A band, or a battleground?

"What's wrong with you? What's with that expression?" Ning Qianyu asked, then realized her mistake. "Oh, what I said just now seems a bit ambiguous, right?"

Qi Yuan: "Since you already know, then let's not mention it."

Jiang Yi, however, remained completely innocent. She glanced at Qi Yuan's stiff expression, then at Qian Yu's mischievous grin, and asked疑惑地问道, "What are you talking about?"

Qi Yuan waved his hand: "It's nothing. By the way, besides the slippers I prepared for you, I also have disposable toothbrushes and toothpaste, as well as unused towels and the like."

Ning Qianyu asked with a mischievous grin, "Were you already planning to let the girl stay overnight?"

Qi Yuan: "No, it's just that I always bring things like toothpaste and toothbrush with me when I stay in a hotel."

Ning Qianyu was taken aback: "How much money do you have in your account? Why are you still doing this?"

Qi Yuan said matter-of-factly, "No matter how much money I have, I'm still a consumer. Those things were originally prepared for me, so why can't I take them with me?"

Ning Qianyu was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi smiled and said, "Qi Yuan is right. Even after making money, he hasn't changed his original intentions. He's a clear-headed person."

Ning Qianyu couldn't help but complain, "It seems you agree with everything Qi Yuan says..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

212 Green Light

Ning Qianyu went to take a shower.

Qi Yuan looked at Jiang Yi, who was sitting on the sofa checking her backpack, and asked, "What's in your bag?"

The girl looked up and replied, "It's for changing clothes."

Qi Yuan: "So well prepared?"

Jiang Yi smiled slightly: "Qianyu has also prepared. You probably don't have any girls' underwear and pajamas at home, so we both brought them."

Qi Yuan tentatively asked, "Before you came here tonight, did you both decide whether you wanted to stay overnight at my place?"

Jiang Yi nodded: "Yes, Qianyu is going to cover for me."

"So you'd planned this all along..." Qi Yuan lowered his voice, a mischievous smile playing on his lips, "to spend the night at your boyfriend's house?"

Jiang Yi was stunned.

Qi Yuan grinned mischievously, "What, hasn't the experiment started yet?"

Jiang Yi shook her head vigorously: "Of course it started! I just... I just didn't expect it... I thought I had to remind you."

Qi Yuan said leisurely, "Since I've promised you, I'll definitely have to be serious about it."

Jiang Yi couldn't help but laugh too. Her smile was full of joy, and even made her seem a little naive.

At that moment, Qi Yuan felt a vibration in his pocket, so he took out his phone and saw a new message from Qiu Mengxue.

Jiang Yi asked, "Is someone looking for you?"

"Yes, it's about work."

As Qi Yuan said this, he opened the chat interface and saw the complete message sent by Qiu Mengxue:

I thought about it for a long time after I got home, and then I thought, maybe you should give me the song you wrote for me earlier? I'm having trouble sleeping tonight. If I have to wait until my birthday, I think I'll have many sleepless nights in the next few months...

He thought for a moment, then looked up and saw Jiang Yi staring at him, a hint of hesitation flashing in her beautiful eyes.

Qi Yuan instantly guessed that what this girl was worried about was probably the message Qiu Mengxue had sent him. She wanted to ask, but was too embarrassed to ask... or rather, too afraid to ask?

After all, this short-term experiment has only just begun. If we were to show any intention of checking up on him now, we would be pushing him away.

Qi Yuan replied to Qiu Mengxue with the word "Okay" and sent her two photos from his phone's album.

These two photos are of the song he had already written and intended to give to Qiu Mengxue to sing.

If Qiu Mengxue hadn't made this request tonight, he genuinely intended to wait until her birthday to give it to her. After all, a gift that's hard-won truly shows the sentiment behind it. If it were just casually given away, even if the recipient was initially delighted, they wouldn't cherish it as much over time.

As for Qiu Mengxue's reaction to the birthday gift she gave Jiang Yi tonight, the song "Curved Eyelashes"... Although she tried her best to pretend, Qi Yuan could tell that she was actually quite bothered by it.

So giving this song out at this time is just right.

After sending the photos, Qi Yuan put his phone back in his pocket and then stretched out his left hand.

Jiang Yi didn't understand what he meant for a moment and stared at him blankly.

Qi Yuan moved his fingers: "Want to hold hands?"

Jiang Yi's eyes widened immediately. She nodded emphatically and took a few deep breaths, clearly trying to calm herself down.

She stood up and sat down next to Qi Yuan.

The two were only a fist's width apart at the shoulders.

Jiang Yi, holding onto the sofa with both hands, carefully moved closer to him until the outer sides of their thighs were almost touching.

Then, Jiang Yi extended her right hand and placed it on his left palm.

Qi Yuan grabbed it.

The girl's hands were indeed very soft and felt somewhat warm. The thickness of her palms and the size of her fingers were also smaller, as if he could easily break them with a little force.

Qi Yuan sighed softly, "It's like a delicate work of art."

Jiang Yi: "Huh? What did you say..."

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "I'm talking about your hand."

The girl blushed and lowered her head, not daring to look at him.

At that moment, my pocket started vibrating again.

Qi Yuan took out his phone with his free right hand and glanced at the new message Qiu Mengxue had sent:

[This song is amazing! I really love it, and I think it's even better than "Eyelashes Curled Up"! I'll practice it a bit and sing it for you, okay?]

Qi Yuan typed with one hand: "Sure, send a voice message, I'll listen to it later."

Then he turned off the screen and put the phone back in his pocket.

Jiang Yi lowered her head, completely unaware of his actions, simply enjoying the warmth of his hand being enveloped...

