He was in college, but his songs were at the Grammys.

"Big City, Small Love"?

Chen Ming was slightly taken aback.

This song title...

It feels somewhat familiar, yet also quite unfamiliar.

He tried to search through the fog of memory, but could only grasp some vague shadows.

It sounds like a Mandarin pop song; the melody is refreshing, and the lyrics are heartwarming…

More information is coming in:

[Title: Love in a Big City]

[Singer: Wang Leehom]

[Genre: Chinese Pop/Folk]

As expected, they only provided the most basic information.

Chen Ming composed himself and turned his attention back to the classroom.

On the podium, Liao Mei began her lecture: "Folk songs, as the name suggests, originate from and are passed down among the people. They are closely related to the lives of a nation or a region, reflecting the emotional lives of ordinary people..."

Her lecturing style is concise, information-dense, and almost entirely devoid of unnecessary words.

Chen Ming listened attentively, while noticing that the loading progress bar in his mind began to slowly advance:

Loading: 1%...2%...3%...

The pace is synchronized with the speed of the class.

This wonderful connection made him even more focused.

He already knew much of what Liao Mei was talking about.

In his past life at Berkeley, music history was a required course; in this life, during his exam preparation, he also studied it systematically.

But now, this knowledge has been reorganized and sorted out, and it has been corroborated by the vague "folk song impressions from his past life" in his mind, creating new sparks.

"Western folk songs originated from medieval troubadours, while the source of modern Chinese folk songs can be traced back to school songs in the early 20th century..."

As Liao Mei spoke, she wrote down the key points on the blackboard.

Chen Ming's pen moved quickly across the notebook, jotting down key points and occasionally jotting down his own thoughts beside it.

The progress bar is moving steadily forward.

Loading: 47%...48%...49%...

Time passed by unnoticed.

After finishing the theoretical part, Liao Mei changed the subject: "Now that we understand the history and characteristics of folk songs, I'd like to hear your personal impressions."

She looked around the classroom and said, "Next, I will randomly select a few students and ask them to name their favorite folk song and briefly explain why."

A tense atmosphere immediately filled the classroom.

The worst thing about university classrooms is being asked random questions.

Especially in Liao Mei's class, if you don't answer well, you will really lose points for participation.

Several enthusiastic students raised their hands.

Liao Mei called on the first one: "Li Yue, you speak."

A short-haired girl stood up: "My favorite song is 'Letter in the Wind.' I love the deep affection for one's hometown in its lyrics, and the melody is also simple and touching..."

"Very good." Liao Mei nodded. "Next, Wang Haoran."

A boy stood up: "I like 'Old Street Boys.' Its guitar arrangement is simple, but the mood is exceptionally beautiful..."

Five or six students spoke one after another.

While listening, Chen Ming kept an eye on the progress bar, which was already at 89%.

He could feel fragments of melodies floating in his mind, and snippets of lyrics flashing, like the faint light on the horizon at dawn. You know the sun is about to rise, but you can't see its full form yet.

[Loading: 90%!]

Just then.

"Chen Ming".

Liao Mei's gentle voice rang out.

Chen Ming snapped out of his daze and realized that all the students in the class were staring at him.

He stood up: "Teacher Liao."

Liao Mei looked at him with expectation in her eyes.

This student is always serious and always gives insightful answers to questions.

"Chen Ming, what's your favorite folk song?"

The moment the question was posed, the flickering fragments in Chen Ming's mind suddenly coalesced.

The melody, lyrics, and warm, light feeling of "Big City, Small Love"...

Although it is not yet complete, it is already vivid enough.

Almost subconsciously, he blurted out: "Big City, Small Love".

The classroom fell silent for a moment.

Liao Mei raised her eyebrows slightly.

She had never heard of this song.

However, the folk music genre is vast, and it's normal to have some less popular works.

She continued, "Why do you like this song?"

In Chen Ming's mind, as the progress bar jumped to 100%, a tidal wave of memories finally surged forth.

