Rebirth: The Time-locked Girl
Chapter 129 Pipa Tune, the Swallow of King of Yan He Jia! [1 more]

Chapter 129: 129 Pipa Tune, the Swallow of King of Yan He Jia! [1 more]

"..."

As the words faded, the entire film crew was suddenly enveloped in dead silence.

The assistant director widened his eyes in disbelief, his heart couldn’t help but quiver at the sight of Ye Wanlan.

The pipa player, Ying Yueyuan, was also somewhat stupefied, staring blankly ahead.

Cheng Qingli was even more shocked, leaping up: "Sister Lan, you... you’re not really... are you?!"

Who could tell her how Sister Lan suddenly knew how to play the pipa?

"Chairman Ye, are you really not joking?" the assistant director wiped his sweat, "If it really won’t work, we could ask the local artists’ association to lend us someone. The worst-case scenario is just cancelling this promotional event."

"There’s no need," Ye Wanlan said indifferently. "You’ve also said that Xiao Yuan’s injury is ninety percent man-made. So how do you know that the opponent won’t block our apparent escape routes?"

And her, whatever she did, she always had to keep a card up her sleeve.

One must never lay all their escape routes out in the open, allowing the opposing side to block them one by one. That was a big taboo.

The assistant director was stunned, but he sweated even more profusely: "Chairman Ye is right!"

He seemed to already understand why this young woman was able to single-handedly uphold Pulling the Sky, this unique and independent company.

Her boldness was too strong, and her tactics were many.

More importantly, in crisis, she remained calm and composed, as if nothing could shake her.

Ye Wanlan lowered her head, plucking the strings of the pipa with her right hand.

Ying Yueyuan had been studying the pipa from a young age and was a professional. Just by seeing Ye Wanlan pluck the strings lightly, she knew that not only could Ye Wanlan play, but also she was a master among experts!

She was the group’s musician, always behind the scenes, responsible for the background music and so on. She didn’t know Ye Wanlan’s identity and was seeing her for the first time today.

Only when she heard the assistant director call out "Chairman Ye" did Ying Yueyuan realize that this girl, younger than herself, was not a star, but the chairman!

"What piece would you like to hear?" Ye Wanlan tilted her head, "What was prepared for tomorrow’s promotional event?"

Ying Yueyuan was stunned again, then quickly replied: "It’s ’Desert’s Lone Smoke’."

"Good, I understand," Ye Wanlan nodded.

’Desert’s Lone Smoke’ was a pipa piece that depicted the wars at the borders, which indeed matched the environment outside Yan Mountain very well.

She closed her eyes to recall the melody and began to play.

"Zheng zheng——"

The strings vibrated, and the sound of the pipa flowed out.

Even with a brief prelude, a vast desert was conjured in the minds of those present.

Day after day, the soldiers watched the sun rise and set at the frontier, under the golden sunlight, the rolling river approached.

’Desert’s Lone Smoke’, a piece with an extremely slow prelude, shifted suddenly to a faster tempo in the middle section, testing the player’s profound skill.

Ying Yueyuan’s heart was lifted, but upon hearing the clear and smooth sound of the pipa, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes again.

Laymen like Cheng Qingli and the assistant director were already focusing on Ye Wanlan’s hands, seeing her fingers pluck and stroke so quickly that they almost saw afterimages!

By the end of the first half of the piece, Ye Wanlan set the pipa down: "I was just giving it a simple try; this zither is not bad."

The assistant director was somewhat dizzy.

This was called a simple try?

This was clearly a master level performance!

"The name of the pipa actually comes from the two playing techniques of this instrument," Ying Yueyuan said in a soft voice, "’Pi’ is plucking forward with the right hand, and ’pa’ is pulling backward with the right hand."

"Ah, I see," said Cheng Qingli, suddenly enlightened. "But nowadays, fewer and fewer people are playing the pipa."

"Yes," Ying Yueyuan said with a wry smile, "I’ve been learning the pipa with my grandmother since I was a child, but my mother said that there is no future in learning the pipa. I insisted on learning because I’ve always loved classical music and begged my grandmother to teach me."

Ye Wanlan’s hand paused slightly.

The pipa ranks at the top among plucked string instruments, with a difficulty level above that of the erhu and the zither.

That’s why the pipa is almost on the brink of a broken lineage today; too few people know it, and even fewer want to learn it.

The zither has its associations, but the pipa has none.

Ying Yueyuan continued: "If the crew hadn’t hired me, I think... maybe I wouldn’t have been able to hold on much longer and would have given up the pipa to find another job."

"I really like the pipa." Ye Wanlan smiled faintly, "If you have time after you finish with the crew, I want to invite you to join my company as a pipa teacher."

Ying Yueyuan looked up sharply, joyfully replying: "Really? Can I really do that?"

"Of course," said Cheng Qingli, "Sister Lan is planning to form a traditional instrument orchestra and to start relevant classes; we’re more than welcome to have you."

"If that’s the case, then it’s really wonderful!" Ying Yueyuan said, excited, "If more people can learn the pipa, it won’t disappear in the future."

"It won’t," Ye Wanlan assured her before taking out a box of ointment from her bag, "Remember to apply this before you go to sleep tonight, three times a day, and try not to do anything else."

