After the train departed, Li Zhen sat on a waiting chair, feeling like he just woke up from a dream. It was only when Lu Yan called him over that he realized with a bewildered expression, “It’s just the two of us now?”
Lu Yan looked at him with his hands in his pockets, “En.”
In fact, Li Zhen hadn’t felt much over the past two days. He continued to go to the music department to teach his students, ate well, and slept well. He didn’t know that sometimes people’s emotions could be delayed. And so, he repeated to himself in a murmuring tone, “Just… the two of us left?”
“Let’s go,” Lu Yan said, “back home.”
Li Zhen lowered his head and wiped his face.
Lu Yan looked outside at the sky and added, “By the way, let’s stop by the air-raid tunnel.”
Li Zhen: “???” Are you sure you want to do that right now?
Lu Yan replied quite naturally, “For the new recruits.”
In addition to being a gathering place for major bands for rehearsals, the air-raid shelter was also a place for new members’ auditions. Lu Yan easily dispelled the slightly melancholic atmosphere.
Li Zhen was almost incredulous, “Just a moment ago, you were saying to Huang Xu and Da Ming, ‘You guys will always be a part of Vent.’ You said it so emotionally that I was almost in tears, and now, not even two minutes after they boarded the train, you’re fucking talking about recruiting new members?”
Lu Yan: “Is there a problem?”
Li Zhen: “…”
Lu Yan was just making a joke. After Li Zhen’s mood lightened, Lu Yan continued, “I was just kidding. Besides, there aren’t many people in the tunnel at this time.”
Li Zhen punched him and retorted, “Damn, the point is that there’s no one here right now. If there were, you’d be there in a heartbeat.”
Walking ahead of him, Lu Yan echoed with a serious tone, “Yeah, it’s a pity.”
Lu Yan didn’t use many words to console him, but Li Zhen understood. He was telling him not to be disheartened and just keep going.
Indeed, that was exactly what Lu Yan meant.
Finding replacements for the bassist and guitarist positions wasn’t easy, and having two vacancies was a significant challenge. It wasn’t easy to find suitable people, even if they waited every day there. So, instead of recruiting new band members immediately, Lu Yan wanted to address the financial gaps in their daily expenses.
…After all, people need to eat.
“Hey,” Lu Yan jabbed Li Zhen with his elbow while they were waiting for a bus by the roadside, “Wanna ask you something.”
Li Zhen pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to Lu Yan, “What’s up?”
The two squatted on the curb of the busy street to smoke.
Lu Yan took a puff before saying, “Do you have any openings available?”
Li Zhen started searching for information in his mind, “You mean a job? Let me think…”
Lu Yan went straight to the topic without beating around the bush. His lips turned pale when he smoked, but his words were not weak at all: “Aren’t you teaching drums at the music school? I think your job is not bad. How about introducing me to your boss?”
Li Zhen: “What will you teach, guitar?”
“Yeah,” Lu Yan said, tilting his head and seriously contemplating it for a moment, “Bass is fine too.”
Li Zhen: “…”
Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, Li Zhen stood up and excused himself, “My ride’s here. I gotta go.”
Xiongdi are unreliable, so Lu Yan can only rely on himself.
He sighed, and planned to find some short-term part-time jobs to tide over this uncertain period.
The few part-time jobs in the same city he bookmarked didn’t have many updates recently. After getting on the bus, Lu Yan scrolled through them all and couldn’t find any openings, but he received a lot of greetings.
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.
Xbbv cfkr vbfrc’a ub yfsbcv atf vbbg, yea yjv cfkr agjnfir j atberjcv wlifr.
The first message came from a xiongdi in a rival band—Black Spades, who always competed with them at the air-raid shelter to see who could play louder. The bassist, Kangaroo, asked: [Did your band disband?]
[Disband?]
[Really disbanded?]
…
Lu Yan replied: [Disband? It’s a reorganization. Don’t worry, your dad is still your dadI’m still better than you./tn.]
Kangaroo: [Hehe.]
