Chapter 122: Darkness Falls and Rain Begins to Pour

"I can make them for you right now," Zhang Qiyang said. "I’m a master cobbler—making shoes is my specialty, have you forgotten?"

Li Xuan instinctively wiggled her feet inside her cotton slippers. Zhang Qiyang kept talking about shoes, shoes, shoes; she was starting to wonder if this young master actually had a foot fetish. Of course, that was just a fleeting thought. She was far more interested in his offer to write her a new song on the spot.

Xiao Wa perked up immediately. "Boss Pao, are you going to write a song for the beautiful Li Xuan about her grandmother?"

Chen Ke chimed in with a warning, "Just make sure it isn't too nostalgic."

"I know," Zhang Qiyang replied knowingly. "I won't make the audience lose their appetite."

He turned to Li Xuan and said, "To craft this new 'pair of shoes,' I need some raw material from you. I want to start with the nursery rhymes your grandmother sang to you when you were a child. Many of those rhymes have a unique flavor that evokes deep nostalgia. You’re from Southern Fujian; I’ve heard a local folk song called 'Dark Skies'—I wonder if your grandmother ever sang that to you?"

At the mention of "Dark Skies," a warm, affectionate smile lit up Li Xuan’s face. "She did! I remember whenever it rained, Grandmother would sing that nursery rhyme to me. I miss those days so much."

Xiao Wa asked curiously, "A nursery rhyme? Can you still sing it?"

"Of course I can."

Li Xuan seemed to shed a dozen years in an instant, her face glowing with innocent, childlike charm. Keeping time for herself, she sang the widely known local folk song:

"...The sky is dark and it’s about to rain, Grandfather picks up his hoe to dig for taro. Dig, dig, digging away, he digs up a mudskipper—oh, what a delight..."

"...Grandfather wants it salty, Grandmother wants it bland; they fight over the pot—oh, what a comical sight, ha-ha..."

"Haha, that is too cute!" Xiao Wa couldn't help but roar with laughter.

Li Xuan shot him a glare. "Can you not laugh so exaggeratedly? As if I’m some kind of idiot. That’s just how the song goes. Young Master Yang, is this the 'Dark Skies' you heard?"

"Yes, it’s super cute. I meant the way you look when you sing it."

Flustered by the compliment, Li Xuan gave him a playful nudge. "Stop teasing me. Are you going to adapt this folk song?"

Worried that Zhang Qiyang might do something reckless, Chen Ke interrupted, "Performing an adaptation of a nursery rhyme on the stage of 'My Voice'... isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"I’m not adapting the nursery rhyme itself. I want to draw inspiration from it to write a new song, also titled 'Dark Skies'."

To put an anxious Chen Ke at ease, Zhang Qiyang added, "It’s a song for adults, don't worry. Actually, I’ve had this idea for a while and have already sketched out a similar melody. Let me tidy it up a bit and sing a rough version for you."

Li Xuan and Xiao Wa watched with bated breath as Zhang Qiyang sat down at the piano. He closed his eyes, adjusted his mood, and let the melody of Stefanie Sun’s "Dark Skies" surface in his mind.

Li Xuan’s bright, clear vocal timbre was remarkably similar to Sun’s. Both shared that same free-spirited, unbridled power once they let their voices soar, and they were both exceptionally gifted at conveying deep, emotional works. Zhang Qiyang felt that in this life, no one was better suited to interpret this song than Li Xuan.

The song resonated with her current state of mind. She wanted to sing for her grandmother not just for a birthday celebration; she was clearly homesick, and that longing for family was the source of her melancholy. "Dark Skies" captured exactly that sentiment. The repeated phrase "dark skies" served as a bridge between the singer’s reflection on her childhood and her current realization of life—a lament for the self she could no longer return to, while reminding the world that home is the ultimate harbor and the source of strength to face the future.

Having spent so many years struggling in the industry, the distant harbor of home must have weighed heavily on her heart. She needed to celebrate and release these emotions. And was Zhang Qiyang any different? Li Xuan at least had a home to return to, no matter how far away. But he? He couldn't go back even if he wanted to. He could only mourn it through song.

With a tinge of sorrow, Zhang Qiyang pressed his fingers onto the piano keys. He began with a series of chords; the lonely melody created an atmosphere of profound solitude and isolation. The opening chords set a tone of melancholy for the piece. This was not a clichéd, manipulative song about family.

Using his weathered, magnetic voice, he began to sing low and slow, capturing the ears of the three people in the room from the very first note:

"...In my childhood, during my noisy and willful days, my grandmother always sang to comfort me. On summer afternoons, Grandmother’s songs consoled me. That song went something like this: The sky is dark, it’s about to rain; the sky is dark, dark, dark..."

"...Leaving childhood behind, I began my own life, with new songs and new thoughts. When I became willful and impulsive, unable to control myself, I forgot there was ever such a song: The sky is dark, it’s about to rain; the sky is dark, dark, dark..."

Unlike the bright, warmth-filled delivery of Sun or Li Xuan, Zhang Qiyang’s voice was granular, as if each note were a drop of blood; when they burst, they left the listener with a complex, bittersweet aftertaste. The once innocent and playful "Dark Skies" was now woven into a poignant piece, instantly elevating its artistic weight. Calling it the "finishing touch" would be an understatement.

Watching Zhang Qiyang effortlessly play and sing, blending a simple nursery rhyme into such a warm, evocative work, Xiao Wa felt like bowing to him. Was this young master even human? Why did his music always feel like such an infinite indulgence? He was truly incredible!

As the melody unfolded, Zhang Qiyang’s voice expanded, utilizing a powerful yet restrained, lyrical force to belt out the song’s climax:

"...I fell for someone, giving my all with reckless abandon, thinking this was the world I was chasing. Yet, crashing and stumbling, misunderstood and betrayed—is it that behind the world of adults, there is always something broken?..."

"...I walk the crossroads I must face every day, longing for the simple, beautiful happiness of the past. Love always makes one cry, makes one feel unfulfilled. The sky is so vast, yet I cannot see clearly. I am so lonely..."

When he sang the word "lonely," Li Xuan’s heart felt like it was shattering. Though she had never loved someone with such reckless abandon, she had loved her career that way. And for it, she had crashed and stumbled, bearing many wounds. It was precisely these adult scars that made her miss the simple, beautiful happiness of her childhood, her grandmother, and her home.

Every word Zhang Qiyang sang struck at her heart. The song was so beautiful and so painful that her throat tightened. If not for her immense self-control, she might have broken down in tears right there.