Niu Xiaojun stared at the person opposite him who seemed lost in thought. “What are you thinking? Nervous?”

Shi Ye snapped out of it and adjusted his shirt collar. “No. Just thinking about what’s going on this summer. It’s raining again, and there’s a heatwave warning. Even with the air conditioning on, it still feels stuffy.”

Niu Xiaojun didn’t respond to this and began to advise, “This interview is quite important. Later, don’t speak recklessly, and don’t show any emotions. You know the weight of Xu Jing’s interviews. Anyway… you understand what I mean.”

“I’ve always been straightforward,” Shi Ye shrugged indifferently and waved off the makeup artist, indicating not to put anything on him. “And…”

He was about to say something when he noticed the door to the lounge opening.

The person who walked in was familiar to Shi Ye. He was dressed in a simple and clean shirt and jeans, with a hint of green socks visible at the ankles. It seemed like he had poor eyesight as he squinted to look for someone.

This was a person Shi Ye found annoying just by seeing him, even if he couldn’t see him, just the thought of him annoyed Shi Ye.

It was well known that Shi Ye definitely didn’t want to keep staring at Sheng Xia, but Sheng Xia had a kind of magic that made you unable to ignore him… like his ever-changing colorful socks, or like the misbuttoned shirt hem today…

Am I the only one who noticed? Why didn’t anyone remind this idiot?

Shi Ye’s brows furrowed instantly, and he lifted his chin, pointing at Sheng Xia, asking Niu Xiaojun, “What’s this kid doing here?”

“What’s he doing here?” Niu Xiaojun raised an eyebrow, surprised by Shi Ye’s question, “It’s the Aviator Band’s rule. Whenever there’s an event, everyone shows up, at least on the sidelines. Have you forgotten the rules you set, or do you still refuse to admit that Sheng Xia is a member of the band?”

Shi Ye was momentarily speechless, then said, “There’s no need for everyone to be here on this occasion.”

Indeed, that rule was set by Shi Ye. Initially, he had more interviews and notices than anyone else in the band. He felt that this trend wasn’t good, so he said that in the future, whenever there was an event, everyone should show up, no matter whose gig it was. At least with family around, the scene would be more stable. At that time, everyone in the band was very harmonious, and no matter who had a gig, they all happily joined in the fun.

However, in the following years, Shen Zui had never appeared in such collective activities.

Just as Sheng Xia entered the lounge, Xiao Xiang and Zhong Zheng also came in. Xiao Xiang whistled towards Shi Ye’s direction and then didn’t look back, starting to chat nonsense with Sheng Xia and Zhong Zheng in front of him.

Shi Ye remained silent for a moment, and a staff member came over to call him, “Mr. Shi, are you ready? The camera has been rolling since we left. If you’re ready, we can start.”

Niu Xiaojun took the cup from Shi Ye’s hand, sighed imperceptibly, and said, “Let’s go. Don’t talk too much, and if your throat feels uncomfortable, tell Xu Jing and take a break before continuing.”

Shi Ye nodded, stood up, and walked towards the exit.

When he passed by the band members, Zhong Zheng lightly patted his shoulder, Xiao Xiang didn’t move, he was still holding onto Sheng Xia saying something. He only spoke when Shi Ye looked over, “Shi Ye, good luck, be as cool as usual, play it normally, and after it’s over, let’s go have a drink.”

“Drink? You wish,” Niu Xiaojun spat at him, “Do you want him to end up in the hospital again?”

Sheng Xia was a bit uncomfortable being held by Xiao Xiang. He had wanted to say something to Shi Ye, but Shi Ye was looking at him with a strange look on his face, as if he even nodded at him… that gesture left Sheng Xia confused, and he forgot everything he wanted to say.

Shi Ye looked at him for a long time, thinking that this kid could at least understand what he was looking at, but it turned out he had overestimated Sheng Xia’s intelligence… Shi Ye sighed inwardly, pointing to the hem of Sheng Xia’s clothes.

“Buttons, the bottom two, redo them.”

