It Seems There is Light

Power Outage

  

On the second day of the sports festival, the official account of the Affiliated High School posted an entry. It was the photo of Yan Liang and Shi An that day.

 

Attachment: [We have good-looking xiao gege, more than one.]

 

The official account was very naughty.1

 

In the photo, Yan Liang was holding Shi An’s shoulders tightly. His fingers pressed to the side of Shi An’s face to make a scissors hand while smiling at the camera, revealing his small fangs. The slightly narrow corners of his eyes were drawn out shallow folds.

 

He was wearing a school uniform shirt, the top button was unbuttoned, revealing his delicate collarbone. His short hair was a bit disheveled, seemingly having been rubbed casually.

 

Shi An didn’t look at the camera, turning his face slightly to the side. Even though he lowered his eyes slightly, his pair of eyes that could be considered big among boys could be seen. The eyelashes were dense and long, and the slightly curled ends were condensed with thin spots of light.

 

The white hood made his neck long and white and the collar was neatly tidied. His expression was very light, as if he did not want to be photographed.

 

His hair was soft and light, with a light brown luster in the sun. The ends of his hair were slightly curly. The place where his bangs and sideburns connected were wetted by sweat, slightly covering the ends of his beautiful eyes.

 

Yan Liang’s scissors almost poked Shi an’s face. Shi An raised his hand as if he wanted to push his hand away. His fingertips bent loosely, revealing a big white rabbit toffee held in the palm of his hand.

 

[My mother! What kind of immortal looks like this, ah, ah, ah I really admire it, Affiliated High School father, we are wrong, don’t stimulate us! Who can stand it!]

 

[I have so many white rabbits!! Xiao gege go with me! I will give you all my white rabbits!!]

 

[Shi An said he refuses to open business]

 

[Shi An’s disgusted face hahahaha he’s so cute! (super loud)]

 

[White rabbit toffee hiahiahia, what is going on with this meng contrast(laughing crying) Shi An is too cute]

 

[I’m sour ah ah ah ah, the right xiao gege’s eyelashes are so long ah ah ah ah ah ah the eyelashes are so good!]

 

[I knock his pair!! They match each other, I’m hopeless! Ah ah ah ah what to do!!]

 

[The face value kills me! Xiao gege on the right is so beautiful! A face that refuses to do business is bleeding!]

 

[The sister of No.4 High School upstairs, you haven’t seen with your own eyes how the refrigerator cools…2]

 

[I’ve seen them go home together!!!]

 

[Why do you guys are still nibbling on CP]

 

……

 

The first two days of the festival were devoted to formal events. Shi An only participated in a 1,000-meter run, and spent the rest of the day occasionally wandering around or going to the library to find a few extracurricular books.

 

The two days passed quickly.

 

The activities on the third day were more entertaining; they were basically all on-site registration competitions. Many classes simply started their own class activities, so the day was spent playing like crazy.

 

Cheng Yuan brought several movies to the class to be played, a small half of those who did not want to go out, watched the movie in the class.

 

The lights were not on in the classroom and the curtains were drawn, so the light was so dim that it was impossible to solve the questions. Hence, Shi An also had to follow the movie.

 

Most of Cheng Yuan’s movies were comedies and were very funny so the students trembled with laughter. The classroom of Class 3 was at the entrance of the stairs. There were many people passing by and when they heard the laughter, they looked curiously through the back door.

 

When Pan Tong returned to the class, everyone was laughing, even Shen Qiaoqiao was laughing with her shoulders slightly shaking. Shi An’s face still had no expression, but his posture was more relaxed than usual, leaning back in his chair, tilting his head slightly, watching very seriously.

 

At least it was the first time Pan Tong saw someone who watched comedy so seriously.

 

After a movie was finished, Cheng Yuan opened the curtains and drove the people out: “Open the windows, open the windows. A room full of carbon dioxide, does it smell good? Go go, go out to get some sun, your butt is sitting big, go out for a walk.”

 

When the sun shone into the classroom, Shi An squinted his eyes lightly. He took out his mobile phone from the drawer of the table to click on it at random.

