliest, and was still the most energetic: "I'm writing, what about you guys?"
"I've already submitted it," the girl in the front row said, turning around. "I didn't even have a topic set, I just wrote whatever came to mind and it was quick, I finished it in half an hour."
"You're too fast," Fan Xin said. "I haven't even come up with a question yet."
The girl comforted her, "Don't rush, just take your time writing. I asked several people, and they said Chen Jingchi hasn't even read the emails he sent out."
"He probably only looks at them when he has free time." Fan Xin had a lingering question in her mind, and she said softly, "I've noticed a blind spot. He didn't say how many papers one person could submit, right?"
“Yeah, so can I write a few more?” another girl chimed in.
"Theoretically, yes, but try a few different email addresses," one person said.
The girls were eager to try, and just then, Zhou Yu spoke up: "Aren't you curious why he's holding a contest for lyrics at school?"
Everyone paused, looked over, and looked puzzled.
"Yes, he signed with a company, so he shouldn't be short of words."
“I checked the market price for lyrics last night. Ten thousand yuan for a song is an astronomical price. He’s really going all out.”
"So what does he want? Our college students' innocent stupidity?"
"Maybe they're aiming for a 2.0 version of themselves?"
"Then why don't you write it yourself?"
Zhou Yu's words sparked a series of questions, and Fan Xin leaned closer curiously: "So why?"
Zhou Yu didn't hide anything: "I don't know either, I just asked casually."
An Kejia reached out and placed a hand on the table to calm everyone down: "Don't worry, I'll infiltrate the enemy camp tonight and gather intelligence."
After her afternoon classes, An Kejia didn't go back to her dorm. She said she was going to have a team-building meal with the music academy students.
Fan Xin was greatly shocked and exclaimed repeatedly, "Is this a social butterfly? Her integration speed is too incredible!" She asked, "Are you in a team? Let's have team building."
Zhou Yu: "Wouldn't it be fine after we finish this meal?"
After arriving at the dormitory, Zhou Yu's phone rang. It was a message from her mother: "[Have you finished class?]"
Zhou Yu took his phone to the balcony, closed the windows and door tightly, and then made a voice call.
"Is military training over?" Liu Xianya asked. "Are you tired?"
"Not bad, classes started today." Zhou Yu had just finished speaking when his phone beeped with a notification that a transfer had been completed.
"I've already transferred your living expenses for next month, just in case you don't have enough." Liu Xianya paused, her voice lowering slightly, "I went to visit your father today."
The dormitory is on the third floor, and from the balcony, you can clearly see students walking in groups on the street. The temperature in Jiangbei has finally dropped these past two days, and the outdoor temperature is quite comfortable. The sunset around 5 PM painted the sky red, like a richly colored oil painting.
Zhou Yu stood in front of the railing, gazing aimlessly at the sunset, and asked, "How's Dad?"
"It's fine, don't worry." Liu Xianya only gave this simple reply, then turned to ask other questions, "Are you getting used to classes? How are you getting along with your classmates?"
Every time she called, Liu Xianya would ask this question; it had become a routine. And Zhou Yu would always reply with the same formula: "It's alright."
Liu Xianya sighed softly, her tone softening: "Now that you're in university, you can make more new friends. Don't always isolate yourself and refuse to accept others."
"I know," Zhou Yu replied casually.
After a brief chat, Zhou Yu hung up the phone, but the phone screen still showed the payment notification that Liu Xianya had transferred two thousand yuan to her.
After her father was unable to work, her mother was solely responsible for all the household expenses. Her monthly salary was just enough to cover daily expenses, a balance that Liu Xianya barely managed to achieve after downgrading her spending habits.
Life wasn't so bad that they had to cut back on food and clothing, but Zhou Yu still wanted to ease some of her mother's burden.
The 10,000 yuan bonus was like a piece of fat meat hanging in front of you, dangling past you from time to time, making its presence felt.
