A band, or a battleground?

Qiu Mengxue: "Huh?"

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.

022 Okay, as expected of you

Over the phone, Qi Yuan explained, "Your dad followed me with a baseball bat, and then he ran up to me in an empty alley and threatened me. How could I tolerate that?"

Qiu Mengxue was sitting in her bedroom with study materials spread out in front of her. She looked at them, but couldn't concentrate on a single word.

The girl took a deep breath, as if she could already see the dramatic scene, and subconsciously asked, "So what did you do? Did you manage to snatch the stick back?"

Qi Yuan: "I didn't need a stick to beat him up, one punch was enough to knock him down. Then I said a few harsh words, telling him that if he ever appeared in front of me again, I would beat him every time I saw him."

Qiu Mengxue quickly pressed on, "And then?"

"And then, I left."

"Only one punch?"

Qi Yuan laughed and said, "You think I didn't hit you hard enough?"

Qiu Mengxue whispered, "No, I think fighting is too risky. Even if you win, you could easily end up in the police station."

Qi Yuan: "So I only punched him once, and it was in a spot that wouldn't leave a scar."

Qiu Mengxue asked, "Where did you hit?"

Qi Yuan replied, "Abdomen."

Qiu Mengxue was still a little worried: "Won't that damage internal organs and create legal risks?"

Qi Yuanyu said with a smile, "I didn't use that much force, not at all. I just wanted him to know that I'm not someone to be trifled with, and that he'd better not mess with you again."

The girl was silent for a few seconds, then said softly, "Thank you. Um... will you continue to come to my house for lessons tomorrow?"

"Of course. Okay, see you tomorrow."

After saying that, Qi Yuan hung up the phone.

Qiu Mengxue sat at her desk in a daze for a while, then suddenly stood up and quickly walked out of her bedroom.

But there was no one in the living room, the kitchen, or even in Mom's bedroom.

So the girl pushed open the door to the anechoic chamber.

Sure enough, Su Wan was playing the MIDI keyboard when she heard the door open. She looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"

Qiu Mengxue succinctly stated: "Qiu Fengfan has followed Qi Yuan."

Su Wan's gaze remained fixed on him: "Did they have a conflict? I hope nothing bad happened?"

Qiu Mengxue continued, "Qi Yuan hit him, but only once, so it shouldn't be a big deal."

Su Wan lowered her head in deep thought.

Qiu Mengxue observed her mother's expression, then tentatively asked, "You probably wouldn't go with him..."

Su Wan laughed: "With whom, Qiu Fengfan? You mean you got back together with him? How could that be? I already saw him flirting with several women back then, I don't want to be disgusted a second time."

Qiu Mengxue then asked, "Then what should we do? He said he moved to the apartment below ours, and he could be watching us at any time."

Su Wan shook her head: "Since he dares to say he earns 20,000 a month, which is much higher than my salary, he must have to work, right? He probably doesn't have that much free time. Besides, if all else fails, don't we still have outside help?"

"Foreign aid?" Qiu Mengxue was taken aback. "You mean Qi Yuan?"

Su Wan smiled and said, "You're bandmates now, so it's normal for you to help each other out. Besides going to school, you're always out with the band, so of course you can go with him. You don't need to worry about safety then."

Qiu Mengxue hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

She was starting to think that having lunch with Qi Yuan had already sparked a lot of discussion among her classmates. If they were to do even more things together…

However, the girl thought again that she was innocent and that everything she did was for music. So what if others talked? What was there to be afraid of?

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.

On Monday morning, Qi Yuan was finally late.

The first class was math. The math teacher merely glanced at Qi Yuan, who entered through the back door of the classroom, pursed his lips, said nothing, and continued lecturing.

"Let's look at this function. What are its variables? What does the problem say..."

Qi Yuan sat down in his own seat.

The seats in the last row were unusual; they were all separated, with no one sitting next to another. Perhaps this was a preventative measure to avoid influencing normal students with these delinquent teenagers.

