Afternoon, after school.

  The rooftop of the teaching building.

  Li Qian was practicing singing when he suddenly heard the sound of high heels clicking, so he stopped and turned his head towards the entrance.

  After a moment, it was indeed Qi Jie who came up.

  "Ah! I knew you'd be here!" she said with a smile.

  Li Qian smiled, ignoring her pretentious tone. Although he wasn't a mastermind, he had lived for over 30 years and had been through dozens of film crews, seeing all sorts of things. Since learning about Qi Jie's recording, with just a little thought, he roughly knew that it must have been when he was playing guitar on the rooftop, and his sound was heard by Qi Jie, who was still in the office at the time, which led to everything that happened later.

  After all, the third floor and rooftop aren't really far apart.

  To be honest, although in terms of physical age, Teacher Qi Jie is a few years older than him, but if he really talks about the maturity of his heart, in Li Qian's eyes, Qi Jie can only be regarded as a little girl.

  Her little movements, little eyes, and little thoughts, a real high school student may not be able to see, but how could Li Qian not see?

  He could see that Teacher Qi Jie was acting strangely, but he couldn't figure out where this strangeness came from or what it was for.

  As it happens, he felt something was wrong during class today.

  Although there was no careful count, but in the two language classes, Qijie's eyes drifted to him at least thirty times! And... it seemed that her mood today was particularly good, even when lecturing, she had a fascinating look on her face. Clearly, it was the most boring review class, yet within ten minutes of explanation, she managed to make the classroom erupt in laughter four or five times!

  This is absolutely an extraordinary performance!

  "Teacher Qi is looking for me?" Li Qian asked.

  Unexpectedly, Qijie suddenly smiled and said, "Can't you come up just to listen to me sing?"

  Li Qian smiled and didn't continue the conversation.

  Although she didn't say much, there was a kind of inexplicable intimacy. Combined with her somewhat abnormal behavior today, Li Qian was indeed puzzled for a moment.

  It was around five o'clock in the afternoon, and the heat had not dissipated. The balcony had been exposed to the scorching sun all day, making it especially hot. But Qijie didn't show any signs of complaint at all, and before Li Qian could say anything, she naturally reached out to touch the temperature of the stone bench, then pulled out a tissue to wipe off the dust, and sat down - striking a pose as if she was there just to listen to music!

  Li Qian quietly watched her movements from head to toe, and when she looked up at him, he just smiled slightly.

  Then he said: "As it happens, I also have two things to ask Teacher Qi."

  As they spoke, he walked over to open the guitar case, pulled out a few sheets of paper from the side pocket, and retrieved another sheet from his large notebook. He returned to Qijie's front, first handing her the note.

  Qijie was initially smiling, but after taking a look, she was momentarily stunned, "A check?"

  She held the check with two fingers, which was written "twenty thousand yuan only", she raised her head to look at Li Qian, her face changed several times, and her fingers holding the check were also unusually forceful.

  "What do you mean?" she asked coldly.

  Li Qian was shocked.

  It's obvious that whoever it is, would be shocked to suddenly receive a check for 20,000 yuan. Li Qian was mentally prepared for Qi Jie's shock and even had a ready-made explanation to persuade her to accept the check. However, at this moment, Qi Jie's abnormal expression on her face clearly showed that she wasn't just simply shocked.

  Doubt? And... anger?

  That's right, Li Qian was certain that what she saw on her face was anger and shame!

  But this is giving her money, not asking for it, where does her anger come from?

  Li Qian was puzzled and couldn't figure it out.

  After being stunned for a moment, he intentionally made his prepared speech even softer and said: "I don't know what the rules are in the music circle, but even if it's another profession, there's a commission to be said, so I hope Teacher Qi won't mind this little money. Of course, money is just a small matter, Teacher Qi has helped me a great deal, I'm very grateful in my heart, and if there's anything that needs my help in the future, just speak up, I'll definitely do my best."

  Qijie suddenly stood up, staring tightly at Li Qian, her eyes as if staring at an enemy, and her chest was also violently heaving, as if representing that she was trying her best to suppress the anger in her heart.

  Li Qian looked at her with a gaze full of surprise and incomprehension.

  Qijie looked back with a resentful gaze.

  Then, she suddenly clapped her hands together, crumpled the check into a ball and threw it in front of Li Qian with a cold tone: "I don't care about this little money! And I don't need your help for my own affairs!"

  After finishing speaking, she glared at Li Qian with that angry gaze one last time before quickly turning around and going downstairs.

  From arrival to departure, it was just a short few minutes.

