After the farewell dinner, Lu Yan didn't leave the house for two days.

He did almost nothing but sleep. When he was hungry, he'd get up to make instant noodles, then go right back to sleep after eating.

His phone ran out of battery and shut down, but he didn't bother with it, leaving it untouched on the headboard.

He couldn't quite tell what state he was in—whether he was escaping or adjusting.

After Jiang Yaoming and Huang Xu left the band, all of the band's gigs had to be temporarily canceled. Not just the performances, but also the significant amount of time set aside for rehearsals each week—all of it was now wiped blank.

This emptiness was like an invisible vine, coiling around him bit by bit.

Even though his life wasn't actually that different from before.

On the morning of the third day, he finally washed his face, carefully shaved off the stubble that had grown in, and went to a nearby barbershop to get a haircut. After returning, he put on some water to boil. While waiting for it to heat up, he looked for a charging cable, rummaging through a cabinet for a long time, and came across a CD album with crude artwork.

It was their band's first album.

The name was especially cringe-worthy: 'Ogre'.

Lu Yan had drawn the album cover himself—a goat's head that showed the potential of an abstract painter. He had never studied art, but since most of their budget had gone into the recording studio, he had to take on the task himself.

The title track had a unique style. The song's climax began with two lines of Lu Yan's low a cappella, followed by an overwhelming storm of drums and rhythm that swept in instantly: "Smash the entire past to pieces

Who is left

Go away

Go away

Go away

...

What's this title of God

Even if I keep falling, I don't care"

An intense rhythm, carrying an arrogance that wanted to tear everything apart.

The album was sold on consignment in a record store and sold surprisingly well. The store owner even joked with them, "So when are you guys planning to hold a concert?"

"One day," Jiang Yaoming had said back then, wiping away his sweat, full of spirit, "we will stand on the biggest and highest stage!"

Lu Yan found the charging cable, plugged in his phone, and waited for the startup screen to appear. Immediately after, he saw a long list of missed calls.

Sun Qian, Li Zhen, Huang Xu...

Lu Yan called Sun Qian back first.

Canceling the gig at the last minute was a dirty move. The show information had been sent out days ago, and a sudden cancellation would have an impact on the bar. Lu Yan felt he owed Sun Qian an apology no matter what.

But Sun Qian was a magnanimous guy, not the type to fuss over such things. He was more concerned about the four young men than the performance. "What's this about being sorry? Don't give me that. How did things end up with you guys?"

Lu Yan didn't say much, only: "They had some family stuff come up." Just as Sun Qian had said before, he had also been in a band in his youth. How could he not understand the meaning behind 'family stuff'?

His campus band back in the day was the same. After graduating from college, everyone went their separate ways—getting jobs, getting married, having kids...

Sun Qian sighed silently to himself.

Lu Yan's band was definitely not the first to have a residency at his bar. These young people played in bands, came and went, but this one, known in the scene as the "Demon King Band", was definitely the one that had stayed the longest.

Four years.

What did four years mean? Sun Qian remembered when Lu Yan was a lead singer who had never been on stage before.

His stage presence was terrible, and performance accidents happened constantly. He'd dropped the microphone off the stage several times, and the worst time, he and the microphone fell off the stage together.

Sun Qian felt bad just watching as an outsider, let alone how Lu Yan must have felt. So he comforted him, "That's just life. Ideals, well, they're too intangible. Sometimes, no matter how much you talk about ideals, you eventually have to return to reality, especially when you're playing rock... Don't be discouraged. The environment here is just like this. Staying underground is fine, but if you want to make it above ground, it's too difficult."

Lu Yan didn't speak.

Sun Qian: "Life, you know, sometimes it's about teaching you to compromise."

As Sun Qian was speaking, Lu Yan suddenly called out to him, "Brother Qian."

Sun Qian: "?"

"But I believe," Lu Yan said, his mind momentarily drifting back several years. He spoke the second half of the sentence very slowly, "...life is about never compromising."

Hearing this, Sun Qian was completely stunned.

Lu Yan added, "I won't keep you, Brother Qian. I have to go to the station to see them off in a bit."

Lu Yan finished getting ready and was about to leave when a loud bang suddenly came from outside his door.

It was the sound of a door being kicked.

It was followed by the increasingly frantic voice of an unfamiliar woman: "Bitch, seducing other people's husbands, you should have known this day would come! You get out here—"

The woman from 601 opened the door.

The unnamed woman from 601 was wearing a short, black, backless dress today, a very worldly look. It seemed she hadn't been back in the building long and hadn't had time to remove her makeup. Her eyes were weary, and her lipstick and eyeshadow were layered on thickly, creating a very cheap sort of gorgeousness.

She leaned against the doorframe, a slender ladies' cigarette held between her fingertips. After opening the door, she was slapped by the strange woman banging on it, her head jerking to the side.

But she seemed completely unfazed. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, took another drag from her cigarette, and said, "Had enough?"

"Can't control your own man," she said with a laugh as she exhaled smoke, "so you come here to throw a fit?"

This sentence made the strange woman's eyes turn red with anger.

But the woman from 601 had no intention of saying anything more to her. She just said, "If you don't leave, I'm calling the police."

"Call the police? Go ahead! Let's see if the cops arrest me first or a prostitute like you—"

The word 'prostitute' was so sharp it seemed to slice through the air.

The woman from 601 didn't say anything. She just closed the door again.

Lu Yan had witnessed the whole farce and felt awkward. Besides, now, just seeing the door to 601 made him think of that bad-tempered young master.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't connect the two.

