Simon picked up the MP3 player and tried to turn it on; it actually worked. This thing was a relic from half a century ago, and it was still usable, which was somewhat incredible.
"This thing was put together by your Great-Grandfather himself."
??? An MP3 player could be 'put together'?
"But his craftsmanship wasn't good; he broke it."
Sure enough, the MP3 player froze on the boot screen.
Xiao Zheng took the device, played with it like a brick for a while, "The headphones are real, though. They should still work, right? Let's connect them wirelessly and listen."
Simon picked up the thick over-ear headphones, turned them on... success. They actually had power. Then he took out his phone, opened Bluetooth, connected... done.
Simon looked at his music app. It was full of pure instrumental music and children's songs. There was no music unsuitable for teenagers, such as songs that were too stimulating for the ear canal and brain.
He found it boring, but to test the headphones, he still chose a minimalist instrumental piece to play.
The moment he put on the headphones, the strong sense of enclosure made him feel like an astronaut. He couldn't say whether this feeling was comfortable, but he truly had the illusion of leaving his original spot.
Even without the brain-simulated sound effects, the sound quality of the headphones themselves was very good, capable of immersing one in the melody.
It was like still water running deep, Simon evaluated the music. He rarely had such feelings anymore. Usually, listening to music required a certain mood. Now, even when he was feeling down, he was still moved by the music.
He stood in the dim attic, light streaming in from the square windowpanes behind him. Simon could see his own shadow when he looked down, as well as columns of dust around his shadow, floating like specters beside a black hole named'shadow.' Simon felt like he was wandering between light and shadow...
Zheng Qilu looked at the little kid's immersed expression and couldn't help but smile nostalgically, then he snatched the headphones without hesitation.
"Give them back!" Simon was furious. He was just getting into it!
You Tou Guai put them on himself, heard the music, and a smirk appeared on his lips, "Kid, you have good taste."
Not many people appreciated quiet music, let alone a five-year-old child. Zheng Qilu was full of admiration for Simon, instinctively feeling that he would achieve great things in the future, as long as he studied hard, he would not repeat the mistakes of Zhongyong.
Simon was so angry he wanted to deliver a fatal blow to You Tou Guai, but he ultimately suppressed his rage, puffing up his cheeks as he changed the music to the classic children's song "Schnappi (The Little Crocodile)."
You Tou Guai's face darkened when he heard it. He took off the headphones, "Who told you about this song?"
"No one, really. It's a German song, isn't it nice?" Simon asked with an innocent face.
Nice... my foot! The homophonic lyrics are quite vicious, aren't they?
Ultimately, these headphones ended up in Simon's hands. Zheng Qilu rubbed his face, then suddenly remembered something, "Do you know what kind of music your Great-Grandfather likes?"
"No, tell me."
"I don't know either." You Tou Guai had a searching look. "He hasn't listened to it himself in a long time. He used to have CDs, but then they weren't allowed anymore, and I met him much later than that."
"Then how do you know he has a favorite song?"
"Hah!" Zheng Qilu paced around the attic with his hands in his pockets. Simon could see the icy green glow peeking out from under the skin of his four prosthetic fingers on his right hand. "Back then, he had a good memory and could hum a few lines. Now he's forgotten everything."
"Can you hum it?"
You Tou Guai lowered his head and thought for a moment, "Wait a minute... Hmm, it goes like this: La la xi la xi duo, la la xi la xi duo -- la -- la xi la xi duo..."
For a moment, Simon felt it sounded familiar, but Zheng Qilu remembered too little of the tune. "You said, say the lyrics."
"The lyrics, well, I've pretty much forgotten them. It should be something about a wife in Australia, drinking beer, a skyscraper or something..."
Again, for a moment, it sounded familiar. Simon eagerly asked, "Anything else?"
"No."
"Idiot!" Simon scoffed.
"How do you talk to your teacher, you little rascal... Shhh! Your Great-Grandfather seems to be coming. Let's go down."
The trapdoor on the attic floor moved. Zheng Qilu kicked the box containing the MP3 player back into the storage room. Simon didn't have time to return the headphones, so he quickly took off his clothes, held the headphones in his left hand, and covered his left hand with his jacket. At first glance, it was seamless.
Great-Grandfather pushed open the trapdoor with his head, revealing a pair of cold eyes that gleamed in the darkness, like some nocturnal cold-blooded animal, even scarier than the fat rats in Simon's bedroom.
"What are you looking for?"
Zheng Qilu gave an awkward laugh, "Nothing, we were just about to leave."
Lu Xuefeng suddenly pushed open the trapdoor and climbed up the ladder step by step, his gaze wandering as if two dark shadows shot out from his eyes, still so cold. He fixed his gaze on Simon's left hand, immediately understanding. He held out his hand, and Simon slowly handed over the headphones, anxiously trying to think of a plan, an excuse, but in the end, he couldn't say anything. He lost the strength to argue under Great-Grandfather's gaze.
Lu Xuefeng took the headphones and gently rubbed them. The sound of his rough fingers rubbing against the plastic surface of the headphones was surprisingly clear, hissing. He opened the door to the small storage room and saw the opened box, leaning crookedly against the wall. He didn't say anything, just put the headphones away, closed the box, and everything returned to its original place.
Was he angry?
Simon became somewhat blunt, "Great-Grandfather, are you angry?"
Lu Xuefeng shook his head with his back to him. When he bent down, his shrunken white undershirt couldn't cover his back, so Simon saw a coppery chin from the hem of his clothing. It was his tattoo, which looked like a human head? But it was covered with steam pipes and some tiny humans, overall very artistic, but he didn't know what its full appearance was like.
He was becoming more and more curious about this tattoo now. Should he try to peek at Great-Grandfather showering?
Simon was amused by his own thought, "Pfft." This sound came at a very inopportune moment. Both adults froze. Lu Xuefeng turned back, "Let's go, downstairs, and study painting properly."
Simon lowered his head, "I'm sorry."
"It's alright."
Great-Grandfather hesitated before going downstairs. For someone his age, climbing a ladder was a challenging task. Zheng Qilu was indifferent to this, but Simon wanted to help him. The old man waved him off, and in the end, he faced the ladder and climbed down step by step, a shaky sight that Simon rarely saw.
All three went downstairs, and the old man suddenly asked, "How many more days until New Year's Eve?" He knew perfectly well, but he seemed to be using it as a conversation starter.
"January 26th, the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month." You Tou Guai glanced at his phone.
Lu Xuefeng stood with his hands behind his back, "Twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, New Year's Eve." He muttered, then suddenly said loudly, "Tomorrow you come and cook for him. I need to go out."
Zheng Qilu was a bit resistant, "What are you going to do?"
"I have something to do. You stay here, in the attic."
"No, I'll come early tomorrow."
"Driving? Don't you not drive?"
"The early bus will be enough."
"Alright then."]}
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