Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 17 Death Rock
Peking University Third Hospital.

Because he encountered Luan Shu and a tall, thin girl in the corridor, Zhang Yan found Dou Wei's ward without much trouble.

He casually put the supplements aside, gestured towards the outside, and asked, "Is that the girl at the door the Miss Hong Kong you were talking about?"

Upon entering, he immediately asked the girl about her appearance. It wasn't because Zhang Yan was attracted to her looks; the girl had decent features and dressed fashionably, but her short hair was definitely not Zhang Yan's type.

He was mainly surprised that the girl from Hong Kong Island was so tall, almost 1.75 meters tall—in 1990, a boy who was 1.75 meters tall was considered tall in the north.

Figure:

"It seems she immigrated to the island a few years ago; she used to be a country bumpkin from Beijing." Dou Wei, with one leg dangling in mid-air, rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "You've come at the perfect time! That bastard Ding Wu should be arriving soon. I'll show him who the real original author of 'Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty' is!"

Are you going to sing here?

Zhang Yan was initially worried that Dou Wei would revert to his withdrawn state after meeting in person, but now he was relieved. So he said with undisguised disdain, "Singing rock music in a hospital room, don't you have any sense of public decency?"

Dou Wei hurriedly said, "It's definitely not here! Zhao Mingyi and the others have already gone to find a stretcher!"

"I'm coming!"

At this moment, Zhao Mingyi and Li Tong carried the stretcher into the ward. Zhao Mingyi greeted Zhang Yan first: "Oh, the writer is here too."

Then he gave a thumbs-up and pointed behind him: "I've scouted it out. The northwest area is the most remote and quiet. Let's sing there!"

Jiang Xin asked in surprise, "Is that the morgue?"

"Only a morgue would be suitable!"

Zhao Mingyi slapped his thigh excitedly and said, "This is perfect opportunity to show that bastard what death rock is all about! If he dares to act tough again, I'll stuff him in the freezer!"

Dou Wei, Luan Shu, and Zhao Mingyi all joined later and had little interaction with Ding Wu, so they only regarded him as an opponent or enemy.

But Li Tong and Ding Wu were old teammates and acquaintances, so their feelings were naturally complicated, and they didn't say much.

Zhang Yan couldn't help but complain, "After you finish singing, if you shout 'Anyone who disagrees, stand up,' I guarantee no one in the coffin will dare to breathe."

puff~
No sooner had he finished speaking than a burst of laughter came from the doorway. It turned out that Luan Shu and Yangcheng Lake Gang Girl had also come in and overheard the conversation.

The Miss Hong Kong couldn't help but laugh, and then said to Luan Shu next to her, "Your friends are quite interesting."

Luan Shu smugly tossed his bangs: "That's right, don't you know whose friend you are?"

Then, with a hint of smugness, he introduced Zhang Yan: "Writer, let me introduce you. This is Wang Fei, a fellow student of Beyond. This is Zhang Yan, who recently wrote a very popular novel."

In fact, Luan Shu and Zhang Yan were not familiar with each other at all. In fact, he only heard about Zhang Yan's novel being a bestseller yesterday from Jiang Xin. But that did not stop him from praising Zhang Yan and, incidentally, himself.

Wang Fei?

This is another name I've seen in playlists, and it even includes two songs: "The Fleeting Years" and "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting".

Of course, Beyond is included, and there are as many as five of their songs.

It was definitely the right decision to build connections in the music industry beforehand!

Wang Fei shook hands with Zhang Yan in a graceful manner and said with a smile, "Hello, actually I also read novels when I have free time in Hong Kong. I must read your masterpiece when I have the chance."

He then turned to Zhao Mingyi and Dou Wei, who was lying in the hospital bed: "Are you two really going to sing rock in the morgue?"

"Can this be false?"

As Zhao Mingyi spoke, he looked at Dou Wei on the bed.

Dou Wei struggled to sit up and gritted his teeth, saying, "Yes, of course I'll go!"

He then gestured for the others to lift him onto the stretcher.

Jiang Xin stood to the side with her eyes shining, not bothering to stop them at all.

Seeing everyone gather around, Zhang Yan also lent a hand. In the process, he must have touched Dou Wei's wound, which made Dou Wei wince in pain and even brought tears to his eyes.

Zhang Yan actually thought the whole thing was absurd, but they were all young people in their early twenties, and the atmosphere had already been set up. Who would have the nerve to back down?

So Li Tong led the way, Zhao Mingyi and Luan Shu carried the stretcher, followed by Wang Fei and Jiang Xin. Zhang Yan, being tall, was responsible for holding the IV bottle on the side. The group swaggered out of the inpatient department.

When they arrived at the morgue in the northwest corner, bassist Wang Wenjie was pushing a tricycle full of musical instruments and arguing with the old man guarding the morgue.

"Old Wang, what are you arguing about with the gatekeeper?"

Zhao Mingyi shouted at Wang Wenjie, then said to the people around him, "Brothers, let's chip in some money!"

The group pooled together a little over sixty yuan. When Zhang Yan pulled out a hundred-yuan note, Zhao Mingyi simply stuffed all the loose change into his hands and slapped the hundred-yuan note in front of the gatekeeper: "That's all we have. If you say another word, we'll move on!"

The old man opened his mouth in surprise, but ultimately remained silent.

