TTIG Chapter 34.2

The brief weekend trip ended, and on Monday everyone went to their respective schools.

 

Tang Che had the heaviest academic workload. Jiangzhou University had strict rules, and many course professors frequently took attendance, making it impossible to skip classes. He attended all his classes at school each day, and after returning, he still had to go to the company for lessons.

 

Moreover, his dance foundation was the poorest.

 

Although Fang Yinnian was terrible at street dancing, he at least had ballet basics, with sufficient flexibility that made his dancing less stiff.

 

Tang Che’s dancing was very rigid; he even joked about himself looking like a “zombie performing rituals.”

 

Under Teacher Yan Chi’s repeated corrections, his basic dance steps now looked somewhat presentable, but he still couldn’t keep up with more complex movements.

 

Tang Che was also an extremely competitive person who didn’t want to drag the team down, so he stayed late practicing every day before returning to the dormitory.

 

For the past week, he had been practicing intensively, completely unaware that his four teammates were secretly preparing something behind his back.

 

Time quickly arrived at September 21st.

 

This day was Tang Che’s birthday. He had almost forgotten it himself, but in the early morning, his phone suddenly received several messages.

 

Opening them, he saw birthday greetings from his bank.

 

Tang Che felt somewhat amused—a birthday he had almost forgotten himself, the bank remembered clearly. He hadn’t celebrated his birthday for many years.

 

What was there to celebrate? It was just an ordinary day.

 

The 21st happened to be a Saturday. Though there were no school classes, the company had scheduled a full day of lessons—vocal and dance—making it as busy as a weekday.

 

Tang Che closed his eyes and went to sleep early.

 

The next day, everyone went to the company for lessons as usual.

 

Being scolded a few times by Teacher Qiao in the morning vocal class, then criticized by Brother Chi in the afternoon dance class—this was daily life for FTM, and everyone was accustomed to it.

 

In the evening, dance class ended at 10 PM, and Tang Che conscientiously stayed behind for extra practice.

 

He would practice until midnight before returning, take a shower and go straight to sleep, leaving at most a few minutes of rest time.

 

Usually, Fang Yinnian would also stay to practice with him.

 

When Yinnian stayed, Mo Xun the “teacher” would naturally stay too, helping them check if their movements were standard and correcting any mistakes promptly.

 

But today, Yinnian and Mo Xun had left early.

 

Tang Che practiced in the practice room for a while, feeling a bit tired. He stopped to drink some water, planning to continue reviewing the next lesson’s movements.

 

Suddenly, he heard strange music coming from the recording studio nearby, like a pick scraping across guitar strings, somewhat sharp and jarring.

 

Tang Che was startled and opened the door to listen carefully—

 

Strange music was indeed coming from the dark room.

 

Was it haunted?!

 

Recalling the piano sounds from that escape room episode, which actually came from a CD player… maybe someone had forgotten to turn off the equipment in the recording studio?

 

Better go check.

 

Tang Che walked to the recording studio and entered the password to open the door.

 

The moment the door opened, the lights in the room suddenly came on.

 

Four familiar faces came into view.

 

“Happy Birthday!” the four shouted in unison.

 

“…” Tang Che froze in place.

 

Fang Yinnian was smiling as he stood at the keyboard, Mo Xun held a black-to-red gradient bass guitar, Tan Junwen sat behind the drums smiling at him, and Fu Fei was trying to look cool with a white electric guitar.

 

As soon as Tang Che appeared, the four began playing—the melody was Tang Che’s most familiar rock song, “Fly Away” from a Western rock band.

 

Fang Yinnian’s fingers quickly played the keyboard, producing electronic music completely different from piano.

 

Mo Xun played the bass skillfully and stylishly, Xiao Fei looked quite convincing on electric guitar, and Tan Junwen kept perfect rhythm on the drums.

 

This was clearly not improvised—the four must have practiced privately.

 

Tang Che’s nose tingled slightly, and his eyes immediately reddened.

 

A rock band.

 

What were they doing?!

 

After briefly playing the introduction to a song, Mo Xun said with a bright smile: “Tang Che, happy birthday. We prepared a surprise gift for you.”

 

Fu Fei enthusiastically said: “This was Brother Nian’s idea! We wanted to form a rock band for your birthday and let you be the lead singer!”

 

Tan Junwen made an inviting gesture: “Everything is ready, vocalist please take your position.”

