A band, or a battleground?

Su Wan smiled and said, "Of course."

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 evening breeze blew through the glass curtain walls between the office buildings, carrying the lingering warmth of the day.

Lin Yan walked towards the small square.

Even she herself found it somewhat unbelievable; this was already the third consecutive day.

What's so special about a corporate slave who usually spends all his free time lying in bed scrolling through his phone and feels exhausted even taking a single extra step? He actually took a long detour after get off work for three consecutive days to go to the small square next to the mall to watch a street performance by a few high school students on a whim.

When she arrived, she saw the four young men in the band already preparing. Looking around, the audience was still mostly middle-aged men carrying plastic bags of vegetables, middle school students sucking on milk tea straws, familiar faces, and new audience members she had never seen before.

However, among the sparse audience, one person caught Lin Yan's attention.

She was a woman who appeared to be over thirty, dressed in a well-tailored silk blouse and dark trousers, her hair pulled back with a plain wooden hairpin. She stood at the edge of the crowd, relaxed yet exuding an indescribable elegance and composure. At that moment, she held her phone steadily in both hands, the camera pointed at four high school students in the center of the field.

Upon seeing this, Lin Yan slapped her forehead.

Yes, it's a recording!

Two days ago, she was completely immersed in that atmosphere, and left right after listening, without even taking a single photo. In this era where everything is posted on social media and even eating a meal requires turning on the phone screen first, she actually forgot to record this rare surprise.

Lin Yan quickly looked for her phone in her bag, but before she could unlock it, the sound of a guitar strumming began.

It's still that song, "Blue Lotus".

As soon as the intro started, Lin Yan couldn't help but look up.

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

Even though she had heard it once yesterday, hearing it again today still made Lin Yan feel as if something heavy had gently struck her heart.

The boy didn't look at the audience; his gaze was fixed on the bustling street outside the square. The three girls providing accompaniment seemed more composed today than yesterday; their drumbeats were steady, and the bass harmonies were very well-matched.

In the final climax, the boy's voice surged forward, intertwining with the long-haired girl's ethereal vocals, "Blooming eternally, the blue lotus—"

As the song ended, the guitar music gradually faded away.

Just when the longtime audience thought that, like yesterday, the long-haired girl would take over and sing other songs, the boy did not leave the microphone.

He leaned closer, held onto the microphone stand, and whispered something.

"Next, I'll sing a new song. The song is called 'Those Flowers'."

The long-haired girl glanced at him, her fingers plucking the strings. This time, there were no complex chords, only single notes of arpeggios, like water droplets falling on a calm lake, rippling outwards in concentric circles.

The short-haired girl didn't strike the drumhead; she simply used the drumsticks to gently tap out a soothing rhythm on the edge.

The intro is very short, and then the male voice quickly joins in.

This time, he lowered his voice even further, as if talking to himself:

"That laughter reminded me of my flowers. Quietly blooming for me in every corner of my life..."

The melody is as simple as a nursery rhyme, but the lyrics are like barbed hooks that go straight into the softest, most untouched part of one's heart.

"I once thought I would stay by her side forever. Today we are gone, lost in the vast sea of ​​people..."

Lin Yan stood frozen in place. The scene from their college graduation day uncontrollably flashed through her mind. The four girls from their dorm, weeping in each other's arms at the train station entrance, vowed to get together every year, and that the others would be bridesmaids if one of them got married. The first year, they did get together. The second year, some worked overtime, some fell in love, and the reunion was postponed. Now, the last message in their group chat was a news link someone had posted six months ago, and no one had even replied.

Everyone got separated in the crowd, without even having a proper goodbye.

"They must be old now, where are they now? Luckily, I was there when they were celebrating their birthdays..."

Lin Yan noticed that the girl holding the bass had red eyes for some reason, and she was biting her lip tightly while playing, as if she was trying to control some emotion. Even her strumming movements became cautious.

"They must be getting old. Are they still driving? We've all gone our separate ways."

As the last line of the song faded into the night breeze with the guitar's final note, Lin Yan remained lost in thought. Her mind was filled with faces she once knew but now rarely even liked on social media. Those naive days of her university years seemed to have been unearthed and revisited in those few minutes of music, only to be helplessly locked away again.

