“…”

Fang Wencheng felt that his actions this time were truly inconsiderate, dragging an uninvolved person into this situation, only for her to be inexplicably mocked. She had made a wasted trip, wasting her time and affecting her mood.

But Xie Ruhe was so unpredictable with his emotions that Fang Wencheng didn’t dare say more. He thought about taking Shu Nian out first, then coming back to resolve this matter.

Fang Wencheng lowered his voice and said to Shu Nian, “Let’s go outside first.” He made a gesture, indicating for Shu Nian to walk in front.

Xie Ruhe sat in place, staring at Shu Nian, his eyes still filled with bewilderment. Only when he realized that Shu Nian was truly about to leave did he react, lowering his voice to say, “Fang Wencheng?”

Fang Wencheng turned to look at him: “What is it?”

Xie Ruhe said: “Go out.”

Fang Wencheng glanced at Shu Nian: “Alright, we’re leaving now.”

A moment of silence.

Xie Ruhe’s expression was visibly worse than before, his dark eyes gloomy, his jaw tense—the look of someone suppressing his temper. He looked at Fang Wencheng and said calmly: “I mean, you go out.”

“…” Fang Wencheng was dumbfounded. “Huh?”

Xie Ruhe didn’t repeat himself, just stared at him.

Fang Wencheng immediately understood and stiffly made up an excuse: “Ah, right, right, right. I forgot to call the record company. Sorry, I’ll step out for a moment.”

He gave Shu Nian a sympathetic look and walked out.

Shu Nian stood in place, probably guessing the meaning behind Xie Ruhe’s behavior. She lowered her head and said softly: “Teacher Ah-He, I’ll leave now. Sorry for disturbing you.”

“Shu Nian.” Xie Ruhe called to her, licked his lips, and for a moment didn’t know how to explain. His words carried a hint of caution: “Weren’t you here to record a song?”

“Yes.” Shu Nian raised her eyes, quietly looking at him, unable to decipher his meaning, not understanding why he was always so changeable, yet aware that she had no position to be angry. “It’s my lack of ability; I shouldn’t have come. I’m very sorry.”

Xie Ruhe’s Adam’s apple moved up and down: “I wasn’t talking about you just now…”

“What?” Shu Nian just wanted to leave quickly. “I think you should indeed find someone else. On the audition day, I also tried to sing your song, but I really couldn’t handle it well. This theme song isn’t suitable for me to sing. Changing singers is the best option to avoid ruining your song.”

Xie Ruhe was silent for a few seconds, then asked: “You don’t want to sing?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to sing.” Shu Nian was in a bad mood but didn’t dare offend him, so she said diplomatically, “Teacher Ah-He’s songs are very good, worthy of being performed by excellent singers.”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe placed the guitar aside and said softly: “Then you sing it.”

“…”

Xie Ruhe moved his wheelchair toward a certain room: “Follow me.”

Shu Nian’s sense of grievance and depression intensified. She stood in place for a while, very much wanting to turn and leave. She pressed her lips firmly, but still obediently followed him.

The house had about four rooms. Xie Ruhe went to the innermost one and pushed open the most distinctive door. Shu Nian followed behind him, awkwardly looking around.

It was a private recording studio, spacious and well-equipped.

Unlike the studio Shu Nian usually saw, this recording room had no screen for displaying footage; there was only a music stand in front of the microphone, with various instruments placed around.

Guitar, bass, drums, and so on.

Xie Ruhe went to the control panel, looked back at her, and pointed to the seat beside him: “Sit here.”

Shu Nian acknowledged with an “Oh” and walked over: “Am I not going into the booth?”

Xie Ruhe turned on the computer and responded in a low voice: “Listen to it a few times first.”

Shu Nian said: “Okay.”

Watching his operations, Shu Nian could see from the computer screen that the song was titled “A Star Falls Down.” Xie Ruhe clicked on the finished product and played it for her.

There were no lyrics, only melody and tune.

Xie Ruhe explained to her: “The demo was sung by someone else; it’s not the complete version.”

Shu Nian quietly listened for two minutes, her head feeling like mush, thinking that the difficulty was at its maximum: “Do I just listen to this accompaniment and then sing with the lyrics?”

Xie Ruhe knew she didn’t know how, so he took out a music score from the side.

“I’ll sing the complete version for you first.”

Shu Nian was stunned: “You’ll sing it?”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe looked in her direction and said: “There’s only the two of us here.”

Shu Nian scratched her head: “I thought others hadn’t arrived yet.”

“No, I don’t let others into my recording studio.” Xie Ruhe withdrew his gaze and changed the subject: “Just click here in a moment.”

Shu Nian was still confused by his previous statement but was quickly drawn to his next words. She moved closer: “When do I click?”

“I’m going into the recording room now.”

“Oh, okay.”

Xie Ruhe went to the microphone and placed the music score on the stand.

Through the transparent glass, he looked at Shu Nian and nodded slightly.

Shu Nian lowered her eyes and started the accompaniment.

