After the farewell dinner, Lu Yan stayed indoors for two days.
He did almost nothing except sleep. When he felt hungry, he would get up to prepare instant noodles, eat, and then go back to sleep.
His phone ran out of battery and turned off automatically. However, he couldn’t be bothered to charge it and left it untouched by the bedside.
Lu Yan couldn’t quite explain his current state—whether it was avoidance or just adjusting.
After Jiang Yaoming and Huang Xu left the band, all performances were temporarily suspended. The time reserved for rehearsals every week also became empty.
This emptiness was like an invisible vine, creeping in bit by bit.
Although life wasn’t significantly different from before.
On the morning of the third day, Lu Yan finally washed his face, carefully shaved the newly grown stubble, and went to a nearby barbershop to get his hair fixed. When he returned, he boiled some hot water, and while waiting for it to boil, he searched for a charging cable. After rummaging through the cabinet for a while, he found a roughly drawn CD album.
It was the first album released by their band.
The name chosen was particularly unique, called “Orge.”
The album cover was hand-drawn by Lu Yan himself and featured an abstract-looking goat head. Despite having no formal art training, he took matters into his own hands as most of the budget went into the recording studio, leaving him to create the artwork.
The lead single had a special style. The climax of the song began with Lu Yan’s two lines of softly sung lyrics, followed by an overwhelming surge of drum beats:
“Shatter the past,
Who is left?
Move forward
Move forward,
Move forward
…
What’s the use of godlike titles,
Even if we keep falling, it doesn't matter.”
The intense rhythm conveyed the arrogance of wanting to tear everything apart.
The album sold surprisingly well in record stores, and the store owner even joked with them, “When are you guys planning to hold a concert?”
“That day will definitely come,” Jiang Yaoming said at that time. He wiped away his sweat and confidently declared, “we’ll stand on the largest and grandest stage!
Lu Yan found the charging cable, plugged in his phone, and waited for the startup screen to appear. Soon after, he saw a long list of missed calls.
Sun Qian, Li Zhen, Huang Xu…
Lu Yan returned Sun Qian’s call first.
The information about the show was sent out a few days ago, and the last-minute cancellations probably affected the bar one way or another. Lu Yan felt that he owed Sun Qian an apology.
However, Sun Qian was a straightforward person, and not someone who dwelled on such matters. He cared more about the four youths: “Don’t bother apologizing to me. How did things end up for you guys?”
Lu Yan didn’t elaborate much, “Something happened at home for the two.”
As Sun Qian mentioned before, he also played in a band when he was young. He could easily sense the underlying meaning behind the phrase ‘happened at home.’
The band he formed during his college days also went their separate ways after graduation, heading into careers, marriage, and starting families…
Sun Qian sighed quietly in his heart.
Lu Yan’s band was definitely not the first one to perform at their bar. Over the years, many young people have come and gone. But this “Demon King Band” as dubbed by the jianghu definitely lasted the longest.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Sun Qian was upset watching as an outsider, let alone how Lu Yan felt. He comforted the other: “Life is like this, ideals are too imaginary. Sometimes no matter how much we talk about dreams, we have to return to reality in the end. Especially when it comes to playing rock music…don’t be discouraged. Our environment is like this. Staying underground is fine, but if you want to rise above, it’s too difficult.”
Lu Yan remained silent.
Sun Qian continued, “Sometimes life teaches you to learn to compromise.”
He was in the middle of speaking when Lu Yan suddenly called out, “Qian ge.”
Sun Qian: “?”
“But I believe,” as he spoke, Lu Yan seemed to be transported back to several years ago. The latter part of his sentence was spoken slowly, “…Life is about never compromising.”
Sun Qian was stunned by these words.
Lu Yan continued, “Enough about that, Qian ge. I have to go to the station to send them off later.”
As Lu Yan finished preparing to leave, a loud noise suddenly came from outside.
It was the sound of someone kicking the door.
It was followed by the increasingly frenzied voice of an unfamiliar woman, “You slut, seducing other people’s husbands, you should have expected this day. Come out—”
601 opened the door.
The woman in 601 was wearing a black backless short skirt with a promiscuous appearance. It seemed she just returned to the building and didn’t have the chance to remove her makeup. Her eyes were tired, and her lipstick and eye shadow were layered on very thickly, creating a rather cheap look.
Leaning against the door frame, she held a lady’s cigarette between her fingertips. As soon as she opened the door, an unfamiliar woman outside slapped her, causing her head to turn slightly.
She seemed completely unfazed as she brushed some strands of hair behind her ear. Taking another drag from her cigarette, she asked, “Enough?”
“Can’t even manage your own man,” she chuckled as she exhaled smoke, “and you come here to cause a scene with me?”
This remark made the unfamiliar woman’s eyes turn red.
However, 601 didn’t intend to engage in further conversation with her. She simply stated, “If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police.”
“You’ll call the police? Go ahead, call them. I wonder if the police will arrest me first or you, this prostitute—”
The word “prostitute” was sharp enough to cut through the air.
601 didn’t say anything more and closed the door.
Lu Yan felt rather awkward after having witnessed this farce. Looking at the door of 601, he remembered the young master with a bad attitude.
The two didn’t seem to have any connection at all.
Why did he look for her?
Should he inform her?
But she explicitly said there was no need.
Lu Yan struggled to make a decision on whether to meddle or not.
…Forget it.
Lu Yan withdrew his gaze.
He thought, why bother about all this?
