As the drumsticks in Shen Linyin's hands extremely crisply struck the kick drum four times, the stage lights suddenly lit up.
The first song was the track they had rehearsed the most times, and also the source that led to all this chaos—"Boring Summer."
This song's chord progression was extremely simple. After these few weeks of hellish "Liver Emperor" special training, added with the muscle memory of [Fret Mastery], Lin Feng's feeling now was: closing eyes, standing upside down, or even playing while eating instant noodles, these hands could all automatically pop the notes out.
Since the fingers had already taken over the performance, Lin Feng's brain began its signature zoning out.
Ren Yichen hugged the guitar and leaned close to the microphone, his voice roaring out along with the sound system:
"The cicada cries outside the window are so noisy they make one flustered,
"The thirty-seven-degree wind blows past the old longtang.
"The unfinished soda is getting hot at the corner of the table,
"That book named Youth, no one dares to flip [the pages] too loudly."
The freshmen offstage began to wave their hands following the rhythm. Although the lyrics were somewhat green and pretentious, combined with the scorching hot evening breeze and the atmosphere of the university opening, it was actually unexpectedly fitting for the scene.
"This is a boring summer, a boring fantasy,
"We fold dreams into paper airplanes, crashing against the wall.
"Don't ask me where the future is,
"Anyway, as long as the guitar is still ringing, it doesn't count as wandering."
Listening to Ren Yichen's roaring that was still considered on tune, Lin Feng looked at his back figure, and a surge of extremely complex sigh regarding cause and effect suddenly welled up in his heart.
If one did not think about it in detail, everyone might feel that it was him, Lin Feng, holding the System item and not acting like a human, forcibly putting a tall hat on his good brother.
But tracing back to the source, what was the root of all evil for all of this?
It was during the rehearsal that day, that sheet of handwritten music score of Ren Yichen's that looked like it had been scratched by a chicken claw, like a ghost's talisman drawing!
If it were not because that broken score could not be understood at all, Lin Feng would not have made a fool of himself in front of Shen Linyin; if he did not make a fool of himself, the favorability rating would not have plummeted; if it did not plummet, he would not have panic-strickenly used the only item—[Eternal Padlock]—in order to keep his rice bowl.
"So, Old Ren..." Lin Feng mechanically swept the chords while silently passing a sentence on his good brother in his heart, "This really cannot be blamed on me. This is all the evil fruit sown by your handwriting that makes one's hair stand up in anger."
Thinking further to Ren Yichen's magnanimous attitude of being completely defenseless against, and even happy to see the success of, his own girlfriend "meeting privately" with another man.
Lin Feng achieved enlightenment.
This was probably the legendary "Congenital Green Hat Holy Constitution" that is one in a million. The gears of fate had already started turning as early as that afternoon, and no one could stop them.
Thinking of it this way, the sense of guilt in Lin Feng's heart instantly decreased by eighty percent. Since it was the will of Heaven, then he could only reluctantly comply with the mandate of Heaven.
The interlude arrived.
Lin Feng's expression tightened, and his fingers wandered rapidly over the fingerboard.
Although his performance still lacked that kind of coquettish energy named "soul," under the double blessing of [Fret Mastery] and [Soft Cartilage Finger], this Solo segment that was originally still a bit stuttering was played by him as silky smooth as a precise Swiss clock. The pitch of every string bend was accurate to the millimeter, and every overtone was crisp and pleasing to the ear.
People offstage who knew the trade might feel it was a bit like a MIDI synthesizer, but for the majority of students watching the excitement, this was the synonym for "Damn Awesome".
"Wah! That guitarist's hand speed is so fast!"
"A bit handsome, ah, this cold-faced handsome guy!"
Cheers arose.
And what surprised Lin Feng even more was Lu Mingxuan on the other side.
Breaking away from that underworld rehearsal room, Lu Mingxuan standing on the open-air stage was simply possessed by the God of War. His bass line was no longer that kind of low-frequency buzzing sound that seemed to be there and yet not there, but was full of elastic rhythm; the occasional segment of slap technique even drew repeated screams from the girls in the front row.
But the true MVP was undoubtedly still that woman at the very back.
Shen Linyin.
At this moment, her soft long hair danced in the air along with the movement of head-banging, and her slender arms seemed to contain infinite explosive power. The dense drum beats poured down like a rainstorm, not only stabilizing the slightly loose rhythm of the entire band but also forcefully elevating this saliva song, originally only worth 60 points, to the level of an 85-point burning song.
That was a kind of domineering aura that controlled the whole venue.
The song ended, and the final trailing note dissipated in the air.
Thunderous applause and screams erupted offstage. Ren Yichen, panting heavily, enjoyed this highlight moment belonging to the lead singer, smiling like a child who had received candy.
Lin Feng put down the guitar, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and his gaze crossed over Ren Yichen, landing on Shen Linyin who was adjusting the cymbals.
At this moment, an extremely dangerous but also extremely tempting idea emerged in his mind.
That silver lock might cause this band to fall apart in the future due to emotional disputes.
But...
If it really reached that stage, if this band really exploded...
"Then I will poach Shen Linyin away and form a new band."
Lin Feng looked at that talented female drummer; the "fear" in his eyes gradually subsided, replaced by the greedy light of a capitalist seeing a top-quality worker.
"As long as I have this drummer, whether it is fluffing cotton or playing the erhu, I can become popular."
Even if bearing the infamy of "stealing the Second Sister-in-law", for the sake of this peerless drumming skill, it seems... it is not unacceptable?
At this moment, Lin Feng's worldview was completely reversed.