Shu Nian was a bit confused and asked, “Do you want to record the song earlier?”
When he had said those words, Xie Ruhe had felt a bit uncomfortable, and now he was startled. Looking at Shu Nian’s clear eyes, he remained silent for a few seconds, lowered his gaze, and couldn’t think of any other excuse: “…Mm.”
Shu Nian agreed directly: “Around what time?”
Xie Ruhe asked, “Are you free tomorrow morning?”
“Yes,” Shu Nian answered honestly, “I usually don’t need to go to the recording studio in the morning.”
“Then what time do you usually wake up?”
“It depends. Usually, I wake up at noon…” At this point, Shu Nian stopped, puzzled, “You don’t need to ask me that. Whatever time you want to start recording, I can be there on time.”
As if he hadn’t heard her last sentence, Xie Ruhe lowered his eyes, contemplated for a moment, and then spoke as if nothing had been said: “Let’s make it one o’clock in the afternoon then.”
“…”
After Shu Nian left, Xie Ruhe returned the way he came, back to his home.
It was dinnertime, and both the housekeeper and Fang Wencheng were there. Dinner wasn’t ready yet. Fang Wencheng was sitting on the sofa. Hearing the sound at the door, he immediately stood up, forcing a smile: “Young Master, you’re back?”
Xie Ruhe lifted his eyelids and glanced at him, his expression indifferent, saying nothing.
Although Ji Xinghuai had said that if Xie Ruhe got angry, he could push the responsibility onto him, Fang Wencheng didn’t dare to do such a thing unless it was the last resort.
He took a deep breath and said all at once what he had been organizing in his mind all afternoon, speaking in an official, stiff manner.
“I’m sorry, Young Master. The situation is this: Because we really couldn’t find a suitable singer, and I could see Hua Jing’s deadline getting closer and closer, I was truly very anxious. In such a state of anxiety, I suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered that you once praised Miss Shu Nian’s singing, so I came up with this less-than-ideal solution.”
Fang Wencheng’s tone was pleading: “I hope you can be understanding, Young Master.”
Xie Ruhe looked at him, calmly repeating two words: “Less-than-ideal?”
Fang Wencheng didn’t know how he had triggered him again, his scalp going numb, instantly changing his words.
“Solution! So-solution!”
But Xie Ruhe didn’t get angry as Fang Wencheng had imagined, he just casually moved his wheelchair to the side of the tea table and poured a cup of water: “Tell me in advance next time.”
Fang Wencheng quickly replied: “Certainly.”
Xie Ruhe picked up the water cup and suddenly seemed to remember something. His movement paused, and he murmured as if repeating: “You made a mistake.”
Fang Wencheng had just breathed a sigh of relief, but now was again on full alert due to these words: “Yes, I made a mistake.”
The next moment, Xie Ruhe raised his head, his expression thoughtful: “Then you should reflect on it.”
Fang Wencheng was bewildered: “Ah?”
Xie Ruhe looked at him, his eyes dark, calm, and quiet.
Fang Wencheng realized what was happening and put on a penitent expression: “Alright, I’ll go reflect on it.”
Xie Ruhe said: “Right here.”
“…” Fang Wencheng was increasingly unable to understand what this boss was thinking, and reluctantly said, “Here?”
“Mm.” Xie Ruhe said expressionlessly, “Let me see how you reflect on it.”
“…”
When Shu Nian went to Huang Lizhi’s place, she didn’t have anything particular to do. Mainly she felt it was still early, and she didn’t know what to do alone at home, so she simply went to hang out at the recording studio.
Shu Nian didn’t enter the booth but watched from outside as they recorded inside. She didn’t stay too late, thinking about going home to practice singing, and left the recording studio at around ten o’clock.
When Shu Nian got home, she washed up and went to her room. With her half-wet hair loose, she sat at her desk, turned on the computer, opened a music software on the desktop, and then adjusted the position of the microphone.
She transferred the audio file Xie Ruhe had sent her to the computer.
Shu Nian planned to sing and record at the same time, and then compare the differences herself. Otherwise, singing alone like this, she wouldn’t be able to identify where her problems were.
She first played the complete version once.
The light and lingering music resounded in the quiet room.
Before long, Shu Nian heard the lyrics she had practiced over and over today, and strangely lost focus, remembering what Xie Ruhe had said today.
He sat in his wheelchair, his bangs hanging down, his fine, dense eyelashes concealing the emotions in his eyes. Then, quite naturally, he said to her: “I’ll sing it once, and you follow along.”
…
Regarding Xie Ruhe’s blatant following of Shu Nian after they met again, and his pretending to be deaf and dumb when she called him out on it, Shu Nian found this feeling very familiar.
Because in the past, such things had happened many times between the two of them.
Back then, it happened almost every day without fail.
From home to school, and then from school to home.
Xie Ruhe followed her every day and did so without any attempt to hide it. Even when discovered by her, he wouldn’t shy away, just standing quietly in place.
At first, Shu Nian thought it was a coincidence and didn’t think much of it. But as it happened more often, she noticed something was off and frowned, asking him: “Why do you keep following me?”
Xie Ruhe didn’t remain silent; his demeanor was cold and matter-of-fact: “I’m not.”
“What?”
“Not following you.”