Chapter 201

I felt it wasn't easy for A Jin to wander outside with his guitar looking for inspiration, so when Zheng Tan ran into him again on campus, he gave him face and took him to the arched doorway formed by bamboo, only to find someone already sitting there playing guitar when they arrived.

Zheng Tan glanced at him; the man was slightly chubby, his T-shirt printed with an eggplant, his face looked quite fresh, probably a freshman.

Seeing A Jin with his guitar, the man called him over to chat. When his gaze fell on Zheng Tan, his face stiffened briefly, but he said nothing.

Zheng Tan, who had been about to leave, thought better of it, walked to the side, jumped up a tree, and listened to the two talk.

This person was Zhang Qie; those who knew him called him Eggplant, a freshman in the school guitar club. Since the club holds an on-campus performance each May and October, but not everyone gets a chance to go on stage, the club was currently selecting performers, and Zhang Qie intended to practice more to earn a shot at showing off on stage.

However, compared to A Jin, Zhang Qie's guitar-playing skill was still rather raw.

"Bro, not bad!" Zhang Qie praised, hearing that A Jin wasn't from this school was a pity, otherwise he could have recruited him into the club. He also heard A Jin had performed in the square and the underground passage, and said admiringly, "Whenever I saw those street guitarists before, I couldn't help wanting to hang out beside them; my classmates even thought I was embarrassing. Speaking of which, most of those people play quite well, and the acoustics in the underground passage are especially good."

After sighing, Zhang Qie went on to talk about his own guitar history.

"At first I couldn't press the strings; later, after calluses formed, it got much better. The process was still somewhat painful, but, as a man, you can't fear pain!! Be hard on yourself!! Otherwise you won't learn guitar well!" Zhang Qie raised his hand to show the callus he had painstakingly developed.

Zheng Tan glanced over; this little fatty is really easy to satisfy.

After a while, Zhang Qie exchanged phone numbers with A Jin, letting A Jin come to Chu Hua Da Xue next week if he's free, then he'd take A Jin to see their guitar club's performance.

After showing A Jin around campus, Zheng Tan stopped paying attention to him and went off to find fun.

Three days later, Zheng Tan thought A Jin had already left Chu Hua Da Xue, when he saw him again.

That day Zheng Tan didn't wander around school, because Jingzhang and A Huang were rarely let out, and Da Pang was also kicked out by his elderly owner to get more exercise. So the four cats walked, stopped, and came to the Old Tile House area.

Zheng Tan originally thought he could find a shady spot with leaf cover to nap on a roof for an afternoon. He didn't expect to hear electric guitar sounds before even getting close.

Jingzhang twitched his ears. He kinda wanted to turn and leave. But seeing Zheng Tan still heading that way, and the other two not leaving, he followed too.

Zheng Tan was curious when a noisy element showed up here. He wanted to see what it was.

A tile house used for storing miscellaneous items had been cleared out, with over a dozen students inside, and the sound came from that tile house.

The other three cats stopped not far away; only Zheng Tan approached, jumped onto the windowsill, and peered inside.

The window was open; where Zheng Tan stood was near a large table, on which sat a potted plant that happened to block him somewhat; the people inside didn't notice him, nor did they have the mind to, all staring at the two people in the middle of the room.

On the windowsill table there was also a guitar, with no one in front of the table, so Zheng Tan could see the interior situation.

In the center of the room stood two young people, one of whom was A Jin. The other wore a black vest, had dyed yellow hair, his hair still somewhat long, tied into a small braid.

The two were shredding on electric guitars; Zheng Tan didn't know what it felt like to shred, but seeing both drenched in sweat, he guessed it wasn't easy.

The surrounding people, including the Zhang Qie Zheng Tan had seen, were all pumped up like they'd been injected with chicken blood, their faces flushed with excitement, as if desperately trying to hold back something, some even unconsciously gesturing with their hands.

When the two finally stopped, the people at the side started chatting excitedly, with a few even screaming.

Indeed, laypeople can only watch the excitement; although Zheng Tan thought the two played guitar very well, he wasn't as excited as others, but their fingers were damn fast when they played.

"President, is it him then?!" said a girl with a ponytail, tall and slender.

The vest-wearing, small-braided guy who had just shredded guitar with A Jin nodded, said a few words to A Jin, took a call, then asked A Jin, Zhang Qie, and the other two to stay and watch the stuff while they stepped out for a bit.

The guitar club's original training space is now being uniformly renovated by the school, so they had to temporarily relocate; they applied to the school for a house in the Old Tile House area to serve as a temporary gathering spot, planning to move back once renovations are done.

Listening to the four people remaining inside talk, Zheng Tan learned that it was about next week's school guitar club performance; they planned to open with a duet guitar rendition of Canon, but the guitarist originally set to collaborate with the club president had injured his finger and had to be replaced; however, the club couldn't immediately find someone satisfactory internally, so as a fallback they decided to seek outside help, and Zhang Qie contacted A Jin. Seven outside helpers recruited from other schools' guitar clubs plus A Jin were considered, and after the recent shredding session, the club's decision-makers finally settled on A Jin.

Upon hearing A Jin was selected, Zhang Qie was very happy; by contrast, A Jin was much calmer, having after hearing the others play known this would be the outcome; those who get to stay for a performance at Ye Lou are basically pros, and their technique isn't shabby; after so long of immersion and practical experience at Ye Lou, he's stronger than most people on campus.

