Chapter 1313: The Last Musical Instrument
“Zhou Wen, you are a huge fool. You are simple-minded, all brawn and no brains, and are as stupid as a pig…” When Zhang Yuzhi cursed, her face was filled with adoration.
However, as she spoke and struck the drums, Zhou Wen really didn’t hear anything she said. He felt somewhat depressed.
Only when Zhang Yuzhi stopped drumming did Zhou Wen finally hear half a sentence.
“I really adore you…” Zhang Yuzhi’s voice finally entered Zhou Wen’s ears.
“I’m not that good!” Zhou Wen scratched the back of his head in embarra.s.sment. He never expected Zhang Yuzhi to be praising him with such a long speech.
Zhou Wen felt that perhaps Zhang Yuzhi was too embarra.s.sed to praise him directly, so she had used such a tactful method.
“I really adore you… You’re so stupid…” Zhang Yuzhi continued striking the drums.
Zhou Wen saw that when Zhang Yuzhi struck the drums as she spoke, her expression seemed innocent and kind. Yet, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.
No, I have to think of a way to hear what she’s saying. Zhang Yuzhi kept speaking to Zhou Wen, but Zhou Wen couldn’t hear anything. This left him depressed.
It wasn’t that he was bent on hearing Zhang Yuzhi, but he felt that something was amiss. Zhang Yuzhi’s drumbeat was clearly interfering with his hearing.
However, it was difficult to capture Zhang Yuzhi’s voice to begin with. It was even more difficult with the interference of the drums.
Zhou Wen made repeated attempts, but the outcome wasn’t ideal. As the interference was so severe, it was almost impossible for him to capture Zhang Yuzhi’s voice.
It’s impossible to try my luck to capture the useful sounds, and I can’t tell the source of the sound from its position and amplitude. Is there any other way to lock onto a particular sound? Zhou Wen’s first thought was naturally the frequency of sounds.
Using frequency, he could indeed determine some special frequencies, but the frequency of human voices was just too ordinary. It was overwhelmed by many other sound frequencies. Even if Zhou Wen locked onto Zhang Yuzhi’s vocal frequency, he would still receive a ma.s.sive amount of information.
Finding Zhang Yuzhi’s voice was no different from finding a needle in a haystack.
If frequency doesn’t work, are there any other characteristics to the sound? The frequency, pitch, and tone of human voices are indeed very recognizable within a certain range, but this information is hidden in the ma.s.sive amount of sound information. There are too many similarities. Just humans alone have billions. The interference is too serious… Zhou Wen had no choice but to listen carefully to Zhang Yuzhi’s voice again and again.
He hoped to discover something different from the other voices, but the outcome naturally wasn’t that desirable. Human voices weren’t that recognizable in the ma.s.sive amount of information.
Zhang Yuzhi didn’t constantly strike the drums. When she wasn’t striking, she would also instruct Zhou Wen to take care of the flowers.
At that moment, Zhou Wen could easily capture Zhang Yuzhi’s voice and use it to constantly compare and make judgments.
Although Zhou Wen couldn’t hear her when she struck the drums, his ability to capture her voice increased during normal periods.
Zhou Wen spent the next few days with the Zhang family.
Zhang Yuzhi made a fool of Zhou Wen in different ways. In the morning, she played the drums; in the afternoon, she played the piano; and at night, she played the violin.
No matter how slow Zhou Wen was, he knew that Zhang Yuzhi had definitely said something unexpected. However, he didn’t know what she was talking about.
Progress hadn’t been smooth over the past few days. Be it the frequency, pitch, or tone, there was no way to truly lock onto a sound from the various aspects.
Although with his proficiency, Zhou Wen could occasionally hear a sound he wanted to hear, it required a certain amount of luck and a relatively quiet environment.
If Zhang Yuzhi made some complicated sounds, Zhou Wen basically couldn’t hear anything clearly. The overlapping of sound was just too chaotic.
This situation didn’t improve after four days. Zhou Wen ultimately couldn’t hear what Zhang Yuzhi had said when she spoke.
However, Zhou Wen knew one thing very well. Zhang Yuzhi didn’t know anything about musical instruments.
Time pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye. Soon, it was time to meet Zhang Chunqiu, but Zhou Wen found it odd.
Zhang Chunqiu was afraid that someone would harm Zhang Yuzhi, but nothing had happened for the past four days. Apart from Zhang Chunqiu and a few others, no one had approached the garden.
Of course, Zhou Wen didn’t wish for anything to happen.
Zhang Chunqiu came to Zhou Wen and told him that the matter had been resolved. He could leave the Zhang family.
Zhou Wen went to the garden to bid Zhang Yuzhi farewell. Zhang Yuzhi likely knew that Zhou Wen was leaving today and was waiting for him in the garden.
“I still have one last instrument I’m good at. You can leave after listening,” Zhang Yuzhi said to Zhou Wen.
Zhou Wen felt somewhat helpless when he heard that. He was about to leave, but Zhang Yuzhi still wanted to tease him.
Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about how to reject Zhang Yuzhi, she had already sat down in front of a zither.
Closing her eyes, Zhang Yuzhi’s fingers hung above the strings. After a while, she finally strummed the zither strings.
Her eyes were closed the entire time as her fingers seemed to dance. Even if he couldn’t hear the zither music, Zhou Wen knew that Zhang Yuzhi wasn’t randomly playing. She really knew how to play.
After playing for a while, Zhang Yuzhi spoke again. However, this time, she wasn’t speaking, but singing.
Looking at Zhang Yuzhi, who was playing and singing with her eyes closed, Zhou Wen suddenly wanted to know what she was playing and what she was singing.
For some reason, Zhou Wen didn’t feel anything despite Zhang Yuzhi getting so many musical instruments and producing all those sounds with an extremely rich expression on her face. However, this time, when he looked at Zhang Yuzhi, who had her eyes closed and had no expression, Zhou Wen’s heart stirred.
As he watched, Zhou Wen suddenly heard a gentle voice. Amidst the cacophony, it sounded very soft and weak. However, Zhou Wen gradually felt that the other sounds around him were gradually receding like a tidal wave, and this sound was becoming clearer.
“The familiar face… in my dreams… Is the tenderness that I await… Even though tears flood the world… I will never let go… Every moment… pa.s.ses in loneliness… Only because I promised…”
Zhou Wen finally heard Zhang Yuzhi singing and playing something. The music and singing were very moving, but for some reason, Zhang Yuzhi gradually turned into a little girl in Zhou Wen’s eyes. She hugged her knees with both arms and curled her body, trembling in the boundless darkness.
There was no light in her world.