On the third day after the college entrance exams, Cheng Che finally started having some "unrestrained fun."
For the first two days, he had still been wound tight, a sense of unreality weighing on his heart.
Only when the sun rose as usual on the third day did he finally confirm it: no more practice questions, no more memorizing vocabulary, no more getting up at five thirty.
His youthful spirit burst out all at once, like water through opened floodgates.
But he was having all this fun not to vent his stress, but because he had already seen plenty of examples online:
Some students were kept under an iron grip from elementary school through high school, then plunged into a frenzy of compensatory indulgence as soon as they entered college-gaming, binge-watching, skipping classes-until they failed their courses and dropped out.
So, to avoid that kind of compensatory addiction, he had to desensitize himself.
Of course, this idea... was something Guo Xin had figured out.
On the morning of the fourth day after the exams, Cheng Che told his parents he had a class reunion that evening and would be home a little late.
Jiang Xue nodded, then remembered something. "Do you have any money on you? Let me get you two hundred."
"No need." Cheng Che took out his phone and waved it smugly. "I haven't used up the money from my part-time jobs yet. I've barely touched the money from shooting the music video or my wages from the tennis courts."
"All right, then." Jiang Xue reminded him, "No drinking."
"Relax. I don't touch cigarettes or alcohol." Cheng Che slipped his phone into his pocket. "Besides, alcohol harms your health and affects your condition. Your son still has to win glory for the country someday."
Jiang Xue scolded him with a laugh and watched him leave.
Guo Xin was already waiting at the entrance to the residential complex.
"Hurry the fuck up! Keep dragging your feet and all the private rooms at the internet café will be gone!"
Wearing slippers and holding an ice pop between his teeth, Guo Xin stamped his feet impatiently.
"What's the rush? We don't have school today."
Cheng Che walked over and swatted the ice-pop stick out of his mouth.
"You bastard! My ice pop!"
Laughing and horsing around, they headed for the internet café.
They booked a two-person private room, ordered a bottle of iced black tea each, logged into League of Legends, and jumped straight into duo queue.
In the first game, Cheng Che picked a mid laner, while Guo Xin took jungle.
Fifteen minutes later, Cheng Che was 3-0-2, with a forty-CS lead over the enemy mid laner. Guo Xin was 0-5-0, his jungle completely ravaged by invades.
"Guo Xin." Cheng Che stared at the screen, his voice very calm. "What are you doing?"
"Farming jungle camps."
"Are you farming theirs? This is called feeding."
"No, their jungler keeps invading my jungle, and our mid laner won't come help..."
"I'm the mid laner." Cheng Che turned to look at him, his eyes saying, "Go on, make up another one."
Guo Xin stiffened his neck.
"Their jungler's a booster! Seriously! Look at his movement, his game sense-he's at least Master! I did my best this game. I've got the skills, but the team coordination sucks, the macro's bad, the patch isn't very friendly to me, and I think my keyboard's acting up..."
"Are you going to say the loss isn't your fault, either? That it's the coach's fault for not giving you a strategy?"
"Exactly!"
"Exactly my ass." Cheng Che smacked Guo Xin on the shoulder. "You're 0-5. I'm 3-0. You're a jungler, and you've farmed fewer camps than me, a mid laner. You say you did your best. Your best at what, feeding?"
Guo Xin's face flushed red. "I... I'm strategically giving up resources so you can carry..."
"Fuck off."
The private room was filled with merriment.
They played two more games, and Guo Xin finally managed to get two assists, saving himself from complete humiliation.
He gulped down half a bottle of iced black tea, let out a long breath, leaned back in his chair, and glanced at the bottom-right corner of the screen.
"Holy shit, why's the internet fee so expensive? One hour in this room costs as much as three in the main hall, right?"
Cheng Che turned to him with a look that said, "You only just remembered?"
Guo Xin froze, then looked embarrassed.
The last time they had come to the internet café, they had sat in the main hall to save money.
But barely ten minutes after Cheng Che sat down, two girls had appeared beside him. One pretended to look at his screen while constantly sneaking glances at him.
There was no helping it; the internet café's main hall was packed during summer vacation.
Cheng Che's charm was already at seventy points, making him a bona fide young heartthrob.
But with those seventy charm points plus [Stars Surrounding the Moon], he was practically a light in the darkness.
Before long, the bolder girl came straight over, asking what game he played and whether they could add each other on WeChat to duo queue sometime.
Before Cheng Che could refuse, the other girl had already brought a chair over and handed him a bottle of Coke while she was at it.
Four or five girls came over in all.
Quite a few were good-looking, too.
Cheng Che did not particularly mind.
He was already used to being approached. He exchanged a few polite words and turned them down when necessary.
