Chapter 133: Hand in Hand (4) |
Shen Qing’s fingers were slender and long, her nails trimmed very short, the edges smooth and rounded, looking exceptionally clean. Even the small calluses didn’t detract from their beauty.
She stretched her right hand out to Wei Hongsi again, spreading both palms wide, her ten fingers appearing very relaxed, yet not in a forced, strained way.
“You try it too.”
Wei Hongsi raised his hand and spread his fingers just like she did. He could manage roughly the same posture without much difficulty.
Shen Qing then flattened both hands, letting her fingers curl naturally. One by one, she independently lifted and lowered each finger, the movements crisp and clean, without any unnecessary wobbling on the rise or fall.
Wei Hongsi tried to mimic the finger movements but couldn’t achieve her level of neatness; his fingers always twitched and trembled.
“A bit rusty, huh!” Shen Qing said with a smile.
Wei Hongsi gave a slight nod, breathing a quiet sigh of relief inside.
Shen Qing’s verification of his finger dexterity carried real weight. He could basically confirm that playing the electronic keyboard and guitar were his own skills, not something implanted from an external source.
For instance, a boxing champion could knock out a calf with one punch. If someone only had the champion’s boxing technique memories but lacked the strong body to back them up, one punch would only break their own bones and tear their tendons.
But confirming this wasn’t entirely good news either. It meant the memories he had “lost” weren’t just “Uncle Zhang and the tin whistle.” Perhaps the guitar and electronic keyboard were tied to other people too. This feeling of having no grasp on his past was truly hard to cheer about.
Shen Qing looked into Wei Hongsi’s eyes, seeming to catch a flicker of sadness, and comforted him, “Don’t worry. Your foundation is still there. With a little practice, you should quickly regain that familiar feeling.”
Wei Hongsi forced a smile. “When I get that feeling back, I’ll play something for you, and you can give me your feedback.”
“Sounds great.” Shen Qing smiled. “The suggestions you gave me last time sparked a lot of inspiration. Once I finish revising the song, you can critique it for me again.”
“No problem.” Wei Hongsi thought to himself, until he earned enough contribution points to exchange for a skill, he’d just have to use the old method to “look” at it for her.
He then remembered the issue Zhang Shengyong was concerned about and said, “Your conversation with Zhou Huai will help the police crack the case.”
Shen Qing said, “Then just relay it for me. I don’t want to repeat it.”
Once they had finished their discussion, Wei Hongsi went to the meeting room and informed Tang Jinxia. Everyone then came out and headed to Wei Hongsi’s office.
Wei Hongsi told Yuan Zhenhui that his task was complete and he could leave.
It was already almost 8:30 PM, nearly half an hour longer than the time Wei Hongsi had initially estimated for Yuan Zhenhui. The delay was mainly because they had ended up talking about many other things afterward.
Wei Hongsi apologized for this. Although Yuan Zhenhui didn’t actually need to stay for the second half—and such matters weren’t really part of his job—it was still a bit of a mishap on his part.
Yuan Zhenhui said repeatedly that it was no big deal, but then he grew hesitant and didn’t leave immediately.
Wei Hongsi asked, “Is there something else?”
Yuan Zhenhui said, “Manager Wei, Shen Qing is your friend, right? I was wondering…”
“You want a photo with her?” Wei Hongsi realized. The first time he met Shen Qing, Ji Cheng had arranged it that way, showing it was a common request from fans meeting a celebrity.
“No, no, no. A photo is out of the question.” Yuan Zhenhui quickly denied it. Since Shen Qing’s visit today was supposed to be confidential, a photo would be inappropriate.
He stammered, “My wife is her fan. I listen to her songs a lot too. I was wondering… if I could ask for her autograph.”
Wei Hongsi led him to the office and relayed his request to Shen Qing.
Shen Qing had already put on her hat and mask. Upon hearing this, she took off her mask and asked, “Where would you like me to sign it?”
Yuan Zhenhui immediately turned red-faced, stammering and flailing his hands in panic.
Wei Hongsi said, “He didn’t know you were coming, so he wasn’t prepared.”
Shen Qing smiled. “That’s fine.” She held out one hand to Tang Jinxia.
Tang Jinxia took a CD and its promotional insert from her shoulder bag, along with a marker, and handed them to Shen Qing.
This was the first physical collector’s edition CD Shen Qing had released since her debut. Tang Jinxia always kept a few on hand in her bag to give away.
Shen Qing asked for Yuan Zhenhui and his wife’s names, wrote them down on the promotional insert, added a blessing, and then signed her name with the date.
Wei Hongsi watched from the side and noticed that Shen Qing’s handwriting showed she had practiced seriously, not just her signature.
After signing, Shen Qing held the insert and CD up in front of her and looked at Wei Hongsi. “Is it okay to take a picture in your office?”
“I don’t mind at all.” Wei Hongsi said with a smile, lightly patting Yuan Zhenhui. “Open your phone.”
Yuan Zhenhui handed his phone to Wei Hongsi, stood stiffly beside Shen Qing, and completed the photo. Tang Jinxia took two more shots.
Shen Qing gave the CD and promotional insert to Yuan Zhenhui, who thanked her profusely.
Shen Qing then said to Wei Hongsi, “Let’s take a photo together too. A memento of the start of our collaboration.”
“Sure.” Wei Hongsi handed his phone to Yuan Zhenhui and stood next to Shen Qing for the photo.
After the picture was taken, Wei Hongsi said to Yuan Zhenhui, “Teacher Shen Qing will be helping us with some research. This needs to stay confidential for now.”
Yuan Zhenhui nodded. “I understand.” Then he said his goodbyes to everyone and left.
Wei Hongsi invited Zhang Shengyong and the accompanying female officer to sit in the office for a moment while he saw Shen Qing and Tang Jinxia off to the underground parking lot.
After returning to the office, Wei Hongsi repeated to Zhang Shengyong the details Shen Qing had mentioned earlier about her exchange with Zhou Huai.
If this information still couldn’t lure out Zhou Huai’s original motive for getting close to Shen Qing, then they might only learn the truth after cracking their “fuse-blown mechanism.”
Zhang Shengyong carefully recorded all this content. The trip had yielded some gains after all.
“Tomorrow morning, we’ll send someone over to you. The higher-ups have assigned that to me. Also, there are two other public figures. How about arranging them for tomorrow evening?”
“That works. We’ll prepare in advance and just make sure their schedules don’t overlap.”
Wei Hongsi saw the two police officers out, then sent a message to Director Liang, relaying Tang Jinxia’s request. Since he had agreed to this, he wouldn’t ask Zhang Shengyong to pass it along.
Before long, Director Liang replied: “We’ll arrange it within two days.”
That was about what Wei Hongsi had expected. He relaxed, leaned back on the sofa, and called up the “System” interface.
This time, without any hesitation, he spent the contribution points on upgrading the “Cognitive Restructuring” talent.
After the upgrade was complete, however, he felt nothing special. He couldn’t help but wonder if those 1,000 contribution points had just gone down the drain.
