Chapter Thirty-Seven

  During this period, Yucai had time to read books, mostly mathematics, although not as good as attending classes every day, but also barely kept up with the progress. After a week of catching up, he basically caught up with his classmates, and then it was a comprehensive stage of hugging Buddha's legs, because the final exam was imminent.

  After finishing the last exam, Yu Zai rushed to the internet cafe as usual, wrote a letter to the publishing house, downloaded a large amount of materials, and then returned to the dormitory to work on her long-planned promotional fsh.

  At that time, online advertising was not yet popular, Yu Cai suddenly thought of it and had been planning to make an animated short film to advertise her book, but she never had the time. Now that the exams are finally over, she can finally give it a try.

  Yu Zhen finished his last exam in the afternoon and asked Yu Cai to lend him his computer to play games. Yu Cai was in high spirits and refused, telling him to go find a classmate to play with, saying he had something to attend to. Yu Zhen left in a huff.

  When Yu Xian returned, Yu Cai was staring blankly at the computer. Although she only planned to make a three or four minute animation, for someone of her level, it was still a challenge. At this moment, her mind was a complete blank and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think of what to do next. Seeing Yu Xian return, she let him use the computer and went to wash up before going to sleep.

  The next day, Yu Cai got out of bed and washed up, only to find Yu Lie still sitting in front of the computer, looking spirited. It seemed like he hadn't slept all night. She was so angry that she wanted to kick him to death, ordering him to shut down the computer and go out with her for breakfast.

  Yu was reluctant, but also feared that his sister would turn against him, and from then on would no longer lend him the computer. Moreover, he knew he was in the wrong, so he obediently washed his face and brushed his teeth, and under Yu Cai's orders, soaked his feet, following Yu Cai to the breakfast shop to eat breakfast.

  Yu Cai originally thought that after a good night's sleep, ideas would flow like a fountain, but instead she was still in a state of mental paralysis. After Yu Cai went to sleep, she decided to start by choosing the background music.

  It wasn't until almost noon that I picked a foreign song, this song was covered by Wang Xinling as "The First Person I Loved" a few years later and became very popular for a while, but now it's still not well-known to many people. Yu Cai really likes the melody of this song, which is bright and cheerful with a hint of sadness, and the sadness is accompanied by nostalgia, making it very suitable for the tone of my book.

  After finishing the song, Yu Cai glanced at Yu Xian's room and found someone sleeping soundly, so she went out to have lunch.

  After lunch, Yu Zai found that he was still confused and called He Qi to ask for his help with Qi Shi.

  At this time, He Qi Zheng and Mo Fei were among those who were idly passing the time in a meaningful way. Upon hearing the words, they happily agreed to let Yu Cai meet with him.

  Yu Cai went back and left a note for Yu Pei, carrying her laptop to make it more interesting. As soon as she entered the door, the warm air from the air conditioner hit her face, and Yu Cai was afraid of catching a cold, so she unzipped her down jacket and revealed the long-sleeved sweater inside.

  He Qi and his group were quite eye-catching, Yu Cai caught sight of them at a glance and walked over to greet them one by one.

  After the mid-term exam, Yucai had been busy and hadn't seen Mo Fei for a long time. This time when she saw him, she was quite pleased, and just smiled at him, but then discovered that there was another girl beside him. It turned out to be Mo Fei's second girlfriend from high school, also from Class 5. Yucai's impression of her was only after she became Mo Fei's girlfriend. However, this girl was very gentle, and Yucai had a better impression of her than Qiao Jia. She politely smiled at her, and then looked at Mo Fei with a ambiguous smile.

  Perhaps she had always been puzzled by Yu's ambiguous attitude towards her, which was neither here nor there. This time was no exception, so she simply shrugged and said, "Want to eat something?"

  Yu Cai shook her head, "I just ate."

  He Qi stood up, "Have something to drink after eating. It's not easy for you to have time off from your busy schedule, sit for a while longer, what would you like to drink?"

  "Sour milk is also okay."

  He Qi wasn't alone today either, and beside him was the rarely seen Yang Xi Mei. Yu Cai regretted it as soon as she saw her, wishing she had just gone to find Qizhi instead of looking for him.

