Chapter 18: The Sound of Spring Music Festival (1) 

29 April 2013 | kaiyang

"Yes, mother. We've just reached Fangshan District and we're driving to the hotel now. Don't worry, Qing is already there waiting for us. I'll get her to speak with you the moment I meet with her, alright?" I said into the phone as I absently observed the suburban landscape through the car window. "Yes—ok, I will. Of course. I'll call you again later. Bye bye."

Hanging up the line, I leaned back against the passenger seat and let out a long sigh. "Sorry, Zixuan. My mother nags a lot."

"Don't be. She's just concerned." Deng Zixuan smiled at me before returning his attention back onto the road. "Count it as a blessing to have a mother who can nag at you."

Not knowing how else to respond, I pursed my lips and nodded silently. From his future interviews, it was a known fact that Deng Zixuan was raised by his grandmother in a small town, and when his grandmother fell ill, he came to the city to look for work after graduating from high school. As he had never brought up his parents before, I speculated that it was a sensitive topic for him.

Quickly changing the subject, I expressed my gratitude for the fifth time today. "Once again, thanks for driving us to the music festival. My cousin was supposed to be my driver, but he had a last minute important event to attend. Do remember to claim for the car rental charges from him later, and don't feel bad, ok?"

Deng Zixuan laughed. "I can't not feel bad. Not only is Sifan-ge letting me off work for the weekend, he is even paying for my hotel room for two nights."

I waved a hand and shook my head. "He was supposed to be staying in the room anyway. And he had already bought the ticket for the music festival. I'm glad that you have an opportunity to go instead. I think it'll be a good experience for you as you can interact with other musicians there."

"Really? We can meet the performers there?" Deng Zixuan glanced at me, hints of delight and disbelief in his tone.

I widened my eyes and flashed him a grin. "Of course!" Those musicians being Blue Stream and Mobius. If he wanted to meet other singers and musicians, he would have to thicken his own sing and reach out to him on his own.

"But how? Do you have backstage tickets or something?"

"You'll see," I laughed, unwilling to reveal any more of my plans.

Two days ago, when I told Tan Qing that instead of my unreliable cousin, Deng Zixuan would be attending the music festival with me, she suddenly suggested that he could perform with her band. If we were conversing in person, she would have seen the incredulous expression on my face; but since we were speaking on the phone, I could only remark that that sounded like a crazy idea and that Deng Zixuan would run away in fright if he knew what she wanted him to do.

Tan Qing must have misunderstood my remark as I received a message from her earlier this morning to confirm that we already on the expressway, to inform me of the timing of their practice session in the hotel and to tell me to keep this a secret from Deng Zixuan.

Glancing at an oblivious Deng Zixuan, I smiled to myself while sighing inwardly. I understood what she was trying to do. Since discovering Deng Zixuan's singing, Tan Qing became a frequent customer at the café. Every single time, she would compliment his voice and how he had great potential to become a professional singer, if only he was given the opportunity. Deng Zixuan had already garnered a small fanbase, and I suspected that Tan Qing was the president of the fan club. His fans had uploaded videos of him singing on the internet, but he was only one of millions of other aspiring singers. If Deng Zixuan had enough guts and confidence and skill, this last minute invitation to perform with Blue Stream would be a good opportunity for him to gain a little more recognition.

Having texted Tan Qing five minutes ago, she was already waiting at the main entrance of the hotel when we arrived. After checking in, she immediately brought us to a small function room where Blue Stream was having their practice session. The organiser of the music festival had booked the many function rooms in the hotel for performers to practice before the festival tomorrow.

The Sound of Spring Music Festival which took place over the Labour Day holiday was one of the many music festivals organised around the country in celebration of spring. This music festival did not target a specific genre of music, but it was focused on young and talented performers between the ages of 18 to 30 from nearby cities. Most performers were either aspiring solo singers, or part of pop bands, rock bands and jazz bands. It wasn't a huge music festival and didn't have much publicity, but I understood from Tan Qing that representatives of record companies, talent agents and music producers would be part of the audience. It seemed that Mobius Band was one of the performing groups that were on everyone's watchlist.

Hold on, was this the fateful event where Mobius Band would meet the representative of the dishonest record company that eventually caused the band to fall apart, leading to its members being involved in lawsuits and incurring debt?

Cheng Yujin would know. He was also a time traveller.

"Qing, is Mobius also staying in this hotel?" I asked Tan Qing as she walked over to where I was sitting to take a new bottle of water.

Turning the bottle cap with ease, she beamed at me while wiggling her brows teasingly. "Why? You want to see your Cheng Yujin?"

"My—Cheng Yujin?" I reddened. "No. I'm just asking about them, since they are also performing tomorrow."

"Don't act shy," laughed Tan Qing as she playfully punched my arm.

"He is not mine!" I insisted earnestly, my eyes widening to impress my incredulousness on her. "I was just wondering if they were also around, just so that I could say hi. That's all."

