Chapter 6

Chen Jia, with a professional background, showed no traces of previous emotions once she entered work mode.

“Let’s start by filming a rehearsal segment,” Chen Jia, now calm, instructed Qin Qingzhuo as she watched Jiang Ji take out his guitar and the other two musicians take their positions. “Qingzhuo, you guide their rehearsal according to your rhythm, don’t worry about us.”

Qin Qingzhuo nodded, then looked at the three musicians. “Have you decided on the next piece you’ll be playing? How about rehearsing it completely for me to see?”

Zhong Yang and Peng Keshi glanced at each other, then looked at Jiang Ji.

Qin Qingzhuo immediately sensed that something was wrong and followed their gaze to Jiang Ji. “Didn’t you report the songs you were going to play to the production team? What’s going on?”

Jiang Ji’s fingers rested on the guitar strings, silent at first, then he spoke after a few seconds, “The production team was pressing us, so I randomly reported a song, and I’ve forgotten which one it was.”

Now, even though Jiang Ji had helped him a few days ago, Qin Qingzhuo was starting to lose his patience, “Forgotten? The production team needs to plan the stage effects based on the songs you report. Jiang Ji, you’re too casual about saying you’ve forgotten. And, from the end of the last recording to now, you haven’t rehearsed at all?”

Jiang Ji remained silent. Peng Keshi, who was standing nearby, seemed hesitant to speak for him, but in the end, she said nothing.

Seeing the lack of cooperation, Qin Qingzhuo turned his head aside, sighing. He didn’t need to rush and spoil his own mood.

Chen Jia also lost her temper due to the constant setbacks, “So we can’t even film the rehearsal segment, right? Your band must have something filmable, right? Is it Jiang Ji’s birthday today?” She looked at Zhong Yang and Peng Keshi, “Do you have anything prepared? You can always give me a few birthday scene shots, right?”

“We have this,” Zhong Yang immediately nodded, finally finding his usefulness, “We prepared a cake and candles in advance.”

A look of surprise flashed across Jiang Ji’s face, apparently not expecting them to prepare a cake.

Chen Jia quickly envisioned a new filming plan in her mind, “Then let’s do this. We’ll film a segment where the rehearsal ends, and the band members celebrate Jiang Ji’s birthday.”

In the scene, the three band members put down their instruments, ending a day of rehearsal, while Zhong Yang and Peng Keshi brought out the cake.

The cream on the cake had already begun to melt, and the words “Happy 19th Birthday” were smeared and barely recognizable.

Peng Keshi inserted the candle with the “19” mark into the middle of the cake and looked at Zhong Yang, “Lighter, do you have it?”

“Yes…” Zhong Yang said so, but after searching in his pocket for a long time, he couldn’t find it. In the end, Jiang Ji threw a lighter to Peng Keshi from across the room.

The golden flame danced and lit up, Zhong Yang looked up at Jiang Ji, “Bro, make a wish.”

Jiang Ji seemed not very interested in the idea. After Zhong Yang finished speaking, he stared at the flame expressionlessly for a few seconds, but after hesitating for a moment, he closed his eyes. The flickering flame reflected on his face, adding a soft filter to him, magically filtering out his usual aggressiveness, making this momentary Jiang Ji look almost gentle.

So young, Qin Qingzhuo thought as he looked at the teenager in front of him, young to the point of being reckless.

The thick black lashes fluttered, and Jiang Ji quickly opened his eyes, meeting Qin Qingzhuo’s gaze.

“Already done?” The camera in front of him was aimed at himself, Qin Qingzhuo knew they wanted to capture his reaction. What to say to the camera, no one knew better than him, “What did you wish for?”

Jiang Ji looked at him, his face expressionless, “Just end today quickly.”

Qin Qingzhuo smiled, “That’s a bit too simple, isn’t it? It’s getting dark, so today will end quickly.”

“Too simple?” Jiang Ji still looked at him, “Then let every day end quickly.”

Qin Qingzhuo raised his eyebrows subtly, “Spoken wishes probably won’t work, perhaps at some point in the future, you’ll wish for a day to end a bit slower. Blow out the candle, young man.”

Jiang Ji lowered his gaze and blew out the candle. Chen Jia then asked Zhong Yang and Peng Keshi to give their birthday wishes one by one.

Both of their wishes were simple and sincere. Zhong Yang wished for “Jiang Ji to earn a lot of money,” while Peng Keshi wished for “Jiang Ji to be happier in the coming year.”

After the wishes were given, Chen Jia glanced at Qin Qingzhuo, then looked at Jiang Ji, “Teacher Qin also prepared a gift for you.”

Jiang Ji’s gaze fell on Qin Qingzhuo’s face again, and this time, the usually indifferent gaze finally showed a hint of emotion, surprise, and perhaps curiosity. This made him finally look a bit like a 19-year-old.

“It’s a guitar,” Qin Qingzhuo took the box handed over by Chen Jia, his fingers unclasped the buckle, opened the box, took out the guitar, and handed it to Jiang Ji, “I noticed that your guitar is very old, you’ve probably been using it for many years, right?”

