A band, or a battleground?

The next moment, the block tower collapsed with a "crash".

Ning Qianyu, who had just been excited, froze instantly, then murmured softly, "This can't be considered, can it?"

Qi Yuan laughed and said, "Of course it counts. You knocked it down, so you lost. Accept your punishment, young lady."

The smile didn't disappear; it simply moved to Jiang Yi's face.

She picked up a card filled with questions, handed it to Ning Qianyu, and said with a smile, "Close your eyes and point to one."

Ning Qianyu covered her face and sighed, "Fate is so cruel..."

Jiang Yi: "You're the one who's messing with yourself. Okay, hurry up and choose."

Ning Qianyu closed her eyes and pointed her finger at the cardstock.

Qiu Mengxue peeked over and read the question aloud: "What's the most embarrassing situation you've ever experienced involving the opposite sex?"

Ning Qianyu breathed a sigh of relief and immediately replied, "When I was in fifth grade, I ran into my neighbor's uncle on my way home from school one day. He worked in another city and rarely came home, but he recognized me and greeted me as soon as he saw me..."

"What did he say?" Jiang Yi asked nervously. The neighbor's uncle and a primary school girl... something didn't sound quite right.

Qiu Mengxue: "Then Uncle isn't a lolicon, is he?"

"No!" Ning Qianyu clenched her fist. "He said, 'Isn't this the Ning family's girl? She's so tall now...'"

Qi Yuan: "High?"

Ning Qianyu's lips twitched, and she finished her uncle's sentence: "...Shouldn't you be going to school by now?"

Qiu Mengxue: "When you were in fifth grade? Pfft!"

Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief, but was still a little dissatisfied: "Hey, that's not what we wanted to hear!"

Ning Qianyu spread her hands: "Wasn't that uncle a man? Wasn't that awkward enough? I told him I was in fifth grade, and he laughed a few times and then ran away, as if he was afraid I would hold a grudge."

Qi Yuan: "But you've already held a grudge."

Ning Qianyu smiled and gritted her teeth: "I'll remember this for a long time."

Qiu Mengxue complained, "Haven't you ever experienced other awkward situations with the opposite sex, like... haven't any guys confessed their feelings to you?"

Ning Qianyu said very frankly, "A few times, but I refused each time, so there's nothing embarrassing about it."

Jiang Yi asked with a hint of curiosity, "How did you refuse?"

Ning Qianyu: "That's a different issue. Okay, okay, let's continue!"

As they were talking, Qi Yuan had already started rebuilding the block tower.

Ning Qianyu also helped with the setup.

Qiu Mengxue nudged Jiang Yi's arm and whispered, "Are you still nervous?"

Jiang Yi shook her head: "It seems like I've forgotten about being nervous. Thank you, Mengxue."

Qiu Mengxue smiled and said, "No need to thank me, I was just trying to calm myself down."

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.

Although she wasn't nervous while playing the game, Jiang Yi couldn't help but feel a little nervous when the finals actually started and the host, He Dong, was giving his opening remarks outside.

She was sitting in the dressing room, looking at the girl in the mirror, at the pink stars on her cheeks, and at a wisp of pink hair by her ear.

Almost a week later, the pimple had actually subsided. But she still chose to dress like that, for no other reason than that someone had said it looked good and cute.

The first band to take the stage was Reverse Gear.

The stadium's sound system was incredibly powerful; even sitting in the dressing room, Jiang Yi could hear it clearly. In the past, hearing those powerful drumbeats and melodies would have made her think how impressive they were.

But now, because of Qi Yuan, she feels this band is somewhat mediocre. Presumably, most viewers of "The Coming One" feel the same way…

Suddenly, the door to the dressing room was pushed open, and a young man with a cold face but calm eyes walked into the girl's reflection in the mirror.

Of course, it was Qi Yuan who came.

He asked, "Haven't you finished the checkup yet? Do you think you need to touch up your makeup?"

Jiang Yi pointed to the pimple patch on her cheek: "I don't need it, I think it's fine. I just put this on."

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "You don't have any pimples anymore, why do you still need to put on the patch?"

"Because it looks better this way..."

There was actually a second half to the sentence, "You said it yourself," but the girl couldn't bring herself to say it. She hesitated for a few seconds, her eyes darting around, before bringing up another topic.

"Actually, I'm still a little nervous."

Qi Yuan paused for a moment, then asked, "How about we go play that game again?"

Jiang Yi shook her head: "There's a performance outside, and it's so noisy right now, the building blocks are too easy to collapse."

Qi Yuan: "Then why don't you try mobile games?"

Jiang Yi shook her head again: "I don't think that's very useful."

Qi Yuan was at a loss: "Then what should we do?"

Jiang Yi stared at him, hesitated, took several deep breaths, and finally spoke out the thought that had just popped into her head: "Can you hold out your hand?"

Qi Yuan, puzzled, extended his right hand: "Like this?"

Jiang Yi took another deep breath, and extended her right hand to grasp his.

Qi Yuan: "?"

Jiang Yi whispered, "Please share some of your energy with me, please!"

Qi Yuan: "...Uh, is there anything I need to do?"

"No need, no need, this is fine!"

And so, under the pretext of easing tension, the girl held his hand for a full half minute.

Then Jiang Yi blushed and let go of his hand, smiling sweetly: "Thank you, I feel much better."

Qi Yuan wanted to ask, "Is this considered taking advantage of someone?" Girl, are you getting bolder and bolder?

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.

How can you make good music with 130 insects like these?

After the Reverse Gear band's performance, Ning's father's comment was only two words: "So noisy."