After what seemed like an eternity, applause erupted from the crowd. More people joined in, and the applause grew even louder. Even the middle-aged man carrying the groceries clapped his hands vigorously, the plastic bag tucked under his arm.

Lin Yan subconsciously wanted to raise her hand to clap along, only to realize that she was still holding her phone.

Oh right, it's a cell phone!

But her phone screen didn't light up at all, let alone take any photos or videos.

"Oh dear..." Lin Yan couldn't help but let out a soft sigh of annoyance.

Such a beautiful and touching new song, and I didn't record any of it!

She suddenly remembered the elegant woman next to her.

Lin Yan turned her head and looked to her right. The woman in her thirties was still standing there, her phone still steadily held up, seemingly recording the entire two songs she had just heard.

Lin Yan was secretly delighted. Everyone had been drawn to the audience by these high school students, and sharing videos with like-minded people shouldn't be considered offensive.

She took a small step forward, leaned closer, and lowered her voice to say, "Hello..."

The woman turned her head slightly upon hearing the sound.

Lin Yan was about to say, "Could you please add me on WeChat and send me a copy of the video from earlier?" before she could finish speaking, she saw the other person raise their free left hand to their lips, extend an index finger, and gently place it on their lips.

The other person made a shushing gesture.

Lin Yan opened her mouth, but swallowed back the words that were about to come out.

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.

013 A girl's blush speaks louder than any words.

The dinner after today's performance was more lavish than usual.

Because Ms. Su Wan was treating us.

In a Chaoshan beef hot pot restaurant in the mall, five people sat around a round table. On the table was a pot of beef bone broth that was simmering gently, and there were several plates of beef, such as brisket and five-flower shank, next to it.

With chopsticks in one hand and a strainer in the other, Su Wan quickly cooked a portion of beef in just over ten seconds, then let the four children pick up the meat. From her movements to her control of the cooking time, it was clear that she was quite familiar with this kind of clear broth beef hot pot.

Moreover, Su Wan made all four children's dipping sauce dishes.

Qi Yuan took a bite and exclaimed, "It smells so good! Teacher Su's cooking must be delicious too!"

Su Wan smiled and said, "The main thing is that the beef here is fresh and of good quality; the seasonings are secondary."

Jiang Yi also said, "It's so delicious!"

Only Ning Qianyu complained: "It's delicious, but I feel like it's a bit... how should I put it, it's not spicy at all."

Su Wan: "You like spicy food?"

Ning Qianyu nodded: "I always felt that hot pot should be spicy, with a red oil broth."

Su Wan reminded, "But musicians should be careful when eating spicy food."

Ning Qianyu said nonchalantly, "It's okay, I'll play the drums, and Qi Yuan and Meng Xue will take care of the singing."

Qi Yuan asked, "Besides playing the drums, if a microphone were handed to you, wouldn't you want to say a few words?"

Ning Qianyu answered without hesitation, "I can't hit the high notes. If you're going to be the lead singer, your vocal range is already narrow enough, and mine is even narrower than yours."

Qi Yuan: "That's very narrow..."

Su Wan looked at the children chatting and laughing, her face full of satisfaction.

Seeing her mother's kind expression, Qiu Mengxue finally mustered up her courage and asked, "Mom, what do you think of our performance today?"

After a moment's thought, Su Wan said, "Let's not talk about the last three songs. The lyrics and music of the first two songs are still great, really great, better than all the songs on the current new song chart combined. But the singing lacks a bit of skill, and the arrangement and instrumentation are also far from good."

Qiu Mengxue's face stiffened: "Huh?"

Jiang Yi quickly explained, "Teacher Su, we haven't rehearsed much, and we haven't had time to adjust the arrangement. Mengxue did it all during class."

Su Wan looked at her daughter: "Oh, so you're doing this during class?"

"That's a self-study period!"

As Qiu Mengxue said this, she subconsciously tightened her grip on the chopsticks, and the two chopsticks in her hand made a "snap" sound.

Su Wan smiled and said, "I know you're studying hard, and you've only had a short time to compose the music, and you've hardly rehearsed. But if you're going to participate in that band audition, the judges won't care about these objective conditions."

Qiu Mengxue snorted and said, "When the auditions start, our final exams will be over. Before that, we can rehearse these two songs many times, and I can also readjust the arrangements."