Then Qi Yuan thought about the current situation.

Holding Jiang Yi's hand with his left, he replied to Qiu Mengxue with his right. Could it be that he has a natural talent for being a player? It doesn't seem that difficult.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

When Ning Qianyu came out of the bathroom, she saw Jiang Yi standing at the door.

She asked, "Have you been waiting long?"

Jiang Yi shook her head: "It wasn't long. I came over when I heard the sound of your hairdryer stop."

Ning Qianyu smiled slyly: "I bet you think my shower time wasn't long enough, right? This is your chance to be alone with him, so you definitely want it to last as long as possible."

Jiang Yi pursed her lips, trying to hide the joy in her eyes.

Seeing her like this, Ning Qianyu complained, "You're such a fangirl."

Jiang Yi: "Say what you will, it's my turn to take a shower."

Ning Qianyu gave up the bathroom, put on her newly changed pajamas, walked into the living room, and stopped in front of Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan was holding an earphone in his hand, about to put it on his head.

Ning Qianyu asked, "Is this the headset that Yi Yi gave you?"

Qi Yuan nodded: "Yes."

Ning Qianyu asked again, "Why do you wear headphones at home?"

Qi Yuan: "Listen to music, what else can we do? This way it won't bother you guys."

Ning Qianyu: "I'm actually quite curious about what kind of music you usually listen to, so it's okay, it won't bother me, you can play it on speakerphone."

"Forget it, you can do your own thing."

Qi Yuan put on his headphones.

Ning Qianyu turned and walked away. Of course, she didn't know that Qi Yuan wasn't listening to the work of any singer or band on the market, but rather the song Qiu Mengxue had just sung…

"Hoping for both luck and a breakthrough."

What a wonderful encounter!

"Climb over the mountaintop ahead, and through layers of white clouds."

Where is the green light?

"It was like being electrocuted, unbelievable, like a miracle."

"Passing through my life"

"Unlike anything else, you are the green light."

"So unique..."

Qiu Mengxue's singing voice was indeed as ethereal and otherworldly as ever. Compared to the original singer of "Green Light" in her previous life, she lacked that slight husky quality, making it sound even more transcendent and otherworldly.

Although the girl's voice is indeed beautiful, compared to the original singer, it should definitely be closer to the original singer's style to better express the feeling of the song.

Just as Qi Yuan was pondering how to give guidance, Qiu Mengxue sent another voice message.

As soon as Qi Yuan opened the app, he heard that ethereal voice return to the mortal world, still carrying a hint of girlish shyness:

"What do you think of my singing? By the way, what exactly does 'green light' mean in this song?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

213 Are these your pajamas?

What does "green light" mean?

In response to this question, Qi Yuan certainly couldn't say, "Love is a light so green it makes you panic." He could only give a vague answer: "In some parts of Europe, there seems to be a saying that green light symbolizes luck, and seeing it will bring good fortune."

After typing and sending the message, Qi Yuan opened the encyclopedia page in his browser and learned something from it on the spot.

Then, returning to the chat interface, Qiu Mengxue sent another voice message:

"Is that the aurora borealis?"

Qi Yuan then shared the knowledge he had just learned: "No, the aurora is much more common. The green light is also called a green flash. When the sun rises or sets, a fluorescent green flash occasionally appears above the horizon, lasting only about a second. It's both rare and fleeting, so very few people see it. The earliest scientific records of green flashes appear in the 19th century; before that, green light was merely a legend in Northern Europe."

Qiu Mengxue asked again, "It's not the aurora, but it's even harder to see than the aurora..."

Qi Yuan continued his explanation: "The essence of green light is actually air refraction and scattering. Sunlight is white light, and the atmosphere acts like a prism, scattering it. Different wavelengths of light have different refractive indices; blue light is easily scattered, which is why the sky is blue. Red light has strong penetrating power, so at sunrise and sunset, sunlight reaching our eyes has to pass through the thickest layer of air for scattering, resulting in red light. However, under certain conditions, we might see green light, with a wavelength between the two, above the red light."

"I see... You understand its principles on a rational level, but you can also use it to inspire creativity on an emotional level. That's amazing, how did you do that?"

The girl, regarded as an unattainable beauty by her classmates, spoke with deep admiration in her voice.

So many myths and fairy tales can inspire us, even if we know they're not true. Reason can deconstruct many things, but we don't have to deconstruct everything all the time.

At the same time I sent this message, my phone notified me of a new message in the work group.

Qi Yuan clicked on the message and saw that it was from his agent, Liu Weiting:

The album is now fully produced. I played it for a few colleagues at the company, and everyone's feedback was excellent. Even CEO Shen said it was great. Next up is the album's release. My colleagues have designed several plans; when are you free so we can discuss them?

Qi Yuan thought for a moment and replied: "Tomorrow is Sunday, we should both be free. Let's chat here this afternoon."

Liu Weiting: [Okay, it's settled then.]

Qi Yuan switched back to his private chat with Qiu Mengxue and saw that she had sent three voice messages in a row. Listening to them one by one, he learned that...

"What you said is still so philosophical."

"That's really amazing... No, it's getting late, I should go to sleep."

"I saw the message in the group chat. See you tomorrow! Goodnight!"

Qi Yuan replied with "Goodnight," casually took off his earphones, and immediately heard approaching footsteps. Without showing any emotion, he exited his private chat with Qiu Mengxue and reopened the work group chat.

Jiang Yi walked up to him.

Qi Yuan showed her his phone screen and said, "Sister Liu will come over tomorrow afternoon to discuss the album release with us."

Jiang Yi smiled and nodded: "Okay, I understand... What's wrong?"