Chapter 202

Zhang Qie and the others gathered there, admiring how A Jin could actually create under these circumstances, but they only glanced at what A Jin had just written, without looking closely at the sheet music; without obtaining consent, they felt that rashly looking would be plagiarism, so during the discussion they mainly brought up where A Jin got his inspiration—could it really be that cat just now?

Zheng Tan curiously went over to take a look.

Seeing it was Zheng Tan, A Jin paused the motion to close the notebook and pushed it toward Zheng Tan's face, making it easy for Zheng Tan to look.

Zhang Qie and the three others saw this, didn't understand A Jin's behavior—why be so good to a cat? But it wasn't good to say anything either, since we're not close, there's no need to meddle in everything.

Zheng Tan looked; besides the title he couldn't understand the rest, only knowing it was a simplified notation he'd seen in elementary music books.

After glancing, Zheng Tan lost interest and returned to the windowsill.

"A Jin, you guys like using simplified notation for your compositions?" a student asked. He, accustomed to guitar tablature, had also encountered five-line staff more often; suddenly seeing simplified notation he couldn't react, after all, many think five-line staff is more professional and presentable, whereas guitar tablature for recording fingering, due to the association's own reasons, is also used quite often.

"Well, because I never went to college and initially had no professional training, I learned guitar technique from someone in an obscure band, later self-taught more, and when I started composing I used simplified notation; later I learned various other notations but I'm still more used to simplified notation." A Jin did not hide the fact that he hadn't attended college. After entering Ye Lou, they arranged some study sessions to improve professional skills, but since he encountered simplified notation the most, he still prefers to use it, basically using simplified notation when composing.

Many in the Guitar Club now know A Jin isn't a member of any other school's guitar club, but they only know he plays in a professional band; the details are unclear, A Jin never said so, and besides, there are tons of obscure bands in Chu Hua Shi. Seeing A Jin's age, others assume he's just an unknown member of a little band that could disband anytime, and they haven't looked into it.

Zheng Tan doesn't understand sheet music, but besides simplified notation, five-line staff, and guitar tablature, he once saw Old Lady Da Pang's family holding a pen writing sheet music; however, it was all characters like hé, sì, yī, shàng, chǐ, gōng, fán, liù, wǔ, yǐ.

Regarding A Jin's cat-themed piece, Zheng Tan still doesn't know how to evaluate it; many people evaluate and analyze cats, but from the cats Zheng Tan has encountered, many project themselves too deeply instead of viewing things from the cat's perspective—even Zheng Tan now finds it hard to understand the thoughts of Jingzhang, Da Pang, A Huang, and those few cats.

Just as Jiao Ba once said, "Scientifically speaking, you can't use human thinking to interpret cat thinking," Zheng Tan is merely human thought as well.

Anyway, Zheng Tan still looks forward to A Jin's "Cat's Fantasy", hoping to hear it next time he goes to Ye Lou. But after this, it will likely need revisions, and arranging and lyric writing still need to be considered, so probably won't be heard anytime soon.

As for the Guitar Club's May on-campus performance, Zheng Tan is a bit interested in going, but unfortunately it's at night, and if Zheng Tan is still under house arrest by Jiao Ma then it's uncertain; not only Zheng Tan, the other three cats are also confined at night, and being let out during the day is already a mercy.

Over the next week or so, in Jiao Ma's view Zheng Tan's behavior has been fine—he stays home obediently every night, doesn't go out, returns on time during the day, and causes no trouble.

Zheng Tan has been truly well-behaved during this period—at least he himself thinks so—after checking progress at the construction site, he went to Tianqiao to help that old man draw a crowd; when Zheng Tan is around, the old man's wooden box earns more money, and sometimes human appeal really can't compare to animals.

Zheng Tan mainly wondered about that old man's identity, but after staying over a week straight he never saw any "little brothers" or similar figures appear, while the surrounding vendors truly revered the old man.

On the day of the Guitar Club performance, Friday, Zheng Tan left Tianqiao earlier than usual, he planned to go to the school's main sports field to have a look, and moreover that night Zheng Tan decided to go out.

The idea to go as a group to the Guitar Club's performance came from Jiao Yuan; Xiong Xiong, Su An, and a few others discussed contacting the kids from the big courtyard to go together to watch the evening show—boys find guitar more appealing, and also people from the west district, Xiao Youzi's classmates are among them. Zheng Tan then prepared to go out with them in the evening, which would make Jiao Ma more likely to agree.

Actually, the Guitar Club's performance isn't that appealing to Zheng Tan—after all, it's just amateur students' performances, and he's seen plenty of professional shows at Ye Lou—so Zheng Tan's main purpose in going out with Jiao Yuan and them isn't the performance itself but to get a foot in the door: one leads to two, two to three, and after going out tonight, the chances of going out for evening strolls later increase. Spending every night accompanying Jiao Ma while she watches soap operas makes Zheng Tan feel quite bored.

