Chapter 66 The First Day of Work

  Huo Yuxing immediately introduced the remaining four members of the band to Chen Chufan.

  Chen Chufan also had a general understanding of the composition of the entire band.

  Wang Tao, the bassist of the band, nicknamed Taizi. He was the one who just picked up his bass and was ready to fight Chen Chufan earlier. He's a bit impulsive, but according to Huo Yuxing, he's actually not bad at heart. Also, he's the only young man in the band without long hair, with a buzz cut that makes him look the most sunny.

  Tan Jianming, drummer of the band, nicknamed Xiao Ming, also known as "Fatty" due to his slightly chubby build. It is said that his drumming skills were passed down from Liu Xiaotao, the number one drummer in W City at the time, but Chen Chufan was not familiar with this name, so he didn't feel any admiration.

  Liu Hao, a saxophonist, is said to have studied in the United States for several years, majoring in business administration, with an MBA degree. However, he did not focus on his studies and ended up without even a graduation certificate. But as they say, "every loss has its gain". The five-year experience abroad allowed him to master the saxophone, and after returning home, he joined a band and became a professional saxophonist.

  Li Ke, the lead guitarist of the band, nicknamed Ake. Nothing special happened, and he is relatively quiet.

  "After introducing everyone, Huo Yuxing finally began to introduce himself: "My name is Huo Yuxing. I'm mainly in charge of playing the rhythm guitar. When we need to perform, if everyone just wants to sing, I also work as the lead vocalist. They all call me Brother Huo, but Chen Ge, you can just call me Little Huo."

  With Huo Yuxing's introduction, Chen Chufan had a general impression of all six members of the band.

  "My name is Chen Chufan, I'm a student at Minzu University of China. I came here to earn some living expenses and supplement my family's income. I hope to cooperate with everyone happily!" Chen Chufan gave a simple self-introduction.

  "It must be pleasant! Brother Chen, with your skills, it would be pleasant to cooperate with anyone!" Xiaoliu continued Chen Chufan's words.

  "Alright, little Liu, stop being poor. Everyone take their positions, let's practice together. We also need to see Chen Ge's piano skills!" Huo Yuxing patted Little Liu's head and directly called out.

  The band members put away their instruments one after another, and Huo Yuxing warmly wrapped his arm around Chen Chufan's shoulder, taking him to the piano in the practice room until he sat down on the chair in front of the piano.

  "How can I practice?" Chen Chufan asked somewhat gloomily. He had been saying "practice, practice" all along, but when he sat down at the piano, Chen Chufan suddenly realized that he didn't even have a concept of how to practice. From learning to play the piano until now, he had always played solo, and had never actually accompanied anyone before!

  "Huh? You've never collaborated with a band before?" Huo Yuxing asked in puzzlement.

  "Well, I used to play alone before, and I really haven't cooperated with anyone!" Chen Chufan confessed honestly.

  "What an honor! Brothers, Chen Ge's first collaboration is with our Qing Shui Wu Ji Xian band! Let's give a round of applause to celebrate!" Ho Yu Xing's reaction was not what Chen Chu Fan had expected. Normally, shouldn't Ho Yu Xing be briefing him on the key points of how to work with the band? It seems that this little Comrade Ho is also quite unreliable!

  Although Chen Chufan felt that he was not reliable, it was clear that everyone in the band was convinced by Huo Ge. With just one sentence, he stirred up the emotions of the entire scene, and everyone applauded and cheered, with Wang Tao even whistling while clapping.

  The kind-hearted teasing of the crowd made Chen Chufan feel a little embarrassed, but he didn't take it too seriously. He just quietly waited for the group to make enough noise before sighing and saying: "Alright, alright, I'm telling you brothers, time is really limited, this is my first time collaborating with someone, what if we don't mesh well and end up making fools of ourselves today? You guys can't blame me, okay?"

  "Come on, Chen Ge, you're being too modest again. With your sense of rhythm, just casually practice and that's enough. The main thing is to find some chemistry. Besides, we're playing in a private club, not on CCTV, so there's no need to be so particular. And let's be real, those people who come here to spend money don't have that high of an appreciation for music anyway. If you make a few small mistakes, they won't even notice!" Huo Yuxing said with a carefree attitude.

  "It doesn't matter if you practice or not, but you have to practice anyway. There are still 40 minutes until five o'clock!" Chen Chufan said helplessly.

  "Alright, let's just casually practice a piece." Huo Yuxing flipped through the sheet music on the piano and chose a piece with a relatively fast tempo. "This one will do, it's faster and more suitable for building tacit understanding! Come on, brothers, are you ready? This is our band's third practice piece."

  The first practice, Chen Chufan was a bit unaccustomed to it, but He Yuxing was right. When the second practice started, Chen Chufan, who had a strong sense of rhythm, found his pace and the piano sound began to blend into the entire orchestra's performance system. As for the third practice, in He Yuxing's words, Chen Chufan's performance was already perfect.