But beside him, Guo Xin became completely invisible.
An invisible man whom nobody paid any attention to, he was forced to grasp the meaning of "jealousy twists people beyond recognition" right there in the internet café.
Finally, Guo Xin slapped the desk.
"I'm done! Let's go! Home! Is this a fucking internet café or a matchmaking corner?"
"Weren't you the one who wanted to come?" Cheng Che said.
"How was I supposed to know you could hold a consort selection just by sitting in the main hall for ten minutes?" Guo Xin fumed. "From now on, private rooms only. For the sake of your chastity and my blood pressure."
Now, Guo Xin glanced at the price list on the private room's wall, his heart bleeding.
But remembering what had happened in the main hall last time, he gritted his teeth.
"Fine, expensive it is. Better than watching you attract bees and butterflies."
Cheng Che smiled without a word and continued controlling his champion, casually solo-killing his opponent again.
After leaving the internet café, they went home, washed their faces, changed clothes, and headed to the class reunion.
Dinner was at a restaurant beside their school, where they had booked two large tables.
More than sixty students from Class Five attended. The class monitor, Su Qingyue, was organizing things, with Lin Xiao helping check people in beside her.
Old Xu was there too, sitting beside the seat of honor and smiling like a kindly old father.
By the time Cheng Che and Guo Xin arrived, things were already lively inside.
"Cheng Che's here!"
"Brother Che! Sit over here!"
"Guo Xin, come here! We saved you a seat!"
Over the past few months, Cheng Che's standing in the class had changed beyond recognition.
The moment he entered, several boys stood up and waved. Two girls even squeezed farther in, forcing an empty seat into existence beside them.
Following behind him, Guo Xin wrinkled his nose with envy. "Whenever I go out to eat with you, I look like your lackey."
"You'll get used to it," Cheng Che said.
Guo Xin: "..."
During dinner, everyone chattered over one another about their plans after graduation.
"I'm planning a trip to Dali. Anyone want to come?"
"I'm learning to drive! I have to get my license this summer."
"My parents want me to sign up for English classes. They say I'll still have to take the CET-4 and CET-6 in college..."
"Your dad's right, but can't you wait until you're done having fun before you start studying?"
Cheng Che and Guo Xin sat together, listening to everyone chat and occasionally joining in, though they spent most of their time with their heads down, eating.
Halfway through the meal, Old Xu stood up with his teacup and said a few words in a gentle voice.
"You're all good kids. Over these three years, I've watched you grow, little by little, from the first-year students who came through those doors. Soon you'll all be going your separate ways. When you're out in the world, don't get into fights to prove how tough you are. Think of your parents more. You can relax today, but go easy on the alcohol. Safety first."
Everyone answered in unison.
The atmosphere was warm, with a touch of sadness.
After dinner, someone suggested going singing.
"We've graduated. How can we not go to karaoke? Once we're scattered all over the country, getting together again will be hard."
"Let's go!"
"But... aren't karaoke places kind of sketchy?"
"Yeah, my parents say those places aren't respectable."
Old Xu smiled. "Don't worry. I'll take you to one. It's close to school, the customers are all students, and it's a clean place."
Only after hearing their teacher say that did everyone feel reassured.
A dozen or so went to karaoke, while the others prepared to head home.
The group marched toward the karaoke venue in force.
Old Xu greeted the owner, booked a large private room, and gave them a few more reminders before letting everyone inside.
The room was spacious, with warm lighting and a good sound system.
At the doorway, Old Xu reminded everyone to check in safely. "Once you get home, each of you needs to send a message in the group chat. A photo works too. Not one person missing."
"Got it, Old Xu!" everyone answered.
Zhao Lei was the first to pick a song.
He chose Eason Chan's "Ten Years," singing it with deep feeling and a steady voice.
His classmates gave him plenty of support, waving their phone flashlights like glow sticks, with some even singing harmony.
After he finished, Zhao Lei gave Cheng Che a rather smug look.
He admitted he could not beat Cheng Che in grades or on the court, but singing was something he had practiced. His family had enrolled him in vocal lessons.
Surely he could not lose at this too?
Unable to stand his smugness, Guo Xin snatched the microphone. "My turn! I'm singing 'Love Even If I Die'!"
Then, with his very life, he proved that some people charged money to sing, while others cost you your life.
He could not reach the high notes or descend to the low ones. He mostly shouted his way through the chorus, and his voice cracked twice when his emotions ran high.
The whole class rocked with laughter. Several girls laughed until tears came out, and even Zhao Lei turned his face away, his shoulders shaking violently.
Guo Xin finished singing, his face and neck flushed red, and set the microphone on the table with a look of tragic resolve.
"What are you laughing at? That's called emotion! You don't understand anything!"
