Baili Qingfeng, Ordinary as Can Be

Baili Qingfeng, Ordinary as Can Be

Sumen City.

It was eighty-one kilometers from Wuhe City. In terms of population, economy, and scale, it lagged somewhat behind Wuhe City, which enjoyed the advantage of its coastal location, but not by much.

Baili Qingfeng sat in the car, watching the streets and buildings slide backward outside the window, thinking about that song.

More precisely, he was thinking about the matter connected to the song.

"The whole world has changed..."

Baili Qingfeng murmured to himself.

"Qingfeng, what did you say?"

Baili Die, who was listening to her Walkman beside him, pressed pause. "Were you talking to me just now?"

"Nothing."

Baili Qingfeng said.

Once they entered the city, the car slowed noticeably. It stopped and started, taking half an hour to reach the bus station.

Baili Qingfeng and Baili Die got out and headed toward their agreed meeting place.

Silver Shadow Studio.

The studio was not in the city center, but in a three-story villa near the second ring road.

The villa had over a thousand square meters of floor space, with an outer courtyard of roughly two thousand square meters. Flowers, plants, and artificial rockeries adorned the grounds, lending it an exquisite, elegant charm.

When Baili Qingfeng and Baili Die arrived, someone came out to greet them. Seeing the two of them, he showed no hint of disdain and warmly stepped forward. "Hello, Teacher Baili. I'm Wu Te, A-Xun's manager. Sorry to trouble you both into coming all this way."

Baili Qingfeng was nominally nineteen, but with the experiences of two lifetimes, no one who saw him would take him for an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old youth.

"Hello."

After exchanging greetings, Wu Te soon led the two of them into the little building's living room.

On one side of the living room was a closed room, with faint music drifting out from within.

Clearly, it was a recording studio.

"Please wait a moment. A-Xun will be done soon."

Wu Te poured them tea and spoke apologetically.

"Is he recording that song? May I listen?"

"Of course."

Wu Te led Baili Qingfeng and Baili Die into the recording studio.

The studio was large, around sixty square meters. Including the control room, it exceeded a hundred square meters.

At that moment, the singer An Yixun was performing. Familiar lyrics and melody drifted slowly through the air, seeming to carry Baili Qingfeng's consciousness back to that world, back to every little moment in that Music Club.

A long while later...

The music stopped.

Baili Qingfeng was slightly lost in thought, his gaze unfocused.

"Teacher Baili, you're more handsome than I imagined. Not the conventionally dashing kind of handsome, but the clean, steady kind."

An Yixun stepped forward and greeted Baili Qingfeng with a smile.

"I can't wait to buy the record for this song."

Baili Qingfeng came back to himself and smiled.

That one sentence clearly acknowledged him, and acknowledged the deal.

"We're just a little short of finishing the recording. When it's done, I'll send it to Teacher Baili immediately. I believe this song will definitely be a huge hit once it comes out."

An Yixun replied with a smile.

"So this is Teacher Baili, who wrote Long Time No See. I really couldn't tell."

At this point, the others in the recording studio also came over to greet him.

Baili Qingfeng looked at them. "I'd like to record a melody for myself. Could I trouble you all to help?"

"Teacher Baili has a new work?"

An Yixun immediately leaned in.

For a singer, high-quality songs were the guarantee of their popularity.

"A melody. A melody I'm keeping for myself."

After hearing that, An Yixun said nothing more. Whether the melody was good or bad, he would hear it first.

"No problem. Do you have an arrangement?"

"Yes. It's very simple. The melody is in my head. Let me borrow some paper and a pen."

As he spoke, Baili Qingfeng took the items handed to him and wrote out the score.

Listening to songs, singing songs, practicing songs, writing songs—he had learned all of it in the Music Club.

Everyone present understood music. As Baili Qingfeng wrote down the score and lyrics, every one of them drew in a sharp breath.

"This... this..."

"This song..."

"Teacher Baili, could you..."

An Yixun in particular looked at Baili Qingfeng, his eyes faintly carrying a trace of pleading.

"You're not suited for this song."

Baili Qingfeng said.

An Yixun thought it over, then finally sighed in deep regret.

"Everyone, get familiar with it first. Then let's start recording."

"Alright."

The group eagerly went to familiarize themselves with the melody.

Baili Die watched from the side, somewhat bewildered. Was her younger brother really that incredible?

Incredible enough to make even An Yixun, who had now risen into the ranks of first-rate singers, lose his composure like this?

It was lunchtime.

But...

Not a single person mentioned eating.

Three hours later.

Baili Qingfeng stood before the microphone, memories of that bleak life passing through his mind one by one.

The melody began.

"I had crossed mountains and seas, and passed through seas of people. I had once possessed everything, yet in the blink of an eye it all scattered like smoke. I had been lost, disappointed, and stripped of all direction, until I saw that ordinary was the only answer. I had destroyed everything I had, only wishing to leave forever. I had fallen into endless darkness, wanting to struggle but unable to pull myself free. I had once been like you, like him, like the wild grass and wildflowers—despairing, yearning, crying and laughing, being ordinary..."

Silence.

Utter silence.

As Baili Qingfeng's voice fell, the recording studio was silent. Everyone was trapped in the life painted by the song, unable to return to themselves for a long time.

"Once..."

Baili Qingfeng sighed inwardly. So, in this life, I want to be an Outstanding Student with both character and learning. I won't disappoint those who have grieved and been disappointed because of me. I'll spend this life in ordinary peace—practice martial arts, read books, listen to music, sing songs, love life, love beauty, and enjoy being alive... Anyone who wishes to disturb my peaceful life and make me feel fear and panic must die.

An Yixun closed his eyes, only opening them again after quite some time.

He looked at Baili Qingfeng and said solemnly, "Teacher Baili, if you have another suitable song in the future, please be sure to contact me."

Before this, his "Teacher Baili" had merely been a polite form of address. But now, those words came from the bottom of his heart.

"I will."

Baili Qingfeng said.

Meanwhile, a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties emerged from the control room. "I'm a music enthusiast. If Teacher Baili has songs to record in the future, you can come directly to me. Any song that reaches this level of quality... no, even if it's only half as good, I, Qin Yuan, will record it for free. Even if you want to release it, I can ask my older brother Qin Zhan to help."

"Then I'll have to trouble you often in the future."

Baili Qingfeng said.

He had watched many television dramas before and paid attention to many characters, but what left the deepest impression on him was not those characters themselves, but...

The background music that came with their entrances.

Since he was going to enjoy life, this could be considered a small goal as well.

A personal sound system whenever he made an entrance...

No, a Walkman.

"Little brother, practicing martial arts has no future."

This was already the fourth time Baili Die had said it since they left Qin Yuan's home.

Even if Baili Die could not distinguish a good song from a bad one, she could tell from the attitudes of An Yixun, Qin Yuan, and the others that her younger brother was clearly better suited to the path of an artsy young man.

"Alright, it's getting late. We're not going back today. Let's find somewhere to stay and look around Sumen City while we're at it."

Baili Qingfeng did not argue with her over the matter.

"You should think about it too."

Baili Die refused to let it go.

"I will think about it."

"Think about it seriously."

Baili Die said emphatically.

Then she brought Baili Qingfeng into the city center and got a room near the bus station. They were siblings, so staying in one room was no big deal.

After settling in, Baili Qingfeng found an excuse to separate from Baili Die.

He checked the time...

It was six in the afternoon. In August, there was still some time before dark.

"Jiang's Martial Hall..."

Recalling the route he had looked up last night, Baili Qingfeng boarded Bus No. 2.