At the end of the song, Zhou Yun Sheng placed his hand on his lap and asked, "Did I play it wrong?"
"You've never learned to play the piano before?" Before Xue Jing Yi could answer, Xue Zi Xuan strode in, looking into the boy's eyes for the first time.
"I've never learned, I can repeat anything I see." Zhou Yun Sheng stared at his hands, falling into a scene from the past life.
Last life, Xue Zi Xuan had also come back on this day, and Xue Jing Yi had taught him to play the piano. At that time, it was only his second reincarnation, except for hacking, he hadn't mastered any other skills. But he was extremely smart, boasting that playing the piano was a piece of cake, after seeing Xue Jing Yi's performance, he made a perfect copy.
But Xue Zi Xuan's attitude then was completely different from now. He'd walked over and fiercely closed the piano cover, almost crushing his fingers still placed on the keys.
When he cried out in pain, the man had warned him word by word, "Your sound is like a lifeless corpse, emitting a rotten, disgusting smell. If you touch the piano again, I'll break your hands." Then he turned and left, and never looked at him again.
At that time, Zhou Yun Sheng inwardly cursed Xue Zi Xuan as a pervert, nitpick, and firmly believed that his performance was perfect. Until much later, when he finally got rid of the villain system's control, and dared to pour his emotions into the reincarnations, sincerely falling in love. Then he finally understood Xue Zi Xuan's meaning.
His music had no emotions, a lifeless corpse missing a soul, perhaps a layman couldn't see the problem, but to Xue Zi Xuan, he'd felt discomfort from the first note.
Xue Zi Xuan was extremely cold, he felt no empathy, had no sense of morality, no sense of right and wrong, like a grotesque character living in a black and white silent film. So when Xue Rui told him to bring Huang Yi back, he knew that his father wanted to dig the boy's heart out, but he had no problem with it.
The only thing that made his life feel vivid and hot was music. Once infused with enough touching music, his cold heart would became soft and tender, and vice versa, if someone defiled music, he'd fly into a rage. He would never envy more talented musicians, in his view, they were the world's most valuable assets. He worshiped them, upholds them, and subconsciously learns from them.
As a result, Xue Zi Xuan had an excellent reputation and high popularity in the music industry. Every year, he donated a large sum of money to music institutions in order to train more talented future musicians.
Xue Zi Xuan rarely looked into other people's eyes, but now, he walked up to the boy and towered over him, his formidable gaze scorching.
"I've never learned to play the piano. My family was poor, that was beyond our means." Zhou Yun Sheng stood up, he looked uneasy, but in fact, he was enjoying the other side's attention. Gaining Xue Zi Xuan's interest was his main purpose today. If you want a game to be more fun, then you must create contradictions and conflicts, Xue Zi Xuan was his tool to disrupt the Xue family.
Xue Zi Xuan nodded, eyes burning hotter. He knew about Huang Yi's family circumstance, it'd be strange if he'd ever seen a piano before, how could he learn to play it? But if he could play it to this extent after only listening to it once, then his musical talent was probably beyond his own.
When he realized this, Xue Zi Xuan didn't feel narrow-minded jealousy, on the contrary, he was very happy, no, perhaps excitement was a more appropriate description. He took pleasure in immersing himself in beautiful music, it made him feel like his heart was still pounding, his blood was still flowing. He hoped mankind could create more and more wonderful music, to make the world a more beautiful place to live.
He gave a faint, unprecedented smile and asked, "How did you feel when you played that song just now?"
Zhou Yun Sheng said with a slightly hoarse voice, "It felt just like getting up early in the morning and breathing in the first batch of fresh air, I'm happy and very motivated."
Xue Zi Xuan stretched out his hand to pat the boy's hair and saw him shift his head to avoid it, but his pleasant mood wasn't affected.
"Your feelings are right, that song is called 'Good Morning'. I'll play another song, please look." He sat in front of the piano, took off his white silk gloves, and carefully played.
There was no doubt that his skill was far greater than his contemporary musicians, his understanding of life was morbid and abnormal, but precisely because of this morbid and abnormal outlook, his music brought out indescribable impact, and this impact could directly attack the audience's souls.
He gained more and more achievements, going farther and farther, until everyone was left behind. But no one knew how strong the loneliness he felt in his heart, he was eager to have a partner who could resonate with him, one who could shake his soul with their music.
The magnificent sound echoed in the air for a long time, at the end of the song, he withdrew his hands and looked towards the younger man, "Did you learn it?"
"I did."
"Good, now play it for me again." Xue Zi Xuan left the main position.
Xue Jing Yi sat on the side lines and watched their interactions, her tinted purple fingertips forcefully squeezing her clothes. She knew she shouldn't, but she still hoped that the boy couldn't finish playing, so her brother wouldn't cast such a gentle and focused gaze on him.
She remembered when she was younger, her brother never looked at her, but one day, when she excitedly played a minuet for him, he picked her up and smiled at her for the first time, "That's our Xue family." Because of that song, he acknowledged her presence in his family, which showed how much he favored people with musical talent.
