A band, or a battleground?

Shen Yihan: "Those male actors are handsome, but their acting is much more superficial than what's in textbooks."

Ning Qianyu blinked: "But when you're acting, don't you need to get into character? To portray the feeling of being moved, or when filming a kissing scene, don't you actually feel a little moved?"

Shen Yihan laughed and said, "I don't film kissing scenes."

Ning Qianyu was taken aback: "Huh?"

Shen Yihan: "Before I accept a script, not only will the company read it, but my dad will also read it. If there's a kissing scene, he'll tell the production team to cut it, and if they can't cut it, he won't accept the role. So I haven't filmed a kissing scene yet. To portray the feeling of being moved... to be honest, many times you're not acting in front of the male actor, but in front of the camera, and key shots have to be repeated many times. If you have to feel moved every time, it's so tiring."

Ning Qianyu: "Is that how it is?"

Shen Yihan laughed and said, "Yes, the audience often overthinks things, but for us actors, acting is really just a job. If any actors do develop feelings for each other on set, it's usually because of their interactions outside of work, like taking care of each other or something..."

Ning Qianyu pressed further, "Weren't there any male actors to take care of you?"

Shen Yihan raised her head and thought for a moment, then slowly shook her head: "Maybe they were interested, but I didn't give them the chance. And the key is my dad, he would never give them the chance. My dad often says that true love is rare in the entertainment industry. Those male actors are too good-looking, they have tons of female fans, and they often don't cherish relationships, so he doesn't recommend that I find a boyfriend in the industry."

Ning Qianyu took a sip of soy milk and asked, "So you've never been in a relationship before, right?"

Shen Yihan laughed and said, "How do you know I've never been in a relationship?"

Ning Qianyu was taken aback and almost spat out the last bit of soy milk in her mouth. Regaining her composure, she quickly asked, "Sister Yihan, you really haven't dated anyone?"

Shen Yihan countered, "What about you? Qianyu, you're so cute, you must have a lot of guys chasing after you, right?"

Ning Qianyu pursed her lips: "I'm not interested. I'm not interested in ordinary guys, and I'm even less interested in ordinary relationships."

Hearing her say that, Shen Yihan became interested: "What do you mean by a normal relationship?"

Ning Qianyu explained, "It's like sending each other messages, confirming the relationship, going on dates, holding hands, hugging, kissing, and then going to a hotel."

"Pfft," this time it was Shen Yihan's turn to almost spit out her soy milk, "Aren't you even an adult yet? You're already thinking about booking a hotel room?"

Ning Qianyu shrugged: "Because falling in love is essentially driven by physiological reactions. The bioelectrical signals in the brain can give people the illusion of being moved, and when wrapped in cultural packaging, people think it's love. In reality, it's just that kind of trivial thing between two bored and lonely people."

Shen Yihan: "So you're a staunch advocate of remaining single?"

Ning Qianyu thought for a moment and said, "Not necessarily. I just feel that if I'm going to be in a relationship, it can't be something so mundane. It has to be a truly interesting experience, to be in sync with someone's heartbeat... like in a movie, and a highly rated one at that. A deeply unforgettable love, that's what's not mundane."

Shen Yihan shook her head: "But it seems that most of the love stories in highly rated movies are tragedies. Do you want your love story to be a tragedy?"

“This…” Ning Qianyu scratched his head, not expecting to be stumped by Shen Yihan’s question.

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.

For whom does the alarm bell toll? (177)

On Sunday night, after a day of recording and a flight, Ning Qianyu returned home.

It was already past 11 p.m., and in order not to wake her sleeping family, the girl changed into slippers and tiptoed to her bedroom.

Then I heard my younger sister Ning Xiaoyu shouting, "The person who didn't come home last night is finally back!"

Suddenly, the living room lights came on.

Ning Qianyu's neck was a little stiff. She slowly turned her head and looked at the living room sofa.

My younger sister was sitting on the sofa.

Ning Qianyu gritted her teeth: "It's so late, aren't you going to sleep yet?"

At that moment, the door to the master bedroom opened, and Mom and Dad came out, their eyes showing no sign of sleepiness.

Dad sighed, "Your sister is worried about you and refuses to go to sleep, saying she wants to wait for you in the living room."

Ning Qianyu pointed at her younger sister and said, "She's not worried about me, she just wants to catch me red-handed!"

Mom asked, "Are you hungry? Shall I make you some noodles?"

The girl shook her head: "Mom, I had dinner before boarding the plane and even had a late-night snack on the plane, so I'm not hungry at all. I'm going to sleep now, you should get some rest too."

After saying that, Ning Qianyu slung her bag over her shoulder and went into her bedroom. But before she could close the door, she heard her younger sister say outside:

"I told you, she's got wings now and can make a lot of money! And look what happened, she didn't come home last night, and she's back so late today. What will she do next time…"

Ning Qianyu put down her backpack, turned around and went straight to the sofa.