 

It was rare to see Shi An bring his cell phone, so when Pan Tong saw him holding it, she asked him in passing, “Shi An, do you have WeChat?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Add friend, I don’t have your WeChat.”

 

The two took the phone and poked a few times, adding friends. Pan Tong looked up and saw Shen Qiaoqiao’s eyes fall on Shi An’s phone while pursing her lips, as if thinking about something. The tips of her ears were also a little red.

 

Pan Tong was stunned and asked tentatively, “Qiaoqiao, do you have Shi An’s WeChat?”

 

Shen Qiaoqiao shook her head in some confusion.

 

“How about adding it? It’s all classmates.” Pan Tong understood clearly. Sure enough, after saying this sentence, Shen Qiaoqiao’s eyes seemed to brighten slightly, but she still didn’t say anything.

 

Shi An locked the screen and was about to put it back when Pan Tong gritted her teeth and directly reached out and pressed Shi An’s phone. Shi An looked up, looking at her with amber eyes, so she had to bite the bullet and said: “…Add it, anyway, it’s desk, deskmate. It’s convenient to contact at ordinary times …”

 

Shen Qiaoqiao also gently bit her lips and took her phone out, turning her head to look at Shi An.

 

Shi An was baffled by the two, but didn’t think much of it, so he lowered his head and opened his WeChat interface, adding Shen Qiaoqiao as friend.

 

Who knew it was so easy to add Shi An as a WeChat friend. Pan Tong held the phone, remembering the forum post that Shi An was the unattainable fairy in the world and felt in a trance that Shi An was actually quite good to be hit on.

 

 

 

The three-day sports festival had almost come to an end. The closing ceremony was still held in the auditorium, and after the principal finished his closing speech, it was time to watch the performance.

 

Shi An found a seat at the back of the auditorium. However, before he could sit down, he saw Tong Zixin, the head of the Arts Department of the Student Council, leaning over to him, whispering, “Shi An, the Arts Department is short of staff, can you help backstage?”

 

When Shi An had just enrolled in school, the student council came to him several times, hoping that he could join the club. They even gave him several recommendation forms, but Shi An refused them all.

 

After coming to him several times, he got to know almost all the seniors in the club. Sometimes when the club was too busy, they would ask Shi An for help. Although his name was not in the club but in fact, they almost used him as a member.

 

Shi An was a little helpless and had to get up and go backstage.

 

The backstage was already busy and chaotic. Shi An went in and as he looked around, he saw Yan Liang sitting on a table in the corner with his two long legs swaying, headphones in his ears, humming softly in his mouth, as if the noise had no effect on him.

 

Yan Liang saw him and cocked a smile: “Why did you come over?”

 

Shi An was a bit helpless: “The student council is squeezing the labor force,” he looked at Yan Liang up and down, “Are you going to perform a show too?”

 

Yan Liang wore no make-up. He was wearing a school uniform shirt with a jacket tied around his waist. The air at the backstage was a bit stuffy; he pulled his sleeves up carelessly, revealing his thin wrists.

 

“What kind of show can I perform… Some students in my class will perform a skit and they want me to run the show, so I go up to say one line and come down. I don’t even have to do my makeup.”

 

Yan Liang said as he raised his hand to a guitar placed next to him and plucked it: “This guitar has a good tone.”

 

Shi An pulled a chair to sit down next to him when he heard Tong Zixin shout, “Shi An, come and help!!!”

 

He had to stand up again and asked what her to do, to which she replied, “Do you know how to do makeup? Come over and help with the makeup!

 

Shi An: “…”

 

When the show started, the lights in the auditorium went out and the stage lights came on little by little.

 

The performances were sorted by the first letter of the screen name, and Yan Liang and his class’s performance was the first.

 

Yan Liang said there was only one line, and it was really only one line. It took less than 20 seconds to appear, but as soon as he got on stage, the auditorium erupted in screams.

 

Shi An stood at the side of the stage, watching Yan Liang stride to the center of the stage. The lights on the stage shone on his eyebrows and eyes, and a light and clear smile appeared in his bright black peach eyes.

 

Yan Liang’s smile was very contagious. Shi An couldn’t help but cock up the corners of his mouth as he watched.

