Huayu: Starting with binding the front desk

In Hunan, the day naturally begins with slurping rice noodles.

In the school cafeteria, Wang Zhe sat down with a bowl of rice noodles in his hand.

He had barely sat down when Li Ran came over with a bowl, plopped down next to him, and asked, "What song were you humming just now?"

Wang Zhe slurped up a mouthful of noodles and slowly replied, "The song I'll be singing on the radio this afternoon."

"What's it called? I've never heard of it before?"

"I wrote it myself, you've never even heard of it."

Wang Zhe remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he thought—the original singer of this song hasn't released it yet, so if I sing it first, wouldn't that make it seem like I wrote it myself?

Having been reborn, wouldn't it be a disservice to the identity of a reborn person not to become a plagiarist?

As they were talking, Zhang Jingyi and another girl walked towards them carrying bowls.

She went straight to sit opposite Wang Zhe and asked as soon as she sat down, "Have you decided what song to sing?"

Wang Zhe nodded: "It's all ready, so don't worry."

He paused, glanced at her, and a slight smile played on his lips: "Are you worried about me?"

"Who's worried about you?" Zhang Jingyi retorted immediately, poking at the bowl with her chopsticks. "I'm worried you'll hold us back. What are we going to sing anyway?"

You'll find out then.

Li Ran, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but chime in: "The songs he wrote himself are actually quite good."

As she spoke, she began humming to herself, "What, stopping and starting all the way~"

"Ugh, Li Ran, what are you singing? It's awful."

The girl next to him covered her ears in disgust.

Zhang Jingyi didn't say anything, but looked at Wang Zhe with a look that clearly said: Is this all you've written?

Wang Zhe understood her gaze, but he wasn't annoyed. He just smiled and said, "Just because he sings badly doesn't mean I sing badly too."

After saying that, he picked up the bowl, quickly finished the rest of the rice noodles in a few bites, and stood up: "Eat quickly, we're going to be late."

……

After attending two classes in the afternoon, Zhang Jingyi packed up her prepared script and prepared to go to the school broadcasting room.

She glanced around the classroom and called out to Li Ran, who was about to leave, "Li Ran, where's Wang Zhe?"

"They went to find the music teacher; they've probably already gone straight to the broadcasting room."

Zhang Jingyi didn't ask any more questions. She picked up the script and walked alone toward the broadcasting room.

Meanwhile, in the school's broadcasting room.

After listening to Wang Zhe's performance, the music teacher clapped his hands in satisfaction: "Great, this is the one. What's it called?"

  

"The Wind Rises".

Wang Zhe plucked a string, his fingers still savoring the sensation from the previous touch.

His S-level guitar skills were indeed impressive. The melodies that originally only existed in his mind flowed out from his fingertips, and every note was just right. Even he himself was surprised by the ease with which he could control the guitar.

He chose the song "The Wind Rises," which had been popular throughout the summer of 18.

In its previous life, this song was released by Buy Chili in early 2017, but was taken down due to copyright issues. It was not until it was authorized and re-released in 2018.

It is now 2014, and the original version of "Jealousy" will not be released until August of this year.

It's really hard to say who will infringe on whose rights at that time.

……

In the broadcasting room, Zhang Jingyi stood in front of the microphone, glanced down at the cue cards she had prepared, took a deep breath, and let her voice flow out slowly.

"To all the senior high school students, this is a special segment prepared for you."

"Today is April 27, 2014, and there are forty days left until the college entrance examination."

Her voice paused, then became gentle and earnest: "Don't be afraid, don't be anxious. All those nights you stayed up, all those practice problems you did, all those knowledge points you memorized, are quietly paving the way for you..."

After a warm blessing was read, representatives from each junior high class gave encouraging messages, one sentence from each of them...

Finally, it was Wang Zhe's turn.

He didn't spout any grand principles, but simply leaned closer to the microphone, his voice calm yet resolute: "To the senior students, the next song, 'The Wind Rises,' is for you."

With a light strum of the fingertips, the guitar begins to play.

"Walking and stopping along the way, following the traces of the boy's drifting journey~"

……

"I was once overwhelmed by the vastness of the world, and also indulged in my daydreams within it."

"Neither truth nor falsehood, neither struggle nor fear of ridicule."

The S-level guitar ability granted by the system allowed him to express the youthful regret and relief in the original song perfectly with just a simple xylophone.

As the strings vibrated, the entire broadcasting room seemed to be drawn into an afternoon breeze.

"I once poured my youth into her."

I've also played out the summer with my fingertips.

Let your heart guide you, and let things take their course.

