There was a commotion from the audience below.
Some people laughed, while others asked in disbelief, "Erquan Yingyue? Is she joking?"
"It's the school anniversary celebration today. What is she thinking, playing this kind of instrument at such an occasion?"
"Uh... dressed so beautifully to play this?"
"Pfft—so much for being an honors student, what a disappointment."
In these students' eyes, the erhu was often associated with beggars playing outside shopping malls. Such an instrument seemed unworthy of appearing on the prestigious Saint Slee Academy's anniversary stage.
True elegant ladies typically excelled at refined instruments like the piano or violin.
Lu Qingqing had already left the stage, and her worries had ceased the moment she saw Song Yi take out the erhu.
Lu Qingqing's heart was full of contempt. What good was an attractive appearance if it was just a deception? That poor person's essence couldn't be hidden—clearly someone who couldn't play piano and had to find something random to save face.
Unfortunately, Song Yi was too clever for her own good. Running away would have been more dignified than this.
Thinking this, Lu Qingqing walked over to Shen Yujing's side. With tender eyes full of affection, she asked, "May I sit here?"
Shen Yujing gave her a strange look and said, "Sit wherever you want."
Why was she asking him? He wasn't reserving seats.
Although Shen Yujing's response wasn't particularly polite, Lu Qingqing still carefully arranged her dress and sat down after receiving his permission.
As soon as she sat down, Lu Qingqing said, "Shen Yujing, my father asked me to..."
"Shh." Shen Yujing pressed his index finger to his lips, signaling Lu Qingqing to be quiet. "If you want to sit, just sit. Don't talk so much—you're disturbing me from watching the performance."
The smile froze on Lu Qingqing's face, but she quickly adjusted and returned to normal, forcing herself to smile while watching the stage.
What was there to watch in this kind of performance?
A poor person playing erhu to beg? It certainly suited Song Yi—at least it would be a useful skill for her future.
Lu Qingqing thought this way, her smile growing increasingly cold.
She wanted to see just how well Song Yi could perform.
Many others shared similar thoughts, and some raised their phones to record the scene on stage.
Most people here had attended concerts by famous musicians, so they had little interest in Song Yi's erhu solo. However, they couldn't deny her beautiful face—people's appreciation for beauty was universal, even with her wearing a black hat and sunglasses.
Under the audience's mixture of mockery and curiosity, Song Yi began her performance with complete composure.
At first, there was still quiet chattering from below, but gradually these voices died down.
The young woman sat on stage, her sunglasses concealing most of her facial expressions. Her back was perfectly straight, completely unbothered by the gazes from below as she played her music.
As she played, Song Yi lowered her head, her long hair falling forward over her shoulders. She seemed to be immersed in her own world, and as her hands moved, sorrowful music began to fill the air.
Soon, the surroundings fell into complete silence.
Quan Le rubbed his arms and whispered, "I'm getting goosebumps."
Shen Yujing tilted his chin up and reluctantly commented, "It's actually not bad."
Lu Qingqing glanced at Shen Yujing, then pressed her lips together.
She knew she shouldn't disturb Shen Yujing at this moment, but she couldn't bear to do nothing.
So Lu Qingqing quickly took out her phone and took a selfie, capturing half of Shen Yujing's face in the photo.
Then, like a guilty thief, she lowered her head and turned the screen brightness to minimum, cropping the image.
In the final photo, there was just the smiling girl, and beside her, only an ear and some golden hair of the boy were visible—like an unintentional piece of evidence of their intimacy, but enough for everyone to know who he was.
Lu Qingqing originally wanted to post it on social media, but remembering Shen Yujing was still beside her, she decided to wait until later.
Lu Qingqing put away her phone, the music in her ears becoming irritating.
It wasn't that it didn't sound good, it just made her feel uncomfortable.
Lu Qingqing lowered her gaze to her dress, and amid this annoying erhu sound, she unexpectedly recalled some things from her past.
Like her father, and her family.
Compared to these privileged elites, she didn't have a wealthy family. In her childhood, she didn't even have her own room.
When she was young, the family of three slept on one bed. After she started elementary school, her father bought a folding bed and slept in the living room, while she shared the bedroom with her mother.
Although life was hard then, and she would envy her classmates' chips and yogurt at school, the young Lu Qingqing knew that her parents loved her, and she shouldn't compare herself with others.
She needed to study hard, get into a good university, find a good job, and then buy her parents a big house.
Soon enough, Lu Qingqing's wish of living in a big house came true, though not through her studies, but because her father was promoted by the company's chairman.
Lu's father was a hardworking person, and by chance, Boss Shen discovered his capabilities and directly promoted him to secretary and assistant.
Lu Qingqing was happy then because she got her own room and her first beautiful princess dress.
From then on, her life seemed to become smoother.
She was naturally pretty, and after her mother's grooming, she became like a little princess in class, loved by teachers and admired by classmates.
Lu Qingqing was very happy. She felt fortunate to have a big house, beautiful dresses, endless snacks and yogurt. However, the young Lu Qingqing hadn't realized that the price for all these possessions would be the loss of her happy family.
Her father came home later and later, often reeking of alcohol. Her mother cried more frequently, and their arguments increased.
The first time her father took her to attend a Shen family banquet, he said, "Everything we have now is given by the Shen family. Qingqing, you don't want to go back to that tiny one-room apartment, right? Dad will work very hard, and you need to be sensible too. Make Boss Shen and Mrs. Shen like you, then we'll get even more things in the future."