The next moment, everyone’s gaze turned to the hem of Sheng Xia’s shirt… with two buttons misbuttoned. Xiao Xiang couldn’t help but burst into laughter immediately.

Sheng Xia blushed and hurriedly began to redo the buttons.

Shi Ye sighed inwardly and stopped looking at the kid, turning his head to give Niu Xiaojun a meaningful look, indicating to start, and then pushed open the door.

Xu Jing’s program was an innovative live interview show, inviting leading figures from various industries who were quite controversial. Xu Jing herself was a heavyweight figure in the industry, and she liked to guide guests to make bold personal remarks. This interview program was deep and high-class, which was one of the reasons the company agreed for Shi Ye to be interviewed.

There were four cameras facing him.

Shi Ye followed the guidance of the staff and entered the studio for the interview. Xu Jing was sitting inside, with neat short hair, wearing all black, and holding several pieces of paper in her hand.

Seeing him approaching, she stood up and shook hands with him. “We meet again.”

After both of them sat down, Shi Ye nodded. “Yes. The last time we met seems to have been a few years ago… at some awards ceremony, right? At that time, you still had long hair, not as chic as now.”

“You were really chic back then too,” Xu Jing looked at Shi Ye with some appreciation, “You’ve always had a cool image in public.”

Shi Ye smiled. “Not really cool. After all, everyone has been reckless in their youth. I just don’t like to talk much.”

Xu Jing smiled inwardly, thinking you may not like to talk, but occasionally when you do, it’s quite shocking, scaring people.

However, she vaguely felt that Shi Ye was much calmer today than a few years ago when she saw him at the awards ceremony… He had lost many of the thorns he had back then.

“That’s because you have the capital to be wild,” Xu Jing didn’t hesitate to praise, “I remember that year when the Aviator band just won the third Most Popular Mainland Band award, and also got the Most Popular Chinese Group on the Mandarin Chart, and what else… Best Album Sales and various group rankings and awards, I can’t even count them all. Interviewing you back then wasn’t so simple, everyone knew you didn’t like being bombarded with questions.”

Shi Ye: “I still don’t like it now.”

“I know, I know,” Xu Jing chuckled, “Ah, you probably don’t know, but I’m actually quite afraid of interviewing you rock musicians. I always feel like your next sentence could shut me down completely, and the conversation won’t go on. Just now, when you came in, a staff member asked me: ‘Mr. Shi Ye looks so handsome, why does he seem so fierce! Is he always this cool on and off stage?'”

“If the conversation with me doesn’t waste time, I’m generally easy to talk to,” Shi Ye shrugged, “In my daily life, I’m actually quite easygoing.”

“Yes, in daily life, everyone is ordinary, but because you’re in the public eye, what everyone sees is your extraordinary side,” Xu Jing tapped her interview script with a pen, “After all, a band can’t be considered ordinary.”

“If I say we’re ordinary, would it be too modest?” Shi Ye chuckled, “Then let’s not be ordinary.”

“Of course, there’s no need to be modest. You’re hailed as the most promising young rock band now, and looking at the momentum of your development over the past few years, you’ve also achieved many enviable accomplishments, which are all very real.”

However, Shi Ye shook his head, “I actually feel it’s not real, those are all fake. Fame, honors, applause, and so on, once you experience them, you’ll understand that they’re not as desirable as they seem.”

“Only you have the qualification to say such things. Achieving what Aviator has in the domestic music scene is quite unique.” Xu Jing paused, “So, I’m actually curious, do you consider yourself a star now, or just a musician?”

Shi Ye thought for a moment before saying, “In my mind, a star is a very weighty term, at least it should be able to resonate with the pulse of the times and influence the aesthetic sense of a generation, like… Queen and The Beatles? Your description makes me feel a bit fearful.

In my opinion, the music industry is a medium for conveying beauty and power, whether it’s a band or an independent musician, regardless of the music genre. Maybe during the growing process, you can be loved by many people, but the next moment, you might be trampled on by public opinion… The term ‘star’ seems fake to me, only songs can truly be left behind.”

