Chapter 154
Xue Zi Xuan found that the boy was a rare musical genius, he only spent a day to learn to read the staff, and although his fingering was only a simple imitation of himself and Xue Jing Yi’s at first, after two weeks, he had his own strong personal style.
Like himself, he was born for music, which gave Xue Zi Xuan great pleasure in the process of teaching him. Every Thursday, Xue Zi Xuan had to teach classes at the capital’s Music Academy, he used to enjoy this, but now it was a waste of time. Although there was no shortage of talented students, compared to the boy, they seemed so mediocre. He already had the best, why should he want defective products?
For that class, he sacrificed a morning of accompanying the boy during practice, which made him feel somewhat agitated.
“Class is over.” Finally finished with his last music theory lecture, he refused the students’ questions and rushed towards the parking lot.
At the same time, Zhou Yun Sheng was practicing in the piano room. Xue Zi Xuan had very strict requirements of him, practice at six o’clock every morning, twelve o’clock rest, two o’clock afternoon practice, seven o’clock stop, almost no free time. If you replaced him with the newly reincarnated him, he would’ve already flipped out, but the current him was very passionate about music, so he didn’t find it dull or tough.
Xue Jing Yi thought that because of the boy’s lively temper, he wouldn’t be able to sit still and would soon give up the piano. If he ever said ‘I don’t want to learn’, or ‘the piano is boring’, etc., her brother would hate him. But the reality had her disappointed, the boy not only persevered, he progressed every day, and he devoted all his love of music into the increasingly purer piano sounds, making the people listening to it feel relaxed and happy.
Her brother initially looked at him with burning eyes, but now they were obsessed, making Xue Jing Yi feel more and more uneasy. Even if her body felt very uncomfortable, she insisted on guarding the piano room every day.
Zhou Yun Sheng finished playing a song, then glanced at the girl sitting in a trance by the window, his clear and melodious voice held a smile, “Jing Yi, don’t you feel very bored? How about we play a four handed song?”
“No…” Xue Jing Yi refused absent-mindedly, noticed Xue Zi Xuan’s car approaching from the distance, then nodded, “Okay, which song?” She wanted her brother to look at her, to not pay any attention to others.
“What do you want to play?” Zhou Yun Sheng looked through the music sheets.
“‘Sailor’.” Xue Jing Yi sat in front of the piano with the nurse’s help, then turned the score to page 85. She and her brother had played this song for their first cooperation, drunk sailors were shouting outside a tavern, laughing, catcalling the passing well-dressed women, the atmosphere ranged from lively to crazy. Finally, the sailors drunkenly fall asleep against the foot of a wall, the melody also slowly coming to an end.
The rhythm of the whole song went from fast to very fast, then it slowly grew soothing. Although the difficulty was not high, there was a need to invest 100% enthusiasm to express the feeling of drunken revelry.
Zhou Yun Sheng knew that Xue Jing Yi would certainly choose this one, in fact, he’d dug a pit to watch her jump inside. When she’d played together with Xue Zi Xuan, because her heart had ulterior affections, she’d boldly released the joy of being close to her sweetheart through the music. Because of this love and happiness, she’d seemed drunk even without drinking, like those eager to seek pleasure, drunken sailors.
This made her music have unparalleled appeal.
Xue Zi Xuan once said, Xue Jing Yi’s best sound was when she played ‘Sailor’. She was trying to regain Xue Zi Xuan’s attention, but Zhou Yun Sheng didn’t want her to. He loved games full of contradictions and conflicts, and preferred to push his enemies towards desperation, to enjoy their desperately struggling expression.
Because that was once his expression, so he would make them suffer in return.
“I’ve never played this song.” His heart full of maliciousness, Zhou Yun Sheng smiled sweetly.
“Can’t you read the music? Just because you haven’t played it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.” Xue Jing Yi positioned her fingertips on the keys, heard faint footsteps from downstairs, and immediately began to play.
The melody flowed from her fingertips. Xue Jing Yi was trying to find the previous feeling of playing the song, but the person by her side was not the one who made her intoxicated. She only felt boredom, sadness, guilt, jealousy, and other negative emotions, she couldn’t find even a little joy.
