A band, or a battleground?

Qiu Mengxue breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Then let's not go to the small square tonight. Let's find a place to rehearse properly. This arrangement is a bit complicated, Qianyu and Yiyi, you two need to get used to it."

Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief: "No need to go to the street, in front of everyone... that's good."

Seeing her reaction, Qiu Mengxue was a little puzzled: "Are the clothes you bought very aggressive? Do you feel a lot of pressure wearing them?"

Jiang Yi was a little embarrassed: "The clothes are actually fine, but they both urged me to wear the wig too."

Qiu Mengxue: "What color is the wig?"

Jiang Yi: "Pink..."

Qiu Mengxue's eyes lit up: "Then we should wear it!"

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.

The band rehearses in the school's music room.

Teacher Su Wan opened the door for Qi Yuan and Qiu Mengxue, reminded them to close the door, windows and turn off the lights after rehearsal, and then left, leaving the huge music classroom to them.

Another advantage of rehearsing here is that you don't need to move your instruments. Guitars, basses, drum kits, and microphones are all available here.

However, after testing the sound briefly, Qi Yuan said, "The sound quality here isn't very good."

While adjusting the sound, Qiu Mengxue said, "These are all old pieces of equipment, so don't be too demanding. Besides, you don't actually need a microphone to sing. Just use your phone to record, and then you can sing. We'll record it and listen to the effect over and over again, mainly focusing on the arrangement."

Qi Yuan nodded, then looked up again.

This afternoon, Ms. Su Wan went home to get her daughter's clothes, so Qiu Mengxue didn't need to go home; she could just find a changing room to change.

This is a punk-style dress with a preppy vibe.

The upper body was covered by a short-sleeved shirt with a red and black fine check pattern. The collar was slightly open, and there were no complicated accessories except for a thin black tie, which was tied quite loosely.

Her lower body was clad in a red and black plaid skirt, paired with black thigh-high stockings and black and white high-top sneakers. A glimpse of fair skin was visible between the hem of the skirt and the top of the stockings.

Compared to her usual aloof and academically gifted image, Qiu Mengxue appeared casual and beautiful at this moment, even exuding a rebellious and unruly vibe.

It wasn't just because of her clothes; perhaps it was also because she had untied her high ponytail, letting her long, straight black hair fall freely—which made it clear that her hair was indeed exceptionally long, almost reaching her waist.

She suddenly asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

Qi Yuan smiled slightly: "Let me appreciate it."

Qiu Mengxue noticed that his gaze was indeed full of appreciation, but it wasn't offensive; it wasn't lecherous like some annoying boys.

The girl smiled and tossed her long hair that fell to her shoulders: "Do you think this looks good?"

Qi Yuan nodded: "It looks really good. But with hair this long, won't it get in the way of your guitar playing?"

Qiu Mengxue: "If it gets in the way, just shake your head."

Qi Yuan imagined Qiu Mengxue flipping her hair, and the contrast with her usual appearance was even stronger.

Qiu Mengxue looked him over and said in a calm tone, "Your new clothes are also very nice. Work pants with boots, handsome."

Qi Yuan: "It's just a bit hot. It's okay now, but it will be really hot in July."

Qiu Mengxue: "My mom helps me get my clothes, so I can change as soon as I get home from school, but you..."

Qi Yuan shrugged: "Don't forget, I'm a bad student. I can go out anytime this afternoon, just go home and grab some clothes, the teacher won't care."

Qiu Mengxue asked curiously, "But don't the security guards at the school gate do anything about it?"

Qi Yuan succinctly stated: "The wall can be scaled."

Qiu Meng: "...I see."

Just then, Ning Qianyu and Jiang Yi arrived.

Although she usually dresses like a tomboy, Ning Qianyu wore a dress today, which is quite unusual.

A dark gray high-waisted workwear skirt with three-dimensional pockets on both sides and white topstitching along the edges, paired with a black leather belt at the waist, is already very cool.

What's even cooler is that her upper body not only features a white tank top, but also a long-sleeved cover-up. The thin mesh cover-up gives off a cyberpunk vibe.

Qiu Mengxue was about to praise Ning Qianyu's new look, but before she could speak, her gaze was drawn to Jiang Yi beside her.

