I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

A dozen minutes later, everyone was standing inside the mountain cabin.

As the sun rose higher overhead, the heat became unbearable, and everyone sighed with relief as they went inside.

"Is this the old house that's right here?" Cui Dayou turned around and looked around, saying, "I don't feel there are many traces of music here."

His eyes were fixed on a guitar hanging on the wall, the only music-related item in the room.

“I asked Chen Xi, and that’s her instrument,” Qin Yunchu said.

Cui Dayou nodded and then looked at other places.

Jiang Xinhai and Xu Xiangxiao had already arrived at the wooden floor of the inner room and sat down around the table. Xu Xiangxiao started peeling oranges for herself and handed half of one to Jiang Xinhai.

Wang Feng also sat down and pointed with his finger:

“In our circle, apart from Mr. Qin and Teacher He, everyone else is a musician.”

Gao Xiaobai fanned himself and laughed, "I'm not really one, I'm just an amateur, doing it for fun."

Qin Yun Chu covered her mouth and laughed, "Teacher Gao, you're too modest. Was 'My Deskmate' something you just came up with on a whim?"

Gao Xiaobo laughed and said, "This is just nonsense. I wrote this song in one afternoon."

"Professor Gao is a genius too."

After sighing for a while, Gao Xiaobai laboriously sat down cross-legged on his chubby little legs and respectfully asked Cui Dayou, who had just entered the room:

"Teacher Cui, what made you interested in such a small thing?"

Cui Dayou took a sip of water, squinted, and smiled: "Why can't I be interested in something so close at hand?"

Yan Yunzhuo and Yingzi, who were on the other side of the room, glanced over when they heard their conversation.

Gao Xiaobo drawled, "I don't know much about Zhichi. From the few popular songs I've heard of him, they're all cheesy love songs, which don't quite match your creative style."

After saying that, he immediately added, "Xinhai is here too. Let me make it clear first, this is not because I look down on Zhichi. My own song 'My Deskmate' is also a kind of pop song. I can write a dozen of these kinds of songs in an afternoon. I don't understand why it's so popular."

Jiang Xinhai looked at him and just smiled.

Cui Dayou countered, "Which of Zhichi's songs have you listened to?"

“Take the recent song ‘Summer Breeze’ for example,” Gao Xiaobo said. “It’s very nice, really very nice, and Xin Hai’s performance is great, but I always feel that the melody and lyrics are not strong enough. It’s still the style of many years ago.”

Xu Xiangxiao said, "Teacher Gao, you only listened to the version of 'Summer Breeze' that was overused by marketing accounts and Douyin, right? That was a remix. The official arrangement released by Xinhai is actually a bit R&B."

Gao Xiaobo's eyes widened: "Is it R&B?"

"Yes."

Jiang Xinhai said lazily, "There's nothing wrong with guava love songs. My voice is what it is, so everything I sing sounds like a guava love song."

“Indeed,” Xu Xiangxiao couldn’t help but agree.

Jiang Xinhai's voice is that of a natural pop diva.

Qin Yun Chu finally couldn't help but ask, "Um... excuse me, what does 'Balala Love Song' mean?"

Gao Xiaobai shook his fan and said, "Sorry, we got a bit too professional. Let me explain. You can think of 'ballad love songs' as very popular love songs with simple melodies and formulaic tunes."

Qin Yun Chu still didn't quite understand.

"So what if it's a love song about guava?"

Gao Xiaobo said, "Actually, ballad love songs are alright..."

Yan Yunzhuo, who was standing next to him, suddenly interjected: "There's nothing wrong with 'ballad love songs,' it's just that someone thinks the Chinese music scene is no good, went abroad for several years, and came back to write 'ballad love songs,' which makes it quite funny."

These words were quite aggressive. Jiang Xinhai stared at her, but Yan Yunzhuo looked away, her imposing manner undiminished, her expression calm.

Yingzi waved her hand and said, "Zhuo'er, he's a senior. Show him some respect. Haven't I taught you that?"

"I'm sorry, Master, I was wrong."

The master and apprentice's back-and-forth banter made it seem like the master was reprimanding the apprentice, but in reality, it was a veiled criticism of Zhichi and Jiang Xinhai.

Xin Hai suddenly felt very suffocated.

There's a feeling that I can't even express my anger.

In the live stream chat, comments kept popping up:

"6666... ​​The smell of gunpowder is so strong!"

"Yingzi scores a point, the current score is 1-0, Xinhai is behind."

"It's really funny that '咫尺' is like that. Teacher Gao said that he could write a dozen of those kinds of songs in an afternoon, but he just has integrity and doesn't want to write them."

"Where are those people who were bragging about their talent before? Come out and take your punishment!"

"If you're unhappy with Zhichi, just criticize Zhichi and we'll be friends!"

……

Cui Dayou seemed completely oblivious to the gunpowder smell in the room.

He seems to live in another world.

He smiled and asked, "Have you heard Xin Hai's 'Hill'?"

Xu Xiangxiao nodded, and Qin Yunchu had also heard of it, but no one else answered.

The people in the room are all big shots from various fields. They don't usually have much time to pay attention to other people's songs; they just listen to them when they happen to have the chance.

If it's not meant to be popular, then there's no point in learning it.

Cui Dayou said, "It was because of the song 'Hill' that I wanted to see what the scenery on the hill in my heart, which is so close at hand, really is."

He stood up, took down the guitar hanging on the wall, sat down, strummed the strings, and plucked a few chords.

The prelude to "The Hill" slowly flows out.