After Kangaroo finished laughing, he felt a pang of heartache. After all, he was a person with a conscience, so he sent another message: [Everything depends on fate, don’t be too sad.]
Lu Yan glanced out the bus window and casually typed on the phone screen with his fingertips: [Kangaroo.]
Kangaroo: [?]
Lu Yan: [Interested in joining our band?]
Kangaroo: […]
Oe Tjc: P atlcx sbe jcv beg N miey jgf delaf vfralcfv obg fjmt batfg.
Kangaroo: […]
Oe Tjc’r olcufgr kfgf ibcu, jcv tlr xcemxifr yfca ktfc asqlcu. Llr cjlir kfgf cfjais aglwwfv jcv Lejcu We’r mijlwr yfobgf ifjnlcu ufcelcfis mjwf ogbw atf ybaabw bo tlr tfjga. Cr atf uelajglra obg atflg yjcv, tf fcnlfv Oe Tjc’r tjcvr, yea tf vlvc’a ecvfgrajcv kts Oe Tjc mbeivc’a qijs atf uelajg kfii. Qlat remt rifcvfg olcufgr, tf mbeiv mbnfg rfnfgji ogfar lc bcf ub!
Lu Yan: [We lack people with dreams and skills like yours. How long has it been since your band released a new song? I have a new song demo here. Come to my band and showcase your talents.]
‘Kangaroo’ initiated friend verification. You are not yet their friend.
The second person to come was the captain of the Black Spades band.
The band captain responded with a set of angry emoji: [Lu Yan! What do you mean by this? You’re even trying to poach members now. Do you have any morals?]
Facing the captain’s fury, Lu Yan replied: [Well, how about… you come to my band?]
Captain: […]
Lu Yan: [I remember your guitar skills are decent, although not top-notch. With practice, there’s still room for improvement. Instead of playing the drums, why not join us? Let’s build something together.]
In response, Lu Yan was met with another set of angry emojis, this time depicting one stick figure spinning another in their hand before swinging them forcefully.
Captain: [I must be fucking insane to consider joining you!]
Lu Yan leaned against the bus window, smiling for a while. His final message was: [It’s alright. Thanks, bro.]
The bus pulled out of bustling traffic, winding its way south, and headed towards the next stop under the intense sun.
Lu Yan developed a habit of glancing at the door of 601 across the hall before entering his home. However, the woman from 601 was often not at home, and the door remained tightly closed.
The argument before leaving left a deep impression on him.
Recalling the word “prostitute” was rather ear piercing.
Turning his head away, Lu Yan decided not to dwell on the matter. He inserted the key into the lock.
The door opened.
As he entered his home and revisited the part-time job website, only a few new messages were updated. Among them, one stood out:
“Urgently seeking a substitute class attendant. My xiongdi hasn’t been to school for several days. To ensure he enjoys his time off without worries, I am looking for a suitable person to substitute for him. Majoring in Economics at C University, key courses include International Economics, Business Management, Marketing, International Finance, etc… Price is negotiable.”
This was posted on a large part-time job platform.
Covering a variety of businesses, the platform featured all kinds of bizarre tasks. Lu Yan saw more than once students seeking help for a fight, messages like: “XX High School, school grove, need ten people. Someone dared to snatch my girlfriend, and I want to show him who the real man is!”
While the tasks posted on this part-time job platform were diverse, ranging from unimaginable to odd jobs, substitute student opportunities were relatively rare.
In general, being a substitute student seemed appealing.
You didn’t have to endure the outdoor elements, and you could pick up some useful or useless knowledge. At the very least, you could take a little break during class, which was pretty much equivalent to paid leave.
Lu Yan continued to undress while reviewing the part-time job information, and his attention lingered on the letters “C University.”
LY: [How can I contact them?]
The response came quickly: [Here.]
The shirtless Lu Yan didn’t expect such a swift reply. He just undid his belt, and his jeans hung loosely around his waist. Without much hesitation, he began to type frantically to promote himself: [I have several years of experience teaching on campus and am highly dedicated to part-time work…]
But before he could finish typing, the other person sent another message: [Do you have a photo?]
