Beginning with the Ubume Bird
Chapter 697 - Chapter 697 Chapter 5 Drums and Lessons

Chapter 697: Chapter 5 Drums and Lessons Chapter 697: Chapter 5 Drums and Lessons After the clinking sound, there was a rhythmic beating of bass drums and the alternating sounds of hi-hats.

Li Yan took a bottle of beer from the refrigerator and, listening to the drumming, walked into the basement, which was indeed brightly lit.

Lady Dan sat behind a row of bright red drum sets, wearing a large cap backwards with her long hair tucked under the brim, and her thighs clad in blue jeans occasionally pressed down on the bass drum,

Li Yan leaned against the doorframe without making a sound. However, Lady Dan still stopped drumming, opened her eyes, tilted her head, and gave Li Yan a smirk.

“Keep going, don’t mind me.”

Li Yan took a sip of his beer and scratched his ear.

Lady Dan heard him, fiddled with her phone a bit, then picked up the drumsticks with practiced ease, and within seconds, the loud sound of electric guitar came from the phone’s speaker.

Her legs pressed down, the two bass drums immediately produced an interlocking rhythm, and her hands rapidly alternated hitting the crash cymbals and snare drum, the shuffling sound of the cymbals carrying a full beat that stirred one’s spirit!

The woman drumming before him seemed to radiate with light; she had her eyes closed, nodding her head gently with the rhythm of the drumsticks, and each time her snow-white neck arched, her left hand came down heavily on the snare drum.

The not so bright light made her face seem more pure, accentuating the rosy hue of her lips. Li Yan felt his mouth go dry and thus chugged a few gulps of beer.

The electronic guitar along with the spirited and exciting sound of the cymbals unconsciously gave off a sharp yet exhilarating texture. It was as if after a long trek through the desert, one drinks the tinkling ice-cold spring, feeling the refreshing delight, yet the throat and the viscera still experience a minor icy sting.

Li Yan walked behind Lady Dan and swallowed a few more sips of beer.

Eventually, with a crisp crash cymbal hit, Lady Dan dropped the drumsticks. While flexing her wrists, she looked up at Li Yan and asked, “How was it?”

Li Yan blinked and then nodded, “Good.”

Lady Dan gave him a skeptical look, stood up to grab a cup of water, and finding it empty, she snatched the beer from Li Yan’s hand and drained it. Drumming was definitely not an easy task, and after playing that song, Lady Dan’s hairline was slightly sweaty, and her high collar was damp.

“I mean it. When you play the drums, it’s like you’re shining, and I can’t even bear to blink.”

“Hmm.”

Li Yan wasn’t usually one for cheesy talk, and Lady Dan, already flushed from drumming, blushed even more.

The two looked at each other for a moment before Li Yan suddenly drew Lady Dan into his embrace. He felt the warm body in his arms stiffen at first and then quickly relax, and through the high-collared sweater, he could feel her racing pulse.

Drip~

The phone on the stool went dark, reflecting the entwined silhouettes, where one could vaguely see the changing lights and shadows, but upon closer inspection, nothing was clear.

…

Li Yan counted out thirty-five hundred-yuan bills crisply.

“Your boss Cha said last time you messed up changing the water, so he’s docking you five hundred yuan from your bonus. Three thousand five hundred, count it.”

Zhou didn’t count the money but tucked it into his pocket and said to Li Yan with a grin, “Brother Dayan, you look pretty happy today, must be some good news, huh?”

Li Yan snorted with amusement and counted out another five hundred-yuan bills, “This five hundred is for you, don’t tell your boss Cha.”

“Thank you, Brother Dayan.”

Zhou pocketed the money and bounced away from the restaurant.

No sooner had she left the restaurant than a flamboyant Range Rover pulled up at the door.

“No idea when this guy got out.”

Li Yan yawned, his eyes even welling up with tears. He stood with his back to the restaurant door and could see the tall figure entering, blocking out the light from the window.

“Sorry, the boss isn’t in, try another place to eat.”

“Can’t you cook?”

“If I cooked, I’d ruin the restaurant’s reputation.”

Recognizing the visitor, Li Yan turned around with a beaming smile on his face, “Boss Wushan, what can I do for you?”

The man was none other than Wushan, who last time had Zhenjun Wuzao snatched by Li Yan and was regrettably left out of the Yan Zhao Club’s seats.

Wushan looked around, pulled over a plastic stool, and sat down, the stool creaking under his weight.

“Give me back Zhenjun Wuzao. Name your terms.”

Wushan said in his deep and resonant voice.

“Don’t make me name them, you name the terms. Just to be clear, I’ve gotten quite a big catch recently, so my appetite’s huge.”

Li Yan stared at the stool beneath Wushan’s buttocks.

“I know Zhao Jianzhong lent you 1.5 million Yan Fu points. You’re not short of money now,”

Wushan said coldly.

“How do you know that?”

“The news has already spread through the Yan Zhao Club.”

