/
When they heard what Chen Xuan said, the others immediately parroted:
“Exactly! Instead of talking so much, why don’t you give it a try yourself?”
“You speak so much nonsense. If you have the skills, why don’t you do it!”
…
It was obvious that everyone was discontent from having their goddess belittled. At the same time, they were worried that Qiu Honglei might really be persuaded by him, so they naturally went all out.
Qiu Honglei also became a bit curious. “I wonder what the correct method the young master speaks of is? Could you show it to us?”
It wasn’t a big deal if Zu An couldn’t answer her. She already had her own plans. This guy was too arrogant and out of control, she might not even be able to control him if they worked together in the future.
That was why she was using this chance to knock him down a notch.
Zu An said, “The method indeed exists, but what’s in it for me?”
“What is in it for you?” Qiu Honglei was immediately stupefied.
“Yup. I came to Immortal Abode as a guest to watch the ladies entertain me, yet now, you all want me to perform for you? I’m really losing out here if I don’t get some benefits,” Zu An said with a smile. Those characters from ‘Finest Servant’ really were worth learning from. There was no way he was going to leave an opportunity like this untouched.[1]
“Then what kind of benefits does the young master want?” Qiu Honglei had a cheerful smile on her face. This fellow really refuses to be normal.
Normally, she didn’t even have to talk. Just a single look and endless men would fall one after the other. When she did speak, no one ever refused her.
Yet now, this fellow wanted benefits from her?
“Lady Qiu, don’t agree to him!”
“Exactly! He only craves your body!”
…
The other men immediately became nervous.
Zu An turned around. “Who is that? Get over here. Stop looking around. Yes you, that body craving one.”
The crowd began to disperse on their own, exposing the young master who spoke.
That young master also began to feel a lack of confidence. “What, are you trying to use your Chu clan background to pressure me?”
He didn’t fear this Zu An, but he did fear the Chu clan a bit. After all, Brightmoon City was Chu Zhongtian’s fiefdom.
But when he thought about it, he realized that this was only a drafted son-in-law, and he even went whoring. He was lucky enough if the Chu clan didn’t punish him. Why would they help him out here?
Only then did he calm down a bit.
“What was your name again?” Zu An asked.
That person was just about to reply, but he immediately saw Zu An wave his hand. “Forget it, there’s no point in remembering the name of a background character.”
That young master: “.......”
You have successfully trolled Jiang Fan for +233 Rage!
“You said that I craved her body just now. Does that mean that you don’t?” Zu An stared at him with curiosity.
“I…” Jiang Fan subconsciously gave Qiu Honglei a look. He had never been in such close contact with her. When he saw her devastatingly beautiful face, he almost fainted. “Of course I don’t!”
Even though his heart craved her endlessly, he still subconsciously upheld the appearance of a modest man to leave her with a good impression.
“Then you don’t think lady Qiu is pretty?” Zu An looked at him strangely.
Jiang Fan said, “Lady Qiu’s beauty is like that of a celestial being. Of course she is pretty.”
“Then why don’t you crave her? Is her beauty not your type?” Zu An said with an exaggerated expression. “Lady Qiu is already ridiculously pretty, but it’s not even enough for you… don’t tell me... you’re not a man?”
Jiang Fan’s face immediately became entirely red. “Of course I am a man! I adore lady Qiu! It’s just… it’s just that…”
He couldn’t think through what to say even after racking his brain. Screw this guy!
You have successfully trolled Jiang Fan for +444 Rage!
After experiencing the sea of Rage points earlier, Zu An already didn’t care that much about this small amount of Rage points.
But when he thought about it, even the smallest mosquito had some nutrition, he couldn’t waste it.
“Then it can only be one thing if you are a man.” Zu An sighed. “It is that you are too fake. You don’t even dare to admit your desire for women.”
Jiang Fan: “......”
He felt as if he dug himself into a hole. However, he just couldn’t admit to this no matter what!
You have successfully trolled Jiang Fan for +666 Rage!
Second floor’s Pei Mianman had a strange expression on her face. This guy… I truly pity his enemies.
Qiu Honglei helped this person out of his dilemma soon afterwards. “Please don’t trouble him anymore. How about we talk about what kind of benefits you want?”
Zu An stared straight at her charming face, a hint of a smile appeared on the corners of his lips. “I want you…”
Thunk!
A strange noise sounded from upstairs.
Xie Daoyun said with a frown, “This guy really is a pervert.”
An even more ambiguous expression appeared on Pei Mianman’s face. She muttered to herself, “Stinky brat, do you even know who she is? You dare take advantage of her?”
At the same time, she began to size up Qiu Honglei to see if she showed any reaction.
Only now did the others all wake up, all of them starting to curse:
“Have you gone mad? You dare treat the beautiful woman this rudely?!”
“How can someone like lady Qiu agree to this type of condition?”
“This is simply a disgrace for all men! Utterly shameless!”
…
You have successfully trolled the onlookers for +99 +99 +99…
Only Wei Suo secretly gave him a thumbs up, thinking that his boss was the boss after all.
However, when he thought about how worked up the crowd was, he didn’t dare voice this lest he gets caught up in a disaster.
Qiu Honglei’s eyes flickered with a dangerous light, but she concealed it immediately afterwards. She said with a soothing voice, “Then we’ll have to see if the young master’s method works or not. After all, this is an issue that our predecessors have not been able to solve for hundreds to thousands of years. I truly cannot fathom what kind of method can make different instruments complement a guqin.”
When they heard her words, the entire place immediately became quiet. Exactly! This is a problem none of those big shots of the music world could even solve, so what can some little shitter like him do?
When he thought of this, everyone calmed down from their impatience.
