Chapter 20

“Front Security door?” Qin Qingzhuo walked upstairs, noticing the numerous scratches and rust marks on the heavy iron door, clearly indicating it wasn’t a new one.

Jiang Ji responded with a grunt, placing his tools on the ground and standing up.

“Who’s here?” Zhong Yang walked over, surprised to see Qin Qingzhuo. “Qin Qingzhuo…”

Then he suddenly realized and quickly added “Teacher” at the end, “Teacher Qin, why are you here? Is there a surprise shoot?”

Stretching his neck, Zhong Yang glanced behind Qin Qingzhuo, but didn’t see anyone else following him.

“Qingzhuo brother,” Peng Keshi also stood up, greeting Qin Qingzhuo.

“You’re all here,” Qin Qingzhuo smiled at them. “No surprise shoot, I’m just returning something to Jiang Ji.”

He handed the bag containing the phone to Jiang Ji. “I’ve been busy these days and didn’t get a chance to return this to you.”

Jiang Ji took it, acknowledging with a “Hmm.” Zhong Yang leaned in to take a look, followed by a series of questions, “What’s this? Clothes? Jiang Ji’s clothes? Brother Qingzhuo, why do you have Jiang Ji’s clothes?”

Qin Qingzhuo felt a bit embarrassed, not wanting to disclose the incident from that drunken night.

Zhong Yang made a meaningful sound, “There wouldn’t happen to be some kind of… unspeakable relationship between you two?”

Before he could finish, Jiang Ji frowned and shot him a warning look, silently advising him not to speak nonsense.

Zhong Yang shrugged, “So serious… I was just joking.”

Seeing the atmosphere becoming a bit awkward, Peng Keshi spoke up, “Brother Qingzhuo.”

“Hmm?” Qin Qingzhuo looked at her. “Bass girl, do you need something from me?”

“I’d like you to help me look at this music score.”

“Sure, I’d be glad to,” Qin Qingzhuo smiled at her gently. “Is it for the next competition?”

“Yes,” Peng Keshi said. “Then Qingzhuo, please have a seat on the couch.”

Following Peng Keshi to the second floor, Qin Qingzhuo sat on the sofa and took the music score from her. He noticed the school name printed at the top of the sheets and was a bit surprised. “You’re from Yanda University?”

Peng Keshi nodded. “Yes.”

“It seems you didn’t mention it on your resume.”

“Because my major has nothing to do with music, so I didn’t include it,” Peng Keshi said casually.

Her tone was calm and indifferent, as if she were talking about something trivial, which made Qin Qingzhuo feel that this girl was quite special.

He nodded and carefully browsed through the music score. “Looks good. Did you write both the lyrics and the music?”

“The lyrics are by Jiang Ji, I composed the music. It’s my first time doing such a complex arrangement, so I’m not very sure,” Peng Keshi said.

Qin Qingzhuo nodded again and looked at the two guitars standing against the wall. “Is that guitar Jiang Ji’s? Can I borrow it?”

Jiang Ji, half-crouched at the doorway, tightening the screws on the door with a screwdriver, didn’t lift his head. “Use the new one.”

Qin Qingzhuo took the guitar handed over by Zhong Yang. Without needing to inspect it closely, he could tell that it wasn’t a particularly high-quality instrument. The old guitar Jiang Ji used before, despite being worn out, still showed signs of being a good-quality instrument. But this one…

“Is this guitar newly bought?” Qin Qingzhuo asked Jiang Ji.

Jiang Ji grunted in response.

“Why did you buy this new guitar?” Qin Qingzhuo asked again. “What about the one I gave you before?”

After a moment of silence, Jiang Ji said, “Sold it.” Actually, it was taken by Zhong Yang and hadn’t been sold yet, but it was only a matter of time.

Qin Qingzhuo was slightly taken aback, then fell silent, looking at the old guitar standing against the wall.

