Chapter 6: Wanting to Add Lin Zhile on WeChat
Lin Zhile had a habit of taking afternoon naps. Who knew that upon waking up, the time had far exceeded the thirty-minute mark and had gone straight to 3:30 PM.
He even had a dream. In his dream, he met the adorable Xinlebi, and the human and panda were having a great time. Suddenly, a monster popped out and relentlessly chased after them.
Lin Zhile fixed his eyes for a closer look, and the monster suddenly morphed into Gu Jingxiu’s appearance.
He jolted awake in fright.
After waking up, Lin Zhile thoroughly reflected upon himself. How could he use his subconscious to curse people?
Just like in the morning, the house was currently completely empty again, the marble walls reflecting his solitary shadow.
Lin Zhile didn’t know what he was doing either. He wandered around looking at different parts of the house and called out “Ge” a few times, but no one answered.
He sat quietly on the living room sofa for a while, trying to shake off his drowsiness.
Suddenly, he saw Gu Jingxiu walk out from behind a partition wall, holding a glass in his hand that contained a perfectly round ball of ice.
In his other hand, he held a bottle of imported liquor.
Being stared at so eagerly, Gu Jingxiu wasn’t blind. He stopped in his tracks, looking at the wilted Rabbit Lin post-nap: “Slept enough?”
Lin Zhile nodded blankly: “Ge, where are you going?”
Gu Jingxiu said, “Going to the basement to watch a movie.”
There was an extravagantly funded audiovisual room built in the basement, where he spent a lot of his time.
Only then did Lin Zhile realize the villa had more than just the two floors he could see. There was also a basement level, but the entrance was relatively hidden, so he had passed by it many times and completely overlooked it.
What kind of film would the Best Actor himself watch?
Lin Zhile’s sleepiness instantly vanished entirely, his eyes filled with longing: “Can I go take a look?”
Gu Jingxiu didn’t answer immediately. He found Lin Zhile’s current state to be very cute and wanted to hear what else he could say.
Usually, when the younger generation of the Gu family asked him for things, they would have very sweet mouths and say a lot of flattering things to him.
But Lin Zhile didn’t seem to have this habit at all. He directly interpreted Gu Jingxiu’s silence as a rejection.
The cowlick on top of his round head immediately drooped down: “Can I not go…”
Lin Zhile was wondering if he was pushing his luck a bit too far.
Gu Jingxiu furrowed his brows slightly, finally sensing a problem at this moment.
This little guest his mother had forcefully shoved over to him was not only timid, but also a bit sensitive.
Gu Jingxiu hated troublesome people and matters, but at this exact moment, he heard himself saying to Lin Zhile, “Of course you can. But we don’t provide cola and popcorn service, and you can’t choose the movie.”
He watched that cowlick perk right back up as Lin Zhile’s eyes curved into a smile, nodding obediently: “Mm-hmm, my movie-watching etiquette is very good.”
Seeing that Gu Jingxiu had liquor in his hands, he ran off to brew himself a cup of throat-soothing tea.
“I’m ready~”
A foreign art film from the 90s in its original language was playing on the screen.
The floor of the audiovisual room was covered with a soft carpet. Two black leather sofas were placed facing the screen, accompanied by a small wooden low table.
The number of times Lin Zhile had been to a movie theater could be counted on one hand.
Having grown up in the countryside, there were no cinemas there. During university, his daily studies were so busy he could barely manage, let alone watch movies.
Right now, watching this obscure and hard-to-understand foreign art film, he found it to be incredibly fascinating. But there were also times when he would sneak glances at Gu Jingxiu.
In actuality, Best Actor Gu originally planned to do a scene-by-scene analysis here.
He would usually watch the movie through once, and then go over it shot by shot. That would be very boring, and he figured Lin Zhile wouldn’t be interested.
The language of the film was French. Lin Zhile couldn’t understand it, so he could only rely on the subtitles to grasp the meaning.
However, thanks to the director’s superb professional skills, even divorced from the language, one could still feel the underlying artistic conception through the shifts in camera angles.
