As the audience grew in number, all the band members were very excited. Cheng Ran felt a little relieved and turned around as if he had sensed something. He found that Qin Xizhen was looking at him from across Shanan, Luomu and the others.
The two men's eyes met, and Qin Xizhen simply walked over and sat next to him.
"Are you nervous?" Cheng Ran asked.
"It's okay, actually. There are so many performances to be had. There's nothing to be nervous about... We have you guys here." Qin Xizhen rubbed his hands, exhaled, and said hesitantly, "You've done a lot. We also invited many classmates to help today..."
"If your father hadn't stepped in, we probably wouldn't have been able to even make it to the main venue." Cheng Ran smiled and said, "Your father, an old artist, is really capable."
"That's not entirely true. Those songs all come from you." Qin Xizhen said, "In fact, have you ever thought that since you have such talent, why don't you sing it yourself?"
"First of all, if we really talk about singing skills, I have to stand aside when you start singing like a professional. Secondly, I don't want to follow this path. If you become a singer or something, you have to go to a place and sing it every time someone invites you to sing. If you don't sing a song, your ears will get calloused after listening to it dozens of times, and singing will be tiring... I just want to listen." Cheng Ran said, "So, these songs are not here... To avoid being buried, it's better for you to sing them and I can listen to them."
"You are really lazy..." Although he couldn't understand some of the words, such as what "not here" meant, Qin Xizhen seemed to be used to Cheng Ran's illogical mumblings. He could accurately find the key points from his words. Qin Xizhen murmured, "I will play these songs for you."
"No need..." Cheng Ran shook his head, "Don't sign my name."
Qin Xizhen thought for a while, "Do you want to live a normal life? There is no conclusion yet, so I can't say that all these are written by me. How about using a code name? If someone asks me who is the lyricist and composer, who should I say?"
Cheng Ran said, "Just think of one."
"Or, just give him a code name, Gargamel? Oh, the cute Smurfs, they worked together and used their brains to defeat Gargamel!" Qin Xizhen turned his head, "This is good!"
"Can you be serious?" Cheng Ran frowned.
Qin Xizhen pouted, "Then you take it."
Cheng Ran thought for a moment and said, "Let's not call him Gargamel anymore. Let's just call him 'The Wizard'."
"Wizard?" Qin Xizhen murmured, and Xuan'er nodded seriously, "The kind of wizard in Western fantasy... who possesses magical powers. He really is a bit like you... Yeah, then this one, this one is also good."
"But I still feel it's a pity," Qin Xizhen hugged her legs and rested her head on her knees. She was wearing a shirt with a small vest and casual pants today. She looked intellectual and pretty. She tilted her head and looked at him, "You are so talented... If you don't take this path, are you willing?"
"Everyone has their own ambitions." Cheng Ran smiled. He thought that once a professional like you sings, you will know how big the gap is. How can you go on? The songs he picked out were basically sung by singers who had never existed in this world. Watching these classics buried and disappearing seemed like a hurdle he couldn't get over. Qin Xizhen made them reappear, which would also be a feast for his ears. It can also be regarded as the willfulness of a reborn person.
"Are you reminding me that we will eventually go our separate ways?" Qin Xizhen frowned, but there was some melancholy in his eyes, "Yes, you are still a high school student, and it's only the second semester of the second year of high school... Things like the future seem very far away for you. But for me, it's right in front of me. It's not far away at all."
Qin Xizhen lowered his head, then raised it again after a moment, "Cheng Ran... Thank you. Even if this performance fails, what I gained is much more than what I got."
"We'll do our best and not give up easily," Cheng Ran shook his head, checked the time, and pointed to the guest seats. "Before we go on stage, I have something to do."
…
Eight twenty-five.
The rain kept falling, and time was gradually approaching the end. The atmosphere was like an invisible and heavy wall, pressing down invisibly as the period approached.
With a little time left, Cheng Ran walked into the guest seats.
Originally, the guest seats were guarded by security guards and ticket inspectors. Cheng Ran had an internal red card, which gave him higher privileges than a regular green card, so he could enter and exit without any hindrance.
The guest seats are on the side of the main stage of the stadium, with a ceiling covered with alloy and glass, and even the chairs are made of soft leather.