Crossing her arms, she nodded her head in a manner which told me that no matter how much I defended myself, it would fall on deaf ears. "Sure, whatever—if you want to say hi, you can go to Function Room 5. That's their assigned practice room."

"In that case, I'll go to take a look at them," I said, glancing towards the door; then, recalling that I had left something behind, I looked in the direction of Deng Zixuan, who was absolutely immersed in learning the songs that Blue Stream was performing.

Tan Qing smiled before grabbing my shoulders and pushing me towards the exit. "Don't worry. We'll take good care of him. He looks like he has already assimilated into our group. No one would think otherwise if we told them that he was a member of our band."

I glanced over my shoulder to remark to her: "Seems like he really is talented and has great potential."

"Your cousin really knows how to spot a gem." Tan Qing nodded in agreement. She suddenly stopped and hurried away to her bag and pulled out a box. "Oh, since you are going over to see Mobius now, please help me to take this herbal candy to Liu Haowen and the others."

"Sure. At least now I won't be going there empty handed."

Placing the box of herbal candy in my hand, she gave me a broad smile. "Anything for your pursuit of love, bestie."

*

I crept closer towards the tall doors of Function Room 5, my ears perked up for the sound of music. Although I could hear the muffled sounds of bass and drums coming from the other rooms along the hallway, Mobius Band was strangely quiet. The door was left ajar. Peering in through the opening, it looked as if the room was empty.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Liu Haowen stood at the entrance, looking surprised to see me. Startled, I took a step or two backwards, instinctively hiding the box of herbal candy behind my back.

"Shen Yan? What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, "Are you here to look for Yujin?"

I quickly extended the box towards him from behind me as blood rushed to my cheeks. "Oh, no. I'm here because Qing wanted me to pass this to you."

"Oh," Liu Haowen said, refusing to take the herbal candy from me. "Thanks, but I don't actually need it. I just play the bass."

Frowning, I stared at him while wondering why Tan Qing wanted me to give this to Liu Haowen if he didn't need it.

The smirk on his face gave way into a look of exasperation. Leaning down, he whispered helpfully, "I don't need it, but someone else does."

I drew in a sharp breath, realising that this was all their scheme. In a deadpan voice, I asked, "do you mean Cheng Yujin?"

Liu Haowen broke out into a wide smile and nodded. "I was getting worried that you were dense and would think of Gao Yi instead."

"Wouldn't it be more logical that Gao Yi needs it? Isn't he the lead singer?" I rejoined, with a glower. Moving past him and into the room, I realised that it was indeed empty. "Anyway, why are you alone? Aren't you supposed to be rehearsing right now?"

Liu Haowen had a silly smile on his face as he was typing away on his phone. Without looking up at me, he answered: "Our fifth member got food poisoning from breakfast today, so Tao Xiang is taking care of him. Gao Yi and Yujin went to get an early dinner for us."

"Fifth member?" I asked, puzzled at the sudden mention of an additional member of the band. Weren't there only four of them?

"Yes. Zhanwei is our unofficial fifth member. He is actually Gao Yi's junior brother who volunteered to be our assistant last year," Liu Haowen explained. "Now that he is ill, we don't have an assistant. And we can't hire someone else at such a short notice for just two days."

"But why do you need an assistant?"

"It is going to be pretty hectic and messy at the festival, so Zhanwei's job is to coordinate our schedules and logistics, communicate with the festival organisers and to assist backstage." He paused and let out a long sigh. "Unless we can find someone to help us out, we'll have to manage it ourselves."

I echoed his sigh, but my breath caught in my throat when my eyes met his. Liu Haowen looked at me thoughtfully, before his right brow shot upwards and his lips twisted into a crooked smile. "Do you want to be our temporary assistant?"

Furrowing my eyebrows, I shook my head. I had bought tickets to the festival and wanted to enjoy the performances as a member of the audience, not to buzz around busily like a little clueless bee. It sounded like there was a lot of work to be done as their assistant.

"We'll give you an honorarium—more than enough to cover the costs of your ticket," Liu Haowen offered quickly upon seeing my reluctance; and when I remained silent, he added: "Think about it: do you want to be in the crowded and rowdy audience all by yourself, when all of your friends will be up on stage? If you were helping out backstage, you can still watch the performance from the wings. It'll be even more close up and exclusive and personal."

I reviewed his suggestion while imagining the scene at the festival, where I would be standing alone for hours below the stage and be surrounded with screaming and singing fans who would be pushing and jostling for space. It wouldn't be good if I ended up fainting in the middle of all that. Truth to be told, I had never been to a music festival like this one, but based on what I had seen at the college music festival and videos of concerts uploaded by fans online, being part of the audience did seem like it would be chaotic and uncomfortable.

Plus, it would be a new kind of experience. As a writer, albeit still an amateur one, gaining various life experiences was important and invaluable. Who knew whether it would come in handy one day.

"Alright," I acquiesced. "Tell me what I need to do."

*