Then, with his hands hooked like hooks, he lunged at his sister's waist!

"Sis, sis, good sister, I was wrong, hahaha..."

Just as she was scratching her sister, Ning Qianyu felt her phone vibrating in her pants pocket. She clapped her hands and let her sister go, then went back to her bedroom and took out her phone again.

The caller ID showed Jiang Yi.

Ning Qianyu answered the call: "Hey, Yi Yi, what's wrong?"

Jiang Yi: "Are you home yet?"

Ning Qianyu countered, "How did you know?"

Jiang Yi: "I saw your post after you got off the plane. On the band's blog, you said you participated in a murder mystery game show and that it went very well. The other celebrity guests who recorded the show with you all praised you."

Ning Qianyu was a little embarrassed: "Hehehe, you saw it all. That's right, not only Sister Yihan, but also Song Zhi, He Dong, Chen Songmo and the others who recorded it together, all said that I'm especially suitable for that show. What is a great detective? I am!"

Jiang Yi sighed: "Then, what about the secret mission?"

Ning Qianyu's expression turned serious, and she lowered her voice: "I also tried to test Sister Yihan, and the result was not good."

Jiang Yi's voice also became tense: "This is bad?"

Ning Qianyu: "I couldn't ask her directly if she liked Qi Yuan, so I tried to probe indirectly by asking her other questions. The result... tsk tsk, it was a wake-up call."

Jiang Yi: "What do you mean?"

Ning Qianyu: "I asked her if she had anyone she liked, and she said no. I asked her if she had ever been in a relationship, and guess what she answered? She actually said she had never been in a relationship! She's over twenty years old, and such a famous celebrity, can you believe she hasn't been single since birth?"

Jiang Yi pondered for a moment and said, "Actually, it's not hard to understand. With her level of attention and popularity, if she had dated someone, the paparazzi would have dug it up long ago. Shen Yihan's ex-boyfriend is something that would make it to the trending topics."

Ning Qianyu: "And her father is extremely protective of her, he won't even let her do kissing scenes. An idol drama actress, he won't even let her do kissing scenes!"

Jiang Yi's tone was matter-of-fact: "That's right, that's the label attached to Sister Yihan. Otherwise, why would everyone say she has a powerful background? Qi Yuan also told us that Sister Yihan's father seems to be the boss of Tianhua Entertainment. Besides that, what else did you find out?"

Ning Qianyu held her phone in one hand and scratched her head with the other: "Isn't this enough? I think this is enough to show how dangerous Sister Yihan is..."

The girl on the other end of the phone sighed: "I want to know, does Sister Yihan like our whole band, or just Qi Yuan? Didn't you try to find out?"

"How am I supposed to probe her like this!" Ning Qianyu argued. "I can't exactly ask her directly, 'Do you like Qi Yuan?'"

Jiang Yi patiently guided her, "But you can ask her what she thinks of the Spring Shadow Band, and what she thinks of Qi Yuan. Then you can continue from there..."

"Ugh, this is so troublesome!" Ning Qianyu couldn't help but say. "I hate this kind of thing the most. It's sour, sweet, sticky, and greasy, like rolling around in a mud pit."

Jiang Yi said helplessly, "But that's just how feelings are."

Ning Qianyu: "Anyway, I've already told you. Yihan is not only single, but she's never been in a relationship before. She's never taken the initiative with other male celebrities, and with her father overseeing things, those male celebrities had no chance of pursuing her. But now she's quite proactive with our band. Qi Yuan is the only male member in the band, and he works in the same company as her and is highly regarded by her father. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Jiang Yi's tone grew increasingly heavy: "I understand, Sister Yihan is in great danger, extremely dangerous."

Ning Qianyu concluded, "So the result of my test this time is very clear: we need to be more vigilant, Yi Yi!"

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.

When the latest episode of "Script Murder" aired, Ning Qianyu was in class at school, so her classmates in Class 3 didn't react much until school ended.

But when she left school with her bandmates, she started to show off.

"Look, what are the audience's comments about me?"

Ning Qianyu opened the new program, scrolled to the comments section, and showed them to her teammates one by one.

[I initially thought only Qi Yuan was talented in Spring Shadow, but I didn't expect the drummer to be so talented too!]

Where does she get so many ingenious ideas?

[Sister Yihan is still so beautiful, beautiful from every angle...]

[MVP of the entire event: Ning Qianyu! Not only did she find the real culprit, but she also came up with seventeen extra murder ideas as a bonus!]

[Can we please bring Shirahoshino-nii back?]

Ning Qianyu was taken aback when she saw the fourth top comment: "Who is Bai Xingye again?"

