Rebirth 04: Starting from Taking an Unconventional Approach

Chen Dajian sat at his desk, gazing at the cloudless sky outside the window. Retired elderly women, wearing oversized sun hats, were out for a weekend stroll, blocking the entire sidewalk. A pickup truck ran a yellow light. All these details shrouded the city in an illusion, as if everything were perfectly normal.

Chen Dajian watched a blue bus pull into the station, its body adorned with a "Life Insurance" sticker. He couldn't understand why people called it life insurance; it was clearly death insurance.

The wall clock chimed, striking twice.

Chen Dajian turned his gaze back to the manuscript paper, which contained his unfinished final work.

He picked up his pen and continued writing:

The cries of a scrap collector drifted in from outside the window. Old Zhou stood up and went to the window. An old man in a blue cloth jacket was pushing a tricycle past downstairs, piled high with old newspapers, empty bottles, and broken cardboard boxes. Old Zhou suddenly wondered, if all the things he had written over the past forty years were sold by weight, how much would they be worth?

He did the math. Three million words, roughly 15,000 pages on manuscript paper. At the scrap metal price, it's one cent per pound. 15,000 pages of manuscript paper weigh about thirty pounds. That's three yuan.

Three yuan.

Old Zhou smiled. But as he smiled, tears began to fall.

.....

"Can you do it?" Zhang Ruiyi's voice echoed between the walls of the strength training room.

Han Fei lay on the bench, watching Zhang Ruiyi's face as she looked down at him, the circular ceiling light casting a yellow halo around her head. Han Fei breathed heavily, because the barbell was pressing against his chest.

They had been in the strength training room for ten minutes when Zhang Ruiyi got bored and went back to do cardio alone. Han Fei was about to challenge himself with an 85-kilogram barbell, and just as he lifted the barbell off the rack, Zhang Ruiyi returned, disrupting his concentration.

"It could have been done," Han Fei said, pushing the barbell higher until it reached his sternum. "Why did you come back?"

"I'm done training. Each session is an hour long. Training too much will cause muscle strain," Zhang Ruiyi said, gesturing with her chin towards the barbell on Han Fei's body, clearly indicating that her last sentence was directed at his behavior.

"Really?" Han Fei felt a pain in his chest and suddenly realized that what she said was absolutely right.

"Do you need my help?"

Han Fei glanced at Zhang Ruiyi, noticing her teasing look. He heard light footsteps approaching, and simultaneously heard his bones cracking. Red dots began to appear before his eyes. He gripped the barbell tightly, roared, and strained to lift it, but the barbell wouldn't budge.

The footsteps stopped beside them.

Han Fei looked up and saw that she was wearing loose sweatpants and a white short-sleeved shirt, carrying a sports water bottle, and her French curls were tied back. It turned out to be Wen Shuyan.

"Han Fei?" Wen Shuyan looked down at him. "What a coincidence to meet you here."

Zhang Ruiyi looked at the two of them with an inquiring gaze.

"You're here to work out too?" Han Fei said in a low voice, using the last bit of air in his lungs, briefly and quickly introducing Zhang Ruiyi and Wen Shuyan.

"So you're Wen Jie's sister," Zhang Ruiyi said with a smile. "I was wondering why you looked so familiar; you two siblings really do look alike."

Wen Shuyan smiled in response: "My younger brother has mentioned you before."

"Stop talking," Han Fei groaned, "Could you guys help me pull the barbell? I'm almost there..."

The two of them turned to look at Han Fei at the same time, chuckled softly, and helped him pull up the barbell.

Han Fei sat up on the bench and let out a long breath.

"Why are you doing strength training?" Han Fei asked Wen Shuyan, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Yeah," Zhang Ruiyi said, "Judging from your figure, I thought you only did yoga or Pilates."

Wen Shuyan smiled and said, "I practice occasionally. People who play the piano are prone to tension in their back and neck, so they need some strength training to balance it."

Han Fei looked at her curiously: "So playing the piano is related to strength training?"

"Yes. When playing the piano, the entire upper body needs to be involved. If your core strength is insufficient, it will compensate over time, and you will have problems with your shoulders and waist."

"It seems that mastering any profession requires physical labor," Han Fei said with a smile.

Zhang Ruiyi nodded thoughtfully: "I see. I always thought playing the piano was just sitting and moving your fingers."

"Many people think that way." Wen Shuyan's voice was gentle and humble. "Actually, playing the piano is indeed a physical activity. After an hour, you sweat just as much as you would when exercising."

"Do you come here often?" Zhang Ruiyi asked.

Wen Shuyan shook her head: "I'm usually at school, and I only have time to come on weekends."

"School? But isn't it summer vacation now?"

"Yes, although it's summer vacation, we student teachers have to stay at school to do preparatory work. We need to prepare the textbooks before the start of the new school year, arrange the activities of the teaching and research office, and welcome the new students. Especially for the major I teach, there is a freshman performance every September, and we have to rehearse on and off throughout the summer."

"I didn't know being a student teacher during summer vacation was this tough," Zhang Ruiyi said. "What kind of performance are you rehearsing for?"

Wen Shuyan smiled slightly: "It's a welcome concert organized by the department. Several of us teachers will be playing a piano concerto together. I'll be playing the second piano part, and there's also a solo section."

"Wow, a piano concerto! What piece is it?"

"This is an arrangement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. The original is for two pianos, and we have selected some of the most classic movements from it."

"Rachmaninoff..." Zhang Ruiyi said, "I've heard of him, and he was very impressive. Um, if there's a chance, could I sit in on your rehearsals? I promise I won't disturb you; I'll just sit quietly in a corner and listen."

Wen Shuyan chuckled: "Of course you can, you're welcome to come. I'll let you know in advance before our next rehearsal."

Han Fei sat listening to the two talk, feeling a sweet soreness in his muscles, which told him that his muscles would definitely be stiff by tomorrow morning. He glanced at his watch.

"You guys chat here first," Han Fei said, standing up. "I'm going to take a shower."

He climbed up to the second floor, took a shower, and got dressed.

There was a voicemail message from Ma Yongxing asking him to call back as soon as possible.

Ma Yongxing answered the phone, and a heavy Hong Kong accent came from the other end of the line.

"Mr. Ma, what a coincidence! I was just thinking about when to call you," Han Fei said.

"We're really on the same wavelength, President Han," Ma Yongxing chuckled softly. "Are you free the day after tomorrow afternoon?"

Han Fei thought for a moment: "We should still have a few hours."

"Okay, I'll have someone pick you up at 3 PM on Monday," Ma Yongxing said.