  She handed Yu Cai a cup of yogurt and said, "A Shi is at home. Let's go to his house together later."

  Yu Cai nodded and stopped paying attention to him, chatting with Mo Fei's girlfriend about their past class situation. The girl also knew that Yu Cai was close to Gu Yueyue, so after a while, she changed the subject to Gu Yueyue, saying that there was a boy named Ren Jie in their class who had been pursuing Gu Yueyue recently, but Gu Yueyue hadn't agreed yet.

  Similarly, Yu Cai's impression of Ren Jie was also formed after he started pursuing Yue Yue. At first sight, she immediately crowned him as the second "Little White Face" of her high school era. Although Ren Jie didn't look particularly handsome, his skin tone was just like He Qi's, and could be described as "skin as smooth as jade".

  Gu Yuemei ultimately rejected him, but for many years afterwards she regretted it, saying he was the best boyfriend to her.

  Yu Cai suddenly remembered that this seemed to be a matter of the first semester of high school, but because she had been busy rushing to meet deadlines, it had been a long time since she last contacted Gu Yueyue. Gu Yueyue probably didn't dare to mention it either and hadn't contacted her for a long time. Yu Cai felt a little ashamed, thinking that she was too neglectful of her friends. But at this time, shouldn't Gu Yueyue's child have returned home already?

  The girl saw Yu Cai lowering her head and not reacting, thinking she was not interested, so she turned around to talk to Mo Fei. Unexpectedly, Yu Cai suddenly raised her head and asked, "How is that boy? Does the class teacher know?"

  "That boy is not bad, but I heard his dad is quite familiar with Ms. Mei, and Ms. Mei has called Gu Yuemei to the office several times already."

  Yu Cai was stunned and didn't know what to say about this matter herself.

  He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he couldn't snap out of it. Unhappy, she waved her hand in front of him, "Hey, what are you doing? When will you go home? After I help you fix that thing, we can go out and have some fun."

  "Anyway, I've missed a lot of classes this semester and need to catch up."

  He Qi laughed and said, "Speaking of which, where did you get that film from? It's really like you have tuberculosis."

  Yu Cai was absent for too long, and Mo Fei also knew about it. Upon hearing this, he said in surprise, "Are you faking illness?"

  Yu Cai saw He Qi's big mouth and it was already spoken, unable to stop him, so she could only nod.

  "Why did you take such a long leave?"

  Yu Cai hurriedly said in front of He Qi, "Nothing's wrong, I just got a bit tired of studying, so I'll go back home and stay for a while. When I'm feeling better, I'll naturally want to study again."

  Mo Fei's girlfriend and Yang Xi immediately gasped in surprise, but Mo Fei was somewhat skeptical, looking her up and down. Yu Cai looked back at him innocently, and Mo Fei couldn't tell what was going on, so he gave up trying to figure it out.

  A few people chatted for a while, and He Qi saw Yu Cai seemed to be somewhat impatient. Thinking that she was worried about the animation, he suggested leaving.

  Actually, Yu Cai was not impatient at this time, but rather repentant. She repented for believing that He Qi and Mo Fei were the only ones together just because she had heard they were together.

  "But we had an appointment for this afternoon..."

  Yang Xi hadn't finished speaking when He Qi interrupted him, "We can go there later, it's not urgent, Yu Cai, let's go."

  Yu Cai hurriedly said, "I don't have any urgent matters either, going to find Qi Shi is also fine, I didn't know you had something on, you accompany them instead".

  How annoying it is, "You're so careless and sloppy, can't you even take care of a simple thing like this?"

  Yu Cai could only nod.

  As they left the store, Yang Xi thought for a moment and asked, "Do you think He Qi likes Yu Cai?"

  Mo Fei's girlfriend exclaimed, "Really?"

  Yang Xi looked at Mo Fei and said, "But I think it's like that, Mo Fei, what do you say?"

  Mo Fei lazily smiled and said, "I don't know, He Qi has never told me before".

  "What do you think?" Yang Xi was relentless.

  Mo Fei shrugged his shoulders, "I think it's unimportant, what matters is how He Qi feels. Why don't you go ask him yourself?"

  Yang Xi saw Mo Fei was unwilling to show his attitude, so he huffed and puffed and left as well.

