A band, or a battleground?

Qiu Mengxue cleared her throat and said, "No one likes to be misunderstood, and of course we are too."

Jiang Yi: "Mengxue is right."

Ning Qianyu: "But everyone will be misunderstood."

Qi Yuan added, "Being misunderstood is the fate of those who express themselves. We don't want it to be this way, but many times we can only bear it."

Jiang Yi: "Qi Yuan is right."

Xu Xi smiled and continued, "So what are you trying to express? Since you are all high school students, still very young, and haven't left school yet, does your school life make you want to express anything?"

Qi Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Society and school are not separate; school is also a part of society. You can see a lot of the strengths and weaknesses, the good and the evil in human nature in school. Even a drop of rain can reflect the brilliance of the world."

Xu Xi's eyes widened, and she clapped her hands: "Wow... your conversation is really beyond your age."

Jiang Yi: "Yes, he is very mature."

Xu Xi then asked, "Does Qi Yuan read a wide range of books?"

Qiu Mengxue: "You can tell from the lyrics of the songs he writes. His experience and his thinking are definitely more extensive than the rest of us."

Jiang Yi: "Yes."

Xu Xi couldn't hold back any longer. She looked at Jiang Yi and said, "I hope you will participate more deeply in the interview, not just say 'yes'."

Jiang Yi smiled and said, "But that's how I usually am. I just keep up with their pace. Being the straight man is fun too."

Xu Xi sighed and could only look at Qi Yuan, continuing to ask, "But I'm still very curious, would simply reading and thinking give you enough experience to write a song like Blue Lotus? Do any of the songs you've written reflect your real experiences?"

Now, not only the girls, but even Qi Yuan couldn't help but tense up.

The real topic is finally about to be revealed!

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.

100 behind the blue lotus

Xu Xi was quite certain that the boy in front of him should understand his unspoken meaning and should know that the conversation was about his background.

After all, Tianhua Entertainment had already communicated with her about the true purpose of this interview.

Although Xu Xi prides herself on being genuine, she's been paid to do what's asked, so why shouldn't she follow the rules? In any case, she doesn't need to go against her principles; she just needs to pay attention to the agenda.

However, Qi Yuan was more composed than she had imagined.

He clearly made eye contact with Xu Xi, and in that brief moment, he caught the unspoken message in her gaze, yet he said:

“My sources of inspiration are actually quite diverse. For example, the song ‘A Thousand Years Later’ was written after reading a novel by Qian Yu.”

Hearing this, Xu Xi was slightly taken aback and couldn't help but look at the short-haired girl: "You can write novels?"

Ning Qianyu quickly waved her hand: "It's just a short story."

Xu Xi laughed, "If we weren't in an interview right now, I'd definitely read that novel. And those flowers? This song doesn't sound like it's for your age..."

Upon hearing the song title "Those Flowers," Jiang Yi could no longer comfortably play the straight man.

She quickly said, "This song is for our competition!"

Ning Qianyu: "Yes..."

Xu Xi: "Really?"

Qi Yuan: "??"

Jiang Yi explained earnestly, "It was Mengxue who suggested joining Tomorrow's Band, and Qi Yuan agreed, but Qianyu and I didn't want to participate. We were worried that it would affect our studies, and we were even more worried that it would be embarrassing to go on stage and not even pass the audition. So Qi Yuan wrote this song."

Xu Xi listened intently: "You convinced you to come with this song?"

Jiang Yi pursed her lips, her voice lowering slightly: "It mainly convinced me. It was during music class, and Qi Yuan sang this song in front of the whole class. It wasn't just that it sounded good, but it also made me think about whether I would regret it if we drifted apart years later, because I missed out on all the things we could have tried together..."

Xu Xi suddenly realized, "So that's how it is! There's such a touching story behind this song! Qi Yuan, you really put a lot of thought into it."

Qi Yuan: "...Hmm, hehe."

He wanted to say that he didn't have that much deeper meaning at the time. Given the difficulty of singing this song a cappella without accompaniment, it was the first song that came to mind.

But it was just a thought. Looking at those pairs of eyes looking at her, Jiang Yi was moved, Qiu Mengxue was shocked and moved, and even Ning Qianyu's gaze softened for the first time... The reason of 'because this song is easy to sing' was something she could never say.

