Musical Genius

"Hey, Ma Ji! Is this really the friend you met on the train?" Zhuifeng asked in a hushed tone, pulling Ma Ji aside as soon as they met up with the others. He instinctively tried to make himself smaller upon seeing Ma Ji's friend.

"Yeah, that's him. He's a top student, directly admitted to Chongqing University!" Ma Ji boasted proudly. "He's quite the celebrity, you know."

Of course I know that! Zhuifeng wanted to cry. "God! You really know how to mess with me. Isn't Liu Tang enough? Now you have to add this guy too? You really don't want me to live anymore! Damn!"

Seeing the colorful expressions on Zhuifeng's face, Ma Ji was puzzled again. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Zhuifeng replied irritably, feeling completely drained.

"...Let me introduce you. This is my friend, Ling Cheng. You should know him, right? He's considered a musical genius in the industry right now. These are my roommates Qiu Nuo, Zheng He..." Ma Ji's eyes still couldn't quite meet theirs; it seemed the earlier incident had really scared him. "And this is also my roommate, he's called..."

Ling Cheng, who was shaking hands with Qiu Nuo and the others, suddenly changed expression. First, he was stunned, then looked over in disbelief, and even slapped himself hard!

It hurt. This wasn't a dream!

"Hehe..." A silly laugh. What luck to meet like this!

"Hehe..." A sly grin. Thought I couldn't find you without your contact info?

"Haha..." Uncontrollable laughter. This was too great!

Seeing Ling Cheng rush towards Zhuifeng, Qiu Nuo got a bit nervous. He pulled Zheng He aside, "It's just a reunion, why is he so excited? Is his mind okay?"

"I don't know!"

Seeing Ling Cheng approach like a madman, Zhuifeng couldn't help but retreat step by step. When he finally realized his surroundings, he had to call to the heavens - there was nowhere left to retreat! He could only resign himself to his fate and close his eyes with a look of facing death. 'Huh, why hasn't anything happened?' Zhuifeng opened his eyes curiously, expecting some sort of attack.

"Damn it, Ling Cheng! What are you doing?"

Ling Cheng's face was red with excitement to the roots of his hair: "Boss, I... I finally found you!"

Geez! His eyes were practically flowing with tears.

Looking at him, Zhuifeng's eyes also reddened a bit. "Sigh!" He sighed, patting Ling Cheng's shoulder. "Didn't I make it clear to you? Why are you still looking for me?"

"I say, shouldn't we sit down inside the restaurant to continue this conversation? You're making quite a scene out here. If you want to embarrass yourselves, that's fine, but don't drag me into it." Ma Ji, ever the sensitive one, didn't understand what was happening, but his eyes had also started to redden.

"Boss, we need a private room."

Once everyone was seated, silence fell. They all stared at each other, wide-eyed.

"Uh... what's going on with you guys? Not talking? This is making me feel really pressured!" Ma Ji pretended to wipe sweat from his brow.

Seeing Ma Ji's exaggerated act, everyone burst into laughter, and the earlier tension dissipated instantly.

"That's more like it. Now, you should tell us what's going on between you two. It's making me quite confused. Ling Cheng, how did Zhuifeng become your 'boss'?"

Ling Cheng took a sip of tea, looking at the painting on the wall. "I know you're curious, Ma Ji. On the train, I mentioned this was my first time in Chongqing, but you're wondering how I know the boss, right? It was about a year ago. CCTV held a new talent competition for singers. I worked hard and made it all the way to the finals, where I was competing against the boss for the championship..."

"What? Zhuifeng, you're into music too?" Ma Ji exclaimed in surprise. Noticing everyone's stares, he realized he might have been rude. "I mean, how come I've never heard Zhuifeng mention this?"

(Zhuifeng: We've only known each other for a day, how could I tell you everything?)

"Qiu Nuo, did you guys know about this?" He wasn't afraid of them anymore. "Hey, Zheng He, aren't you curious?"

"Ahem... Curious, very curious! That's why we want to hear more. Ling Cheng, please continue!" Their previously expressionless faces suddenly showed great interest.

"Do you know why I entered that competition? It was because my family was very poor..."

"Really?" Ma Ji glanced at Ling Cheng's clothes and raised an eyebrow. "With clothes like that, you call yourself poor? Those must be worth 2-3000 yuan at least!"

Ling Cheng rolled his eyes at him. "I'm a celebrity now, can't help it. To be honest, these clothes feel awkward on me." He paused before continuing, "...To help my parents have a better life and allow my sister to attend high school, I entered the competition. The night before the finals, while I was calling home to let my parents know I was okay, the boss overheard me. Of course, he told me this later. Because of that phone call, the boss withdrew from the finals, and I easily won the championship, the trophy, and the prize money. After that, people approached me to record albums, and gradually I gained some fame. But who would have thought that this so-called musical genius was actually a fraud?"

"You shouldn't say that. That title wasn't given to you by just anyone. It's the recognition from your fans and senior musicians in the industry, you know?" Zhuifeng shook his head.

