Lovesickness

"Ah, this is awkward. Sorry, Uncle Wang, I've been too busy lately and completely forgot. I'll submit it right now, right now."

Li Changle felt a bit embarrassed.

"Forget it, forget it. You rascal, just send me the poems you prepared, and I'll submit them for you."

"You rascal must have prepared something already. Send me the poems you've written, and I'll submit them for you then."

Wang Weimin was quite fond of Li Changle. After all, he figured Li Changle was very likely to become his future son-in-law.

His wife might not be too happy about it, so he needed to stir things up a bit first, otherwise, it would be difficult later.

His wife knew him too well; she loved talented people. That's how he had wooed her back in the day.

"Uh, this, that, Uncle Wang, may I ask, what was the theme of the poetry competition you mentioned last time? I've forgotten."

Li Changle said sheepishly. He had almost forgotten about it himself. If Wang Weimin hadn't reminded him, he would have likely lost out on that 300,000.

"You brat, you haven't even prepared anything? Then what's the point of you participating? I told you to take this seriously, and this is how you take it seriously?"

Wang Weimin was usually good-tempered, but even he was furious. Damn it, who could tolerate this? They had agreed on it last time, and this kid had promised wholeheartedly, only to forget everything in the end.

The submission deadline is today. Even if he could write something, how good could a poem be if conceived in less than a day? And here he was, reminding him diligently.

He wanted to help him stand a little taller in front of his future mother-in-law. Wang Weimin was angry at his lack of ambition.

"Umm, Uncle Wang, could you tell me the theme for this year's poetry competition first? I write very quickly, don't worry!"

Li Changle said confidently. As if! He didn't even need to think; he could just copy it.

"The theme this time is Lovesickness. There are about eight hours left until the submission deadline. You rascal, put your heart into it and send me the draft on WeChat when you're done."

"Yes, yes, alright, Uncle Wang. I'll send it to you later."

"Oh, right, is Siyi doing well lately?"

Wang Weimin casually asked about Wang Siyi's recent situation. Even though she was his own daughter.

Wang Weimin had been feeling heartbroken lately. His daughter hadn't called him or his wife at all.

She wouldn't answer his calls or reply to his WeChat messages. He Shumin had even considered going down there to talk to her, but Wang Weimin had stopped her.

As if! If He Shumin discovered her daughter was living with a strange man.

Then he, Wang Weimin, would really have to choose between his wife and his daughter. For now, it was best to stall.

"Ah, Siyi hasn't called you guys?"

"She went to Shanghai. Didn't you know?"

Li Changle was a bit bewildered. That woman, Wang Siyi, always said she would tell her dad that Li Changle was bullying her daughter, yet she hadn't made a single call home.

Amazing, Wang Siyi.

Li Changle's face darkened. He thought he would go find trouble with her later.

"What?! Siyi went back to Shanghai? She didn't tell us!"

Wang Weimin felt a chill run down his spine. His daughter seemed to be serious this time, ignoring them completely. This wouldn't do.

If she had really gone back to Shanghai, then he would have to plan a trip to find his daughter. At least they needed to talk things out face-to-face.

"Alright, alright, let's leave it at that. You rascal, remember to take this poetry submission seriously and send me the draft later. I'll submit it for you. Goodbye."

The line went dead. Li Changle didn't even have time to exchange pleasantries with Wang Weimin before he hung up. This Uncle Wang was quite something, Li Changle shook his head.

He started thinking about which poem to choose for the poetry competition. Since he was participating, he was definitely aiming for the first-place prize money, otherwise, it wouldn't be interesting.

So, he needed to come up with a poem that could truly impress. Li Changle pondered for a moment.

"Lovesickness."

"Got it!"

He muttered to himself, and suddenly his eyes lit up. How could he have forgotten this poem?

He patted his head. With this poem for the poetry competition, he should be almost guaranteed to win, right?

"Ding dong," a notification sound came from his phone. Li Changle glanced at it. It was from Wang Siyi. She didn't say anything, just sent an emoji: a smiling Shiba Inu.

Wang Siyi was sending more and more emojis, and she always managed to collect so many cat and dog emojis.

Then Li Changle, imitating her, sent an emoji back, a surprised cat emoji.

"What are you doing?"

Wang Siyi saw him copying her emoji habit and felt a little annoyed. But it seemed she was the one who started this habit, so she didn't have the heart to scold him. She could only use the most common chat opener to ask him.

"Writing a poem."

"Writing what poem?"

"Your dad asked me to submit an entry for the poetry competition. He said there's prize money for first place, so I agreed."

