Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
‘Countless chilly winds once caressed my chest.
The farthest dream once forced me to gaze into the stars.’
Chu Xia was surprised again. The singing was good.
Be it the accuracy of the technical notes or the talent in grasping the melody, they were amazing. It was no longer a self-entertaining hobby anymore. He was more like a professionally trained guitarist.
‘Who is that? Is he a student of the Faculty of Art?’
The boy continued to sing in the garden.
‘I was once sneered and mocked countless times, telling me to give up my melodious dream.
I was once drowned by loess, washing away my passion...’
As she quietly listened to the singing, Chu Xia could not help but be drawn to the voice. It was really soothing, no, amazing in fact.
Chu Xia’s vocabulary was limited when it came to describing the singing. She thought that complimenting the voice ‘good’ or ‘nice’ was the highest compliment. In her opinion, the other descriptions were pure flattery.
After the song was finished, Chu Xia could not help but take back her previous guess. This boy was definitely not a student of the faculty as his voice and style were too matured. He could easily be a semi-professional or a full-timer.
While Chu Xia was being impressed by the voice, the boy put the guitar aside and stood up to stretch his body. He turned around and met her gaze.
The boy was surprised before he greeted Chu Xia with a bright smile. “Yo, Ms. Secretary, what a coincidence!”
Chu Xia looked at the boy’s face with a blank expression. Her mind could not comprehend the situation because she was very familiar with his face. She opened her mouth and disbelief escaped her tongue as she said, “S-su Yang?!”
Standing against the sun, Su Yang’s decent face looked a little dazzling. It even caused Chu Xia’s heart to skip a beat. She added, “H-how could it be you?”
Chu Xia’s question stunned Su Yang for a moment before he replied with a confused expression, “Who else could it be? I don’t have a twin.”
Even though the surprise caused Chu Xia’s mind to go blank for a moment, she quickly recovered to her senses. Her confident and casual air returned. “You can play the guitar? Why didn’t I hear you talk about it before?”
“You didn’t ask,” Su Yang said.
‘My my, look who’s so good with his words now...’
Right before Chu Xia could ask any further, Su Yang asked, “Must you talk like this with the parterre in between us?”
Chu Xia then finally noticed the parterre in between them, so she had to raise her voice louder. She blushed as she realized that she was being dumb earlier.
She walked to Su Yang, seeming a lot more relaxed beside him. “You are quite good with the guitar. Have you practiced it for a long time?”
Su Yang spread his hands out. “If I say that today is my first day, will you believe me?”
Chu Xia showed a bright smile and her eyes curled up into two sharp crescent moons. “Of course, I...won’t believe you.”
Su Yang said, “Then, I can’t do anything. I never lie.”
Chu Xia clicked her tongue in disdain and added, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to pick you up,” he said.
Chu Xia was stunned at first, but she quickly realized that Su Yang might be joking again. Her mind spun rapidly as she said, “It seems like you already know that we are going to hold a singing competition on campus. I welcome you. Thank you for supporting the class and my work.”
“What singing competition?” Su Yang was baffled.
Chu Xia took out a proposal from her files and showed it to him. “Have a look.”
Su Yang glanced over at the title: ‘Time Recording Company proudly organizes and sponsors the singing competition on campus that is to be held by three universities as a collaboration.’
He pushed the proposal back. “Not interested.”
“Why not?” Chu Xia asked.
“I don’t have time. I have to work part-time to earn money and study. How do you think I got that many As in the first place? This kind of competition is more suitable for people who treat university life as their honeymoon period. As for me, I’m more suitable to be a viewer. I’ll applaud from aside.”
Su Yang then carried his guitar and then tapped Chu Xia’s shoulder. “Well then, Ms. Great Secretary, I’ll be on my way. You can go get busy.”
He then left the garden while humming a melody, but just as he stepped out of the garden, his steps froze for a moment.
‘Huh? There’s no beep and no mission? Is this son of a b*tch system getting kinder?’
Su Yang did not believe it. He opened the system interface and checked, but he did not get any mission.
‘How strange! This system always knows how to use the situation and get into the tiniest holes, yet it didn’t give me a mission for the talent show? Is it broken?’
However, he would save himself a lot of problems if the system did not give him a mission for the competition. With that in mind, he returned to his basement with his guitar.
He did not have a class today and actually planned to visit Tang Dafa to collect his commission. The visit to the guitar shop was an impromptu one and he headed to the campus because he was nearby. Furthermore, he was afraid to disturb his neighbor by playing the guitar in his basement.
After he tested out his ability, it was time for him to visit Tang Dafa.
He got on the bus, and after a 40-minute journey, Su Yang reached Dafa Gold Shop.
The shop was still dazzling and golden as ever.
Su Yang got to know the salesperson a little better. He greeted her and headed straight into Tang Dafa’s office.
He got through the dragon gat’ with the koi fish sculpture leaping over and reached Tang Dafa’s office. After knocking on the door, Tang Dafa’s voice called out, “Come In.”
Su Yang walked in. Tang Dafa was sitting at his desk reading a book that had three big words on it: ‘Book of Changes1‘.
‘Yo, look at you reading something that deep.’
If Su Yang had not realized that the book was upside down, he might have believed that Tang Dafa was actually reading it.
When Tang Dafa saw Su Yang, his fat face broadened with his signature smile while his eyes curled up and his golden teeth were enchanting.
He put the book down and came up grinning widely. “My my, isn’t this our Brother Su? What brings you here? Why didn’t you inform me beforehand?”
Tang Dafa’s enthusiasm scared Su Yang a little, but once he knew he must have helped the man earn a lot, he immediately understood the situation. He smiled and answered, “I didn’t want to trouble you, Little Boss Tang.”
“Come on, stop with the Little Boss Tang. Just call me Brother Tang from now on.” Tang Dafa patted Su Yang’s shoulder and pretended to be vexed.
Su Yang went along with the flow. “Okay, Brother Tang.”
Tang Dafa brought him to the desk and with his ever-bright smile, he said, “Brother Su, you must be here for the commission, am I right?”
Since Tang Dafa was this succinct, Su Yang felt extra comfortable and he nodded. “Yes, I’m here for the commission. I found Tang Xiaomi and you should have heard about it by now.”
Tang Dafa nodded. “Yeah, I got the news that night. It’s okay. Ms. Tang transferred the money to me that night itself.”
As he spoke, he happily fished out a red envelope from his drawer and passed it to Su Yang. “We will split it 50-50. Here’s your share.”
Su Yang happily took the red envelope, but when he touched it, the volume was thinner than he expected. His smile somewhat froze. Disregarding courtesy, he opened it for a look.
Inside the red envelope were three pieces of red Grandpa Mao notes, looking rather lonely inside.
Su Yang asked in disbelief, “Brother Tang, only 300?”
Tang Dafa’s smile was as sincere as ever. “Yes, my brother. Every fortune-telling session costs 600, so since we are splitting it, 300 is the correct amount.”