She reluctantly forced herself to continue, but found that the person beside her had stopped, and was looking at her with a hesitant expression.
“What’s the matter?” Her voice was hoarse.
“Jing Yi, don’t play if you don’t want to.” Zhou Yun Sheng softly comforted.
“I want to play ah, didn’t I play well?” Xue Jing Yi unconsciously pressed her chest. Good and bad playing, in fact, she had already felt it. Four-handed songs were a very high demand on the performers’ musical expression, but she had been simply pressing the keys, not at all immersed in the music.
She had ruined ‘Sailor’.
“If your heart is full of ugly emotions, don’t touch the piano, it will pollute it. Move aside.” Xue Zi Xuan, who was standing in the doorway, slowly walked in, eyes full of gloom and dissatisfaction.
He had almost no sense of things in reality, like living inside an invisible vacuum, but when music entered this vacuum, he would became very sharp, able to see through the performer’s thoughts, no one could hide their emotions from him.
If you told him that murder was wrong, he would only respond with a cold smile, but if you sang this sentence with the most beautiful voice, he would focus intently on you, then nod, “What you said made sense.”
Xue Zi Xuan was this type of abnormal person.
Seeing Xue Jing Yi’s pale face and trembling fingers, Zhou Yun Sheng slightly lowered his head to cover up the scorn filling his eyes.
“Four-handed songs can train the performer’s musical expressiveness, but the premise is if they have a good partner. I’ll practice with you.” After Xue Jing Yi left, Xue Zi Xuan sat next to the boy, his expression and tone very gentle.
During class, he couldn’t stop wondering, would the boy have a tough practice today, would he make progress, what kind of brilliant achievements would he have in the future? He was full of concern for his present and full of expectations for his future.
Zhou Yun Sheng nervously nodded, and sat a little farther away.
The piano sounded again, and the two people matched seamlessly. They were like two sailors who had been trudging through the sea for months, excitedly docking on land to immediately rush towards the nearest pub. Although the wine was cheap, there was no sea breeze carrying fishy and bitter smells, and although the booze burned going down, a deep pleasure remained after the burning pain.
They drank to get drunk, chasing after the enchanting girls, spouting bold and explicit words of love, then getting their shirts grabbed by the girls’ admirers. However, they were sailors, with strong physiques cleansed by the waves, only storms and tidal waves could bury them, nothing else could beat them down.
Even if they were too drunk to tell the southeast from the northwest, they still severely counterattacked their opponents, swaggering off through the jeering, cursing and whistling crowd, then quietly falling asleep in a dark alley, or at the foot of a wall.
They used the piano to recite such a passionate and adventurous story, as if it were staged before them.
Slowly retracting his fingers, Xue Zi Xuan turned to look at the boy.
His cheeks were flushed, eyes misty, his pink lips slightly open, breathing rapidly like a drunk. Seeing him looking over at him, he quickly blinked, then returned to looking ignorant and pure. A beam of sunlight fell on his hair, making the few beads of sweat on his nose very bright and eye-catching.
Xue Zi Xuan suddenly stared in awe. The boy himself was as beautiful as his music.
Although he clearly had serious mysophobia, he unconsciously reached out, wanting to wipe the sweat off the boy’s nose. But the boy suddenly scooted back, avoiding his touch, making his heart feel a faint sense of loss.
“There’s sweat, wipe it.” He took out a handkerchief from his coat pocket.
“Thank you.” Zhou Yun Sheng took it and carefully rubbed his nose.
Xue Zi Xuan felt that the overcautious and restless teenager was also very cute, he spoke softly, “You’re like a high note.”
“Ah?” Zhou Yun Sheng ignorantly blinked at him. To be honest, although he could see through Xue Zi Xuan’s character, he’d never talked to him in the past, so he couldn’t understand his eccentric way of talking.
Xue Jing Yi suddenly gripped her clothes. Her brother had once said that high-pitched notes were the loveliest. There was no doubt that he was praising the boy in his own unique way, but the boy didn’t understand it.