Speaking of Wang Weimin, Li Changle felt indignant. This woman was quite skilled at using her father's authority to her advantage.

"You can write ancient poetry?"

"Haven't you read my novels? There are often poems in them, all written by me. Is it strange that I can write ancient poetry? /eyeroll"

Li Changle added an eye-roll emoji to his message.

"That's not the same thing at all. The ancient poems in your novel are pretty mediocre. They wouldn't place in a poetry competition."

"Don't you have any confidence in me?"

Furious, Li Changle immediately sent the poem he intended to submit to Wang Siyi.

"Red beans grow in southern lands, How many branches sprout when spring arrives? May you gather them often, This thing most embodies lovesickness."

Wang Siyi had initially intended to mock Li Changle for overestimating himself, but then she saw the poem he sent and was stunned.

"Red beans grow in southern lands, How many branches sprout when spring arrives…"

She murmured the poem to herself, and suddenly felt that, despite its apparent simplicity, the feeling of lovesickness conveyed by the words was more intense than in a thousand-word essay.

"What's the name of this poem?"

"It's called Lovesickness. What do you think, is it any good?"

Li Changle provocatively asked Wang Siyi with a smug expression, sending an emoji along with it.

However, Wang Siyi didn't reply to Li Changle this time. She was currently in a recording studio in Shanghai, waiting for Yang Caiqian, which was why she had time to chat with Li Changle.

But now, she was already shocked by this poem, Lovesickness. This guy, could he really be this talented?

And she wondered if this poem, called Lovesickness, might have something to do with the poem Red Bean that he had written for her.

"How did you come up with this poem?"

If you want to ask that, you should ask Wang Wei. How would I know?

Li Changle didn't know how to reply. He couldn't exactly say he copied it, even though he really did.

But in this world, there was no Wang Wei. Whoever thought of it first was considered the author. How could the work of a scholar be called plagiarism?

"It was a flash of inspiration, and I thought of this poem. What do you think? Should this poem win first place in the poetry competition?"

"How would I know? Go ask my dad."

"The producer is here, I have to go record the song."

With that, Wang Siyi stopped replying to Li Changle.

Li Changle knew that Wang Siyi was genuinely busy, so he didn't reply further. He then forwarded the four lines of poetry he had sent to Wang Siyi to Wang Weimin.

Shortly after, Wang Weimin's WeChat vibrated. He picked up his phone and saw a message from Li Changle, but didn't open the chat window immediately.

He thought Li Changle was having trouble understanding how to write a poem on the theme of lovesickness and was asking for his advice.

With the intention of guiding him, he opened the chat window. What greeted his eyes was a five-character quatrain.

Red beans grow in southern lands, How many branches sprout when spring arrives? May you gather them often, This thing most embodies lovesickness.

"This…"

At first glance, Wang Weimin thought this five-character quatrain was simple.

After reading it once, he realized it was a good poem, the kind that could be passed down through the ages. At the very least, he couldn't write poetry of this caliber.

"Damn it, how am I supposed to guide him? This kid really has some skills."

He chuckled to himself, then reread the poem. He felt it was even more profound. This poem expresses the emotion of lovesickness, yet it never deviates from the red bean.

It uses the name of the red bean, the seed of love, to connect with the feeling of lovesickness. It begins with an object to evoke emotion. Though the words are simple, they are rich in imagination.

Then, it uses a rhetorical question to convey a message, deeply embedding the emotions. The third line subtly hints at cherishing friendship, seemingly urging the recipient to cherish lovesickness, but inwardly expressing his own deep longing.

The final line is a double entendre, fitting the theme perfectly while also resonating with the emotional sentiment, a stroke of genius that is subtle and moving.

The poem's mood is healthy and elegant, its sentiment full and unrestrained, its language simple and unadorned, and its rhythm harmonious and beautiful.

Even after so many years of poetry competitions, it was rare to see a poem of this quality that could be compared to this one.

Wang Weimin secretly thought that submitting this poem to the Guangfu Competition Area's poetry competition would be a waste of its talent.

This was a poem of a quality that could be passed down through the ages. Unfortunately, the theme of lovesickness might not be suitable for the national competition. Oh well, he would help this brat submit this poem for now.

He hadn't asked for the poem's name yet, he needed to ask.

"What's the name of this poem? I'll help you submit it."

"This poem is called Lovesickness. Uncle Wang, do you think it's okay?"

Seeing the words "think it's okay," Wang Weimin's mustache twitched. Okay?

If this poem was just "okay," then no one else would be "okay." However, he couldn't praise it too highly, lest the kid become arrogant.

Wang Weimin suddenly found Li Changle much more likable. He was a scholar himself and had always admired talented people.

