Chapter 5

The first recording of the program was divided into three episodes, and the performance of the following two episodes was neither surprising nor disappointing.

Finally, the time for shooting Asperatus’ rehearsal was set for Thursday afternoon at five o’clock.

On the way to Asperatus’ rehearsal room, Chen Jia explained the shooting process to Qin Qingzhuo in the program team’s car: “We’ve already arranged with the band in advance. They should be rehearsing in the rehearsal room now. When you arrive, just go in and greet the musicians, give them some pointers while listening to their rehearsal.”

Qin Qingzhuo nodded, “No problem.”

“And you even prepared a birthday gift in advance,” Chen Jia glanced at the guitar Qin Qingzhuo brought along and chuckled, “Brother Qingzhuo, you’re too thoughtful. If the other bands don’t receive gifts later, will they say you’re biased?”

As an outdoor director, Chen Jia was visibly much more relaxed than her role as an executive director.

“The program deliberately chose to shoot on the lead singer’s birthday, just to see if I’ll show favoritism, right?” Qin Qingzhuo smiled.

Chen Jia squinted with laughter, “Brother Qingzhuo, you truly understand our routine.”

The car stopped at the corner of Honglu Slope Street, and Qin Qingzhuo got out of the car, surveying the surroundings.

Compared to the bustling main road not far away, this crooked alley seemed a bit too quiet. Several sturdy willow trees lined both sides of the narrow alley. It was late summer, and the cicadas hidden beneath the lush willow branches chirped hoarsely.

The few bars along the alley were all closed at the moment, resting and waiting for the nightlife to begin. Consequently, the entire alley seemed to be in a state of quiet slumber.

In such a quiet environment, the sound of a band rehearsing should have been quite noticeable. However, there was not a single sound of rehearsal to be heard.

Qin Qingzhuo looked up at the signboard reading “Honglu Bar” and wondered if the buildings on this street had good soundproofing.

Chen Jia also noticed something amiss and muttered as she climbed the steps, “What’s going on? Did we catch them during their break?”

The glass door was unlocked, and as Chen Jia pushed it open, Qin Qingzhuo and three camera operators carrying equipment followed her inside.

The ground floor of the bar was empty, with the decor resembling that of an ordinary bar. The stage and bar were deserted, and Qin Qingzhuo followed Chen Jia to the far end of the ground floor, where there was a dark staircase leading to the second floor.

As they ascended the stairs, a row of warm yellow wall lamps lit up on the wall.

“They said the rehearsal space is on the second floor.” Chen Jia said, hastening her steps to see why the band wasn’t rehearsing as planned.

Qin Qingzhuo followed her up the stairs at a leisurely pace, observing the old walls illuminated by the wall lamps, trying to gauge how many years this bar had survived.

Just a few steps away from the second floor, he heard Chen Jia’s voice from above, “Didn’t we agree to shoot at this time today? Why aren’t you rehearsing? Where’s Jiang Ji?”

As Qin Qingzhuo reached the second floor, he saw the bassist girl, with her princess-cut hairstyle, sitting in front of the sofa, focused on typing on her laptop. When she saw the program team approaching, she put down what she was doing, stood up, and greeted Chen Jia, “Sister Jia, Jiang Ji has something to deal with and hasn’t arrived yet.”

“He’s not here yet? When will he arrive?” Chen Jia’s face showed a hint of annoyance. “Are Teacher Qin and the three cameramen supposed to wait here just for him?”

The drummer, Zhong Yang, put down the game he was playing vigorously and jogged over, leading Chen Jia towards the inner sofa area. “He’s on his way, he’s on his way, Sister Jia, calm down. Jiang Ji had a little something to deal with and got delayed on the way here. He’ll be here soon. Brother Qingzhuo, the three cameramen, why don’t you all sit on the sofa for a while? I’ll call him again.”

Chen Jia sighed and turned to apologize to Qin Qingzhuo, “Brother Qingzhuo, I’m really sorry. Looks like we’ll have to wait a bit.”