  Li Qian's face was filled with astonishment, his eyes first followed her back, and then he listened intently to the sound of her footsteps echoing in the empty staircase - she was walking very quickly, apparently she was really angry!

  But why?

  She was obviously very happy when she came up, and she had been in high spirits all day today. Why did she suddenly become angry and flustered when I gave her the check?

  Could it be that this money was given to the wrong person?

  Li Qian lowered his head and took a glance at the check by his feet, bent down to pick it up, unfold it, and smooth it out. He stared at the four words "twenty thousand yuan" on it, as well as his father's signature. For the first time since he was reborn, he felt bewildered.

  Since when did giving money make people angry?

  The problem is, emotionally and rationally, this money should make the person receiving it happy!

  On the rooftop, Li Qian was stunned for half a day and still couldn't figure it out. Then he seemed to suddenly remember something, turned around and walked to the edge of the parapet, leaning over to look down.

  Jie walked really fast!

  She wore high heels and walked forward with a straight posture.

  It seemed like she had only taken a dozen or so steps before she had already crossed the small plaza in front of the building, turned around, and exited the school gate.

  Looking at her stubborn back, Li Qian was in a dilemma and patted his mouth, took out a cigarette case from his pocket, lit one, took a deep breath, but his eyebrows furrowed tighter.

  …………

  Lao Liao...

  "Wait... just wait a bit, baby, just wait..."

  “……”

  "Alright, I was just arranging songs in the recording studio, now I can talk, what's up?"

  "I'm so angry I could die!"

  As they spoke, Qi Jie reached out to turn on the air conditioner and adjusted the vents to blow directly at herself. The cool breeze blew against her skin, face, and arms, but she still felt hard to relieve the heat and stuffiness all over her body.

  "What's wrong? What happened?" On the phone, Liao Liang was obviously stunned for a moment before asking one sentence after another, "Is it something with... Lu Liang? Is that right? Did you have a fight with your fiancé?"

  "Don't mention him to me, what's your relationship with him?"

  "Hmm... you're really furious, looks like you're truly angry, what's wrong?"

  "He gave me money!"

  Liao's breathing paused for a moment on the phone before he said, "Give you money? Who gave you money?"

  "Li Qian!"

  "Hmm... He gave you money... What's there to be angry about? Did he say why he gave it to you?"

  Qijie took a deep breath and said: "I've said it, I said it for my introduction fee."

  "Oh... that's good! Isn't this normal? Ah, right, I forgot to remind you to ask him for it! You don't know, in our circle, there is indeed a rule about this. If there's an agent or agency, then of course they need to be paid, but if not, usually it's through introductions and middlemen that jobs are passed around. Of course, you can't let them run errands for free, so you have to give them some compensation, like a small fee or commission. For small jobs, it's just a few hundred yuan or a meal, while big jobs are paid by percentage, usually between 3% and 8%, but sometimes up to 10% or even 20%. I didn't expect this kid to be so savvy and understanding! Hmm, how much did he give you?"

  "Twenty thousand!" Qijie said gruffly.

  Liao Liao actually thought it was a matter of course to pay for his own introduction fee, and Qi Jie suddenly felt even more suffocated.

  "Oh... 20,000, that's just 5%, not a small amount at all! He's being very generous! Why are you still angry? Can't you just accept it and be done with it? This is what you deserve!"

  "But... but you're my friend, he's my student... why would he give me money?"

  On the other end of the phone, Liao Liao didn't react for a while and only understood her train of thought after a long time. He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "What you're saying... isn't it all about one code returning to one code? Those who often hang out in the circle, who doesn't know who? Often giving jobs to old friends, with those who take on jobs in the circle, aren't they all friends and very familiar? But friends are friends, relationships are relationships, you can't not give money just because you're familiar. If you don't give money, who will still give you jobs next time? How will others survive if they can't get paid?"

  Qijie's face turned even more bitter upon hearing this. "But I'm not one of you people, and he...he isn't either! He's my student!"

  Liao Liao was taken aback, looking puzzled, and said: "I'm saying, baby, what's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly acting like this? He's being understanding and willing to give it to you, can't you just accept it? This matter... someone is giving you money and you're still getting angry?"

  Ziqing heard this and remained silent for a long time.

  Liao Liao said "hello" several times in a row on the receiver, but Qi Jie suddenly hung up her hand, glanced at the screen, and suddenly hung up the phone.

  A moment later, the mobile phone rang.

  The phone hung up cleanly.

  The mobile phone rang again soon.

  Qijie hung up again.

