A band, or a battleground?

"It's just an excuse for incompetence."

She suddenly felt that the better the song was, the more jarring that sentence sounded.

On stage, after the chorus was repeated twice, Qi Yuan sang the last high note of "blue lotus" and then lowered his arms.

The coda, woven together by the three girls, ended smoothly without any further problems.

The last note fell on Qiu Mengxue's guitar strings.

The three girls looked at each other and bowed slightly to the two judges.

But Qi Yuan, who stood in front of them, did not have the habit of being a well-behaved child. He simply smiled and looked at the two judges.

After he finished singing, he glanced at the expressions on the two men's faces and knew that he had won.

The male judge immediately asked, "Is this song your original composition? What's it called again?"

Qi Yuan raised the microphone and said, "Blue Lotus."

"A blue lotus?"

"Correct."

The male judge scratched his head, carefully choosing his words.

The female judge next to her asked, "You're high school students, right? This song isn't sung by your teacher or parents..."

Qi Yuan: "I have already registered the copyright for this song. You can find it on the official website. I am the only author. In addition, there are two other songs besides this one. I don't think they are any worse than this one."

The male judge opened his mouth, as if to ask if the other two songs could be sung live, but he stopped himself before he could say anything.

During the audition phase, each band can only perform one song; this is a rule of the show.

The female judge's gaze swept over the four people on the stage, then settled on Qi Yuan, her expression becoming particularly complicated.

She asked, "You...all four of you, are you high school students from No. 1 Middle School?"

Qi Yuan nodded: "First year of high school."

"Not a music major?"

"There shouldn't be a music major in the first year of high school."

"Are you planning to apply to art schools?"

"That's not necessarily true. Several of us have done quite well..."

Seeing that the female judge and Qi Yuan were chatting, the male judge quickly coughed twice to interrupt their conversation.

Then he said, "Haruhi Kage Band, please note, I have a question next."

Qi Yuan looked at him quietly.

Behind Qi Yuan, the three girls looked extremely nervous.

The judge's next question was: "I'd like to ask, are you free the day after tomorrow? Flying to Beijing, is that alright?"

Qi Yuan smiled and replied, "Of course, no problem, thank you judges."

The three girls looked at each other again. This time, a hint of nervousness lingered in their eyes, but more than anything, there was an incredulous surprise.

Even though they had encouraged themselves countless times beforehand and boasted to their companions, they were still overwhelmed with immense joy at that moment.

"Thank you, judges!" Qiu Mengxue said loudly, and bowed.

Ning Qianyu and Jiang Yi then realized what was happening and bowed again, saying in unison, "Thank you, judges!"

The female judge smiled and said, "Now I really believe you are high school students, and with good grades at that. Three or four bands have passed the auditions today, and you are the most polite of them all."

The male judge shook his head, rubbed his forehead, and said, "I still can't believe it. High school students... What were we doing in high school?"

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.

After stepping off stage number two, the girls noticed that the senior band members were looking at them differently.

Ning Qianyu lowered her voice, but couldn't hide her smugness: "They were whistling at us just now, but now look what happened, I saw them clapping."

Qi Yuan: "This is a good thing."

Qiu Mengxue, however, only stared at one person: "What about the one we met in the restroom just now?"

Jiang Yi raised her hand: "I saw it, she ran away halfway through our performance."

Qiu Mengxue frowned: "Distracted? Is that why you made a mistake halfway through?"

Jiang Yi froze instantly, her smile seemingly frozen by some kind of ice spell.

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "We have a few days to prepare, and we can review everything later. As for today, let's not worry about anything else and just enjoy the moment."

Ning Qianyu asked with great interest, "How do we enjoy it?"

Qiu Mengxue also asked, "If it were you, how would you celebrate a joyous occasion?"

Qi Yuan: "In the past, would we find someone to fight?"

The three girls: "..."

Qi Yuan smiled and added, "But now, I think we can eat something good."

"I second that."

"Okay!"

Agreed!

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.

037 A Strange Apology

Stepping out of the stadium, you're immediately hit by a wave of heat that makes you sweat.

Qi Yuan felt okay, but when he looked back at the three girls behind him, he saw that each one was having a harder time than the last.

Because they all brought musical instruments.

Although Qi Yuan had been practicing guitar during this time, the song "Blue Lotus" did not require a keyboard, so he did not need to play the guitar and naturally did not bring any extra instruments.

Of the three girls, Ning Qianyu faced the most difficulties. Her drum set was the hardest to move. Even with the flatbed cart borrowed by the production team, she was still sweating profusely.

Qi Yuan then said, "Let me help you push it."

Ning Qianyu raised her little face and said, "No need, I can push it!"

"With your small frame, don't try to be strong."

As Qi Yuan spoke, he grabbed the cart and started pushing it for her.

Ning Qianyu stood there stunned for a moment.

Normally, she would know she should say thank you in this situation. But according to her long-standing habit, she would definitely refute comments like "with your small frame." These two conflicting thoughts caused her to freeze.

She followed silently behind her companions, and suddenly looked up to find that everyone had stopped.

Ms. Su Wan's car was parked on the side of the road.

The trunk is already open.

