 Chapter 2
Bai Sinian was relatively calm. He first ran to the stairwell and turned off the main circuit breaker, then hurriedly returned to the dormitory to seek help from the dorm aunt. Many enthusiastic classmates who learned of this brought buckets of water to assist.
Fortunately, the fire was not very large and was quickly extinguished.
The activity room, which was already in disarray, was now pitch black, with a burnt smell permeating the air. The dorm aunt had a look of “you’re in trouble” on her face as she looked at the five dejected young men.
“Which class are you all from? Let me make a record, the director of the counseling office will summon you tomorrow.”
The dorm aunt asked around, but no one spoke. Only Shen Bei timidly answered one by one.
“Go back and take a shower and sleep. We’ll deal with it tomorrow.” The dorm aunt dismissed the curious classmates and headed back.
The five people following behind her hung their heads in dejection, their faces and clothes covered in a layer of black soot.
Fan Hongyi grumbled, “I should have just slept in the dorm.”
Cui Yeyi rolled his eyes at the empty air. “Regretting it now won’t do any good. We should think about what to do next. Damn, the instruments are all burned.”
The drum set, bass, and guitars they used, while not particularly expensive, were still quite valuable for high school students. Now the problem was they would have to buy new instruments, or else the entire band would be doomed.
Bian Rui stuffed his hands in his school uniform pockets, his uniform dirty but not affecting his cool demeanor. “We need to have a unified statement. We’ll definitely have to write a self-reflection tomorrow.”
Bian Rui: “The instruments are from our own homes. We’ve been under a lot of academic pressure lately and just wanted to relax and play a bit. We accidentally burned some water to drink, and it turned out the wiring was aged, causing the fire. We already know we were wrong.”
“Okay, we’ll all write that!” Cui Yeyi echoed.
“What about Bai Sinian? He got dragged into this, he’s a bit innocent.” Shen Bei’s eyes darted around, muttering softly.
Bai Sinian was moved by this sentence. The little cutie was really cute, even at this time, still considering him.Â
Momentarily touched, Bai Sinian waved his hand grandly, “No problem! As they say, we share the blessings and hardships together. How could I back out at this time?”
Everyone was deeply moved. Fan Hongyi said, “Good! We really found the right person!”
When they reached the bottom of the men’s dormitory, as everyone was about to part ways since they lived on different floors, Bai Sinian looked at their youthful, handsome faces covered in black soot and couldn’t help but want to laugh.
“Let’s take a commemorative photo!” Bai Sinian proposed, “As a memento of our first day of acquaintance.”
“Okay!”
The few of them were quite easygoing, not hesitating to surround Bai Sinian. Bai Sinian raised his phone and took a selfie of them.
Standing under the dim streetlights of the dormitory, their innocent yet blackened smiling faces were full of youthful vitality.
Except for Bian Rui, who didn’t smile much, the others had bright, flower-like smiles, truly capturing the best moments of youth!
Bai Sinian silently saved this photo.
This was too blissful.
That night, Bai Sinian lay on his bed in the dorm, falling asleep with a sweet smile on his face.
The next morning during homeroom, the five of them were summoned to the counseling office.
Today was Wednesday, when the school allowed free dress, while on other days they had to wear uniforms. Luckily it was Wednesday, so they had clothes to change into.
Each person wore their own casual attire, and standing together, they looked as bright as macarons, completely different from the atmosphere they had when wearing school uniforms.
Bai Sinian wore a simple white T-shirt. When the director of the counseling office saw him, he widened his eyes: “Bai Sinian! How did you end up with them?”
The director was so angry that he even took off his glasses. “You don’t focus on your studies, and you went there to play music with them!”
Bai Sinian pretended to look guilty, lowering his head. “Director, I, I was under a lot of academic pressure, and playing musical instruments can help me relieve the stress.”
This statement made the director ponder. After all, Bai Sinian was the student who could top the entire grade. 985 and 211 universities* were all his for the taking. It was normal for a child to have some pressure.
Thinking this way, it seemed justifiable and worthy of forgiveness.
The director could only shift his anger to the other few people. He glared and said, “Bian Rui, you, you…”
He ranted for a while, but found that Bian Rui’s grades were also among the top ten in the grade, probably for the same reason as Bai Sinian. He could only find the next scapegoat.
“Cui Yeyi! Your grades are as bad as mud! You won’t tell me you want to relieve stress, too, will you? You’re always so careless, what stress do you have to relieve? You better stop this music playing nonsense!”
Cui Yeyi was used to being scolded by his father at home and by teachers at school. As long as he put on a pitiful expression, like he knew he was wrong and didn’t want to be scolded anymore, the other party would soon stop.
Cui Yeyi sniffed his nose, “Director, I’m sorry, I know I was wrong, and I won’t do it again.”
This handsome and charming boy showing a look like he was about to cry made people feel sorry for him.
At least at this moment, Bai Sinian was mesmerized. No wonder Cui Yeyi was so good at expressing himself, he must have practiced in front of the mirror countless times!
Standing beside, Bian Rui keenly caught Bai Sinian’s gaze at Cui Yeyi. He frowned slightly, Bai Sinian seemed to look at Cui Yeyi a little differently.
The director said a few more words, and Bian Rui finally interrupted him. “Director, I think the main responsibility for this incident lies in our lack of power safety awareness, not that we shouldn’t play musical instruments.”
“We used our spare time to practice in the abandoned activity room, away from the new teaching building, without affecting anyone’s study and life. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
This sentence was like a sudden enlightenment, precisely grasping the director’s educational direction and bringing him back on track.
No wonder it felt a little off. It turned out the director wanted to use this safety incident to prohibit them from playing music and affecting their studies.
