Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

The afternoon He Xu returned from the hospital, he sat on the sofa in the living room for a long time.

He held a half-full glass of water in his hand, but didn't drink it. He just sat there, his gaze fixed on the outline of the mountains outside the floor-to-ceiling window, lost in thought.

This is the scene that Jiang Yanbai saw when he came down from the second floor.

He stood on the stairs for two seconds, then came down and sat down at the other end of the sofa without speaking immediately.

He waited a while, and only after seeing He Xu finally raise his water glass and take a sip did he slowly say, "You haven't said a word since you came back from the hospital."

"I told you," He Xu said, putting down his water glass. "I told you on the way back."

"Oh? Really? If I didn't hear you, then I didn't say anything~" His tone was utterly irritating.

He Xu turned his head to look at him, his lips twitched as if he wanted to refute, but in the end he just clicked his tongue and didn't say anything more.

Jiang Yanbai looked at him, remained silent for a few seconds, and then changed her tone: "The pre-operative check-up isn't until next week. What are you planning to do this week? Just sit in the living room and daydream all day?"

"It won't work?"

"That's fine." Jiang Yanbai stood up, went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water, and said with his back to him, "But if you really sit here for a week, I'm afraid you'll get sick from boredom before you even get into the operating room."

He Xu did not respond.

Jiang Yanbai returned with her water glass, sat down again, and turned to look at him: "How about we go out tomorrow?"

"Where to?"

"I'll take you to see Los Angeles," Jiang Yanbai said. "You've been here for a week, and you haven't been anywhere except the supermarket and the hospital. Other tourists come to Los Angeles and visit more than a dozen attractions—but you've just been going back and forth between home, the hospital, and the supermarket."

He Xu paused for a moment: "...I'm not here for tourism."

"I know you're here to treat your voice," Jiang Yanbai said, "but you can't just waste this whole week on the sofa, can you? You have pre-operative checkups next week, and then the surgery will be scheduled—you should at least see what the place you'll be staying in for the next six months looks like before the surgery, right?"

He Xu tapped his fingers lightly on his knee twice, then asked, "...Where to?"

Jiang Yanbai's lips curved slightly: "You'll find out tomorrow."

-

At eight o'clock the next morning, Jiang Yanbai dragged He Xu out of bed.

When He Xu was pulled up, his hair was a mess and his eyes were not fully open.

He leaned against the headboard, staring at Jiang Yanbai with an expression that said, "You'd better have a good reason."

"What the hell are you trying to do?"

"We agreed to go out for a walk today." Jiang Yanbai was already dressed, wearing a black T-shirt, a dark gray light jacket, and a baseball cap on his head. "Didn't you promise?"

"Do you have to go out very early in the morning to go for a walk?"

"The light is best in Los Angeles in the morning, and it gets congested later," Jiang Yanbai said, already walking to the door. "You have fifteen minutes to wash up and change, or I'll change for you~"

He Xu grabbed a cushion from the bedside table and threw it at the person.

Jiang Yanbai dodged to the side and left the room with a smile.

Fifteen minutes later, He Xu came downstairs wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and jeans. Her hair was still a bit messy, but at least she had washed up.

Jiang Yanbai stood in the entryway waiting for him, holding his car keys in his hand. He looked him up and down and said, "Okay, let's go."

Our first stop was Griffith Observatory.

As the car drove up the winding mountain road, He Xu sat in the passenger seat, tilting his head to look out the window.

As the altitude gradually increased, the entire Los Angeles Basin slowly unfolded before his eyes.

From the dense skyline of skyscrapers in the city center to the blurry blue ribbon of the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

The entire city seemed to be spread out on a giant map, bathed in a soft golden light in the morning glow.

Jiang Yanbai parked the car, and the two of them walked along the trail toward the observatory.

There weren't too many tourists in the morning; they were scattered in twos and threes in front of the various viewing platforms, some taking photos with their phones, and others sitting on benches eating breakfast.

He Xu stood at the edge of the observation deck, his hands in his pockets, and remained silent for a while before saying, "...It's quite big."

"Los Angeles, the second largest city in the US." Jiang Yanbai stood next to him, following his gaze. "That's downtown, that's Beverly Hills, and further over there—"

He pointed to a blurry blue expanse in the distance, "That's the Pacific Ocean."

