219: Chapter 219 Another Trip to Suzhou

After about half a minute of silence, Shen Qingxue turned her head to look at him.

"By the way, should we go to Suzhou in advance? After all, it's the Grand Finals. Going there a day early will save us from any unexpected situations at the last minute."

Lu Li naturally had no objection to this and nodded.

"Alright."

Then he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh right, we can also start preparing to shoot the music video for 'blue and white porcelain'. How about telling Jiang Cheng in advance?"

Shen Qingxue thought about it for a moment and nodded.

"That works too. I'll let her know."

Then she picked up her phone, opened the chat box with Jiang Cheng, and briefly explained the shooting arrangements for 'blue and white porcelain'.

Then she added another sentence at the end.

"If it's convenient for you, can you come with us? By the way, we can see if there are any suitable shooting locations in Suzhou."

After sending the message, she put down her phone, tilted her head, and glanced at Lu Li.

"Wait a moment."

Lu Li nodded, didn't rush her, and leaned against the sofa waiting quietly.

After about three or four minutes, the phone vibrated.

Shen Qingxue lowered her head to look, and Jiang Cheng had replied with a voice message.

She tapped it, and Jiang Cheng's lazy voice came through the earpiece.

"What a coincidence, I don't have much to do these two days anyway. Xu Ran happens to be in Suzhou busy with his band stuff, so it's fine for me to go to Suzhou with you guys then."

"Also, I've always felt that traditional Chinese style stuff needs the feel of Jiangnan's misty rain, and Suzhou is extremely suitable."

Shen Qingxue listened to the voice message again, then raised her head to look at Lu Li.

"She said yes, and she feels that shooting in Suzhou will yield even better results."

Hearing this, Lu Li raised an eyebrow.

"Well, that's even better, saving us from running back and forth between Shanghai and Suzhou."

Shen Qingxue nodded, picked up her phone again, and replied to Jiang Cheng with a message confirming the departure time.

Jiang Cheng quickly replied with an "OK" gesture, plus a sentence.

"See you tomorrow then. I'll pack up my equipment."

After the matter was settled, the living room quieted down again.

Lu Li leaned against the sofa, tapping his fingers casually on his knees, his mind already calculating the arrangements for tomorrow's departure.

"Tomorrow morning's high-speed rail? Or the afternoon?"

Shen Qingxue put down her phone and glanced sideways at him.

"In the morning. After arriving, we'll still have time to look for shooting locations, which is much better than arriving in the afternoon and scrambling around."

Lu Li nodded and didn't say anything more.

Early the next morning, the two of them dragged their suitcases out of the residential complex, hailed a taxi, and headed straight to the high-speed railway station.

Arriving at the station, they collected their tickets, went through security, waited in the waiting hall for a while, and then heard the ticket-checking announcement.

After boarding the train and finding their seats to sit down, Lu Li put away his luggage, leaned back against the seat, and glanced out the window.

"Has Jiang Cheng arrived yet?"

Shen Qingxue took out her phone and took a look.

"She said she's already on her way, and told us not to wait for her. Just contact her when we arrive."

The high-speed train departed on time.

Half an hour later.

The two of them exited the high-speed railway station, and the damp air rushed towards them.

Lu Li took a blissful deep breath.

"Let's go, let's go back to the hotel to drop off our luggage first."

Afterward, the two of them hailed a cab, returned to the hotel to drop off their luggage, and freshened up a bit.

Shen Qingxue sent a message to Jiang Cheng telling her the hotel address.

Not long after, Jiang Cheng replied with a voice message.

"I've been here for a while. I took a stroll around Suzhou and found a pretty good place. Do you guys want to come over and take a look?"

Shen Qingxue glanced at Lu Li, and Lu Li nodded.

Anyway, today is only Wednesday. Counting Thursday and Friday daytime, there is still plenty of time. As for practicing songs, it can be put aside temporarily.

So the two of them didn't delay any longer, hailed a cab, and set off according to the location sent by Jiang Cheng.

The car drove through the old town of Suzhou, turned into an area that looked a bit aged, and then stopped beside a small path along the river.

Lu Li got out of the car and looked around.

The river was not very wide, and both banks were lined with old houses with white walls and black tiles, but it really looked much more atmospheric than what would be filmed over in Shanghai.

Walking less than a hundred meters along the riverbank, they saw Jiang Cheng squatting at the head of a stone arch bridge, holding up her phone and framing the view of the river surface.

Then Jiang Cheng turned her head and waved at them.

"You guys got here pretty fast. Come over and take a look at this side. I think it has a great feel to it."

Lu Li walked over and glanced in the direction she indicated.

The white walls on both sides of the riverbank cast reflections on the water's surface, and the branches of several old willow trees hung down to the water, swaying slightly when the wind blew.

It truly had the charm of Jiangnan.

No one knew how Jiang Cheng managed to find such a good place. Not only were there few people, but the scenery was also absolutely stunning.

Jiang Cheng stood up, patted the dust off her hands, and tucked her phone back into her pocket.

"I walked around the neighborhood after arriving in the morning and found that the scenery on both sides of this river is very continuous. We can shoot a lot of footage without frequently changing locations, which will save a lot of trouble later."

Shen Qingxue stood beside her, sweeping her gaze along the river channel.

"It's indeed not bad, much more full of life than Shanghai's artificial bases."

"Right? I think so too."

Jiang Cheng smiled, then suddenly turned her head to look at Xu Ran locking his bike not far away.

"Hey, Xu Ran is here. He said he had nothing to do today anyway, so I asked him to come along."

After locking the shared bike, Xu Ran walked over and nodded to greet Lu Li and Shen Qingxue, his tone quite natural.

"Long time no see, you two."

Lu Li muttered to himself that it hadn't even been a few days, but outwardly he still smiled and replied.

"Long time no see."

Afterwards, the four of them slowly walked forward along the riverbank.

Jiang Cheng walked at the very front, stopping from time to time to take a couple of photos, saying she was saving them as reference material.

Lu Li and Xu Ran walked behind.

There was a distance of about two steps between the two of them, and at first neither took the initiative to speak.

After walking for a stretch, Xu Ran suddenly turned his head to look at Lu Li and casually brought it up.

"I heard from Jiang Cheng that you guys are having the Grand Finals soon?"

Lu Li was slightly stunned, then nodded.

"Yeah, the song is almost written. For now, it's just practicing more."

Xu Ran didn't press further and just smiled.

"Writing songs isn't easy, especially songs to be sung in a competition. There are much more things to consider than usual."

"Indeed."

Lu Li nodded, pondered inwardly for a moment, and then turned his head to look at him.

"Um... by the way, I heard from Jiang Cheng that you're also making music? And you even formed a band?"

Xu Ran nodded, his pace slowing down a bit.

"Yeah, did it with a few friends. It's lukewarm. Usually releasing works online and sometimes taking offline gigs. It's just that it doesn't make much money, barely enough to feed and clothe ourselves."

He paused, a hint of self-deprecation added to his tone.

"Actually... to put it bluntly, it's just a bunch of people who don't want to go to work gathering together, using the banner of making music and pursuing dreams to escape reality."

Lu Li chuckled and didn't take up the conversation.

But that slight sense of weirdness in his heart popped up again.

Xu Ran's tone and cadence of speaking always gave him a sense of deja vu, but upon careful thought, he felt he was just overthinking it.