  Mo Fei's girlfriend saw Yang Xi leave and asked, "Do you think she was telling the truth?"

  Isn't it still lazy, "Why bother with so many things that have nothing to do with us?"

  Yu Cai and He Qi arrived at Ji Shi's home, where Ji Shi was sleeping. He Qi dragged him out of bed without warning, and the three gathered to discuss. The ancient proverb "strength in numbers" once again proved its truth. Yu Cai's difficulties were easily overcome, and He Qi's skills were quite impressive, making the scene both beautiful and hilarious. Just as they were getting excited, Ji Shu Fan returned.

  All the people who are on annual leave, like last year, can stay until the 16th before going back to work. On the way, I was thinking about how to coax Yucai back, but as soon as I got home, I suddenly found that the three children were surrounding the computer, chatting and laughing, and my mouth couldn't help but curve up.

  Yu Cai heard the movement and saw Qi Shu Fan coming back, immediately got up to greet her. He Qi took over the things in Qi Shu Fan's hands, Yu Cai handed her slippers, and then went to the kitchen to pour water.

  Qī shū fán quickly took off his outer clothes, holding a steaming hot water and comfortably leaned on the sofa, "What are you doing, looking so happy?"

  "Yu Cai said she wants to make a promotional animation for her book and put it online, we're working on it now, it'll be done tomorrow, you can take a look then."

  Qishu Fan smiled and nodded, "That's right, we should discuss things together. When is Xiaocai coming home?"

  Yu Cai Gang went to the bathroom to check the water heater and came back, "After finishing this, I'll go back".

  "Where is your brother?"

  "You just got back, why don't you take a bath and rest for a while, we'll call you when it's time for dinner."

  Qishu Fan instructed a few more sentences, drank a few mouthfuls of water, and went to take a bath.

  Yu Cai estimated that it was about time, so she went to the kitchen to heat up a cup of milk and put it on Qi Shu Fan's bedside table, continuing to work with He Qi Zhi on animation.

  When it was time to eat, Yu Cai looked around and saw that Qi Shu Fan had not shown any signs of waking up. She took out a few pieces of bread from the refrigerator and let Qi Shi He take care of them first, waiting for Qi Shu Fan to wake up.

  Qishu Fan woke up to find it was already eight o'clock. When she opened the door, she saw three children still gathered around the computer. He Qi sat in the middle with his hands on the keyboard, occasionally asking Qizhi on his left what something meant. Qizhi would nod or shake her head and sometimes say a few words. On the right, Yu Cai was much more lively, pointing to this and that with her right hand, asking He Qi one moment and Qizhi the next. Qishu Fan stood there dazed for a while before walking over to the table.

  Several people on the other side heard the noise and looked over, with He Qi being the first to exaggerate, "Uncle Ji, you're finally awake. Yu Cai was so anxious that she had us wait for you to have dinner, and even sent a big pile of bread to hurry us along."

  Yu Cai stretched out her hand and pushed him, "You're not starving, why so much nonsense!"

  Qí Shū glanced at the bread bag on the table and his smile deepened, "What do you want to eat? Uncle Qí is treating."

  "Have fun?"

  "Still eating such childish things at your age? It's been two years and you haven't made any progress."

  "What's wrong with you, how childish can you be?"

  Yu Zai turned to Qi Shi and said, "Qi Shi, are you kidding?"

  He nodded and recently suddenly found that those hamburgers and fried chicken were not easy to eat. Yu Cai was always sensitive to Qi Xie's taste, so she also discovered it.

  And didn't you notice that most of them are little kids and junior high school students?

  He Qile thought for a moment and indeed it was not bad, suddenly losing momentum, "Then where do you want to go?"

  "There's a new Chinese-Western fusion restaurant that just opened up across from our school, they have all sorts of dishes, and if you insist on eating childish fried chicken, they have that too," Yu Cai was dragged there by Yu Xiang before the final exams and got taken for a lot of money, so she knows.

  It's so infuriating, yet there's nothing I can say, so I'd better just shut up.

  Qishu Fan laughed, "He Xia has always let He Qishao eat less fried food without effect, it seems that Xiao Cai did it tonight".

  Yu Cai Chao He Qi's provocative smile, "What I said is all true, and also got the approval of Qi Shi".

  "What are you talking about? You're the one who talks nonsense! Where's that store? Let's go!"

  The next evening, several people finally finished the animation and let Xi Shu Fan watch it. After watching it, Xi Shu Fan asked Yu Cai to translate the background music for him to listen to.

  Yu Cai said with a big idea, "It seems that the lyrics don't quite match this animation".

  "I also know that, but I couldn't find a matching one for the time being. And I think this music is quite matching, and it's from abroad, so people will have a fresh feeling."

  "What a wonderful idea! Why don't we use the original tune and then come up with our own lyrics to sing?"

  Yu Cai doesn't want to discourage his enthusiasm, "Even if we have a personality explosion and pair up, who will sing, you sing?"

  He Qizhen had a plan in mind, "Ah, Shi Zhi will sing well."

  How is this possible? Yu Cai was shocked, a person who didn't even want to talk would sing a song?

  He Qi saw her surprised face and immediately said, "A Shi rarely sings, but it really sounds good."

  "Really?! Let's sing two sentences and listen."

  Yu Zai's request was immediately and unequivocally rejected by Ji Shi.

  "By the way, I and A Shi learned some guitar when we were young, although it's been many years since then, touching and playing a little simple one is still okay."

  Yu Cai was even more surprised, indeed people can't be judged by their appearance, and he actually knew how to play a musical instrument!

  He Qi suddenly became enthusiastic and made a phone call to ask the aunt at home to send over his guitar, while Ji Shu Fan also found one from her own home.

  He Qi tried the sound again, and then fiddled with the strings for a while before handing it over to Qi Shi. When Qi Shi was trying out the sound, Auntie handed He Qi's (instrument) over, and He Qi fiddled with it in the same way, saying to Qi Shi, "A Shi, how is it?"

  He Qile nodded, and Yu Cai indicated that he would open the music. The two of them moved in unison to pluck the strings, and at first, it was a bit awkward. After about two or three rounds, they gradually harmonized, and by the fourth round, He Qile softly sang along with the music. For the past two days, Yu Cai had been playing this song on repeat to stimulate the inspiration of the three people, and he had already gotten used to it.

  Yu Cai also hummed softly, and Ji Shi's two people played one after another. Gradually, Ji Shi's voice also joined in, and Yu Cai found that his singing voice was more magnetic than usual, and the sound quality was indeed good.

  When they stopped, Qi Shu Fan and Yu Cai loudly applauded.

  He raised an eyebrow, "Actually, I've been thinking of singing a song with Ah Shi and putting it online for a long time, this time is just right".

  Yu Cai laughed, "If it really works, it will definitely be more popular than my animation. Not to mention anything else, just the two of your faces and your high school student identities can already attract countless eyeballs."

  He Qizhen naturally took this as a compliment, and humbly said with a smile, "Yu Cai, I'll leave the lyrics to you. I'll go practice with A Shi."

  "Hand it over? How could I have written something like that?"

  "It's not that hard, just write down what you want to express first, then adjust the lyrics according to the rhythm. As long as it doesn't sound awkward when sung, it's fine. If you really can't come up with anything, just leave that part empty and work on the next one."

  Alright, Yu Cai admitted that after He Qi said so, it was indeed extremely simple.

  So in the evening, Yu Zai began the extremely arduous process of "changing words", from time to time asking for the opinions of Ji He and He Qi who were practicing guitar on the side.

  Deng Yucai finally managed to squeeze out a few passable song lyrics two days later. At that time, He Mu had also returned and saw the children busy with this, very supportive, and also brought back several people's final exam results.

  The last-minute cramming played a crucial role again, and Yucai unexpectedly ranked 11th. Although he slipped a few places, it was within the normal range and couldn't be considered a decline in performance. He Qicai, on the other hand, tragically ranked 12th. Thinking that Yucai had taken a month off and still scored better than him made him even more depressed. He grabbed his guitar and started playing it as if to mock Yucai.

  Jiexi is still the same, but bilingualism can also be considered to be of a relatively high level, and in their class, they are already among the best.

  Because the second male lead in the book is ten years younger than the female lead, and Yu Cai has always liked the second male lead, a segment of Jay Chou's popular rap at that time was inserted in between, which is exactly the ancient sorrowful tune "You were born before I was, I was born when you are already old. You regret my late birth, I regret your early birth. You were born before I was, I was born when you are already old. Regret not being born at the same time, every day with you is good. I was born before you were, you were born when I am already old. I am far away from you in heaven, you are separated from me by the sea corner. I was born before you were, you were born when I am already old. Transform into a butterfly to find flowers, every night perch on fragrant grass."

  Yu Zai also suggested inserting a few shots of two people playing the pipa into the animation, but only one distant shot and two close-ups of half of each person's face were filmed.

  The whole song is sung by Jixie, and He Qi only sings the chorus and rap parts. Of course, his close-ups are also inserted between the raps, with a "secretly hiding sorrows and resentment" expression, which makes Yucui get goosebumps every time she sees it. In comparison, Jixie seems much more normal, with an icy face that Yucui has to admit fits the current cool style.

  Qishu had been accompanying a few high school students in their lively and noisy activities, but he felt like his heart was always soaking in the hot spring, feeling comfortable all over. When the others finished their work and Yucai suggested leaving, Qishu was reluctant to part with them, but couldn't stop them from going home for the New Year. He could only invite Yucai to travel with them together after the New Year.

  Yu Cai suddenly thought of last year's Huangshan trip during the Spring Festival, and instantly felt a chill. It's really not an ordinary person's taste to climb Huangshan in the dead of winter!

  Qishu Fang saw the situation and immediately said, "This time it's absolutely not mountain climbing, where does Xiaozai want to go?"

  "Where would you like to go?" "Of course, Rome," Yu Cai's face was filled with yearning, the holy land in her heart!

  "Uh, let's get down to business."

  Yu Zaicong said sincerely, "I really don't have anywhere to go, and my draft is not finished yet. I still need to revise it carefully, and math needs to be strengthened. I estimate that the remaining twenty or so days are not enough for me to mess around with. You guys go ahead."

  Qishu looked at her with a complex gaze, "Xiao Cai, do you still remember going to Huangshan last year? I always felt that you had been there before. There was once when I asked where I could buy soda water, and you answered without even thinking about it."

  Yu Cai's heart skipped a beat, "That is——"

  "Xiao Cai, you're scared."

  Qī shū fán zì rán bù huì rú hé qí hú nòng hú nòng jiù guò le, yù cǎi dī zhe tóu, jǐn liàng bù ràng tā kàn dào zì jǐ de biǎo qíng, bàn shèng cái zhěng lǐ hǎo xīn yú, tái qǐ tóu píng jìng dào, "wǒ de què zài hài pà, wǒ pà nǐ kàn chū qí shí wǒ zhēn de hěn xiǎng chū qù zǒu zǒu, bú guò yīn wèi méi yǒu tiáo jiàn, zhǐ hǎo zài wǎng shàng zhǎo zī liào kàn, kàn de duō le, lián huáng shān bàn shān yāo nǎ lǐ yǒu xiǎo mài bù dōu zhī dào".

  Qishu Fan still felt that something was not quite right and thought of Yu Caiping's strange behavior at ordinary times, for a moment he didn't know how to speak.

  Yu Cai saw him silent, and opened his mouth again, "Mr. Qi, what are you suspecting?"

  Yes, what is there to doubt about one's own life? For sixteen years, Yu Cai's life has been as dull as a blank sheet of paper, except for getting to know herself. What else is there to doubt?

  Qī shū fán róu le róu tài yáng xué, "wǒ zǒng jué de nǐ gēn bié de hái zi bù yí yàng, shì zhī hé qí yǐ jīng suàn shì tóng líng rén zhōng de jiǎo jiǎo zhě le, kě què gēn běn gǎn bù shàng nǐ".

  Yu Cai slowly opened his mouth, one word at a time, "Mr. Qi, I think there is a genius sitting right in front of you, and you must quickly accept and adapt to this reality."

  Qishu Fan laughed, "Ah, I didn't realize until now that our little Cai is actually a genius. Can the genius Little Cai put aside his excessive pride for a moment and accompany us poor father and son to have some fun?"

  Yu Cai had already spoken out, so she could only agree. She called over Ji Xian He, who was enthusiastically playing games on the other side, and the four of them discussed where to go play together.