(This will be my next book, and I plan to start posting it in mid-to-late October.)
In 2008, Cheng Yanqing lived in an alley in a small town in southern China.
Her family ran a herbal tea shop, selling drinks to passersby. Everyone on the street called her the Herbal Tea Girl. Their home had two and a half stories: the shop was on the first floor, the family lived on the second, and the remaining half-story was her attic bedroom.
When she opened the attic window, the weather was fine.
She could see her childhood friend, Xiang Qingyun, sitting at the desk in the building across the street, legs crossed as he picked his teeth with a fingernail. When he noticed her disgusted look, he rolled his eyes first. "What are you looking at? Keep staring and I'll flick this at your face!"
Their close friend Si Xiaolan ran down the alley with a backpack full of pirated manga. Without even looking up, she called out to them, "Are you two still not going to school? You'll be late for afternoon classes!"
That year, the iPhone had yet to enter the Chinese market. QQ Dance had only just come out of beta testing. Tianya Forum and Baidu Tieba were still at their peak. The country was still reeling from the devastating Wenchuan earthquake, and the Beijing Olympics were about to be held in the Bird's Nest.
That year, Cheng Yanqing was in eighth grade. Her talent for writing was just beginning to show, and she was pleased with herself because her essays were often read aloud by her teacher as model compositions. She also had her worries: the upcoming high school entrance exam, her insufficiently high nose, and her nearsightedness. Her prescription was 200 degrees, but even after getting glasses, she refused to wear them.
One weekend night, she climbed onto the roof to listen to music on the radio. A youthful male voice drifted out of the local station.
His voice was pure and ethereal. He sang The Cranberries' "Dreams," her favorite song.
After quietly listening to the whole song, she wrote down the contact address the lead singer gave at the end. Cheng Yanqing decided to set off and visit his band herself.
Later, she became the first fan of the band that would take Asia by storm, and wrote the lyrics for their first original song.
※ A small-town girl's story. The female lead is an ordinary person with flaws. This is not a power fantasy or a typical celebrity-fan story. There is romance, but it's not only about romance. It's a BG story, though strictly speaking, there is no male lead.
※ Modern alternate universe.
Theme: The damp dusk brought me a voice.