'What did he want with her?'

'Should I tell her?'

But the guy said not to.

Lu Yan struggled with whether or not to meddle in other people's business.

...Forget it.

Lu Yan averted his gaze.

'Why get so involved,' he thought.

Jiang Yaoming and Huang Xu had bought tickets for the ten o'clock train to Qingcheng this morning. Li Zhen had called him about it too, asking if he was going to see them off, but he couldn't get through.

The train station was bustling with people.

The weather was hot and stuffy, and everywhere people were sweating, rushing to and fro.

Amidst a crowd of people dragging suitcases and carrying large sacks on their shoulders, Lu Yan spotted the two members of his band at a glance—in this ceaseless flow of people, they were the only two with guitar cases on their backs.

After four years of struggling in Xiajing City, the two of them didn't have much luggage.

Lu Yan hadn't even gotten close when Huang Xu spotted him from afar.

"Brother Yan!" Huang Xu shouted, then added in surprise, "You got a haircut?"

Lu Yan smiled and said, "Yeah, what do you think?"

Huang Xu: "Handsome."

Fearing Lu Yan wouldn't believe him, he emphasized it again, "Really handsome. A different kind of handsome than before."

After cutting his hair short, Lu Yan no longer looked as rebellious as before. Instead, his features seemed more defined, and the fringe on his forehead was parted in the middle by the wind.

"I called you last night but couldn't reach you. I thought you weren't coming," Li Zhen said.

"My phone was dead. Forgot to charge it."

"I give up on you. How did you not forget yourself?"

"Are you annoying or what? I'm here, aren't I?" Lu Yan handed over some snacks he'd bought earlier. "I was worried you'd have too much to carry, so I didn't get much. Just make do."

"Why'd you buy this stuff?" Jiang Yaoming said as he took it. "We already have some."

Lu Yan was decisive: "Okay, give it back."

Jiang Yaoming: "Are you even human?"

Lu Yan: "Give it back."

"Who takes back something they've already given away???"

The group bantered meaninglessly for a bit.

Lu Yan looked up at the scrolling arrival and departure information on the screen. Xiajing City to Qingcheng, Train K126. "Boarding soon?"

"You've got all your documents, right?"

"Got 'em. When we get back, we'll send you some local Qingcheng specialties! The fried pancakes there are really one of a kind..."

As Jiang Yaoming was talking, Lu Yan walked up and patted him and Huang Xu on the shoulder. "Alright, I'll be waiting. Have a safe trip."

Li Zhen joined in on the fun.

The sight of four grown men with their arms around each other's shoulders wasn't exactly pretty. Just as Lu Yan was about to let go and step back, he heard Huang Xu say two words quietly in the small space between their huddled heads: "I'm sorry."

It was actually a very strange feeling.

His bandmates of four years were about to part ways.

Xiajing City and Qingcheng—the two cities were separated by more than two thousand kilometers.

Lu Yan thought that after two days of adjusting, his mood would have stabilized. But it was only at this moment that he deeply realized how different reality was from all the mental preparations he had made: these two were really leaving.

Although Huang Xu's guitar skills hadn't improved that much over the years, he wouldn't be able to hear it anymore.

Jiang Yaoming was always complaining that his bass didn't have enough presence, secretly turning up his own volume in the recording studio and standing right next to the speakers to "boom" during performances.

Again, a quiet "I'm sorry" reached his ears.

This time, it was Jiang Yaoming who said it.

"Passengers for Train K126, please prepare for boarding."

The announcement played twice. The two of them lowered their heads to find their tickets and IDs, getting ready to drag their suitcases to the gate, when they heard Lu Yan say from behind them, "...Are you two done yet?"

"Sorry for what? Take those sorries back."

"So you want to quit the band that badly?"

"Did I approve this request to quit?"

Lu Yan's sudden, rapid-fire barrage of questions stunned the other three.

"You wish."

"No matter where you two go, what you do in the future, whether you're selling fried pancakes in Qingcheng or growing scallions in the countryside, you will always be a part of Vent."

Lu Yan said finally, "This isn't quitting, and it's not a breakup. V-Team will not disband."

Li Zhen came to his senses: "Right! We won't disband! Selling fried pancakes is one thing, but what kind of weird job is growing scallions..."

After he said this, no one spoke for a moment.

Jiang Yaoming turned away, quickly wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

Huang Xu's eyes slowly turned red, and tears streamed straight down. "Brother Yan..."

After saying his piece, Lu Yan himself felt moved. Seeing Huang Xu like this made him want to reach out and pat his head.

But the next second, Huang Xu, his voice fragmented and choked with tears, said, "Bro-Brother Yan, after I'm gone, you really have to practice your guitar... Your guitar playing is really too aw-awful."

"Y-You play so badly and you're still so demanding. It's really annoying. Not every guitarist is as easygoing as me. I-If you're so good, you should play it yourself..."

Lu Yan's hand, halfway extended, froze.

Huang Xu was crying so hard he was about to hiccup, but he continued, "You say your fingers are so long, wh-what's the use..."

Lu Yan: "..."

Lu Yan wanted to take back what he had just said.

This band can break up.

The farewell almost ended with Li Zhen dragging Lu Yan away to stop him from beating up his bandmate in public, while Jiang Yaoming and Huang Xu handed their tickets to the inspector in tears.

In the end, the train to Qingcheng still carried away two young rock musicians who had once stood at the entrance of the Air-Raid Shelter with their instruments, asking every band, "Are you guys recruiting?"