"Anyway, no matter what, you gave me this opportunity. Although there was no live TV broadcast or telecast, and we weren't in the same group, I did go to hear you sing. To be honest, I gave up right then. Whether it was your pitch transitions, voice quality, or anything else, boss, you were undoubtedly the best. So, especially over this past year, with all these accolades heaped on me, I've felt particularly guilty..."

"Do you know why I didn't want you to find me?" Zhuifeng suddenly interrupted the increasingly emotional Ling Cheng.

Faced with Zhuifeng's stern expression, Ling Cheng was momentarily stunned. After a while, he sighed, "I was afraid you'd think this way, that's why I didn't want to meet you. You must remember, your current achievements aren't given to you by anyone, especially not by me! This is the result of your own hard work, understand? So you don't need to feel guilty. Just do one thing for me when you become famous across the country, and I'll be very grateful!"

"It's about finding someone, right?" Ling Cheng guessed.

"How did you know?" Zhuifeng looked at Ling Cheng in surprise.

"I heard it in the music. When I went to see your competition, the song you sang left a deep impression on me.

"...Standing at the familiar doorway;

Looking at the familiar place;

My heart sinks with the setting sun;...

I don't know where you've gone;

But now I follow the drifting clouds, the churning waters to seek your footprints;

...Seeing your silhouette surrounding me;

I want to cry, want to shout..."

Ling Cheng's singing skills were truly impressive. With his deep voice, everyone in the private room was unconsciously drawn in... Even after he finished singing, apart from the sound of breathing, there was no other noise in the room. They were all immersed in Ling Cheng's haunting voice, or perhaps in the mood expressed by the lyrics...

...

"Hey, Zhao Jie, listen! Someone else knows that song too, and they're singing it so well!" a voice came from outside the room.

After listening for a while, Zhao Jie shook her head. "It's not bad, but it doesn't have the emotion of the original singer!"

"You've only heard it once, and you can tell what the singer wants to express?" her friend asked.

"I can't explain it clearly, but I just feel this person doesn't sing as well as the original. I wonder if this person knows the name of the song!"

"Yeah! We've been searching for it since last year. It's strange though, many people have heard this song, but no one knows its name. Should we go ask?"

"Is that appropriate, Li Ling?" Zhao Jie held her back. "They're in a private room, they probably don't want to be disturbed."

"You really don't want to ask?" Li Ling looked at her. "Maybe this person really knows?"

Zhao Jie looked at the door, biting her lip, saying nothing. Since last year when she accidentally heard this song on the radio, an unprecedented shock had been deeply imprinted in her heart. It wasn't that the song was particularly good, but the meaning expressed by the lyrics and voice seemed to call to her like a relative. That feeling made her, who didn't even like music, fall madly in love with this song. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she searched, she couldn't find a complete version of the song. She only knew it was sung by a contestant in a new talent competition, but she couldn't find out the name of that contestant...

Li Ling looked at her and shook her head, then directly started knocking on the door: 'Knock! Knock! Knock!'

Qiu Nuo opened the door to see two girls. His tense expression relaxed a bit. "Ladies, is there something we can help you with?"

"I... I..." Zhao Jie suddenly started stammering.

"We wanted to ask if you know the name of the song you were just singing?" Li Ling took over.

"This..." Qiu Nuo couldn't help but turn back to look at Ling Cheng.

Ling Cheng spread his hands, "I don't know!"

"Sigh..." They pouted in disappointment.

"But..."

"But what?" Zhao Jie quickly turned around.

Ling Cheng pointed at Zhuifeng standing by the window, "You can ask him!"

"Him?" Looking at the silhouette by the window, Zhao Jie felt it was very familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it before. "Excuse me, do you know what this song is called?"

"...I don't know!"

"Hey, but this person said you know..."

"I'm sorry, my name is Ling Cheng!" He politely interrupted Li Ling's words.

"...This Mr. Ling said you know!" Ling Cheng was annoyed. He, a freshman in college, was being called 'Mister' by a girl who looked at least 17 years old. Am I that old?

At this moment, Zhuifeng's mood was extremely low. Even if Wang Bo or his brother came to ask him questions right now, he wouldn't answer, let alone strangers. He continued to maintain his posture, looking outside, not even thinking of turning around.

"You..."

"Let it go!" Seeing Li Ling about to lose her temper, Zhao Jie quickly pulled her back. "We're sorry for disturbing you!"

"He definitely knows." Li Ling, being dragged out by Zhao Jie, glared at the door resentfully.

"How can you be so sure?" Zhao Jie asked curiously, still pulling her along.

"Intuition!" She replied simply.

Sweat dropped. Whenever girls make unreasonable guesses, their excuse is always intuition!

"Let's go, they're waiting for us... Hey, Ling Cheng? Ling Cheng! Why does this name sound so familiar?"

"Ling Cheng?... Ah, could it be the Ling Cheng who won the championship last year? No wonder he looked familiar." Li Ling finally remembered.

"Yes, that's him... Hey, where are you going?"

"To get his autograph, of course!"

"Geez, let's go!" Zhao Jie pulled her away.....

"Boss, why didn't you..." Back in the private room, Ling Cheng looked at Zhuifeng in confusion.