Zu An said, “In that case, let’s start with your song’s second issue.”
“Second issue?” Qiu Honglei was stunned, only now did she remember that this fella brought up two flaws. She was already more calm than before. With a smile, she said, “Then I must ask for the young master’s guidance.”
“Your second issue is that the emotions were too intense. To imbue emotions into a song is a wonderful thing, but…” Zu An. “The emotions you expressed were sorrow and anger. These two emotions are not only entirely different from the festive ambience of a brothel, it doesn’t match the inherent nature of the guqin either.”
“Yi~” Second floor’s Xie Daoyun voiced her surprise. “What this fellow says actually makes some sense. I didn’t even think of this just now.”
Qiu Honglei released a light sigh. “What the young master says is indeed the case. It was just that this song possesses great meaning for me, so I couldn’t hold myself back from playing this song due to reminiscent feelings.”
When they heard her words, everyone began to whisper among themselves. Does she actually have a lover?
Just who was this blessed man?
When he saw the emotion that flickered in the depths of her eyes, Zu An thought that this might be a rare leak of her true feelings. “Lady Qiu, you are currently in the prime of your life. Your mentality should be like the radiance of the sun and not wounded and sentimental as if your heart is covered in scars.”
Qiu Honglei said with a smile, “The me you describe seems to have suddenly aged a few decades.”
Zu An sighed. “Music comes from the soul. As for whether this really is the case, only the lady herself knows.”
Qiu Honglei’s sweet smile began to fade bit by bit. She had clearly been moved.
“We told you to show us the method of harmonizing instruments. What are you rambling about all of this for?”
Chen Xuan grew impatient from listening. The others immediately voiced their agreement.
That plastic smile immediately returned to Qiu Honglei’s face. “Exactly, young master. Honglei is still waiting for you to broaden my horizons.”
Zu An had Leng Shuangyue beside him fetch a xiao. “Does the lady know how to blow the xiao?”[2]
“But of course.” Qiu Honglei revealed a smile.
But from the whistling that sounded afterwards, Qiu Honglei immediately realized her mistake. Her face became a bit red as she shot him a resentful look. “Is the young master ridiculing me?”[3]
“That is not what I am trying to say.” Zu An’s expression became gloomy as well. He shot the others a fierce look. These idiots aren’t good for anything else, but they’re incredibly sharp when it comes to this type of stuff.
“If we examine all of the available instruments, the xiao and guqin make the best pairing.”
Qiu Honglei nodded her head. “This is indeed the case, but it is still only slightly better than other instruments. The tonal color of the guqin is too unique, so a xiao’s accompaniment will easily overwhelm it. As such, one might as well perform on the guqin alone.”
Zu An said with a smile. “I just happen to have a song here where the zither and xiao can perform together.”
“Really?” Qiu Honglei’s eyes brightened. Even Xie Daoyun upstairs subconsciously schooched a bit closer to the window.
In reality, the reason this world didn’t have any songs with the zither and xiao played together was only because the xiao would either overwhelm the zither, or the zither’s sound would stand out too much. When the two were mixed together, the song would seem too mediocre, so everyone eventually gave up on trying to make the combination work.
This Zu An seems so confident. Does he really have such a formidable song?
“I’ll write it down for you. Then, I’ll play the zither, lady Qiu will help me blow the xiao.” Zu An gestured for Leng Shuangyue to pass him a pen and paper.
He already had a bit of a musical exchange with that beautiful big sis Shang Liuyu before, so there was no way he wouldn’t try to get closer to her.
That was why he specially looked into this world’s music. Even though he was no expert, transposing the score of his past world into what the people of this world could understand wasn’t too difficult.
“Sure~” Qiu Honglei accepted the xiao. Then she reacted, her eyes and face were flushed with redness.
This guy was doing this on purpose!
Zu An was currently preoccupied with transposing that song onto paper. In order to have more weapons in his arsenal when chasing girls, he learned how to play ‘Scenery of Home’. Because he really liked the tv drama ‘The Smiling, Proud Wanderer’, he memorized that song by heart as well.[4]
This song from ‘The Smiling, Proud Wanderer wasn’t James Wong’s ‘Sea’s Laughter’, but rather Jackie Lui’s tv drama version composed by master composer William Hu Wei-Li.[5]
“Oh? This son is rather new and original…” Qiu Honglei was an expert in this field. She immediately noticed that this song was completely different from any song she had seen before.
Could this fella really successfully combine the guqin and xiao?
She was merely going with the flow. However, after seeing this song, her expression became serious.
“Will lady Qiu be able to play it?” Zu An asked.
“The music seems a bit strange, but we can give it a try.” Qiu Honglei noticed the rather difficult syncopation. She became a bit nervous as well.
“Then let’s begin.” Zu An sat down in front of the guqin, his previous frivolousness nowhere to be seen.
His fingers moved lightly. A confident and relaxed zither sound immediately echoed through the entire hall.
Xie Daoyun originally disapproving expression immediately froze.
Pei Mianman’s expression also became a bit strange. This fella actually had this set of skills in his pockets? Did Chuyan already know all about all of this? Was that why she decisively chose him as her husband?
Those other spectators were originally waiting for him to make a fool of himself. But, when they saw how he sat in front of the guqin, they immediately knew that something wasn’t right. All of them became dumbstruck when they saw him play this impassioned and confident melody.
1. Finest Servant is a chinese novel
2. Xiao is a free reed mouth organ with five or more pipes blown from the bottom
3. Blowing the xiao is slang for blowjob
4. For those who want to listen to Scenery of Home, the song name in chinese is 故乡的原风景
5. Sea’s Laughter - 沧海一声笑; William Hu Wei-Li - 胡伟立