Chapter 26: Ten Thousand Sorrows

He headed up to the second floor and truly found his name on the list for Class 8, Grade 11. No sooner had he stepped into the classroom than he heard someone calling him.

"A-Kun, over here!" Song Hai-rong waved at him excitedly. "Come on, sit here."

There were only two biology classes, and as luck would have it, he ended up in the same one as Song Hai-rong, which was a pleasant surprise. He walked over.

"Sitting this close to the front?"

Li Jing-kun didn't have any particular requirements for his seating, but Song Hai-rong had actually chosen the first desk in the second row.

"Sitting in the front is good; it helps you study better," Song Hai-rong said, spouting nonsense before adding, "Look who that is."

He was gesturing toward the girl sitting directly in front of him.

"Zhu Miao-tong?" Li Jing-kun said. She was a close friend of Wang Ya-jing and Zhou Jia-ni.

"Hello, what a coincidence," Zhu Miao-tong said.

Everyone was quite excited at the start of the semester, and since there were no real classes on the first day, the atmosphere was relatively relaxed.

A few days later, the standalone edition of his first book was officially published, selling steadily but without much fanfare. Perhaps because his reputation was still too small, the bookstores in Liuchuan City did not carry it. However, that did not affect the launch of his second book.

His second book, *The Phantom River Map of Qingming*, was set to begin serialization next month, with the standalone edition projected for release in March or April of the following year. This time, his royalty rate would increase to 10%.

***

Not long after school started, the "Aurora Band" began their rehearsals. Because the entire summer break had been a hiatus, the practice sessions were quite frequent at first. Of course, even though the band hadn't practiced together, each member had been training on their own over the summer. Except for the month he spent in the United States, Li Jing-kun had not stopped practicing.

They also accomplished a major goal: pooling their money to rent a place near the school to use for rehearsals. It was simply too inconvenient to practice at school. Rent was very cheap in that area, typically paid by the semester, costing only a few hundred per room. They rented an entire floor—a three-bedroom, two-living-room unit. Since it was on the top floor, it even came with a rooftop terrace.

Li Jing-kun remarked that it was a great deal and would serve as a headquarters for their future gatherings.

*The Phantom River Map of Qingming* began serialization in October. After a couple of installments, Hu Yun-ying mentioned that reader feedback was quite positive; everyone was captivated by the suspenseful atmosphere and eager to keep reading. Sales for *Whose Youth Accompanies Me* were also decent, with the first printing essentially sold out; the publisher would likely be contacting him soon to discuss a reprint.

In December, registration for the New Year's Eve gala officially opened. After passing the auditions, one could perform on stage. The auditions were held in the auditorium. They signed up with two songs: "Cold Rainy Night" and "Ten Thousand Sorrows"—one a cover, the other an "original." Although it was the band's first time on stage, they had practiced and rehearsed enough that they secured their spot without any trouble.

The next day, Huang Hao-tian said his father had invited the band members to their home to celebrate their success in advance. They picked an evening to go to his house together. Huang Hao-tian’s home wasn't in Liuchuan City but in the neighboring town. The distance wasn't far, so he usually took the bus to school. This time, the three of them took the bus back with him.

After getting off the bus, they had to walk a short distance, but they arrived at his home quickly.

"Wow, is that villa your house?" Wu Lei asked when Huang Hao-tian pointed it out.

"It's not a villa, don't exaggerate," Huang Hao-tian replied.

His house was near the roadside—a standalone building. It wasn't particularly tall, only four and a half stories, but it was quite spacious, roughly the size of three or four townhouses. Because it was a duplex-style layout, it did have a touch of the "villa" feel, though it wasn't overly luxurious. Still, it was enough to show his family’s financial standing.

They walked through the front gate into a courtyard filled with fruit trees and exercise equipment, with a car parked inside. Then they reached the main door and began swapping their shoes for slippers.

"Wow, these are so soft, so comfortable."

"Your house is very Western-style; it's beautiful."

Once inside, they set down their school bags and a bag of fruit, collapsing onto the large sofa. Seeing no one around, they all breathed a sigh of relief and began to relax as they usually did.

But they hadn't been sitting for long when a portly middle-aged man walked out, followed by a middle-aged woman.

"Hello, Uncle. Hello, Auntie." Seeing the adults, they all scrambled to their feet to greet them.

"You're all here? Don't be strangers, sit, sit, sit."

Huang’s parents were very hospitable, ushering them to sit down before starting to boil water for tea. Huang’s mother said she didn't know what they liked to eat, so she had bought chicken, duck, fish, and a wide variety of vegetables that morning, telling them to let her know what they wanted. Li Jing-kun and the others naturally insisted they shouldn't go to such trouble, saying they weren't picky and would eat whatever was served.

In truth, this wasn't just politeness; boys of their age rarely were picky eaters, especially those so preoccupied with their hobbies and studies that their attention rarely drifted toward food.

The conversation turned to small talk. At first, because they weren't very familiar with each other, the chat didn't go very deep, but Huang’s father was a talkative man who loved to speak. Huang’s mother didn't say much, but every time she interjected, it was inevitably about her son.

"Would you like me to brew the tea?"

Drinking tea was a daily routine for every household in that region, so most boys and girls learned how to brew it from a young age. Of course, there were exceptions—some drank it less often or only began to drink it more as adults. Gao Shun had asked the question; as the juniors, it was only right for them to handle the tea.

However, Huang’s father said, "No need, you are our guests, how could we let you brew the tea? Actually, our A-Tian should be doing it, but he doesn't like tea, so he never learned."

Li Jing-kun said, "That’s normal. Hao-tian only ever thinks about studying and drumming; he doesn't have the mind for anything else."

Huang’s mother smiled, "Exactly, that's the one thing about this child—he's not very outgoing, and he doesn't have many friends."

Huang’s father added, "Right, A-Tian just doesn't quite understand social graces. I told him, your band has been together for so long, and you've all been playing together for ages, yet he never invited you over for a visit. It's just not right."

Gao Shun said, "Not at all, not at all. We probably just spend all our free time rehearsing, so we rarely visit anyone's home."

Li Jing-kun added, "Right. And to be honest, the four of us in the band aren't actually very good at handling interpersonal relationships..."

"Ha!" At this, Huang Hao-tian, Gao Shun, and Wu Lei all burst out laughing. Huang Hao-tian said, "You? Not good at handling interpersonal relationships? You seem to have the most friends of all of us!"