Gothic-style dress, and long pink hair...

Qiu Mengxue stared at it for a few seconds, then couldn't help but laugh and said, "Promise me, Yiyi, you have to dress like this when we go to the audition!"

Jiang Yi pointed to the top of her head: "You mean a wig too?"

Qiu Mengxue nodded quickly: "You're exceptionally beautiful and have a unique personality, really! I dare say, you're the bassist who's most impossible to ignore in the entire venue."

Jiang Yi's face looked like she had eaten a bitter melon: "I feel like I've been bullied by you guys..."

Qiu Mengxue then changed the subject, looked around, and then deliberately lowered her head, saying in surprise, "Qianyu, you're here too."

Ning Qianyu: "You're definitely bullying us! We didn't include you when we bought new clothes, and that's why you're holding a grudge!"

Qiu Mengxue pouted: "You guys were picking out clothes in the mall, each of you got a set, but I didn't get any. I was busy composing music... I was the one who was bullied first, wasn't I?"

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.

030 Science Fiction Novels

May passed slowly, and by June, Qi Yuan was thriving in class.

His classmates still kept their distance from him, but their gazes now held a greater degree of respect. The teachers continued to ignore him, but occasionally, when asking questions in class, teachers of subjects like math and English would glance at Qi Yuan.

When Qi Yuan had free time, he would lazily raise his hand and then say the answer or thought process that the teachers were looking for—this was usually the exclusive job of good students.

However, he was mostly busy, because Qiu Mengxue would bring him a music theory textbook from home every few days and give it to him to study on his own. During class, the good students were busy listening to the lecture, the bad students were busy playing on their phones or sleeping, and those who were neither good nor bad were somewhere in between studying and just passing the time.

Qi Yuan was busy studying music theory and building a foundation in music. When he encountered a problem he didn't understand, he would simply take a picture with his phone and send it to Qiu Mengxue, waiting for her reply during class breaks.

One afternoon in mid-June, during math class, Qi Yuan sent Qiu Mengxue a question: "C to D? An augmented second, C to E? A minor third. On a piano, these are clearly sounds produced by pressing one key. Why does this document say they absolutely cannot be confused?"

Then he decided to put down his phone and continue reading. He knew that, unlike him, Qiu Mengxue wouldn't use her phone during class.

But then he discovered that Ning Qianyu had sent him a message:

Are you free right now?

Qi Yuan raised his eyebrows.

It's quite rare for Ning Qianyu to send such a message.

He replied: "Whether I'm free or not depends on what it is."

A few seconds later, Ning Qianyu wrote: [I got caught by the teacher writing a novel in class and was made to stand outside as punishment. I'm afraid she'll confiscate my novel. Could you please keep it for me?]

Qi Yuan immediately replied, "No problem, I'm coming right away."

Then he stood up.

The math teacher was explaining a triangle problem when he saw the unruly boy stand up and asked, "Qi Yuan, tell everyone, why can't we choose A for this problem?"

Qi Yuan glanced at the blackboard, thought for a moment, and said, "Because the solution may not be unique. We must calculate the height of the perpendicular and discuss its relationship with the known side b. We can use the Law of Cosines to establish an equation, and once we calculate it, we'll know... Hmm, this problem has two solutions, √3 and twice √3. So we choose A and C."

The math teacher frowned: "You're calculating that fast? Or were you already calculating just now...?"

"No, the trap in this question is quite obvious. Just understand the reasoning behind the question. Teacher, please explain slowly. I'm going to the restroom."

After saying that, Qi Yuan walked out of the classroom and closed the door behind him.

The classroom of Class 7 was completely silent.

The math teacher suddenly exclaimed in a low voice, "Qi Yuan, this is too much like science fiction..."

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.

Qi Yuan had just stepped out of Class 7's classroom when he saw Ning Qianyu standing at the door of Class 3.

He stepped over.

A Chinese language class was in session in Class 3, and the teacher was reciting classical poems. However, the teacher's voice sounded unusually authoritative, even carrying a hint of anger.

The classroom door was closed.

Ning Qianyu stood at the door, holding a notebook in her hand, and was using it as a fan to cool herself.

Qi Yuan approached her and asked in a low voice, "You were caught writing a novel in class by the teacher, didn't she confiscate it?"