The silence lasted for a few seconds. Zhong Yang knew that the matter of selling the guitar was somewhat related to him, so he stepped forward to smooth things over. “Brother Qingzhuo, Jiang Ji’s previous guitar was broken, and he was used to playing that one. He’s uncomfortable using any other guitar. Repairing the old guitar would be quite expensive, requiring a significant amount of money, so he had no choice but to do this…”

In Qin Qingzhuo’s mind flashed the scene of Jiang Ji gently wiping away the bloodstains on the guitar that night. He nodded, not saying anything more, and redirected his gaze to Peng Keshi’s music score.

He tuned the new guitar and played a light melody.

His fingers gently plucked the strings, and a clear and textured melody flowed from his fingertips. As if by magic, the ten fingers transformed the inferior guitar into one that produced a clean and quality sound.

Jiang Ji, still crouching at the doorway fixing the security door, paused his movements upon hearing the sound of the guitar. After a moment of hesitation, he looked towards Qin Qingzhuo.

Qin Qingzhuo finished tuning and was now playing Peng Keshi’s music score with his head slightly lowered. His slightly long hair fell down the side of his face, and his slender fingers gently plucked the strings. This scene suddenly overlapped with a distant memory from a bygone era in his mind, causing Jiang Ji to stare at him, slightly lost in thought.

Qin Qingzhuo finished playing the first chorus and stopped.

“Teacher Qin, you’re so talented,” Peng Keshi sincerely praised.

Only then did Jiang Ji snap out of his reverie and continue tightening the screws on the door hinge.

“I’ll make a note,” Peng Keshi picked up a pen and marked on the music score, “Did I change it here? And also here…”

Peng Keshi understood very clearly. Although Qin Qingzhuo was playing according to the music score, he made some slight adjustments in some subtle areas, each of which she found to be quite ingenious.

“Do you remember all of them?” Qin Qingzhuo looked at her marking on the music score, “You’re quite talented too. I just made some small adjustments while playing. You can refer to them, but you don’t have to follow my ideas completely. In music, everyone has their own feelings, and there’s no right answer.”

“But these adjustments are indeed quite ingenious,” Peng Keshi said as she made notes, “They shouldn’t be wasted.”

Qin Qingzhuo smiled. During the previous recording, he felt that although this girl was very polite, her facial expression seemed quite indifferent, which made her seem difficult to approach. However, in just this short time, he changed his mind.

He could sense that Peng Keshi had probably noticed the subtle atmosphere and intentionally changed the topic.

Not only was she observant and tactful, but she could also handle such situations without a fuss. Qin Qingzhuo increasingly felt that this girl had a sense of maturity beyond her years.

“This song is quite good, it’s different from your previous style, and the rhythm is faster. It will be very suitable for the atmosphere of the show,” Qin Qingzhuo looked at Jiang Ji, “Jiang Ji, you play the acoustic guitar quite well. Have you ever played electric guitar?”

Jiang Ji, who had put down his work at some point and was leaning against the door frame, looked towards the direction of the sofa. “Yes.”

“Peng Keshi’s song would be very suitable for experimenting with electric guitar and adding some effects, especially in the verse. If you could add some effects with pedals, it would create a great atmosphere. You should arrange this song properly, and I’m quite looking forward to it.”

“Okay,” Peng Keshi nodded, “Thank you, Brother Qingzhuo.”

Zhong Yang sat on the nearest billiard table to the sofa, eagerly asking Qin Qingzhuo, “Brother Qingzhuo, considering the current momentum of our band, do you think we have a chance at winning the championship?”

This question caught Qin Qingzhuo off guard. He glanced at Zhong Yang, who appeared genuinely curious without any hint of joking.

Qin Qingzhuo remained silent at first, then chuckled lightly after a moment, “Based on your performances in the first two rounds, I thought you guys weren’t interested in such worldly matters as winning championships.”

“Maybe they’re not interested, but I am,” Zhong Yang said. “And besides, why is winning a championship considered worldly? Winning a championship is great! It increases our popularity, and the fees for commercial performances will definitely skyrocket. We could earn tens of thousands for just one performance. Who wouldn’t want that?”

Jiang Ji finished reinforcing the screws and glanced towards the sofa.