After playing the intro, Cui Dayou said, "I also listened to 'Summer Breeze,' and I feel that it's not as bad as Teacher Gao said."

He changed his fingering again and played the opening melody of "Summer Wind".

“These two songs have completely different styles. “Summer Wind” seems to be telling everyone that he can easily create music that attracts young people, while “Hill” is expressing his own feelings about life and music.”

"The song 'Hill' seems to be telling about my loneliness."

After speaking, Cui Dayou adjusted his glasses.

But to his surprise, no one responded.

He thought he had said something wrong, but the main problem was that no one dared to respond.

People's attention is focused on this: The godfather of the Chinese music scene has actually... played the piano again after twenty years!

It was all for the sake of a junior!

Xu Xiangxiao suddenly thought of something, as if she had something to say, but swallowed it back down.

After holding it in for a long time, he finally said, "Actually... well, never mind."

Cui Dayou turned to her and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Um... I just suddenly had a strange thought, but it's nothing, so I'd better not say anything." Xu Xiangxiao blushed.

Cui Dayou said, "It's okay, we're all musicians, we can say whatever we want, everyone can share their thoughts and discuss with each other."

“No,” Xu Xiangxiao waved her hands repeatedly, then glanced cautiously at Jiang Xinhai and said, “While listening to Teacher Cui play the piano just now, I suddenly felt that ‘Summer Wind’ is actually quite similar to Tianya’s style…”

Jiang Xinhai was taken aback, and the orange in his hand fell onto the table: "What?"

Xu Xiangxiao blushed and said, "Actually, I had been thinking about this when I first heard 'Summer Breeze,' and this song really is very similar to Tianya's style..."

"How is it similar?" Jiang Xinhai was a little uneasy.

“The melody of ‘Summer Breeze’ has a very… Tianya (the ends of the earth) feel to it,” Xu Xiangxiao said. “And in terms of melody structure, it’s so complex, it’s very much like Tianya…”

Jiang Xinhai bit her lip, a little angry: "Are you saying that Zhichi plagiarized Tianya?"

"No, no," Xu Xiangxiao said, "This is a completely new song, but if you listen carefully, you'll find that the style is indeed very similar to Tianya, though I can't quite put my finger on it..."

After listening to her, Cui Dayou said, "Xiangxiao, would you like to sing this song again?"

Xu Xiangxiao nodded, took the guitar, and began to play.

The July wind is lazy, even the clouds feel warm.

The sky was gloomy for a while, then a shower came after the clouds cleared...

When Xu Xiangxiao sang this song, something surprising happened to everyone.

Whether they were inside the house or watching the live stream, everyone's eyes widened when they heard Xu Xiangxiao sing this song.

It's like someone else's shoes fit you better than your own.

Xu Xiangxiao's rendition of Jiang Xinhai's "Summer Wind" is actually more Xu Xiangxiao-esque than her own songs!

It's so perfect, it's as if this song wasn't written for Jiang Xinhai, but tailor-made for Xu Xiangxiao!

Xu Xiangxiao is a very distinctive singer.

Her vocal style is completely different from other female singers. First, her voice is relatively androgynous. In addition, her singing style is very unique.

If I had to describe it, it would be like he's sticking the lyrics to his mouth, rather than pronouncing them clearly.

Therefore, many people couldn't accept her when she first debuted.

The most common criticisms leveled at him were "unclear pronunciation," "incomprehensible singing," "having a radish in his mouth," "having a lisp," and "stuttering."

Especially the early song "Double Sticks", with its strange sounds like "hum hum ha hey", was ridiculed for a period of time by the Chinese music scene, which was then popular with pop singing styles.

But later, people gradually came to understand her singing style.

She wasn't singing lyrics, but rather using her voice as an instrument, blending it into the entire music.

If you sing the lyrics too clearly, it loses its charm.

When Xu Xiangxiao sang "Summer Wind", the legato of the melody and the repetition of words in the lyrics were very suitable for her to perform!

Jiang Xinhai's voice is ethereal and clear. When he sang this song, although it sounded quite nice, it was as if he was rapping with a bel canto style.

But Xu Xiangxiao's rendition of this song felt completely different.

Suddenly, all parts of the song came alive!

Especially the part in the middle where she hums "the gentle, lazy sea breeze," when Jiang Xinhai sings it, people are immersed in her gentle voice;

When Xu Xiangxiao sang, people were surprised to find:

Isn't this Xu Xiangxiao's signature melodic rap?!

A rap section suddenly cuts in midway through the verse, and it looks so familiar.

From "Nocturne" to "In the Name of the Father," they all sing it like this!

After finishing the song, Xu Xiangxiao blushed and put down her instrument, whispering, "Um... that's it, you should understand, right?"

Jiang Xinhai's mouth dropped open.

She wanted to argue, but she couldn't say anything.

The live stream chat exploded at this moment:

"Plagiarism at close range!"

"This isn't plagiarism? This isn't plagiarism? This isn't plagiarism?"

"After being abroad for so many years, all you do when you come back is sew a song about the ends of the earth?"

"Although there's no concrete evidence, I think that just based on Xiangxiao's singing of this part, it's solid proof! It matches perfectly!"

……

Everyone was stunned for a long time after hearing this. Finally, Yan Yunzhuo came to his senses and said, "Doesn't this mean that he copied it from Zhichi..."

Before she could finish speaking, Qin Yun Chu interrupted her.

"So close, yet so far?"

Qin Yun Chu stared wide-eyed and said this.

===

Book recommendation: "What Era Are We Living In? Still Using Traditional Methods?"