"The male guest who was on the show with me last time," Qi Yuan said with a slight smirk, "but he offended the director, so he's unlikely to be able to come back."

Jiang Yi: "I remember now, you told us that this guy was the one who started the trouble, right..."

Ning Qianyu waved her hand: "Never mind those kinds of people. Just look at these comments; most of them are about me."

"I haven't watched the show yet," Qiu Mengxue asked curiously, "What exactly were you doing on the show?"

Ning Qianyu smiled smugly: "Every time I discover a new clue, I do some reasoning and come up with a new hypothesis. And the final culprit and method of the crime are also included in my reasoning!"

Qiu Mengxue nodded and calmly said, "The comments said you gave me seventeen extra murder ideas, which means you guessed eighteen times and finally guessed correctly?"

Ning Qianyu: "That's not guessing, that's reasoning!"

Qi Yuan smiled and said, "You know what, Qian Yu is actually quite suitable for this show."

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.

178 is the stage prepared for the famous detective.

That evening, Qi Yuan received five different script outlines from the director of the "Script Murder Detective" program.

Not long after, he received a call from the director.

At the start of the call, the other party said, "Qi Yuan, your bandmates performed exceptionally well on our show, they were very entertaining!"

"This kind of program format is indeed more suitable for her."

As Qi Yuan spoke, he recalled Ning Qianyu's usual behavior. Even when there were no cameras on her and she was only surrounded by two or three close friends, she would often act out her chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) phase, spouting out all sorts of whimsical ideas. She wasn't particularly nervous in front of the camera, so wasn't she perfectly suited for reality shows?

The director then said, "Next time it'll be your turn to be on the show. How's your songwriting inspiration coming along? Of the five themes I sent you, is there one that interests you?"

Qi Yuan: "Can I decide the theme of the next episode? I'm a little nervous."

The director smiled and said, "These are all alternative themes. We haven't decided on anything yet. It's common to ask guests for their opinions and suggestions. Do you have any unreleased songs that we can use as examples?"

"I've looked at all five themes: nursery rhymes and folk customs, ancient martial arts world, wasteland, vampires, and blizzard train..." Qi Yuan pondered, "To be honest, I can handle all five."

The director was silent for two seconds, then asked in surprise, "You don't actually have five songs, and each one of them is a perfect fit?"

That is indeed the case, but of course he could not say it that way.

Qi Yuan said, "There aren't any ready-made songs, but I have some inspiration for them all. However, the one that inspired me the most is still the vampire one."

The director was still somewhat surprised: "A vampire? I thought you would choose a martial arts world, a wasteland, or a blizzard train."

Qi Yuan: "Is it because I wrote 'Hair Like Snow' and 'A Thousand Years Later' before? Haha, I don't like to repeat the same themes I've written before; I'm more interested in fresh themes."

The director asked cautiously, "So, for this vampire-themed song, what did you write...?"

Qi Yuan: "If this were performed on 'The Tomorrow Band,' it would definitely be a show-stopping piece, you can rest assured."

The director breathed a slight sigh of relief: "Okay, okay, I'm definitely confident in you writing the song. Oh, by the way, there's something else I'd like to discuss with you."

Qi Yuan: "What is it?"

Director: "It's Ning Qianyu, her performance on the show was really great. Since Chen Songmo is unavailable for the next episode, I was wondering if you could bring your teammates along?"

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.

It's time to leave school again.

As Qi Yuan and the three girls walked out of the school gate, he suddenly blurted out, "I recently wrote a new song."

"You've only recorded a few songs for the album, and you're already writing new ones..." Qiu Mengxue suddenly realized halfway through her sentence, "Wait, is it for singing on a TV show?"

Qi Yuan nodded: "Yes, so I'm thinking about how to arrange the music. Since it's a solo performance on the show, I'm not considering other instruments, just the guitar."

Jiang Yi asked, "A solo performance, that should be done with an acoustic guitar, right?"

Qiu Mengxue: "No, it doesn't really matter. Electric guitar effects pedals can also mimic the tone of an acoustic guitar, very similarly..."

However, Qi Yuan said, "I actually prefer to use an electric guitar. Although this song is a sung and played instrumentally, the rhythm is actually quite fast, and it needs a very powerful accompaniment, not a folk style."

The three girls exchanged glances.

Ning Qianyu laughed and said, "Why don't we just bring our whole band up here? In addition to the guitar, add the bass, drums and keyboards, that would be the most powerful."

Qi Yuan: "But if I were to pretend that this song was written live, for a band performance, that would be too fake. It's one thing to write lyrics and music in that short time, but no one would believe that you can arrange music for an entire band."

Qiu Mengxue frowned and said, "So, you need an arrangement with guitar accompaniment that matches the style of your song's lyrics and music, but it can't be too complicated, otherwise it won't sound like it was written on the spot, right?"