He had initially thought that someone as poised as Qin Qingzhuo would frown upon Zhong Yang’s “worldly” remarks. However, to his surprise, Qin Qingzhuo didn’t show any displeasure. Instead, he chuckled in the next moment, looking somewhat amused.

When Qin Qingzhuo smiled, his eyes slightly curved, resembling two crescent moons.

After laughing, he nodded solemnly, “Yes, you’re right. It’s been a while since I heard such blunt honesty. Say more of that next time.” After speaking, he laughed again, genuinely finding it amusing, without a trace of insincerity.

Zhong Yang was also surprised. He had intentionally said that, but Qin Qingzhuo unexpectedly agreed. After a moment of bewilderment, he scratched his head and laughed along with Qin Qingzhuo.

“Alright, you guys keep rehearsing,” Qin Qingzhuo put down the guitar and stood up. “I’ll leave now and not disturb your rehearsal.”

Peng Keshi stood up as well, “I’ll walk you out, Brother Qingzhuo.”

“You’re leaving so soon?” Zhong Yang hopped off the billiard table. “Then I’ll come too.”

At the door, Qin Qingzhuo looked at Jiang Ji, “Is the door secure now?”

Jiang Ji replied with a simple “Hmm.”

“Jiang Ji, why don’t you come along to see Brother Qingzhuo off?” Zhong Yang urged.

“With such a big entourage, are you sending me to the battlefield?” Qin Qingzhuo chuckled. “I can handle going down by myself.”

“Don’t say that,” Zhong Yang said. “Brother Qingzhuo, you’re an esteemed guest here. How could we…”

Before he could finish, Jiang Ji spoke up, “I’ll go.”

“Exactly, let’s go together,” Zhong Yang grinned. His principle was the more, the merrier.

But Jiang Ji glanced at him, his tone flat but suggesting that he shouldn’t interfere, “You guys don’t need to come.”

Zhong Yang clicked his tongue, about to say something, but Peng Keshi gave him a look, “Then let Jiang Ji go.”

“Sounds good,” Qin Qingzhuo looked at Jiang Ji. “I also have some other things to discuss with you.”

With that, he turned and walked downstairs, with Jiang Ji following closely behind.

Watching the two of them descend the stairs one after the other, Zhong Yang nudged Peng Keshi with his elbow and glanced at the bag of clothes placed by the door where Jiang Ji was standing. “Sis Shi, what’s going on here?”

“What’s going on?” Peng Keshi was puzzled.

“This situation is worth investigating,” Zhong Yang lowered his voice. “Think about it, Jiang Ji’s clothes are at Qin Qingzhuo’s place. There are only two possibilities: first, Qin Qingzhuo came to Jiang Ji’s place and took his clothes, but why would he hide it from us? Second, Jiang Ji went to Qin Qingzhuo’s place and left his clothes there, but how did he know where Qin Qingzhuo lives, and why would he undress at Qin Qingzhuo’s place? Anyway, no matter which situation, it’s very suspicious, so…”

“There’s only one truth,” Zhong Yang pushed up his nonexistent glasses and confidently concluded, “they must have slept together.”

Peng Keshi: “…”

“Oh!” Zhong Yang slapped his thigh, suddenly enlightened. “They must have been together for a long time already. I remember seeing Jiang Ji sneakily looking at Qin Qingzhuo’s photos on his phone last time. It seemed like there was even a picture of them kissing. Wow, they kissed so early…”

He kept rambling on, but Peng Keshi didn’t want to engage with him and went back to the sofa to continue writing her paper.

Zhong Yang persisted, “And remember the last performance? Jiang Ji intentionally wrote that song because they had a fight, right? Also, just now, he actively offered to send Qin Qingzhuo downstairs and didn’t allow us to follow. If there’s nothing fishy, could he act like that? Huh… Jiang Ji is really good at pretending. He never disclosed any information to us…”

“Don’t their relationship, or lack thereof, have anything to do with us?” Peng Keshi sighed in exasperation.

