Lu Yan directly exited the chat window.

Another person did show up.

[Kangaroo]: Are you there-ere-ere-ere.

Lu Yan replied.

[Lu Yan]: Yes.

[Lu Yan]: The V-Team bassist position is still open. The band's doors are always open for you.

[Kangaroo]: ...

[Lu Yan]: Have you thought it over?

[Lu Yan]: I'll talk to your captain. We're all adults, we have our own choices. Water flows downwards, man strives upwards.

Kangaroo was probably driven into social withdrawal by him again. It took a long while before he replied: Are you crazy! Of course not!

Kangaroo: I've got a gig here. He's looking for someone to write a song. The pay is decent, but the requirements are a bit much. I'll pass his contact to you.

As expected of a brother band.

'Always thinking of each other when there's money to be made,' Lu Yan thought, moved.

What are good brothers? These are good brothers!

Lu Yan happened to have no jobs these past few days. All he had left was the "huge sum" of fifty-five yuan.

He added the contact Kangaroo sent him and saved the name as "Client." Then the client spoke: Hello, my girlfriend's birthday is in a few days. I want to commission a song for her that's lively yet serene, wild but not without elegance.

... What did you say you wanted?

That touch of emotion Lu Yan felt for his brother band instantly vanished into thin air.

When Xiao Heng came over with the child the next day at noon, Lu Yan had stayed up all night. The song the client wanted was still stuck in the arrangement phase.

Client: I feel like it's missing a certain feeling.

Lu Yan: Dear, what kind of feeling do you think it's missing?

Client: It's just a feeling.

Without turning his head, Lu Yan sat in front of his computer and said with his back to Xiao Heng, "Find a place to sit yourself." The invitation was utterly insincere. Lu Yan's recording equipment was piled all over the floor. His room, which had little free space to begin with, was now completely packed. There were also a bunch of randomly crumpled paper balls scattered on the ground.

"Is this a dog's den?"

Xiao Heng leaned against the doorway, his gaze shifting from the paper balls to Lu Yan. He then said, "Is there even a place to step?"

"..."

Lu Yan shouted, "Then don't come in!"

Lu Yan placed his hand on the guitar strings, turned around with the instrument, and looked at the person at the door, "Do you have any manners? Do you know whose turf you're on right now?"

Xiao Heng's attention fell on the guitar. "You're practicing?"

Lu Yan: "No, writing a song."

Lu Yan didn't know how much of an impact the words "writing a song" could have on someone.

Xiao Heng had been thinking about whether he could escape this disaster by going downstairs now, but Lu Yan said he was writing a song. A prodigy who could play the guitar like that was actually writing a song. It was like someone who couldn't even walk telling him: I can fucking fly.

Lu Yan paused the demo recorded on his computer, took off his headphones, and said to him, "Just finished revising a version. Wanna listen?"

Young Master Xiao reluctantly stepped over the pile of trash.

He took the headphones with extreme reluctance.

"You play the guitar like that and you're still writing a song..." Xiao Heng's words trailed off.

This person, Lu Yan.

He really could fly.

The sound coming from the monitor headphones completely exceeded his expectations. This arrangement used a virtual guitar, and the main melody was lively and upbeat. Although it was still in the early stages, the melody was already highly complete.

Since there were no lyrics yet, Lu Yan just hummed along casually.

Xiao Heng had discovered last time that Lu Yan's voice had a special quality; it could captivate people the moment he opened his mouth.

Although the client's demands were excessive, as soon as he touched music, Lu Yan felt that vigor return. Even though he couldn't hear the sound in the headphones, his fingers curled and tapped on the desk along with the progress bar.

After the last tap, he crooked his finger at Xiao Heng. "I'll give you a chance to take back what you just said."

"I take it back," Xiao Heng said as he took off the headphones. "It's passable."

Xiao Heng was about to get up when he saw Lu Yan's phone on the side. On the screen, the client was still saying it was missing a certain feeling here and missing a certain feeling there.

Xiao Heng clicked his tongue and casually put the headphones back on Lu Yan's head. "Why doesn't he just ask for iridescent black."

As long as Xiao Heng's acerbic personality and his skill at roasting people weren't directed at him.

...it was pretty great.