This song was different from Xie Ruhe’s usual style. It was healing, with a slower rhythm, smooth, fresh, and bright, giving people a very luminous feeling, like traversing through a vast summer forest.

His voice was deep with a slight raspiness. His pronunciation was clear, the emotion tending toward gentleness as if narrating a small story.

Xie Ruhe sat in the recording room, seeming to radiate light, transforming into a sunny young man.

Occasionally, Xie Ruhe would look toward Shu Nian, quickly averting his gaze, appearing nonchalant.

If not for the production team’s requirements, Shu Nian felt that having him sing this song would probably be the most fitting. It was like something struck her heart, creating resonance.

The powerful penetration brought a beam of light, illuminating the inner soul.

After a while, the accompaniment ended.

Xie Ruhe returned to the control room and simply processed the post-production.

There wasn’t much exchange between them.

Shu Nian’s mind still echoed with his voice, and she couldn’t help saying: “Your singing is really beautiful.”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe stopped what he was doing but didn’t turn around. He paused for a few seconds, his lips curling up, his mood seemingly good.

After a while, Xie Ruhe suddenly realized something and called to her: “Shu Nian.”

“Huh?”

“I’m twenty-two this year, turning twenty-three after my birthday.” Xie Ruhe’s tone was very serious. “I’m only less than two months older than you; you don’t need to use honorifics.”

Shu Nian grew quiet, and only after a while did she say: “I should.”

Xie Ruhe didn’t quite understand and said softly: “But you didn’t before.”

“Because I didn’t know you were Teacher Ah-He before.”

Although he had felt that her tone was different from usual, at this moment, Xie Ruhe finally noticed something was wrong and looked at her slowly: “Are you angry?”

Shu Nian replied in a muffled voice: “No.”

“Why are you angry?” Xie Ruhe detected the awkwardness in her tone, his expression bewildered, and then he stammered an explanation, “Because of what I said earlier? I wasn’t talking about you; I hadn’t looked up and didn’t know it was you who had come.”

Shu Nian didn’t speak.

Xie Ruhe also didn’t know what to say. Suddenly, he remembered from before how Shu Nian would always speak to him with an admonishing tone—

“That’s impolite of you.”

“You shouldn’t say such things; it’s too much.”

“Why do you always ignore people? Think about it, if others ignored you, would you be happy?”

“I’m sorry.” Xie Ruhe came back to his senses and hesitantly apologized, “I shouldn’t have said such things, regardless of whom they were directed at.”

Shu Nian lowered her head, playing with her fingers. After hearing his apology, she finally spoke, her tone stiff: “You’re wrong about this.”

Xie Ruhe didn’t know what else he had done wrong, but hearing that she finally stopped using honorifics, he breathed a sigh of relief and obediently responded.

“Mm.”

“I haven’t been unkind to you, nor have I done anything to wrong you.” Shu Nian had been holding in her feelings for many days; her tone was low, as if at the peak of grievance. “Why are you treating me this way?”

Xie Ruhe paused: “What?”

Shu Nian was quite resentful and enumerated one by one: “I lent you an umbrella, and you ignored me; I called you, and you said I had the wrong person; you clearly knew I couldn’t sing, yet you laughed at me with others, and still asked me to sing this song.”

“…” For the first two points, Xie Ruhe had indeed done those things; he couldn’t deny it.

But the last point…

Xie Ruhe couldn’t help saying: “I didn’t laugh at you; I said you sang well.”

“But you knew I didn’t sing well.” Shu Nian finally looked up, her face tense as she looked at him. “You deliberately said such things so others would scrutinize my tone-deafness.”

“…”

“If you wanted to pretend not to know me, I wouldn’t have actively bothered you. Yet you laughed at me with others.”

“I…”

Shu Nian grew angrier the more she thought about it, not knowing what else to accuse him of, so she just repeated.

“I haven’t been unkind to you.”

Xie Ruhe silently listened to her accusations and admitted his mistake again: “It’s my fault.”

Some of Shu Nian’s depression dissipated, and she suddenly thought of something and reminded him: “You can’t speak ill of me to the production team because of this; I’m speaking to you as a friend.”

Xie Ruhe didn’t understand her meaning for a moment: “Hm?”

“Conversations between friends shouldn’t mix with work matters.” Having said what she wanted to say, Shu Nian’s rationality instantly returned, making her somewhat nervous as she rambled, “I consider you a friend; I lent you an umbrella, I even saw you to the car…”

Xie Ruhe inexplicably found it amusing: “Okay.”

Shu Nian was anxious: “You really won’t say anything?”

Xie Ruhe nodded: “I won’t.”

Knowing he wouldn’t report her, Shu Nian thought of the grievances she had suffered before, the unwarranted cold treatment from him, and didn’t forget to remind him: “Then, after making so many mistakes, remember to reflect on them properly.”

“…”

Not getting a response from him, Shu Nian pressed her lips and looked at him stubbornly.

Xie Ruhe was silent for a few seconds.

“…Okay.”