As soon as he sat down, Xie Jinpeng, who was about a meter to his right, made a face and asked in a low voice, "What have you been up to this weekend? I haven't seen you outside, Yuan-ge. You didn't go to that school beauty's house in Class One, did you?"

Qi Yuan: "..."

Well, this guy guessed the correct answer in a second, which is really speechless.

Fortunately, Xie Jinpeng clearly didn't really think that way, and immediately asked, "I haven't seen you here. Did you go to the Sixth Middle School to fight?"

Qi Yuan shook his head: "No, I'm just playing games at home."

Xie Jinpeng was slightly taken aback: "Didn't you say games are boring?"

Qi Yuan: "Fighting isn't very interesting. I've been feeling a bit bored lately. Fighting weak opponents is too boring, and fighting strong ones... they're not that much stronger, unless I go and challenge their martial arts school."

Xie Jinpeng laughed and said, "Brother, didn't you go and challenge the dojo? You even fought to a draw with that coach. What, have you forgotten?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Yuan searched through the original owner's memories and realized that this kid had even been to a martial arts school and had actually fought a professional combat coach.

Despite having no professional training, he was able to fight his coach to a standstill under MMA rules, a truly remarkable feat. Xie Jinpeng and the others were simply spectators at the time.

Qi Yuan recalled the course of that match and sighed, "Taekwondo doesn't allow hooks, boxing doesn't allow legs, and MMA is even more ridiculous. That coach would fall down all the time and try to drag me to the ground and choke me... Tsk, these rules are boring to fight with. It's better to play games."

We chatted casually until the bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

The math teacher only stayed less than a minute overtime before picking up his lesson plan and leaving.

Then, Qi Yuan noticed Jiang Yi—this girl didn't dare to come to him in front of the other delinquents, she only dared to wave at him from several rows away, and the waving action was quite discreet, for fear that other classmates would see it.

After their eyes met, Jiang Yi stood up, walked to the front door of the classroom, and waved.

Qi Yuan then realized that she must have something to ask him.

So he stood up and walked out.

Xie Jinpeng quickly asked, "Where are you going, Brother Yuan? Want to go to the restroom for a smoke?"

Qi Yuan waved his hand without turning his head: "I'm not smoking anymore. I'm going for a walk. I'll be fine on my own."

Then he walked out of the classroom and saw that Jiang Yi had already come downstairs.

Qi Yuan followed her downstairs, walked all the way to the outside of the teaching building, and circled around to the side of the building before seeing her stop.

Jiang Yi said, "I'm a little curious—"

Qi Yuan interrupted, "Don't be curious yet. I'd like to ask you the same thing: why don't you use your phone to text me? It's as troublesome as a secret agent meeting with someone you're in the same class."

Jiang Yi obediently replied, "My parents don't allow me to bring my phone to school."

Qi Yuan: "Didn't Mengxue and Qianyu bring their phones?"

Jiang Yi: "They both brought them, but my parents wouldn't let me."

Qi Yuan: "And you didn't even think about rebelling... Well, as expected of you."

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.

023 Get ready for a shock!

Qi Yuan simply expressed his admiration for Jiang Yi's obedience, but Jiang Yi's reaction was quite amusing.

She asked in a low voice, "Don't you think that people in bands can't be like me?"

Qi Yuan shook his head: "Whether you're well-behaved or not, you can form a band. The key isn't those things, it's the music."

Jiang Yi: "But I heard that personality is reflected in music, so..."

Qi Yuan countered, "You heard it? From whom?"

Jiang Yi paused for two seconds, then subconsciously said, "An online friend."

Qi Yuan laughed: "Have the netizens who say these things ever made any good music?"

Jiang Yi: "That's true..."

Qi Yuan: "Besides, you play bass, you're not responsible for writing lyrics or composing music, is personality really that important?"

