Chapter 159: Music Restaurant

Perhaps influenced by the curse incident, as soon as Huang Guolun thought of writing a song for Yao Ming, the first one that popped into his mind was "Let Me Forget Your Face".

Seeing Huang Guolun writing a song, Yao Dajun quickly persuaded him, "Why don't you just teach Xiaoming to sing a track by Jeff Chang? Why bother writing a new one from scratch?"

Yao Dajun had heard the "pop songs" Huang Guolun wrote before, and they were all songs that could never become popular, with questionable quality.

He was worried that if Huang Guolun wrote a terrible song for Yao Ming, and Yao Ming couldn't learn it well, that would be a complete disaster.

Huang Guolun had indeed considered teaching Yao Ming an existing song by Jeff Chang.

However, seeing that Yao Ming seemed somewhat resistant to singers of Jeff Chang's style, if he knew he was learning a Jeff Chang song, he might not be able to muster any enthusiasm.

It would be better to tailor a brand-new song specifically for him, encouraging him to give it his all.

Huang Guolun brushed Yao Dajun off with, "Stop meddling blindly. If you're bored, go watch some TV outside and let me teach Xiaoming in private for a while."

Yao Dajun lingered and said, "No way, I want to see what kind of song you're writing for Xiaoming."

"Suit yourself."

Leaving Yao Dajun to his own devices, Huang Guolun handed the completed sheet music to Yao Ming and said, "I'll sing it for you once first. Look at the lyrics and try to memorize as much as you can."

"Mm."

Yao Ming looked over the lyrics very seriously, and his mood immediately became complicated.

He had been chatting with Huang Guolun about rock music for a long time, and since Huang Guolun was also proficient in rock (like "The Beautiful People"), he had expected Huang Guolun to write a soft rock song suitable for his vocals. To his surprise, however, Huang Guolun had written such an affected urban love ballad, leaving Yao Ming feeling quite helpless.

Was he going to sing songs like this in the future?

Sigh, whatever. He would just listen to Huang Guolun, learn this kind of song for now, and circle back to rock once he made a name for himself.

Yao Ming comforted himself inwardly.

He sat behind Huang Guolun, preparing to memorize Huang Guolun's performance by heart.

Huang Guolun collected his thoughts, adjusted the mode of the electronic keyboard, and played with a relaxed and nimble hand, mimicking Yao Ming's vocal style as he began to sing in a slightly higher register:

......
"My friends tell me that beautiful women change easily"
"Having just tasted the flavor of love, I hear nothing at all"
"I've called out your name in my dreams a thousand times, gazing into your eyes in my dreams"
"Why do you turn a blind eye to my tenderness"
"Ah... ah..."
"The most beautiful visage I have ever seen"
"Ah... ah..."
"Why push me toward the abyss of pain"
"Let me forget your face"
"Let me forget your face"
......

Huang Guolun truly sang those two lines of "Let Me Forget Your Face" from the bottom of his heart.

Yet the face he wished to forget was not Chen Jia's, but the deeply rooted sorrow planted in his heart that could never be pulled out.

Although he did not unleash his signature vinyl-record voice, Huang Guolun's performance was still extremely captivating.

The lyrics and music of this song were originally written by Jonathan Lee from another realm, and the melody and lyrical meaning matched each other flawlessly.

Fervently brewed with Huang Guolun's profound emotions, it instantly took on a heart-stringing charm.

Yao Dajun's eyes lit up as he listened. While Huang Guolun was still singing, he exclaimed in fierce praise, "This song you wrote sounds wonderful! It's got so much flavor!"

Yao Ming also felt that the song flowed very smoothly. Although the content was a bit overly sentimental, the combination of lyrics and melody was exceptionally well-executed, making it a song one would not easily tire of listening to.

He wondered if this was a song Huang Guolun had written previously or if it was entirely improvised on the spot.

If he had just casually written it offhand like this, this middle-aged uncle's musical composition skills were truly remarkable!

Listening to it, Yao Ming couldn't help but sigh in silent admiration.

Yet his focus did not waver. Looking at the lyrics and numbered musical notation, he attentively committed the melody sung by Huang Guolun to memory.

Unfazed by Yao Dajun, Huang Guolun continued singing the chorus with a touch of emotion:

......
"Not seeing / hoping to forget the past from now on / and embrace tomorrow"
"No longer able to be like before / thinking you would appear in the blink of an eye"
"Not seeing / deciding to properly arrange myself to face tomorrow"
"No longer able to blindly trust promises / whatever vows of eternal love / until forever"
"Love is just like drifting smoke"
......

This song was written about the betrayal of love, but what Huang Guolun sang of was the betrayal of fate.

Sometimes you want to swear oaths of eternal love until the end of time, and the other person wants it too. Yet fate loves to play tricks, dividing you both by the realms of the living and the dead, which made the situation utterly helpless.

May he forget the past as soon as possible and embrace tomorrow.

No matter how much he wrestled with his thoughts, Chen Jia could never appear in the blink of an eye again.

After singing the final line "Love is just like drifting smoke", Huang Guolun forced himself to let go and dwell on it no more.

He stopped playing, turned around, and asked Yao Ming, "Well then, did you commit the main melody to memory?"

Yao Ming nodded and said, "Pretty much."

"Then I'll play the accompaniment, and you can try singing it. Sing as much as you can, and feel free to improvise a bit based on the numbered notation."

"Alright, I'll give it a try."

The melody of this song was relatively simple, and with the numbered notation right there on the page, Yao Ming felt quite confident.

Without wasting words, Huang Guolun directly played the intro for Yao Ming, giving him a hand gesture right at the cue to enter the song.

Since Yao Ming played in a band, his grasp of rhythm was exceptionally precise. He entered the song smoothly and began to sing with his soft voice: "My friends tell me, beautiful women change easily..."

