Chapter 49: Which Xu Heng

Watching Xu Heng walk out of the multimedia classroom, Li Shanshan, who was sitting beside a certain junior student, couldn't help but ask, "Senior, isn't he from your department's Student Union?"

She clearly remembered Xu Heng sitting on the bench on the day of freshman registration looking as arrogant as could be; logically speaking, the Student Union should give their own people some preferential treatment, and they shouldn't have cut one of their own from the program.

But the junior student shook his head and denied it: "His name is Xu Heng, he's a sophomore in Chinese Language Class 3, not someone from the Student Union. He performed on stage at the freshman Welcome Gala before and played the guitar well, but since he's already performed at a Welcome Gala, there's a bit of aesthetic fatigue if he gets on stage to sing the same song again."

"Oh, I see."

To be honest, Li Shanshan felt a bit guilty; she knew her own singing level was average, and Xu Heng clearly sang better than her, plus he could play the guitar. If it weren't for the help of the junior student beside her, she definitely would have been cut by Xu Heng.

However, she also felt a bit smug in her heart at this moment, thinking that he had been so arrogant toward her when he registered for school, yet in the end, he still couldn't compare to the "backer" she had found.

"Xu Heng, that name is quite unique." Another senior on the other side of the two heard the name and laughed, "The author of that song 'The Wind Rises' that Shanshan just sang is also named Xu Heng; I wonder if it's the same person."

"It should just be the same name. I feel like you can't write those lyrics for 'The Wind Rises' without a few years of social experience, and if he were the author of 'The Wind Rises', would he still need to participate in our Welcome Gala?" Speaking of this, the junior student and that senior both looked at each other and laughed.

No one would believe that a college student could compose the lyrics and music for 'The Wind Rises', especially since Xu Heng was a Chinese Language student, which was far removed from music majors. Even if his name was the same as the author of 'The Wind Rises', no one would associate him with that.

When Xu Heng came out, Fan Xi was still waiting for him outside. She could see the selection situation inside well enough from the outside; she knew that Xu Heng had likely been eliminated, and that the judges' words were just a polite way of saying it, so she comforted him: "Don't be sad, those freshmen singing one by one aren't even as good as you. It's just that the judges have a problem and can't distinguish between good and bad."

Xu Heng scratched his head: "I'm not sad. Isn't this pretty good? Otherwise, rehearsals and drills would be a pain. I never intended to come to the selection in the first place; if it weren't for the requirement that every class must provide a program, I wouldn't have bothered coming."

"It's good that you can think that way," Fan Xi said. "The quality of Student Union members is getting lower every year. The original intention of the Student Union was to cultivate outstanding talent for the department, but now it has become a place for this group of people to abuse their power and show off their status."

"If there's nothing else, I'll head back first."

"There is something."

Xu Heng stopped awkwardly, turned around, and asked, "What else is there?"

Fan Xi glared at him, then said, "Our class committee members discussed it last time; we're going to climb Qixia Mountain for our class building activity this week. Do you have any better suggestions?"

Climb the mountain?

Xu Heng was stunned. He had originally thought the Student Union was the toughest group, but he hadn't expected there to be people even more valiant than the Student Union. Of all the places to discuss, they discussed having an entire class go mountain climbing?

It wasn't that there was anything wrong with climbing a mountain; after all, it was a healthy recreational activity for exercise.

But they weren't just two or three people; they were a group of over forty, nearly fifty people.

If something happened to one or two people in such a large group, it would be hard for anyone to notice, and no one could take responsibility. Furthermore, their class had a majority of female students and very few male students, so safety could not be guaranteed.

"Is the counselor coming?" Xu Heng asked.

Fan Xi thought he meant that everyone might not be able to relax if the counselor went, so she replied, "The counselor is busy with other things lately and told us to organize it ourselves; we just need to hand in the evaluation materials to him afterward."

"Who suggested it? Didn't they consider the safety issues?" Xu Heng continued to ask.

Fan Xi furrowed her pretty brows and said, "The sports committee member Zhang Zikuan suggested it... Everyone is an adult; we should still have the ability to distinguish danger. I feel there's no need to worry about safety issues."

"This has nothing to do with age. No matter what age you are, you should pay attention to safety. I suggest we change to a flatter place, like Zhongshan Ling or a museum or something similar."

"But many classmates have already been to those places; I don't think they'd be happy to go again," Fan Xi said, feeling a bit conflicted.

This time, when Zhang Zikuan proposed going mountain climbing in class, many students were quite happy. For one, Qixia Mountain was very far from their school and most people hadn't been there; for another, some male students hoped to take the opportunity of climbing the mountain to confess to the goddesses in their hearts. Zhao Gaoyang was the one leading the agitation among this group.

Public opinion is hard to defy. Even though Fan Xi felt that what Xu Heng said made sense, with ninety percent of the students supporting Zhang Zikuan, the two of them alone couldn't convince this group of people with just their words.

Fan Xi sighed and said, "Otherwise, let's just call the counselor. His reputation might be poor, but if he's there, we'll at least have a backbone."

"You guys discuss it. If you can persuade the 'Green-Faced Beast', that's the best. I won't interfere with what you've already decided, but just remember to remind them to pay attention to safety before you set off, you know?" Xu Heng gave a word of advice, then stopped worrying about the details.

He still had many of his own things to be busy with and didn't have the energy to put too much effort into matters that had nothing to do with him. Even though he held the title of Arts Committee Member, the Arts Committee Member was the least important among the class committee members, and if something went wrong, he wouldn't be the one who needed to take responsibility.

Returning to the dormitory, Zhao Gaoyang was chattering away with Cheng Huaiyu about something; Sheng Bo had gone to class and wasn't in the dorm.

After Xu Heng opened the door, both of them turned their heads to look at him in unison.

"Come, come, the main person is here, let's ask him directly."

"Oh, I said it's impossible. How could Old Xu possibly write songs?"

"Just ask him, maybe it really is him."

Cheng Huaiyu was helpless and waved at Xu Heng: "Old Xu, come over here quickly, I have something to ask you."

"If you have something to say, say it; if you have a fart, let it out. Don't be all wishy-washy like that," Xu Heng said irritably, not wanting to deal with him.

"No, I just wanted to ask, the name of the lyricist and composer of 'The Wind Rises' is exactly the same as yours. Is this person you?"

If others heard it, they would only think that Xu Heng had the same name as the author of 'The Wind Rises', but as Xu Heng's roommates, Cheng Huaiyu and the others knew that the author's name and Xu Heng's name were identical, down to every stroke.

Names with the same pronunciation are common, but it's rare for the characters to be the same. Zhao Gaoyang had just guessed that maybe this 'The Wind Rises' was written by Xu Heng; look at how he went out for a few days, and this song just happened to pop up on the internet.

Cheng Huaiyu didn't quite believe it; the "Xu Heng" who could write a song that swept the campus was now equivalent to a celebrity, a very impressive figure—how could it be their roommate?

Thus, the scene of Zhao Gaoyang urging Cheng Huaiyu to ask in person occurred.

Xu Heng didn't hide it either and nodded directly to admit it.

Over there, Cheng Huaiyu laughed before Xu Heng even answered: "I said it was impossible..."

But soon, he suddenly stopped, his expression gradually becoming stunned: "Old Xu, are you serious?"