 

Yan Liang got off the stage and ran off to nowhere. Shi An couldn’t find anyone and it was not convenient to walk around.

 

The next show had already started and the lights on the stage lit up a little.

 

Shi An looked at the stage with the light, and after his eyes adjusted to the light, the strong visual impact almost made him gush out on the spot.

 

It was a small-eyed boy with thick eyeliner at the end of his eyes, looking extraordinarily soulful, no lipstick on his mouth, but a lot of blush. When he was illuminated by the lights on the stage, the auditorium burst into loud laughter.

 

Shi An: “…”

 

The boy’s makeup was painted by him in the background.

 

Growing up, he didn’t even touch the body lotion. When he looked at the sparkling bottles and jars, he only felt dizzy, so he painted them randomly according to his feelings. Now when the other stood on the stage, he realized how terrible his make-up was.

 

Tong Zixin just came out of the backstage to catch a breath and took a look at the stage. She directly sprayed; gritting her teeth and said: “I just went to the program list, who can tell me what happened? My God, which idiot drew this?”

 

Shi-idiot-An: “…”

 

At about half past eight, everyone was fascinated by the show, which was so good that Shi An, who had been standing at the side of the stage, was also slightly fascinated.

 

A show had just ended, and before the host had a chance to come on stage to announce, there was a sudden click and the whole auditorium was suddenly plunged into darkness.

 

There was no light at all in the auditorium and the lights on the stage went out. This unexpected darkness brought a brief blindness; everywhere you looked was a tidal wave of darkness wrapped heavily around people. The auditorium cried out in panic

 

The darkness came so suddenly that people didn’t know where they were. It seemed that they were in a void and Shi An couldn’t stand it. When he touched the cold wall next to him, the feeling of the palm of his hand made him regain his senses.

 

“Fuck.” Tong Zixin beside him cursed in a low voice, reacting before running to the backstage and dragging out a stereo.

 

The stereo was already fully charged. Shi An turned the microphone on and turned up the volume and said, “Everyone sit down in your seats first, don’t panic, it’s just a power outage. The students in the back row will sit down first. Please sit back in your seats if you are out of position, do not run around, repeat, do not run around to avoid trampling accidents. Please cooperate with the Student Council arrangement, thank you.”

 

Only after saying it once, everyone had quieted down and the chaotic footsteps had stopped.

 

His voice was calm, there were no ups and downs between his tones, and his clean voice had a calming effect in the darkness.

 

The show was expected to last until ten o’clock, but now that the power went out before nine o’clock, everyone was a bit lost. The teacher was about to go on stage to organize the evacuation of the whole group when someone suddenly tapped Shi An’s shoulder.

 

It was Yan Liang.

 

Shi An tilted his head slightly, Yan Liang seemed to bend down, leaning against his ears. His breath burned his ears.

 

Yan Liang said: “There is no electricity right now, there are so many people in the auditorium, it’s not safe to evacuate. It should be able to restore power again soon. I want to go up and perform a show. Is that okay?”

 

The teacher agreed.

 

Yan Liang carried the guitar that came from backstage on his back, while Shi An dragged the stereo onto the stage.

 

The last performance was a group dance so the microphone stand was removed. Shi An wanted to go backstage to find a stand, but just as he turned around, Yan Liang reached out and grabbed his wrist.

 

“Where are you going?” Yan Liang asked him.

 

Shi An felt slightly strange and asked back, “Aren’t you going to sing? I’m going backstage to get a stand.”

 

Yan Liang didn’t say anything. Shi An turned around to go down, but Yan Liang pulled him again.

 

Shi An: “…”

 

He was just about to ask what was wrong again when he heard Yan Liang open his mouth, “No need, just hold the microphone for me.”

 

Shi An thought for a while and found it to make sense. He was not familiar with the backstage. Now there was no electricity, he might not be able to find it if he went there, so he said yes.

 

Yan Liang asked, “Do you know why you aren’t allowed to go backstage?”

 

What kind of question was that?

 

When asked, Shi An was stunned again. With a rare doubt in his eyes, he answered: “I do not know where the stand is placed, it may take a long time to find it.”