After meeting Li Changle in Yangcheng, he found him to be a good person. Now, discovering his immense talent, he couldn't have been happier. This future son-in-law was decided!

With a hearty laugh, he submitted Li Changle's manuscript to the Guangfu Poetry Association for review, as the process still needed to be followed.

Although he was invited to be a judge, he couldn't have the final say.

Besides, with the quality of this poem, how could it not stand out? At the very least, it should shock those old guys.

He secretly felt pleased. This was his future son-in-law, truly remarkable.

Next time he saw his daughter, he had to make sure she held onto this young man tightly. He couldn't let him slip away.

Shanghai, a high-end recording studio.

Chen Baozhu and Wang Siyi rushed to greet Yang Caiqian, who arrived late.

"Oh, Teacher Yang is here. We really have to thank you for being willing to be the producer for Wan Jun's album. Thank you. This is Wan Jun, you should be quite familiar with her..."

Chen Baozhu saw Yang Caiqian walk in and quickly got up with Wang Siyi to welcome him.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. There was some traffic on the way, so I'm a little late..."

Yang Caiqian walked in somewhat hurriedly and said apologetically.

"Oh, it's fine. We just got here not too long ago."

Chen Baozhu smiled broadly, showing no sign of blame. After Xinyi stole the song he wrote, they were in the wrong. It was already difficult enough to get him to help, what more could they ask for?

"Teacher Yang, we're very sorry about what happened last time. We didn't know the leaders at Xinyi Huyou would do something so excessive..."

Wang Siyi said apologetically to Yang Caiqian, feeling a little embarrassed.

"It's alright, it's all in the past. If it weren't for that incident, I wouldn't have heard such a great song. The song you found, wherever it came from, is much better than the one I wrote. The person who wrote this song for you must be extraordinary..."

Yang Caiqian was clearly a magnanimous person and highly praised Li Changle, who wrote the song "Red Bean."

"Alright, enough with the pleasantries. It's my honor to produce a song like 'Red Bean.' Wan Jun, please get ready, let's start..."

Yang Caiqian was eager. This song had to be produced well.

As a musician, he always had a precise grasp of market trends. He had an intuition that this song would be a hit!

Producing a song like this could only benefit him, not harm him. The group walked into the recording studio and began producing the instrumental track.

Actually, the instrumental track wasn't difficult to make because Li Changle had already told Wang Siyi which instruments to use where in the song.

They just needed to produce it according to Li Changle's vision.

After half a day, the rough version of the instrumental track was ready. Wang Siyi began to do a vocal test, while Yang Caiqian stood outside the recording booth.

Listening to Wang Siyi sing "Red Bean," he couldn't help but sigh. This song was tailor-made for her; it suited her perfectly.

The instrumental track was also very well-arranged, with almost nothing for him to modify. He could only say that the person who created this song was incredibly talented.

He considered himself a prominent figure in the music industry, so how had he never heard of this person named Li Xiaoyao? Truly, the younger generation surpasses the old.

After listening to Wang Siyi sing the entire song, Yang Caiqian was generally satisfied. However, there was still a slight lack of emotion, so he told Wang Siyi and planned to record it again.

Wang Siyi didn't say anything. Recording a song was never an easy task; it was impossible to get the perfect take on the first try.

This was the lead single for the album, and it had to be treated with utmost seriousness.

After several takes, Wang Siyi felt quite tired, but Yang Caiqian still felt a slight deficiency in the emotional delivery.

However, seeing Wang Siyi's condition, he knew that if she continued, her state would decline further. So, he suggested taking a break.

"Wan Jun, I've analyzed the song 'Red Bean' roughly. This song must convey a sense of lovesickness, specifically a kind of longing filled with hope for the future."

"For example, you like someone, and due to unavoidable circumstances, you have to part ways. But you must believe that your ultimate ending will be a happy one..."

Wang Siyi blushed slightly. Wasn't he describing her situation exactly?

She then remembered the poem Li Changle had sent her that morning and fell into deep thought.

"Alright, you can rest for a while, and we'll continue later..."

"No need, Teacher. I think I know how to sing it now. Let's start right away."

Thanks to book friends Mingkit Ming and Ka Luo Di Po for their rewards~

This book is finally getting a recommendation, a trial recommendation~ Just yesterday I said there were no recommendations, and today Qidian proved me wrong lollll

Old readers know the drill, trial recommendations are basically the path to failure for most authors. Although I'm a failure, I'm a failure with ideals. Keep going! (>_<)

A struggling author with ideals and dreams continues to ask for recommendation tickets, favorites, and monthly tickets.