Bai Sinian said firmly, “Director, Bian Rui is right. We won’t neglect our studies either. In the future, we will pay attention to electrical safety and ensure that nothing like this will happen again.”
Cui Yeyi, Fan Hongyi, and Shen Bei also promised one after another, and the director almost wanted to drive them away.
“Alright!” the director snapped. “The school prohibits the private establishment of bands!”
Bai Sinian was anxious. “Director! Do you know, your casual order will cause a future star to fall!”
Bian Rui and the others were shocked to hear Bai Sinian consider them future stars!
Bai Sinian: “Whether it’s a wage slave or a student, their dull and lifeless lives need some positive spiritual guidance. People’s lives need entertainment, and an excellent band can change all this, and save many people from the stagnant lives. And this excellent band is them! The four standing in front of you!”
Bai Sinian’s impassioned speech made the four of them tearful. They never imagined Bai Sinian would think so highly of them.
What reason did they have to let him down!
This band must be persisted!
The director slapped the desk. “Nonsense! Attachment to material things will destroy your will! At this stage, you should focus on the college entrance exam, not some bullshit dream of saving all mankind!”
Bian Rui stepped forward. “Director, we guarantee we won’t neglect our studies.”
Cui Yeyi, Fan Hongyi, and Shen Bei stepped forward, shouting loudly, “Director, we guarantee we won’t neglect our studies!”
Another deputy director in the office finally spoke up. “Director, why don’t you let their homeroom teachers do some ideological work first, and then call their parents at an appropriate time?”
“Okay. In addition, your self-reflection papers must be submitted before school dismissal tomorrow. The abandoned teaching building is sealed, and you are not allowed to go there again.”
Bian Rui seemed to have more to say, but was pulled away by Bai Sinian, who gave him a look, and they left the office first.
Back in their own classrooms, they agreed to meet at the cafeteria for lunch.
The whole morning, Bai Sinian sat in the classroom, restless. He didn’t hear a word the teacher said, but fortunately, he had a certain academic foundation and didn’t care about missing a class or two.
He stared out the window, watching the other high school students running on the playground, with a complex feeling in his heart.
He could have just enjoyed high school life well, but he had devoted himself to idols. He sincerely hoped that “Dazzling Star” could go further, so the difficulties they were facing now should be faced and solved.
Unconsciously, the bell rang, and several classmates immediately gathered around Bai Sinian.
“Sinian, Sinian, I heard you guys blew up the school last night, is it true or not?”
“Didn’t expect you to have such a fierce side! I thought you were just a bookworm!”
“Cool, go blow up the whole school so I don’t have to go to school anymore!”
Everyone discussed it noisily. Bai Sinian was amused, this was how rumors turned into gossip. If this happened ten years later, the gossipers would all be arrested.
However, although they didn’t blow up the school, they experienced a fire on their first day of acquaintance, and looking back, it was quite interesting.
“Don’t laugh, quickly tell us what happened?”
Bai Sinian had no choice but to put away his smile and give the classmates a brief introduction to some fire safety knowledge related to electrical safety.
The classmates didn’t gossip about his story with the few campus celebrities, and the bell rang, making everyone reluctantly disperse.
Finally, it was noon break, and the hungry classmates rushed to the cafeteria like a pack of lone wolves. Bai Sinian couldn’t outrun them, so he decided to wait and leave the classroom last.
The noonday sun was very dazzling, but the main road of the campus was lined with green trees, and Bai Sinian leisurely stepped on the mottled tree shadows as he slowly walked towards the cafeteria.
The third floor of the cafeteria was already crowded, with a group of students holding trays and unable to find a seat.
Bai Sinian immediately spotted the cute Shen Bei waving at him. They had gathered, sitting in the corner by the window.
“How did you guys occupy such a big table?” Bai Sinian sat down in the space they had left for him.
“Cui Yeyi skipped class to grab it,” Fan Hongyi blurted out.
Cui Yeyi elbowed him, “Shut up, I came early after P.E. class was dismissed.”
Shen Bei smiled and watched them, then said, “Bian Rui ordered a few dishes, I’ll go see if the auntie has finished cooking them.”
Bai Sinian looked at Shen Bei with a doting expression of a proud parent, and Bian Rui, who was staring at Bai Sinian’s infatuated look, just opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by Cui Yeyi.
Cui Yeyi’s eyes shone as he looked at Bai Sinian. “Bro, what you said in the office today about us becoming superstars, is it true? Do you really think that of us?”
“Yes, if you can focus on practicing and improve your skills, you will definitely be able to become famous worldwide in the future,” Bai Sinian said seriously.
“Great! Bro, with your words, we will definitely persevere!” Cui Yeyi declared firmly.
Bian Rui took a sip of tea. “The most urgent thing right now is to prepare new instruments. Also, yesterday was our first day of collaboration. Cui Yeyi, your rhythm is always too fast, the drums are the soul of the whole song, if you’re too fast, we can only run after you, and it will mess up the rhythm of the whole song.”
“Fan Hongyi, you’re the bassist, you need to precisely match the drum beats, but I found yesterday that you two were each doing your own thing, not on the same page at all.”
The criticized Cui Yeyi and Fan Hongyi were a little unhappy. Cui Yeyi crossed his legs, leaning back a step, crossing his arms across his chest, sulking.
At this time, the obedient Shen Bei came back with two plates of stir-fried dishes and quietly sat to the side.
Bian Rui: “And Shen Bei, the guitar is an instrument that can be self-taught to proficiency. The notes you play are often out of tune, I suggest you memorize the sheet music first.”
“Oh…” Shen Bei lowered his head in response.
The entire atmosphere plummeted to the freezing point. Bai Sinian hurriedly went to the window to get the dishes, then went to serve the food for the four “big shots”, and brought back five cans of chilled Sprite, only to find they had already started arguing.
Bai Sinian: …
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