 

Yan Liang: “…”

 

Didn’t you just say yourself that it’s dangerous to walk around now?!

 

What should you do if there are so many things falling behind the scenes?! How can you forget everything you’ve said to other people when it comes to yourself?

 

Yan Liang swallowed the words back into his throat and retaliated by rubbing the top of Shi An’s head hard. He took the microphone, turned on the switch and spoke.

 

The teenager’s somewhat muffled voice came out through the microphone and the grainy texture tickled people’s ears slightly.

 

The rustling and commotion in the auditorium also stopped.

 

Yan Liang spoke into the microphone, “Hello everyone, this is Yan Liang from Year 1 Class 15. Now that the power is out, let me sing a song for you. What do you want to hear?”

 

A smiling voice came out, and the bottom immediately boiled; applause and cries rang out. A bunch of song titles were reported in a jumbled manner. On the stage, nothing could be heard clearly. Yan Liang had to say again: “Stop, stop, stop, too many of you are shouting together, I can not hear, you unify a little, okay? How about I draw a random person in the front row?”

 

The voice in the audience became quieter. Suddenly, a dozen voices in the front area on the left side shouted in unison as if they had been discussed: “The Sun!”

 

Yan Liang obviously noticed, he pointed towards that area and asked, “What are you talking about?”

 

“The Sun”!” This time it was a little louder as dozens of people shouted together, seemingly because they thought the song was good and shouted along with it.

 

“Qiu Zhenzhe’s The Sun’!”

 

“The Sun!”

 

“I’ve heard this song! It’s a great song!!! Just sing this song!”

 

“School grass Yan, sing Qiu Zhenzhe’s ‘Sun’!”

 

Shi An’s eyes widened slightly, frozen, not expecting them to request the song.

 

He subconsciously turned his head to look at Yan Liang, his eyes had adjusted to the light and he could see the outline of the teenager’s profile in a blur.

 

He saw Yan Liang seemed to turn his head to look at him as well. Before he could get a good look, he heard Yan Liang’s voice saying, “…Sorry ah, never heard this song, I don’t know how to play it.”

 

There seemed to be some loss on the stage, and there was an ah-ha.

 

“Okay, or I’ll sing you guys a song called “Airwaves by Azuria Sky, is that okay?”

 

The focus was on Yan Liang and not on listening to the song, so Yan Liang handed the microphone to Shi An when everyone below the stage said yes.

 

Shi An took the microphone, and a thin layer of sweat broke out on his palm.

 

“The Sun” was the first song Yan Liang learned to play and sing, and he played it most skillfully.

 

Shi An’s heart was filled with some unspoken emotion, only to feel hot and soft, a piece of weakness.

 

He breathed in heavily and exhaled slowly.

 

Yan Liang crossed his legs and sat down directly on the floor, while Shi An sat down next to him, holding the microphone.

 

The prelude played, and the auditorium became quiet, leaving only the ethereal sound of the guitar flowing out of the microphone.

 

After the gentle rhythm, Yan Liang closed his eyes and his soft teenage voice dripped into the air, his grainy voice seemed a little lazy with indefinite tenderness.

 

“Airwaves

In magazines

Cozy and far away from here

My winter dress

Was your submarine

Where we’d travel

In the deep blue sea

If the trees

Fade to grey

Take my hand

And spirits we’ll become

And the caverns

…”

 

 

 

The author has something to say:
Highly recommended: Airwaves – Adib Sin (Ft Azuria Sky & Leopold)3
A very gentle fairy tale style electronic music

T/N: Highly recommended: The Sun by Qiu Zhenzhe. It’s one of my favourite songs and this song is the reason why I actually read this novel. I skimmed thru it and saw YL sang this to SA so I was curious about what SA had been going thru because this song is so freaking beautiful but sad and ngl, this ended up becoming one of my favourite!

 

 

1

皮 (lit. leather) – but as internet slang, it means naughty. It is usually used for unexpected turns in things, and often used for the reversal of funny content on Weibo.

2

the refrigerator here means cold

3

the author wrote Azuria Sky’s Airwaves but I searched for it and apparently, it’s Adib Sin (ft. Azuria Sky). Tho, Azuria Sky is the vocalist.