Ch85 - Ghost Knocking in the Middle of the Night

The preparation work for the composition group was more intense compared to other groups, despite that the fun was certainly lacking.

Compared to watching a group of trainees scratch their heads as they wrote lyrics, it was more interesting to watch the swimming competition.

Seeing the trainees talk amongst themselves about this, Gu Wenan comforted them, “Although we have more things to do, there is a sense of fulfilment in performing the songs you created yourself, believe me.” After he said this, Gu Wenan tilted his head to look towards Ji Xiunian, and softly asked him, “Have you gotten in touch with Instructor Tao?”

According to the day’s program, the two vocal instructors were to guide the trainees with their homework. However, they had not seen head nor tails of Instructor Tao, and Gu Wenan didn’t know if they should start without him.

Just as Ji Xiunian was thinking of whether to go look for Tao Yingbo, he heard a soft movement from the door. When he turned around, he saw Tao Yingbo slowly floating in.

Ji Xiunian nodded his head imperceptibly, then took out his phone as though he was making a call. “OK, we can start now.”

“That’s good.” Gu Wenan clapped his hands to get the trainees’ attention, then announced that they were going to split into groups to have their progress checked.

“Aaaa, no way, I didn’t even prepare properly.”

“Not gonna lie, I know how to read and write, but if you ask me to put words together into lyrics, then I suddenly won’t know what words are…”

“I’m not even made to write songs. I thought about it until I cried but I still couldn’t write anything, aaa…”

The trainees were whining, and there were a few calm ones among them, obviously having already made their preparations.

In order to make it convenient for guidance and filming, the composition group was split into smaller groups to compose their pieces, and the instructors would guide them in turn.

Lu Xu’s group was put in the back and asked to independently work on their piece.

Xu Lele was holding onto his book as he cried, “Waaah, this is too hard, what if we can’t write anything?”

Yao Yulong, who was sitting on the side, was scribbling and writing, his brows furrowed, clearly showing that he was running into some difficulty.

Lu Xu hadn’t written songs before, but he did have experience in writing many customer analysis reports, so to him, writing things was not a very big deal.

Lu Xu’s hand flew swiftly across the paper. He didn’t even know what he was writing, but he suddenly had a bout of inspiration.

Seeing their team leader already starting to write, Xu Lele and the others went over to see what Lu Xu was writing.

“Lu Xu has such good handwriting?” Fan Zeng sat by the cameras, watching the progress of each person inside the studio, and thought it was strange when he saw Lu Xu.

According to the trends and developments of the times, people became used to relying on different kinds of electronic devices, so good handwriting, to most people, was a wild hope.

In Fan Zeng and the others’ eyes, Lu Xu was only 18. Having set foot into society at this age, it should be that he hadn’t received much education yet.

Lu Xu’s handwriting was too good, his strokes had strength and he wasn’t showing off on purpose but his words carried an air of elegance.

“Quick quick quick, close up on Lu Xu! Make his hand and writing the focus!”

Lu Xu’s looks were amazing from the start, and following down his beautiful jawline, people could see a pair of slim, elegant hands currently writing.

There was a saying where words reflected the person, and the image before them made them feel that Lu Xu was a treasure.

When the instructor for the composition team came over, all they saw was a group of trainees huddled around Lu Xu’s side, and they didn’t know what to make of this scene.

“Lu Xu, have you all finished writing?” When Gu Wenan asked this, Ji Xiunian came over. Tao Yingbo followed behind him, squeezing into the group to see what Lu Xu was writing.

After seeing it, he was rooted to the spot. “Master Lu Xu, is this on purpose?”

Ji Xiunian stopped behind Lu Xu. He had a strong aura about him, and people standing nearby unconsciously took a step back.

Lu Xu, who had been sitting on the ground, looked up and happened to meet Ji Xiunian’s gaze. He then held out the lyrics he had been writing for Ji Xiunian to take a look. “Nian ge, what do you think of my song “Can’t Learn”?”

“‘Can’t Learn’?” Ji Xiunian glanced at the lyrics and instantly understood what he meant. “Not bad, this title is pretty good.”

Lu Xu’s team members also agreed. “I also think this song is written really well, but I don’t know what kind of melody will suit it.”

Upon hearing that they thought Lu Xu’s lyrics were not bad, Gu Wenan couldn’t help but become curious. “Come, let me have a look.”

