Chapter 49 Going to see handsome guys
Peng Chengyi paused for a moment, her fingertips stopping.
Although she said she didn't care, deep down she still hoped to be the most special person to him, the one he would prioritize sharing everything with.
He probably saw through her heart, which is why he specially recorded a sneak peek to coax her...
Thinking of this, Peng Chengyi couldn't help but smile. She quickly suppressed it, replied with a casual "Oh," before plugging in her earphones and quickly opening the MP3 he had sent.
The first time I heard someone sing the lyrics I wrote, the feeling was so wonderful it was hard to describe.
His voice was especially gentle and clear, with a faint breath in his enunciation, as if he were whispering in her ear.
She became so engrossed in the listening that when it ended, her fingertips involuntarily pressed the loop button again.
Until the phone vibrated in her hand again—
Chen Yubai: "Haven't you finished listening yet? I'm already waiting downstairs."
Peng Chengyi then seemed to wake from a dream, hurriedly took off her headphones, grabbed her schoolbag, quickly changed her shoes and went out the door.
The boy leaned lazily against the sycamore tree outside the building. The afternoon sun shone through the layers of leaves, casting dappled and fragmented light and shadow on his shoulders.
He turned his head slightly and saw her come out; a playful smile appeared on his lips.
"You took so long to come down," he raised an eyebrow, his tone slow and smug, "Were you engrossed in listening?"
Peng Chengyi choked for a moment after being hit right by his words, before scoffing and trying to save face: "Stop being so narcissistic! I'm just immersed in the lyrics I wrote, okay?"
Chen Yubai smiled noncommittally, slowly taking long strides to walk alongside her: "Aren't you pretty narcissistic too? Same to me."
“…Mind your own business.” Peng Chengyi pouted, took a few quick steps to create some distance between them, then suddenly remembered something important and turned back. “By the way, what are your plans for the arrangement?”
“Let’s discuss it together during rehearsal this weekend,” he said casually. “Each person will be responsible for their own part of the instrument, and then we can adjust it together.”
"Huh? So I'm also responsible for the guitar arrangement?" Peng Chengyi was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt a little uneasy.
She knew absolutely nothing about music arrangement; her mind was practically blank.
“No need,” Chen Yubai glanced at her and explained, “I’ve already laid out the basic framework for the guitar. You just need to practice according to the sheet music until you’re familiar with it.”
"Oh." Peng Chengyi breathed a sigh of relief and muttered to herself, "I thought you were going to ask me to adapt it and add a solo or something."
“If you want to add it…” he drawled, a teasing smile in his eyes, “it’s not impossible.”
"Forget it, forget it." Peng Chengyi shook her head like a rattle-drum. "I can't add any more. I'll just stick to playing my strings!"
"So, would you like to play a solo?" he asked casually.
Peng Chengyi thought for a moment. At the last cultural festival, because of her lack of skill, she spent almost the entire time silently strumming in the background, and the guitar solo part was given to Zhang Yang's keyboard.
This was likely her last band performance in high school, and a mix of resentment and anticipation began to surface within her. Finally, she nodded slightly: "...I want to."
"Then I'll add a paragraph for you later," Chen Yubai said casually.
Peng Chengyi's eyes lit up instantly, and she immediately launched into praise mode: "Brother! You really are my brother! You're the one with the most talent! That solo segment has to be written to be dazzling and explosive, so that I..."
"To be the brightest star on stage, right?" he added with a laugh.
“…Yes!” Peng Chengyi stuck out her tongue a little shyly, “You understand me best!”
Chen Yubai smiled noncommittally and casually remarked, "I can write it, but you also have to be able to play it."
"I've been studying for over a year, no problem!" Peng Chengyi patted his chest confidently.
-
Two days later, Peng Chengyi, who had just received Chen Yubai's solo guitar tabs, didn't even go to the cafeteria for dinner. He rushed back to his dorm and eagerly picked up the guitar.
