Chapter 61: Absolute Pitch

August 27, afternoon.

The new first-year students of Fu Yi Middle School, dressed in military training uniforms and organized by class, formed long lines and orderly exited the school gate to their respective buses.

Zhu Yufei, as the sports committee member, carried a red-and-yellow flag printed with "Class 8, First Year" and led the way at the front.

Li Luo walked at the rear of the class, chatting idly with Kong Junxiang as they moved.

Logically speaking, assigning high school students to military camps for training was a privilege rarely seen even in some universities.

But the principal of Fu Yi Middle School was himself a military veteran who valued such student qualities, and with his strong personal connections, he managed to arrange this camp experience for the students.

Even Qianjiang University didn't have this capability.

Of course, this also had to do with numbers.

After all, Qianjiang University might have several thousand new students per cohort.

Fu Yi Middle School had only six hundred or so first-year students, making them relatively easier to manage.

"What's Professor Kong looking at?" Li Luo glanced at Kong Junxiang's phone and asked curiously.

"Just checking some messages," Kong Junxiang quietly closed the Qidian Reading app, confirmed a certain book had just been updated, then reluctantly tucked his phone back into his pocket, his fingers itching.

The line moved slowly forward; Zhu Yufei had already led his class onto the bus.

Most students felt a faint excitement, as if heading out for a picnic.

Li Luo followed the line, glancing around, and immediately spotted Class One's bus across the road.

Ying Chanxi was also at the rear of her class; upon seeing Li Luo, she waved at him.

Before Li Luo could respond, Yan Zhusheng beside him noticed Ying Chanxi's greeting and politely waved back.

"She was waving at me," Li Luo turned and said.

"Was she?" Yan Zhusheng paused, then asked, "But I've taken her to dinner—you haven't. Why couldn't she be waving at me?"

Li Luo: "... You've got a point."

After boarding, Li Luo sat beside Yan Zhusheng; across the aisle sat Kong Junxiang and Instructor Zhang.

Once everyone stowed their luggage, Lin Yuan eagerly opened his guitar case and sat down with the instrument, showing it off.

Though he hadn't gotten to sit with Hua Xiuxiu, she was now seated directly across the aisle—still an excellent position.

Before the bus even started, Lin Yuan was already eager to play.

Last night's vocal performance, though Lin Yuan had been extremely nervous on stage and his fingers trembled after finishing,

had since released a portion of his self-confidence.

At least singing in front of classmates no longer made him as tense as during his initial self-introduction at the start of the term.

Li Luo hadn't brought his guitar.

After learning its price, he felt a bit guilty about using it carelessly; he only played it at home when necessary, never taking it out unless absolutely required.

Fortunately, Lin Yuan had brought his guitar; after playing for about ten minutes once the bus was underway, Lin Yuan finally grew tired.

Li Luo, in the front row, signaled for it.

He wasn't a guitar expert; to him, any guitar felt much the same—just play it. At most, he could sense slight differences in touch and tone.

"Come on, song requests!" Li Luo stood up once the bus hit the highway and stabilized, leaning against the aisle railing, smiling at his classmates, "Let's all sing together."

"Let's row our oars~"

"The little boat pushes through the waves~"

Almost everyone knew at least a few lines; as Li Luo started, a few bold students joined in, and soon the entire bus was singing together:

"The lake reflects the beautiful white pagoda~"

"Surrounded by green trees and red walls~"

Instructor Zhang, listening to the singing, couldn't help smiling: "You guys think this military training is a spring outing."

Kong Junxiang also laughed, glancing at Li Luo, who was enthusiastically playing the guitar; feeling the lively, joyful atmosphere in the class, he felt even more satisfied.

Only two or three days into military training, because of Li Luo, most classmates had already developed a strong sense of belonging to Class 8, First Year.

The school's original intention in arranging military training during the start of term was precisely to achieve this effect.

Often, whether a class is good or not depends not just on teachers and the school, but more on the overall atmosphere of the class.

Someone like Li Luo, who could unite the entire Class 8 in just a few days, saved Kong Junxiang a great deal of trouble.

"Professor Kong, you should sing a song too."

As Kong Junxiang chuckled, watching the scene, Li Luo turned his gaze toward him and grinned as he sidled over.

Kong Junxiang himself had only graduated from university a few years ago and quickly blended in with the students.

After everyone had sung themselves hoarse, Li Luo finally stopped playing the guitar.

He had intended to return it, but Yan Zhusheng suddenly grabbed his arm and took the guitar away.

"What's going on?" Li Luo asked, puzzled. "You want to sing yourself?"

During the group singing, Yan Zhusheng hadn't sung a note; Li Luo had assumed she wasn't interested because he played poorly.

But Yan Zhusheng simply said, "I'm tuning it."

She held the guitar, lightly plucked a string, listened intently, then turned the tuning pegs to adjust the tension.

"Is this guitar out of tune?" Li Luo asked curiously.

Yan Zhusheng glanced at him and said, "Terribly out of tune. The rhythm sounds like noise."

Li Luo pulled at his mouth: "... Your ears are a bit spoiled."

"There." Yan Zhusheng finished tuning and handed the guitar back to him. "Try it now."

Li Luo took the guitar skeptically and plucked a string.

Then he couldn't help raising an eyebrow.

How to put it... the sensation was peculiar.

Previously, when he played guitar, he could accept that tone and texture, but after Yan Zhusheng made these changes, the sound really did become much nicer.

"How did you change it?" Li Luo turned to ask.

"Just fix the pitch of one string first, then adjust the rest in order," Yan Zhusheng said simply.

"What if all six strings are out of tune?"

"Then fix one of them first."

"How do you know the pitch you fixed is accurate?"

Yan Zhusheng gave him a strange look: "My ears tell me."

"... That's called perfect pitch, right?"

"Something like that."

Li Luo clicked his tongue, then suddenly thought of something and asked: "Can perfect pitch be trained?"

"No," Yan Zhusheng shook his head. "But with enough practice, you can get close to the effect of perfect pitch."

Li Luo thought of his Memory Palace, where even sounds could be copied and memorized—if he wanted to, could he achieve the effect of perfect pitch?

"Hey, let me try too," Li Luo thought, handing the guitar to Yan Zhusheng. "Tune it out of tune, then teach me how to tune it back."

Yan Zhusheng blinked, looking down at the guitar in his hands: "For ordinary people, it's better to use a tuner when tuning."