Chapter 30
Chapter 30
“Next up, the band Back-Alley Cat—let’s welcome them and the show they’re about to give us.”
At last, the closing act of Lihai University’s welcome party—Back-Alley Cat—was stepping onstage.
The moment the MC finished, every light in the gym cut out.
The instant the crowd heard the name Back-Alley Cat, the entire stadium ignited. Seniors who had watched the band rise from campus rumor to city-wide phenomenon screamed the loudest. Though only two years old, the group’s fame had long since spilled beyond the university gates into all of Jiangbei City. Plenty of outsiders had even paid premium prices tonight just to see them; they’d been corralled into a separate section, but their cheers carried anyway.
Overhead rigs swung every spotlight to center stage. Students packed the stands floor-to-ceiling, waving glow sticks they’d smuggled in like contraband. Zhao Lin, seated beside Chen Zhijing, felt the buzz crackling through her own fingertips. Even the freshmen couldn’t have guessed what this band meant to Lihai.
The beams swept the arena once, twice, then slammed to a white-hot point as the curtain lifted.
Five silhouettes appeared in the gloom—every one of them unmistakably a senior-sis.
At dead center stood lead guitarist Yunxiao, better known as Xiao Hei. Flanking her were bassist Xiao Lan and rhythm guitarist Lizai. Just behind them, keyboardist Buou hovered over her electronic piano, while captain-drummer Ye Zi—Da Ju to the fandom—sat tall at the kit.
Lights flared, flooding the dome. Down in the pit, the Student Council President pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, delighted with the entrance he’d engineered.
“Good evening, everyone—we’re Back-Alley Cat. Our first song tonight, ‘White Horse,’ goes out to every freshman taking your first steps on campus...and to the rest of you lucky devils here with us.”
Da Ju’s bright, fearless voice ricocheted off the rafters. The crowd answered with a two-minute hurricane of whistles and screams that left even the faculty wincing.
On the center mark, Yunxiao scanned the sea of faces. Somewhere in that ocean was Xiao Lin—she knew it. He was watching her right now. The thought sent heat surging through her chest; her pick hand trembled against the strings. She pressed her lips together, inhaled once, and let the nerves harden into resolve. Tonight she would show him the best version of herself.
The rest of the band watched her, waiting. “White Horse” opened with a twin-guitar figure—her and Lizai. Yunxiao traded a quick nod with the rhythm guitarist, dipped her head, and struck the first chord.
The note rang out like water over stone; Lizai slid in a heartbeat later. Da Ju’s drums landed clean, and the stadium fell silent under the spell of the song that had first put them on the map—ferocious, wide-open, alive.
In the darkened stands, Lin Zhe stared, transfixed. He remembered what he’d once written to her: Some birds are born for open sky—every feather shot through with freedom. Tonight she was that bird, radiant and untouchable.
When the final chord dissolved, Yunxiao tilted her face to the roof, brushing sweat-damp hair from her eyes. The close-up on the arena screen made half the freshmen forget how to breathe.
“White Horse” was done. Next up: “Boundless Sea and Sky.”
And tonight, for the first time, Yunxiao would handle the MC duties herself. She drew the mic close.
“Hope you liked ‘White Horse.’ The song we’re about to play...we wrote it for every one of you who just walked through the university gates this week.”
A ripple of disbelief swept the floor. Everyone had assumed they’d launch straight into their other hit, “Wildfire.” A brand-new track—on the night the freshmen arrived? Surprise gave way to delighted roar.
“But before that—congratulations on making it to Lihai University.”
After the brutal, thorn-covered marathon of the College Entrance Exam—whether or not you ended up at the university you dreamed of—Back-Alley Cat wants you to know how proud and happy we are that you gave it everything you had.
We also hope you’ll come to love Lihai University.
As Shawshank Redemption puts it: “Some birds aren’t meant to be caged; their feathers are just too bright.”
Yunxiao’s eyes went distant for a moment. She paused, voice softening.
“And, borrowing words once given to me by someone I can’t thank enough: may happiness always rest in the palms of your hands.
Without him, I wouldn’t be standing here tonight, and this band would never have existed.
So stay gorgeous, stay fearless, and live without a single regret.
Just like the title of the song we’re about to play—may your future be... boundless as the sea and sky.”