At this moment, Qi Yuan suddenly asked, "Teacher Su, could you come and give us some guidance during our rehearsals in the future?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Mengxue nearly jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "We're in a band, why would we need a mentor? And what's the point of calling my mom?"

Su Wan remained calm and smiled: "You see, I'd be very willing, but the band doesn't agree."

Qi Yuan then looked at the flustered girl and explained, "Most of the time, of course, we don't need to bother Teacher Su. But after we've determined a new direction in our rehearsals, we can ask Teacher Su to take a look. As the saying goes, those involved are often blinded by their own involvement. We certainly can't judge our own performance, and with so few audience members, it's difficult to survey reactions and evaluations. Wouldn't it be a good thing for us to have Teacher Su's perspective, which is close to that of a professional judge?"

Ning Qianyu clapped her hands: "That makes sense!"

Qiu Mengxue pursed her lips, unsure how to refute him. Perhaps it was because Qi Yuan's words made such a good point that she couldn't find a way to argue with them.

Su Wan nodded and said, "Just like today, I'll record you every time I come. It'll be a way to capture the moment of your band's achievement... By the way, after all this talk, I still don't know your band's name."

Before he finished speaking, all the children's eyes were on one person.

Ning Qianyu's cheeks gradually turned red.

A young girl's blush speaks louder than any words.

Su Wan tentatively asked, "What did you name the band?"

Ning Qianyu shook her head vigorously: "No, the band name hasn't been decided yet!"

Su Wan was somewhat surprised: "You've been in a band together for so long, and you haven't even come up with a band name yet?"

Qiu Mengxue suppressed her laughter with a cough, and after coughing, she said, "Because we recently have new members, and a new lead singer and a new songwriter, we were thinking of reconsidering the band name with Qi Yuan."

“You said yourself that you’re reconsidering,” Su Wan seemed to have noticed something amiss and kept pressing on this point, “but before you reconsider, shouldn’t you at least have an old band name?”

Ning Qianyu quickly grabbed a plate of beef, poured it into a strainer, and said, "Teacher Su, let's eat some more, let's cook some more beef."

Su Wan's hands kept moving, but her mouth didn't stop either: "Eating is fine, but we can't delay such an important issue. For example, when you signed up for the show, you can't just pick any band name, right? This is related to the audience's first impression of you, and it's also related to your band's positioning. It can't be too vulgar, nor can it be too inexplicable. It has to be related to your playing style."

The three girls nodded in unison upon hearing this, but none of them dared to mention the band name Ning Qianyu had come up with last year.

Qi Yuan, on the other hand, looked relaxed and at ease, not nervous at all—after all, that cringeworthy name had nothing to do with him.

He began by saying, "So, now the problem is back. When I asked about the band name yesterday, we still hadn't decided on one."

Ning Qianyu was afraid that the old name would be brought up again, so she quickly stared at him and asked, "Then what kind of band name do you like?"

Qiu Mengxue decisively said, "I suggest that we each say a name, and then each person votes, and we'll decide tonight."

Qi Yuan: "Agreed."

Jiang Yi: "I agree. I've already thought of several names when I had some free time today."

Seeing that Ning Qianyu was still hesitating, Qiu Mengxue said to her, "You must have thought about the band's new name too, right?"

Ning Qianyu could only nod: "Okay, I agree too."

Qiu Mengxue smiled and said, "Then you can start."

Ning Qianyu was taken aback: "Why should I speak first?"

Qi Yuan smiled similarly: "Because I have great confidence in your imagination and creativity."

Ning Qianyu remained silent for a few seconds.

She understood. It was probably because the 'Cavendish Arsenal' she mentioned last time was too absurd. This time, with Teacher Su watching, they wanted to see if she would dare to be so imaginative again.

However, for the other band members besides Ning Qianyu, that style wasn't whimsical; it was pure chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur).

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.

014 You guys better refute me!

Ning Qianyu held it in for a full half minute.

Teacher Su had already cooked the beef, and the slices of shredded beef were placed in a strainer. They were even a little cold now that they were out of the hot soup.

Ning Qianyu glanced at the hot soup in the pot, and suddenly had an inspiration. She blurted out, "Boiling Ether Sea."

Qi Yuan: "?"

Qiu Mengxue: "?"

Jiang Yi: "?"