Chapter 6 Love Letters Chen Jingchi didn't believe in such a coincidence.
"You just scared them."
After getting on the bus, Xu Yue made a joke.
Chen Jingchi yanked the seatbelt, recalling the perfectly normal expression on the girl's face as she sat in the passenger seat, and asked dismissively, "Really?"
Zhuo Wencheng, sitting in the back, closed the car door and replied, "About 70%."
"What about the other 30%?" Chen Jingchi asked.
Xu Yue said sincerely, “It’s all in those three words you typed.”
The group laughed, and Zhan Li, sitting in the middle, added insult to injury: "Have the lyrics been chosen yet?"
Chen Jingchi's eyes showed a hint of helplessness: "Some of them are well written, but I just don't feel anything for them."
“I feel like this kind of thing is hard to find,” Zhuo Wencheng said. “Reconciliation is a solution, so why don’t you go back and coax your brother? After all, he has already written three poems for you.”
"They're arguing so fiercely, it'll take a few words to calm them down," Xu Yue laughed. "Brother Chi has never even been able to coax a girl, how could he possibly coax a man?"
"Get lost," Chen Jingchi said with a laugh.
"Isn't the deadline eight o'clock? Check if there are any new emails." Zhan Li glanced at the time. "There are still five minutes left."
Chen Jingchi had long since given up hope. He had read hundreds of emails in the past few days but still couldn't find one that suited his taste. He also didn't want to force himself to compose music with lyrics he didn't like.
The online discussion surrounding him has remained high recently, yet he hasn't offered anything to elevate his status. Some netizens say Chen Jingchi has been elevated to a level undeserved, a claim he doesn't deny.
Traffic is a double-edged sword, and he doesn't think it's a good thing.
As for his first solo album, Chen Jingchi values it more than anything else. He wants the best in everything. He not only has high standards for others, but he is even more demanding of himself.
There is no such thing as settling or making do in his life principles.
Sitting and waiting was boring, so he picked up his phone and checked his email.
Sure enough, there were a few new emails.
The names of the senders who sent these letters near the deadline looked familiar. There were at least three out of four, and I wondered if they were trying to break records.
Chen Jingchi's temper had been worn down. Just as he was about to log out of his email, a notification appeared at the top of his phone.
[From: Egeria]
[Email Subject: Submission]
He clicked on it casually, but a message popped up quickly: The email has been withdrawn.
Chen Jingchi frowned. Ever since he posted his email address on the school wall, similar jokes had become commonplace.
Posting selfies, pet pictures, and writing relationship advice are already considered normal. There are also plenty of job postings, loan requests, and spam ads, which makes Chen Jingchi's desire to delete his email account after the event grow stronger.
This account is truly ruined.
His last bit of patience was exhausted, so he turned off the phone screen and tossed it aside, ignoring it completely.
*
Back in the dorm, An Kejia and Fan Xin were busy registering for clubs until lights out around 10 p.m., when the three of them lay on their beds and chatted.
An Kejia remembered something and said to Zhou Yu, "Zhou Zhou, quickly check if your email is read or unread."
Because Zhou forgot to change the name when he sent the first email, he wanted to recall and resend it, which took a few minutes.
She sent the emails almost at the last minute, and when the second email was successfully sent, the number at the top of her phone screen had just jumped to 08:00.
She opened her email: "Unread."
“Chen Jingchi must have been reading emails in a concentrated period of time,” Fan Xin guessed. “When I asked other classmates before, they all showed as read around the same time.”
An Kejia thought for a moment and said, "But he's going to announce the results tomorrow. If it's already decided, he might not even read what he posts today."
"What if you didn't see it? That wouldn't be fair if it was given out that night." Fan Xin suggested to her, "Jiajia, you can ask the music student about his schedule and just go to his classroom to find him."
"Are you sure?" An Kejia's voice was weak. "The class schedule is easy to arrange, but I feel that a chance encounter and going to find him on purpose are completely different."
Zhou Yu didn't want to bother him and said, "No need. I'm not sure I'll be selected either."
There's no such thing as a completely innocent person, and after impulsively sending the email, Zhou Yu was actually filled with inner conflict. Whether Chen Jingchi saw it or not, it was a result that was both good and bad for her.
After a moment of silence, Fan Xin noticed something and asked, "Zhou Zhou, you changed your QQ name?"
Zhou wanted to change his long-used English name to an initials.
The reason given was simple: "Those whose names start with Z will be at the bottom of the friends list, which makes me feel more secure."
Fan Xin was greatly surprised and gained a deeper understanding of her fear of people.
