Translator: AlfredoPoutineSoup Editor: DesTheSloth
She was called Xiaomeng—the only girl in the band, and Zou Cegang would say she was from the northeast, a petite girl.
Hong Guan felt she was very rebellious, but Cheng Yiran liked her different style… It could be said that he was attracted by this little girl’s wildness from the very beginning.
But in fact, people should be grateful for the encounter among the crowds, no matter whether they were rebellious or different.
The girl wandered in Beijing earlier than Hong Guan and Cheng Yiran— they met each other in the street.
It snowed that year, Cheng Yiran and Hong Guan had performed in a university’s street. They didn’t earn much applause or money… because the passersby had many choices and there were many performers like them here.
A lot. Really a lot.
Before the snow, Hong Guan chewed the bread and Cheng Yiran ate the spicy braised-beef instant noodles in the rental room. the two warmed themselves by the fire.
Hong Guan suddenly said that they only had eighty-three yuan left.
Cheng Yiran said, “Let’s go to the street to have a look.”
On that snowy day, they met the little girl.
She had purple hair, which was super short.
Cheng Yiran remembered that she only wore an earring on the left ear, but nothing on the right ear. He thought maybe she was a weirdo.
And reality also proved this.
“I like your music.”
That was the first sentence that Xiaomeng said to them.
“Do you want to come to my band? Meals and accommodation are included, but you have to pay for other expenses of your daily life.”
And this was the second sentence that Xiaomeng said to them.
…
There were 3 members in Xiao Meng’s band originally, including herself. And from then on it had five after Cheng Yiran and Hong Guan joined.
Then. Cheng Yiran found out that the other two men were also picked up by Xiaomeng… This girl was more energetic than men.
Also, Cheng Yiran knew that Xiaomeng was not a native northeast girl.
She was born in Beijing, and her father was born in the northeast— Like Cheng Yiran and Hong Guan, he was the first generation that came to Beijing for his rock-and-roll dream.
Xiaomeng was proud when she talked about her father and she smiled when she said her father died early and left her—a disaster to the society.
She asked everyone, including Cheng Yiran— ‘By spending time with me, wouldn’t you be afraid of being cursed by me?’
They pondered for a while and then they hilariously laughed before saying, ‘How about we line up and cursing you in turn? You definitely would not be able to bear it.’
Xiaomeng picked up the guitar and knocked their heads one by one, but the guitar was scratched a little and she felt so sad for quite a while.
Cheng Yiran thought of that idea where he engraved a word “Tian” on the scratch, and then he engraved “Hai”, “Kuo”, “Kong” and “Fei” on the instruments of other members.
Well, “Fei” was superfluous— Xiaomeng smiled through tears.
…
They had an unprecedented momentum and longing every day, they talked about all the possibilities from day to night. And after they quarreled about the adaptation of a piece of music, it was late at night when they returned home.
…
One day, Hong Guan took out a box.
Xiaomeng curiously asked, “What is this?”
Hung Guan smiled, “I bought them from an old man by the roadside stall. Exactly five.”
These were simple copper or iron necklaces with black ropes… Cheng Yiran didn’t like them. He said they were like dog tags. The other two members thought which was better to wear on hand or neck, since it was really like a dog tag.
Xiaomeng let them sit in a row in the courtyard— they were like the customers sitting in front of a hairdresser in an old alley.
Xiaomeng put the “dog tag” on them one by one.
She also wore hers and she turned it over like a bad demon in a fairy tale, saying with hand on her waist, “I have the name of our band ready, let’s call it… Dog Tags!”
“Damn it!”
“F*ck!”
“Piss off!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!” Xiaomeng laughed and crouched down on the ground with her hands covering her stomach. After a long time, she wiped her eyes brimming with tears and stood up.
They never saw the look of Xiaomeng like this moment… as if a beautiful elf transformed from a bad demon.
In the backyard, she lightly said, “Then let’s name it ‘Again’.”
Again.
So they officially had the name of their own band.
…
After the Spring Festival, this name was written on the blackboard in front of a bar in an old alley of Beijing.
Again – 50 yuan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Why there are so many exclamation points?”
Xiaomeng added a few more, and then she satisfactorily counted them and happily said, “In order to scrape up words! Take up some space!”
In the end, they only sold five tickets, but they almost shouted themselves hoarse.
…
…
Xiaomeng suddenly went away, out of sudden, all of a sudden… Everyone felt it was a dream.
Because of a car accident, the car was there but the driver hadn’t been found.
However, one week later, a man confessed his crime… As for the young owner, he had bought a new sports car.
A month later, Cheng Yiran, Hong Guan and a member of another band were arrested, for they endangered the lives of others.
Again was founded for nearly a year.
To be exact, it was eleven months and seven days. Now it disbanded.
…
…
…
…
Again.
It seemed that Cheng Yiran was telling a story, which made everyone sad.
What were the lyrics? No one cared, because people were immersed in the rhythm and forgot everything outside.
Why could he do that?
He could make almost all the people here shed tears… Even the famous singers waiting for their performance in the lounge also stared at the live screen.
Without any extra shots, the photographers seemed to be missing. The shots of several different cameras locked on the man who was playing and singing on the stage. They didn’t move or show any audience scenes.
“It’s abnormal.”
Lizi frowned, she looked at Ren Ziling beside her and saw she was crying, as if she was bewitched —And so were the audiences nearby, even the professional commentators.
As a monster, her inherent intuition told her that the man on the stage was strange.
Furthermore, she felt something provoking her heart… But even so, she was not immersed in it like ordinary people.
So Lizi opened a bag of beef jerky, looking at them silently… This kind of provocative was harmless to people— at least, she didn’t feel any harm for the time being.
…
“He did it.”
Zhong Luochen took a glance at everyone and then turned to the live broadcast screen. Cheng Yun and Zhang Qiingrui.
Everyone was distracted—he was sure at that moment that the man on this stage had an incredible magic, an abnormal magic.
But he was neither frightened nor afraid, because this seductive magic had no effects on him— who had very few emotions.
Then a bold idea slowly came to Zhong Luochen’s mind.
Maybe it was this.
“Can we find a lot of people with fantastic abilities?”
“And bring them together?”
That place was there and it was making deals… The world had a dark side which ordinary people couldn’t understand.
Maybe it was feasible… For example, he had met Cheng Yiran, a wonderful person, overnight.
Then, how many excellent people in the world were not that excellent at the start, but became that way due to their help?
“If I can change this era…”
An unknown luster was shining in Zhong Luochen’s eyes. He muttered, “Wouldn’t it be a great achievement?”
He found his heart was beating wildly when he was thinking about this. And an illusory and unreal sense of satisfaction let him feel the long-lost excitement in his spiritual world again.
It was like… a climax.
