Chapter 27 Tomorrow

  There is something that has always existed, but never arrived, the word "tomorrow". It always makes people look forward to it. With his own expectations, Li Qiu spent this day in his room, reading and spacing out, unknowingly passing a whole day. In these six months, today was his most aimless day, his most frustrating day, his most anxious day, his most hazy day...

  Dinner was quickly settled, and Li Qiu thought to return to continue reading, but Tongmu Sheng called him back, taking him into the study. In this sea of books filled with knowledge, Li Qiu had spent half a year wandering around, sometimes brought by Yamaguchi Yoshiko, sometimes by Tongmu Sheng, and sometimes alone. During this time, he learned many things, although none were in-depth, but at least he was familiar with most of the books in the study, having flipped through their catalogs, and understood the overall layout of the bookshelves.

  Half a year had passed, and Tōdori Masaru's face had changed a lot. The wrinkles on his face had deepened, but his voice still carried its unique warmth and brightness, just like the morning sun. "Kohaku, starting tomorrow, I'm going to change your vocal cords. Be prepared for a tough time, because it will be very painful."

  "Grandpa Teng, I'm not afraid."

  "Alright, next, I want to tell you some things."

  "Yes."

  "Vocal cords, this little thing, tormented me for a lifetime. Alas, I, Tōno Shōsei, was born into a family of musicians, generation after generation were renowned singers, but with me, because of this little thing, that honor was cut off..."

  The family's mission, is this the driving force for Grandfather Tōnokī to spend his whole life researching? I had no intention of becoming an artist, but because my sister took this path, do I also have to spend my whole life rushing around for the sake of this little thing?

  "Hehe, let's not talk about those past things. I'll tell you something about this vocal cord. The vocal cord is composed of three parts: the vocal cord muscle, the vocal cord ligament, and the mucous membrane, which are symmetrical on both sides. When making a sound, the two vocal cords tighten, the glottis narrows or even closes, and the airflow from the trachea and lungs continuously hits the vocal cords, causing them to vibrate and produce sound. Under the coordinated action of the muscles in the larynx, the glottis is controlled in a regular manner. Therefore, the length, tension, and size of the glottis all affect the pitch of the voice. Your vocal cord is just like mine, short and thick from birth. Once you use your breath too much, when your vocal cord vibrates, it will produce an ear-piercing noise because this short and thick vocal cord doesn't vibrate completely. So what we need to do is take advantage of this period of time when your vocal cord is developing, and stretch and thin out your vocal cord!"

  "This... Tōnokiji, I've also looked up information online and read books about it. How can the vocal cords possibly be changed by human effort?"

  "Why can't I? I've studied for so many years and have already found several ways to temper myself."

  "Really?"

  "Uh, what can be changed is that when people's vocal cords are developing, they become extremely sensitive and fragile. If you're not careful, you might get hurt. So, in this training, you must pay attention every step of the way. You have to listen carefully to each step I teach you and remember it!"

  "Yes, Grandfather Fujiki." As long as there's a way, it's fine!

  "You seem to have learned how to project your voice, and when I see you speaking normally, you have a habit of controlling your breath."

  "I've learned it, and my breath control is okay, but my voice is really bad, so I never liked singing."

  "It's good that you've learned it, and later when teaching singing techniques, you can skip some of the hard work. Alright, go rest now. By the way, starting tomorrow, you don't need to practice the self-inflicted lung expansion breathing method anymore. Wait until after your voice changes, then I'll teach you another way to train your lungs. Go rest now, and get up early for morning practice tomorrow."

  "Yes, then, Grandfather Fujiki, I'll head back to my room first." With that, Li Qiu turned around, a smile of anticipation on her face, and walked out of the study with light steps. The ups and downs of this day were all transformed into expectation by some words from Fujiki Sei tonight, and tomorrow would be a new beginning.