It was the first time Lu Yan had felt so satisfied hearing the young master roast someone.

Xiao Heng added, "Aren't you in a band? You do this too." Plus the previous class substitution, this guy's business empire was quite grand.

Lu Yan dragged the progress bar back, planning to listen from the beginning again to see how to revise it, and said casually, "...To make a living."

As they spoke, a knock came from the door.

Kang Ru stood at the door, looked at the two of them, and said, "I've prepared a meal. It's nothing special, just some home-cooked dishes. If you don't mind, I'd like to treat you to a meal."

Kang Ru wasn't wearing makeup today; her face was bare.

She actually had a very clean look. Her eyebrows were thin lines, and none of her facial features were particularly prominent, but together they gave off a gentle and graceful temperament.

The child was in her arms, clutching a baby bottle, neither crying nor fussing. Occasionally, he would reach out with a few chubby fingers to grab her.

A biological mother really raised him better. Much better than Xiao Heng's technique of just coldly saying, "What are you crying for?"

Lu Yan thought Xiao Heng might not be used to eating outside food or was particularly fussy. Kang Ru had even prepared a pair of serving chopsticks. But after sitting down for the meal, he discovered that the young master of a wealthy family wasn't that particular about eating—this discovery stemmed from the fact that both he and Xiao Heng wanted to grab the last chicken leg.

"Get lost, it's mine!" Lu Yan batted Xiao Heng's chopsticks aside.

"What do you mean yours? Call it and see if it answers you," Xiao Heng sneered, mercilessly pressing his chopsticks down.

Kang Ru, watching the two of them start to argue, and arguing like kindergarteners at that: "..."

The baby sat on her lap, his big eyes rolling around twice: "?"

In the end, the two made a pact: the chicken leg would be put back, and neither of them could touch it.

"By the way, what are your plans from now on?" Lu Yan raised his eyes to look at Kang Ru. Kang Ru wiped the child's mouth and said, "I've bought a ticket. I'm leaving this afternoon. My things are almost all packed. I... I plan to leave Xiajing City." Leave this place and start over.

This place held too many bad memories.

Lu Yan looked around. The apartment was indeed tidied up very neatly. Kang Ru hadn't owned many things to begin with, and now after a simple packing, it was so empty it looked as if no one had ever lived there.

"This is the money from before," Kang Ru said, placing a check on the table. It was the money Xiao Qishan had given her previously. She said, "I don't want this money. As for the other sum, I'll find a way to pay it back bit by bit, although it's still quite difficult right now..."

Xiao Heng said, "No need. You keep this money. It's child support for the kid."

It wasn't wrong to call it child support. That old bastard Xiao Qishan got her pregnant, so he should pay child support.

But Kang Ru was very insistent. "I can't accept this."

Xiao Heng glanced at the room, then frowned and desperately tried to find a reason. "Just consider it as me buying this apartment from you."

Kang Ru stammered, "But... I'm renting this apartment." And even if she weren't, it wouldn't sell for such a high price.

Xiao Heng: "Then consider it as me renting it."

"..."

Hearing this, Lu Yan put down his chopsticks and patted him earnestly. "Hey."

Xiao Heng glanced at him.

Lu Yan pointed outside. The room directly opposite was his, with 602 written on the door. "My place is warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and the feng shui is good too. It doesn't need to be that expensive. I'll give you a forty percent discount."

Xiao Heng: "..."

Lu Yan: "The price is negotiable."

Xiao Heng ignored him.

Lu Yan: "Half price is also fine. What's your ideal price?"

Xiao Heng didn't even look at him anymore.

After the meal, Xiao Heng said goodbye to the child.

After a few days with him, although the child couldn't speak, he had become familiar with his scent. Lying in Kang Ru's arms, the child habitually reached his hands out to him.

"Who wants to hold you."

Xiao Heng didn't hold him. He patted the child's head and said with a hint of disdain, "I'm leaving. Go bother your mom in the future."

Lu Yan remembered that this guy was a C University student. He had seen his class schedule; he should have had Professor Hu's class this morning. Watching Xiao Heng's retreating figure, he wondered: 'Don't rich kids have to attend classes themselves?'

It wasn't that Xiao Heng didn't have to attend class.

He just didn't go to the school to attend class.