Ning's mother wasn't too fond of it either, but she still tried to make amends: "It's normal that we don't like what young people like, but look, the audience is quite supportive."

Next up was the Paper Wind Chimes band. This was an all-female band, and while their skill level was slightly lower than Reverse Gear, they won out with their good looks and the hype. Their performance received even more enthusiastic applause.

Even Ning's father was clapping, but his wife grabbed his ear halfway through.

As Ning's mother twisted the cloth, she said, "You can appreciate this? Do you appreciate music?"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Ning's father said quickly, "The children are watching, please don't!"

Ning's mother sneered, "Pain my ass! I didn't even use any force!"

However, she still let go. Not only was her youngest daughter watching, but even the two young women in the front row were secretly turning around to look.

However, the two of them quickly turned back and began to whisper among themselves.

Zhang Yanyan: "I never expected Qianyu's family to be so...down-to-earth."

Lin Yan: "I think it's perfectly normal. Two months ago, both Qianyu and Mengxue were just ordinary high school students. Isn't that how it is for ordinary families?"

Zhang Yanyan: "However, that little girl really does look a bit like Qianyu."

Lin Yan couldn't help but look back again, and then said, "And it's a miniature version of Qian Yu."

Zhang Yanyan lowered her voice even further: "Qianyu is already small enough, why is she shrinking further..."

Lin Yan: "So it looks like they're elementary school students."

Zhang Yanyan's gaze returned to the stage, and she said excitedly, "The Katz band is on stage! To be honest, besides Haruhi Kage, they are my favorite band, especially the lead singer and bassist, Nika. I think she has a particularly unrestrained feeling."

Lin Yan's facial muscles twitched: "Promiscuous..."

Zhang Yanyan quickly corrected herself: "Free and unrestrained, freedom! I used the wrong word."

The stage lights dimmed. A few seconds later, a spotlight came on, shining on the center of the stage. The three members of the Katz band appeared on the big screen.

The countdown ended, and the intro began.

This is a typical upbeat rock track, starting with dense guitar strumming, followed by drum beats.

Zhang Yanyan nodded along with the intro, but less than half a minute later, she stopped and frowned, saying, "Don't you think something sounds off about them?"

Lin Yan didn't answer immediately, but her brows furrowed: "The rhythm is off."

Zhang Yanyan asked, "Was it deliberately altered?"

Lin Yan: "It shouldn't be an adaptation, right? Who would deliberately change it into something messy..."

The situation on stage is still deteriorating.

Before the first chorus, the guitarist does a few seconds of fancy footwork. But the drummer, for some reason, pauses for a moment and misses the accent.

Lead singer Nika's timing for entering the song was also affected. She opened her mouth a beat too late, resulting in a complete mismatch between her vocals and the instrumental accompaniment.

The stadium's massive line array speakers amplified these mistakes.

Each of the three instruments played its own part, while the vocals remained detached from the accompaniment. Audiences who understood music could hear the broken rhythm, while those who didn't simply find it jarring.

Ning's father put down his folding fan, leaned back, and muttered, "What is this singing? It's all nonsense, and it's not even as good as the girls' singing just now."

This time, Ning's mother didn't pull his ear, but just shook her head slightly.

As for Ning Xiaoyu, Ning Qianyu's younger sister, she muttered, "The car accident was so terrible, won't it cause the band behind us to get into a car accident too?"

Ning's mother immediately grabbed the little girl's ear: "You just pick the unlucky ones to say, don't you?"

Ning Xiaoyu: "Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

Ning's mother: "Pain my ass! I didn't even use any force!"

Zhang Yan Yan sighed and leaned back in her chair. Looking at the once free-spirited band on stage, only disappointment remained in her eyes.

The time it takes to listen to a song is spent in agony.

As the last note faded, sparse applause erupted. There were no cheers, only a large swath of silence and whispered discussions among the audience.

The guitarist, expressionless, bowed to the audience, unplugged the guitar's audio cable, and turned to walk off the stage.

He didn't wait for his teammates, or even glance at them.

Nika stood in front of the microphone, watching the guitarist's retreating figure, her face ashen. She gritted her teeth, hastily bowed to the audience, ripped off the bass string, and quickly followed. The drummer, head bowed, followed closely behind Nika.

The aisle behind the stage was dark and there were no cameras.

Nika caught up with the guitarist at the corner.

“Stop right there!” Nika shouted.

The guitarist stopped and turned around.

Nika strode up to him and demanded, "What were you doing on stage just now? Why were you causing trouble?"

The guitarist looked at her and sneered, "Me, causing trouble? Which ear of yours heard me causing trouble?"

Nika: "You rushed the beat in the intro and cut into the chorus too early, ruining the rhythm of the whole song!"

The guitarist scoffed, "It's because you two can't keep up with my pace. What speed were we at before, and what speed are you two at today? If you're stage-frightened, just say so."

The drummer ran up from behind, panting, and said, "You're playing too fast! How am I supposed to keep up with you?"

"This is a fast-paced punk song, and you still managed to miss the accent! And you, Nika, your bass played several wrong notes right from the start, do you think I didn't notice? It's not a particularly difficult song, yet you made so many basic mistakes, and you're blaming me for not covering for you?"

Nika was trembling with anger: "The guitar and drums are not on the same wavelength, how am I supposed to play? We're a band. Are you just thinking about showing off on stage, not caring whether your teammates can keep up?"

"It was your technique that dragged us down and ruined the show," the guitarist said coldly.

The passageway fell into dead silence.

None of the three spoke again.

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the other side of the passage.

The three members of the Katz band instinctively looked up and followed the sound.