So everyone, some carrying stretchers, some unloading musical instruments, rushed into the morgue.

Once inside, looking at the rows of morgue cabinets, Zhao Mingyi whistled and turned to Dou Wei, saying, "This place is pretty awesome, isn't it? You'd better do your best later!"

Wang Fei seemed a little uncomfortable and hesitated at the door.

Jiang Xin walked in casually, looking around, as if she wanted to peek inside the freezer. She didn't go over and squat down next to Dou Wei until the stretcher was put down.

Then... "Huh, isn't this swollen up?"

"Holy crap, the fluid is leaking!"

"Where's the nurse? Call a nurse right now!"

"Where the hell are the nurses in this morgue?!"

shuh~
Amidst the chaos, the sliding door of the morgue was ripped open, and Ding Wu, with a medical bandage on his left cheek, led a dozen or so people in.

Seeing the Black Panthers shouting and yelling around Dou Wei, Ding Wu curled his lip in disdain and said, "Damn, just from the noise, I thought it was the 'Red Education Class' inside!"

The members of the Tang Dynasty band behind them were all laughing.

Li Tong was a little embarrassed. He glanced at the person opposite him and cursed, "Wang Yang, who the hell are you on?!"

The man who was scolded shrank back and said sheepishly, "Brother, I heard it was about breaking the zither, so I... I just came to join in the fun."

"Sigh~"

At this moment, Dou Wei suddenly gasped, as Zhang Yan pulled out the needle directly. He gestured for Jiang Xin to press the needle hole with a handkerchief while showing the IV bottle to everyone, saying, "This bottle contains glucose. We can use it again later."

The problem of fluid leakage can be considered 'solved'.

With Luan Shu's help, Dou Wei struggled to sit up against the morgue and said through gritted teeth to Ding Wu, "Ding Wu, now that my witness has arrived, you must give me an explanation!"

"witness?"

Ding Wu glanced at Zhang Yan, the only person he hadn't seen before, and sneered, "How can he prove you didn't steal my idea?!"

Zhang Yan stepped forward and said calmly, "Because his song was inspired by my novel—what, are you trying to say that my novel also plagiarized your idea?"

The core of the novel is indeed plagiarized, but no one can prove that.

"novel?"

Ding Wu was taken aback and asked in confusion, "What novel?"

"The 'Detective of the Dream of the Red Chamber' is currently being serialized in a magazine..."

"Did you write that novel?"

Zhang Yangang was only halfway through his sentence when Ding Wu's expression changed to one of surprise.

"you saw it?"

Zhang Yan was also somewhat surprised. Although the magazine was indeed selling very well, he hadn't expected to encounter his readers under these circumstances.

"I guess you could say I've seen it."

Ding Wu gave a vague admission, and his momentum clearly weakened, but he still stubbornly said, "You can't just say whatever you want. If you have the guts, make him sing the song. If he didn't steal it, I'll immediately admit defeat and apologize to Dou Wei; if he did steal it, I'll break his other leg!"

In Zhang Yan's view, the conditions were completely unequal.

But Dou Wei didn't think so, and immediately shouted, "Fine, today I'll make you admit defeat!"

Seeing the Black Panther band members get ready, Zhang Yan and Wang Fei stepped aside.

At this moment, Wang Yang and a few other onlookers also gathered around. One of them took the initiative to say, "Hey buddy, where can I buy your book? I'd like to buy a copy and take a look."

As he spoke, he extended his hand to introduce himself: "Let me introduce myself, I am Zhang Youdai. I am currently a comprador at the Central Radio Station and host a program called 'One Hour of Foreign Songs'."

Then he introduced two people next to him: "This is Zhang Chu, the captain and lead singer of the Stinger band; this is Wang Yang, the lead singer of the Bronze Band, nicknamed Old Wolf."

Zhang Yan hadn't paid much attention at first, but he was moved when he heard the nickname "Old Wolf"—the playlist included his songs "My Deskmate" and "My Brother Who Sleeps in the Upper Bunk".

Today was definitely worth the trip.

"Zhang Yan, he's just a writer."

Zhang Yan asked, half-jokingly, "There are so many rock bands in Beijing. Do you guys usually hang out together?"

Zhang Youdai laughed and said, "Rock music is ultimately a small circle; everyone just sticks together for warmth."

Zhang Chu had his hands in his pockets, his attention completely focused on the Black Panther band. His oblivious demeanor was somewhat similar to when he first met Dou Wei.

Old Wolf was probably a little upset because he had just been called out, and he muttered sourly, "Our Bronze Age Band can't compare to them. When these guys came on stage, the audience was shouting 'Awesome!' on stage, and we were shouting 'Awesome!' backstage."

Then, he asked in confusion, "What does 'coding' mean?"

Zhang Yan then realized he had used a popular internet slang term and quickly tried to correct himself, saying, "I used to work as a typewriter in a printing factory. My daily job was to stack lead type and copper plates together to print them out. That's where the term 'stacking type' comes from."

"Oh~"

Old Wolf nodded in realization, and then fell silent, clearly not very good at dealing with strangers.

Zhang Youdai wanted to chat with Zhang Yan for a bit, but Wang Fei suddenly shushed them, signaling them to be quiet, because the Black Panther band was about to start their performance.

(End of this chapter)