Chapter 214: Zhang Le's Music Class Officially Begins
Since Zhang Le was the music class teacher and had initiated this class himself, he wore a high-end burgundy suit today to show respect for his own course.
Currently, Zhang Le was on stage delivering an eloquent lecture. Below the stage, Jiang Ran and the others sat at tables, enjoying the fruits, sunflower seeds, snacks prepared by Manager Xiao Zhang, and there was even a freezer in the activity room containing ice cream—perhaps prepared to prevent people from getting too bored during the lecture and leaving.
What might surprise some audience members, especially Jiang Ran, was that Zhang Le actually taught quite well. His musical knowledge covered a broad range, from music history and ancient classical music to modern pop music, along with various peculiar stories about music. It was far more interesting than the dull classes taught by typical music teachers.
Particularly when Zhang Le now discussed a recently heavily criticized cover song online—a domestic male idol group called something like "Youth League" covering "Lemon," the representative work of Japanese artist Kenshi Yonezu from Cherry Blossom Country.
Zhang Le spoke from the stage: "I believe many people here have heard that Japanese song 'Lemon' from Cherry Blossom Country, as well as the recently heavily criticized cover version online."
"Let's not even discuss the singing skills of this idol group first. Let's just talk about the lyrics alone."
"That day's melancholy, become melancholy. That day's loneliness, become lonely."
"Not mentioning other lyrics, just these two lines. First, these lyrics sound like they were written by an elementary school student in terms of word choice, phrasing, and structure."
"Of course, this isn't what I want to criticize. What I want to criticize is melancholy and loneliness—these two things nobody wants to encounter."
"These two lyrics actually encourage melancholy and loneliness to 'become thoroughly'? What were they thinking?" "Isn't this as absurd as a depressed patient not wanting to get better but instead hoping their depression becomes more severe? That day's depression, become depressed?"
"As for why I'm mentioning this matter—it's not because I want to criticize it, but because I want to use this to express my philosophy about songs."
"A song consists of both melody and lyrics! May I ask, which is more important—the melody or the lyrics?"
Liu Xiaoyu raised her hand: "Definitely the melody is more important! Without the melody, where would the lyrics come from?" While speaking, the camera in her right hand never stopped recording.
Manager Xiao Zhang countered Liu Xiaoyu: "Who says there must be a melody first before lyrics? Some creators accumulate phrases and lyrics in their daily life. Even without a melody, they can have complete lyrics."
Liu Xiaoyu disagreed: "But in this world, lyrics are generally written based on the melody. Like Jay Chou and Vincent Fang—doesn't Jay Chou always provide the melody first? Then Vincent Fang writes lyrics based on the melody?"
This example brought instant silence to the entire room. Indeed, over these years, Jay Chou could be considered the absolute dominant force in Chinese music. Who would dare refute this example?
At this moment, Fang Xiao took a drink of baijiu and suddenly spoke with a laugh: "I think this question is too extreme—whether melody is more important or lyrics are more important."
"I believe both are important. Good melody paired with good lyrics creates perfect harmony."
Jiang Ran was also pondering this question. If forced to choose, he thought everyone above made good points, haha.
"Hey, that Zhang Le guy, since you raised this question, why don't you tell us—which is more important, melody or lyrics?" Fang Xiao raised his baijiu bottle toward Zhang Le on stage.
Zhang Le smiled slightly: "Different people have different opinions. Everyone has their own answer to this question."
"As for how I view this question, I'll only say one sentence: A song is like a person. The melody is the person's appearance, the lyrics are the person's soul."
Next, Zhang Le changed the subject and began discussing other music-related topics.
Jiang Ran felt his phone vibrating in his pants pocket at this moment. Opening it, he saw a text message from Bai Xiaoliang, the doctor treating him at Red Leaf Psychiatric Hospital in Nancheng City.
The general meaning was that if he had time, he could come this afternoon as they had finalized the relevant treatment plan. Seeing this, Jiang Ran's mood immediately improved since he hoped his dissociative identity disorder could be treated quickly!
Of course, since he needed to go to the hospital in the afternoon, he would have to ask Manager Xiao Zhang for leave again.
...
Time quickly reached 1 PM in the afternoon. Jiang Ran arrived at Red Leaf Psychiatric Hospital.
Perhaps due to special privileges Bai Xiaoliang had arranged for Jiang Ran, he didn't need to register this time. After informing the front desk nurse and waiting about ten minutes, he directly entered examination room number 1 where Bai Xiaoliang always worked.
The moment Jiang Ran stepped into examination room number 1, he froze in his tracks. Because the danger warning sounded in his mind again:
[Ding! Dangerous person detected! Please distance yourself immediately! Points +10! Points +10! Points +10...]
That's right—the danger warning that had never sounded during his previous two hospital visits was now active. After it sounded, Jiang Ran immediately scanned the entire examination room with his eyes.
This time, examination room number 1 contained about a dozen people, mostly doctors. Although Jiang Ran had visited twice before, he at least had some impression of these doctors. Only one person looked completely unfamiliar.
Jiang Ran looked toward a man standing beside Bai Xiaoliang. Bai Xiaoliang was very handsome and good-looking—most ordinary men couldn't compare when standing next to him. But this man standing beside Bai Xiaoliang wasn't overshadowed at all;
instead, his looks were on par with Bai Xiaoliang's.
Moreover, this man seemed to be a foreigner? Caucasian appearance?
As if noticing Jiang Ran's gaze, Bai Xiaoliang happened to be introducing the person beside him: "Jiang Ran, this is my junior fellow student. His name is Lucas Matthew—you can call him Lucas."
"He's mixed race—his father is American, his mother is from Hua Country. Although he's a few years younger than me, he's also an expert in psychiatry."
"He came to Hua Country for an exchange program."
"Oh..." After hearing Bai Xiaoliang's introduction, Jiang Ran let out a long "oh" sound.
The biggest flaw of his Danger Warning System was that in a group of people, when it suddenly issued a danger warning—such as warning that someone was dangerous—he completely couldn't tell exactly which person it was.
But based on the current situation, this mixed-race person named Lucas seemed quite suspicious.
Next, Jiang Ran was arranged to sit in a chair. Bai Xiaoliang sat opposite Jiang Ran and said very seriously: "Jiang Ran, I've finalized your specific treatment plan."
"That is—hypnosis therapy. I will determine the timing of each subsequent hypnosis session based on the effects of the previous one."
"Regarding this, Jiang Ran, do you have any different opinions?"