【Senior, if a girl wants to learn electric instruments, which one would you recommend?】
"Yandere Sister" Volume 2: "For You, the Sun"
...
Memories sank to the bottom of the heart's ocean.
Those past days were unusually clear.
Lu Qing didn't know why his sister asked such a question.
But it no longer mattered,
Because the trembling hands, the nails clenched tightly, had already exposed the former answer through some kind of DNA-etched conditioned reflex.
The former, that heart-wrenching, answer.
Su Ling watched Lu Qing.
Watched her older brother's reaction in this instant.
Her previous suspicions were confirmed.
—He simply cannot resist the topic of "music."
"He's escaping."
Su Ling smiled wickedly inside.
Like a fearsome demon born from nothingness, she laughed in her heart.
Today, she had done more investigations, perfected more information.
Even her homework had taken twice the effort she spent researching "maid outfits."
Because, her older brother's secret was the most magical thing to her.
As long as she could slowly, like unraveling silk, peel away his inner self,
like an onion,
layer by layer, shedding its skin.
Then she could truly understand her older brother's past.
【I want to enter my older brother's heart】.
【Read his past】.
【Control his thoughts】.
【Dissect his actions】.
Su Ling's plan was clear and terrifying—
This morning, the moment Lu Qing left the house, she pushed her progress forward with all her might,
「Dissected all of her older brother's devices, and read through detailed analyses on the cost-effectiveness of the equipment, as well as "what kind of person would buy this equipment,"」 in her little red notebook.
—Control his thoughts.
Through obtaining top-tier intelligence,
Su Ling discovered that,
her older brother's computer—
"Is not really a computer."
【But a「Workstation」 specifically used by music producers】.
After reading through a vast amount of information, she understood why her older brother used "solid-state arrays," "16G*4=64G" memory modules, a 6TB external hard drive, the top-tier RME Babyface sound card, high-fidelity monitoring headphones from Audio-Technica—
Even the microphone for live voice chats was a high-end product from Shure.
The only out-of-place component, the 40X0 graphics card, seemed to be for occasional indulgences in playing maid-themed mini-games?
「How adorable.」
Su Ling thought, analyzing—
"Her older brother's 32-inch monitor was for using FL Studio 20, the best host for indie musicians who could record instruments live or edit notes one by one with a mouse.
Besides that, her older brother would also use industry-standard Cubase, Pro Tools, or Logic on fruits to handle post-production mixing."
"His second-hand records showed he had sold another 32-inch AOC monitor."
"This meant he originally had dual monitors, but after a certain incident, he sold one.
And obviously, the other monitor's purpose was to keep an eye on the audio meters on the mixing console while composing and mixing."
Su Ling had researched that professional musicians usually weren't satisfied with just one monitor, and some masters even bought projectors to display the dense UI of the mixing meters on the white wall in front of the recording studio.
"Her older brother's cloud storage had several terabytes of soft synths, all of which had been downloaded to his computer but were then completely uninstalled and deleted."
Su Ling initially thought those terabytes were「reference materials,」 but today she finally understood that she had almost been deceived by her older brother's diversion tactic.
Hmph.
Almost got you.
She was quite pleased with herself.
"Her older brother's 6TB drive was protected by an 8-digit password (this time it's impossible to guess)," although it couldn't be opened, his Taobao order history showed he had purchased a lot of legitimate sound sources—"
Berlin Platinum Orchestra, Ominisphere atmospheric synthesizer, Ozone mastering effects suite, Waves full suite of post-production tools, Fabfilter professional mixing modules, Amplitube electric guitar software effects, etc.
Each of these soft synths cost hundreds to thousands.
The answer was clear.
"Yes, her older brother would spend money「to buy a sound.」"
He would「buy a tone.」
He was a【tone connoisseur】.
He had an extreme composer's obsession with the details in the frequency spectrum that ordinary people's ears couldn't even distinguish.
"—Her older brother was hopelessly addicted."
This was Su Ling's conclusion.
Her older brother,
had twisted to the point,
where he had devoted his entire being to「music.」
He… for composing and arranging, had once spared no effort.
Not caring about his body, eating sparingly, saving every penny, putting all his money, all his energy, all his health, all his social life, everything,
everything,
all「invested」into it.
Her older brother had burned like a raging fire.
It seemed he wanted to accomplish something big before a certain time.
The result was obvious.
—He failed.
That time had already become「the past.」
Therefore.
"Yin Qing" turned into "Yin Ci."
These memories,
were all buried by him.
Su Ling sighed inwardly.
It wasn't hard to imagine,
the Schecter that once roared on stage,
the MartinGo that once whispered in the room,
and the Fender first-year model that was listed on second-hand sites but then regretfully taken down—
Her older brother used「them」to heal himself.
To him,
they,
were his「beloved.」
To him,
with「them,」
he no longer needed "them."
To him,
music,
was his「light.」
"The reason her older brother doesn't have a girlfriend has been cracked by me."
Su Ling remained silent.
Silently smiling wickedly.
While the cute girl next door was still pursuing her older brother's body,
she had already entered the next level—
「Phase Two」,
「Unlocking his mental state.」
Brother.
Losing your light must be very painful, right?
Seeing anything related to music must be very tormenting for you, right?
No wonder you sealed「them」away.
No wonder you show such a complex expression now, filled with unease, restlessness, itching, fear,
and all sorts of mixed emotions.
Su Ling smiled.
Thinking while smiling:
But brother.
You still can't let go of「them,」can you?
Every day, using the time to and from school, secretly wearing expensive Sennheiser headphones, secretly listening to others' songs.
What is this?
「Seeking」?
No.
Should it be nostalgia?
Hmm.
Even「lament」would be more appropriate, right?
The past youth is gone forever,
and now you can only struggle and suffer in this crappy reality.
Brother.
Even if you want to escape, it's okay,
you once said,
you wanted to hold my hand.
Now,
when you are lost and helpless, exhausted like a crow falling from the sky,
I,
will instead,
use all my strength,
【Hold your hand tightly.】
I will pull you out from the deep sea called「Broken Dreams.」
I will accompany you,
together,
relive your memories.
「Let the past reappear.」
...
"Su Ling, although I don't know why you're asking this, I personally always thought... girls are more suitable for electric bass, after all..."
Lu Qing's brain had overloaded.
He didn't know why Su Ling had to learn an instrument.
But he knew, since his sister brought it up, he had to give an answer.
Otherwise…
"No."
…
His train of thought was suddenly interrupted by her.
In this instant.
The girl looked at him, who was avoiding eye contact, not daring to look at her.
She gently hooked her lips,
in the moment he didn't see her face,
she said crazily:
"I want to learn electric guitar."
...
...