Do you have a photo?
What a strange request.
Lu Yan has been browsing on the local part-time job website for many years, and done all sorts of part-time jobs. This is the first time he has encountered a request for a photo.
The other party also knows that this request is not quite normal, and so they explain: [It’s like this, my xiongdi is too handsome, ordinary people can’t replace him.]
LY: […]
The other party: [Ah… being handsome is also an inconvenience sometimes.]
The other party: [So… any photos? Can you snap a quick shot and show me?]
Lu Yan felt that this person was definitely very strange, and planned on rejecting their request.
His phone dinged, and the message from the other side came in again: [Two hundred per class, if you think it’s less, you can raise it.]
LY: [You want a photo?]
LY: [Sure.]
LY: [I’ll immediately snap a shot for you.]
The speed at which one slapped their own face is remarkably fast.
Lu Yan didn’t have time to feel whether his face was hurting or not. After changing his clothes, he opened the front camera, ran his fingers through his hair, and was glad that he just cut his hair. Otherwise, he could only give a close-up shot of his face when taking photos and people might ask: “Where’s your hair? Show your hairstyle. Don’t tell me you’re bald. Move the camera up a bit.”
The indoor lighting wasn’t very good, but Lu Yan’s selfie was decent as he was used to performing on stage. He found a good angle, snapped a photo, and then directly sent it to the other person.
The other person was probably chatting with several applicants at the same time. Two minutes later, Lu Yan received a reply: [Is this you?]
LY: [Yes.]
The other person: [Great!]
The other person: [It’s decided! Let’s add WeChat to stay in touch, and I’ll send you the class schedule.]
The other person: [It’s not easy. I’ve been looking for days!]
For some reason, Lu Yan felt that there was a sense of overwhelming joy between the lines of the other person’s words. After confirming the arrangement, they exchanged contact information and discussed the details of the substitute class attendant job.
Even though he sent the photo, Lu Yan still worried that this person might have some issues. So, he checked the person’s profile and found the first post: “Heng ge hasn’t attended class for the fifth day.”
The location was at the teaching building of C University.
Looking at the real-time location of C University, Lu Yan felt that this business should be relatively reliable.
The person on the other side: [Photo] This is the class schedule.
The person: [The student ID is 12xxx44.]
Lu Yan saved the class schedule and student ID.
This person… truly has awful grades.
It’s already the second semester of senior year, and they still have so many courses to retake.
They must have failed quite a few courses.
The other party added: [By the way, our department is in the South Campus, don’t go the wrong way.]
[C University has a large campus, even if you take the subway, it takes at least two stops, and it’s divided into several campuses… South Campus.]
South Campus, huh.
Lu Yan repeated it in his mind.
How could he go the wrong way?
This was a place he’s mentally traversed countless times. He didn’t need to calculate it and could estimate the time from the downtown area to there.
Lu Yan could even hear a voice from five years ago saying, “I want to attend C University, majoring in music.”
That voice was too familiar, yet also too unfamiliar.
Lu Yan couldn’t recall the circumstances when he said those words back then. Perhaps the head teacher advising him during the college application process? “Your scores make it difficult to get into C University, I suggest you choose a safer school.”
He really couldn’t remember.
Lu Yan didn’t take long to think, and the person on the other side sent another WeChat contact card. The profile picture was all black, and the name was “Leave me alone.”
The person said: [Add my xiongdi, convenient for future contact.]
Lu Yan asked: [Okay, what’s his name?]
He sent a friend request to that black profile.
After about ten seconds, the other side replied with the name, and at the same time, the black profile also responded. Lu Yan’s message box popped up with two messages, one of which was a system prompt: [The other party has rejected your friend request].
Lu Yan: “…”
The person on the other side replied: [My xiongdi, Xiao Heng.]
The author has something to say:
Not a school genre novel ~ but will touch upon the subject at the beginning.
Xiao Heng is 23 years old and still a college student, he’s a fourth year.
Lu Yan didn’t attend college.
Oh we’re definitely going to go through a ride of emotions, saw the word university and immediately sighed 😞