Fang Zhao's first visit to "Space" had been on the recommendation of Silver Wing Gaming Department manager Wayne to check out what "people of the same age" were like.
At that time, he hadn't completely adapted to his new identity and hadn't understood how a young person normally behaved. He had wanted to learn how to be more lively, enthusiastic and flamboyant. Luo Yunyang had been willing to experience some new places for the sake of creating music that could be accepted by youngsters of the New Era.
It was also at "Space" where he had met Natiwuzi.
"Space" was a music entertainment venue and Natiwuzi's private domain was located above "Space". No guest was allowed up unless Natiwuzi personally invited them.
Fang Zhao got Zuo Yu to stop the car at the place where Natiwuzi had mentioned. The person waiting for them brought Fang Zhao and Zuo Yu upstairs.
Natiwuzi's private domain was silent most of the time. Natiwuzi also practised the guitar in soundproof rooms. The corridors were so quiet that it had a solemn vibe. Fang Zhao's arrival broke this solemness.
"Teacher Fang, this way please. The boss is already waiting for you." A bodyguard in black waiting at the corridor indicated with a smile on his face.
Zuo Yu eyed that person and thought to himself, Teacher Fang? It was only "Mr. Fang" the last time. Has boss's status increased, or has their level of sucking up risen?
Was it better for an artist's bodyguard to be more candid or quick-witted?
Secretly observing this bodyguard opposite him who seemed to be doing rather well, Zuo Yu decided to discuss this with Yan Biao and Nanfeng when he got back. He wanted to create a reliable persona for himself so that he wouldn't be inferior.
Fang Zhao had Zuo Yu wait outside while he entered the room Natiwuzi was in.
Natiwuzi's nickname was "Yanzhou's Shadowless Hands", and he was one of the three great speed-strumming maestros in the world. However, Natiwuzi felt the extreme loneliness that all experts felt — Besides me, others are trash. Natiwuzi's larynx already wasn't good, and he wasn't willing to talk much to begin with. When he did talk, he spoke especially slowly. Natiwuzi also didn't have much desire to speak to people he felt were "a bunch of ordinary people". Those who didn't know Natiwuzi would reckon that he probably spent too much time in "God's Domain" and did not interact with "mortals" who didn't understand music based on this impression.
Most of the time, Natiwuzi's assistants and bodyguards were used to their boss's disregard and silence. To their surprise, they had heard Natiwuzi laughing heartily upon Fang Zhao's arrival, which was a complete 180 from the everyday silence they were so accustomed to.
"Fang Zhao! Long time no see!" Natiwuzi stuffed a guitar into Fang Zhao's hands upon seeing him. "Still remember how to strum?"
Natiwuzi was worried that perhaps Fang Zhao hadn't touched a guitar in a long time and had gotten rusty.
"I haven't forgotten." Fang Zhao took the guitar. "There are also instrument mastery classes in HuangArt's advanced study course."
"That's great then!"
Natiwuzi didn't waste any more time and strummed a chord for Fang Zhao.
The room was soundproof, and the guitar sounds were isolated within.
Zuo Yu and Natiwuzi's bodyguard stood guard outside. Naturally, they didn't just stand there in silence. When bodyguard met bodyguard, mutual bragging and exchange was commonplace. Natiwuzi's bodyguard had also brought some tea, water and refreshments. Alcohol was out of the question though. Bodyguards weren't supposed to touch any alcohol while on duty.
The bodyguard Zuo Yu had been examining had been promoted to Natiwuzi's personal bodyguard earlier that year. He and a few other bodyguards were the ones who would accompany Natiwuzi outside. They were the highest paid bodyguards here. Natiwuzi's bodyguard was curious about Fang Zhao's bodyguard, so he asked Zuo Yu about his general job.
Zuo Yu smiled faintly. "We accompany the boss wherever he goes. We also have assignments when boss is home and comply with everything he says."
That bodyguard was stunned for a bit. "You still have assignments when your boss doesn't go out?"
Zuo Yu maintained his collected smile. "Of course."
Too many assignments. For example, feeding the pets, walking the dog, attending training classes… All of that stuff cannot be said!
The bodyguard sitting opposite seemed to have processed something else in his mind and said with respect and admiration, "Being trusted by the boss for important assignments demonstrates the bodyguard's value! Impressive!"
"Cough, you are too kind." Zuo Yu maintained his stoic expression.
As the two body guards chatted, they talked about experiences on the job and their philosophy when dealing with matters. Afterwards, they started to brag about their own bosses.
"Our boss's speech might sound sluggish, but he becomes a tornado the moment he picks up a guitar. Two total extremes! However, geniuses always have their own quirks. You can't judge a person by their appearance."
Natiwuzi's bodyguard acted as though it was an honor just to bask in the halo of his bosses' genius.
Zuo Yu nodded his head in approval. "Indeed! Just like our boss. Most of the time, he seems like a gentle and cultured person. But when he fig… plays games, he becomes a monster. He's so viol… explosive. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to produce so many epic tunes. Some of them can even cure illnesses!"
He was an outstanding employee; he couldn't say that his boss was vicious when beating up people.
Natiwuzi's bodyguard didn't think much of it. Natiwuzi's people believed that Fang Zhao was a musician and artist. When Fang Zhao had arrived, Natiwuzi's bodyguards had categorized Fang Zhao as an artistic youth. Back then, the incident of Fang Zhao taking on six men at "Space" had already long been blurred by his image of an "artistic youth". Was that fighting? That had just been disco dancing!
