Chapter 18: Zheng Xiuyan learns Chinese songs

  "Last night, the sound of wind and rain, how many flowers fell." In the flower bed, on the slightly damp soil, on the tender green grass, petals of various colors were withering. Mu Zi Qiu gazed at a blue iris that still stood proudly in the wind, and couldn't help but sigh. Flowers blooming and wilting, spring giving way to summer, was just a normal thing after all. What can withstand the ravages of time? Or perhaps, there is only one thing - unchanging emotions...

  "What are you talking about?" Zheng Xiuyan asked puzzledly from the long chair where she was basking in the warm spring sun.

  "Chinese, poem. Pick up the petals one by one and put them at the root of the iris, soon these delicate things will become fertilizer for the iris."

  "Do you like Chinese?" The book was held against her chest, Zheng Xiuyan turned her face to look at the iris, the blue petals had fallen off, leaving a light white mark.

  "Uh, I like it very much." Muzi Qiu has an extraordinary talent for Chinese, and surprisingly, he even sounds like a Beijing accent.

  "Teach me!"

  "Why?"

  "I don't know, I just want to learn." Zheng Xiuyan thought for a moment before responding, because she herself was also startled. She knew her own language talent, and when she returned from the US, learning Korean had been quite difficult. Chinese is said to be one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn, so why did she have this idea, wanting to learn it?

  "No..." Mu Zi Qiu was about to refuse when suddenly a figure flashed in his mind, thinking of her, he immediately changed his mind, "Okay!"

  "Really? Yesterday I asked you to teach me but you didn't, how come you agreed today?" Upon hearing Mu Zi Qiu's answer, Zheng Xiu Yan sat up with a hint of excitement that was hard to detect on her face.

  "Yesterday I was in a bad mood, today I'm in a good mood." Mu Zi Qiu stood up and sat down on the chair that still had the residual warmth from Zheng Xiuyan's earlier nap.

  "When does it start?" Zheng Xiuyan leaned over, walked around to Mu Ziqiu's front and looked at him.

  "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

  "Why wait till tomorrow? Can't it be done now?"

  "Let's talk about it tomorrow, now focus on your Chinese book! Master Korean literature first!" The faint scent emanating from Zheng Xiuyan's body, different from the fragrance of the flowers in the garden, made Mu Ziqiu's expression somewhat flustered. After saying a sentence, he immediately picked up his backpack and stood up.

  "Are you leaving now?" Zheng Xiuyan saw Mu Ziqiu walking out of the flower bed, immediately picked up her school bag and followed.

  "Uh-huh."

  "What's going on? A date?"

  "Sleep."

  "Oh, I thought you had a date."

  ……

  "Do you want to come home with me?" After leaving the school gate, they walked a long way, and Mu Ziqiu saw Zheng Xiuyan still following him, so he couldn't help but ask.

  "No." Oh right, why am I still following him? We've already left school, at this time I should be back in the company, entering my favorite practice room, singing and dancing.

  "Never mind, what are you most interested in?" Mu Zi Qiu glanced at the time and found that it was only three o'clock in the afternoon. Li Xiao Li would not return home until six o'clock in the evening, so as long as he returned home to cook before five o'clock, everything would be fine.

  "What are my hobbies? Singing, dancing, I sing very well."

  "Want to sing? Let's go to the karaoke room."

  "What's going on at the karaoke house?"

  "Learn Chinese."

  "Practicing singing in Chinese? Learning Chinese songs?"

  "Yes, learning a language, the best way is to start from interest."

  "Oh, I know a practice room, the facilities inside are not bad and the price is cheap." Zheng Xiuyan casually and naturally pulled Mu Ziqiu's arm, looked around at the nearby roads, recognized the direction, and then took Mu Ziqiu to the practice room she mentioned.

  If it were someone else, Muzi Qiu would have cut off the hand of the person pulling him a long time ago...

  In Korea, not all singing rooms are KTVs. Although they look similar to KTVs, they are actually only used for singing. Singing rooms do not prohibit minors from entering, but KTVs do. Many students like to go to singing rooms after school and sing for a while, even if they don't sing well, it's still very enjoyable, especially for girls. The tight and fast-paced lifestyle of Seoul citizens leaves them with little time to relax, so going to a singing room to relieve stress and exercise their vocal cords is a great option. Singing rooms usually do not provide any food, but some shops may offer drinks like water. Since singing rooms are popular among young people, you can find them in almost every street corner in Korea.

  Inside the practice room, there are three treasures: a microphone, an oversized remote control and a rattle! Now Muzi Chaeun is in charge of holding the rattle. From the moment they arrived until now, Muzi Chaeun hasn't seen Zheng Xiuyan stop for a moment, singing one song after another, from dance music to love songs, from popular music to trot, as if they've forgotten that they came here to learn Chinese.

  "How's that? My throat is good, right?" Zheng Xiuyan finally felt comfortable and stopped holding the microphone, saying to Muzi Qiu.

  "What's wrong with you? Are you done warming up?"

  "I'm done, how about you?" Zheng Xiuyan handed over the microphone and the large remote control, looking at Muzi Qiu.

  "I won't sing." Knowing his own voice, Muzi Qiu had never held a microphone before, only a large controller. With both hands grasping it, he pressed the numbers in the directory and jumped to a Chinese song. "These are all the songs available in this practice room," Muzi Qiu said after selecting the song, handing the directory over to Zheng Xiuyan. In Korean practice rooms, Chinese songs were actually quite rare, with only a few circulating around.

  "I've heard "Sweet Honey", the melody is nice, but I don't particularly like it. How about "The Moon Represents My Heart"? Is this song good?"

  "Hmm, actually this one is truly suitable for you, listen carefully." Mu Zi Qiu said, pointing at the TV.

  "At Least I Have You", Lim Eileen.

  I'm afraid I won't make it in time, I want to hold you

  Until your wrinkles have the marks of years

  ……

  Lin Yilian's voice is very emotional, with a gentle and warm tone, subtle and restrained, and pure singing skills. When singing love songs, her delicate voice attracts countless people! Just the first two sentences, the two of them were immersed in this song. Muzi Qiu thinks this song suits Zheng Xiuyan, precisely because she also has almost the same voice...

  If I could give up on the whole world

  At least you're worth me cherishing

  And you're here

  It's just a miracle of life

  ……

  "I want to learn this song!" As the song came to an end, the gradually darkening TV brought the two back to their senses. Zheng Xiuyan felt that she had already fallen in love with this song.

  "Okay, I'll listen a few more times and write down the lyrics. Then you can follow along slowly." With that, Muzi Qiu replayed the song, carefully watching each line of lyrics, her lips moving slowly as she quietly recited each sentence. Muzi Qiu had a great memory, and after the third time through, she wrote out all the lyrics in her notebook, adding Korean annotations behind the Chinese characters, and handed it to Zheng Xiuyan.

  "Korean characters originated from Chinese, and many of the readings are the same, but there have been some changes. To learn Chinese, you must first learn Pinyin, which is like the root of Korean characters, except that Korean does not have characters. Each Chinese pinyin sound has a unique character representing its own meaning."

  "Very complicated, don't understand."

  "I don't want you to understand now, for now I'll only teach you the pronunciation of this song's lyrics, learn this song first and then we'll talk, the first sentence is 'I'm afraid it's too late'."

  "Where's Papa... coming... from the airport."

  “……”

  (In fact, Queen Xica really sang this song. At the 2006 China XXX S&M selection meeting, Xica sang it. As for whether you've seen this video or not, anyway I have)