A band, or a battleground?

The two girls exchanged a glance.

Just then, the dancers dispersed, dragging their wheeled megaphones as they left. The small square was about to be emptied.

Jiang Yi asked softly, "Qian Yu hasn't arrived yet. Should we wait for her?"

Qiu Mengxue gritted her teeth and said, "Let's rehearse first."

Two girls, carrying their instruments, had just reached the middle of the small square, before they could even take out their guitars and basses, when a group of boys approached.

There were five of them in total, all around ten to twenty years old, dressed in hip-hop style with loose-fitting pants. Some wore large gold chains of unknown material, and some even showed off their arm tattoos, making them look like menacing people.

Of course, the group of boys also brought musical instruments, and even dragged a speaker.

Although they were both in a band, Jiang Yi and Qiu Mengxue looked like two little lambs in front of these five boys.

Fortunately, Qi Yuan walked over with his hands in his pockets.

The leader of the group of five pointed at the two girls and said, "Get out of here right now. I already told you yesterday, don't push your luck."

Jiang Yi quickly grabbed Qiu Mengxue's hand, seemingly trying to draw courage from her companion. Unfortunately, Qiu Mengxue's face was also pale, and she didn't seem very courageous.

At that moment, Qi Yuan stepped in front of them, raising his chin: "Does your family own this place?"

The boy made a spitting motion, but nothing came out: "Who the hell are you? What's it to you!"

Another boy next to him pointed at Qi Yuan's face and said, "Get lost!"

Qi Yuan's smile remained unchanged, but he took his hands out of his pants pockets.

Just then, one of the five suddenly shouted, "He's Qi Yuan, the one from No. 1 Middle School!"

"Holy crap, this guy is really ruthless..."

When the five people looked at Qi Yuan again, their eyes trembled slightly.

Even if I got beaten up, it wouldn't be a big deal; in a fight of this level, nobody would go all out. But it's still a bit embarrassing to be the backdrop for someone else's victory. And after getting beaten up like that, am I supposed to go tell the teachers or my parents?

Then you'll have completely lost face.

Then, the person who recognized Qi Yuan stepped forward and asked, "Brother Yuan, what are you doing here?"

"I formed a band with my classmates and we're performing here. What, is that getting in your way?"

"No, not really..." The man scratched his head and saw Qi Yuan start moving his fingers and twisting his neck, as if he was warming up. He immediately felt a chill.

He discussed it with his companions for a few more minutes and came up with a compromise: "Brother Yuan, you see, we finally found a place... How about this, we'll wait here, and you can hand it over to us when you're done, okay?"

"We can use it for as long as we want." Qi Yuan's tone was not a question, but a statement.

The man stared at Qi Yuan's fist, clicking his tongue: "Fine..."

The negotiation process went even more smoothly than Qi Yuan had expected.

When he agreed to Jiang Yi's request in the classroom, he had already considered that a group of boys playing in a band were most likely not connected to any real criminal gangs. If a fight broke out, given this body's resilience, he could force the other side to retreat by acting a little recklessly.

However, Qi Yuan did not expect that his reputation would be so great that he would not even need to actually take action.

As for those two girls, the way they looked at him was different now.

After the five boys had walked a little further away, Qiu Mengxue said, "You really are a lawless madman!"

Qi Yuan pursed his lips: "Don't talk nonsense, I've only done some high school sports activities."

"Sports activities?"

"Both sides were willing to participate, and no one called the police afterwards, so isn't that just normal fighting?"

Qiu Mengxue chuckled and said, "But you're quite different from what I imagined."

Just then, a screeching sound of brakes rang out.

Qi Yuan and the two girls turned their heads at the same time and saw a girl riding a tricycle, wearing a motorcycle helmet, stop a few meters away from the three of them.

What was particularly striking was that, in addition to a drum kit and a microphone, the tricycle's cargo bed contained several baseball bats and three similar-looking helmets.

Qiu Mengxue's eyes twitched slightly: "Ning Qianyu, what are you planning to do?"

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.

003 Blue Lotus

A girl named Ning Qianyu jumped off the tricycle and stood in front of the three men. At that moment, Qi Yuan realized that this girl was smaller than her two bandmates, probably less than 1.6 meters tall, but her personality was obviously more impulsive.

Then Ning Qianyu took off her helmet, revealing a head of short hair with a slightly tomboyish style. Of course, girls' short hair is still a bit longer than boys' hair. And Ning Qianyu's hair ends were slightly curled and upturned, making her quite recognizable.

When she opened her mouth, it was a slightly hoarse, childlike voice—reminding Qi Yuan of Zhou Xun's voice from his hometown world, only a younger version.

"Weren't we here to fight today? Although Yi Yi said she brought in outside help to be the main damage dealer, we can also be support, and supports need equipment too."

Ning Qianyu spoke with conviction, while the other two girls couldn't help but lower their heads and cover their faces.

Jiang Yi said, "There's no need to fight. Qi Yuan has already discussed it with them."

Ning Qianyu was taken aback: "So easy to talk to?"

Qiu Mengxue explained, "Because some of them had seen Qi Yuan before, they didn't even need to lift a finger to frighten him."

Ning Qianyu looked at Qi Yuan, even more stunned: "So awesome, are you a mafia boss?"

Jiang Yi: "I already said you're my classmate..."

"But now there's a problem."

Upon hearing him speak, the three girls all turned to look at him.

Qi Yuan cleared his throat and said leisurely, "I just told them that I formed a band. But they didn't leave; they're still waiting over there. If I did nothing and just stood there watching you perform, I would have been exposed."