Actually, after deciding to give it a try, A Jin didn't immediately agree at first, because once decided, before the performance he'd need to come often for training and coordination, plus Ye Lou also has several important shows, making time tight. After half a day's consideration he decided to come; now he has no regrets about agreeing to come here.

Having entered this complex society, plunged into this big dye vat, it's hard to remain unsullied, especially during these days working at Ye Lou, A Jin has come to understand the difficulty, having seen some of the glamour's hidden filth in the circle. But after getting used to it, he discovered he'd lost that pure enthusiasm, and here he found that lost purity again.

The four people inside remained enthusiastic discussing guitar-related topics—things like metal power chords, high-octave arpeggios, etc. —which Zheng Tan didn't understand; Zhang Qie mentioned the shredding segment after "Cross Street," which Zheng Tan also hadn't seen, so Zheng Tan truly had no interest in their conversation content.

Just as Zheng Tan was about to descend from the windowsill to find another place to sleep, he noticed Jingzhang and A Huang had edged over. Probably because no one was shredding guitar now, they felt bold enough to approach. He jumped onto the windowsill, curiously peeking inside.

Da Pang looked at the three cats on the windowsill, yawned lazily, then strolled over slowly and jumped onto the windowsill.

The four cats sat side by side on the windowsill; the people inside immediately noticed them.

The biggest reaction was from Zhang Qie; upon seeing the four cats, his first reaction was to instantly scoop the water cup he'd placed on the table into his bosom.

Including A Jin, the three people found Zhang Qie's behavior very puzzling.

"What's with that reaction, Eggplant?" one asked.

Zhang Qie pursed his lips toward the four cats on the windowsill, "The painful experience from military training!"

The two went "Oh——" and, seeing A Jin still puzzled, proceeded to recount that amusing incident from military training.

During military training, Zhang Qie's formation wasn't far from Jiao Wei's group; Zhang Qie was also one of the victims of the incident where Jingzhang and A Huang shoved a water cup. His favorite water kettle, pushed down the stairs by A Huang, fell and chipped a large chunk of paint, making Zhang Qie feel so distressed he lost two jin.

While those two were speaking, Jingzhang, who had been cooped up at home for so long and was full of energy and even more mischievous, stepped from the windowsill onto the large table and approached the guitar placed there.

The three people inside looked at A Jin; that guitar was A Jin's. He had played it when he came to this tile house, then after shredding electric guitar he'd left it temporarily there, not even putting it in a case. He owns three guitars; this one is the cheapest, fairly civilian, similar to what some club students use; he wouldn't dare lug an expensive one around, but even so, that doesn't mean he doesn't care; merely, upon seeing the black cat crouched on the windowsill, A Jin hesitated for a moment.

If Zheng Tan weren't here, A Jin would have rushed over to protect the guitar already.

Zheng Tan didn't stop Jingzhang; he was more curious about what Jingzhang would do next.

The four people inside said nothing, all staring at Jingzhang's side; for a moment, compared to the white-hot atmosphere of ten minutes ago when they were shredding electric guitar, now it truly matched the quiet of the Old Tile House area.

Jingzhang tilted his head at the guitar, looked it over, his tail slowly swaying, then lifted his paw to hook onto one of the guitar's metal strings, then withdrew his paw.

The sound from the vibrating metal string made Jingzhang arch his back and jump back a step; after the sound faded, he boldly approached again, as if addicted, continuing to lift his paw to hook the metal string.

Without pressing a fret, the sound produced was just an open-string tone; to Zheng Tan it was pure noise, and Jingzhang's behavior was merely meddlesome curiosity seeking a toy, possessing no musical artistry.

Unexpectedly to Zheng Tan, A Jin not only didn't stop Jingzhang from damaging his guitar, but immediately put down the guitar score he was holding, took out a small notebook and pen from his guitar bag behind him, and began writing something.

Perhaps because he'd just enjoyed shredding with someone, A Jin's condition is quite good now; after putting pen to paper he's remained immersed in his own creative world, maybe even Jingzhang's "performance" noise has entered his creative world.

Zhang Qie walked over to look, then his mouth fell open wide; he softly walked back to his original seat and made a mouth shape to the other two people—"composing".

Zheng Tan also saw Zhang Qie's mouth shape; looking at Jingzhang fiddling with the guitar strings making noise, then at A Jin immersed in composition, Zheng Tan couldn't help wondering if he lacked not only musical sense but also had his standards for appreciating music warped. But seeing Zhang Qie and the three others uniformly struck dumb, he suddenly felt that A Jin really does have talent—otherwise how could he derive inspiration from Jingzhang's noise-like "performance"?

Someone once said cats are the poets of urban melancholy, born as solitary wandering artists. Zheng Tan never believed that, but now it seems perhaps true; he just doesn't understand feline art.

Half an hour later, the furiously writing A Jin lifted his head again to look at the three cats on the windowsill and at Jingzhang, who stood by the guitar no longer "performing" but now attentively licking his paw, then picked up his pen and wrote four characters in the notebook—"Cat's Fantasy." (To be continued…)

PS: (3.23) I discovered the date in the previous chapter was wrong; it should be 3.22, this chapter is 3.23. I'll continue updating tomorrow.