Lu Xu’s song was called “Can’t Learn”, and the lyrics were satirizing those who used other people’s works to boost their own reputation.

“Despicable thief, a crown of vanity became the sharp blade of judgement…”

“When I embark on my journey, even Kuafu will make way.”

“One of a kind limited edition, you can’t learn if you only know how to copy…”

The despicable thief used what didn’t belong to them to claim glory and reputation, but the protagonist still exposed him and brought him down, admiring his struggle as he fell from on high.

The lyrics were simple and didn’t contain any complicated meanings, but it was still very cool and enjoyable.

It had to be said that Lu Xu really was a king, whether it was singing, dancing or writing, he had the aura of a victor.

“Good job, Lu Xu. I hadn’t thought that not only are you handsome, you can also write songs,” Gu Wenan didn’t hold back on his praises, and even added, “The lyrics are pretty good. What about the melody?”

“I didn’t write it.” Lu Xu faced the audience and shrugged his shoulders, and simply said, “I don’t know how to write melodies.”

Upon seeing the panicked expressions on the other members’ faces, Gu Wenan could tell that all of them didn’t know how to do it either.

He originally wanted to wonder aloud why they joined the composition group if they didn’t know how to write songs, but when he thought about it, besides Lu Xu, the others had been moved to this team.

He didn’t want to make it harder for them, so he just said, “You should try to find a feeling and try to write about it, if you really can’t do it then I’ll come and help you.”

“Wah, Instructor Gu is too good!”

“Hahaha, I feel like things are more realistic all of a sudden.”

Tao Yingbo just felt that Lu Xu’s lyrics were written from his perspective, and he couldn’t identify what he was feeling, he just begged Ji Xiunian, “Nian ge, can you help me ask Instructor Gu if I can handle this song?”

Ji Xiunian knew of his experiences, and naturally understood his feelings.

He didn’t say much, just passed on Tao Yingbo’s message to Gu Wenan.

“Huh? Instructor Tao wants to write it? Of course! Then I’ll go help the other group!” Gu Wenan didn’t think this was a big deal. Although he quite liked Lu Xu’s lyrics, it was also okay for two instructors to negotiate.

After receiving his colleague’s approval, Tao Yingbo memorised Lu Xu’s lyrics and went to the side to start working on it.

He was quite focused while working, completely unlike his normal mumbling self.

Lu Xu had at some point gone to stand by Ji Xiunian’s side. The two of them watched Tao Yingbo, and were softly discussing something.

“Looks like he really does like composing.”

Ji Xiunian turned his head and saw Lu Xu watching Tao Yingbo as he spoke, his pretty face calm.

Lu Xu was just like this. No matter what happened, he was always the most calm person.

Ji Xiunian followed his gaze and looked over. Tao Yingbo looked quite good like this as well. The feeling of being able to do something he loved, and to wholly throw himself into his dream was the best feeling.

If he hadn’t run into the incident with Qu Dehui, even if he didn’t become famous, he could still have found a place to just sing and do the things that he liked.

“You wrote that song for Instructor Tao, right?” Ji Xiunian suddenly thought of this, and couldn’t help but ask Lu Xu.

“Hm?” Lu Xu raised his brows, neither denying nor confirming it. “I really don’t know how to write lyrics. I was just casually writing. The praise is too much.”

Those were modest words, but Ji Xiunian really felt that his lyrics were quite good.

Lu Xu’s song really did have the intention of helping Tao Yingbo get his justice. However, in his eyes, it was just to resolve the regret that his client had, and he was also doing it to work hard at his job.

However, Ji Xiunian thought Lu Xu looked quite kind.

Although he was young, the way he thought about things was very comprehensive.

He looked a bit cold and uncaring, but he cared about other people’s problems.

Cold on the outside, soft and warm on the inside. Either way, he thought it was cute.

Cute?

Ji Xiunian hadn’t thought about that even in his dreams, but he suddenly thought of the word ‘cute’ to describe this child.

These few days, he kept having the same dream. In the dream, he was being dragged by some demon, down into the depths.

Whenever a strong sense of despair struck, there would be a light that shone into the sea. Upon following it, that light transformed into Lu Xu who came to his side, gave him air and brought him out of that sea.

That kiss felt very real, to the point that Ji Xiunian couldn’t even tell if it was just a dream.