“Oh.”

Li Yan did not respond much.

“How about this, you return Zhenjun Wuzao to me, and within half a year, I will definitely find a treasure suitable for your use and send it to you.”

Li Yan adjusted his sitting posture, “Can you make this decision?”

“I understand what you mean. The words I just said are also Mr. Zhan’s intention. If you agree, we can have it notarized by Yan Fu right now.”

“Haha, forget it. For Zhan Yuejin’s sake, I’ll make friends with you.”

Li Yan took out the ring of Zhenjun Wuzao from his personal seal and threw it to Wushan.

Wushan caught the ring and gave Li Yan a somewhat puzzled look, “Do the notarization now?”

“No need. I’m in a good mood today. For Zhan Yuejin’s sake, I’m just giving it back to you.”

“…” Wushan secured the ring, “I won’t owe you a favor. Within half a year, I will definitely deliver the item to you.”

“As you wish.”

Wushan stood up and left; the stool beneath his buttocks bounced up with a Duang sound.

Li Yan did not stop him, but he did lift up the stool from the restaurant to inspect for a while, “The stuff Knife bought is of good quality.”

Outside, the Land Rover’s engine started, and in a moment, it disappeared around the corner of the street.

…

In a certain university in Yu City, the Learned Building

Zhan Qiping is a professor at the College of Civil and Commercial Law and also the newly appointed Executive Vice President. At his level, some people do not teach undergraduate classes, and many do not even have their names listed, but Zhan Qiping is different; he never misses a class.

Zhan Qiping enjoys health and sports, often running sweat-soaked, wearing sportswear to the classroom to teach. Though he is over fifty, he doesn’t look it. If said to be in his early thirties, people would believe it. Zhan Qiping is amiable and loves to chat with his students, who adore him. His classes are almost always full to capacity.

A few minutes before the class ended, Zhan Qiping closed his teaching plan and picked up a copy of “The Three-Body Problem”, “Kang Yuping, come up and get your book.”

A tall guy with drooping eyebrows walked up to the podium.

“If you dare to read novels again in my class next time, I’ll make you buy a copy for every classmate, and I’ll use it as a textbook,”

Zhan Qiping’s remarks undoubtedly caused a burst of laughter.

A short-haired girl with glasses and a delicate appearance suddenly asked, “Mr. Zhan, do you also read ‘The Three-Body Problem’?”

“I have.”

Zhan Qiping nodded; “The Three-Body Problem” had recently won the Hugo Award, and the once-quiet Chinese science fiction scene was suddenly revived.

“Then, do you think the Dark Forest Law described in Liu’s book could become a reality?”

After thinking for a moment, Zhan Qiping said, “I don’t think it’s realistic,”

He paused before continuing, “The Dark Forest Law in the novel is based on many assumptions and premises. In my view, how much the readers believe in the Dark Forest Law depends on how confident they are in life and science to exert significant subjective initiative in this vast universe.”

He looked at the girl, “The primary concern of life must be survival. The evolutionary ecology of life inevitably seeks only survival. And survival itself is not necessarily linked to possessing advanced technology, how evolved a species’ structure is, or even more fundamentally, intelligence, emotion. It could even be counterproductive; based on the foundations of survival and continuation, what ultimately evolves might not be a civilization under a chain of suspicion and a technological explosion, but rather a simple structured, slow-moving creature that can survive under the most adverse conditions.”

Some sharp students caught the implied meaning in Zhan Qiping’s words and said discontentedly, “By saying this, teacher, you are first determining that scientific progress has limitations, and that mankind cannot surpass them. You’re conflating concepts.”

“I don’t deny it.”

Zhan Qiping was not angered by the student’s challenge, “The history of the human species is merely several million years at most. In the past million years, there was no science, and maybe in the next million years, there will be none either. The universe does not care about life, life does not care about civilization, and civilization certainly does not care about science. If one truly believes that technology will extend indefinitely and that the form of civilization will eventually lead to an ultimate and mystical state, this is undoubtedly the arrogance of science fiction fans.”

Zhan Qiping’s comments sparked a good deal of discussion. Many students disagreed; Zhan Qiping might be an expert in the field of civil and commercial law, but when it comes to science and science fiction, he was an outsider. Moreover, Zhan Qiping’s former students knew that their teacher was impeccable in character, personality, and capability, except for being too fond of talking big about finance, the stock market, Buddhism, history of the Warring States, international relations – always speaking eloquently, but few subjects were truly insightful.

For some reason unknown to Zhan Qiping, his voice deepened, “Even if there truly was such an entity, or entities, of higher beings with great power, they might not be able to live in a manner close to the truth, close to the ultimate. No matter how extraordinary they consider themselves or the magnitude of their power and experience, as long as they stubbornly insist on their own methods of living, as long as they firmly believe that some restrictive way is the very essence of existence, they will ultimately die because of it.”

The bell rang, and after a while of ringing, Wushan stood at the door, tapping on the open door next to him.