Ning Qianyu said, "She asked me to go to her office after class, probably thinking that she would confiscate it then."

Qi Yuan: "Aren't you a good student?"

"That's why she was so angry, probably because she felt betrayed by a good student. But it's okay, there are several short stories in this notebook. Just keep this one safe, and the others can be confiscated."

As Ning Qianyu said this, she tore two pages from her notebook and handed them to Qi Yuan.

As Qi Yuan took it, he asked, "May I take a look?"

The girl's expression tightened slightly: "It's possible, but you're not allowed to laugh at me!"

"I have received professional training, and I will not laugh no matter how funny it is."

As Qi Yuan said this, he picked up the two pages and began to read them.

This was a handwritten science fiction novel. Moreover, both the writing style and the plot were somewhat unexpected to him.

The novel is titled *The Frozen Age*, and the story it tells is:

At the end of the 21st century, Earth entered a sudden ice age. To ensure the continuation of humanity, a massive biological preservation system was built deep underground. The protagonist and his lover entered separate hibernation pods, promising to awaken simultaneously when a signal indicating a return to warmer weather was sounded.

However, due to a system malfunction caused by geological changes, the protagonist was awakened a full two hundred years too late.

He pushed open the heavy alloy door and found that the ground was no longer the familiar city, but ruins and desert. The traces of the former civilization had long been erased, and the sound of the wind echoed among the broken walls and ruins, like an ancient sigh.

He frantically searched for his lover's hibernation pod in the frozen ruins, only to find a faint string of Morse code on a stone tablet in the ruins. He realized that his lover had awakened hundreds of years ago and had been waiting for him alone in an empty world until he turned to dust.

Qi Yuan quickly finished reading the two pages and then fell into deep thought.

Ning Qianyu quickly asked, "What do you think?"

Qi Yuan waved his hand: "Don't rush, I'm thinking."

Ning Qianyu: "Is it really that difficult to give an evaluation?"

Qi Yuan revealed a mysterious smile: "The evaluation is simple, not bad. But reading your story has given me some inspiration."

Ning Qianyu hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

She suddenly remembered that the day Qi Yuan first went to Qiu Mengxue's house, he said that he had gotten some inspiration from her. However, the song derived from that inspiration was one that neither she nor Jiang Yi had ever heard before, and it became a secret between Qiu Mengxue and Qi Yuan.

Ning Qianyu had of course asked Qiu Mengxue, but the answer she received was, "The arrangement of that song is very difficult, and he hasn't finished writing the lyrics and music yet, so we'll have to wait..."

So, what about now?

What kind of songs will he write? Can they be compared to "Blue Lotus" and "Those Flowers"?

Suddenly, Qi Yuan spoke up: "I don't usually like love songs, but your... novel's theme is love, so..."

Ning Qianyu quickly tore another page from her notebook, handed over the pen from her pocket, and said earnestly, "If you have any inspiration, write it down quickly."

Qi Yuan took the paper and pen, but looked around and said, "There's no table. Should I write on the floor?"

Ning Qianyu immediately turned around and squatted down: "You're using my back as a table!"

However, Qi Yuan touched the girl's back and complained, "You're too thin, I can feel your bones, and your handwriting is uneven."

Ning Qianyu gritted her teeth, turned around, and saw Qi Yuan pressing the paper against the wall and starting to write.

The girl didn't say anything, but leaned closer, stood on tiptoe, and peeked secretly.

Then I saw two lines of scribbled text:

My heart is racing.

Even dreams are not free.

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.

031 A Thousand Years Later

Lin JJ's classic love song wasn't on Qi Yuan's playlist, but he could still recall it, and it came to mind quite clearly.

There's no way around it; I heard it so many times during my childhood, it left a deep impression on me.

Later, at karaoke, his friends would request this song more than once, but they couldn't sing it well, often missing the key at the beginning. In these situations, he would enthusiastically help, picking up the microphone and helping his tone-deaf friends find the key. They would sing together until just before the highest note, then he would put down the microphone, smiling as his friends sang off-key and cracked their voices.

Looking back now, my friend has a pretty good temper. I'll invite him to go to karaoke again next time—or maybe he really is tone-deaf and doesn't even realize when his voice cracks?