On Saturday, An Kejia was busy attending interviews for the student council and clubs, leaving her dorm early in the morning and unable to accompany Fan Xin to get her nails done. Zhou Yu wasn't interested in nail art, but couldn't resist Fan Xin's persistent pleas, and eventually went with her.
Fan Xin chose an intricate nail design that took a long time to complete. Zhou Yu sat beside her, having finished reading the extracurricular reading assigned by her modern history teacher. Just as she was about to relax for a while, Fan Xin called out to her, "Check if Chen Jingchi has announced the results yet."
Her manicure wasn't finished yet, and both her hands were busy, so she could only hope that Zhou Yu could take a look.
Zhou took out his phone from his bag, found the space on the campus wall, and clicked on it. The official account had pinned Chen Jingchi's call for submissions to the top, and the latest comments under this post were all asking when the results would be released.
It seems there's still no movement.
"It's not out yet," she told Fan Xin.
Zhou wanted to scroll down and saw that the campus wall had been updated with a post more than ten minutes ago.
@JiangchuanCampusWall: Everyone, please be patient. We've already contacted Chen Jingchi, and we should have the results today!
Fan Xin leaned over and looked for a few seconds, then muttered, "Has he chosen anyone yet? It's just a matter of posting names, is he really that busy?"
Zhou hesitated for a moment, but still opened his email. The emails he had sent last night lay quietly in the sent items folder, still showing as "unread".
Perhaps, as An Kejia said, Chen Jingchi already has someone in mind, and the submitted works will never be opened again.
I can't quite describe my feelings. Perhaps hesitation will indeed cause me to miss out on some things.
Before Fan Xin could look away, she noticed the interface. She quickly pulled her right hand away from the light and patted Zhou Yu's arm to distract her: "I'll treat you to dessert later. Do you want durian? The place next door has a new durian dish!"
Zhou Yu smiled at her and said, "Okay."
After getting their nails done, the two went out for dessert, and the class monitor started a group poll in the class group chat.
Zhou Yu hadn't planned to go out today. She left without charging her phone and spent the afternoon reading ebooks. When the battery was low, she put it in her bag and left it there without paying attention to it after setting low power mode.
Fan Xin read it to her: "We need to decide on the time for our class's first team building activity. Should it be tomorrow, Sunday, or next Wednesday, the night before National Day? We will arrange the corresponding activities according to the time."
Most students will go home or go out to play during the National Day holiday. Fan Xin also voted for Tomorrow. When asked which one she voted for.
"I'm fine with anything." After saying that, Zhou Yu took out his phone, which was about to turn into a brick, quickly cast his vote in a few seconds, and then stuffed it back into his bag.
The three roommates grabbed their high-speed rail tickets as soon as they went on sale. Zhou Yu, who had a class on Wednesday afternoon and lived far away, simply bought a ticket for the morning of the 1st.
The final result of the vote will be tomorrow. The class monitor probably expected this long ago, so he sent an activity booklet to the group and told everyone to get up early tomorrow and meet at the college gate at eight o'clock.
Fan Xin saw that it was only a little before five o'clock, and there was still plenty of time. Thinking that she should treat Zhou Yu well, she asked her after dinner, "Do you want to see a movie?"
A well-received sci-fi film was released these past few days, and Zhou Yu has wanted to see it in theaters ever since he watched the trailer, but he's worried that Fan Xin won't like it.
When asked if she liked watching it, Fan Xin nodded happily: "Yes, I do watch it! I never knew you liked this kind of movie."
The movie was over two hours long. After we sat down, Fan Xin reminded us, "Isn't your phone almost out of battery? You can go outside and scan a power bank to charge it."
But at that moment, the big screen had already started playing the opening credits. Zhou Yu looked around and saw that the room was full of people. Not wanting to trouble others, he said softly, "Never mind, I won't go."
*
Chen Jingchi spent the entire Saturday in the recording studio.
My first commercial project after signing with Sound Island was singing a promotional song for a newly released competitive mobile game.
Compared to producing a solo album, singing is much easier. He received the song demo a few days ago, and after familiarizing himself with it, he went directly to the recording studio to record it today.
After recording the vocals, Chen Jingchi also recorded a studio music video. It was already evening when he came out of the studio.
Manager Du Heng followed him out of the listening room and casually asked, "Have you finished the lyrics yet?"
Chen Jingchi was still troubled by this matter and did not want to go back to his old flame, so he decided to appease him first: "I'm thinking of a solution."
