Chapter 34: Winston
"Li Nuan-chan, a-are you serious?"
Ye Feilu looked at him in disbelief.
"That's ten songs in ten days. You're not joking, right?"
An Ran'er also looked doubtful.
"Uh... I'm serious..."
Being stared at by all of them made Li Nuo feel a little nervous.
"That's wonderful, Miss Li Nuan! Hurry and tell us your idea."
Yu Haoshen said excitedly.
"Okay. Actually..."
Because of his love for music, Li Nuo had been very interested in songwriting since he was young. He often wrote lyrics and composed songs by himself.
In middle school alone, he had written over a hundred melodies.
Although most of them were immature works, and many did not even have lyrics yet, finding ten usable songs was not a problem.
In the past, he had even considered submitting his songs somewhere to earn money, but for various reasons, he eventually gave up on the idea.
After hearing his explanation, everyone finally relaxed.
Soon, smiles appeared on all their faces.
Ye Feilu became so excited that she rushed forward and hugged him.
"Li Nuan-chan, you're amazing! I admire you so much!"
"D-Don't do that..."
The moment she hugged him, Li Nuo immediately froze and awkwardly held his arms out to the sides, not knowing what to do.
"Ahem... ahem."
Seeing this scene, An Ran'er suddenly felt annoyed for some reason. She deliberately coughed twice and said,
"Xiao Lu, watch your image."
Hearing that, Ye Feilu grinned mischievously.
"Oh my, the main wife is jealous."
Then she wisely let go of Li Nuo.
"W-What main wife? Stop talking nonsense!"
An Ran'er immediately protested.
"Alright, alright. I didn't say anything."
Wu Yuxin tilted her head and looked at the three of them in confusion. At that moment, Yu Haoshen, who was sitting nearby, spoke up.
"In that case, the album problem is solved. As for whether one of the songs can enter the Top 10 rankings, we'll have to leave that to fate."
"Don't worry, Xiao Yu. We can definitely do it!"
Ye Feilu walked over and patted his shoulder while speaking in an old-fashioned, confident tone.
"Yuxin believes we'll succeed too."
Wu Yuxin nodded.
"No matter what happens, I won't let this band break up."
An Ran'er said firmly.
Since everyone else sounded so confident, Li Nuo could only follow along.
"Uh... I think... it should be possible... maybe."
Seeing how confident everyone was, Yu Haoshen also felt encouraged.
"Then do your best. The only thing I can probably help with now is promoting the album after it's released."
After solving the problem, Yu Haoshen sat nearby and watched the four girls practice.
Only when the sun was about to set did he stand up and say,
"Let's stop here for today. You all seem to have adjusted well to each other already."
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something important.
"Oh, right. There's one more thing I forgot to tell you. For the next ten days, you should all take leave from school."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because besides recording your new songs, you'll also need to film music videos for each one. As for where you'll be filming, I'll send you the addresses later."
Yu Haoshen said while writing something in his notebook.
After packing everything into his briefcase, he stood at the door and smiled.
"In short, the next ten days are going to be very busy. You'll all have to work hard."
After Yu Haoshen left, Ye Feilu checked her phone and turned to An Ran'er.
"Ran'er, Yuxin and I should leave too. If we're any later, we won't be able to get back into the school dormitory."
"Okay."
Hearing their conversation, Li Nuo asked curiously,
"Huh? You're still students too?"
"Of course we are."
Ye Feilu answered without hesitation.
"I thought you all..."
Li Nuo had always assumed that idols stopped attending school after debuting.
As for An Ran'er, he already knew why she had transferred to Nanqin High School.
"You thought we dropped out of school to become idols, didn't you?"
Ye Feilu said with a teasing smile.
"Uh... didn't you?"
Li Nuo scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Of course not."
"Yuxin and I both study at Winston."
"Winston?"
Li Nuo had heard of that school before.
If he remembered correctly, it was a private international girls' school with both middle school and high school divisions.
Besides its expensive tuition fees, the school also had very strict admission requirements.
To get in, students not only needed excellent grades but also had to possess a special talent.
As a result, most students there were talented in one field or another.
Because of this, the school's university admission rate was extremely high every year.
Students with outstanding grades and talents could even be sent abroad by the school to study at famous universities for free.
Those who returned after studying overseas often became top talents in their fields.
Because of its reputation, many wealthy and influential families desperately wanted to send their daughters there.
Back when Li Nuo was in elementary school and his parents were still alive, he had dreamed of studying there too.
Later, when he learned that the school only accepted girls, he gave up on that dream. He had never imagined that Ye Feilu and Wu Yuxin were students there.
And if both of them attended Winston, then An Ran'er must have been a student there as well.
Previously, Li Nuo only knew that she had transferred to Nanqin High School to find a lead singer for the band.
He had never realized she transferred from Winston. No wonder she always took classes so seriously.
Thinking of this, Li Nuo carefully asked,
"Then Classmate An..."
"You mean Ran'er?"
"Of course she's a Winston student too, but..."
Before Ye Feilu could finish speaking, An Ran'er interrupted her.
"That's enough, Xiao Lu."
At the same time, she gave Ye Feilu a look that clearly told her to stop. Understanding the message, Ye Feilu did not continue.
"Uh... alright. Ran'er, then we'll head out first."
With that, she quickly pulled Wu Yuxin away.
After they left, only Li Nuo and An Ran'er remained in the rehearsal room.
Looking at An Ran'er, who was adjusting her guitar strings with her head lowered, Li Nuo could not hold back his curiosity.
"Why did you give up studying at Winston and transfer to Nanqin High School?"
Without even looking up, An Ran'er replied,
"Didn't I already tell you? It was to find a lead singer for the band."
Even after hearing her answer, Li Nuo still could not understand.
To him, if he had to choose between an ordinary band and the chance to study at Winston, he would definitely choose Winston.
Still, whether he understood it or not, he had always felt that An Ran'er had a special attachment to this band.
So he asked another question.
"Is this band really that important to you?"
Hearing that, An Ran'er's hand paused on the guitar.
After a moment of silence, she slowly replied,
"Very important."
"More important than getting into a good university?"
"Yes."
Her answer left Li Nuo speechless. He truly could not understand it.
It was just a band, wasn't it? If it fell apart, couldn't they simply form another one later?
An Ran'er stood up and slung her blue guitar over her shoulder.
"Alright. Let's go home too."
Seeing that Li Nuo was still standing there thinking, she sighed helplessly.
"I mean, does it really matter where you study? As long as you work hard, you can still get into a good university."
Li Nuo disagreed with that statement more than anything.
To him, the difference between Winston and Nanqin High School was enormous.
One school had excellent university admission rates and offered opportunities to study abroad at famous universities.
The other had a university admission rate of less than twenty percent.
Whether it was educational resources or the learning environment, the two schools were on completely different levels.
Seeing that Li Nuo was about to continue arguing, An Ran'er quickly wrapped her arm around his and started pulling him toward the exit.
"Alright, alright. Stop talking about it. Let's hurry home, I'm hungry."