Chapter 71: Needs Teaching in Every Way
Inside the huge music hall, there was no one else around. On the lonely stage used for performances, a black piano sat by itself while the light around the hall stayed dim.
As Gu Zhiren pulled her toward the piano, Mu Yi’s steps became heavier and heavier.
Because the hall was so quiet, even the soft sound of the wind was very clear in her ears.
Mu Yi could clearly hear her own heartbeat. It sounded heavy, yet excited at the same time. Thump, thump, thump, thump—it filled her ears and messed up her thoughts.
She did not want to keep walking forward anymore.
But sadly, her hand was being held tightly, leaving no chance for her to break free.
“Gu Zhiren, can you slow down a little and be gentler? You’re hurting me! I’m not a puppet, I can walk by myself!” Mu Yi raised her head and loudly complained.
Gu Zhiren stayed silent.
He did not want to hurt her, but if he loosened his grip, she might turn around and run away again. He did not want to be abandoned by her another time.
“Hey, Gu—”
Mu Yi was not discouraged just because her protest failed. Instead, she started thinking of other ways to save herself.
But the next moment, a small light on the stage quickly spread outward. Soft light poured across the whole stage, the narrow walkway below it, and several rows of seats near the front.
“Eh?”
Mu Yi was startled and let out a small cry without thinking.
“Ah… I wasn’t scared at all!”
She blinked quickly and bit her fingernail, as if she was worried someone would laugh at her for getting scared, so she hurriedly explained herself.
Gu Zhiren turned back to look at her. He slightly nodded along with her words and did not expose her lie.
After taking a few more steps, he finally let go of her small hand. Then he calmly sat down on the piano bench, gently lifted the piano cover, and pushed it back.
“Sit.”
Gu Zhiren turned his head slightly and looked up at Mu Yi.
Their eyes met. After thinking for a moment, Mu Yi obediently walked around the bench.
“Can you tell me now? Why did you bring me here?”
Mu Yi sat beside him and stared straight ahead without blinking, not wanting to look at the piano at all. Still, her eyes could not help secretly glancing at it a few times.
“Don’t tell me you want me to play piano for you. I’m telling you, I already forgot how to play. Everything about piano is completely gone from my memory now~”
She tilted her head, raised her tone at the end of the sentence, and even looked a little proud of it. She was still biting her fingernail while blinking.
“Mm…”
Gu Zhiren nodded thoughtfully. He stretched out one hand and casually pressed a few piano keys. Then he looked at Mu Yi and said with a faint smile,
“But this time, I’m the one playing for you.”
As expected!
He had already discovered that she really was Mu Yi all along, yet he never said anything or revealed it to her, keeping her completely in the dark...
Meanwhile, when she chatted with him online without knowing the truth, she had acted like an excellent student, and like a successful guy with a girlfriend who occasionally played piano.
Damn.
Mu Yi wanted to escape from this planet.
She had told many lies before, but this was the first time it made her feel this way.
Wait—
Mu Yi’s eyes widened.
Wasn’t he supposed to have no sense of music at all and be completely tone-deaf?
“What did you just say? Since when did you learn...”
“Don’t rush. Let me explain slowly.”
Gu Zhiren gently placed both hands on the piano and gracefully played a piece with skilled and powerful movements. He even softly hummed along before slightly raising his head.
“In the past, forget musical instruments, even simple children’s songs or folk songs were impossible for me to handle.”
He calmly played the piano, lightly frowning while carrying a faint smile on his face.
“It feels like I was born without any talent for music.”
The piano music he played was completely opposite to his words. It sounded extremely beautiful.
Hearing such a melody made the corner of Mu Yi’s eye twitch, and many thoughts suddenly filled her mind.
“And I was also weak and often sick. My body was not very healthy. Until one summer, I met someone in a small town.”
“That person could play the piano. If heavenly music truly exists in this world, then I think it could only be the piano played by that person. And that person… rather than calling them human, I think…”
Hearing this, Mu Yi was almost unable to hold herself together anymore.
She had already started standing up halfway when she suddenly heard Gu Zhiren quietly say,
“Don’t rush to leave. I’m not done yet.”
“Gu Zhiren, do you remember how many words you’ve said since you started talking? Don’t forget, I said the limit was two hundred words!”
Mu Yi sat back down again and questioned him confidently.
“I don’t remember.”
Gu Zhiren paused for a moment before shaking his head.
“Eh! How can you not keep count? Aren’t you cheating then?”
Mu Yi puffed up her cheeks angrily.
Then she remembered she had not counted either, which made her even more upset. She scratched her head and said stubbornly,
“Fine then, let’s start counting again from now!”
“Mm.”
Gu Zhiren quietly let out a sigh of relief and reorganized his thoughts. He glanced at Mu Yi from the side before looking back at the piano, continuing to play using only his left hand.
“Recently, I met that person again. They changed a lot. They became someone who loves lying, very lazy, full of dirty jokes, and extremely stubborn. In every way, they need to be taught a lesson.”
Hearing this, Mu Yi held her breath and slightly moved her lips.
“That person became full of flaws from head to toe and refused to change no matter what. I even thought she was beyond saving.”
At this point, a smile appeared on Gu Zhiren’s lips, and his tone suddenly changed.
“But after slowly spending more time with her, I realized she is still the same person I first met.”
“In my heart, that person is an angel. An angel who protected me from wind and rain, who was gentle and loved to smile.”
Hearing this, Mu Yi tightly pressed her lips together. Most of what he said was true.
Back then, she really had treated him well. She even seemed to have promised that she would protect him like an umbrella shielding him from wind and rain. But she did not think that made her an angel.
She was not doing good things for noble reasons. She only did them to make herself feel happier.
That was really all.
She was not as wonderful as he thought she was.
Then Gu Zhiren played a few more notes on the piano. A nostalgic expression appeared on his handsome face. He turned his head slightly, spoke even slower, and smiled more gently as he said,
“In order to chase after the angel’s footsteps, I spent ten years overcoming my own weaknesses, changing from the chubby kid I used to be into the Gu Zhiren I am now.”
He still wanted to say more, but suddenly Mu Yi closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“That’s enough! You already used up all your words.”
She opened her eyes wide with the serious expression of a referee, then quickly turned her head away after speaking.
“Also, you’re really strange. Can’t you just talk normally? Why does it sound like you’re confessing your feelings?”
“……”
Gu Zhiren raised his eyes slightly and parted his thin lips. But after remembering Mu Yi’s earlier words, he pressed his lips together again, wanting to speak yet not daring to.
“Eh, why aren’t you saying anything now? You’re making this really awkward for me.”
She secretly glanced at Gu Zhiren a few times in confusion, puffed her lips a little, and let out a breath through her nose.