Page 28

"Fatty, even if you can sing and act all brooding, you'll still be single for life," Liang Kui muttered viciously. This time, Su Yan did not rat him out.

"Keep having fun, I'm going to sing for the other classes." The history teacher strutted off with his guitar.

The teachers after the history teacher were especially boring. Perhaps they were too old; they either sang old opera tunes no one could understand, performed clapper-talk, or played the erhu. The kids' mouths twitched nonstop.

The PE teacher gave everyone a surprise performance: breaking red bricks with one hand! Unfortunately, after one chop, the brick was still a brick. After two chops, the brick was still a brick. After three chops, the PE teacher shook his hand and said regretfully, "I'm getting old. My heart is willing, but my strength isn't. Back in the day, I could smash ten bricks with one hand. In all of C City—no, the entire province—I had no rival. My reputation was resounding, Liang..."

The arts committee member rudely snatched the microphone away. "Up next is I Like You, performed by Liang Kui."

The whole class applauded. Grinning, Liang Kui took the stage and accepted the microphone. The song was selected, and the intro slowly began to play...

Fine rain and wind soaked the streets at dusk

Wiping away the rain, my eyes gazed upward for no reason

Looking toward the lonely evening lights, there lay those sorrowful memories

I like you

Those captivating eyes

That laughter, even more enchanting

I wish I could once again

Gently caress

That lovely face of yours...

Liang Kui sang with deep feeling, and his Cantonese pronunciation was quite accurate. When he reached this part, he deliberately turned to look at Chen Wanwan. Her eyes reddened, and she looked as though she might cry with joy. It truly matched the lyric: "Those captivating eyes..."

To make a girl give her heart to someone she liked, perhaps all it took was a sentence, perhaps a glance, perhaps just a song like this—enough to make her fall for the handsomest boy in her heart during the best years of her life.

Teenage love was just that simple.

Beyond's songs could easily move people. They were so real, yet so beautiful. Liang Kui liked Beyond with Wong Ka Kui in it, Su Yan liked that kind of Beyond too, and so did countless others, because they sang their songs straight into people's hearts.

Beyond's I Like You was especially stirring.

Chen Wanwan was fortunate; this song was sung for her.

How many other girls around her had been touched by the three words "I like you," their hearts stirred by a handsome boy? But they were not Chen Wanwan.

Liang Kui had a good voice, and he successfully conveyed his intentions to Chen Wanwan.

The homeroom teacher applauded. "Our class really has plenty of talent. Not bad, not bad."

The party continued: moving songs, hilarious skits, interesting magic tricks, hearty laughter, and passionate applause. Youth was this beautiful.

"Yan Yan, do you envy young people? Don't forget, you're the same as them."

"Yeah, I'm the same as them now... We're young."

It all felt like a dream. He had gone back and seen these people again. How magical.

Su Yan's chest tightened. Why had he been reborn? He clearly had not been reborn to see these people, not to laugh with them, not for this joy, not to reclaim his youth. But why had he laughed with them? Why had he applauded with them? Why did he feel that youth was so wonderful?

This was the youth he had once deliberately avoided, never seriously experiencing it. Back then, he had been withdrawn and gloomy, silent and unable to fit in. When others laughed, he felt miserable inside. Who had fallen in love, who had been dumped, who had been scolded by a teacher, whose father had suddenly died, whose family owned a car, whose family collected scraps—what did any of that have to do with him? Yet everyone else in class knew. He did not, because he did not care. Immersed in the darkness of being abandoned by his parents, he had gradually become numb and lost all the radiance of youth.

Why could he see it now? Why did he seem to have friends he wanted to care about? Why did some people make him angry, while others made him laugh? Because he cared now. Because he had become invested. Because he had integrated into this group.

"Yan Yan, it's your turn! Yan Yan, ganbatte! Hehehehe!"

A dark line appeared across Su Yan's face. "Where did you learn that half-baked foreign gibberish?"

"Hehehehe, from that Naruto you watched last time. Ganbatte, ganbatte!"

"You're a damn parrot!"

Su Yan gritted his teeth and went onstage. The study committee member snorted. "Why does Su Yan look so unwilling? I didn't force you."

Su Yan immediately smiled. "You saw wrong."

He took the microphone and selected the song, Hacken Lee's Never Change.

This was one of Su Yan's best songs. He was not singing it for anyone, only for the New Year's Day party—for his own performance, to add to the liveliness of the entire class.

In the past, Liang Kui's Cantonese songs had made the whole class jealous, but even by graduation, they never knew that Su Yan was also an expert. Su Yan's father had passed this advantage down to him well. Back then, his father had won his mother's hand with his singing. When the two had been dating, they had been romantic beyond compare. Perhaps Su Yan also had that gifted talent in his bones.

Su Yan adjusted his mood and took a deep breath.

Performing was about emotion, and singing was also about emotion. When you had a good singing voice, sing your heart out with feeling! Song was the most magical language.