About two-thirds into the movie, the male and female leads were riding in a small boat, drifting on the boundless azure sea. Even though they were drifting aimlessly, they revealed the most relaxed smiles.
Lin Zhile could hear that the expressiveness of the audio system here was top-tier; it must have been astronomically expensive.
The film’s insert song playing was melodious and moving. The prelude of the piano piece was lighthearted, but as it faded out, it shifted keys to produce a trace of tragic atmosphere.
Music student Lin Zhile’s heart stirred. Seeing pen and paper on the coffee table in front of him, he asked Gu Jingxiu, “Ge, can I use this?”
Gu Jingxiu’s attention was still on the screen, and he nodded.
Having obtained permission, Lin Zhile pulled the paper over, knelt on the carpet, and lay over the low table, drawing lines and writing sheet music.
His pen didn’t pause in the slightest, writing as he listened. Gu Jingxiu, who had been watching the screen, had his attention drawn over and turned his head to look at him.
Lin Zhile buried his head, humming as he wrote. It wasn’t until he clearly heard the familiar melody that Gu Jingxiu realized the boy was actually transcribing the accompaniment track from just now.
Lin Zhile had absolute pitch. His pen flew rapidly, writing messily, but there wasn’t a single trace of cross-outs or corrections.
Gu Jingxiu’s gaze narrowed slightly.
It turned out Lin Zhile truly did have a massive talent for music.
It was evident that his memory was very strong and his foundation solid. Just by listening with his ears, he could write down the score.
As strings of musical notes appeared on the paper, Gu Jingxiu asked sincerely, “Is being able to memorize a score after hearing it once the basic standard for you music students?”
Lin Zhile dropped the final stroke, and the softly hummed tune also stopped.
He was very satisfied, blowing on the ink marks over it: “No way. Actually, this is the second time this piece has appeared. It’d be too stupid to not be able to memorize it by now!”
Gu Jingxiu: “…”
Usually, Best Actor Gu was the one doing the humblebragging. Now that their positions were suddenly swapped, he finally understood the feeling of being humblebragged to. He said, “Lin Zhile, I’m very curious about your relationships with your classmates. Have they ever expressed dissatisfaction with your words and actions like this?”
Lin Zhile thought about it: “During my freshman year of high school, my relationships with my classmates were quite good. They all praised me for being easygoing and easy to get along with, but…”
Gu Jingxiu: “But what.”
Lin Zhile: “But ever since I refused to let them copy my homework and told them those questions were very simple and anyone with a brain could do them, everything changed.”
Lin Zhile was a bit puzzled: “Easygoing and easy to get along with, arrogant and looking down on people… these were all surprisingly their descriptions of me.”
Gu Jingxiu instantly let out a merciless laugh: “I’m guessing your teenage years must have been very lonely. You completely don’t understand how much damage a simple sentence can cause to others.”
“Not at all~” Lin Zhile denied this hypothesis, causing Gu Jingxiu to lose the opportunity to continue mocking him: “I still had a friend. Our relationship is ironclad, but he’s currently studying abroad.”
He was even a bit happy: “Plus, I met several students from the Jinghua Drama Academy on the way here yesterday.”
“If you count it, they should be your underclassmen, right?”
Gu Jingxiu feigned surprise: “That impressive? Are there any friend-making skills you can impart?”
Lin Zhile was suspicious: “Does the great Best Actor even need friend-making skills? As long as you allow it, half the country would want to add you on WeChat, alright.”
Speaking of this, the two of them suddenly realized that they hadn’t added each other on WeChat.
Gu Jingxiu cleared his throat: “Let’s not mention half of China for now. Right now, I want to add Lin Zhile’s WeChat. I wonder if that’s permissible.”
Lin Zhile immediately dug into his pocket: “Of course you can!”
With a “Ding~”, the QR code scan was successful.
Lin Zhile’s profile picture was a stick-figure drawing version of Xinlebi.