However, after struggling through two bars, she silently put down her guitar, stared at the sheet music for a while, and finally couldn't resist picking up her phone and snapping two hard photos of Chen Yubai's WeChat profile picture:
"What did you write?! Is this really something a human finger could flick out???"
Chen Yubai replied almost instantly: "Yeah, didn't you want to be a bit flashy and explosive? How can you create a sensation without showing off your skills?"
Peng Chengyi's lips twitched: "It doesn't have to be this intense... This difficulty is way too ridiculous, my fingers are practically twisted into pretzel shape!"
Chen Yubai: "You've been studying for over a year."
Peng Chengyi: "It's not like I've been studying for over ten years!"
Chen Yubai: "You seemed quite confident the other day, so I thought you could do it."
Peng Chengyi was on the verge of tears: "Brother, you really don't need to think so highly of me at a time like this..."
Chen Yubai: "What level do you want to play? Send me some references."
Peng Chengyi immediately opened her music app and started searching. After carefully selecting two songs with catchy melodies and gorgeous solo parts that weren't too over-the-top, she shared them with him: "Like this! Cool, but leaving me a way out..."
Chen Yubai: "OK".
Peng Chengyi breathed a slight sigh of relief, turned off her phone, and started eating her bread.
After her solo part was finalized, the keyboard and drum arrangements were also completed, and the band members finally had their first official rehearsal together.
After the rehearsal, Zheng Xinyue clapped excitedly: "Wow, that was amazing! You guys are definitely going to be number one at this year's arts festival!"
"Don't make promises too soon," Chen Wei said calmly, gently pressing down on the still slightly trembling cymbals. "There's also a band that signed up in the first year of high school, called Daydreaming."
"They're just freshmen, nothing to be afraid of!" Zhang Yang waved his hand dismissively.
Chen Wei glanced at him and added casually, "Their drummer is pretty good."
Peng Chengyi turned her head curiously: "You know him?"
“Yes,” Chen Wei nodded, “He’s a distant relative of mine.”
"Wow! Is there a family gene for drumming?" Zheng Xinyue asked with a touch of gossip.
“No,” Chen Wei smiled helplessly, “I’m not related to him by blood. He’s my cousin’s cousin.”
"My cousin's younger brother..." Peng Chengyi frowned, racking her brains for a long time before finally figuring out the complicated relationship. "That's really unrelated. So how good is he on the drums? Is he better than you?"
“Yes,” Chen Wei nodded frankly, “He is a music major, specializing in percussion.”
"It's alright!" Zhang Yang patted his chest and replied with a grin, "I'm a music student too!"
Chen Wei glanced at him expressionlessly: "But your specialty is the saxophone, not the keyboard."
Zhang Yang: "...Do you really have to undermine me like this?"
Chen Wei shrugged: "I'm just stating objective facts."
"Oh, alright, alright," Zheng Xinyue quickly jumped in to smooth things over when she saw the atmosphere was about to go off track. "I'll go and find out where their rehearsal room is. We can go and scout it out first."
The next day, Zheng Xinyue indeed managed to obtain intelligence, but Chen Yubai showed no interest in their mission to spy on military matters.
Chen Wei didn't want to run into her distant relative, so in the end, only Peng Chengyi, Zheng Xinyue, and Zhang Yang pretended to be passing by and sneaked to the end of the corridor on the third floor of the music building during dinner.
The door to the band's rehearsal room was closed, but the blinds on the window were slightly ajar, allowing a clear view of what was happening inside.
A tall boy wearing a black T-shirt was sitting behind the drum set, smoothly playing a complex and impactful rhythm, precise and full of power.
Zhang Yang couldn't help but drop his usual playful demeanor, clicked his tongue slightly, and muttered in a low voice, "Tsk, this sixteenth note hi-hat embellishment... steady speed, tricky rhythm, it's really something."
"Wow, Chen Wei's cousin's younger brother is quite handsome!" Zheng Xinyue exclaimed softly.