It is insignificant to those who are well-fed, but incredibly precious to those who are starving.
Who can guarantee they will never go hungry?
Returning from the balcony, Zhou Yu's gaze fell on Fan Xin's computer, noticing that her website was still set to her email page. She casually asked, "Did you submit an article?"
"Not yet." Fan Xin rested her chin on her hand, looking worried. "It's my first time writing lyrics, and I don't know anything. I always feel that it's not good enough, and I don't know how to revise it. I'll wait until Jiajia brings back the information before I revise it."
Zhou Yu nodded: "That makes sense."
After tidying up, Zhou Yu sat at his desk, staring at his email on the computer.
She had already converted the lyrics into a file and uploaded it as an attachment. She had also copied Chen Jingchi's email address from the announcement on the campus wall. Everything was ready; all that was left was to click the send button so that the email could be sent to the recipient's inbox.
However, no further action has been taken yet.
The lyrics of the song that was successfully uploaded were written a long time ago. It's a very special song, and the traces of imitating Chen Jingchi's own style are too obvious. If he saw it, he would have noticed the clues at a glance.
If she wasn't selected, that's fine. But if she was selected and recognized when they met, Zhou Yu wasn't sure if she could still separate herself from the identity of "lyricist".
She was unable to explain the origin and motivation of the poem to Chen Jingchi.
Zhou Yu has never been a hesitant person. Once he makes a decision, he is decisive and resolute. This is the first time he has experienced the tug-of-war of difficult choices, and he is not used to feeling caught in the middle.
Just as I finally made up my mind to send it, the dormitory door was opened, and An Kejia returned.
An Kejia didn't get back to the dormitory until almost nine o'clock. As soon as she arrived, she called Fan Xin out of the bathroom, saying that she had something important to share and that it was urgent.
Zhou Yu put down the mouse and turned to look at her.
Fan Xin rushed out of the shower and asked immediately, "What did you find out?"
“This rumor is most likely true.” An Kejia put the conclusion first, glanced at Zhou Yu and Fan Xin, and said with certainty, “They told me that Chen Jingchi’s withdrawal from the variety show last month was not due to any physical reason, but because he walked off the set himself.”
"Blue?" Fan Xin gasped. "So brave? What's he after?"
“You’d never guess why,” An Kejia said in a serious tone, lowering her voice. “His popularity skyrocketed after he appeared on the show, and the production team wanted to use him to boost ratings. They were going to send him straight to the finals, but he found out about it and felt it was unfair to the other contestants, so he withdrew from the competition.”
Fan Xin's jaw dropped in astonishment: "Huh??? Did I hear that right?"
"The production team definitely won't agree to this, and there will probably be a conflict between the two sides," An Kejia said. "The song 'By Myself' was written by Chen Jingchi to subtly criticize that variety show!"
Upon hearing this, as if waking from a dream, Zhou Yu suddenly recalled the last two lines of the song "By My Own Will," a line that marked the emotional outburst.
"Hate my eccentricities that make me seem uncouth"
I insist on doing what I want.
"You're shocked, aren't you? I was questioning my life when I first heard it," An Kejia said. "A normal person would be secretly happy about this, but Chen Jingchi is different."
Fan Xin was completely oblivious to Zhou Yu's actions, still immersed in her emotions: "But didn't he participate in the show to become famous? Now that he's given the chance to become famous, he doesn't want it. What's he thinking..."
"Whether he wants it or not, we're famous now anyway." An Kejia said in one breath, walked to the table, unscrewed the mineral water bottle, and took two gulps.
Fan Xin gradually discerned a pattern: "So the theme of this poetry contest should be 'rebellion'?"
“It’s not rebellion,” Zhou Yu said softly, looking at her.
"What's that?" Fan Xin guessed. "He's very individualistic; he probably likes to be unconventional?"
Zhou Yu didn't reply, but his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
She sat up straight, gripped the mouse again with her right hand, and closed the email page completely.
A note from the author:
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