“No problem.” Qin Qingzhuo sat down on the sofa, looking relaxed. “No rush.”

Peng Keshi’s laptop was still open, and he glanced at it casually. “Working on homework?”

“Yeah.” Peng Keshi smiled at him.

“What year are you in?” Qin Qingzhuo chatted with her.

“Junior year.” Peng Keshi closed her laptop, stood up, and handed Qin Qingzhuo a bottle of mineral water. “Brother Qingzhuo, water.”

Qin Qingzhuo took it and thanked her.

Having previously reviewed information about this band, he knew that both the lead singer and the drummer were nineteen years old, while the bassist was twenty-one. From appearances, Zhong Yang looked slightly younger, giving the impression of being underage. However, in terms of maturity, this girl seemed to be a bit more mature, even exuding a maturity beyond her age.

After Peng Keshi handed Qin Qingzhuo the water, she walked over to the pool table and stood beside Zhong Yang. The two leaned against the pool table and spoke quietly into their phones. They were probably calling Jiang Ji.

Qin Qingzhuo surveyed the second-floor space—it was quite large, but the decor was much simpler and more dilapidated compared to the ground floor. The white walls were mottled with a hint of gray. After several pool tables were pushed aside, the space left for the band rehearsal looked to be less than ten square meters.

They rehearsed here? Qin Qingzhuo leaned against the back of the sofa, thinking that this didn’t seem like a good rehearsal space.

Usually, bands would rent dedicated spaces for rehearsals, but the environment before him seemed more like a makeshift rehearsal space.

Over there, two people were still speaking quietly into their phones, and after a while, there was still no response. Chen Jia couldn’t help but ask, “Can’t reach him on the phone?”

“Don’t worry, Sister Jia,” Zhong Yang turned around, “Jiang Ji should be on his motorcycle, so he can’t answer the phone for now.”

Chen Jia glanced at the time on her phone, shook her head, and sighed again. “This Jiang Ji…”

Jiang Ji was briskly weaving through various alleys, searching everywhere for Jiang Bei’s figure.

No one was more familiar with all the alleys around Honglu Slope Street than him, but every alley he explored, he couldn’t find Jiang Bei. Jiang Ji felt a burning frustration in his heart, with obvious impatience evident in his expression.

Every now and then, Jiang Bei would disappear, shutting off his phone and leaving no trace, as if evaporating from the world. The first time this happened, Jiang Ji searched for nearly two weeks before finally finding Jiang Bei in an Internet cafe, picking someone’s pocket. After that, Jiang Bei disappeared more frequently, and Jiang Ji gradually figured out the pattern, so the time it took to find Jiang Bei became shorter and shorter.

However, each time he searched for someone, it made him extremely irritated because if he couldn’t find Jiang Bei, she wouldn’t come back. Jiang Bei wasn’t playing hide-and-seek with him; she either deliberately turned off her phone or simply wanted to disappear.

Jiang Bei had survival skills, and her survival skill was “thievery,” in which she was self-taught and incredibly talented.

But how long could a little girl who relied on pickpocketing survive outside? Jiang Ji didn’t know, but he knew Jiang Bei’s luck couldn’t always be so good. Six months ago, when he found Jiang Bei again, she had already been beaten up badly. After that incident, he ordered Jiang Bei not to steal anymore, but despite warnings and threats, Jiang Bei still intermittently indulged in this habit.

Jiang Ji frowned, about to expand the search range and head towards the main road not far away when he suddenly sensed that someone seemed to be following him. He turned his head, but didn’t see anyone.

Jiang Ji glanced around, then turned and continued walking forward.

In recent times, he often felt someone was tracking him, but every time he turned around, he couldn’t see anyone.

Just last night, when he went out to take out the trash, he once again sensed someone following him. He turned around, only to see a hunched back, a homeless man rummaging through the trash bins. After staring at the man’s back for a while, Jiang Ji turned and walked away.

And now, that feeling of being secretly followed arose again, as if adding fuel to his already irritated mood. He felt somewhat irritable and thought he must catch this person today and give them a beating to find out what they were up to.