“It does!” Zhong Yang exclaimed, raising his voice. “If they’re together, we can win the championship!”

“Then how do you explain Jiang Ji selling the guitar Qin Qingzhuo gave him?” Peng Keshi countered.

“Yeah…” Zhong Yang fell into deep thought. Peng Keshi’s question stumped him. After a while, he slapped his thigh again. “F*ck, did they break up? They had a fight during the performance, and now it’s escalated to breaking up. No wonder Jiang Ji wants to sell the guitar, and Qin Qingzhuo wants his clothes back. And just now, the atmosphere between them was strange. No… we haven’t won the championship yet!”

“…Impressive,” Peng Keshi raised her hand and gave him a couple of applause, acknowledging his deduction.

Jiang Ji followed behind Qin Qingzhuo as they descended the stairs.

When they reached the ground floor, Qin Qingzhuo paused, and Jiang Ji stopped too. “What do you want from me?”

Facing each other at the door, Qin Qingzhuo spoke, “That old guitar, is it important to you?”

Jiang Ji didn’t answer, seeming reluctant to respond to this question.

“If I’m not mistaken, it should be a handmade guitar, and it’s difficult to fully repair it once it’s broken, especially considering its age. If you’re willing, you can take a few pictures and send them to me. I’ll ask some luthiers I know to see if they can restore it.”

Jiang Ji remained silent at first, then after a few seconds, he spoke, “Thank you.”

Qin Qingzhuo was somewhat surprised to hear the words “thank you” come out of Jiang Ji’s mouth. It didn’t sound like something Jiang Ji would say.

“This guitar… must hold special significance for him,” Qin Qingzhuo thought to himself.

“Did you install the security door on the second floor because of those debt collectors from last time?” Qin Qingzhuo asked after a pause.

“Yeah,” Jiang Ji nodded.

Qin Qingzhuo nodded too, then after a moment of silence, he continued, “How did you end up in debt? Can you tell me?”

Again, Jiang Ji remained silent, apparently not intending to answer Qin Qingzhuo’s question.

“Is this how you’ve always been, Jiang Ji?” Qin Qingzhuo sighed. “Keeping everything to yourself and never telling anyone?”

Jiang Ji turned his head to look outside. That feeling of wanting to smoke came back, and once it surfaced, it was so strong that it couldn’t be easily suppressed.

Even though he hadn’t smoked in days and didn’t feel like smoking, why did he suddenly crave a cigarette in front of Qin Qingzhuo?

He took out a cigarette box from his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, bit it between his lips, and lowered his eyes to retrieve a lighter.

Qin Qingzhuo stood across from him and said, “Jiang Ji.”

Jiang Ji’s thumb opened the lighter’s lid, and a golden flame wrapped in blue surged out. He lifted his eyelids and looked at Qin Qingzhuo.

“Don’t smoke anymore,” Qin Qingzhuo frowned slightly. It wasn’t disgust in his expression but more of a sigh, mixed with a hint of command.

Jiang Ji stared at Qin Qingzhuo. Even though he usually disliked people using a commanding tone with him, he couldn’t explain why the usual aversion didn’t surface this time. Instead, there was an indescribable feeling.

The flickering flame burned for a few more seconds, and with a light “click” sound, Jiang Ji closed the lighter’s lid. The flame disappeared, and he let go of the hand holding the lighter.

Then he lifted the other hand, took the cigarette out of his mouth, turned his face to look out the window, eyebrows marked with a hint of irritation.

Qin Qingzhuo heard Jiang Ji, who stood on the opposite side, sigh very lightly and deeply.

After watching Jiang Ji for a few more seconds, Qin Qingzhuo gripped the door handle. “Don’t forget about the guitar.”

Having said that, he pushed the door open and walked out of the bar.

Jiang Ji stood at the door, the cigarette in his hand somehow now snapped into two. His gaze shifted to Qin Qingzhuo’s departing figure, watching him get into the car and drive away from Honglu Slope.

He walked to the garbage bin, opened his palm, and tossed the broken cigarette into it.