  Looking at Li Qiu walking out of the study, Fujiki Shou's expression immediately darkened. Today he had a conversation with Yamaguchi Mireiko all day, and in the end, he made such a decision. "Little Autumn, I hope... we can succeed..."

  ……

  In the early morning, Li Qiu got up very early, although he slept late last night, no, it should be said that he couldn't sleep. That one expectation had always been lingering in his mind, keeping his nerves in a state of tension and excitement. He finally fell asleep, but this morning, before dawn, he got up again. As soon as he walked out of the yard, Li Qiu saw a faint white light appearing in the eastern sky, and a long-awaited Venus was shining brightly.

  "You're out so early today, it's been a long time, Morning Star!" Li Qiu smiled and looked at the morning star, starting to do some simple exercises to stretch her tense body from the night before, preparing for her morning workout.

  Every day, Li Qiu has gotten used to morning exercises. Half a year of self-mutilating lung-expanding breathing exercises have increased his lung capacity very quickly. Climbing this nearly 30-degree inclined staircase, although he still feels like his lungs are on fire; half a year of uninterrupted morning exercises have also tempered his body, although his muscles still feel weak and sore afterwards.

  Reaching the top of the mountain, the morning sun had already risen completely, and that bright Venus was also gradually fading away. In the early spring mountains, the air was very humid, with mist rising and spreading vaguely in the sky above the forest; The morning sun didn't need to be covered by hands, and it could still be gazed at directly. A large garden plate, like a warm stove, made people feel very warm. The small platform on the mountain top seemed to have become his exclusive stage. After climbing to the top of the mountain, Li Qiu always liked to climb onto this small platform, look around, and in the trees that were rustling in the mountain wind, the slow-rising warm yellow sun at the beginning of the day, the colorful sky burning with morning glow, and the clear blue sky, he would jump up and dance. This feeling made Li Qiu feel as if all things in the world were cheering for him...

  In the warm sunlight and swirling mist, powerful poppin' and gentle wave unfolded, Li Qiu's body seemed to have moved on its own accord, one movement, another movement, flowing smoothly into a dance!

  After a long while, Li Qiu's body finally came to a stop, leaning against the railing of the platform, gazing at the sunrise, and taking in the air that was completely free from any impurities. Li Qiu couldn't help but exclaim, "This morning is really beautiful, hehe!"

  Back home, Tōmoku Shō was already waiting for him in the courtyard, all in white - white hair, white long gown. From a distance, he stared at Li Qiu, who was running back from afar, calm and serene, like a sturdy pine tree standing tall and unshakeable in the still chilly early spring.

  "Good morning, Grandfather Teng."

  "Xiao Qiu, stand up straight. Before breakfast, I want to teach you a very important training method. This method will be with you throughout your entire vocal development period." Tengmu Sheng's voice was still as warm as the morning sun, but at this moment it also carried a hint of the chill unique to early spring, and he spoke formally to Li Qiu.

  "Yes!" Li Qiu was very excited, he had been looking forward to this for more than half a year, and today it finally started, how could he not be excited? Unconsciously, his tone became a bit higher.

  "I told you not to speak loudly! This is the most critical period of your life, don't let it all go to waste because of this. You must know that a dike thousands of miles long can be destroyed by an ant hole, everything starts from doing small things well!"

  "Yes, Grandfather Fujiki." Li Qiu was quite surprised. Although she had spoken in a slightly higher tone just now, it shouldn't have been enough to make Fujiki say something so serious.

  "Remember it!" Can Tohno Shinobu not be nervous? In fact, from the beginning, he couldn't guess the final result, and even he himself didn't know the probability of success, that's why he was like this.

  "Last night I said that the vocal cords are composed of vocal cord muscles, vocal cord ligaments and mucous membranes. We want to change it from these three aspects. Now I'm going to teach you this method, which is to train the vocal cord muscles, and also train the throat muscles."

  "How amazing! How to train vocal cord muscles?"

  "This method is called Rap Throat Training!"

  ()