  Then, just over a dozen seconds later, a message came over. She glanced down and saw that it was Liao Liao. "Have you come to visit relatives?" she asked.

  She stared at the screen for a moment, then suddenly pressed the power button.

  A moment later, the screen popped up with the words "goodbye", followed by a ringtone and vibration, after which the phone screen went black.

  Then, suddenly, two tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Soon, more tears fell down.

  She didn't cry, but she was in tears.

  A moment later, she casually tossed her phone aside and covered her face with her hand.

  He won't understand it.

  She won't understand either.

  He is a musical genius, she is too.

  "But I am not."

  Yes, Li Qian was her student. So when she found out that the person playing guitar and singing upstairs was actually Li Qian, she was surprised, she admired him, and when she learned that those beautiful songs were written by Li Qian himself, she not only felt surprised and admiring, but also delighted - although those musical talents were definitely not taught by her as a Chinese teacher, nor even his level of proficiency in Chinese, which to a greater extent was actually due to his family's cultural background. However, he indeed was, after all was, and finally was her student!

  And when Liao Liao bought Li Qian's work for 400,000 yuan, she was not only surprised, but also admired and delighted, and even had a little worship.

  So she began to wonder.

  She was curious that Li Qian, who had always been so low-key and never heard anyone mention his musical talent, could actually be so talented.

  And it was also on that day, when she sincerely and awkwardly apologized to him, that she suddenly realized that Li Qian not only had outstanding talent, but also seemed more calm and composed than herself, a teacher and an adult. With just a few light words, he resolved his own embarrassment while glossing over the very immoral thing!

  Then, in his originally dull and obscure life trajectory, he was like a bright pearl that had been wiped clean of dust and dirt, suddenly radiating dazzling brilliance, making her feel as if she had been illuminated all at once!

  Liao Liao is her best friend, she's a genius.

  Li Qian is her student, and he's also a genius!

  And now, two geniuses met because of her, because of her cleanliness.

  She said his songs are great and his talent shocked her!

  She said, these few songs of his, I'm sure I can make them a hit!

  Zi Jie felt she was on par with You Rongyan!

  He said her voice is great, with a unique texture, very charming!

  He said she will be famous!

  Zijie also felt that she was on par with You Rongyan!

  On that day, and in the time since then, right up until she received the check just now, she had been excited, and it was an excitement that could not be suppressed, nor did she want to suppress it.

  In the past, after three years of interaction, she had long known that Liao Liao was a talented person. Therefore, although the two people were extremely close, she always clearly knew that her relationship with her was ultimately separated by a layer because of her outstanding talent. In other words, she felt that she was not good at anything and didn't deserve to be such good friends with a girl like Liao Liao.

  But now, because of Li Qian, she suddenly found herself involved in such a major event after personally introducing Li Qian and Liao Liao's encounter and cooperation.

  She suddenly felt as if she had stood up with them.

  She thinks she's one of them!

  Yes, although she can't write lyrics, compose music, play any instruments, and even sing badly... but she is with them!

  A dull and lackluster life seemed to have suddenly cracked open a fissure.

  Although this gap is very narrow and small, sunlight has already begun to shine in.

  She seemed to see another world and another kind of life.

  It seems that the days of being muddled and confused, aimless and without a way out, those days that she extremely hated yet couldn't escape from and didn't know where to escape to, can finally be put to an end!

  So she was extremely excited, she cheered and jumped for joy, her spirit was refreshed, and she talked and laughed freely...

  She had already thought it through and was prepared to openly run to the rooftop to listen to Li Qian sing, and she even planned to get to know him better and learn how he learned music and discovered his talent in music - it seemed that as long as she could get closer to him, she would gain more power and courage to escape from her current life.

  But... Bang!

  A check was handed over in front of her.

  He said: You helped me out, so I want to give you a reward, introduction fee, brokerage fee, commission...

  But she doesn't want any introduction fee!

  No commission wanted!

  Don't want any commission!

  She didn't want that floating check to push her out of their ranks...

  But she knew she was still being pushed away.

  Actually, when her beautiful dream was shattered, she and they were not together.

  …………

  Tears fell silently and quickly, one after another, and soon the tears were linked together, leaving a trail along the fingers.

  Her shoulders shook silently and her body trembled slightly.

  A moment later, she suddenly fell onto the steering wheel and burst into loud sobs.

  A car that had been parked silently by the side of the road suddenly let out a long, loud honk, startling a passing cyclist who jumped in fright and hastily dismounted to make way on the pedestrian path. Turning back, however, they saw that the car hadn't moved at all, prompting the person to frown and mutter a curse.

  "You're sick!"