From a layperson's perspective, Zheng Tan feels those people indeed put a lot of effort into this; even if their technique is lacking, the students watching the performance on the field don't mind, and with the atmosphere built up, the whole thing can be called a success.

The opening duet guitar performance of "Canon" by A Jin and the Guitar Club president added many points to the show; a good start also boosted morale. Aside from that opening performance, A Jin spent most of the time backstage, while those students needed more chances to prove themselves.

The performance ran from 7:30 p. m. to 9:30 p. m. Before the show, A Jin had been invited to the club's celebration banquet, so even if there was nothing else for him afterward, A Jin did not leave.

Since it was Friday and the weekend was coming, after finishing the performance the Guitar Club members prepared to celebrate properly, because most of them had no classes the next day and could enjoy themselves freely.

The Guitar Club president— that person who had a guitar duel with A Jin, after drinking too much, now had some things they'd kept unsaid.

"A Jin, do you often see those master-level figures when you're at Ye Lou?"

A Jin was surprised; he hadn't mentioned those before and didn't expect to be recognized.

Few in the association know about Ye Lou, and those who have some familiarity, upon hearing the president's remark, looked at A Jin differently.

That's Ye Lou—those who can perform there couldn't possibly be lacking in skill; they're definitely not the kind of little bands that might disband at any moment, and many have great potential, able to sign with companies and release albums, possibly becoming famous at any time.

"Well, that's right—the 'East Palace' at Ye Lou often has master-level performers, and world-class masters sometimes come to play there. Only…… the 'East Palace' isn't easy to get into." A Jin said.

Someone who had been going to Ye Lou frequently lately couldn't help but speak up: "Ye Lou has four areas—East, West, South, and North Palaces; the East Palace is naturally hard to get into. The spending level there isn't something we can afford, and I've heard the audience there often includes some well-known figures from the circle—they're truly expert-level!" Saying that, the person wore a look of longing, but then immediately turned to A Jin and asked, "What's your band called? Do you have any performances lately? I don't know if I missed it—I was there every night last week."

That comment sounded like it was doubting the authenticity of A Jin's band performing at Ye Lou; A Jin didn't mind, and was about to answer when the association president spoke first, pointing at the necklace A Jin was wearing and saying, "newboy, I remember that's your team emblem."

A Jin understood immediately; indeed, that had been guessed from the team emblem.

"We're currently performing in the South Area," A Jin said.

"South Area? No wonder you're a master! That's why I didn't see you—I've been hanging out in the North Area." The person exclaimed in surprise, noting that the resident singers' strength in the North Area is the weakest among Ye Lou's four areas and also the cheapest place to spend, but he hadn't expected that A Jin, someone about their age, could actually enter the South Area, which is of a higher rank than the North Area!

After learning about Ye Lou, the others also joined the discussion.

A celebration feast turned into the association members seeking advice from A Jin, and A Jin didn't hide anything; he was happy to share some of his experiences with them.

Finally, before A Jin left, everyone asked him if he had anything else to say; after thinking, A Jin said, "Be kinder to that black cat."

Everyone just thought A Jin said that because he liked black cats, seeing that their team emblem is a black cat; even though some people had an aversion to black cats, they now promised to always take better care of them.

Seeing that these people obviously weren't taking it to heart, A Jin opened his mouth but still didn't explain. These people don't know the meaning behind those words; many here want to cling to A Jin's thigh, but A Jin himself thinks he's nobody in Ye Lou—even now, in Ye Lou's South Area, their band is at the very bottom, truly insignificant. If anyone here could cling to that cat's thigh, they'd be far more useful than A Jin. That cat is a familiar figure of the Ye Lou Boss; for it, watching the East Palace's performance is as easy as eating peanuts!

As for whether the people here can get any benefits from that cat, it's all up to their fate.

While the students of the Guitar Association at Chu Hua Da Xue were discussing Ye Lou, in a certain private room on the third floor of Ye Lou, Ye Hao, Long Qi, Baizi, and a few other loyal subordinates were looking at a document they had just obtained.

As that huge sum of gold was digested, Ye Hao's invested projects increased, but behind this there were some troubles to handle; previously he had always avoided conflict, but now it was inevitable to confront directly, whether it would be cooperation or enmity depended on that person's attitude. Therefore, Ye Hao finally decided to prepare to visit that person who was a contemporary of Tang Qiye soon; this time he didn't want to rely on Tang Qiye's connections, but intended to face it himself.

When Ye Hao picked up a cup of coffee and opened the latest investigative document in his hand, his hand shook and the coffee spilled onto his suit.

Beside him, Baizi and Long Qi looked at him in confusion, wondering what could make the usually composed Ye Hao show such a constipated expression.

However, upon seeing the explanation in the document and the black cat in the attached photo, Baizi couldn't help but exclaim, "Damn, why is this guy showing up everywhere?!" (To be continued...)

ps: (3.24)