Jiang Yi nodded in agreement at first, but then realized something was wrong and quickly said, "Wait, do you think the bass has a low presence? Let me tell you, the bass is also very important; it can embody the soul of the band!"

"Okay, okay, bass is important. So, what else did you call me out for?"

Qi Yuan steered the conversation back to the main topic.

And Jiang Yi finally brought up the matter that had been piquing her curiosity:

"Um, do you like Mengxue?"

Qi Yuan: "?"

Seeing his wide-eyed, incredulous expression, Jiang Yi quickly added, "You said Mengxue inspired you, made you write a song, and even wanted to chat with her privately... Do you know that people usually call this a muse? Is Mengxue your muse?"

Qi Yuan shook his head: "It's not really true. I just happened to run into some things that were related to her. If you inspire me in the future, maybe I'll write a song for you."

"what?"

Now it was Jiang Yi's turn to be dumbfounded, her face showing disbelief.

The girl pointed to herself and asked, "Can I also become a source of inspiration?"

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "Who knows what the future holds?"

Qiu Mengxue's family reminded him of the song "Balalaika," which was completely unexpected. Perhaps something will happen with Jiang Yi in the future, triggering another memory of a song he once heard?

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.

It was lunchtime again, and Qi Yuan sat down with the three girls once more.

In the distance, some classmates were still casting gossipy glances their way. Jiang Yi felt a little uncomfortable about it, but the other three didn't seem to care.

Qiu Mengxue said, "The program team replied that our registration was successful and the next step is the audition."

Qi Yuan asked, "What is the process for the preliminary selection?"

Ning Qianyu also asked, "That program is being held in Beijing, right? Do we need to buy plane tickets?"

Knowing that her partner hadn't been too keen on participating in the show from the start, Jiang Yi cautiously asked, "You're not afraid of flying, are you...?"

Ning Qianyu pouted: "I'm not afraid."

Qiu Mengxue added, "If we need to go to Beijing, the production team said they will help us buy plane tickets. But before that, we have to go through the auditions. The auditions are divided into several regions across the country, and the one we're going to is just a subway ride away."

The place they are in is not only the capital of the province, but also a major metropolis, though it can't compare to cities like Shanghai or Beijing.

Qi Yuan then asked, "When exactly will the preliminary selection be held?"

Qiu Mengxue replied, "July 10th. Our final exams are at the end of June, so we can take them right after we get our grades and then participate in the auditions. If everything goes smoothly, we can fly to the capital in mid-July."

Ning Qianyu poked at the rice with chopsticks in one hand and rested her chin on her other: "Midterm exams are next week, and final exams are at the end of June... For the sake of the band's unity, Mengxue, could you rank a little lower than me? Just once out of these two exams would be fine."

Qiu Mengxue immediately sneered: "I've never been out of the top ten in the grade, and you've never been in the top ten. If you want to surpass me, even if I go easy on you, it probably won't be easy."

Ning Qianyu was about to argue that she was ranked fourteenth in the grade last time and had a good chance of making it into the top ten this midterm, but Jiang Yi interrupted her.

She raised her hand and reminded him, "Could you guys please stop discussing this kind of topic? I'm fine, but Qi Yuan might feel a little awkward."

Qi Yuan said, "I'm not embarrassed at all, you can do as you please."

However, after exchanging a glance, Ning Qianyu and Qiu Mengxue avoided the topic of grades and started talking about music again.

Ning Qianyu asked, "How's the lead singer's training progress? Has he been able to hit that high note at the end of 'Blue Lotus'?"

Qiu Mengxue thought for a moment and said, "The progress is going quite smoothly. I estimate that by next week, there should be no problem."

Qi Yuan also said, "Then I can write songs with more high notes."

The three girls' eyes were fixed on him.

Ning Qianyu's lips twitched slightly: "How many songs do you still have?"

Qi Yuan smiled but remained silent.