Jiang Yi: "So you have to play with us."

Qi Yuan shrugged: "The problem is, I don't know how to play any musical instruments, but I can sing alright."

Ning Qianyu blurted out, "Then you can do a lip-sync with us, you can lip-sync..."

Qi Yuan sneered, "I'm a man."

Ning Qianyu shut her mouth.

Qiu Mengxue frowned and said, "But you've never practiced with us, and you've never even heard what songs we sing. How can you sing our songs?"

This is what Qi Yuan was waiting for.

From agreeing to Jiang Yi's request in the classroom to resolving the issue of securing a space, he had been waiting for this moment!

Qi Yuan said, "I'm writing a song now, the kind with relatively simple lyrics and melody. You guys arrange the music on the spot, discuss how to perform it, and then we can begin."

The three girls looked at each other in bewilderment.

Qiu Mengxue gasped: "Do you know how outrageous what you just said is?"

Ning Qianyu: "The lyrics and melody are simple. If you write it on the spot, what kind of song is this? A children's song?"

Jiang Yi glanced at the five boys a little distance away and couldn't help but facepalm: "They're going to laugh at us to death."

Qi Yuan waved his hand: "Since you guys play in a band, you must have no problem with basic chords and drum beats, right? This isn't a commercial performance, so as long as it's passable, it's fine. Besides, do you have any other options?"

Qiu Mengxue, Ning Qianyu, Jiang Yi: "…………"

Qi Yuan sat down cross-legged, pulled out a spotless exercise book from his schoolbag, opened the cover, and began writing.

Although the three girls didn't dare to agree, seeing how engrossed he was, they all crowded around him, craning their necks to see what he was writing.

Then I saw the first line of lyrics:

Nothing can stop it.

Your yearning for freedom

A Career Full of Unbridled Imagination

Your heart is free of worries.

Jiang Yi looked up and whispered in Qiu Mengxue's ear, "It doesn't look bad."

Qiu Mengxue waved her hand, signaling her to be quiet.

[Through the Dark Years]

I also felt lost at times.

[The moment you lower your head]

Only then did I realize the path beneath my feet.

The free world in my heart

So clear and lofty!

[Blooming and never fading]

Blue Lotus

After writing the last three words, Qi Yuan looked up and saw three girls surrounding him.

Ning Qianyu said, "Since it's songwriting, are you going to handle the composition as well?"

Qi Yuan smiled slightly: "Of course I'll take care of it. This is a song I've already come up with. However, I'm not familiar with sheet music, so I'll sing it softly first, and you guys can write down the score for me."

Qiu Mengxue sat down on the spot, right opposite him, and extended her right hand.

Qi Yuan understood what she meant, so he handed her the exercise book and pen, and then began to sing:

"Nothing can stop your yearning for freedom..."

As soon as they opened their mouths, Ning Qianyu and Jiang Yi exchanged a glance and saw the amazement in each other's eyes.

It wasn't the catchy pop tune I expected, nor was it a children's song. Although it was just a simple a cappella performance, without accompaniment or drums, the lyrics and melody alone already gave it a rock feel!

They had no idea that this was in another world, hailed as a classic of Chinese rock music, and even a symbol of an era.

This song was also a must-sing for Qi Yuan in his previous life at karaoke. Although it has a high note, it's very short, and even without vocal skills, you can shout it out, and it even has a more rock-and-roll feel.

Even after he transmigrated, when he was sorting through the original owner's memories, he hummed it softly a few times. So when it came to writing a song, this was naturally the first one that came to mind.

"Through the dark years, I have also felt lost..."

Qiu Mengxue was also pleasantly surprised, but she didn't look up at him. Instead, she was busy writing down the score. She used numbered musical notation to mark the pitch of each word.

The girl didn't have time to check; she could only concentrate on listening to him sing and writing with her head down.

Until Qi Yuan sang the last line:

"Blooming, never fading, the blue lotus—"

The pitch of the last sentence kept rising, and when it came to the last three words, Qi Yuan didn't want to shout them out, so he used falsetto.

After marking the mark, Qiu Mengxue suddenly looked up and stared at him. Her already bright almond-shaped eyes were practically glowing now.

She asked, "Did you write this?"

Qi Yuan nodded.

Since the original author isn't in this world anyway, let's just consider it spreading the culture of our hometown.

Qiu Mengxue murmured in amazement, "Are you a genius...?"

Qi Yuan glanced at the notes she had made and was somewhat surprised: "I only sang it once, and you've already composed the melody?"

"Yes, I'll sing it once now, and you can listen and see if there are any problems."

After Qiu Mengxue finished speaking, she sang the entire passage that Qi Yuan had only sung once before. And Qi Yuan had to admit that compared to himself, this girl's voice was truly beautiful.

And surprisingly, he didn't sing off-key at all!

Even if the melody of this song is very simple, you can listen to it only once and find that there are no mistakes in the composition and singing. What kind of ability is that?

Qi Yuan was filled with awe: "You're a genius."

Jiang Yi added, "Mengxue is indeed a genius. She has perfect pitch. She can judge the pitch of any note in any song after listening to it only once."

Qiu Mengxue waved her hand: "No, this is just a useful talent. But being able to write a song like this is true genius... I haven't even asked yet, what's the name of this song?"

Qi Yuan: "Blue Lotus".

Ning Qianyu suddenly became curious: "Does this kind of flower really exist?"

Qiu Mengxue glared at her: "Is that the point?"