Jiang Ji casually turned into an alley. Thanks to Jiang Bei, he had already become familiar with every alley around. If the surface of these alleys were covered with skin instead of cement, he would have developed calluses from treading them over and over again.

Intentionally, he walked into a dead end alley, then ducked behind a wall. Sure enough, not even two minutes passed before he saw the person following him—it was indeed the homeless man from last night.

The homeless man was standing sideways, looking around in Jiang Ji’s direction, trying to find out where Jiang Ji had gone. Jiang Ji walked out from behind the wall, intending to ask him why he was following him, but to his surprise, the man reacted quickly and bolted as soon as he saw Jiang Ji.

Fortunately, Jiang Ji had strong athletic abilities, with astonishing explosive power. Back in school, he was the main force in the short and long-distance running events at the school sports meet. Plus, he had intentionally chosen this alley. After running just over ten meters, he reached out and grabbed the homeless man’s collar from behind.

The homeless man’s movement was abruptly halted, and he staggered a few steps, gasping for breath. This man was only slightly shorter than Jiang Ji. Jiang Ji wanted to make him turn around by grabbing his collar, but the homeless man seemed extremely resistant to turning around. For a moment, Jiang Ji couldn’t move him.

“You’ve been following me. What do you want?” Jiang Ji furrowed his brows. “Turn around.”

Upon hearing Jiang Ji’s reprimand, the homeless man’s back stiffened for a moment, and his struggling ceased instantly. After a moment, he stiffly turned around to face Jiang Ji, but his eyes kept darting around.

The homeless man’s half-long hair covered most of his face, making it difficult for Jiang Ji to see his features clearly. But as he turned his face fully towards Jiang Ji, through the tangled hair, Jiang Ji slowly began to feel that the face seemed somewhat familiar.

Suddenly, Jiang Ji seemed to be struck by something. He was stunned for a moment, then his face darkened instantly.

Veins bulged on the hand grabbing the collar as Jiang Ji clutched the homeless man, gritting his teeth. “Is it you?”

Chen Jia and the others had been sitting quietly, waiting for almost an hour. The sky was gradually darkening, and Jiang Ji still hadn’t shown up.

The light inside the room was gradually consumed by the deepening dusk outside, and Sister Jia’s complexion worsened. Zhong Yang apologized repeatedly, Peng Keshi kept calling Jiang Ji’s phone over and over.

Even Qin Qingzhuo, who had been comforting Sister Jia with “no rush,” was starting to feel restless.

Qin Qingzhuo stood up and walked to the window, opening it for some fresh air, looking down. He had gained fame early, and over the years, it had always been others waiting for him. Instances where he waited for someone else were few and far between.

Seeing his patience wearing thin, Sister Jia also stood up, her frustration becoming more evident. “What’s going on? Are we still shooting today? If not, we’ll quickly contact another band.”

“Let’s go out and look,” sensing her about to erupt, Peng Keshi suggested, “Sorry, Sister Jia.”

“Yeah, he should be nearby,” Zhong Yang tucked his phone into his pocket, “Sister Jia, give us ten minutes. I guarantee we’ll bring Jiang Ji back, and then you can do as you please.”

One polite and courteous, the other smooth-talking, but Sister Jia had nowhere to vent her anger. She waved her hand. “Just go!”

Two people, one in front and one behind, were about to go downstairs when Qin Qingzhuo, standing by the window, spoke up, “Don’t go, they’re here.”

As if to confirm his words, the sound of a motorcycle engine roared closer from downstairs.

Zhong Yang and Peng Keshi quickly went downstairs to greet them.

The chaotic footsteps echoed in the hallway, mixed with Zhong Yang’s deliberately lowered voice, “Where did you go for so long? The crew has been waiting for a long time…”

The three cameramen stood up, starting to set up their equipment and adjust the devices.

The footsteps drew closer, and Qin Qingzhuo turned from the window to see Jiang Ji appearing at the doorway on the second floor, followed by Zhong Yang, who was in a hurry, and Peng Keshi, who looked concerned.