Lyrics, melody, arrangement details, creative background...

Everything was as clear as if I had heard it just yesterday.

He could even "hear" the crisp guitar arpeggios in the intro and "see" the singer leisurely playing and singing in the music video.

He organized his thoughts, his voice steady:

"I like its description of love. In the vast city, small romances seem even sweeter and more precious. It doesn't try to be sentimental, but captures that ordinary yet warm romance with very everyday details."

He paused for a moment, then continued:

"Moreover, musically speaking, this song uses the pentatonic scale as the melodic basis, but also incorporates the rhythm and beat of R&B."

"The arrangement is very clean. The verses only have simple guitar and piano, while the chorus adds strings but still maintains a restrained level of sophistication. Overall, it sounds quiet, smooth, and particularly beautiful."

These words created a somewhat awkward atmosphere in the classroom.

Many students showed expressions of interest.

Based on Chen Ming's description, this song does seem to have some merit?

Several people had already secretly taken out their phones and searched for "Big City, Little Love" on music apps.

On the stage, Liao Mei also picked up her phone, opened her usual music app, and entered the song title.

A few seconds later, she looked up, puzzled, and asked, "I couldn't find this song. Which app did you use to listen to it?"

Chen Ming was somewhat helpless. He had expected this to happen after blurting out the song title, and could only continue, "This song hasn't been released yet?"

Liao Mei was taken aback for a moment, then realized: "You wrote this?"

"Holy crap?"

Tang Yuan couldn't control himself and let out a startled cry.

Tang Yuan and Zhou Xu turned their heads sharply, their eyes wide open, as if they were seeing Chen Ming for the first time.

Chen Ming didn't speak, he just nodded.

He was out of ideas. He had been mainly focused on "Big City, Small Love" and just went along with it.

But the casual gesture left the two roommates instantly petrified.

"No...no way, buddy?!" Tang Yuan's voice trembled, his tone low but unable to hide his shock. "When did you write this? How come we had no idea?!"

Zhou Xu pushed up his glasses, his eyes behind the lenses filled with astonishment: "Brother Ming, your description just now was so professional... could you have really written it yourself?"

The other students around were taken aback at first, then burst into laughter.

"Goodness, so he was just praising himself all along!"

"Is this the legendary 'Wang Po selling melons, praising her own wares'?"

"Chen Ming is impressive, writing songs quietly?"

"But it's quite rare to see someone praising their own song like this, hahaha."

"Is this a composition assignment? It sounds so real."

The laughter carried a hint of mockery and disbelief.

After all, we're all composition students; who hasn't written a few songs?

But it is indeed rare to see someone like Chen Ming describe his work so professionally and movingly in class.

Some people laughed and shook their heads: "What a load of bull."

Some people muttered under their breath, "They're talking like it's the truth. I hope the song they come out with is at the level of 'Two Kittens'."

On the podium, Liao Mei's expression changed from initial surprise to complexity.

She rested her hands on the edge of the podium, her gaze fixed on Chen Ming, her brows slightly furrowed.

As a veteran music history teacher with twenty years of experience, she has seen too many talented students and too many young people who are all talk and no action.

It's good that students have a passion for creation, and their confidence is also worth encouraging.

But this is a classroom, a place to impart knowledge, not a stage for self-promotion.

More importantly, if Chen Ming's songs are really as good as he describes, then they are definitely worth listening to.

However, if it's just a momentary arrogance on the part of a young person, then such behavior of "bragging" in class is indeed disrupting the teaching order.

"Chen Ming," Liao Mei's voice calmed, tinged with scrutiny, "you said you wrote this song?"

"Yes," Chen Ming replied succinctly.

"Since it's your own work, and you describe it so professionally," Liao Mei glanced at Chen Ming, "then—"

Liao Mei's gaze swept over the young faces in the classroom: "Why don't you give us a demonstration now? There's a piano in the classroom, and we can borrow a guitar too."