Xia Yu started playing first, while Xia Yu still maintained the initial posture.
Liu Manman’s music began very gently, as if it were the light steps of a horse.
As time passed, the rhythm gradually quickened, and at the same time, Xia Yu began to move, joining the music.
Xia Yu’s music was slower in tempo than Liu Manman’s, and also softer.
Shen Shengsheng lightly furrowed his brows.
What kind of feeling was this? Was it wind? Sunlight? Or rain?
He thought again of the title of the piece and confirmed it was rain.
After grasping the elements, Shen Shengsheng fully entered the state—Liu Manman’s melody was like a white horse galloping on a road, while Xia Yu’s melody was like drizzling rain in the sky.
The sound of hooves grew faster, and the rain grew heavier. The two seemed to be chasing each other.
Hooves clattered, rain fell crisply. On the open field, it was as if only a white horse was galloping through the rain.
Shen Shengsheng felt as though he were the rider on the white horse—wind howling, rain pelting, the horse’s back swaying, grass and trees passing like shadows.
A surge of heroism arose in Shen Shengsheng’s heart.
In his youth, he had once dreamed of riding a horse and wielding a sword, wandering freely across the land.
Now, in this piece, his wish had been fulfilled.
A smile appeared on his face as he savored the feeling.
However, his smile did not last long.
He sensed that the sound of hooves had reached its limit and could no longer accelerate, while the rain behind continued to intensify at the same rate.
Before long, the sound of rain drowned out the hooves. Looking as far as the eye could see, the world was filled only with pouring rain.
The white horse began to slow down because the road had been hidden beneath the rain curtain.
The rain’s intensity continued to grow, visibility decreased, and the horse’s speed slowed further.
Finally, the white horse lost its way and came to a stop with a long neigh.
The hooves still tapped, but now aimlessly in place.
The rain continued to fall, completely engulfing the white horse. Between heaven and earth, only the fierce sound of rain remained.
In the end, a sudden thunderclap rang out, and the music abruptly ended.
Opening his eyes, Shen Shengsheng excitedly patted the shoulder of the nearby counselor: “Excellent!”
Enduring the pain, the counselor echoed: “Great! Great! Great!”
Although he didn’t understand much about music, he did find it pleasant to listen to, especially that final thunderclap that startled him quite a bit.
Most of the audience felt the same as the counselor, but there were also some who understood music. Their hearts were first filled with astonishment, then excitement.
This was a completely new piece, and they were the first people to hear it performed!
They could brag about this to their grandchildren in the future!
On another side, Youxue had brought two little girl friends with her, one of whom studied music and was called Xiaoyin.
“…In the ending part, when the girl’s guzheng slowed down, your brother’s guzheng also gradually slowed. However, because of the earlier chase in speed between the two guzhengs, it created the illusion that your brother’s guzheng was actually speeding up. It was precisely because the ending slowed down that the final dramatic pluck could sound so startling…”
Xiaoyin chattered on, while Youxue nodded slightly in agreement.
In truth, she hadn’t understood a word.
If she had to explain it herself, she could only say vague things like “666.”
Indeed, bringing Xiaoyin was the right choice, Youxue thought.
Originally, Xiaoyin wasn’t someone with much presence in the class and wasn’t even on Youxue’s radar. She had only been invited because she studied music and could better appreciate and praise Youxue’s older brother.
Behind Xiaoyin sat two girls from Xia Yu’s class. They didn’t understand music at all and hadn’t even listened carefully to the piece, completely captivated instead by Xia Yu’s elegant playing posture.
They excitedly discussed him in their small female group chat. Girls watching the live stream on their notebooks sent in many screenshots.
Beside them, Qin Youliang and his friend were typing “666” in the class group chat.
On stage, Xia Yu and Liu Manman, holding their guzhengs, retreated backstage.
Before Xia Yu could even put down his guzheng, a burly figure jumped behind him and slapped his back.
Feeling the danger through instinct, Xia Yu skillfully dodged before the hand could land.
The owner of the hand was Shen Shengsheng. While saying “Good! Good!” he tried to pat Xia Yu’s back again—his way of showing encouragement.
Unfortunately, he missed. The counselor felt regret; he had just experienced Shen Shengsheng’s strength firsthand and had hoped Xia Yu could share in his pain.
Withdrawing his empty hand, Shen Shengsheng asked, “Who composed this piece?”
Because the piece was so excellent, he couldn’t be sure whether Xia Yu had composed it himself.
“He did,” Liu Manman interjected.
“Where’s the sheet music? Play it again for me to hear.” Shen Shengsheng felt that with slight modifications, this piece could also be played on the sheng.
The counselor looked at Xia Yu with envy. Being acknowledged by a master and pursued with questions—this was a scene he couldn’t even dream of.
However, Xia Yu didn’t want this kind of attention. He was in a hurry to meet Xu Youxiang.
“You can ask Liu Manman. I have something to do. I’ll go first,” Xia Yu said, and then he headed into the dressing room.
Putting on his original clothes, Xia Yu walked out of the auditorium and took out his phone to ask Xu Youxiang where she was.
“At home,” Xu Youxiang replied.
Xia Yu then gathered his things and headed to An Siyao’s villa.
An Siyao was still in the auditorium watching the show. The only people at the villa were the maid and Xu Youxiang.
The security guards at the gate recognized Xia Yu and, following An Siyao’s previous instructions, let him in without hesitation.
In the pavilion at the back garden of the villa, Xia Yu met Xu Youxiang.
Xu Youxiang sat alone in her wheelchair.
“Where’s the maid?” Xia Yu approached and asked.
Xu Youxiang didn’t answer.
“What’s wrong?” He gently ruffled her hair.
“Nothing. Why aren’t you playing the guzheng with your little senior and came here instead?” Xu Youxiang pouted.
Xia Yu didn’t answer. He took out a sapphire crown and placed it on Xu Youxiang’s head.
“What is this?” Xu Youxiang asked curiously.
“A bug,” Xia Yu replied.
Xu Youxiang was immediately startled. Although she knew it couldn’t actually be a bug, she still shook her head violently.
Xia Yu quickly held her head still: “I’m kidding. It’s not a bug.”
Xu Youxiang took out her phone and took a picture of her head.
The first thing she saw in the photo was the deep blue color of the sapphire.
She became delighted: “What is this?”
“A sapphire crown. It’s a gift for you,” Xia Yu answered.
“Isn’t this the crown from the royal collection of the 11th District? How did you get it?” While joyfully admiring the crown, Xu Youxiang asked.
“You know that too?” Xia Yu was surprised.
“I read about it before,” Xu Youxiang casually replied.
But Xia Yu now understood that Xu Youxiang had an interest in jewelry.
If she paid attention to it, that meant she liked it.
“You still haven’t told me where you got it,” Xu Youxiang continued to ask.
“I bought it from someone. The royal family gave it away,” Xia Yu didn’t mention Liu Manman.
To deceive someone into getting jewelry for Xu Youxiang while she practiced guzheng with Liu Manman seemed fine. But putting himself in the position of another guy, if a girl did that for him—chasing another guy and deceiving him to get something he wanted—would he really be happy?
Luckily, Xu Youxiang had already been captivated by the sapphire crown and stopped asking further.
The two sat quietly together in the pavilion.
Xu Youxiang, after taking photos with her phone, put the phone down.
“I’ll come to your place often,” Xia Yu said.
“Mm-hmm,” Xu Youxiang responded.
…
At the Liu residence, Liu Ronglan was enjoying her jewelry collection when she received a link from a friend on QQ.
“Your two kids are up to something again,” the friend said.
Curious, Liu Ronglan clicked on the video link.
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