"We understand. We understand." Cheng Che suppressed a laugh. "It's just that our ears don't really want to."
Guo Xin ground his teeth. "Get up there yourself if you've got the guts!"
That shout sent the flames straight toward Cheng Che.
"Yeah! Cheng Che! You haven't sung yet!"
"You're the face of our class! You can't get away without singing!"
"What song? I'll queue it for you!"
"'Midsummer Reply'! Make him sing 'Midsummer Reply'!"
"Exactly! You shot the music video. Don't tell us you can't sing the song?"
Sitting on the sofa amid everyone's teasing, Cheng Che waved a modest hand. "I'm tone-deaf."
"Like hell you are!" Hearing "tone-deaf" only made Guo Xin more enthusiastic. "Why didn't you say you were tone-deaf when you shot the music video? Get up there!"
He did not want to be the only one embarrassing himself.
"Get up there! Get up there! Get up there!"
Looking at this reception, Cheng Che knew he would not make it out the door tonight without singing.
It was a good chance to test [Bard Incubus Voice], too, and find out just what a voice with a story sounded like.
He dawdled as he stood up, walked to the song-selection console, and chose "Midsummer Reply."
The intro began, and the lights in the room automatically dimmed.
Cheng Che took a deep breath and raised the microphone to his lips.
"The midsummer wind blows through the streets of sixteen..."
The moment the first line came out, the room suddenly fell silent.
Everyone stopped moving.
Lin Xiao, who had been gnawing on a chicken wing, looked up. Su Qingyue, holding her phone ready to film, forgot to press record. Zhao Lei's hand froze in midair with his drink, and Guo Xin's mouth formed an O.
That voice was as clear as mountain spring water, with just a hint of resonance.
Like a breeze passing through a corridor, carrying the scent of summer and a boy's shirt, it settled softly into everyone's ears.
Eyes closed, Cheng Che continued singing.
"If every meeting is only a passing brush of shoulders..."
His voice was very steady.
Every word was clearly enunciated, his runs smooth, his high notes crystalline, his low notes deep and soft.
His voice seemed to lift the entire room, and even the lighting grew gentler.
Several girls had already covered their mouths.
"He sounds so good..."
"How does he have a voice like that?"
"Aaah, he's such a good singer!"
Su Qingyue held her phone with its camera aimed at Cheng Che. On the screen, the boy stood in front of the display with his head slightly lowered, the light falling from overhead as though tracing his entire figure with a silver border.
Her heart pounded. She did not know why, but her nose suddenly stung a little.
Guo Xin was already staring blankly.
A moment ago, he had been laughing at Cheng Che for being "tone-deaf." Now, he just felt like an idiot.
This is fucking tone-deaf? He's a walking CD!
Zhao Lei sat in the farthest corner, the Coke in his hand already flat.
He had originally thought he could at least outshine Cheng Che at singing.
Now all he wanted was to erase that rendition of "Ten Years" from everyone's memory.
The chorus arrived.
Cheng Che opened his eyes and pushed his voice another level higher.
His breath was utterly steady. Once he reached the high notes, his voice never wavered or turned shrill, like a wave surging onto shore, then slowly receding.
"So the reply from midsummer was you..."
On the last line, he softened his voice slightly, drawing out the final note like a breeze on a summer evening, quietly dispersing into the air.
The music stopped.
The private room stayed silent for three whole seconds.
Then it erupted with a boom.
"Holy shit-!!"
"Cheng Che, you're so fucking good!"
"What kind of god-tier voice is that?! And you were pretending to be tone-deaf before!"
"Would you believe me if I said that made me cry?! It actually made me cry!"
"One more song! One more song!"
Guo Xin rushed straight over, planted both hands on Cheng Che's shoulders, and shook him hard:
"Are you even fucking human?! You're good at studying, good at ball, good-looking, and you even sing this fucking well! Are you going to leave me any room to survive?!"
Cheng Che was getting a little dizzy from all the shaking. He laughed and said, "You were the ones who forced me up there."
By now, he had learned to enjoy the praise.
"Who knew you were holding back something this huge?!"
Su Qingyue quietly saved the video she had recorded and posted to Moments.
"Happy graduation."
The accompanying photo showed the lights in the private room.
The boy in the video had a voice so lovely it made you want to keep this night forever.
Less than five minutes after she posted it, the comments blew up.
"Who's this guy?? His singing is incredible! Please give me his contact info!"
"Qingyue! That's my older cousin! She says she wants to meet this guy! Hurry up and reply!"
"Is he in your class? Oh my god, your class is way too lucky."
Su Qingyue looked at the comments, her heartbeat still not back to normal. She pressed her phone to her chest without replying to a single one.
Selfishly, she didn't want to give this video to anyone.