Chapter 5: Broken Guitar Band

Chen Ci's "wingmen", although mostly unreliable, are still useful at critical moments.

Two hours later, they met punctually at a bar on West Gongti Road.

"Master Ci, you came this early?"

A person approached, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a square face; for most people, these descriptors would be complimentary.

But on Lao Zhao's face, no matter how you look at it, it feels awkward.

By the way, Lao Zhao's real name is Zhao Jian, and his nickname is Yingjun.

"Lao Zhao, why are you alone? Where are Xiao Wang and Pang Zi?"

The band has four members: Chen Ci is lead vocalist and lead guitarist, drummer Xiao Wang, bassist Pang Zi, and Lao Zhao is the keyboardist.

Of course, they're all multi-talented and sometimes switch roles.

"We're on the road, Jingcheng is like this, traffic jam… Yo! New person, sister-in-law?"

Hearing Lao Zhao's exclamation, Chen Ci waved his hand, ignoring him, and turned to Yang Tongxue to introduce: "His name is Zhao Jian; you can call him Lao Zhao or Yingjun."

"Yingjun?"

Yang Tongxue was a bit dazed; no matter how you look at it, it doesn't match the two words "Yingjun".

Lao Zhao immediately responded: "Hey, it's me, sister-in-law, let's go in first—main hall or private room?"

"Whatever."

That's what was said, but a bar isn't a hotel—what's the point of a room? Of course, it's lively in the main hall.

This bar is huge, with lots of people, as if hosting some event.

Back when they played in a band, this place was an important base for their carousing.

Along the way, people occasionally nodded and greeted him, but Chen Ci basically had no impression; to him, these were all "past events".

Just as they sat down, Lao Zhao greeted: "Master Ci, sister-in-law, you sit first; I'll go get some drinks."

Chen Ci calmly said: "Change mine to juice; I've quit."

Hearing that, Lao Zhao's movement stalled for a moment, and he stood frozen in place.

His strange, stiff expression said it all—You quit drinking? What kind of international joke is that!

But his gaze quickly swept over Yang Tongxue, and a hint of understanding flashed in his eyes.

I see, this must be the "character setting" from the Chen Family Annals; this time you're shaping a teetotaler sunshine image—no wonder it's you……

Lao Zhao, full of admiration, left resolutely.

Yang Tongxue couldn't help but wonder: "What's wrong with him?"

"He's just like that, fickle and eccentric."

"Alright."

Yang Tongxue laughed, finding this person rather interesting, and continued: "Then why does he call me sister-in-law? He's younger than you, I can't tell."

"He's probably a few years older than me; no need to mind him."

"You used to come here often, I see you know quite a few people..."

In less than half an hour, the band's Pang Zi and Xiao Wang arrived together; the Broken Guitar Band finally assembled.

"This is Shi San, this is Pang Zi; his surname is Qiao, you can call him Qiao Pang Zi..."

This who-knows-how-many-time Chen Ci has been attacked by the memories of the dead; these nicknames were all originally coined by Chen Ci.

Xiao Wang, Shi San—because the character "Wang" splits into thirteen.

As for Pang Zi, needless to say.

"Shi San, greetings, Elder Brother Pang."

Yang Tongxue stood up to greet them, and received two replies of "Sister-in-law, hello."

Among the four band members, Lao Zhao and Pang Zi should be older than Chen Ci; Xiao Wang's age is hard to tell, but they all unanimously call her "sister-in-law."

Obviously, Chen Ci is the band's mainstay.

At the same time, she also noticed something interesting: aside from Chen Ci, the other members' appearances are rather… indescribable.

Not to mention Lao Zhao, and Pang Zi is the same.

Shi San is like a skinny monkey, just skin and bones, which makes it hard to gauge his age.

What she didn't know was that all of this was deliberately done by Chen Ci.

When forming the band initially, Chen Ci's goal was crystal clear: he wanted "wingmen", not rivals.

Chen Ci put his words into action, truly not drinking a drop of alcohol.

Not just because of the so-called "character setting", but for health… Well, to be honest, he's worried about drinking again and causing some accident.

He got a second chance at life after a hangover, and he doesn't want any more mishaps.

After catching up on old times, Chen Ci steered the conversation to the main point, softly asking Shi San: "Shi San, I heard from Lao Zhao that your dad… uncle, he passed away?"

Shi San's gaunt face wore a pair of large black-rimmed glasses; hearing Chen Ci's words, his whole demeanor worsened.

He turned and glared fiercely at Lao Zhao, then blurted: "Ci Ge, he's spouting… nonsense."

These days are different; with the "new sister-in-law" sitting beside him, Shi San reorganized his language: "Ci Ge, it's not true; my dad is doing fine."

Upon hearing that, Chen Ci paused, then slowly uttered one word: "Oh."

"Ci Ge, what's wrong with you?"

After Shi San finished asking, Lao Zhao nudged him with his elbow and whispered: "Master Ci's parents died in an expedition mishap."

"What? This, Ci Ge..."

Shi San, face full of urgency, jumped up in a flash; Pang Zi was also startled, imitating him and standing up.

Chen Ci raised his hand to stop them: "It's fine, I'm okay; it's all in the past."

At this moment, Yang Tongxue also lightly took his hand, and Chen Ci returned a smile. For him, after all these years, what is there left to let go of……

Seeing the situation a bit awkward, Pang Zi stepped in to smooth things over: "Today Shi San is back, the Broken Guitar Band counts as mending a broken mirror, let's chat about something happy."

Others immediately chimed in, and the "chief culprit" Lao Zhao hurriedly said: "Shi San, you little brat, didn't you release a new album last month? Our band's musical dream has finally not been broken in its transmission."

Shi San laughed: "Ha, I came back just to say this."

Pang Zi quickly said: "Hurry up and say it, this counts as our band's first album, right?"

"Haha, the album's response is decent; just got the notice, nominated for the Global Chinese Song Chart, should be a lock."

"Whoa, global?"

"Haha, just because of this, the company gave me a bonus."

"How much?"

"Not much, roughly, this number."

Shi San mysteriously held up three fingers, and Pang Zi enviously smacked his lips: "Tsk tsk, Shi San is probably our band's youngest. Lao Zhao, we both came from My Style My Show, look at them."

My Style My Show, a currently popular talent competition, both Lao Zhao and Shi San have participated in.

Lao Zhao, face unsmiling, protested: "How could they be the same? My season was all what kind of people, champion Zhang Jie! How to compare? His season had no one who could fight, even if I went up I'd still be champion!"

Pang Zi showed no mercy: "However Shi San keeps saying he's a champion, you're just a national top twenty—don't try to fake it, I hear it and it's grating."

Lao Zhao jumped up angrily: "Pang Zi, what did you say?"

"You're all Northeasterners, putting on airs? I said you're grating, you don't understand?"

"Damn it, you're asking for a beating, right?"

"Oh wow, pretending to be a Beijinger again?"

"Haha……

Watching the two argue, Yang Tongxue couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Just then, her phone rang, and she quickly got up: "I'll go take a call……"