When Qi Yuan moved the drum kit into the trunk, Ning Qianyu wanted to help, but couldn't lend a hand.

So all she could do was mutter softly, "Thank you."

Qi Yuan didn't hear clearly: "What did you say?"

I said, "Thank you!"

"Oh, it's nothing, we're all brothers."

Ning Qianyu: "..."

Everyone got into Ms. Su Wan's car. Just like last time, Qi Yuan sat in the passenger seat, while the three girls sat in the back.

As soon as Su Wan stepped on the gas, she said with a smile, "Congratulations, Spring Shadow Band."

Qiu Mengxue couldn't help but ask, "You know we passed the preliminary rounds?"

Su Wan: "Don't forget, I helped you register, so the show is treating me like your manager, and all the information has been sent to my phone. By the way, if you pass the audition, you'll get a 10,000 yuan bonus, and now they want my bank account number."

The three girls in the back row looked at each other, and saw the same surprise.

Qiu Mengxue asked again, "There's a bonus? How come we didn't know about it?"

Su Wan smiled and said, "I know, they told me when they registered, but I didn't tell you. Because I wanted you to keep your minds pure and not think too much when you went through the preliminary rounds. Now that the preliminary rounds are over, you can discuss how to distribute the prize money."

The three girls huddled together and began to whisper.

Su Wan glanced at the rearview mirror and quickly said, "You three shouldn't exclude Qi Yuan."

However, at this moment, Qiu Mengxue, who was sitting in the middle, suddenly raised her head and said seriously, "We all agree that the bulk of the bonus should be given to Qi Yuan, because his contribution was the greatest, and his family..."

Qi Yuan casually replied, "I'm not in that much trouble. My dad left me a lot of living expenses."

Ning Qianyu shook her head: "But no matter what, you deserve the most credit. You wrote Blue Lotus. So, we've decided to give you half of it, and the three of us will split the remaining five thousand."

Jiang Yi added, "Mengxue's arrangement is also very important, so she was given three thousand."

Qiu Mengxue was taken aback: "When did you two discuss this?"

Ning Qianyu laughed and said, "This is the tacit understanding between Yi Yi and me. Okay, neither Yi Yi nor I are short of money, so let's each have a thousand, it's settled then."

"That's great, the atmosphere in your team is really good," Su Wan smiled and turned the steering wheel, making a turn. "Then there's another problem. The day after tomorrow, you're flying to the capital. The production team will reimburse you for the airfare, so it's not a problem. But the problem is, will your parents agree?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the car fell silent.

Qiu Mengxue analyzed, "Qi Yuan and I have no problem. Qianyu's family is relatively free, so there shouldn't be any major problems there either. But Yi Yi..."

Jiang Yi's shoulders slumped: "I haven't told my parents yet. I don't know if they'll agree."

After a moment of silence, Qi Yuan suddenly suggested, "Why don't we just go to Yi Yi's house later? With Teacher Su vouching for her, Yi Yi's parents should agree."

"That's a great idea!" Ning Qianyu asked quickly. "Teacher Su, will you come to the capital with us?"

Teacher Su Wan said, "Of course, I'll be your agent for once. Okay, let's go to Yi Yi's house now. Yi Yi, what time do your parents get off work?"

Jiang Yi said, "They get off work at six, and it's only a little past five now. It'll take them some time to get home..."

Qiu Mengxue laughed and said, "Then let's go have a big meal first!"

Ning Qianyu slapped her thigh: "Hot pot, spicy hot pot!"

Qiu Mengxue: "Qi Yuan can't eat anything too spicy."

Qi Yuan turned his head: "No, I should be able to..."

Qiu Mengxue firmly stated, "You are our lead singer, so you need to protect your voice and avoid eating too much spicy food."

"alright."

Looking directly into the girl's eyes, Qi Yuan felt there was no need to persist on this issue, so he turned his head away.

Ning Qianyu then suggested, "How about a seafood buffet!"

Qiu Mengxue: "...You knew my mom was going to treat us, right?"

Su Wan smiled and said, "The seafood buffet looks good. I'd like to try it too. Let's go."

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 seafood buffet recommended by Ning Qianyu still offers hot pot. However, it's served in a small pot in front of each person.

Qi Yuan's broth was naturally clear. He glanced at the red broth in front of Ning Qianyu and sighed silently.

Does this mean we can't eat spicy food anymore for the sake of music?

Qiu Mengxue brought over a plate of prawns and placed it in front of him. Then, in a gentle but firm tone, she said, "Mr. Lead singer, for the sake of your voice, you should stay away from tobacco, alcohol, and highly stimulating foods in the future."

Qi Yuan: "I've never been interested in cigarettes or alcohol. By the way, are you and Teacher Su going to Yi Yi's house later?"

The three girls nodded.

Qi Yuan added, "I'll wait for you in the car. And don't tell anyone I'm in the band."

Qiu Mengxue was taken aback: "Why?"

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "Because I've long been a negative example in the class. Even if my grades suddenly improve, it would probably be an additional risk for Yi Yi's parents. So, in order to get them to let Yi Yi go on her long trip smoothly, it's best not to mention me."

Qiu Mengxue nodded slowly.