She couldn’t let them get along, her brother’s attitude towards Huang Yi grew gentler each day, more focused by the day, one day, Huang Yi would occupy his whole mind. This kind of premonition was baffling, but Xue Jing Yi was convinced. She clutched her chest and shouted in pain, “Brother, I feel uncomfortable.”
“Fu Bo, take the Miss back to her room to rest, I’ll call Dr. Zhang.” Xue Zi Xuan took out his phone, obviously not planning to leave the piano room.
Xue Jing Yi saw this scene and her heart really began to ache, but she immediately stopped him, “Don’t call him, I’ll just take my medicine. I want to stay here and listen to your piano practice.”
“Miss, go back to your room and have a rest.” Fu Bo worriedly persuaded.
“It’s the same if I rest here. Music can soothe my mood, very beneficial.” Xue Jing Yi forcefully smiled.
Fu Bo thought so too, so he left after making sure she didn’t feel sick.
Zhou Yun Sheng pretended to concernedly question her for a while, wanting to run up to get her a blanket, but Xue Zi Xuan stopped him, “Let the nurse go, we’ll continue the practice.” He enjoyed playing the piano with the boy.
Zhou Yun Sheng was helpless, he could only sit back.
Xue Zi Xuan picked out a fast-paced dance song, he thought the boy wouldn’t be able to keep up with him, but his fingers flew, his expression happy, apparently not finding it difficult. Whenever he played, his cautious attitude was thrown far away, and he became lively and cheerful.
The boy even playfully winked when he meet his gaze, a smile more dazzling than the sun outside the window blossoming on his face.
At that moment, Xue Zi Xuan felt warmth flowing into his cold heart, slowly immersing his limbs, escaping from his pores, becoming happy, popping bubbles. He unconsciously smiled, a bright smile blooming for the boy. Then a mischievous idea emerged, and he obliquely inserted one hand between the boy’s hands, creating a variation.
Stunned, the boy’s eyes widened, but he reacted in the next second, also moving over his left hand, matching seamlessly. Sometimes their hands were parallel, sometimes cross-play, arbitrarily re-arranging the song. When the song ended, they simultaneously exposed a satisfied expression, like gluttonous guests having enjoyed the most delicious meal.
“That was fun!” Zhou Yun Sheng praised as he wiped his sweaty palms on his clothes and smiled.
“Want to play some more?” Xue Zi Xuan looked at him with extremely gentle eyes.
“Of course.”
The boy nodded enthusiastically, his black hair drawing a beautiful arc in the air.
Xue Zi Xuan once again reached out, wanting to touch his soft looking hair, but the boy still avoided him. His eyes dimmed for a moment, but he quickly covered it up, pointing to another sheet of music, “Let’s play ‘Polka’ first.”
They immersed themselves in one song after another the whole afternoon, if the steward hadn’t come to urge them to eat, they would’ve played late into the night. Xue Zi Xuan’s childhood was very monotonous, he barely played any games, but today, he finally understood the feeling of a small child receiving a precious gift.
To love it, never wanting to part from it, even refusing to sleep unless it was firmly in their arms.
While he was immersed in this wonderful, child-like feeling, Xue Jing Yi was being tortured by intense jealousy, until physically and mentally exhausted. She watched them dance with their fingertips, watched them gaze at each other, clear black eyes revealing the joyful comradeship of having met an equal. She was almost unable to control her palatable desire to rush in and separate them.
That night, she suddenly started a high fever, and her slightly recovered physical condition began to decline sharply, if this repeated, no one knew when she’d be in a state to accept surgery.
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Because of Xue Zi Xuan’s attention, the steward and assistant’s attitude noticeably changed. In the final analysis, Xue Zi Xuan was Xue Jia’s heir, when Xue Rui wasn’t home, he was the master. Zhou Yun Sheng obtained greater personal freedom, but he still wasn’t allowed to appear in the same place as Xue Jing Yi. Of course, the current Xue Jing Yi couldn’t casually walk around, at most, she could only sit at the window and watch the scenery.