Cheng Ran walked down the aisle and saw Zhao Le and Wang Zhonghua in the first row from afar.
The seat next to Zhao Le happened to be empty, so Cheng Ran came directly to him and sat down. Then he turned around and met the gazes of Wang Zhonghua and Zhao Le who turned at the same time.
Then Cheng Ran looked at Wang Zhonghua, and finally at Zhao Le, and asked, "What do you think?"
Wang Zhonghua and Zhao Le looked at the increasing number of people arriving at this time with serious expressions, knowing that Qin Keguang's intervention had indeed caused a big stir.
But at this point, Wang Zhonghua was not a pushover. He insisted that Qin Keguang used his authority to protect his son and that he loved Qin Xizhen foolishly, and he could also make trouble and occupy the commanding heights, making it difficult for Qin Keguang to explain himself. If it was a confrontation or a debate, and who could argue more, Wang Zhonghua thought he was not afraid of anyone.
While they were thinking this, a person suddenly appeared next to them and asked the same question.
Wang Zhonghua naturally didn't know who he was, but Zhao Le, who had just calmly told him that they had the advantage of time and place, was obviously stunned.
Facing Wang Zhonghua's narrowed eyes behind his glasses, Cheng Ran said, "I am Qin Xizhen's student. How did you think of using my song? There were so many people present at the time, and they can all testify... What did you think?"
Needless to say, Wang Zhonghua also understood who Cheng Ran was.
Zhao Le's face turned pale at first, then a little ferocious, but in a short time, the corners of his mouth curled up, "Plagiarizing your song? You must be mistaken. Qin Xizhen is your teacher, and all your teachers have to call me Teacher Zhao. Don't you understand who plagiarized whose song? Wasn't my explanation clear enough?"
Wang Zhonghua beside him burst out laughing, as if he was facing a patient with delirium.
"I think you didn't understand what I said just now. I said... That was a song I wrote, and I wrote it for Qin Xizhen. So you said in front of me, the author, that this song is yours. What do you think?"
Zhao Le's face turned pale, and Wang Zhonghua laughed in anger, "Where did you come from, you bastard, talking nonsense here! I'll only say this once, get out of here where you should go. Otherwise, your parents didn't teach you well, so I'll help them teach you."
"Yes, you were the first to register the copyright. We can't do anything about this, but Zhao Le's manuscript is there, and we have had it authenticated by a specialist. Don't you think about how Qin Xizhen, a middle school music teacher with that kind of experience, could write such a unique anti-war song? This kind of song cannot be produced without sufficient experience and years of hard work in the music industry."
"What else do you want to do? Use Qin Keguang's name to bully others? How can someone like Qin Keguang, who only focuses on traditional and classical music, make this kind of pop music? Of course, if you insist on bullying hardworking musicians like us, there is nothing we can do... You are all shameless, what else can we do?"
"Tell Qin Xizhen that playing with crooked ways will only ruin her father's reputation. If she had been given a chance to correct her mistakes, this matter would not have become known to everyone. But now she wants to escalate the situation. We believe that good will prevail over evil. She and her Qin Keguang, who disregarded his reputation and stood up to take the blame for her, will have their reputations ruined in an instant! They will be infamous for eternity, don't you know?"
Zhao Le glanced at Wang Zhonghua. They both knew that what they were saying now was to guard against whether Cheng Ran had something like a recorder on him.
Although it was a little abrupt for such a person to suddenly appear beside them, the two people who reacted immediately had their own response. Moreover, their words were also testing the direction from which Qin Xizhen and Qin Keguang would confront and debate with them. Of course, no matter how the debate went, they had thought of various responses.
"Very good. I am satisfied with your answer." Cheng Ran laughed, but Zhao Le and Wang Zhonghua both felt a murderous aura in his smile. "I don't intend to do things to the extreme... But you, I feel..."
"Birds of a feather... they deserve to be killed!"
Then Cheng Ran stood up, left the guest seats, went to the backstage, took the zither handed over by Ning Yuan, and said to Qin Xizhen, "I'll play the chords for you guys."
The time was 8:40 and the lawn was packed with people in the heavy rain.
Under the illumination of the stage searchlights, Qin Xizhen turned around and took one last look at everyone, and then the group walked up the steps of the platform.