Walking against the light, letting the wind and rain beat down on me~

Zhang Jingyi stood behind him, staring blankly at his back.

The boy's shoulders weren't very broad yet, but the way he sat there playing the piano inexplicably made people feel at ease.

The song was like a breeze blowing into her heart, stirring up those emotions hidden deep inside, emotions that she herself dared not even recognize.

Ah, the first stirrings of love in adolescence.

Always innocent and naive, yet pure and passionate.

With anticipation and shyness, like the sunlight at the end of April filtering through the leaves, scattering into beautiful, untouchable dappled patterns of light on the ground.

She lowered her eyes, the script crumpled slightly in her hand, her heartbeat and the sound of the guitar mingling together, making it impossible to tell which was faster.

In the broadcasting room, the last note faded away.

Wang Zhe gently pressed the strings, turned around, and met Zhang Jingyi's gaze.

She didn't dodge; she simply lowered her head and turned to an unknown page of the script.

Wang Zhe smiled, put the guitar back on the rack, and said softly, "Didn't I hold you back?"

Zhang Jingyi did not answer.

But the fingertips of the hand that was turning the pages of the script trembled slightly.

After the campus broadcast ended, Wang Zhe packed up his guitar and looked at Zhang Jingyi, who was still tidying up her script: "Let's go eat."

She nodded and followed in his footsteps.

The afterglow of the setting sun slanted down from the horizon, casting Wang Zhe's shadow long and thin.

Zhang Jingyi followed behind him with her head down, stepping on his shadow with her toes, as if playing a secret game that only she knew.

The purest stirrings of a young girl's heart are hidden in these delicate footsteps, and in the slight upturn of her lips.

"Wang Zhe, are you preparing for the art college entrance exam?" Zhang Jingyi asked from behind him.

Wang Zhe suddenly turned around.

Zhang Jingyi was still looking down, intently stepping on his shadow, completely unaware.

The next second, her forehead collided squarely with his chest.

What are you doing?

She took a step back, rubbed her forehead, and glared at him with a frown.

"What should I do?"

Wang Zhe clutched his chest, looking pained. "It was clearly you who wasn't watching where you were going and bumped into me, okay? You're the one who's blaming me first, Zhang Jingyi."

Zhang Jingyi gave a soft hum, her ears burning slightly, but she retorted sharply, "I can't be bothered with you. Hurry up and go, the cafeteria is about to close."

She walked past him and quickly went to the front.

Wang Zhe slowly followed, looked down at the shadow on the ground, smiled, and then began to imitate her, chasing after her shadow and stepping on it.

Zhang Jingyi noticed the movement behind her, turned around and glared at him: "Why did you step on my shadow?"

"Then you step on mine, why can't I step on yours?"

"Childish ghost."

"Same to you."

In the cafeteria, the two sat down facing each other, each holding a tray.

Zhang Jingyi took a couple of bites of food, then suddenly looked up: "You still haven't answered the question I asked you on the way here."

Wang Zhe looked up, his face blank: "What's the problem?"

Are you going to take the art college entrance exam?

Wang Zhe thought about it seriously for a moment, then nodded: "Of course, I sing so well."

"Show-off." Zhang Jingyi pouted, but couldn't help but smile slightly.

"And what about you?" Wang Zhe asked in return.

"Me..." She tilted her head, gesturing with her chopsticks in the air, "When I was little, I wanted to be an actress or a secret agent. But now, I want to be a TV host."

When she said this, her eyes sparkled, as if she were already standing on a glittering stage.

The bell for evening self-study hadn't rung yet, and Wang Zhe was sitting in his seat.

As a reborn individual, he knows better than anyone that in this industry, seizing opportunities is more important than anything else.

It's true that academic qualifications don't mean much in the entertainment industry; many top stars didn't even finish college, or even attend college at all.

But he was also aware of another thing: becoming famous too early without sufficient experience would inevitably lead to a downfall if he didn't mature and improve later on.

When a person's cultural level does not keep up with their social status, those seemingly glamorous and beautiful words can easily become "uncomfortable" literature.

Cultural workers, in the end, must be cultured.

Artists must know who their works are serving.

These principles were ingrained in his very being from his many years of experience on the musical stage in his previous life.

Now that he's starting over, he doesn't want to rush into taking off.

He wanted to fly longer.

A breeze blew in through the window, turning the pages of his textbooks on the desk.

Wang Zhe withdrew his gaze, picked up his pen, and casually wrote down a few chord progressions on the draft paper.

He needs to take advantage of his recent rebirth to quickly compose the popular songs he heard in his previous life.

……