Teacher Chen's Many Talents

It was afternoon.

Ning Qing stood in the doorway of the main room, looking up at the sky. She held a nearly dried Wutong Leaf between her fingers, absently rubbing it until it spun.

The weather was no better than it had been the past two days. Wind drove the dark clouds across the sky, constantly changing their shapes. Two birds chased each other, chirping as they played. The rain would probably fall around dusk, beyond the eastern edge of this thousand-year-old Imperial Capital.

Behind her, Chen Shu lay on the sofa, growing bored. "You've been like this for days, haven't you? Are you really going to keep it up for over a month? How dull."

Ning Qing kept her back to him, showing no sign of turning around. Apparently, she still found the sky outside more interesting.

Her long hair fell over her shoulders, giving her a quiet, gentle look.

"Come back..."

Chen Shu sat up and called out, "Come here. I'll braid your hair!"

Ning Qing silently turned and walked back.

Chen Shu brought over a chair and had her sit with her back to him. He sat cross-legged on the sofa, combing his fingers through her hair again and again.

"You still have so much hair.

"Not quite as much as Xiaoxiao, though."

Chen Shu divided her hair into three sections. He would skip anything complicated and just make a simple braid.

A long braid hanging down the back suited a tall, slender girl like Ning Qing. It went well with the way she usually dressed, too.

As he braided, Chen Shu told her, "I went to work yesterday and got to watch a gala for free. I met Highness Cinnabar and even exchanged a few words with her.

"Oh, right, you asked me before which singer sang 'Rice Fragrance.'

"It was her!

"I didn't forget last time. I deliberately didn't tell you it was her because I was afraid you'd give me trouble. But now you're mute and won't move, so what can you do even if I tell you?"

Ning Qing let him braid her hair without expression, listening in silence. A faint light flickered in her eyes; who knew what she was thinking?

The Wutong Leaf kept spinning between her fingers.

"I'm so bored.

"Even I'm getting bored.

"How about I sing you a song? There's a good one I like. I could sing it for you. Want to hear it?

"No answer means no.

"Fine, you don't want to!"

Chen Shu kept braiding, grinning. "Your self-control's pretty good. Even that didn't make you angry. Tonight I'll slip something into your water, and when you wake up tomorrow morning, you'll find yourself lying naked in my arms. Let's see you keep this up then."

Ning Qing's heart remained utterly still.

The braid was nearing its end; she could feel it. She also heard Chen Shu complain that her hair was too short, saying she should not have cut it six months ago and that a longer braid would look better.

Hah...

If she remembered right, the last time Chen Shu had tried to give her a different hairstyle, he had said her hair was too long to manage. That was why she had cut it.

She had even cut it herself at home.

The short length she cut off had sold for a few dozen yuan, which he had spent on games.

Her hair had been quite long by then.

"Done!"

Ning Qing felt Chen Shu release her hair. The single braid dropped down her back. With its weight concentrated together, it felt just a little heavier than usual as it fell and swayed. She reached behind her head, pulled it over her shoulder, and looked at it. He had done a fine job. Chen Shu had braided her hair this way when they were children, too; he had always been good at it.

"Do you remember? The first time I braided your hair when we were little, I made a braid just like this."

"..."

Ning Qing's expression softened. They had been thinking of the same thing.

"Ah...

"Too bad there's no Huaiqin.

"Otherwise, I really would sing for you."

Ning Qing said nothing. She simply set the Wutong Leaf on the coffee table and took a Huaiqin from her Spatial Items. She had brought it from Bai City. Bringing this Huaiqin was precisely why she had been unable to bring her Mini Motorcycle—her bracelet's storage space would otherwise have fit the little motorcycle exactly.

"Uh..."

Chen Shu's mouth twitched as he took the Huaiqin.

It was an instrument similar to a guitar, slightly smaller than one but much larger than a ukulele. It had six strings and a similar tone.

Chen Shu liked playing guitar. It was a habit from his previous life.

Outside the window, the wind gradually carried the dark clouds away. The chirping birds had vanished as well. The autumn air was pleasantly cool, and the afternoon passed at an easy pace. In weather like this, two young people who had spent so long together were in no hurry. Time was meant to be wasted.

Chen Shu sat cross-legged on the sofa and lightly plucked the strings.

"Ding..."

He had used this very instrument before. Though it was kept at Ning Qing's home and she had bought it, she did not know how to play it at all.

The familiar feeling returned as soon as he touched it.

"Ready?

"No answer means you don't want to hear it.

"All right, I'll stop teasing you. Here we go. Same rules as always: you can listen, but you're not allowed to look at me, or I'll get embarrassed."

Ning Qing did as she was told, looking straight ahead, though she was not really looking at anything.