This day, Zhou Yun Sheng had finished his morning practice and was in the dining room eating a snack. He picked up his cup, but paused in shock as it touched his lips. The trembling in his soul was telling him that the person he’d been looking for was in the neighborhood.
“Fu Bo, I’m going out to play for a while!” Then he ran out.
When the steward ran out from the kitchen, the boy’s shadow was gone, so he had to send the assistant out to quickly search for him.
Zhou Yun Sheng ran around the golf course and finally found his target near the 18th hole. It was a man seated in a wheelchair, his extremely handsome face shrouded in overwhelming coldness and hostility. He had a cigar dangling from his mouth, and a black-clad bodyguard was half kneeling on the ground to help him light it.
He didn’t hear what the bodyguard said, but the man’s long Phoenix eyes slightly narrowed, radiating killing intent. The bodyguard immediately backed up two steps, then took out his cell phone.
Not far from them, a few men were playing golf. They seemed to be affected by the man’s heavy pressure, and frequently made mistakes, large beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads. Because of their fear, they had already lost their will to play, but the man enjoyed watching people play, so they dared not stop without authorization.
The white ball fell into a distant sand bunker, and they sighed regretfully, anxiously glancing at the man’s face.
Seeing all this, Zhou Yun Sheng smiled cheerfully, then tiptoed and shouted, “Hey, can I come watch the game?”
The man looked back, and his pupils couldn’t help but shrink for a moment. It was a very delicate looking boy, star pupils, fine nose, red lips, white teeth, his whole body seemed to shine with his smile, making others feel dizzy. The man spit out a cloud of smoke, trying to blur out this beautiful, making his retinas and heart inexplicably sting, image.
The bodyguards saw their boss frown as if he was unhappy, and immediately started walking over to drive the boy away.
“Let him come in.” The man dragged on his cigar, pretending to indifferently remove his line of sight.
The course staff quickly opened the wire netting, so the boy, or girl, could come in.
The man was not accustomed to contact with strangers, he stared at the golfers playing in the distance, pretending to be focused. But the boy insisted on dangling in front of him, also trying to reach out to poke his immobile legs.
A bodyguard exposed a ‘you’re asking for death’ expression, and angrily walked over, but the boss’ cold glance stopped him.
The man gripped the boy’s slender finger and hoarsely asked, “What do you want?”
“How did you become like this?” The teenager irrelevantly asked, his black peach eyes slightly misty, as if he was very distressed by this.
This made the man feel very uneasy, he pushed the boy away and severely dragged on his cigar. He really didn’t understand why he inexplicably wanted the boy to come in, if it was another person, he would’ve dealt with them already. Before, he hadn’t even slightly considered for what purpose the boy wanted to get close to him. If he’d tried to kill him, he would’ve already succeeded.
Even though his brain kept producing a variety of dark speculations, the man still didn’t order for the boy to be driven out. As soon as he’d met his clear eyes, he’d lost the ability to resist.
“Is it an illness? Accident? Can you cure it?” The teenager wasn’t afraid of his icy expression, he just flung out incessant questions.
Truly, a newborn calf unafraid of the tiger, ignorant and fearless ah! The bodyguards admired the boy’s courageous behavior.
“Don’t you know me?” The man spit out a puff of smoke into the boy’s exquisite, small face.
The teenager choked, his cheeks flushing with his cough, but he excitedly exclaimed, “What’s your name? Tell me, then I’ll know you.”
Instead of answering, the man pointed to the boy’s bare legs and asked, “Why did you run out of your house without pants?” Although his long white shirt covered his private parts, it set off his pair of snow white legs, the half-concealed half-exposed look more tantalizing that not wearing anything at all.
He really wanted to take off his jacket and wrap it around the boy’s lower body.
Zhou Yun Sheng smiled brightly and casually lifted his shirt, “I do have pants ah, look.” In order to cover up his flat chest, most of the shirts Xue family bought for him were very loose, so to make sure he looked like a woman, his selection of pants were dominated by cowboy shorts and skin tight jeans.
Cowboy shorts were wrapped around his perky butt, and the waist line started very low, revealing a small round navel. This graceful view crashed into the man’s unprepared eyes, making them instantly darken.