His singing was much higher, softer, and more delicate than Huang Guolun's, clearly making him far better suited to singing this type of urban love ballad.

However, he only managed to sing the first line accurately before slowly starting to go out of tune.

It was evident that he wasn't really improvising freely; rather, he was struggling hard to follow the exact melody Huang Guolun had just sung. Yet the more he tried, the more awkward his imitation became, drifting further and further off-key until he could no longer pull it back.

By the time he reached the chorus, his pitch had practically wandered off to the ends of the earth.

"Good grief, Xiaoming, are you and Uncle Lun even singing the same song?" Yao Dajun could no longer bear to listen.

Yao Ming himself couldn't continue before finishing the chorus. He stopped awkwardly and asked Huang Guolun, "Uncle Lun, could you sing it one more time? I didn't remember all of it."

Huang Guolun smiled and said, "Alright, that's enough. I've got a general idea of your level now."

Yao Ming asked bitterly, "Am I exceptionally slow?"

Huang Guolun quickly comforted the young man, "No, don't lose confidence in yourself. I think you sang all right. Your sense of rhythm is particularly outstanding, and you grasp the beats very accurately, which is a rare trait. Many people simply can't sing on the beat, which stems from a weaker innate musical sense. You're doing well; your musical sense is quite good. Your vocal timbre is also very captivating—it's just that your vocal production method is incorrect, your foundational skills are weak, and your voice lacks stability. But all of these things can be improved through practice."

Yao Dajun asked, "Are you certain he can practice his way out of this?"

"I can't offer a hundred percent guarantee, but as long as Xiaoming practices with dedication, he definitely has a future on the path of singing."

Huang Guolun's words gave Yao Ming a tremendous boost in confidence.

Yao Dajun said, "In that case, I'll leave Xiaoming under your protection from now on."

"I'll do my best. Afterward, I'll first discuss it with my brother to see how the company should develop. Wait for my word."

The three of them stopped talking shop about music. Excessive talk was useless anyway; he couldn't make this decision alone and still needed to have a thorough discussion with Huang Guokun before deciding.

After leading the uncle and nephew to the living room, treating them to fruit, and chatting idly for a little while longer, Huang Guolun didn't keep them any longer.

Originally, he had wanted to invite Yao Dajun and Yao Ming to dinner, but Sun Yanting had sent him a WeChat message earlier asking if he had any plans for the evening.

Knowing that Huang Guolun was going to the district for a meeting that afternoon and shouldn't be too busy, Sun Yanting asked Huang Guolun to honor his promise and treat her to dinner at a music restaurant.

Huang Guolun had agreed to Sun Yanting's request long ago, and this meal had been postponed for quite some time. Conveniently, Taozi was going to private school tonight, and Elder Zhou was keeping Taozi company to eat outside rather than coming home to cook, so he could just tell Bai Yao to sort out her own meal and use this opportunity to take Sun Yanting out to eat.

At seven in the evening, Huang Guolun drove his car to the entrance of Sun Yanting's residential compound, waiting to pick her up.

Earlier, he had wanted to arrange to pick Sun Yanting up right after she got off work at a spot near the school and head straight to dinner.

However, Sun Yanting insisted on going home to change her clothes before dining, and this delay stretched past seven in the evening, leaving Huang Guolun starving.

If a woman wanted to dress herself up meticulously, it really did consume a lot of time.

Huang Guolun waited near the entrance of Sun Yanting's compound for nearly a quarter of an hour, yet Sun Yanting still hadn't appeared. Even with his patient disposition, he was starting to get ravenously hungry.

Just as he was about to give Sun Yanting a call to hurry her along, he finally saw her glamorous figure emerge at the compound gates.

At that moment, Sun Yanting had her long hair pinned up in an updo, and her makeup was exceptionally elegant and romantic.

Her eye makeup, applied with some unknown technique, made her naturally pure and clear eyes look as bright and enchanting as stars in the night sky.

Her outfit was even more dashing and stunning.

She wore an oversized, milky-white Canada Goose down jacket left open at the front, revealing a tight-fitting black base shirt underneath that accentuated her exceptionally slim and sexy figure.

On her lower half, she wore a tight black short woolen skirt, with thin black base leggings sheathing her slender legs, flaunting a youth that defied the cold, looking almost as if she were wearing black silk stockings and grabbing everyone's attention to the extreme.

A pair of ordinary UGG snow boots on her feet highlighted her cute side.

Seeing Sun Yanting dressed so scantily, Huang Guolun felt a chill on her behalf.

One had to remember that the temperature in Beijing that night was only around five degrees Celsius!

Dressing like that, she wasn't afraid of catching a cold.

Huang Guolun hurriedly turned up the car's heater and cranked up the seat-heater function for the passenger seat.

Blowing warm air and smiling brightly as she hopped into the car, Sun Yanting immediately felt the wave of warmth washing over her. The moment her hips touched the seat, it felt even cozier, a testament to Huang Guolun's thoughtfulness.

After greeting Huang Guolun and shedding her bulky down jacket, she revealed her graceful silhouette and a wave of subtle fragrance.

Huang Guolun helped place Sun Yanting's coat on the back seat, and as his gaze swept past the pearl pendants dangling from her small earlobes, he inadvertently caught a whiff of the faint perfume drifting from her, his mind clearing instantly.

Yet out loud, he asked with concern, "Aren't you cold, dressed in so little?"

Sun Yanting shot Huang Guolun a smiling, electrifying glance and joked, "Didn't I do this just to make you feel a bit warmer?"

Huang Guolun was speechless. Looking at Sun Yanting's enthusiastic demeanor, he wondered if Taozi's aggressive attempts to cozy up to Sun Yanting the previous week had caused any misunderstandings on her part.