If the boy's talent transcended hers, maybe her brother would like him better than herself. Her heart writhed with a strong sense of crisis, she tugged on his clothes and shouted, "Big brother, my chest hurts!"
Xue Zi Xuan immediately picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, but he didn't forget to leave an instruction in passing, "Wait for me in the piano room tomorrow."
Zhou Yun Sheng nodded, and also followed them up.
Xue Jing Yi's heart really started aching at these words. She could stop it once, but she couldn't stop it for a lifetime, if she revealed her selfish thoughts, her brother would feel disgusted by her. She laid in bed, her weary expression revealing unease and alarm.
When the doctors left, Zhou Yun Sheng quietly opened the door and slipped in, he asked, "Jing Yi, what type of illness do you have, why do you always faint?"
"It's nothing, I just had poor nutrition as a baby, my body is relatively weak." Xue Jing Yi's lying skill was growing deeper, when she faced the boy, there was some guilt, but it thinned day by day, especially after today.
"Then rest well." Zhou Yun Sheng sympathetically touched the girl's pale cheek, felt her muscles instantly stiffen, and a touch of ridicule slipped across his eyes.
The next day, Zhou Yun Sheng woke up early and entered the piano room, Xue Jing Yi was already sitting in front of the piano, playing the song Xue Zi Xuan had played yesterday. And the end, she anticipatingly looked up, "Brother, have I improved?"
"More practice." Xue Zi Xuan's tone was indifferent. This level of musical talent couldn't move him, but it wouldn't make him feel disgust either. Although his sister had no blood relationship with him, she miraculously had Xue family's unique musical talent. If her physical condition allowed it, some hard training for a few years should bring about great achievements.
"You, come over and play it again." He waved at the young man standing in the doorway.
Xue Jing Yi slowly left the seat, subconsciously patting her chest, she couldn't pretend to be sick today.
Zhou Yun Sheng wiped his palms on his clothes, then slowly positioned his fingers over the corresponding keys. The past Zhou Yun Sheng was ignorant about playing the piano, and because he was under the system's control, he was reluctant to reveal his true emotions, so he'd destroyed one of the world's most moving and beautiful musical platforms with a blunt imitation. But the current Zhou Yun Sheng was no longer the same person.
He gotten rid of the system's shackles, broken the barrier around his heart, and experienced the deepest sorrow, but also received the most extreme pleasure. Regardless of what kind of emotion he needed to express with music, he could render it vividly, like summer rains, winter snow, spring sun, autumn breeze, he could use music to build a fantasy or realistic world.
This song was called 'The Ocean', it described scenes of schools of fish frolicking in the deep sea. Zhou Yun Sheng closed his eyes and adjusted his mood to the best state before playing.
The boy's whole body was surrounded by brilliant sunshine, his fingers lifted and fell, drawing out mottled light and shadow, as if countless silvery white fish were swimming across. He pressed hard to create choppy tides, tapping gently to let the tides quietly fall back. His flexible fingertips flowed across the keys quickly, as if the white dolphins were pursuing delicious sardines, creating whirlpools in their passing.
He reproduced the incomparable scenery of the deep sea with wonderful melodies.
Xue Jing Yi had covered her chest with her palm. The more melodious the boy's sound, the more uneasy she felt, she couldn't help but constantly peek at her brother's expression, and found that he was watching the teenager with an indescribable, burning gaze, her heart twinging in pain the more she looked.
Zhou Yun Sheng's fingertips gradually slowed down until completely resting, the tide slowly receded, revealing the soft, golden sands, the end of the play.
Xue Zi Xuan walked up to his side and hoarsely asked, "Do you like playing the piano?" He absolutely wouldn't accept a negative answer, the boy had such amazing talent, he was born for music.
"Of course I like it." Zhou Yun Sheng uneasily stood up.
"Good, from tomorrow on, you'll learn to play the piano with me. Come here at six o'clock every morning." He said in a commanding tone.
"Okay." Zhou Yun Sheng nodded, his cheeks flushed.
"What's your name?" Until this moment, Xue Zi Xuan really hadn't acknowledged the boy's existence.
"My name is Xue Jin Yi."
"Xue Jing Yi?" Xue Zi Xuan frowned.
"It's this Xue Jin Yi." Zhou Yun Sheng spelled it out on his palm.
Xue Zi Xuan nodded and noticed his assistant beckoning him at the door, then remembered that he was scheduled to teach at the university today. He put on his coat, tidied his tie, and suddenly remembered something when he reached the doorway, he turned back and said, "My name is Xue Zi Xuan."
Zhou Yun Sheng nodded dazedly.
As the black car drove down the gravel road, Xue Jing Yi stood by the window to watch, when the car was hidden behind the vast forest, she turned back to the young man, her voice strained, "Big brother really likes you."
Zhou Yun Sheng blushed, tongue-tied, "R-Really? But I didn't feel a thing."
His plan was exactly that, make Xue Xi Xuan like him, like him more and more, until it was difficult to leave him.
Of course, this sentiment had nothing to do with love, but with faith. Xue Zi Xuan's faith was music, and he just needed to make him see his musical talent as part of his faith. How to choose between family and faith? This was the biggest problem for music lover Xue Zi Xuan.