To avoid any interference during recording, cell phones weren't allowed inside, so Du Heng helped keep them safe. Du Heng handed him the phone and water bottle together, saying, "Come on, let me take you back to school first."
After taking the phone and getting into the car, Chen Jingchi saw the unread message on QQ. It was from the campus wall asking him when the results would be announced.
It was sent three hours ago.
Chen Jingchi was worried about this matter. The call for poems had been going on for a week with great fanfare. If no one was selected, the purpose and professionalism of the event would be seriously questioned.
If they don't get the lyrics, they'll be accused of just playing around with everyone, since so many people have spent time and effort writing and submitting lyrics.
He couldn't give an explanation to the hundreds of contestants who submitted their work.
Chen Jingchi was having a headache and was struggling to find the right words when a message popped up at the top of his phone, indicating that he had received a new email.
The event ended at 8 pm last night. Is anyone still planning to snag a bargain at this point?
When people want to avoid problems, they are easily distracted. Chen Jingchi casually clicked on his email and saw that there were indeed several unread emails from last night until now.
The first seal was opened.
@EquatorialFantasy: Handsome, what are you doing? Hurry up and announce the results! Everyone's waiting!
"..."
I never expected that the pressure would reach him.
Chen Jingchi pinched the bridge of his nose. His throat was a little dry from singing just a few hours earlier. He unscrewed the water bottle and took a few sips of warm water. Holding his phone in one hand, he swiped his thumb down. The next few emails were all without titles, and he knew what they were about without even looking at them, so he didn't bother to open them.
Until the last unread email.
The email was sent at 19:59 last night, and the subject was "submission".
There were indeed song lyrics submissions that he missed.
Chen Jingchi didn't have an obsession with unread messages, nor did he harbor any expectations. He was simply curious about the quality of this submission, which arrived right on time.
If it's another prank, he will immediately delete his email account and put an end to this farce.
The email came from "ZY," skipping the small talk and directly sending an attachment.
Chen Jingchi opened the document, and the first line was the song title, "Invitation to the Night".
-
The midnight bell tolls
I put on the mask
blend into the crowd and hide
The guests at the banquet were dressed in their flamboyant and dazzling finery.
Faces with different expressions as far as the eye could see
Watching a crazy game together
The lights focus on the center of the stage
The chains on his feet jingled.
The steps of the fall were unsteady
Facing the mocking gazes of the crowd
Hiding in the corner
The atmosphere was electric.
The mocking laughter lingered for a long time.
It is the unbridled release of human nature.
It is a broken faith that is desperately held onto.
It is an endless yearning for freedom and unbridled spirit.
It is the tenacious blooming of tiny lives
The countdown is flashing.
Marionettes Remove Disguise
The swaying dance steps were flamboyant.
His resolute gaze was sharp and unstoppable.
Shining in the dark
Guests left with sighs.
Public opinion is like a powerful force, creating a great uproar.
It was the unbridled brilliance of youthful recklessness.
It is a stubborn bewilderment born of unsuccessful struggle.
It is the growth against the wind that sheds immaturity.
It was a long dream when I woke up in the morning.
-
All the expressions on Chen Jingchi's face vanished instantly, as if frozen in time. His gaze was fixed on every line of text, and his brain briefly lost its ability to make judgments.
He repeatedly checked the contributor's information; the nickname, profile picture, and even the QQ number were all completely unfamiliar. Chen Jingchi was absolutely certain that it was not someone he knew.
He frowned, opened his phone's photo album, and scrolled to a picture taken last October.
The notebook contained a few lyrics he wrote when he was under immense pressure and his mental defenses were on the verge of collapse.
-
The Wolf in Captivity
I broke free from the iron cage.
The lock beneath my feet is broken.
Bloodstains crisscrossed between the palms
Laughter swept past my ears
A roar, a gesture, and a blade in hand.
In the midst of laughter, no one fears me.
Is it joy or sorrow?
Is it liberation or demonic possession?
Is it redemption or depravity?
Desperate search yields no results, disguise torn apart
Outside the high walls, indifferent onlookers abound.
I am trapped in a cage.
-
In this poem, Chen Jingchi compares himself to a lone wolf in a cage.
In the submitted work "Invitation to the Night," the lyricist observes his desperate resistance from the perspective of a spectator on a high platform, keenly seeing through his vulnerability and helplessness that he is unwilling to show in front of others.
These two poems are like two perspectives captured by two cameras at different angles in the same scene, complementing each other and forming a complete picture.
Chen Jingchi didn't believe such a coincidence could happen in the world.
A note from the author:
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