As the Huaiqin sounded, a light, lovely introduction gave way to a gentle voice beside her ear:

"I can't say why

"I've become so forward

"But when you love someone, anything is worth doing

"The wind by the river blows through my hair

"Holding your hand stirs something in me I can't explain

"..."

Ning Qing listened quietly, her face calm. In stillness, it was often easier to see into her own heart and recognize what she felt.

When the song ended, she turned her gaze to Chen Shu. Only then did her eyes gradually regain their focus.

Chen Shu grinned at her and said:

"One more."

He seemed to have developed a taste for singing.

Without being told, Ning Qing looked forward again.

Chen Shu's voice came before the music, low and slow, almost unaccompanied. It sounded as though he were telling a story, or quietly remembering and imagining:

"Books always love to write of evenings bright with sudden joy

"A bicycle ride, and the things he and she said

"The girl's white dress that the boy loved to see her wear

"...

"Slowly coming to love you

"Slowly growing close

"Slowly talking about ourselves

"Slowly walking together with you..."

When Ning Qing turned to look at him, Chen Shu was still playing and singing. He plucked the strings at an unhurried pace, his unfamiliar style of song flowing on.

A hint of a smile appeared on Ning Qing's face.

"!"

Chen Shu immediately let go of the strings and stared at her. "We agreed you weren't allowed to look up. What happened? Wait, why are you smiling? Doesn't that count as a failure?"

"What's the song called?"

"Hm? You spoke!"

"Yes." Ning Qing's face grew calm again. She asked softly, "What's it called?"

"Slowly Falling for You."

"Who wrote it?"

"Not me, anyway. I just sing it."

"It's lovely."

"Why did you start talking?"

"I failed."

"Why?"

"My heart stirred."

"Then don't you have to start over?"

"Tomorrow."

"So these past few days don't count?"

"I still gained something."

"That's good..." Chen Shu set down the Huaiqin. "I thought you wouldn't fail."

"So did I," Ning Qing said evenly. "I thought I was used to you. Used to anything you might do. As long as I prepared myself, I wouldn't fail."

"You used the Clear Heart Mantra, didn't you?"

"How do you know I didn't?"

"And you still failed..."

Chen Shu's mouth twitched. "Useless!"

Ning Qing looked at him calmly. She did not seem angry; she only said softly, "Keep singing..."

"I'm not singing anymore."

"?"

"The feeling's gone. I can't sing."

"Then let's settle our accounts."

At some point, Ning Qing had seized Chen Shu's wrist. Her fingers were long, and the skin of her palm was soft and tender. But when she tightened her grip, tremendous strength burst forth.

That evening, Chen Shu returned to his dorm.

With Ning Qing's Huaiqin beside him, Chen Shu sat at his desk, deep in thought. At last he took out a sheet of paper and wrote a title:

"The Way You Look"

It was a song by Luo Dayou. In his previous life, Chen Shu had often listened to it and usually sang Lin Zhixuan's version. But so much time had passed that, even with spells to retrieve and strengthen memories, some details were completely lost. He would have to fill them in himself.

Fortunately, most of it remained. With the song's overall style, his hazy memories, and the usual logic of lyrics and composition, filling the gaps would not be hard.

Even if it differed from the original, the difference would not be great.

Now all he lacked was the money.

Chen Shu hummed it softly to himself. "I hear a voice carried to me, like a little river sobbing in a dream. I see someone's departing footsteps, hiding the sorrow in their eyes at parting. What I don't understand is why you'd let the dust of the world carve out the way you look, as though a world that long ago forgot love once held your name and my voice..."

Huh? It rolled off the tongue surprisingly well!

What was the next line again?

Would that sad song always be clear in dreams? Awake?

Whatever. He would just pick one.

His alarm to remind him to cultivate went off.

"Umm..."

Chen Shu scratched his head. Though reluctant, he quickly got out of bed, switched on his computer, logged into the Yi Nation Copyright Protection Center, and registered the copyright online.

The process was extremely efficient. He finished in no time.

He opened Feixin.

Chen Shu: Teacher Wen Han, an elderly man from my hometown, Mr. Luo, wrote a song that's pretty good.

Wen Han: Could I hear it first?

Chen Shu: I'll sing a bit of it.

Chen Shu: 35''

Wen Han: Not bad. I like it a lot. I'll have my agent discuss the details with you.

Chen Shu: Tomorrow. It's too late tonight.

Wen Han: True, my mistake. Get some rest, Teacher Chen. We'll talk tomorrow.

Chen Shu: Don't call me Teacher Chen. Just call me Chen Shu.

Chen Shu: /feels weird

Wen Han: Teacher Chen Shu

Chen Shu: ...

Daily cultivation.