Next, Xu Xi even found the lyrics to "Those Flowers" and analyzed them with Jiang Yi, discussing the meaning of each line. The girl's delicate thoughts left the author beside her speechless.

There's nothing I can do; she's really overthinking things.

After discussing "Those Flowers," Xu Xi finally found the most crucial song, "Blue Lotus."

"Nothing can stop your yearning for freedom..." Xu Xi glanced down at the lyrics, then looked up at the author. "What story is behind this song? Many fans say that the open-mindedness contained in this song doesn't seem like the work of a high school student."

Ning Qianyu said, "He brought out this song when we first met. As soon as Mengxue heard the song, she insisted that he join the band."

Qiu Mengxue countered, "Don't you think this song is better than any of the songs we've sung before? I mean before Qi Yuan joined."

Ning Qianyu nodded: "Of course I think so too. Compared to this song, all our previous songs were like playing house, so we all agreed to let Qi Yuan join."

Xu Xi's gaze swept over the three girls with a smile, then landed on Qi Yuan's face, and she asked softly, "Is this song also related to your teammates?"

Qi Yuan shook his head: "No, it only concerns me."

He felt that the time was ripe to bring up that topic.

Xu Xi smiled, her eyes growing brighter: "Can we talk?"

The three girls were also very curious. They had rehearsed and performed "Blue Lotus" many times, but had never asked about the story behind the song.

This story really requires a bit of creativity. After all, he couldn't just say that he had just arrived in another world, which better reflected his state of mind at the time, and that's why he suddenly came up with this song on a whim, could he?

Qi Yuan slowly began, “My upbringing was rather unusual. When I was very young, probably before I could even understand things, my mother left the family. Of course, this isn’t surprising, because my father had a terrible job.”

Xu Xi: "Why is it bad?"

Qi Yuan: "My dad works in debt collection. When someone owes money and doesn't pay it back, his company buys the debt and then uses some rather outrageous methods to collect the debt."

Xu Xi: "Bombard the debtor's phone contacts?"

Qi Yuan shook his head slightly: "Those are basic methods. What my dad did was something like throwing paint on people's doors or blocking their doors to threaten them. He told me about it occasionally when he was drunk; it was all about violence and intimidation."

Xu Xi frowned naturally: "Isn't that very risky legally?"

Qi Yuan sighed, "They were just skirting the edge of the law, and the more they skirted it, the more serious the problems became. Later, their entire company was shut down, and my dad went to jail for seven years."

Xu Xi: "When was that?"

Qi Yuan: "Just this year, a few months ago, he went to prison. I was still in high school."

At this point in the conversation, Xu Xi's tone became somewhat reluctant, and she asked in a low voice, "Would you hate it?"

Qi Yuan: "Whom do you hate?"

Xu Xi: "I hate your father, your mother, that company, or the police..."

Qi Yuan shook his head: "No, I don't hate them at all. The police did a good job, why should I hate them? That company was breaking the law. If we're talking about who to hate, that company is indeed worthy of hatred, but I've never met any of their people, except for my dad. It's hard to hate a group of people you've never met."

Xu Xi: "Your dad never takes you to the company?"

Qi Yuan: "He never took me with him because he wanted me to study hard. He felt that he was fine in the mud and didn't want me to get involved in that line of work. Even when I said I didn't want to go to school, he still forced me to go to high school so that I could find an office job in the future. So I can't hate my dad."

Xu Xi's gaze suddenly turned to the three girls: "Do you know about these things?"

The girls nodded slowly, but their expressions were troubled.

Qiu Mengxue: "All we know is that his family situation is rather unusual, and neither of his parents are alive..."

Jiang Yi: "We know that his mother passed away a long time ago and his father is in prison, but we have never asked him in such detail before."

Ning Qianyu couldn't help but sigh: "Now that we know it's a sad story, we can't just reopen old wounds."

Xu Xi then looked at Qi Yuan and asked, "So how did you feel at the time? Since you didn't hate anyone, what were your feelings?"

Qi Yuan remained silent for a long while, then said in a low voice, "At first, I was confused."

Xu Xi: "Confused?"

Qi Yuan: "Before my dad went to jail, I just drifted through school and didn't know what I wanted to do in the future..."