He Xu looked in the direction he was pointing, but didn't reply.

The two stood there for a while, as the morning breeze blew in from the ridge, carrying a slightly dry coolness.

He Xu suddenly spoke up: "Did you used to come here often?"

"I used to come here often when I first came to Los Angeles," Jiang Yanbai said. "When I felt bored, I would come up here for a while, look at the city, and think about what I was doing."

"And now?"

"Now?" Jiang Yanbai turned her head to look at him. "Not now, because I have someone with me."

He Xu paused for a second, then looked away expressionlessly: "...What you said makes me feel a little nauseous."

"I rarely show my true feelings, can't you at least give me some support?"

"cannot."

Jiang Yanbai chuckled and didn't continue the topic.

After leaving Griffith, Jiang Yanbai took him to several other places.

Santa Monica's beach, Venice Beach, has a walkway lined with graffiti and skateboarding teenagers.

There's also a Mexican burrito shop hidden in an alley that's said to have been open for over forty years.

He Xu sat on a plastic chair in front of the burrito shop, holding a freshly made beef burrito in his hand. He took a bite, chewed it a couple of times, and his expression subtly changed.

"How is it?" Jiang Yanbai sat opposite him, with two wrappers spread out in front of him, slowly peeling off the wrappers.

"...It's alright." He Xu took another bite. "It tastes better than I expected."

"Can't you just say 'it's delicious'?"

"...Okay." He Xu swallowed. "Delicious. Satisfied?"

Jiang Yanbai smiled and shook his head, then took a bite of his own crepe.

In the afternoon, Jiang Yanbai took He Xu to a completely different place—a dance studio hidden deep in an industrial area.

It looks unremarkable from the outside, with gray walls and a black iron door without any markings.

But after pushing open the door and walking in, He Xu stopped in his tracks.

The space was twice as big as he had expected, with a ceiling height of at least five meters, mirrors on all four walls, and a dark, springy professional dance floor.

In the corner stood a set of audio equipment, and next to it stood a piano with its lid open, and on the music stand was a handwritten sheet of music that was half-open.

"Where is this place?" He Xu stood at the doorway, his gaze sweeping across the entire space.

"It's run by a friend of mine." Jiang Yanbai walked in and sat down on a folding chair in the corner. "It's usually used as a rehearsal space for some niche dance groups, and occasionally it hosts some underground performances. In the first few years after I came to Los Angeles, I often came here when I had nothing to do in the evenings."

He Xu walked in, stepped on the floor twice, and felt the just-right rebound force.

"Do you want to—" Jiang Yanbai's voice came from behind, "to do a dance? There's no one else around anyway."

He Xu paused for a moment.

He glanced at Jiang Yanbai, then looked away and stood in the center of the dance studio.

He didn't choose any music; he just stretched his neck and shoulders, and then started with the most basic rhythm—stepping in place, shifting his weight, and slowly opening his body to a silent beat.

His movements were slow, slower than any of his usual practice sessions.

Not for performance, not for practice, but simply to let the body remember that feeling of flow.

Jiang Yanbai sat on a folding chair in the corner, quietly watching him without saying a word or taking any pictures.

He Xu danced for about ten minutes, then stopped and stood in the center of the dance studio to catch his breath.

"...The floor is nice," he said.

"Then you can come often in the future." Jiang Yanbai stood up from his chair. "I've already spoken to my friend, you can use it anytime you want."

He Xu glanced at him, paused for a second, and then asked, "...When did you say that?"

"Yesterday." Jiang Yanbai walked to the door, pushed it open, and tilted his head towards He Xu. "Let's go back for dinner."

On the way back, He Xu leaned back in the passenger seat, tilting his head to look out the window.

The setting sun was sinking in the west, bathing the entire Sunset Boulevard in a continuous golden-red hue. He suddenly spoke, "Are you coming out again tomorrow?"

Jiang Yanbai's fingers paused on the steering wheel for a moment, then he chuckled, "You actually asked about tomorrow?"

"……no?"

"Okay," Jiang Yanbai said. "Of course. I'll take you to another restaurant tomorrow."

"...Is food all you think about?"