Chapter 82: One Song

"Wasn't the one just now another vice-president?"

On the way to find Yan Zhusheng, Ying Chanxi suddenly asked.

"Yeah." Li Luo nodded. "I was even surprised—last week during self-study, I turned down joining the literature club, and she was pretty mad then. Didn't expect her to write me a letter."

"Probably not anything good." Xu Youyu rolled her eyes. "Her few real strengths are a sharp writing style, a domineering and cutting personality, and a love for passive-aggressive remarks."

"Senior, talking behind someone's back like that isn't very nice." Li Luo smiled. "Now that you say that, I'm actually curious what she wrote."

"At least I pointed out her few good points." Xu Youyu pouted. "As for what's in her letter, don't tell me after you read it—basically it's all bad stuff. Just prepare yourself mentally."

"Huh... I rarely get letters from girls, and I never expected one could be mocking me," Li Luo sighed. "Unlike you two, you're surprisingly popular."

"I don't know why boys' minds always harbor unrealistic fantasies." Xu Youyu grumbled. "They barely interact with girls at all, yet still imagine beautiful ones voluntarily sending letters or showing interest in them."

"Better safe than sorry." Li Luo said. "Before adulthood, many people subconsciously believe they're the protagonist of a story."

"Sounds like you think adulthood changes that." Xu Youyu sighed wearily. "My drawer keeps mysteriously filling with love letters, and QQ keeps popping up with random friend requests sending weird messages."

"... It kinda feels like you're showing off."

"Like you don't have the same thing." Ying Chanxi glanced at him suddenly. "Just now, Hua Xiuxiu gave you a letter and said some things were too awkward to say face-to-face. I wonder what they are."

"Oh?" Xu Youyu perked up. "Really? You're not so simple after all."

"You two are just overthinking it."

By this point, the three had reached the school gate.

There, beside the school gate on the roadside steps, Yan Zhusheng sat quietly crouched.

She wore earphones, listening silently to music, her gaze drifting over the schoolyard scenery.

Whenever students passed by after school, male or female, they couldn't help but stare at her exquisite face, their eyes lingering long.

When Li Luo and the others appeared at the gate, Yan Zhusheng's gaze finally focused, landing on Li Luo's face, then she stood up.

"Waited long?" Li Luo asked.

Yan Zhusheng shook her head: "One song's time."

"Can you give me one song's time~" Li Luo raised an eyebrow, humming playfully.

Yan Zhusheng tilted her head, instinctively joining in softly: "Hold that embrace tight, turn it into forever~"

"Are you two exchanging secret codes here?" Xu Youyu chuckled.

"Let's go. Buy some vegetables on the way." Ying Chanxi tugged Li Luo's arm. "Your mom called me last night—I told her we'd eat dinner at a classmate's place, so she doesn't need to cook tonight."

"Oh." Li Luo replied, then realized, "Why didn't my mom call me?"

Ying Chanxi gave him a look. "Probably thinks you're unreliable."

"... You're practically my parents' daughter now."

"Hmph."

The four left the school gate and hailed a taxi.

Li Luo sat in the front passenger seat; the three girls sat side by side in the back.

First they took a taxi to Yan Zhusheng's home, dropped off their backpacks, then went together to the nearby vegetable market to buy groceries.

Li Luo had no sense of gallantry—he walked ahead, haggling with stall owners, then handed the purchased vegetables to the girls behind him.

Soon, Ying Chanxi and the other two held full plastic bags; Li Luo's hands were empty as he strolled around the market.

"Does Li Luo often buy vegetables?" Yan Zhusheng asked, curious about his skilled manner.

"His family runs a breakfast shop." Ying Chanxi blinked, uncertain. "Maybe he often comes with his uncle and aunt to the market."

"Li Luo seems so independent." Xu Youyu watched him stroll through the market with ease, her eyes filled with envy. "When I came to buy vegetables, I was too shy to haggle—he even had the nerve to ask the vendor for free scallions."

"If you just ask, they usually give them for free." Ying Chanxi glanced at her, unable to resist reminding her.

"Huh? Really?" Xu Youyu, lacking life experience, was surprised.

Walking through the market, Xu Youyu observed Li Luo's every move, enthusiastically noting them all down.

She thought to herself: now she had fresh material to write about the daily lives of her novel's protagonists.

Next time, write a scene where the two go shopping together.

The protagonist must ask the vendor for free scallions too.

Thinking this, Xu Youyu nodded in satisfaction, unaware that her protagonist was increasingly becoming a copy of Li Luo.

After buying the vegetables, the group returned to Yan Zhusheng's home.

They carried the ingredients into the kitchen; Yan Zhusheng called the cook, telling her to take the night off.

"I'll prep the ingredients first," Li Luo said. "A few dishes need marinating ahead of time to absorb flavor."

Yan Zhusheng nodded and stepped out of the kitchen: "I'll go upstairs to test the equipment. When you're ready, come up to record."

"I'll help you," Ying Chanxi said, taking down the only two aprons on the wall, putting one on Li Luo and one on herself, then pulling ingredients from the plastic bags.

Seeing this, Xu Youyu wisely decided not to intrude and followed Yan Zhusheng upstairs: "I'll go check out the recording studio then."

The four split into two groups: Li Luo and Ying Chanxi stayed in the kitchen; Xu Youyu, curious, trailed behind Yan Zhusheng to her recording room.

Seeing the wall lined with a dazzling array of instruments, Xu Youyu's eyes sparkled. "So many instruments—are you collecting them?"

"No." Yan Zhusheng shook her head. "I know a bit of each. When I get tired of piano, I switch to another."

"Is that a pipa?" Xu Youyu pointed to a stringed instrument.

"That's a ruan. It looks similar to a pipa."

"And this one? Is this also an instrument?"

"That's a xun."

"Ah? I thought it was a decoration."

Yan Zhusheng took the xun from the shelf—it looked like a ceramic vase with several holes, playable like a flute to control pitch.

Right before Xu Youyu's eyes, Yan Zhusheng played "Waiting for You After Class" on the xun.

Xu Youyu's eyes gleamed; the more he looked at Yan Zhusheng, the more satisfied he became, already barely able to resist the urge to write her into his book.

He could write a female supporting character who was obsessed with music but indifferent to romance, becoming friends with the protagonist and a kindred spirit in music.

The moment he thought of this, Xu Youyu's inspiration gushed out in torrents, and his whole spirit grew exhilarated.

Yan Zhusheng glanced at Xu Youyu and couldn't shake the feeling that his gaze toward her was strange.