Chapter 2: Dropping Out

  "Maybe I'll say goodbye and never come back, do you understand? Do you know? Maybe I'll fall down and never get up again, are you still waiting forever..."

  A magnetic female voice came from the tape recorder, and Qi Ke recognized it as his mother's voice. "If" "look" "small" "" say" "net"

  This is the voice that accompanied Qi Ke throughout his childhood, this voice lulled himself to sleep and taught himself to read.

  Although the recording quality was poor, it was his mother's voice, which filled Qi Wei with joy.

  After a song finished playing, the tape recorder emitted a noisy sound, as if someone was saying something.

  Zi Ke was extremely puzzled and listened carefully from start to finish.

  "Go for it! Xiaohong, this time you must get the professional group championship!"

  "I will work hard, Big Ming!"

  "After two matches, it should be fine this time!"

  "Uh-huh, no problem, our baby..."

  At this point, there was no more sound in the recorder, good-looking: Yuan Niang.

  Qī Huì heard this and realized it was a conversation between his father and mother. This discovery made Qī Huì extremely happy.

  Just as Qi Hui was stunned, another voice came from the recorder.

  But this time there was no noise at all!

  "I will definitely bring back the championship! I, Liu Hong, will definitely! Spring 1990!"

  Zhi Hui was stunned, what's going on? 1990?

  Wasn't it the year I was born? But did Mother also participate in the competition that year?

  Zi Ke seemed to have heard something and took out that photo album again, looking at it page by page.

  But after flipping through to the very end, I still didn't see a single photo of Mother participating in the 1990 Singing Contest for Young People.

  "Child, Mom is gone!"

  At this time, another painful voice came from the tape recorder.

  "Mom! What's wrong?"

  Zi Ke couldn't help but blurt it out, only to remember that they were recording at the time, and suddenly felt a deep heartache.

  "Child, mom's greatest wish is to see you succeed. From a young age, I made you learn those musical instruments, but it was actually selfish of me, wanting you to fulfill my own wishes! I hoped you'd become an artist. Now that I'm leaving and won't be able to see your future path, remember that the road ahead is yours to walk, no matter what you choose, just make sure to make a name for yourself!"

  Qí Kuì clenched his teeth and forced himself to hold back, but tears still welled up in his eyes.

  This is mother's last words and also her expectation of herself!

  At this moment, Qi Hui made up his mind!

  No matter whether father will oppose or not, I must make a name for myself in music!

  Zi Ke quietly put away the cassette tape and returned the recorder to the storage room, then went back to the study, knelt in front of his mother's portrait, and repeatedly thought about his mother's words.

  There is also a question about Mother's participation in the last Qing Song Competition, but why didn't she leave any trace.

  And that year happened to be the birthday of this self, would this self have a relationship?

  For a whole day, Qi Hui knelt in front of his mother's portrait and didn't want to get up, until he finally fell asleep on his knees.

  Qitian Ming returned home tonight, unusually sober. He still remembered what his son had said to him today and hadn't been paying much attention to work all day.

  Went up to the second floor, pushed open the door and walked into Qi Ke's room. Qi Tianming frowned, the room was pitch black, the bed was neatly made, but his son was not in the room.

  Qitian Ming walked out of his son's room and went to his own room door, pushed it open and entered, but still didn't see Qihui's figure.

  Qitian Ming couldn't help but feel a little anxious, had his son run away from home?

  Qitian Ming walked to the door of the study, thinking in his heart that he hoped his son was playing computer inside, but Qitian Ming also made preparations for his son not being there and took a deep breath in advance.

  But when he pushed open the door of the study and turned on the light, Qi Tianming was stunned. His son was kneeling in front of his late wife's portrait, with scattered incense ash around the censer on the octagonal table, apparently having come to offer incense.

  But Qitianming felt that his son's expression was a bit strange, so he immediately went forward to support his son and found out that he had just fallen asleep.

  "Xiao Kai..." Qi Tianming called out softly.

  Qī Huì slowly opened his eyes, which were slightly swollen from crying. He looked at his father and said drowsily: "Dad, I want to read the latest chapter of 'Feng Niú Jiāo'! I miss Mom! I'm sorry to Mom!"

  Qitian Ming's heart ached as he hugged his son and said: "Xiao Hui! You must be strong! What happened this morning was Dad's fault, I shouldn't have said those things!"

  "Dad, you're not wrong! I'm the one who's wrong..."

  Zi Ke suddenly woke up and struggled to get up, but his legs had gone numb from kneeling for too long.

  "Come on, Dad will help you..." Qi Tianming quickly helped his son up and sent him back to his room.

  "Dad!" Qi Hui lay on the bed and asked his father, "The year Mom gave birth to me, did she also participate in a singing contest for young people?"

  Although the light in the house was dim, Qi Ke clearly saw his father's face change.

  That was a surprise and fright, followed by a quick shake of the head, saying: "I didn't attend, you must be mistaken! Your mom only attended two sessions!"

  Ziqi observed that his father was speaking, but he didn't understand why his father refused to tell the truth.

  "But..."

  "Alright! Go to sleep!"

  Before Qí Huì could finish speaking, Qí Tiān Míng impatiently interrupted him and turned to walk towards the door. After leaving his son's bedroom, Qí Tiān Míng stopped at the doorway, thought for a moment, let out a soft sigh, and returned to his own room.

