142: Chapter 142 The Vivid Images of Mu Band

Fire Station cafeteria.

It was just noon when they returned; there were no fire trucks dispatched, and all on-duty Firefighters and guests were in the cafeteria.

Li Li stood at the serving window holding a stainless steel tray.

The food today was good: braised pork ribs, fish with pickled mustard greens, lettuce with garlic, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes—eight dishes in total, half meat and half vegetable.

The Fire Station really spared no expense on their food.

He served himself ribs, fish, and two vegetable dishes, then turned to find a seat.

"Li Li! Over here!"

Su Nianzhi waved at him.

There was an empty seat on her left. She moved her schoolbag half a foot to the side, clearing just enough space for one person to sit.

Perfect positioning.

Li Li glanced at the camera in the corner out of the corner of his eye; the red light was on, indicating it was recording.

Fine, you win.

He carried his tray over, greeting Qin Xiaoshan and Han Su on the way.

Qin Xiaoshan, his mouth stuffed with half a steamed bun, mumbled, "Brother Li is back!" spraying breadcrumbs all over Zhong Ji sitting opposite him.

Zhong Ji calmly wiped his face with a tissue and continued eating—the composure of a young master.

Li Li sat down.

Su Nianzhi immediately leaned five degrees toward him—not too much, not too little—just enough to look intimate on camera without being accused of being too clingy.

This ability to control angles—professional.

"Li Li, I listened to your live stream performance of 'The Wind Rises' many times. It was really good."

Su Nianzhi rested her face in one hand, her almond eyes sparkling.

A standard variety show interaction expression—textbook level.

Li Li chewed on a rib and nodded.

"And 'rose boy' too. Sister Mumu sang it well, but the arrangement was absolutely amazing. Did you do it yourself?"

"Mm."

"My god, is there anything you can't do?"

Shen Jue sat opposite them, poking at his fish with chopsticks, his expression toward Su Nianzhi clearly saying, "Sister, stop acting."

Su Nianzhi didn't see it, or pretended not to.

She leaned forward.

"Li Li, I have a small request."

"Go ahead."

"Can you... help me write a song too?"

Li Li swallowed the rib in his mouth.

"Sure, but I need to understand your vocal range first. What have you sung before? Have you released any singles?"

Su Nianzhi's chopsticks hung in mid-air for two seconds.

Then she blushed.

It was a genuine blush, not an act.

She lowered her head and started shoveling white rice into her mouth, bite after bite, matching Qin Xiaoshan's speed.

Li Li turned to look at Shen Jue.

Shen Jue put down his chopsticks and shook his head at him.

He shook it slowly and solemnly, with a kind of mercy that said, "Brother, don't ask, you'll regret it."

This only piqued Li Li's curiosity.

He took out his phone and searched with one hand.

"Su Nianzhi songs."

The first result: Su Nianzhi—'Moonlight Tenderness' Live Version.

He clicked it.

The prelude played for two seconds before Su Nianzhi's hands sprang up from her rice bowl to cover both her ears.

The movement was as fast as a Firefighter hearing an alarm.

But Li Li had already heard it.

The first line of lyrics came out.

The pitch correction was so heavy that the Auto-Tune pulled her voice completely straight, as if drawn with a ruler.

But even so.

It was still off-key.

Off-key to the point that even pitch correction couldn't fix it.

Li Li's composure slipped for 0.3 seconds before he quickly recovered and hit pause.

Su Nianzhi was covering her ears, her head almost buried in her rice bowl.

"...How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

Across from him, Shen Jue's shoulders shook three times; he bit down hard on his chopsticks to keep from laughing out loud.

Ji Shen from the next table leaned over.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Li Li put away his phone.

Qi Wanyin sat at the other end of the long table, chopsticks resting on the edge of her bowl. She wore a Morandi-colored linen shirt, and her hair was tied up casually.

She lifted her eyelids.

"Li Li, your singing skills are improving fast. With a little more polishing, you could go on a music variety show."

She was bailing Su Nianzhi out, shifting the topic to "Li Li's singing."

But she didn't know that this sentence had double the lethality.

Because Su Nianzhi's head dropped another two centimeters.

Someone whose singing couldn't be saved even by pitch correction was sitting next to someone who was advised to go on a music variety show, asking them to write a song for her.

Li Li felt embarrassed for her.

Forget it, let's not talk about it.

Shen Jue raised his hand.

"Brother, I want you to write a song for me too."

Li Li glanced at him.

"What instruments can you play?"

"Guitar! I've been learning for three years; I practiced it for a role before."

Li Li put down his chopsticks and thought seriously for two seconds.

"That could work. I'll do keyboard, you do guitar, and Mumu will sing."

He counted on his fingers.

"Three people is perfect. We'll record a few songs and release an album. When the results of her tax investigation come out, this album will be her ammunition for a counterattack."

Shen Jue froze for a second.