 

Fang Yinnian smiled and said: “We all know you love rock music the most, but after joining the boy band, you temporarily can’t realize your dream.”

 

“So, we wanted to help you fulfill this wish.”

 

“Although it’s a limited-edition FTM rock band, we’ve practiced for several days. Looks pretty authentic, doesn’t it?”

 

Fu Fei excitedly said: “Who would have thought Brother Junwen happens to know drums, and Brother Mo can play bass? Our role transformation was super smooth, hahaha!”

 

Tang Che: “…”

 

He clenched his fists tightly to prevent himself from embarrassingly shedding tears.

 

What kind of strange gift had these amazing teammates prepared? It made his nose tingle and he felt like crying.

 

Tang Che took a deep breath to calm down and looked at Fu Fei: “So when you asked what rock music I liked recently, saying you were interested in rock and wanted to listen to more songs—that was for this?”

 

Fu Fei chuckled: “Well, we needed to transcribe the music and practice, right?”

 

Tang Che: “…”

 

The room fell silent, and Tang Che lowered his head without speaking further.

 

The four exchanged glances, somewhat concerned—was Tang Che unhappy? Did he not like this gift?

 

After a few seconds, Tang Che suddenly looked up, his voice slightly trembling: “Thank you all. This is my most special birthday ever.”

 

Enthusiastic applause filled the room: “Happy Birthday!”

 

Tang Che stood at the microphone with reddened eyes, picking up the mic.

 

Mo Xun gave a signal to manager Xu Baichuan, who cooperatively pressed the recording button.

 

Tang Che said: “Let’s go, we’re playing rock today!”

 

Fang Yinnian smoothly played a string of electronic keyboard notes to liven things up, Tan Junwen forcefully hit the drums several times, and Mo Xun and Fu Fei coordinated with guitar and bass.

 

The atmosphere immediately ignited.

 

The passionate prelude, blending guitar, bass, drums, and electronic keyboard, began again, vibrating manager Xu Baichuan’s ears as he recorded.

 

In front of Tang Che was a music stand with sheet music and lyrics—though he didn’t really need them, as he had long memorized the lyrics to these rock songs he loved most.

 

“Fly away, to a place unknown

 

where hopes soar high and fears are thrown”

 

Fly, to an unknown place

 

Where hope rises high and all fears are cast aside

 

This song was about freedom.

 

The accompaniment featured many rousing melodies, expressing the singer’s passionate desire to break free from constraints and yearn for freedom through the rapid alternating notes of electric guitar and bass, high electronic keyboard accompaniment, and intense drum beats.

 

This was the charm of rock music.

 

Tang Che’s high, sharp voice made the entire song incredibly energetic! As if breaking through all obstacles to fly toward that vast and distant sky.

 

“Fly away! Fly away!”

 

Tang Che sang loudly.

 

His teammates also got fired up.

 

Fu Fei played the guitar so enthusiastically he was jumping up and down; Junwen’s hair had become as curly as a teddy bear’s from his vigorous drumming.

 

Fang Yinnian’s hands danced rapidly across the keyboard; Mo Xun’s bass guitar produced heavy metal notes that blended perfectly with his teammates’ instruments.

 

—At this moment, they were enjoying the music.

 

There was no audience below, and they wouldn’t be critiqued.

 

They were simply giving their teammate a birthday gift in the most pure and straightforward way.

 

Tang Che finished singing one song.

 

Earlier, because the softest part of his heart had been touched, he had almost cried in front of everyone, but as he got into the song, his voice quickly stabilized.

 

Fang Yinnian said: “Next song.”

 

Tang Che turned back in surprise: “There’s more?”

 

Tan Junwen smiled and said: “Since we rarely form a band for fun, it wouldn’t be satisfying to sing just one song. We’ve prepared a whole album’s worth for you.”

 

Fu Fei said: “That’s right, I’m not done enjoying playing guitar yet! Let’s continue!”

 

Mo Xun said: “Turn the page, they’re all songs you’re familiar with.”

 

Tang Che’s heart was struck violently.

 

—Wanting to sing rock music was a seed planted in his heart when he was just 7 years old. But for so many years, it had never been realized.

 

Each attempt ended halfway. He even thought that perhaps he could only sing so freely in his dreams for the rest of his life.