A smile suddenly flashed in Xu Xi's eyes: "But after that, you started composing music and also started studying hard at school, right? Can you talk about how this change happened?"

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.

101 exists

"...Could you talk about how this change happened?"

Xu Xi's question was asked very naturally, but it really put Qi Yuan in a difficult position.

Speaking of academics alone, going from being at the bottom of the class to achieving top 100 grades must have required a lot of hard work, right? If he directly says that he didn't study much and still managed to get the grades, then the emotional build-up for this interview will be completely undermined.

Songwriting is also a tricky business, so what can we do?

Fortunately, Qi Yuan had already thought about this problem, and that was to answer it with music, and not with "Blue Lotus," but by simply releasing a new piece of music.

Before the interview began, he hadn't quite decided which song to use. But now, after this conversation, and truly putting himself in the shoes of that isolated and helpless boy, a song came to mind.

A song that was on my playlist in my past life, but I missed it every time I tried to retrieve my memories after transmigrating.

So Qi Yuan picked up a pen and a notebook: "I don't know how to say it, can I express it with music?"

Xu Xi: "Which of your songs should we use?"

Qi Yuan didn't answer, but simply lowered his head, opened his notebook, and began to write.

Xu Xi was about to ask more questions when she noticed the three girls' interesting reactions.

Qiu Mengxue pressed her hands down, indicating that she should not ask questions.

Jiang Yi even put her index finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture to herself.

Ning Qianyu just stared at Qi Yuan, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Then Xu Xi suddenly realized that Qi Yuan was actually writing a new song on the spot!

They sat there silently, watching the boy write a few words, look up at the ceiling, mutter to himself for a while, then look down and add a few more strokes...

About ten minutes later, Qi Yuan suddenly asked, "I might need a little more time, is that alright?"

Xu Xi quickly replied, "It's alright, it's alright, I can wait."

Qi Yuan glanced at the camera lens: "But didn't you say you were going to release the original interview transcript, without any cuts?"

Xu Xi laughed and said, "We really do want to leave it uncut, but we can fast-forward! Even if it takes you an hour to write a song, fast-forwarding sixty times is only a minute. But then again, how long does it usually take to write a song?"

Qi Yuan left with a "hard to say" and lowered his head to continue pondering.

Qiu Mengxue explained for him, "There's no fixed timeframe for songwriting. Some people can finish a song in a short while, while others take several days or even weeks, which is all normal. Qi Yuan, on the other hand, usually writes very quickly. If he has inspiration, he can often finish in just a few minutes or ten minutes."

Jiang Yi added, "Actually, we've never seen anyone else write songs. We don't write them ourselves. Only Mengxue's mother can write them. Before Qi Yuan joined, the songs we sang were written by her mother."

Qiu Mengxue: "Those songs are really no good, they're far inferior to Qi Yuan's."

Ning Qianyu teased, "Your mom really doesn't hit you, huh? Look how spoiled you are..."

Xu Xi suddenly reminded him, "Is it alright for us to talk like this? Qi Yuan is still creating."

"It's okay, you can talk, it won't bother me."

As Qi Yuan said this, he stood up, walked to the window and looked at the scenery outside, still holding his notebook and pen in his hand.

He even hummed softly, but he was too far away for them to hear clearly.

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 a full twenty minutes, Qi Yuan finally finished writing.

As soon as he sat down on the sofa, Xu Xi and the girls stopped their conversation and all looked at him.

Should I sing it directly?

The girls nodded eagerly, and Xu Xi's face was full of anticipation: "Not only do we want to hear it, but when this interview airs, the audience will definitely be very excited to see this. By the way, can I see the lyrics you just wrote?"

So Qi Yuan turned to that page in the notebook and handed it to her.

Xu Xi glanced at it, and her expression froze. The handwriting on the paper was somewhat messy, containing words and numbers from sheet music. Of course, Xu Xi wasn't a musician, so she didn't react much to the numbers, but the words...

Before she could even think about it, Qi Yuan's voice forced her to look up.

"You asked me before what I was thinking when my dad went to prison, and why my life changed so much. The reason is actually very simple: I seriously thought about a question: existence. What is the purpose of our existence?"