Under Clear Skies Chapter 58: Southern Kingdom’s Child

Hey all, due to some real life stuff, Under Clear Skies will only release every 5 days for a while. Sorry about this.

Chapter 58: Southern Kingdom’s Child

Translated by Fefe of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

 

Tang Heng regretted it after saying it, fearing it would trouble Li Yuechi. After all, he had class and work—he had to put his phone on silent for those. His request wasn’t that reasonable. One could also say that it was petulant.

However, Li Yuechi didn’t say anything and just nodded.

They continued walking forward, through the crowd, to the booth that Jiang Ya got. Tian Xiaoqin was the first to see them. “Yuechi, you’re here too?” she asked with surprise.

An Yun chuckled but didn’t say anything. Meanwhile, Jiang Ya said mischievously, “Yeah, it’s a rare sight.”

Li Yuechi smiled at them. “I came to hang out with Tang Heng.”

Hearing this, Tang Heng finally let out a relieved breath, thinking that Li Yuechi probably wasn’t unhappy. He’d been nervous the entire time because Li Yuechi hadn’t said anything.

Jiang Ya stretched his hand out to Tang Heng. “Where’s my cigarettes?”

Tang Heng gave him the Marlboro.

“Amazing, you took half an hour to buy cigs,” Jiang Ya muttered as he lit the cigarette. “I thought you got into a fight again.”

“Shut up and smoke,” Tang Heng said.

“Hey, you’re being mean!”

Li Yuechi leaned toward Tang Heng’s ear and whispered, “You wait for me for a long time?”   

His breath brushed past Tang Heng’s ear. It was a bit itchy. “Not that long,” Tang Heng said.

“The cigarette’s pretty good.”

“Huh?”

“This.” Li Yuechi held up the Huangguoshu pack and said with a smile in his voice, “Better than Huangguoshu.”   

Tang Heng’s cheeks heated up. He suddenly felt stupid. How could Li Yuechi not tell the difference between the two brands.

But Li Yuechi stayed by his ear. “Thank you, Tang Heng.”

“No problem…” Tang Heng rubbed his face.   

 

At that moment, the band onstage finished another song. The vocalist bounced around like a monkey and suddenly exclaimed, “We heard from Lao Bu that there’s another special guest tonight!”

The audience started cheering and the vocalist said, “I’m gonna invite him onstage now, okay?”

“Okay!!”

Tang Heng turned around in surprise as the vocalist and bassist jumped off stage and walked straight toward him.

“Hey boss.” The bassist was wearing a sultry vest. It was held together only by a few strings under his ribs, revealing his bulky muscles. “Come on, sing a song?”

Tang Heng cursed Lao Bu in his mind. He shook his head, saying, “You guys can sing… I’ll just listen.”

“C’mon.” The vocalist suddenly turned back toward the stage and yelled, “Have you guys heard Hushituo’s music before?”

“Yes!!!”

“Is Hushituo’s vocalist hot?”

“Hot!!!”       

“Come on?” the vocalist said with a grin. “Everyone’s waiting, boss.”

And so, Tang Heng was forced onto the stage with those guys on his right and left side. “Tang Tang!!!” a girl screamed from the audience.

“We actually got this ‘mission’ today.” With an arm around Tang Heng’s shoulder, the vocalist said mysteriously, “Everyone, play along, okay? Play along.”

“Bro, whatchu gonna sing?” the bassist asked.

Tang Heng paused for a moment. “How about something from Deserts Xuan?”

“Sure.” The bassist pointed at the vocalist. “He’s a big fan.”

The lights dimmed and only a spotlight remained on the stage. Tang Heng suddenly felt kind of nervous.

The intro music started up. Grasping the microphone, he cleared his throat and said, “Southern Kingdom’s Child, for… my friend.”

He couldn’t see the audience’s expressions clearly now; he could only hear their low cheers. Of course, Li Yuechi’s expression was even less clear, but he still gazed in his direction. He couldn’t help but wonder—was Li Yuechi looking at him too, in the dark?

Were their eyes meeting?

“Wind lifted your black hair, you shook it absentmindedly…” His voice was a bit hoarse, maybe because he’d smoked.

“At night, your earthy scent, pure and primitive wildness…” Yes, this was Li Yuechi. Tang Heng closed his eyes, thinking back to the first time he saw Li Yuechi. He felt that this name was already like Lévi-Strauss’s book, containing the aura of a forest totem.

Li, Yue, Chi. Did you hear?

The guitarist played a wrong note, but it was okay. Tang Heng knew that his voice had opened up already, flooding out boundlessly like the setting sun. You are the southern kingdom’s child, with an irrepressible nature. Your body is cloaked in fables, but you don’t know. Tang Heng closed his eyes and the crowd faded away, hidden into the darkness. He was singing to the vast mountains and forests—it was Guizhou, south of Wuhan.

 

At the end of the song, the lights came back on and Tang Heng returned the microphone to the vocalist.

“Bro, your voice’s pretty good.” The vocalist hugged Tang Heng. “Do another song?”

“Nah, I’m going down to accompany my friend.”

“The one in the white shirt?”

The audience were all focused on them and Tang Heng’s heart raced. “Yes,” he said in a low voice.

 

When he returned to the booth, An Yun and Tian Xiaoqin had disappeared to somewhere. Jiang Ya was playing on his phone, while Li Yuechi sat quietly on the side, looking at Tang Heng.

This was when Tang Heng realized that he was sweating. His fringe was matted to his forehead and his cheeks were moist too.   

He sat down beside Li Yuechi. “The owner had them come over,” he explained with some embarrassment.

“Who was that song for?” Li Yuechi asked.

“You don’t know?” Tang Heng asked in reply.

So, Li Yuechi smiled and suddenly grasped Tang Heng’s hand under the table. His palm was very dry. Tang Heng felt his sweat rubbing into his palm.

Jiang Ya glanced at them and scoffed. “Enough! There’s still someone else here!”

Tang Heng ignored him. “Do you still want to listen to music?” he asked softly.

“Let’s go,” Li Yuechi said.

“Okay.”

“Otherwise, they keep staring at you.” Li Yuechi squeezed Tang Heng’s hand. “I can’t block them.”

They got up and walked out. Opening the door, they found that the rain had stopped, but clouds still hung low in the night sky. Just as Tang Heng wanted to ask Li Yuechi where they should go, he saw An Yun walking towards them.

Tian Xiaoqin wasn’t there, so Tang Heng asked, “You sent her back?”

An Yun didn’t reply. She looked at Tang Heng first, but soon, her gaze settled on Li Yuechi’s face. “You stopped working as a TA, right?” she asked calmly.

Li Yuechi nodded.

“So now, only Xiaoqin is a TA.” She seemed to talking to herself, but her eyes were trained on Li Yuechi.

“Yes.” Li Yuechi seemed confused too. “What’s wrong?”

“First year grad students can’t be TAs. How come Tian Xiaoqin got a spot?”

“I don’t know. Teacher Tang gave it.”

“You never asked Teacher Tang?” Her tone became demanding.

“Why would I?” Li Yuechi frowned. “Teacher Tang gave it to her and she accepted it. Why would I ask?”

“Because you—”

“An Yun.” Tang Heng found it weird. “What’s wrong with you?”

An Yun broke off. A moment later, she said in an over-the-top casual tone, “Oh, it’s just that Xiaoqin feels awkward, just… Everyone sees it and they think it’s unfair.”   

Tang Heng still found it strange, but he couldn’t pinpoint it.

An Yun laughed and said carelessly, “Whatever. I’ll go kiss up to my dad and have him make me a TA too.”