 

Initially, he was actually quite resistant to joining this boy band. He didn’t have much sense of belonging to the group.

 

He didn’t like getting close to people. Apart from the necessary vocal and dance classes, he rarely took the initiative to communicate with his teammates.

 

Until today.

 

He discovered that having a group of like-minded friends making music together was such a beautiful thing.

 

His four teammates had secretly prepared for a long time to celebrate his birthday, even forming a limited-edition rock band.

 

The rock band he himself had never managed to form.

 

Yet Fang Yinnian had formed it.

 

Yinnian truly managed each time to pry open a corner of his ice-sealed heart at crucial moments, filling it with inexplicable warmth.

 

The first time he argued with Tan Junwen about changing rooms, Yinnian took the initiative to bring him a bottle of hot sauce, smiling gently and considerately, calming his anger and sadness.

 

This birthday, it was also Yinnian who took the initiative to rally teammates to help him realize his dream of being a rock band vocalist.

 

Tang Che took a deep breath and looked at Fang Yinnian: “I should continue singing?”

 

Fang Yinnian smiled and said: “Of course, it’s your birthday today, you’re the boss.”

 

Tang Che’s mouth curved slightly as he turned the music sheet to the next page.

 

The second spirited rock melody sounded in the recording studio.

 

Outside, the manager helping with the recording didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

 

It was so loud it nearly deafened his ears—these kids really knew how to have fun.

 

But he, at nearly 40 years old, was somewhat moved.

 

The five youngsters of FTM had, unknowingly, come to regard each other as best friends.

 

***

 

Since it was a team member’s birthday, and they didn’t need to catch the subway to school the next day, everyone played until 11 PM.

 

Xu Baichuan helped them record 8 songs, all Tang Che’s favorite rock pieces, and everyone saved the recorded songs.

 

Making a single CD was too troublesome, so they had prepared an acrylic box in advance, copied the original songs onto an elegant USB drive, and Tan Junwen attached the Q-version cover he had drawn.

 

The cover read: “FTM Limited Rock Band Commemorative Album, Only One in the World—To Tang Che, Happy Birthday.”

 

Tang Che accepted this precious gift, not knowing what to say.

 

Tan Junwen smiled and asked: “How’s my artwork?”

 

Tang Che evaluated: “It’s okay, your Q-version isn’t as abstract.”

 

Fu Fei laughed and said: “We suggested Brother Junwen draw Q-version. If he drew realistic versions, we might all turn into monsters—how scary would that be.”

 

Tan Junwen gave him a kick: “Do you still want me to carry you in King of Glory?”

 

Fu Fei immediately changed his tune: “My Brother Junwen is an artistic genius!”

 

Fang Yinnian and Mo Xun exchanged glances and laughed simultaneously.

 

Such childish kids.

 

Fang Yinnian said: “Let’s go eat a late-night meal—spicy hotpot tonight.”

 

Tang Che glanced at their manager: “Is that okay, Brother Xu?”

 

Xu Baichuan waved his hand: “Do what you want for your birthday, just don’t stay out too late.”

 

The five cheered and went together to eat spicy hotpot.

 

Mo Xun had already reserved a private room at a nearby hotpot restaurant, and Fu Fei had pre-ordered a birthday cake—strawberry flavor, his own favorite. Since Tang Che didn’t eat sweets anyway, nobody minded that he secretly bought his own preferred flavor, hehe.

 

When the candles were lit, everyone sang Happy Birthday to Tang Che together.

 

“Happy birthday to you~”

 

They actually sang a harmony version! Mo Xun took the bass, Tan Junwen the middle range, and since Tang Che’s high notes were missing, Fu Fei the “free agent” temporarily took over the high part.

 

Fang Yinnian sang the main melody.

 

The simple birthday song became very unique because of the harmonies.

 

Tang Che gave a thumbs up: “You guys are amazing, harmonizing even this.”

 

Fang Yinnian smiled and said: “We’re a harmony group after all. Mo Xun says harmony should be in FTM’s DNA.”

 

Fu Fei excitedly said: “Brother Che, make a wish quickly!”

 

Tang Che closed his eyes to make a wish.

 

He hadn’t celebrated his birthday since elementary school and never made wishes, believing that achievements came through personal effort and these rituals were merely self-comfort.

 

But today, he made an exception and wished.

 

—I hope everyone in FTM can realize their dreams!

 

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