Meanwhile, Best Actor Gu’s profile picture was his character image from Night Run, seemingly a behind-the-scenes shot.
The warm yellow spotlight of the background set looked like a golden sun, dotting a touch of bright color into the protagonist’s chilling gaze, like hope in a desperate situation.
He doesn’t forget to hustle even on his private account.
Lin Zhile thought to himself.
However, the two had quite the tacit understanding when it came to their screen names; they both used their real names.
After adding each other on WeChat, the film continued.
Lin Zhile discovered that the soundtrack of this film was extremely beautiful, so he simply jotted down the sheet music as he listened.
It’s just that after watching for a while, his eyes and nose both stung with soreness: “As expected, one cannot have both love and freedom. The female lead actually likes her fiancé, right? But for the sake of freedom, she can only run away and abandon love.”
Gu Jingxiu set down his glass of liquor, astonished by Lin Zhile’s perceptiveness.
Clearly, the male and female leads were just French kissing intensely. Most people would assume this eloping couple must love each other deeply and hopelessly. They wouldn’t be able to spot the emotions buried at the foundational layer of the film.
Gu Jingxiu was curious about how he had discovered this: “Why do you say that?”
Lin Zhile said earnestly, “A music student’s intuition. Listen to the background music when the female lead is writing her confession poem; it’s the same as when she dances with her fiancé at the ball. However, cellos and other instruments were added to this latter segment; it’s a variation.”
Kneeling beside the low table, he was somewhat moved by the film’s content. His eye rims were red, and he spoke with a slight nasal tone while earnestly analyzing.
Gu Jingxiu suddenly felt as if his heart had been struck by something.
Lin Zhile abruptly stood up: “I’ll go get my flute and play it for you, then you’ll understand.”
Gu Jingxiu paused the film. He hadn’t expected the boy to get this fired up: “Actually, it’s not that I couldn’t believe you.” But the person had already run out.
Watching a movie had somehow evolved into a concert. Gu Jingxiu couldn’t help but laugh.
Deep down, however, he was somewhat looking forward to it.
Looking forward to hearing the piece Lin Zhile would play.
Lin Zhile loved tinkering with musical instruments. His latest favorite was a transverse flute. It wasn’t expensive, and his playing skills were considered fairly mature.
He quickly ran back and stood in front of Gu Jingxiu. Holding the flute with both hands, he raised his eyes and smiled at him. His eyes curved into crescents, and those beautiful aegyo sal appeared again.
He first played the confession poem version, which was more airy and lyrical, and then the variation version, which was much heavier.
Even someone with the dullest ears would be able to hear the similarities between the two pieces.
Lin Zhile’s transcribing abilities were very strong. The sound of his flute was identical to the film. The segment of the female lead reciting her confession poem simultaneously replayed in the mind:
“Sur toutes les pages lues
Sur toutes les pages blanches
Pierre sang papier ou cendre
J’écris ton nom
On all the pages read
On all the blank pages
Stone, blood, paper or ash
I write your name①”
The song finished, and the audiovisual room fell into a brief silence.
Lin Zhile was the first to break the silence: “Well, was I right?”
Gu Jingxiu shifted his gaze from the flute to Lin Zhile, and their eyes met.
Gu Jingxiu possessed excellent bone structure. His brow bone was high, making his eyes exceptionally deep.
Lin Zhile didn’t quite dare to make eye contact with him. Now, suddenly being stared at by Gu Jingxiu, a streak of red rose from the base of his ears.
He saw the admiration in Gu Jingxiu’s eyes.
He had clearly received this kind of gaze frequently from his classmates and friends, yet at this moment, Lin Zhile felt a wave of shyness wash over him once again.
Gu Jingxiu answered him very seriously: “Very right.”
“You played very well.”
Just as Lin Zhile had stated, it wasn’t long before the female lead separated from the male lead. Eloping was simply her mistaken method of exploring freedom.
In the end, she lived alone in a foreign country across the sea, continuing her writing ideals.
Later, upon receiving her fiancé’s obituary, she shed crystalline tears.
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