"...Yueyue, isn't your focus a little off?" Peng Chengyi smiled helplessly.
"This is very important, okay!" Zheng Xinyue argued earnestly. "On stage, visual performance is also part of one's ability! Who doesn't love to look at handsome guys?"
Zhang Yang chimed in from the side: "But the judges are school leaders, not students."
"Leaders are human too, and it's hard for humans to completely ignore the added benefit of good looks!"
“It’s nothing,” Zhang Yang said, crossing his arms and tilting his head to comment, “I don’t think he’s as handsome as Brother Yu.”
“That’s true,” Zheng Xinyue immediately agreed, nodding vigorously. “Brother Yu has the air of elegance, he has a big advantage.”
Peng Chengyi did not join their discussion; her attention was entirely focused on their guitarist.
He wore black-rimmed glasses, was not tall, and looked somewhat quiet and introverted, unremarkable. However, his hand movements were surprisingly fluid. He easily mastered a difficult solo, his fingertips moving quickly across the neck of the guitar, adding a few beautiful bends and taps, both elegant and stable.
Seeing this, she subconsciously clenched her fist, and a trace of worry crept onto her brow.
Back in the classroom, Chen Yubai glanced at her sullen face and asked lazily, "What's wrong? Did someone else's band discourage you?"
“Their guitarist is really strong too,” she said dejectedly.
"How strong?" He raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying a hint of nonchalant inquiry.
"I'm probably that kind of strong, able to easily play that insane solo you originally wrote." Peng Chengyi sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping. "It seems we probably can't beat them. In the end, it's mainly because I'm dragging everyone down."
Chen Yubai was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked her, "Did you stand on the stage to win first place?"
Peng Chengyi was taken aback by his question and subconsciously replied, "...No."
"Then what are you worried about?" His tone softened, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Isn't it enough to practice our own songs well and perform them completely?"
The sunlight streaming through the window fell on him, outlining the boy's clear and sharp features.
Looking into his calm yet resolute eyes, Peng Chengyi felt her anxiety and unease gently soothed away.
"That's true." She smiled, her tone becoming lighter. "And thinking about it, that guitarist might have really practiced for ten years! It's not surprising that he's strong!"
After that, Peng Chengyi intended to calm down and focus on practicing, and stop paying attention to the rival band's activities.
Unable to resist Zheng Xinyue's persistent pleading and insistence on dragging her to admire the handsome men again, she couldn't refuse. So she sidled up to Chen Yubai's table and whispered guiltily, "Um... Yueyue dragged me to scout things out again. I won't be going to the cafeteria with you guys tonight. You guys go ahead."
Chen Yubai lifted his eyelids and glanced at her speechlessly: "Didn't you already think it through? Why are you still going?"
"Uh..." Peng Chengyi was speechless for a moment, racking her brains for an excuse, when Zheng Xinyue next to her blurted out, "Hehe, actually we went to see handsome guys! To feast our eyes!"
"Handsome guy?" Chen Yubai raised an eyebrow, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Yeah! He's Weiwei's cousin's younger brother. He's absolutely amazing when he plays the drums!" Zheng Xinyue gestured excitedly, then eagerly pulled Peng Chengyi outside. "We're leaving now, bye-bye!"
Chen Yubai watched the two figures disappear into the classroom doorway, his brows furrowing slightly.
Ling Baizhou, who had just returned after washing his hands, waved the water droplets off them and called out, "Come on, Yu-ge, let's go eat, I'm starving."
Chen Yubai suddenly stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and said casually, "You and Chen Wei go ahead, I'm not going to the cafeteria."
Ling Baizhou was taken aback: "Huh? Then where are you going?"
Chen Yubai strode off with his long legs and lazily tossed out a sentence: "Let's go see some handsome guys."
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Author's Note: Ling Baizhou: ? ? ?
Thanks to SaltyFishDoesn'tWantToTurnOver and uoow for the nutrient solution!
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