  "It's done, it's that simple. When the time comes to play a song, just play like this, absolutely no problem. The songs played in the club are all based on sheet music, and we have detailed scores for each song, so it's even more secure!" After playing three times, Huo Yuxing threw down his guitar and came over to chat with Chen Chufan.

  "Well, that's good. Is it about time? Let's go?" Chen Chufan also felt that it was almost time. Originally, playing with others wasn't as complicated as he had imagined. At the right moment, playing the right notes would be enough, and the score had everything marked out. The only thing was that during the performance, he couldn't just improvise freely, or else others wouldn't be able to keep up with his rhythm, and it would throw off the entire orchestra's rhythm. Or maybe if a few people were in perfect sync, there might be some improvement? Chen Chufan thought silently to himself.

  "Yes, I'm going to be late and there's no one around, the leader will report me. I'll get scolded!" Huo Yuxing nodded in agreement with Chen Chufan's question, then turned to face the rest of the band members and said: "Alright guys, I'll take Brother Chen to start work first. You all practice here for now!" With that, he led Chen Chufan out of the band's practice room.

  "Aren't we together?" Chen Chufan followed Huo Yuxing out of the band practice room, asking somewhat incredulously.

  "Of course, who puts a band in the restaurant?" Huo Yuxing explained to Chen Chufan: "It's just one piano. If no one orders songs, you can play whatever you want, think about how to play. If you really don't know what to play, there are many scores on the piano stand, you can find a book and play along. But try to choose songs with a comfortable rhythm. We're in a small performance hall in another wing of the club, we won't start performing until 7:30 and finish at 9:00. If we need a pianist here, someone will come to notify you!"

  "Oh, I see!" Chen Chufan nodded in understanding.

  During the conversation, the legendary restaurant in District C had arrived, and Chen Chufan finally saw this place where he would work. The entire hall was rectangular in shape, with a strong Western-style restaurant flavor. All the tables were long and narrow, each table was separated by partitions, divided into independent small spaces. There was also a row of private rooms around the restaurant, but the doors were all closed. In the center of the hall was a grand piano, Chen Chufan couldn't see the brand, but this piano was the most luxurious one he had ever seen.

  "Chen Ge, I'll send you off here! If everything goes smoothly, you should be able to arrive at our place around 8:30 and have some fun! If you're worried about getting lost, just ask any of the staff and they'll show you the way." Huo Yuxing said with a pat on Chen Chufan's shoulder.

  "Huh? I'm not supposed to get off work until 9 o'clock?" Chen Chufan asked in astonishment.

  "It's already almost empty here by 8:30. What are you still doing here alone? Just come to our place and hang out for half an hour, it counts as going to work! Don't worry, Xiao Liu is always like this when you're not around. And hey, every time you play a song, you can take a break in between. If you feel hungry, hurry up and call the restaurant staff now while there's still no one around, they'll prepare a quick meal for you at the club, otherwise you won't be able to eat until after 8:30." Huo Yuxing shared his experience with Chen Chufan.

  "I understand, thank you so much today!" Chen Chufan sincerely expressed his gratitude.

  "Don't mention it, I'll have plenty of chances to thank you in the future! I'm leaving first, see you tonight!" Huo Yuxing mysteriously smiled at Chen Chufan and then turned around and left the c-zone restaurant.

  Chen Chufan gazed at the disappearing figure of Huo Yuxing in the corridor, before turning around and walking into the cafeteria. Chen Chufan, with a gentle smile, found a waiter and ordered a quick meal. The name tag on his left chest told the waiter his identity, so although he was an unfamiliar face, no one asked any questions. Soon, a Western-style fast food was delivered to Chen Chufan.

  Quickly finishing his dinner, Chen Chufan sat down at the piano in the dining hall. The time was actually still early, and there were not many people eating in the dining hall, making the entire hall seem empty. However, Chen Chufan didn't mind this, sitting down at the piano, opening the lid, casually picking out a sheet of music, and beginning to play with concentration.

  Every time Chen Chufan immerses himself in music, time flies by quickly. He doesn't stop playing after finishing a piece of Ho Yuxing's music, but instead continues to play on and on, one song after another, because only then does he feel extremely happy. Even when he plays very relaxedly, many places naturally put the score aside and perform according to his own ideas, just like what Ho Yuxing said, anyway it's not a performance on CCTV, so he might as well practice playing the piano.

  So he was immersed in the music. He didn't even notice that it was already past six o'clock, and more and more people were coming to dine in the restaurant. He also didn't notice that Liu Ayi, who had invited him to join the club, had somehow entered the restaurant and was sitting in a corner of the hall having dinner with an old man.