Without waiting for Jiang Ji’s response, Qin Qingzhuo paused for a moment before continuing, “The tone of your acoustic guitar is very clear, it matched well with the song ‘Train Station’ you sang in the first episode. This one here is an electric guitar, it has a metallic texture to its sound, and I think it also suits your voice well. I’m giving you this guitar as a birthday gift, hoping it will accompany you to go further in ‘Restless Bands’.”

Jiang Ji took the guitar, his gaze swept over the body of the instrument, his expression not showing much enthusiasm, “Thank you.”

The set visit material was finally shot, although it deviated quite a bit from the plan envisioned by the production team, at least some editable material was captured.

As the cameramen carried their equipment away, the bar downstairs had already started operating. Worried that Qin Qingzhuo might be recognized and cause trouble, Chen Jia asked Qin Qingzhuo to get into the car first, while she helped the cameramen pack up their gear at the trunk.

Sitting in the car, Qin Qingzhuo looked through the window at the alley gradually coming to life with the onset of darkness. It was still early for the bar to get really lively, and there weren’t too many people in the alley yet. Nevertheless, it was evident that the Honglu Bar was the busiest establishment on this street.

At that moment, the door of the bar was pushed open from inside, and Qin Qingzhuo saw three band members coming out.

They chatted as they walked forward, and after a short distance, the bassist and drummer waved to Jiang Ji before continuing on, while Jiang Ji walked to the motorcycle parked by the corner of the wall, apparently preparing to leave on it.

Was it just acting for the camera and then dispersing afterward? Watching the tall and slender figure of the lead singer not far away, Qin Qingzhuo furrowed his brows slightly.

Logically, he had come today to cooperate with the filming of the set visit video, and now that the task was completed, he should take the appearance fee and leave without any worries.

But whether it was the sense of responsibility as the team leader, the disgust at Jiang Ji’s wasteful behavior, or simply the fact that Jiang Ji’s attitude today had crossed his tolerance threshold, after staring at that figure for a few seconds, Qin Qingzhuo stood up from his seat.

As he opened the door and got out of the car, Chen Jia was preparing to get into the car with the three cameramen, looking at him with some surprise, “Qingzhuo, where are you going?”

“You guys go ahead, no need to wait for me.” With these words, Qin Qingzhuo walked towards Jiang Ji deeper into the alley.

Jiang Ji was bending down to unlock the motorcycle lock, and his gaze caught the approaching shadow first covering his shoe and then climbing up his calf. When he lifted his eyes, Qin Qingzhuo was already standing in front of him.

“The second round of program recording is about to start. When do you plan to finalize the performance repertoire?”

The motorcycle lock “click” opened, and Jiang Ji stood up straight, glanced at Qin Qingzhuo, and remained silent.

“Planning to decide on the repertoire just before going on stage?”

Jiang Ji looked at him with a cold gaze and remained silent for a few seconds before speaking, “What’s it to you?”

The tone was unfriendly, but Qin Qingzhuo suppressed the discomfort in his heart, trying to make his tone sound more gentle, “Jiang Ji, I am your team leader and the one who decided to keep you on the show. I believe I have the right to ask you to show at least some respect for the stage and the audience.”

Jiang Ji fell silent again, and the indifference in his eyes became more pronounced.

“I also hope you understand that the reason I kept your band on stage in the first episode is because your musical talent seemed rare to me, and on the other hand, in that situation where you were called in to fill in hastily, I thought you should be given another chance to prove yourself. But to be honest, based on your performance in the last episode, it fell far short of my standards. You couldn’t even meet the most basic requirement of not making mistakes. If the performance is the same in the next episode, I think you should be well aware of the consequences waiting for you.”

Jiang Ji looked at Qin Qingzhuo with a hint of impatience. The words Qin Qingzhuo said didn’t register in his mind at all.

The night breeze blew over, slightly longer strands of hair brushed against Qin Qingzhuo’s face. The neighboring bar flickered with some cheap multicolored lights, shining on his face, making his originally gentle features appear somewhat brilliant under the changing lights.

Seeing those lips that kept opening and closing, Jiang Ji thought of that night in the car, where Qin Qingzhuo waited with his side face ready to be kissed.

So self-righteous, he thought.

He took a step closer to Qin Qingzhuo, this sudden move caught Qin Qingzhuo off guard, and the lips that had been opening and closing finally closed.

Jiang Ji lowered his head slightly, close to Qin Qingzhuo’s ear, his voice was extremely low, “Teacher Qin, I also hope you understand, not everyone is like you, having plenty of time for rehearsals and even time for late-night dates with men.”

Qin Qingzhuo was stunned, turned his head abruptly, looking at him almost in shock.

Jiang Ji straightened up, creating distance between him and Qin Qingzhuo, giving him a meaningful look.

Then he lifted his leg and straddled the motorcycle. The engine roared loudly. Sitting on the motorcycle, Jiang Ji leaned forward, ignoring Qin Qingzhuo’s intense gaze, and sped out of the narrow alley.

TN:

Ugh I don’t like you JJ!