Chapter 136: If Similarities Exist, It

November 12, Wednesday, sunny.

Yuhang Attached No. 1 High School's annual sports meet will take place on the playground tomorrow.

At around six in the evening, student council members wearing name tags were walking back and forth across the playground, managing event materials and arrangements.

Li Luo was assigned to the backstage of the podium due to his membership in the rock club, helping the music teacher inspect and tune the instruments.

Watching Li Luo casually strike out a melody on the electronic keyboard, Teacher Jiang raised an eyebrow: "I remember you're a guitarist—so you can play keyboard too?"

"A little of everything." Li Luo smiled modestly, confirmed the keyboard's microphone was working, then moved to the drum kit and played a convincing rhythm.

"You're being modest," Teacher Jiang chuckled. "You're pretty good at drums too."

In truth, Li Luo had never really learned.

This was just a new application he'd discovered for his Memory Palace.

Or rather, a skill he'd gradually mastered through prolonged, daily use of the Memory Palace.

Li Luo temporarily called it Soul Possession.

It was simply because, over the past several months, he'd watched several rock club members play instruments almost every day.

Gradually, every detail of their playing motions was etched into his memory.

Especially after hearing the same song many times, Li Luo overlaid each memory, replayed them repeatedly in his Memory Palace, and after achieving a certain harmony with his own body, he could attempt a one-to-one replication.

At first, it might feel awkward, but the memories were so vivid that with just a little practice, he could slip into the state and complete the replication.

Of course, this ability was currently limited to replication—he could only play "Brave Heart" and "Blooming Life" so far.

For other instruments, he wasn't as fluent as with his guitar; he still needed proper study to fully master them.

But if he wanted to pick up a new instrument, he'd certainly find it much easier than others.

While Li Luo and Teacher Jiang were checking the instruments, Gao Er's Wei Duo walked into the backstage of the podium and said to one of the student council members: "Monitor, the teacher wants you in the office."

"Oh, got it," the monitor replied, informed the nearby student, then hurried off to find the teacher.

Wei Duo had planned to leave after running the errand, but her gaze swept over the newly moved instruments backstage, and she paused in surprise.

"Teacher Jiang," Wei Duo asked, puzzled, "has our rock club's performance application been canceled? Will we still perform?"

"Of course," Teacher Jiang glanced at Wei Duo and nodded. "Oh, you've been busy with competitions, so you probably don't know—Niu Qingling managed to gather enough people after all. This is our guitarist."

As he spoke, Teacher Jiang patted Li Luo's shoulder to introduce him.

Guitarist?

Wei Duo's eyes landed on Li Luo—he did ring a bell.

Although Li Luo had never officially joined their rock club, he often accompanied Yan Zhusheng over to visit, and when someone was missing, he'd pick up a guitar and fill in.

But… the rock club was missing its lead singer, not its guitarist—wasn't Xie Shuchen, the first-year, already handling guitar?

"If he's the guitarist, where's Xie Shuchen?" Wei Duo asked, surprised.

"Xie Shuchen studied piano—he picked up the keyboard quickly," Teacher Jiang said.

Hearing Xie Shuchen was now on keyboard, Wei Duo's confusion deepened: "Xie Shuchen on keyboard—so Yan Zhusheng is the lead singer?"

"Yes," Teacher Jiang smiled. "If you hadn't gone to the competition, I wouldn't have known Yan Zhusheng sings so well—she performed once at the parent meeting, and it was amazing."

Teacher Jiang clearly wasn't good with words—his remark instantly darkened Wei Duo's expression.

But in front of the teacher, she couldn't say much.

In truth, her decision to skip this sports meet performance wasn't just because of competition prep—there were other reasons.

For example, the two songs chosen for the event weren't ones she liked, and weren't even her strongest genre.

Also, after National Day, the previous club president stepped down and handed the position to Niu Qingling, not to her, Wei Duo.

Beyond that… there was Yan Zhusheng.

When Wei Duo was still in the rock club, she was the prettiest member by far.

Niu Qingling, for instance, didn't even count—her arms were thick from drumming, downright ugly.