He forcibly pulled down the boy’s shirt, then turned a warning glare on his bodyguards.
They revealed strange expressions, then purposefully turned away.
“Wear this.” He quickly took off his coat and threw it over the boy.
Zhou Yun Sheng beamed and took the ‘love token’ his lover gave him, then sighed in contentment: His possessiveness is still so strong, this damned pervert hasn’t changed a bit, good. He tied the coat to his waist, watched his lover’s sullen expression slightly sooth, and titled immediately his lips in an ingratiating smile.
The man’s cold eyes continued to soften, he reached out his hand to touch the small black earring on Zhou Yun Sheng’s earlobe.
A string of code rushed into 008’s database without warning, surprising Zhou Yun Sheng. It turned out that this man’s love and trust for him had reached a shocking extent: Even though he had no memory, even though it was their first meeting, he’d subconsciously decided to hand over his vital source code without hesitation.
He loved him more than his own life.
Zhou Yun Sheng touched his hot ear lobe, his smile growing more brilliant, until even crystal tears leaked out of his eyes.
“A child’s expression is like June weather, unpredictable.” The man ruthlessly pinched the boy’s white cheek, then ordered, “Didn’t you say you wanted to watch the game? Push me onto the green.”
“Ay.” Zhou Yun Sheng agreed loudly, then huffed and puffed as he pushed the 193 cm tall, 82 kg man onto the green, then squatted beside him and giggled. How could he have the heart to watch the game? He was too delighted from finding his lover. He knew that his lover would certainly wait for him, even in a world he had already passed through.
Their bond came from the deepest part of the soul, no one could destroy it.
He just stared at his lover’s handsome profile, his scorching gaze able to make others feel restless, blush inducing and heart pounding.
“What are you doing watching me, look at the game.” The man spit out a smoke ring into the boy’s flushed face, saw him choke again, and couldn’t help but laugh heartily. This made the bodyguards feel very frightened, they didn’t understand where the always gloomy, and volatilely murderous King of Hell went. His body wasn’t possessed by a spirit, right?
Zhou Yun Sheng coughed, eyes red, but his heart was happy, he scooched closer to the man, leaned lightly into his lap and asked, “What’s your name, where do you live?”
“Why do you ask so much?” The man rubbed the boy’s black hair.
“I ask so I can find you again later.” Zhou Yun Sheng was afraid of having his lover suddenly disappear, it was his greatest nightmare.
“Tell me what your name is first, and where you live.” The man said in a coaxing tone. He didn’t understand where he got so much patience to socialize with the boy, and also didn’t understand why he couldn’t keep up his defensives around him.
“I’m … …” Just as Zhou Yun Sheng opened his mouth, a gloomy voice suddenly shouted behind him, “Xiao Yi, come back with me!”
He turned around and saw Xue Zi Xuan’s car parked at the tree-lined trail nearby. The always elegant and indifferent man, at this moment, was actually exposing a tensed expression, his eyes full of deep fear and anxiousness.
His lover’s eyebrows rose, an expression of recognition.
Obviously, these two people were acquainted. Zhou Yun Sheng was relieved, he dropped an ‘I’ll come to you later’ and ran towards Xue Zi Xuan. As long as he got a name from Xue Zi Xuan, he would be able to fully search out his lover’s life in this world.
The boy was like a butterfly, nimbly jumping over the iron fence, he ran towards Xue Zi Xuan, was stuffed into the car, and disappeared.
Seeing the man staring at the car’s receding back, his expression pondering, a bodyguard whispered, “Yan Ye, she should be Xue Rui’s little daughter, Xue Jing Yi.”
“A girl? A girl can’t be that cute. Go check it out, he’s absolutely not Xue Jing Yi.” The man scoffed.
The bodyguards had a strong desire to dig out their ears. Did Yan Ye just make a joke? Is the sun rising from the west?
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T/N:
King of Hell- 閻王爺 – Yanwangye – Yama, King of Hell. Yama Raja
If anyone says “I thought big brother was the ML!” I’ll hit you with this: