Hongyu Jewel

That night, after returning to his room, Ying Huai revised the song once more through the night.

Su Yun tried to urge him to sleep, but he was slow to react and didn't dare argue with Ying Huai, and ended up being led around by Ying Huai's logic.

'Look, it's already the early hours of the third day, right? If I revise it again tomorrow morning, rounding it off, we only have two days left to rehearse. Subtracting the final day's on-site dress rehearsal, that leaves just one day.'

Ying Huai sat at the desk, lightly tapping his Glasses, and spoke unhurriedly: 'So if I finish revising the piece now, I can also lock down the transitions between the instruments and the song at the same time, directly saving most of the dress rehearsal time. Rounded off, doesn't that suddenly give us two extra days?'

Su Yun felt something was off, but couldn't quite pin it down for the moment.

He stood in place for a while, then hesitantly spoke: 'But Teacher Liang told me to make sure you went back to your room to sleep, and not let you revise the score again...'

'Didn't I already tell you? You can only listen to half of what Liang Shining says,' Ying Huai said with a smile, making a 'shh' gesture. 'So you can't tell Liang Shining.'

Su Yun paused: 'But isn't that half still "go back to your room to sleep"...'

Before he could finish, he heard Ying Huai say leisurely: 'The half should be parsed this way: "let me go back to my room, and revise the score."'

Su Yun: ???

—That was the first time he'd ever heard someone parse a sentence like that.

He saw Ying Huai lower his head again and start writing on the score. He stood there for a few seconds, then suddenly turned and walked toward the door.

Ying Huai didn't pay it any mind.

When he'd decided to add Su Yun earlier, a vague idea had already begun forming in his mind.

Ying Huai was rapidly revising the score, not noticing the door behind him being quietly pushed open.

The final section was finally revised. Ying Huai let out a silent breath, removed his Glasses, and gently rubbed his slightly throbbing temples with his eyes closed.

He opened his eyes, wanting to go over the score once more, but the next second, he suddenly heard a slightly low voice from behind: 'Finished writing?'

'Mm,' Ying Huai put his Glasses back on, coughed behind his hand, 'one more pass and it'll be good...'

Before he could finish, the person behind him said calmly: 'Good.'

Ying Huai froze for a moment, then belatedly realized something was wrong.

He suddenly looked up, and the next second, his hand was suddenly empty.

Immediately after, Liang Shining's unhurried voice came from behind: 'So can you go to sleep now?'

Ying Huai turned around, a little guilty, and his gaze landed on Su Yun at the door.

Ying Huai narrowed his eyes. Su Yun paused, then said softly: 'Didn't Teacher Ying just say you only need to listen to half of what someone says?'

'I figured, if you only listen to half of what Teacher Liang says, then maybe I can only listen to half of what you say too.'

Su Yun said slowly: 'So by your parsing method, listening to half of what you said should be "tell, Teacher Liang."'

Ying Huai: ???

—He realized deeply that Su Yun's reaction speed these past few days was indeed much faster than before.

Ying Huai took a deep breath, about to say something, but the next second heard Liang Shining say quietly: 'What do you mean, only listen to half?'

Ying Huai turned around instantly, smiling a little guiltily at Liang Shining: 'It's nothing, Mr. Liang, don't worry about it.'

He was still thinking about going through the piece from the top once more. He lowered his eyes to the score in Liang Shining's hand and said slowly: 'Could Mr. Liang give me the score back first, I'll just take one more look and then...'

Before he could finish, he suddenly felt his vision go black.

Ying Huai froze, and his hand at his side suddenly clenched.

—His first thought was that something was wrong with his eyes again.

His body began to tremble uncontrollably. He stumbled back a step, then suddenly felt his wrist being gently held.

'Ying Huai?'

Ying Huai recognized it as Liang Shining's voice instantly.

Ying Huai's mind was in chaos. He opened his mouth soundlessly, but couldn't speak for a moment: 'My eyes...'

Liang Shining seemed to sense something was wrong with Ying Huai's emotions.

He suddenly said quietly: 'It's nothing, just...'

Before Liang Shining could finish, the next second, light suddenly flooded back into both their eyes.

Ying Huai, pale-faced, leaned half against the wall and stared at him blankly.

Liang Shining frowned and finished the sentence he'd left incomplete: 'The power just tripped a moment ago.'

It had been raining heavily outside for the past two days, and the Production Team had booked a suburban guesthouse, where the electricity was sometimes unstable.

Ying Huai's breathing was rapid. Liang Shining belatedly realized something, stepped forward, and said quietly: 'What were you saying about your eyes just now...'

'I'm fine.' Ying Huai suddenly came back to himself, looked up, and smiled with curved eyes.

Liang Shining's steps paused. He watched Ying Huai forcibly suppress the panic in his expression, pick up a Medicine Bottle from the table, walk right past him, and lie back down on the bed.

'Mr. Liang should go back. I want to sleep.'

Liang Shining frowned.

He thought of what Song Si Lan had said before about 'PTSD,' and his gaze darkened slightly.

But Ying Huai had already turned his back. Liang Shining exhaled silently, turned toward the door, and suddenly looked at Su Yun: 'Do you leave a light on when you sleep at night?'

Su Yun paused, then nodded. 'Yes, I sometimes get up at night, so I leave the hallway light on. I asked Teacher Ying, and he also said he's used to sleeping with a night light on.'

He hesitated, then said quietly: 'One time I forgot about this before bed and instinctively turned the light off, and Teacher Ying seemed to suddenly let out a muffled groan, his breathing instantly becoming rapid.'

'I quickly turned the light back on, but Teacher Ying just said he'd had a nightmare, that it was nothing.'

Su Yun looked up, his expression worried: 'Is Teacher Ying... having another health problem?'

Liang Shining didn't answer.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then said quietly: 'It's nothing.'

'Thank you.'

·

After that day, Song Fengyi came to find Su Yun several more times, wanting Su Yun to teach him to dance.

But this time Su Yun had finally learned to push back. Every time he would directly avoid Song Fengyi, and once, when he opened the door and saw it was Song Fengyi, he shut the door right in his face without hesitation.

Song Fengyi was furious. He'd originally planned to use public opinion to pressure Su Yun, but later, he couldn't even find Su Yun anywhere.

The reason was simple: Su Yun had been staying in the practice room with Ying Huai and Liang Shining.

—And Su Yun had finally realized, belatedly, why Liang Shining watched Ying Huai so closely.

Because Ying Huai was a complete workaholic.

He would remind Su Yun to rest and take care of his injury during practice, but when it came to himself, he would always smile and change the subject.

'It's only two days. My body can handle it,' Ying Huai said, stretching in the recording studio, looking up at Su Yun with a half-smile. 'Don't listen to Liang Shining's nonsense. You really think I'm a porcelain doll?'

Su Yun had now fully grasped the principle of only listening to half of what Ying Huai said.

He started counting on his fingers: 'In two days, you've fainted from exhaustion in the recording studio and been carried back by Teacher Liang twice, been caught by Doctor Song having stomach pains from not eating properly three times, and...'

Ying Huai: .......

He opened his mouth, weakly trying to argue: 'It's not that I'm not eating properly, it's that my stomach hurts and I can't eat...'

Su Yun said blankly: 'Isn't that the same thing?'

Ying Huai: .......

He glanced at Liang Shining, who had turned his head at the sound, took a deep breath, and decided not to argue with a child.

Not eating properly these past few days really wasn't his fault.

His stomach had been ruined back when he first debuted. Whenever he got busy or stressed, it would immediately start acting up.

—These past few days, he could only manage to eat a little of what Liang Shining cooked.

Ying Huai pressed his slightly aching stomach and let out a soft hiss.

It was almost mealtime again. Ying Huai watched Liang Shining stand up nearby, smiled, and turned his head: 'Thanks for feeding me these past two days, Teacher Liang.'

'Then please eat a bit more today, Teacher Ying.' Liang Shining turned his head calmly.

Ying Huai was unmoved, his eyes curving: 'That won't do. What if I eat too much and throw it up? Wouldn't that let Teacher Liang down even more?'

Liang Shining had long grown accustomed to Ying Huai's various deflections. He glanced at him, said nothing, and turned to walk outside.

Ying Huai let out a breath.

He turned back to his score, but saw that Su Yun, who usually would follow Liang Shining to help out, hadn't moved this time. Instead, after a moment's hesitation, he crouched down beside Ying Huai.

'Why aren't you going?' Ying Huai said with a smile, head down as he reviewed his part. 'Have you already graduated from studying under Liang Shining?'

'No.' Su Yun became dejected the moment this came up.

Since learning that Ying Huai had a bad stomach, he'd started learning to cook from Liang Shining, but every time Ying Huai could still easily tell which dish was Liang Shining's.

Ying Huai chuckled softly, lowered his head to try a note on the piano, and suddenly heard Su Yun beside him hesitate before saying quietly: 'Teacher Ying, I really don't have to go on stage. You don't have to... work this hard.'

Ying Huai's movements paused slightly.

He let out a silent sigh.

Their first dress rehearsal hadn't gone well.

Su Yun had only debuted recently, and this stage was one of the few proper stages he'd had, so it was natural for him to be nervous. The rehearsal hadn't achieved the expected results.

Neither Ying Huai nor Liang Shining said anything, their expressions still light and easy, but Su Yun couldn't help feeling guilty.

Ying Huai usually seemed easygoing, but was actually more persistent than anyone.

He could feel how much care Ying Huai put into this stage, and the more he got to know him, the more he realized just how remarkable Ying Huai really was.

Su Yun thought about it all afternoon, and finally couldn't help bringing it up with Ying Huai.

'I've seen the two-person version of your stage. If we switch back now, given your and Teacher Liang's abilities, there's enough time.'

'My abilities are far below yours and Teacher Liang's. You and Teacher Liang don't need to worry about me at all. That way you wouldn't have to work so hard...'

'There's no problem with your abilities.' Ying Huai gently cut him off.

'The piece was arranged by me. I know what you can do, so you definitely can.' Ying Huai looked up at Su Yun and smiled casually. 'You don't trust me?'

Su Yun instinctively shook his head.

'Besides, a stage is created by all the members together. No one is dispensable, and no one can be casually cast aside.'

Ying Huai's voice suddenly quieted. He said softly, "So don't say that anymore."

Su Yun's heart unknowingly settled. He nodded and said somewhat sheepishly in a low voice, "Sorry, Teacher Ying."

Ying Huai raised his hand and patted Su Yun's hair. Whatever he was thinking, his expression went vacant for a moment.

"I did this... not just because of you." Ying Huai suddenly said in a low voice.

His gaze fell on the sheet music Liang Shining had left nearby, and his peach blossom eyes flickered slightly. "I still owe... a stage."

Su Yun raised his head somewhat blankly. He wanted to ask Ying Huai whose stage he owed, but Liang Shining had already walked back into the practice room.

Ying Huai also returned to his usual languid expression. Su Yun paused, and ultimately swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

—But he had an inexplicable feeling that the person Ying Huai was talking about was Liang Shining.

·

That evening, Ying Huai was, unsurprisingly, once again carried back from the recording room by Liang Shining.

"Teacher Ying kept the hardest part for himself." Su Yun half-hopped along behind, watching the person who had fallen asleep in Liang Shining's arms.

—Unfortunately, neither he nor Liang Shining could achieve the desired effect for that part, so there was truly no way to help Ying Huai.

Su Yun asked worriedly, "Can Teacher Ying really hold on like this..."

"It's fine." Liang Shining suddenly said in a low voice.

"Ying Huai never... jokes around with his own stage."

Liang Shining looked at the exhausted person sleeping in his arms, and tried hard to hide the tremor in his voice. "Don't worry."

·

The five days passed quickly.

According to the redrawn lots, the order of the three performances was: Lu Jing and Xin Wan's group, Song Fengyi's group, and Liang Shining, Ying Huai, and Su Yun's group.

"Alright, after five days, I believe everyone is well prepared."

The Director looked at the live stream camera and said cheerfully, "This competition will determine the final ranking based on votes from the live stream audience, as well as votes from our directors and the special guest judges. The groups ranked first and second will receive rewards."

Ying Huai turned his head to glance at the Production Team.

The "special guest judge" mentioned by the Production Team had been sitting at the very back behind the cameras the whole time. According to the Production Team, they were being kept as a "surprise" until the end, so they hadn't appeared yet.

Ying Huai looked at that blurry outline and felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"Now let's look forward to the first group's performance." The Director said cheerfully.

Lu Jing and Xin Wan's collaboration, to be fair, was actually not bad.

After all, the two had trained together for quite a long time. Xin Wan's rap paired with Lu Jing's guitar blew the place apart.

—If it weren't for the fact that Xin Wan's last verse of lyrics seemed to be subtly sniping at Lu Jing, and that Lu Jing, when finally leaving the stage, pretended to accidentally trip Xin Wan, Ying Huai would have had no idea they had been arguing fiercely two days ago.

Ying Huai looked at the two who were friendly on the surface but hostile at heart, and couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Does little shidi like our performance?" Xin Wan came straight up to Ying Huai as soon as he got off stage.

"I do—" Ying Huai said lazily, "I like the part where you two fought even more."

Xin Wan's expression stiffened.

He said through gritted teeth, "It's all Lu Jing's fault. He definitely hasn't practiced his fundamentals at all in all these years, he almost drove me to death..."

"Did you practice?" Lu Jing from behind shoved the guitar directly into Xin Wan's hands and sneered, "At least I can still pick up a guitar. You can't even play a melody, can you?"

Xin Wan glared at Lu Jing resentfully, and Lu Jing sneered back without hesitation.

Ever since the sentence Xin Wan had inadvertently let slip while drunk last time, Lu Jing had been trying to subtly confirm the matter with Xin Wan.

But Xin Wan had an excitable personality, and he was already irritable during rehearsals. Lu Jing kept saying strange things to him.

Over time, Xin Wan only thought Lu Jing was deliberately mocking him, and became even more furious. Lu Jing's probing could never get anywhere.

Ying Huai wasn't clear what grudge the two had exactly, but he was quite happy to watch them fight each other.

Xin Wan turned to look at Ying Huai, who was watching them with great amusement, and his expression quickly softened.

"Little shidi, take me with you on the next stage," Xin Wan crouched beside Ying Huai and said aggrievedly, "I don't want to be in a group with that arrogant Lu Jing. If I'd known I could switch this time, I definitely would have..."

"Sure," Ying Huai patted away Xin Wan's hand on his knee and said with a smile, "I'll break your legs, then you can be in my group."

Xin Wan choked.

At this point Song Fengyi had already gone on stage. Ying Huai turned his head and ignored him, and Xin Wan could only stand up helplessly, sit behind Ying Huai, and continue bickering with Lu Jing through gritted teeth.

Song Fengyi was performing the same guofeng dance Su Yun had originally chosen.

But as soon as the prelude started, Ying Huai's brow furrowed instantly.

Su Yun beside him also turned back somewhat blankly at the same time.

"This isn't the accompaniment to my dance..."

"No," Ying Huai said in a low voice, "he changed the dance into a song."

The Live Stream Chat was also growing curious.

[Huh? Isn't this a dance? What is Song Fengyi doing?]

[Song Fengyi wouldn't call those two shrimp-like wriggles in the middle a dance, would he (doge)]

[Our Song-ge isn't good at dancing in the first place, is it wrong to change it to singing?]

[But Song Fengyi can only perform because Su Yun injured his foot. It was originally Su Yun's opportunity, yet he even changed the original program...]

[Speaking of which, how exactly did Su Yun injure his foot? The Production Team didn't respond, just said it was an accidental injury and didn't give an explanation.]

When the piece was finished, everyone around except the Director and that special guest had their brows tightly furrowed.

"Alright, let's look forward to the next group's performance of the song 'Nightingale.'" The Director gave no explanation, just clapped his hands with a smile.

Ying Huai slowly stood up.

He watched Song Fengyi pass by him, and suddenly said meaningfully in a low voice, "I'm also looking forward to... Teacher Ying's performance."

Song Fengyi's words seemed to carry hidden meaning, and Ying Huai's brow twitched slightly.

He turned to look at Song Fengyi and laughed carelessly, "Thank you, Teacher Song."

·

As soon as Ying Huai and the others took the stage, the Live Stream Chat instantly started scrolling again.

[Huh? I remember the original was a purely guofeng instrumental song, how is there piano?]

[Right, and I remember it should have been bamboo flute accompaniment?]

[!! Liang Shining is standing at the lead vocalist position, so Ying Huai really isn't singing? God, I thought they chose that day just to make it easier to adjust to each other later...]

Before this comment had finished scrolling, the entire stage suddenly went dark. The next second, a melodious, lively bamboo flute sound instantly broke the silence.

Su Yun held up his bamboo flute and leaned against a pavilion. The light fell from above, as if a lively nightingale were truly circling around him.

The live stream went quiet for a moment. The next second, Liang Shining's voice entered at the same time as Ying Huai's piano.

If Su Yun's bamboo flute was lively and playful, then Ying Huai's piano was graceful and clear.

The piano notes were slightly low, grand in momentum, perfectly catching Liang Shining's deep voice and successfully drawing in the main melody.

Then, as Ying Huai's piano chords progressed layer by layer, Su Yun's bamboo flute sounded again and joined in, perfectly matching the soaring melody.

When Liang Shining's voice reached a pause, the piano and bamboo flute chased each other. If earlier it was a nightingale circling over the grass, now it had flown into the mountains and forests, playing among the trees.

The second movement ended in an instant. Ying Huai exhaled silently. Listening to Liang Shining's rich voice rise again, he raised his head and slowly turned his gaze to the side.

The next second, his gaze met Liang Shining's head-on.

Liang Shining's gaze was fixed directly on him, his expression focused—no one knew how long he had been looking.

His gaze carried the familiar focus and smile from before, much like the moment on the Cross-Genre Singer Program when Ying Huai, sitting in the mentor's seat, first looked at Liang Shining.

—Liang Shining looked up at him from the stage, the whole person hopeful and on the verge of tears.

Ying Huai's heart stirred slightly. He couldn't help it, and smiled with curved eyes too.

As the song gradually entered its ending, Ying Huai took a deep breath, raised his head to wait for Liang Shining's signal for the last line, and suddenly saw that something was off about Liang Shining's expression.

Ying Huai frowned slightly, looked at the gesture Liang Shining made to him, and quickly understood what was happening.

—Liang Shining's microphone had no sound.

Su Yun's bamboo flute for the last section had already sounded over there. Ying Huai's mind raced, and he looked toward the microphone propped beside the piano.

At the last moment, as the piano sounded, what the live stream audience heard was not Liang Shining's deep voice.

—Ying Huai's voice, cool with a hint of warmth, suddenly rang out.

"I once knelt before every god and Buddha, and asked all the world."

The Live Stream Chat instantly exploded, and Song Fengyi's face below turned extremely ugly.

But Ying Huai did not look at him.

He turned to look at Liang Shining, whose expression was sad and dazed.

These last few lines had been rewritten by Liang Shining.

Ying Huai hadn't felt anything at the time, but the moment he sang it himself just now, he belatedly realized something.

As the last piano note fell, Ying Huai turned to look at Liang Shining, curved his lips, and softly breathed out the final lyric.

"With the red jewel I pray to the heavens, give me one more... chance."

·

When the piece ended, the Live Stream Chat instantly exploded.

Ying Huai sat at the piano with lowered eyes.

His vision was dim and unclear. In a daze, he could feel Liang Shining running quickly toward him.

He watched Liang Shining half-crouch in front of him, anxiously saying something, but the buzzing in his ears kept him from hearing clearly.

Ying Huai touched the red jewel at the end of his hair, stared blankly for a few seconds, then suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"Is this Hongyu Jewel something you gave me, Liang Shining?"

He saw Liang Shining's expression suddenly freeze.