And none of the senior girls who had left the club were prettier than her.

This made her wildly popular and constantly praised in the club.

But since the start of the semester, Yan Zhusheng had joined the rock club, shattering the spotlight that had always shone on Wei Duo.

It made Wei Duo uncomfortable.

Especially since Yan Zhusheng acted like she could do everything—whenever an instrument was short-handed, she'd step in effortlessly, as if by instinct, and often outshine the original player.

With both talent and beauty at the top tier, she instantly overshadowed Wei Duo, the rock club's queen.

But now you're telling her Yan Zhusheng could also be lead singer—and sing better than her?

Female vocal tones weren't even suited to those two rock songs—how good could Yan Zhusheng possibly be?

Wei Duo didn't believe it for a second; she thought Teacher Jiang was blaming her for dropping out at a critical moment, hurting his performance metrics and bonus.

Still, she kept a polite smile: "Then I wish our rock club great success and a smooth performance—I've got things to do, so I'll be off."

After watching Wei Duo leave, Teacher Jiang stretched and said to Li Luo: "We've checked everything—time for me to go. Good luck tomorrow."

"Alright, goodbye, Teacher Jiang."

…

During evening self-study, the five rock club members gathered backstage at the podium for their final rehearsal before the sports meet.

During a break, Shao Youpeng suddenly asked: "Niu Jie, did Wei Duo come find you today?"

"No, why?" Niu Qingling blinked. "Did she find you? What did she want?"

"Just asked about the rock club," Shao Youpeng said. "She thought we couldn't gather enough people and wouldn't perform—probably just heard we're still going."

"And then?"

"Then…" Shao Youpeng chuckled, glanced at Yan Zhusheng, and shrugged. "She made a few snide remarks—said Yan Zhusheng's just a first-year with no performance experience, and told me to take extra care of her, not let her get too nervous."

"You think Yan Zhusheng needs you to take care of her?"

She's so into singing on stage she might just pull the mic cable out.

After hearing this, Xie Shuchen frowned: "When she joined the club, I thought Senior Wei Duo seemed nice. Why would she say something like that?"

"That's just how she is," Niu Qingling sneered. "As long as no one's prettier than her, she's full of confidence. After the president didn't pick her, she even mocked me behind my back."

"Ah, really…?" Xie Shuchen opened his mouth, then scratched his head. "Senior Wei Duo isn't that good-looking, is she?"

"Not even close to Xu Youyu from our class," Shao Youpeng nodded.

"Not even as pretty as one of Ying Chanxi's fingers."

"Not even comparable to our Yan Zhusheng," Li Luo said with a smile, holding his guitar. "Forget about others—we just focus on ourselves."

Yan Zhusheng listened indifferently until Li Luo praised her, then she tilted her head, blinking at him.

When the second evening self-study session ended, the five of them packed up and left the backstage of the stage, heading toward the teaching building.

Yan Zhusheng turned her head and asked, "So, Li Luo, who do you think is the prettiest—me, Chanxi, or Senior Wei Duo?"

"Why ask a question like that?"

"I'm curious."

"Each has her own charm."

"But in your book, you wrote that Mo Qinghan is the most exquisitely beautiful in terms of looks alone."

Yan Zhusheng knew every detail of Li Luo's novel descriptions by heart.

"Shen Dongdong is spoiled yet adorable, radiating a natural youthful aura—like a white, delicate lotus blooming pure from the mud in a summer lake."

"Jiang Ming's mature charm contrasts sharply with her casual, carefree personality, and combined with her perfect figure, it showcases an irresistible contrast."

Here, Yan Zhusheng nodded and concluded: "So I'm the prettiest."

Li Luo's lip twitched, thinking he shouldn't have let her read his draft.

Besides,

"You described Shen Dongdong and Jiang Ming so thoroughly—why didn't you finish describing Mo Qinghan?"

"Hmm…" Yan Zhusheng looked down at the top of her foot, frowning unhappily. "Li Luo's a bad person."

"Cough, cough—I must emphasize," Li Luo cleared his throat and said seriously, "All characters in my novel are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons is purely coincidental."