Jiang Yaoming and Huang Xu bought tickets for the train to Qingcheng scheduled for ten in the morning. Li Zhen called him asking if he would go to see them off, but the call didn’t get through.
The train station was crowded with people.
In the stifling heat, people were rushing around in a hurry with sweat streaming down their faces.
In the crowd of people dragging luggage and carrying large bags, Lu Yan immediately spotted the two members of their band. Among the bustling crowd, they were the only ones carrying a guitar case.
After coming to Xiajing City to work hard for four years, the two of them didn’t have much luggage.
Lu Yan didn’t approach them yet, but Huang Xu already saw him from a distance.
“Yan ge!” Huang Xu called out, then asked with surprise, “Did you change your hairstyle?”
Lu Yan smiled, “Yeah, how is it?”
Huang Xu: “Handsome.”
Afraid that Lu Yan wouldn’t believe him, he emphasized, “Really handsome and cool, a different type of handsome from before.”
After cutting his hair short, Lu Yan didn’t look as rebellious as before. Instead, his facial features became more prominent, and the wind blew his bangs into a middle parting.
“I tried calling you last night but couldn’t reach you. I thought you weren’t coming,” Li Zhen said.
“My phone died, forgot to charge it.”
“I’m impressed. How did you manage to not forget about yourself too?”
“So annoying, I’m here now, aren’t I?,” Lu Yan handed over the snacks he bought in advance. “I was afraid you’d have trouble carrying a lot of stuff, so I didn’t buy much. Just make do with this.”
“Why did you buy these?” Jiang Yaoming took them, “We have everything.”
Lu Yan was decisive, “Okay, give them back to me.”
“Are you for real?” Jiang Yaoming asked.
“Give them back to me.”
“Who gives things only to take them back?”
After some banter about a few ten yuan snacks, Lu Yan looked at the scrolling updates on the screen for the next station, Xiajing City to Qingcheng, Train K126: “Is it time to check tickets?”
“You’ve brought all your ID?”
“Yep, I’ve got it. I’ll send you some local specialties from Qingcheng when we get back! Our jian bing there are truly unparalleled…”
While Jiang Yaoming was talking, Lu Yan walked up and patted him and Huang Xu on the shoulders. “Alright, I’ll be waiting. Have a smooth journey.”
Li Zhen also joined in for the camaraderie.
The scene of four big men huddling together wasn’t very graceful. Lu Yan was about to step back when he heard Huang Xu softly say three words in the confined space between their heads: “I’m sorry.”
This is actually a very peculiar feeling.
Teammates who have been together for four years are about to go their separate ways.
Between Xiajing and Qingcheng, these two cities are separated by over two thousand kilometers.
Lu Yan thought he adjusted his mood in the past two days, but at this moment, he deeply realized that reality and the various preparations in his mind were completely different: these two people were really leaving.
Although Huang Xu’s guitar skills haven’t improved much over the past few years, Lu Yan wouldn’t hear them anymore.
Jiang Yaoming always complained that his bass had no presence. In the recording studio, he would secretly turn up his volume and pressed it against the speaker to create a “boom.”
In his ear came a low voice again saying, “I’m sorry.”
This time, it was Jiang Yaoming who said it.
“Passengers taking Train K126, please prepare your tickets and ID for inspection as you board.”
The announcement was made twice. The two of them lowered their heads to find their tickets and IDs, dragging their suitcases to get ready for inspection. Standing behind them, Lu Yan couldn’t help but say, “…are you two finished?”
“Sorry for what? Take your apologies back.”
“Do you want to quit the band then?”
“Did your resignation get approved?”
Lu Yan’s sudden string of sarcastic remarks left the other three stunned.
“You’re thinking too beautifully.”
“No matter where you two go or what you do in the future, whether you’re selling jian bing in Qingcheng or growing scallions in the countryside, you will always be a part of Vent.”
Lu Yan concluded, “This is not a resignation, and it’s not a disbandment. Vent will not disband.”
Li Zhen realized, “Right! We won’t disband! Selling jian bing is fine, but what’s this strange job of growing scallions…”
After saying this, there was a moment of silence.
Jiang Yaoming turned away, quickly wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
Huang Xu’s eyes slowly turned red with tears streaming down his face. “Yan ge…”
After Lu Yan finished speaking, he felt touched himself. Looking at Huang Xu in this state, he wanted to reach out and pat his head.
However, in the next moment, Huang Xu said with a tearful and broken voice, “Yan ge, after I leave, you really need to practice your guitar… your guitar playing is just too terrible, it’s really terrible…”
“You… complaining about my guitar playing, and you have so many demands. It’s really annoying. Not every guitarist is as easy going as I am. If you’re capable, play it yourself…”
Lu Yan’s hand froze after reaching out halfway.
Huang Xu was crying so much that he was almost hiccupping, “You say you have such long fingers, but what’s the use of them…”
Lu Yan: “…”
Lu Yan wanted to take back what he said earlier.
This band can disband.
In the end, this farewell almost turned into a scene where Li Zhen had to drag Lu Yan away and prevent him from publicly beating his teammates. Jiang Yaoming and Huang Xu tearfully handed their tickets to the ticket inspector, bringing an end to the farewell.
The train bound for Qingcheng eventually carried away the two rock youths who used to carry their guitars and ask one by one at the entrance of the air-raid shelter, “Is your band recruiting?”
Oh my lovelies, I honestly wouldn’t have had any other way of they didn’t react like that 🥹