He realized this wasn't just for fun; Li Li was laying the groundwork for Jiang Rumu.

The tax investigation was one blade, the album was another. If both blades fell at once, Company wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Really? I can be with my sister?"

"Mm."

Shen Jue's mouth stretched to his ears.

Diagonally across the long table.

Gu Zeyan's chopsticks poked at the fish a couple of times, but he didn't pick anything up.

He had heard "tax investigation" and "counterattack."

He put down his chopsticks, picked up his tray, stood up, turned around, and walked toward the return window.

He didn't say a word the whole time, didn't look at anyone, and his pace was neither fast nor slow—as natural as someone who had finished eating and was going to return their tray.

But he had only eaten one rib, and most of his rice was left.

Li Li glanced at his retreating figure.

Smart guy.

When you hear something you shouldn't, the best choice is to make yourself "absent."

Last time he provided the recording studio contact, and this time he left proactively; he was expressing his stance in his own way.

He was with Company, but he had no intention of being Zhou Hui's dog.

Qi Wanyin watched Gu Zeyan walk away before pulling her gaze back.

"Is everything okay with Mumu?"

"No problem."

She nodded, didn't press for details, and picked up her bowl to take a sip of soup.

Shen Jue was completely immersed in the excitement of "I'm going to start a band with my sister," leaning on the table with both hands.

"Brother, what should we call it? The band needs a name!"

"You say."

"How about... 'Deep Blue Project'?"

"No."

"'Three-Body Band'?"

"Teacher Liu would chop you up."

"'Jue's Perfect Pitch'?"

Li Li looked at him for three seconds.

"You shoved your own name in there."

"Then let me think again... 'Walking Toward the Light'?"

"Too artsy. It clashes with Sister Qi's style."

Qi Wanyin raised her soup bowl from a distance, acknowledging it.

Shen Jue scratched his head, struggling for ten seconds.

"Then you tell me what to call it!"

"Li Li Zaimu Band."

Shen Jue's hand stopped in mid-air.

Li Li Zaimu.

Isn't that your ship name!

His smile froze.

"What about me??"

Li Li chewed the last rib, swallowed, and wiped his mouth.

"Your name can make up the character 'Zai'."

"..."

Shen Jue looked up and thought about his name.

Shen.

Jue.

Jue, split apart, is two 'Wang's.

Wang? Zai?

Where does that come from???

"The character 'Zai' is 'ten' plus a 'slant' plus a 'vertical'... what does that have to do with my name?!"

Li Li thought he was too stupid and couldn't be bothered to tell him it was made up of the strokes.

"Don't get hung up on the details."

Ji Shen at the next table laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, nearly tipping over his bowl of fish.

Tao Qianzhi walked past the cafeteria door holding his thermos; he heard half a sentence and kept his head down as he walked on.

A thirty-eight-year-old man didn't participate in the youngsters' nonsense, but it was hard to hold back his laughter.

Suddenly the cafeteria door was pushed open.

Chen Tao walked in front, followed by the Production Team's head, Director Pei Zhao.

Chen Tao scanned the room, saw that all the guests were there, and walked to the center of the long table to stand.

"Finished eating? If you're done, listen to me for a second."

The sound of chopsticks stopped. Qin Xiaoshan still had half a chicken leg in his mouth; Zhong Ji helped push his bowl half an inch away.

"At 2:00 PM, China Resources Building, high-rise joint drill. A unique task for Pengcheng: high-rise building firefighting drill. Drone firefighting, facade rappelling, helicopter fast-roping—the whole set."

His gaze swept across the guest seating.

"Among the nine guests, Li Li, Gu Zeyan, and He Manzhou will participate in the rescue as Firefighters. The other six will act as trapped personnel."

Gu Zeyan had returned at some point and was standing in the corner of the cafeteria; he nodded when he heard his name.

Director Pei Zhao took half a step forward.

"Three hundred meters, simulated fire above the fortieth floor. Station Chief Chen is being polite; I'll be blunt: for the three participating in the rescue, and the newcomers who haven't participated before, you will be very, very tired this afternoon."

He looked at Li Li.

"Get ready."

Li Li stuffed the last mouthful of rice into his mouth.

Three hundred meters. In his past life, when he went to the China Zun Tower to deliver food to the seventy-second floor, he waited for the elevator for fifteen minutes and was docked two yuan for being late.

Now he had to climb up from the bottom.

Three hundred meters, his left hand wasn't fully healed, and it was above the fortieth floor.

Along with the business card Captain Qiu Xiaofeng had pushed over this morning: "If there's anything unusual, contact us immediately."

He wondered if those people from overseas would be interested in joining in the fun.

Cheng Songyan appeared at the cafeteria door, having changed into his firefighting training uniform. The injury on his waist was secured with a wide bandage, and his stride was smaller than usual.

He scanned the cafeteria and locked eyes with Li Li.

"Assemble."