Ying Yueyuan carefully accepted the ointment in the palm of her hand, nodding vigorously: "I’ll remember!"

"Let’s eat," Ye Wanlan said with a faint smile, "Everyone has worked hard today; rest for now. The wind and sand are heavy in Yan City at dawn, be sure to close the doors and windows."

The cold weather that night prompted the crew’s logistics department to prepare hot pot.

Yan Tingfeng, smelling the spicy fragrance, his eyelashes lowered.

"Try dipping it in this, and it won’t be spicy," Ye Wanlan passed him the prepared dipping sauce, "It’s very tasty, trust me."

Yan Tingfeng blinked, laughing softly: "I’ve always trusted Miss Ye."

As soon as he said that, even he himself was startled.

He actually... truly trusted Ye Wanlan, otherwise, he never would have allowed her to take his pulse.

And yet, over the many years, even the six leaders of the Highest Heaven Tower who had been through life and death with him were not permitted to come close to him.

The Jianghu is treacherous, and he never trusts anyone.

Because even those closest to you could stab you in the back.

However, since he woke up from his long sleep, he was somehow able to relax and let outsiders know about his physical condition.

This was not very like him at all.

Yan Tingfeng put a piece of beef soaked in sauce into his mouth, and the fragrance exploded on his taste buds.

The meat was tender and crispy on the outside without being greasy, a rare delicacy.

The night wind blew, and the whole Yan City quieted down.

After dinner, Ye Wanlan did not go back, but rather followed the river towards the outskirts of the city.

"Miss Ye."

Yan Tingfeng called out to her from behind.

Ye Wanlan turned around.

In his hand, he held a pale blue flower, which he slightly raised and tucked beside the hairpin she was wearing.

Then he took a step back, his smile warm and soft, "I thought of you the moment I saw this flower; it truly suits you."

Ye Wanlan sat down and looked at her reflection in the lake; the pale blue flower in the water resembled a fallen star.

"Before..." She lifted her head, gazing at the sky full of stars, but fell silent.

This river is the mother river that runs through Yan City, and the people of Yan City rely on this river for their livelihood.

Whenever she came to Yan City, she always liked to sit here to gaze at the stars, and she would do so for several Shichen.

Sometimes, when He Jia finished his military duties, he would come to find her here.

Until she turned sixteen, when her already improved physical condition suddenly worsened, unable to endure wind or rain.

He Jia, knowing she loved to star-gaze here, specially renovated a house for her that blocked the wind, with a skylight opening in the ceiling.

Three hundred years later, it is still the same familiar spot by the same familiar river.

But the house had been completely destroyed in the war, and her brother had become a star.

Now, only by sitting under the stars of Yan City can she feel He Jia’s presence.

Ye Wanlan sat for a while longer, then dusted off the dirt on her clothes and stood up, "Let’s go, we need to gather early tomorrow."

Yan Tingfeng made a sound of agreement and walked shoulder to shoulder with her.

**

The next day, 7:30 in the morning.

"Very good, everyone is on time," Professor Xue was very satisfied. "This morning, I will take you all to get acquainted with Yan City. Don’t underestimate Yan City; if you want to study archaeology, even if you stayed here for five or six years, you might not finish exploring it."

Years ago, Yunjing sent people here to Yan City, intending to build a residential area.

But so much time had passed, and the archaeology in the area they planned had not been completed, with no idea when they could start construction.

"Don’t wander off, report in advance if there’s an issue," Professor Xue, with a loudspeaker in hand, said, "We will start with this ancient street."

The members were all somewhat excited, looking around curiously.

As Ye Wanlan casually surveyed the stalls around her, after passing ten of them, her gaze suddenly fixed on an item.

"How much for this?" Ye Wanlan crouched down, pointing at an object on the stall.

Upon her question, the other team members all stopped in their tracks.

The tourism business in Yan City wasn’t as developed as in South City, but there was no shortage of tourists. Where there were tourists, there were many scammers.

Who didn’t know that the antique sellers on both sides of the road got their stock from the internet in bulk?

All of them are modern productions, not a single one is an antique.

It was a dagger, but it had a very peculiar design.

The stall owner said casually: "Five thousand, not a penny less."

The asking price was five thousand, but it’s very likely that the cost price wasn’t even fifty.

"Hey hey hey, don’t buy, people around here always like to scam fools," Professor Xue also came over, "At the front, there’s an antique market where you might find real things. It’s impossible to find anything genuine here."

Yet Ye Wanlan scanned the QR code calmly, not bothering to bargain, and transferred five thousand Yuan to the stall owner.

"Young lady, you—" Professor Xue didn’t know what to say, could only stare wide-eyed, lamenting, "I already said there’s nothing real here, you’re wasting money!"

As a student of archaeology, if one is deceived like this, how could they continue to learn?

Ye Wanlan remained serene, turned around with her back to the stall owner, and pressed somewhere on the dagger, surprisingly separating the handle from the blade.

Then she reversed the orientation of the handle and blade and reassembled it into a new dagger.

"Professor, take another look."

A "Yan" character was now prominently displayed on it.

The Yan of King of Yan He Jia!