Chen Wan was the first girl to enter Li Mu's room.
Li Mu was very shy when he was a teenager. He didn't have any close contact with any girls before he graduated from high school, so he never took any girls home. After going to college, he focused on working so his few relationships failed.
Li Mu's room was small at about 15 square meters. He had a 1.5 meter long bed, an old desk, a bookcase with glass doors, a wardrobe, a red rug, and a wooden guitar.
The room was a bit cramped, but it was neat. Chen Wan stepped forward and could smell a light aroma in the room. It was the smell of freshly-washed clothes which she liked, so she felt comfortable in the room.
There were several different posters on the wall. There many posters, but the most special one was a gold-colored poster with railroad tracks disappearing into the mist, and a man with a short haircut was crouched on the track, burying his face in between his legs.
"This poster is so strange." Chen Wan looked surprised. "There's no writing. What's it about?"
"It was for Dou Wei's album 'Black Dream'. I bought this poster from a small stall near the stands. I think this one is a copy because the original one had the words 'Dou Weihei' on it."
Chen Wan nodded, and noticed his slightly worn-out red guitar, she asked curiously, "Do you play?"
"I play just a bit for fun."
Chen Wan immediately asked, "Do you want to play a song for me? There are a lot of boys at my school who play guitar and sing. They're pretty good."
"Why do college boys even have this idea?" Li Mu shook his head helplessly.
Chen Wan begged, "Play a song for sister. Play Xu Wei's 'My Autumn', I really like it!"
Li Mu smiled and asked curiously, "Wasn't Xu Wei's first album was very bad? How could you like it, Bai Fumei?"
Chen Wan ignored Li Mu's teasing and said, "I like it because it sounds good."
Li Mu nodded with a smile, sat by his bed and picked up his shabby acoustic guitar from the corner.
The guitar was a gift from his mother in his second year of middle school. At that time, it cost more than 200 yuan, which was considered to be one of the cheaper acoustic guitars.
Li Mu tuned the guitar after hearing one of the strings was too high. Because of the college entrance exams, he neglected his guitar which meant that some of the strings were out of tune.
Chen Wan, who was sitting on his chair, changed her posture after seeing his skill in tuning, and prepared to listen.
Li Mu played the first chord to 'My Autumn', but suddenly stopped and said, "It's boring to sing what you asked for, so I'll sing you a new sing you haven't heard of before."
"A new song?" Chen Wan's eyes brightened and smiled. "Okay, sing it."
Li Mu nodded his head, remembering how the chords went. After a simple and melodious intro, he sang with a slightly hoarse voice.
"Zebra, Zebra, don't you fall asleep now,
Let me have a look at your wounded tail again.
I don't wish to touch the scars of your wounds,
I only want to run my hands through your hair.
Zebra, Zebra, you'll return to your own home.
But I'll waste my frigid years.
Not a single door in your city is open for me;
I'll have to return to the roads in the end..."
Li Mu loved rock before he was 30, but he began to love folk songs after he was 30. Song Fat was one of his favorite singers, especially the song 'Zebra Zebra' because of its emotions of vicissitudes and helplessness, and the special connection between a man and an injured zebra. Of course, the zebra isn't really a zebra. In the future, people generally believed that the zebra in the song refers to someone who was hurt by other women.
Chen Wan never heard the song or its lyrics before, but she could imagine the scene he was singing after listening to Li Mu.
Li Mu's voice is good, and with his more than 30 years of life experience, he is able to instill more emotion in the song.
"Zebra, zebra, do you still remember me?
I was the fool who could only sing..."
When Li Mu sang this sentence, Chen Wan's heart was inexplicably moved and her eyes began to tear.
With his song, Li Mu's thoughts returned to his last life. Everything he encountered, he now missed. It wasn't a bad life but in his new life, he has a chance to change his destiny.
Li Mu knows that he won't go to the same college as he did in his last life. Everyone he met at the college, he wouldn't be able to meet in this life. He won't have to work and strain himself everyday now, and all of the people he met would only become a passerby to him. But because of this, he was able to meet Chen Wan in this life.
Chen Wan didn't know why Li Mu fell silent after he finished singing the song. She suddenly felt full of sadness. The lyrics of the song didn't talk about anything sad, but the atmosphere the song created was very touching.
Chen Wan wiped away her tears and asked, "What's the name of this song?'
"Zebra Zebra."
"Who's song is it?"
"Eh..." Li Mu remembered that Song Fat wrote it. He was born in 1987, so he should still be a middle school student. Because he didn't rise to fame yet, Li Mu shamelessly took credit for it.
"I wrote it myself."
For a man mentally in his thirties, endless amounts of practice allowed him to lie without a change on his face or in his heart.
"Really?!" Chen Wan's worldview suddenly collapsed, and she felt that she couldn't help but look at the boy in front of her a bit closer.
"Well, it is a song that's never been sung before."
This is true. In this world, Chen Wan was the first person to hear this song.
Chen Wan felt even more moved, and recalling the beautiful lyrics, she asked, "Why did you use a zebra as a metaphor for people?"
Li Mu raised his head and stared at the slanted ceiling. Sighing, he said, "An animal like a zebra cannot sleep alone."
These few words added another level of emotions and beauty to this song.
Li Mu said to himself, "This answer definitely deserves full marks."
Chen Wan started to admire this eighteen year old boy, and wanted to ask a few more questions, but didn't expect that someone would slam the door shouting, "Li Mu!"
It's Zhao Kang!
Li Mu immediately got up excitedly and ran to the door.
He hasn't seen Zhao Kang for over a decade. Li Mu is naturally very happy he can see him again even though Li Mu met Zhao Kang two days ago in this life.
"Kangzi!"
As soon as Li Mu opened the door, he stepped forward and took Zhao Kang into his arms.
Zhao Kang pushed away in disgust, looked at him in amazement, and with a hard sigh, said, "****, I haven't seen you in two days. You're looking handsome now? When did you get that haircut? You also shaved your beard? Aren't you afraid of me telling Aunt Li?"
Li Mu looked at him and laughed.
"Why are you asking so many questions?"
'****, I just can't get used to how you look now." Zhao Kan gritted his teeth and pouted, "This brother can't stand it anymore. Let's grab a couple of knives and kitchen scissors and make you ugly again."
Zhao Kang isn't handsome because of his dark skin and average facial features. Aditionally, he seemed to be sulking now. That was a bit sad, but he was a good person. Maybe Zhao Kang could grow to be a big person in the future.
Li Mu was stunned, and cursing in his heart, he said, "Stop teasing me. Do you need to go back to your house? If not, we can go straight to dinner."
"I don't need to go back." Zhao Kang waved his hands. "My mom locked the door and left."
"Wait, I'll call my sister, she's in my room."
"Your sister?" Zhao Kang's mouth opened in wonder. "When did you have a sister?"
Li Mu laughed.
"I only met her not too long ago, just wait here."