Chapter 19: Isn't This "Star Whisper, Heart Wish"?

Chapter 19: Isn’t This “Starry Wishes”?

“He came over to find my classmate.”

“Aren’t you supposed to have class today?”

“I took a leave.”

“A leave? To come find your classmate?” Lin Jingwen laughed in disbelief. “What kind of classmate is it? Surely not a female classmate?”

In the past, Li Jingkun was timid and shy when facing Lin Jingwen.

Actually, Lin Jingwen wasn’t the carefree type either, but before Li Jingkun’s departure, she was the more lively and outgoing one between them.

There was once a chance for Li Jingkun to take their relationship further, but with Fang Yueshan in the picture, many things changed.

In the end, he never managed to say those words, and it became one of his greatest regrets in life.

Perhaps what is unattained is always the most beautiful.

He had always regretted not confessing his feelings to her, often imagining that if life could start over, he would make up for that regret, do things differently.

But now that he was back and had seen her again, the feeling was still beautiful, yet he still dared not act.

Because he felt Fang Yueshan was still standing between them, as if speaking those words to Lin Jingwen would deeply wrong her.

So they only exchanged a few ordinary words, and the two girls kept expressing their admiration for his excellent grades.

What he didn’t know was that this scene was seen by Fang Yueshan, who happened to pass by.

She frowned, suddenly overwhelmed by a strange feeling, silently telling herself: Why do I feel so upset, even like hitting someone?

Why has that guy suddenly become so annoying?

…

When he returned to the city’s number one high school, of course, he had to attend the ninth period in the guitar club.

But today, everyone was just practicing individually inside. Finding it too noisy, he took a chair and his guitar downstairs to practice.

The first floor of the arts building had a large, spacious area where club activities or gatherings were often held. Now, some people were roller-skating and breakdancing.

The street dance club was playing music, so Li Jingkun moved further away, ending up at the other end. Nearby was a corridor where people passed by occasionally.

He didn’t mind—after all, learning guitar, or music in general, ultimately aimed at performing on stage, so being timid was the worst trait.

With that in mind and passion, he began to sing and play by himself.

He started with Zhou Naicha’s “Back to the Past,” then “Sunny Day,” Beyond’s “Like You,” Park Ji’s “Those Childhood Days,” and other songs he had practiced extensively this year.

Finally, he sang “Ten Thousand Sorrows,” a song not yet released.

In truth, this last song was something he had been secretly practicing to test whether he could actually compose a future song—and it proved he could.

He recalled that in his previous life, while learning piano, one day with several classmates they took turns practicing on the only piano at Quanling Middle School due to limited resources.

Suddenly, the music teacher rushed in excitedly and asked them to give up the piano because she had just heard a beautiful song on the street and wanted to play it before forgetting.

Curious, they quickly handed over the piano.

The teacher hurriedly sat down and began to play.

Everyone was surprised—not because the song was beautiful, but because it was a famous pop song the teacher had never heard before.

The teacher wasn’t much older than them.

“Isn’t this ‘Starry Wishes’?” a girl asked.

“You’ve heard this song? What’s it called?” the music teacher asked.

“We’ve all heard it; it’s called ‘Starry Wishes.’ Teacher, you haven’t heard it?”

“No, this is the first time I’m hearing it today.”

They were shocked—first at the teacher’s ignorance, then at her special ability to play a song perfectly after hearing it just once.

What kind of miraculous skill was this?

Now Li Jingkun understood this ability wasn’t so extraordinary, as most people with a certain musical foundation and ear training could do the same.

He wasn’t very strong yet, but having the chance to listen repeatedly, he gradually managed to play a song fully.

As for songwriting, it wasn’t difficult either—first, one must know an instrument, usually guitar; then understand chords, tuning, scales, and the guitar fretboard, and then songwriting could begin.

It was like writing—once you can write and think normally, you can write.

The challenge was whether you could write excellently.

To write good songs, just like writing good articles, one must practice a lot, listen to many different kinds of music, develop a musical sense, and compose continuously over the years.

With constant practice, improvement comes.

However, because Li Jingkun had a “cheating” ability, he skipped these steps and could compose directly.

Thus, “Ten Thousand Sorrows” became his first “original” song.

Passersby overheard the song but didn’t find it astonishingly beautiful or realize it was unreleased; at most, they thought it was just unfamiliar.

Moreover, many songs don’t sound impressive with just guitar and vocals; the best effect requires various instruments and sound effects.

After singing for over half an hour, Li Jingkun noticed three boys listening nearby without leaving. He stopped and looked at them.

One of the boys stepped forward and extended his right hand. “Hello, are you Li Jingkun from the guitar club?”

“Yes. And you are?”

Though handshakes among high school students were awkward, Li Jingkun cooperated.

“We’re also first-year students and formed a band this year called ‘Aurora Band.’”

Li Jingkun nodded knowingly. The music scene at City No.1 High was small; news spread within a day or two, even about which beautiful choir member was reprimanded by a teacher yesterday circulated in the guitar club.

So he knew about a first-year band being formed.

But it was actually only three members—two guitarists and a drummer, with no bassist or keyboardist—so it was more of a group than a full band.

Given their circumstances, finding a drummer was already good.

There were pianists, but they didn’t want to join because their goal was to enter a music conservatory, not to start playing in a band during high school.

Hence, guitarists were the most common—almost every school had them.

Some guitar club members talked about forming a band, but since everyone was a guitarist, no one played bass or drums; plus, most wanted to be lead singers, so forming a band was difficult.

Now, the members of “Aurora Band” had come to recruit him.

“We’ve heard that among the first-year guitarists, your guitar skills are the best.”

(End of chapter)