Qin Qingzhuo sensitively noticed that compared to the last time before the recording, when Jiang Ji was bargaining and appeared somewhat unruly, Jiang Ji now seemed to be wrapped in a thick, unexpressed hostility.

He discreetly assessed Jiang Ji and noticed that there seemed to be blood stains on his fingers.

Chen Jia looked at Jiang Ji approaching with cold eyes, a touch of sarcasm in her voice, “An hour late, Jiang Ji, how grand.”

Jiang Ji didn’t say anything, not even lifting his eyelids as he passed by a few people, and went straight to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Chen Jia’s expression became even more unpleasant.

The sound of water gushing from the faucet in the bathroom could be heard, and two minutes later, Jiang Ji came out, still with water droplets on his face, his black hair dripping with water. He looked at everyone, his expression calm as if nothing had happened. “What are we shooting? How are we shooting?”

“After keeping the teachers waiting here for so long, you’re not going to explain?” Chen Jia spoke with suppressed anger.

“If we’re shooting, let’s get started quickly,” Jiang Ji’s tone sounded quite indifferent, even with a hint of impatience.

“Don’t you want to apologize?” Chen Jia stared at him for a few seconds, seeing his indifferent appearance, the anger she had been suppressing finally erupted, “Is the crew rushing to promote you now? Jiang Ji, do you still want to shoot or not?!”

“I don’t care,” Jiang Ji said. He indeed seemed to not care.

“In that case, forget it, let’s not shoot,” Chen Jia took a deep breath, turned to look at the others, “Teacher Qin, what do you and the cameramen think? Shall we go shoot another band?”

Upon hearing this, the three cameramen looked at each other, remaining silent, waiting for Chen Jia and Qin Qingzhuo to make a decision.

Seeing this situation, everyone else was too scared to breathe.

Qin Qingzhuo glanced at Jiang Ji. This boy had helped him last time, and in this situation, he was the only one who could speak up for him. But speaking up to ask Chen Jia to change her mind and continue shooting would inevitably make her lose face.

“Jiang Ji,” after a moment’s thought, Qin Qingzhuo spoke up, “Apologize.”

Jiang Ji glanced at Qin Qingzhuo, the disdain in his eyes obvious. Qin Qingzhuo could read the meaning in his gaze—Who are you to tell me what to do?

“Apologize,” seeing Jiang Ji’s silence, Qin Qingzhuo’s tone became firmer, with a hint of unquestionable authority this time, “To everyone who has been waiting for you for so long.”

Jiang Ji looked at him, saying nothing, showing no intention of hiding his bad attitude.

With both sides at a standstill, Chen Jia started to feel a headache, not sure which side to persuade—should she persuade Jiang Ji to apologize? Seeing Jiang Ji’s stubbornness, he probably wouldn’t speak up. Should she just forget about persuading Qin Qingzhuo? Wouldn’t that make him lose face?

Chen Jia also felt somewhat inexplicable. Qin Qingzhuo was so perceptive, how could he not know that doing this would make her lose face? It seemed a bit unusual.

Realizing this, she suddenly understood. Qin Qingzhuo was insisting on having Jiang Ji apologize, ostensibly giving Jiang Ji a way out, but in fact, this way out was for her—Qin Qingzhuo obviously didn’t want the shooting to be canceled.

Chen Jia sighed and couldn’t deny Qin Qingzhuo’s face. She waved her hand to smooth things over, “Forget it, forget it, since we’re here and waited, let’s stick to the original plan and shoot.” After she finished speaking, she looked at the musicians beside her, “Hurry up and get ready, adjust your state.”

Upon hearing this, Zhong Yang breathed a sigh of relief, repeatedly saying, “Thank you, Sister Jia,” and quickly pulled Jiang Ji to the rehearsal area, while Peng Keshi came over to Qin Qingzhuo and said, “Sorry, Brother Qingzhuo.”

Qin Qingzhuo withdrew his gaze from Jiang Ji, shook his head, and said, “It’s okay, as long as we can shoot normally.”