Xu Jing nodded, “So what you mean is, you don’t think of yourself as a star, but define yourself as a musician?”

“I don’t want to define myself,” Shi Ye smiled, “I feel like there’s nothing that can define me. Those labels you mentioned… rock star, musician, guitarist, lyricist… they’re just some slices of my life, they don’t mean much to me personally, and I don’t want to be defined by a few shallow words.”

Xu Jing looked at Shi Ye, “It’s strange. It’s been… 5 years or 4 years since I last interviewed you? I always feel like you’ve changed like a different person. You used to be very sharp, like there was a knife in your mouth, very powerful. But now… I feel like you’ve found a scabbard for yourself, wrapped yourself up, not so sharp anymore.”

Shi Ye was originally looking at the tattoo on his finger, but at her words, he raised his head and smiled, still nonchalant, “People change. If I’m still as sharp as before, it just proves I’ve been stagnant.”

Xu Jing nodded, “Actually, you’ve inspired many young people’s dreams about music. You did a lot of music column programs early on, categorized music genres, popularized aesthetics… It’s embarrassing to say, the first punk song I listened to was recommended by you in your videos back then. You’ve given many young people dreams, many people want to stand on stage like you, be cheered by thousands of people, write your lyrics in their diaries, learn your chords…”

Outside the door, Sheng Xia listened to Xu Jing’s standard Mandarin and felt a bit uncomfortable.

Maybe because the next thing Shi Ye said was, “Those who hope to regard me as a dream, liking only the part of my music, would be enough… Someone reminded me before, and I’ve learned my lesson. Dreams, if they really come true, easily leave people with nothing.”

Xu Jing’s eyes lit up, “It sounds… like there’s a story behind it?”

But Shi Ye just smiled and shook his head, “There’s nothing.”

Yeah.

Sheng Xia repeated in his mind: There’s nothing.

Nothing left at all.

The interview basically revolved around Shi Ye’s life. Finally, as they chatted, they jumped to that somewhat unpleasant topic.

“Then let’s talk about recent public opinion?” Xu Jing poured some tea for Shi Ye, her tone still casual, “I think everyone must be very curious about your current situation. There are rumors outside, saying that it’s your dictatorship within the band that has caused the current situation, and rumors about the deceased lead singer Shen Zui… Do you think those true and false statements are misunderstandings for you?”

Shi Ye was actually a bit absent-minded.

He wasn’t accustomed to revealing his inner feelings to others, and facing such occasions made it difficult for him to express himself without being misunderstood. He wasn’t good at this direct expression and self-exposure.

“Actually… as long as you’re in the public eye, you can’t escape the fate of being misunderstood.” Shi Ye’s tone slowed down a bit, “Shen Zui was a regret for Aviator, and from my personal emotional perspective, it’s also a regret. I actually don’t want to judge the rights and wrongs about him anymore, it’s unfair to him, and unfair to Aviator. He made mistakes, but the consequences shouldn’t be borne by Aviator.”

“Since Shen Zui joined the band four years ago, there have been many controversies.” Xu Jing chose her words carefully, her tone somewhat regretful, “Looking back now, do you regret letting Shen Zui join the Aviator band four years ago?”

Shi Ye used to be the lead guitarist and vocalist of the Aviator band. Four years ago, his vocal cords were injured and he couldn’t continue singing, so the band reluctantly added lead singer Shen Zui.

“I’ve never regretted anything that happened in my life,” his voice was a bit hoarse, “That incident taught everyone in our band a lesson, but we won’t stagnate, nor will we change our attitude towards making music because of it, becoming hesitant. I don’t need to be plagued by regrets for the rest of my life, giving up on the future, do you agree?”

Xu Jing was taken aback by Shi Ye’s gaze.

“You’ve always been like this, never hesitating about yourself,” Xu Jing couldn’t help but sigh, “I even thought you would be greatly affected, I underestimated you.”

Every word Shi Ye said was decisive, “A music that hesitates about the future is lifeless, and so is life itself. Aviator won’t change, and I, am still the same Shi Ye.”