Chapter 68: Sorry, I Have Someone I Like

Although Kong Jun said yesterday that today we just need to get to class before eight,

most classmates had already started arriving before seven.

When Li Luo and Yan Zhusheng entered through the back door, the classroom was already more than half full.

"Zhu Yufei, go get a few people." Li Luo patted Zhu Yufei on the shoulder as he passed, startling him into a shiver.

Li Luo frowned and looked down, realizing the kid was secretly playing on his phone.

"Class monitor, you scared the hell out of me," Zhu Yufei turned around and saw it was Li Luo, his expression flat, "I thought it was Teacher Kong."

"What are you watching?" Li Luo leaned in curiously and saw the kid was reading an Online Novel, "What's this book?"

"I Am Really Not a Star, it's pretty good," Zhu Yufei secretly showed Li Luo, "The main character dates three female celebrities, super intense."

"Intense my ass, he hasn't even hooked up with one yet," Zhang Guohuang chimed in from the side, "The protagonist's a dead end."

Li Luo: "... Where are you two reading this?"

"Some Pavilion."

"Oh." Li Luo nodded, expressionless, and walked back to his seat, setting down his backpack, "You'd better put your phone away before Teacher Kong spots it."

"Relax, relax, I've been outsmarting teachers for years—I know the drill," Zhu Yufei winked at him, then stood up to call over a few guys, "You're going to pick up the uniforms, right?"

"Yeah." Li Luo replied, silently suppressing the urge to assassinate the two of them, and led the group toward the door, "To the sports field warehouse."

…

In the morning, Li Luo led the group to collect eight class's uniforms—two sets per person—and distributed them.

At 8:30, the entrance exam officially began, starting with Chinese.

Math was at 1 p. m., English at 3 p. m., then it was over.

Since junior high politics, history, and science become six elective subjects in high school, they weren't tested in this entrance exam—only the three main subjects were covered.

For Li Luo, this was a moderately good piece of news.

After all, Chinese and English were heavily influenced by the Memory Palace; even without knowing the exam questions in advance, his performance wouldn't be much worse than his middle school entrance exam.

But subjects like math and science were hit hard.

Still, it was just an entrance exam, so Li Luo didn't care too much about the score—as long as he studied hard after enrollment, with the Memory Palace's ability, if he still couldn't learn well, he might as well go smash his head against a block of tofu.

Over the past few days, aside from needing to focus in class after the exam, Li Luo's remaining energy went mostly into daily writing and recording the two songs.

But there was one problem…

"Your singing… has a lot of issues."

The day after the entrance exam, on Tuesday, during lunch break, Yan Zhusheng and Li Luo slipped into an empty classroom on the sixth floor to practice.

Because Yan Zhusheng had high standards for songs, Li Luo had been practicing according to her criteria for the past two days.

Honestly, his singing level among ordinary people was decent, but compared to Yan Zhusheng, a professional, it was worlds apart.

"So how long do I have to practice?" Li Luo asked, exasperated, "Aren't a lot of singers studio gods? Can't you just fix it up later?"

"It's always better to sound natural," Yan Zhusheng said, "And vocal skills require gradual practice and improvement. You won't see big progress by this weekend, but over time, your improvement will become obvious."

"Fine." Li Luo sighed, then added, "But for 'Year Rings,' just use your recording—I'll only record 'Waiting for You to Get Out of Class.'"

Yan Zhusheng didn't ask why; she simply nodded and said, "Alright, but I have another issue."

"What?"

"What does your song 'Year Rings' mean?" Yan Zhusheng tilted her head, "Sadness? Regret? Sorrow?"

"Uh… just treat it as a sad love song, roughly the same idea."

"But I'm terrible at sad love songs," Yan Zhusheng frowned.

Yan Zhusheng's reminder made Li Luo realize something.

Even ten years later, the short video songs Yan Zhusheng posted online were often called by netizens "a emotionless technical machine."

For songs requiring powerful, high-pitched climaxes, she could mask this flaw with the texture of her voice.

But when it came to tender, emotional ballads, Yan Zhusheng struggled.

She could sing them, but they lacked the feeling.

Still, Li Luo never expected Yan Zhusheng to sing them perfectly.

After all, her talent was obvious—he only needed "Year Rings" to add flavor to his Online Novel.

He was genuinely curious: if such a once-popular song were originally created within a cultural entertainment novel, could it still become as wildly popular as before?

He also wondered how much money it could make under these circumstances.

"But," Yan Zhusheng suddenly said, "if I have to sing a sad love song, there's another way."

"What way?" Li Luo blinked, curious.

Yan Zhusheng tilted her head, looked at Li Luo, thought for a moment, then suddenly said to him: "I like you."

Li Luo felt his heart skip a beat: "... Huh?"

"You have to reject me," Yan Zhusheng frowned, seriously discussing it with Li Luo, "I've read some novels where the female lead suffers emotional setbacks and becomes heartbroken—I need to find that feeling."

Li Luo twitched his mouth, thinking this was some bizarre method, and couldn't help asking, "What kind of method is this?"

"Emotional immersion?" Yan Zhusheng blinked, "Just give it a try."

"Fine." Li Luo swallowed, sat up straight, his expression turning serious, "Go ahead, I'm ready."

"Okay." Seeing his seriousness, Yan Zhusheng composed herself, took a deep breath, then looked at him again, "Li Luo, I like you."

Honestly,

even if it was fake, being confessed to by a girl like Yan Zhusheng still made the heart race.

The midday sun slanted through the window, falling across Yan Zhusheng's profile, light and shadow perfectly interweaving on her Bai Xi face.

It made one involuntarily hold their breath.

Li Luo turned his gaze away and said with difficulty: "Sorry, I have someone I like."

Yan Zhusheng heard his words and silently closed her eyes.

She picked up the guitar beside her and slowly plucked the strings with her fingers.

In her mind, she strained to recall every heartbreaking scene she had ever seen, blending it with the emotion of her recent confession being rejected; as feeling surged upward, Yan Zhusheng pressed her lips slightly, tasting bitterness:

"Circles trace into fingerprints~"

"Imprinted on my lips~"

Li Luo, standing across from her, paused, sensing the subtle emotion woven into the lyrics, slightly astonished.

It's not… actually working?