Natiwuzi's bodyguard then said, "Actually, us bodyguards for celebrities don't have it easy. Although our salaries are high, sometimes the mental pressure is really great. I reckon that the amount the boss talks to us in one month isn't even as much as he has spoken to Fang Zhao today. I can't help but feel like we are disregarded."
Zuo Yu still had the faint smile plastered on his face. "I understand." The pressure of being a salted fish was also great.
While the two outside were sharing the stresses of being bodyguards, Fang Zhao and Natiwuzi strummed up a storm on their guitars. After feeling sated from all the strumming, Natiwuzi asked Fang Zhao about his recent incident and asked whether he needed help. He also recommended a few suitable residential districts to Fang Zhao.
Fang Zhao talked about it briefly and then asked, "Didn't you say that you obtained some new artifacts from the Old Era? Let me see them."
"Aiya, I nearly forgot!" Natiwuzi brought Fang Zhao to his store room. "Everything in this store room is an artifact. However, those at the top are genuine, while those at the bottom are imitations. Imitations are easy to find."
Natiwuzi's father had been an archaeologist who loved collecting antiques. Thus, Natiwuzi had also inherited part of his father's enthusiasm. However, he still had a preference for guitars and various Old Era instruments. Everything else had less precedence. However, he was still rather interested in general and would store Old Era antiques on his display shelves whenever he obtained some. He would also get someone to construct an imitation and would fiddle with these imitations from time to time. He couldn't bear to mess around with the genuine ones even if they had been restored and reinforced. After five hundred years, they could still be damaged easily no matter how much restoration was done. Besides, even if these things were fully restored to their original condition, they still couldn't be compared to the imitations made from new materials of the New Era.
Natiwuzi explained to Fang Zhao what these newly obtained Old Era artifacts were as well as their uses in the Old Era.
"This is a type of mobile phone from the Old Era. Its damage is rather severe so we can't determine its original appearance. Take a look at the restored imitation on the shelf below. That is its complete image. Apparently, this is still an even earlier model, so it is rather large. In the Old Era, it was also had a nickname 'Brick Cell Phone'. I really can't imagine how people back then carried such a large thing around to make calls. That would be so inconvenient!"
Natiwuzi was still rather pleased to obtain this incomplete brick cell phone. Although it was severely damaged, there currently wasn't another such brick cell phone in the world as well preserved as this one. It was rumored that this had been preserved by many collectors all this time. Otherwise, even the remains wouldn't have existed after so many years.
"And this too. You definitely won't be able to guess what it is used for…"
Natiwuzi showed off his own collection. There were some components of electronic products and even more components of ancient instruments. However, Fang Zhao didn't really care about all these. His attention was on a little box in the corner of the display cabinet.
In it was a small circular badge. The surface layer could no longer be seen, and the metal emblem was tarnished. There were some scratches as well as a few dents. Fang Zhao focused his gaze on the remaining words that could still be vaguely seen on the badge: "Ding Chuan Secondary School".
This was a school badge. An Old Era secondary school badge.
The badged was deformed and no longer had its fully round shape. The scratches and marks on it seemed to narrate everything that it had gone through.
"Can I see it?" Fang Zhao pointed at that school badge and asked Natiwuzi.
"You have an interest in this?" Natiwuzi was astonished. Then, he quickly remembered that Fang Zhao was a youngster, so being interested in Old Era school badges was understandable.
"Go ahead; gloves are over by the side. Control your strength, these small and fine items require more caution. There is an imitation copy of its original appearance. You can play with that right away." Natiwuzi didn't have much interest in that school badge, but he still had to remind Fang Zhao on the proper way of dealing with antiques.
Fang Zhao put on the gloves and carefully picked up the original school badge. His finger brushed the face of the school badge that was littered with scratches.
"Why? Interested?" Natiwuzi was in good spirits today. Noticing that Fang Zhao was interested in this little badge, Natiwuzi waved his hand. "Take it. And the imitation copy, pick it up and have fun."
Fang Zhao looked away from that badge and said, "Thank you, I'll transfer you the money. How much…"
"It's yours! This type of antique isn't worth a lot. There are too many types of badges. It wouldn't be sold for too much anyway."
Natiwuzi wasn't lying. There were still quite a lot of badges across different schools that were still well-preserved.
There were too many school badges that could be collected. With so many around, they weren't as valuable. Only badges from schools that were ranked among the top globally or had special historical significance were valuable. However, those were mainly from universities; secondary school badges weren't worth much.
This school badge was considered to be rather well preserved. But even so, Natiwuzi had only bought this from someone for only several tens of thousands and was considered a pittance amongst his considerable collection.
Several tens of thousands was like pocket change to Natiwuzi. He would feel embarrassed to even take Fang Zhao's money for it. If it was someone Natiwuzi disliked, he would haggle over ten dollars, but when it came to Fang Zhao, Natiwuzi simply didn't wish to take this little bit of money. He just considered it a small gift for Fang Zhao. Natiwuzi also didn't have a hobby of collecting badges, so he had no qualms giving it away.
Fang Zhao gave his thanks once again.
He thanked Natiwuzi for the gift and more importantly thanked Natiwuzi for letting him see this badge.
When it came to badge collecting, secondary school badges, especially those that didn't have any important historical significance, basically did not have much collectors' value. Only some people who were interested in badges would collect them. However, the significance for Fang Zhao was different.
In the Old Era, Fang Zhao had gone to school for three years at Ding Chuan Secondary School.
Today, Ding Chuan City was no more, and Ding Chuan Secondary School had long vanished during the hundred year Period of Destruction.
Fang Zhao had already forgotten how it looked.