After having the same dream twice, he even secretly felt a sense of anticipation-

If he dreamed about the demon again, then Lu Xu would also enter his dream…

He knew this was bad, but he couldn’t control his dreams.

Because the dream felt so real, when he looked at Lu Xu now, he couldn’t help but glance at his lips.

When he realised what he was doing, Ji Xiunian forced himself to look away, his heart throbbing for some reason.

During the break in the middle of the recording, Ji Xiunian and Lu Xu sat with Tao Yingbo to take a look at his progress. The three of them would talk with each other intermittently to communicate their ideas.

But others could not see Tao Yingbo, and only saw Lu Xu and Ji Xiunian sitting closely together, and even whispering into each other’s ears once in a while.

“Xu ge and Nian ge’s relationship is really good, ah.”

“Right, if not for their genders, I almost want to say the romance is about to appear for the two of them.”

“We’re already in this era, what kind of words are you saying about gender are right? As long as they love each other it’s right, even across species. Forget about it being just two people liking each other.”

When Xu Lele heard them talking about this, he wanted to laugh, and immediately opened up Weibo to show proof. “Brothers, your brain holes are so big, if you don’t follow the “Ji Xu” CP topic then how can you keep talking?”

“Oho, you’re following the news about their CP?”

“I’m not following only Xu ge and Nian ge, I’m following everything related to Xu ge.”

A group of beautiful boys would naturally look very cohesive when together, so it was natural netizens would make CPs as a joke. If Lu Xu’s CP sense was strong, he could be a match for anyone.

Xu Lele thought this was very fun, so he had just directly followed the topic.

“There’s a voting event going on online right now, asking who Lu Xu has the best feeling of a CP with. If you guys have time, take a look at which CP you support.”

Xu Lele was very happy showing this off when unexpectedly, Lu Xu’s voice suddenly appeared beside him. “What support which CP?”

“Aha.” Having been caught red-handed by the subject of his discussion, Xu Lele didn’t feel ashamed or anything and merely smiled as he told Lu Xu, “Xu ge, you don’t know, there are so many CP tags regarding you online. And everyone thinks your gong energy is quite strong and that you’re the top with anyone except for the CP with Nian ge, I guess…”

Regarding the “Ji Xu CP”, Lu Xu had heard of it before, but didn’t take much notice of it at the time.

It was only now when he heard Xu Lele that he frowned, evidently disapproving of this.

Xu Lele assumed that he didn’t like being paired with others into CPs, and was about to say that it was only a joke, when he heard Lu Xu mutter to himself at the side, “How come I become the shou with Nian ge, why can’t I be the gong?”

“Cough cough…”

Xu Lele couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It seemed like straight men were all like this. When they were paired off into gong and shou, they always stubbornly insisted that they were the gong, but didn’t think to examine their own identity as a straight male.

He thought for a moment and then logged into his Weibo side account, placing his vote for the “Ji Xu CP”.

Lu Xu didn’t actually take this incident to heart; he only wanted to go chat with Tao Yingbo.

There were always people in the practise rooms, forcing him to always be diligent, and it wasn’t easy to talk at all.

Lu Xu thought for a moment and finally decided to call him to Ji Xiunian’s room—

Others might not be able to tell, but he was a grim reaper, and could immediately tell with a glance that the resentful aura surrounding Tao Yingbo was increasing. He didn’t know when a problem would arise.

When the recording ended that night, Lu Xu casually and leisurely followed Ba Mei to knock on Ji Xiunian’s door.

The milk Ji Xiunian had warmed up for him was on the table. Tao Yingbo stood by the couch, his expression restless.

Lu Xu first drank the milk out of habit, then looked towards the evidently restless Tao Yingbo. “Speak, Instructor Tao, what did you do last night that made you late this morning?”

“I…” Tao Yingbo was very clear on what identity Lu Xu had and was afraid he would do something to him, and unconsciously retreated towards Ji Xiunian’s side. “I didn’t do anything bad…I just felt somewhat unfulfilled, so I ran off to Qu Dehui’s door…”

Ji Xiunian unconsciously glanced at Tao Yingbo, and asked suddenly, “So it was you who did the knocking?”

During lunch, Qu Dehui had gone to look for Fan Zeng to talk about how someone was disturbing his rest in the middle of the night. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that the knocking was not from a human, but from a ghost.