Chapter 30 Part 2

"Ah Nan," he said.

"Hm?"

"It's my first time chasing a girl, I really have no experience." His voice held a very faint hint of a smile. "Why don't you teach me what's the most effective way to pursue someone."

"..."

Xu Zhinan couldn't help but mumble, "How would I know? I've never pursued a girl before."

Xu Zhinan had never spoken to him in this tone before. Lin Qingye didn't mind and even laughed. "Then let me ask you a question."

"What?"

"How often do girls generally like to get a phone call?"

"..."

Xu Zhinan's face started to burn, as if she had been steeped in alcohol fumes even though she hadn't had a drink.

She couldn't say anything, so she just didn't speak. Lin Qingye seemed to be able to sense her reaction. He chuckled leisurely, and then a voice came from his end, very soft, hard to make out. Lin Qingye said something back to that person.

Xu Zhinan asked, "Are you busy?"

"Just finished recording, I'll be heading back soon."

At the same time, the private room that had been quiet for a few minutes erupted with a resounding voice again, very loud, piercing through the door.

Lin Qingye also heard the noise on her end. "Where are you?"

"KTV."

The noise was too loud, so Xu Zhinan had to raise her voice when she spoke.

Lin Qingye frowned slightly. "Why did you go there?"

"It was the semi-finals of the tattoo competition today. Everyone wanted to hang out together afterward."

"Don't stay out too late, be safe," Lin Qingye reminded her. "How did the competition go?"

Xu Zhinan pursed her lips. "I won the group championship."

He chuckled lightly, praising her, "That impressive, huh."

Inside the room, one song was howled to its end, and the next song, very coincidentally, was 'Black Locust'. Unfortunately, the singer was tone-deaf, turning it into a rock song.

Lin Qingye heard it. "What the hell is this garbage singing."

That arrogant streak of his was showing again.

She remembered the video she had seen in the afternoon. "I saw your news today, about the lyrics of 'Black Locust'."

"Ah," he said faintly. After a moment, he let out another "ah" tinged with a smile. "You saw it already."

Another group of people walked in. Xu Zhinan turned around to face the hallway wall, tapping her fingers against it one by one, and said, "It seems like... you never mentioned it before."

You never mentioned before that the lyrics were about me.

She didn't say the whole thing, but Lin Qingye understood her meaning. "Yeah, I didn't want you to know before."

"Why?"

"It was embarrassing."

"..."

Xu Zhinan didn't know what was so embarrassing about it, but then she remembered what he said at the end of the video—Back then, I had pretty low self-esteem.

The Lin Qingye in her eyes had never been associated with "low self-esteem." Only once, when he came to her shop drunk, he had said with a dim expression, "Ah Nan, you don't like me anymore."

But she had later dismissed it as something Lin Qingye would only show when he was drunk.

"Then why did you say it now?" Xu Zhinan asked.

He laughed. "Aren't I trying to pursue you again?"

"..."

Inside the room behind her, they were singing the chorus of 'Black Locust', screaming their lungs out.

"Is that your friend who's singing now?" Lin Qingye asked.

"No." Xu Zhinan glanced through the door window. "I don't know them, a tattoo artist from the competition."

"It's painful to listen to," he commented.

"..."

After two seconds of silence, Xu Zhinan also laughed.

It was indeed painful to listen to, but her personality wasn't one to comment on someone's singing like that. However, as the original singer, it was fine for Lin Qingye to make a comment.

Hearing her long-lost laughter, Lin Qingye's heart beat a little faster.

Beside him, Zhou Ji called his name and asked if he had been to the post-interview room. Lin Qingye nodded and walked to a quieter area on the other side. He asked in a low voice, "Do you want to hear a version that isn't painful to listen to?"

"Hm?"

"I'll sing it for you."

Even for Lin Qingye, saying such words couldn't help but make his face feel hot.

The noisy KTV hallway, the caterwauling from behind her, the coming and going voices, and the crisp clinking of beer bottles colliding.

Amidst all this low and high-decibel noise was Lin Qingye's singing voice, transmitted through the phone.

He really did have a good voice.

Clean and resilient.

After hanging up, Xu Zhinan's ears were burning, probably from being pressed against the phone.

She stood outside the private room for a while longer, looked down at the time, and saw that it was already past nine in the evening.

After returning to the room, Xu Zhinan walked straight to Lu Xihe's side. "Brother Lu."

Her voice was a bit soft, and Lu Xihe didn't hear her. "Huh?!"

He stood up and walked to the side with Xu Zhinan. "What's up, you need something?"

"I have to go back now."

Lu Xihe glanced at his phone, an eyebrow raised. "This early?"

"Yeah, it's a bit far to my place."

Lu Xihe saw that she was young and indeed didn't fit in with their group, so he didn't insist on making her stay and feel awkward. He asked her how she was getting back and reminded her to be safe.