  Zi Ke hadn't fallen asleep, his mind repeatedly thinking about things.

  Apart from mother's affairs, there is also the matter of the art school.

  Today, I heard my mother's last words, Qi Hui became even more determined to go to art school. Moreover, Qi Hui learned that after graduating from art school in three years, he can also take the music academy exam and still fulfill his dream.

  The next day, January 4th, there were only two days left before the start of third grade.

  Zi Ke left early and went to the ATM at the bank to check his account balance.

  The ATM display shows that there is only over six thousand yuan left.

  This little money is probably not enough for art school, and the tuition fees are not enough. Father has already paid for his own junior high school tuition fees, these are just pocket money.

  Zi Ke was somewhat worried and after weighing his options, he decided to seek help from his guitar teacher.

  Zi Ke's guitar teacher is Hu Yilin, who is the owner of Beifang Music Store in Jiashi City.

  Hu Yinlin usually eats and lives here, so although it's Chinese New Year, Hu Yinlin's music store is still open as usual.

  Zi Ke arrived at the Northern Piano Store and pushed open the door. Hu Yinlin was standing in front of a piano with his wife, looking sweet and affectionate.

  "Cough!" Qi Hui walked up to the piano and called out with a smile: "Teacher Hu!"

  Hu Yinlin slowly raised his head and saw Qi Hui, then stopped playing the piano.

  "You young fellow, you're not at home for Chinese New Year, what are you doing running around here?"

  Qī Huì kàn kàn Hú Yìn Lín shēn páng de nǚ rén, nà nǚ rén hěn zì rán de qǐ shēn, "nǐ men liáo tiān, wǒ huí fáng jiān wán diànnǎo."

  English Translation:

  Qi Hui took a look at the woman beside Hu Yinlin. The woman stood up naturally and said, "You guys chat, I'll go back to my room to play computer."

  After the woman left, Qi Hui said: "Teacher Hu, I want to go to art school."

  "Huh?" Hu Yinlin looked at Qi Hui in confusion, "You're not going to school anymore?"

  "An art school is also a school!"

  "Has your father agreed?" Hu Yinlin looked at Qi Hui with a serious expression, the beautiful: Demon Magic Society.

  Six years of getting along, Qi Ke and Hu Yinlin's relationship is both teacher and friend and elder brother, the relationship is not ordinary.

  "Hmm!" Qi Hui panicked, "But he only gave me six thousand yuan, I don't know if I can afford an art school."

  "Art schools are still relatively cheap... but..."

  Hu Yinlin took out a poster and said, "I've signed you up for the second National Fingerstyle Guitar Competition. This time it's being held in Longcheng, the provincial capital. If you can get into the top three, I can recommend a school for you!"

  "Really? What about the tuition fees..."

  "Don't worry about this! It's absolutely the lowest price, and with this competition ranking, you can also get a partial tuition waiver."

  Hu Yinlin said with a smile.

  Zi Wei thought for a moment, and then said, "That's great!"

  He immediately agreed with Hu Yilin without thinking much.

  "When is the match?" asked Qi Hui.

  "On the tenth, you go back and practice well, there's a finger-picking singing segment in the competition, it must be an original work or an adaptation, do you have any ideas?"

  "Alright, no problem, I'll go back and revise a poem." Qi Hui quickly agreed.

  "No!" Hu Yinlin said: "You have to come up with something original, only then can you stand out. Go down and think about it yourself, create a song, write it well and let me hear it, I'll help you revise it, and I can find someone to fill in the lyrics for you."

  Hearing Hu Yilin say so, Qi Hui responded accordingly.

  To be honest, for my own level, composing a melody is still manageable, but writing a complete song is somewhat difficult, let alone adapting it into fingerstyle, that's even harder.

  Back home, Qi Hui dived into his creation.

  The piano and guitar started playing in unison. Qi Kai spent half a day writing out a rough draft, then began to refine it meticulously.

  On the sixth day of the New Year, Qi Hui still chose to go to school. The purpose of going to school was only one thing, that is, to drop out.

  A withdrawal application is required; otherwise, the school will call home.

  Before going to school, Qi Hui took a white paper mixed with winter homework and school opening notice, calling his sleeping father to sign.

  Qitian Ming signed in a daze, completely unaware that his son had set a trap for him.

  Zi Ke anxiously watched as his father signed and then went back to sleep, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

  After exiting the door, Qi Hui hastily walked into his father's study.

  The computer in the study room has a printer. Qikai had written the application for withdrawal from school in advance using Word document, and directly printed it on a blank paper with only signature.

  The school stipulates that students arrive at 6:50 for morning self-study. The workload of third-year junior high school students is relatively heavy, so they also go to school quite early.

  While Qi Hui left the house, he didn't go to school directly. Instead, he ran to a garbage station and burned all his books, then found a breakfast shop and sat comfortably until 8 o'clock before going to school.

  It was still a holiday on the sixth day of the New Year. The porter's room was dark and empty, with no one inside. Qi Ke didn't go to the classroom, but instead went straight to the head teacher's office.

  He shouted a report and waited for a moment until he heard a response inside before walking in.

  "As soon as I entered the classroom, the head teacher scolded me harshly: 'What time is it? You're just arriving now? Can't you even take the middle school entrance exam properly? If not, I'll call your parents, there are things that people are born with and things that need to be taught!'"