Make Boss Shen and Mrs. Shen like her?
Lu Qingqing didn't fully understand this logic then, but she knew she didn't want to return to that damp, poor-smelling house, nor did she want to have only two shirts to change during summer again.
She loved beautiful dresses, playing piano, dancing, and being praised as a little princess.
Rather than Boss Shen and Mrs. Shen, wouldn't it be better if the Shen family's handsome young master liked her?
So Lu Qingqing fell in love with Shen Yujing at first sight, though it might not have been love at all. She wanted him to like her, so she could live depending on him.
Just like her father, only using a different method.
Until her mother screamed madly at her father, "What kind of work requirements? Don't tell me getting hotel rooms with women is also work-related!"
Her father's palm struck her mother's face as he said coldly, "Don't say these things in front of the child."
Her mother, with disheveled hair, gave a cold laugh at her father, "You dare to do it but are afraid of people talking about it? Qingqing will be most ashamed of having you as her father in the future!"
Lu's father looked at Lu Qingqing, who was hiding in the corner, and asked, "Qingqing, I'm giving you a choice now. Do you want to go back to our old house, or do you want to persuade your mother to go back to her room and rest?"
Lu Qingqing hesitated for a long time before walking to her mother and saying, "Mom, Dad is doing this for our family's good."
The girl was only in third grade, but growing up in such an environment had made her mature early. She understood everything and made her choice.
Lu Qingqing smiled at her mother and said, "Mom, this is good enough. We just need money. You can buy the newest bags, I can travel abroad, and everyone will envy us. Nothing else matters."
Lu Qingqing would never forget that day—her usually gentle and loving mother looked at her not as her beloved daughter, but as if she were looking at a devil.
That was one of the last times Lu Qingqing remembered seeing her mother, as they divorced soon after.
Before leaving, her mother asked, "Qingqing, do you want to come with mommy?"
Lu Qingqing shook her head and said, "I like our home as it is."
After that, she never saw her mother again.
Though it happened long ago and should have been mostly forgotten, suddenly remembering it still brought tears to her eyes.
Lu Qingqing quickly wiped her eyes and looked up at the stage in confusion.
The erhu performance wasn't particularly skillful compared to concerts she had attended before, but somehow it had an incredibly moving power to touch people's hearts.
How strange, was it because she had been under too much stress lately?
Lu Qingqing thought this, but quickly realized something was amiss, as she wasn't the only one affected.
A girl in the back row was already crying, saying through sobs, "It reminds me of my grandfather. The erhu was his favorite instrument. He used to sit in the garden playing it. I thought it was noisy and unpleasant back then, but now..."
The girl couldn't finish her sentence before burying her face in her friend's shoulder, crying uncontrollably.
A male student to the right was also wiping away tears, trying to be discreet about it out of embarrassment, but Lu Qingqing still noticed.
Even a girl in the front row turned around with red eyes asking to borrow tissues.
Lu Qingqing: "..."
This was bizarre, truly bizarre. What exactly was wrong?
Lu Qingqing turned to look at her left side, where the blonde youth was gazing intently at the stage, clearly focused on listening, yet completely unaffected by the sorrowful music.
Lu Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief.
She knew it - playing an erhu couldn't possibly be this mystical.
But in the next second, Shen Yujing looked strangely at Quan Le and asked, "What are you doing? Are you crying?"
Lu Qingqing: "..."
Something still seemed off.
At that moment, Murong Huan stood nearby with her arms crossed watching the stage. The usually proud young lady's eyes were red for the second time in recent days.
The first time was because of Jiang Yiheng, and this time was also because of him.
The first time was because she liked him and couldn't let go, this time was because thinking about all these years of unrequited love felt like such a waste of time, and being such a devoted follower for so many years was embarrassing.
Wuu wuu wuu, it still makes me so angry.
Why did I like him for so many years... wuu wuu...
Meanwhile, Jiang Yiheng, who was standing next to the principal and directors, furrowed his brow.
Song Yi's performance was good, very moving, to the point where he felt an inexplicable sadness.
This strange feeling surrounded his heart, and Jiang Yiheng quickly realized the reason.
Perhaps it was because seeing Song Yi reminded him of tonight's banquet, where he would have to step onto the dance floor.
It's alright, this step had to be taken eventually.
Jiang Yiheng lifted the corners of his mouth, trying hard to suppress his current less-than-comfortable feelings.
Suddenly, one of the leaders spoke up, "This student is really excellent. I suddenly miss my daughter - she's been studying abroad for so long without coming home."
"I'm thinking about our past years, when Saint Slee Academy was just starting to recruit students and faced so many difficulties. If it weren't for Old Shen's investment, we might have gone bankrupt by now."
"Yes, indeed." Someone agreed, reminiscing about the past. "Principal, do you remember? You were the one who led us to seek out Old Mr. Shen back then."
At this point, the 80-year-old principal lifted his head and adjusted his reading glasses.
It was then that others noticed the principal was crying.
Everyone rushed to offer tissues and consolation, creating a moment of chaos among the leadership group.
Meanwhile, Song Yi, sitting on stage, hadn't yet realized what kind of impact her performance had made on the entire Saint Slee Academy.
As the piece ended, thunderous applause erupted.
Song Yi stood up and politely bowed to the audience, just about to leave the stage when the host suddenly appeared.
The delicate-looking youth in a white suit was probably a second-year student; Song Yi hadn't seen him much before.
The youth smiled at Song Yi and said, "Senior, please stay."
The youth then turned to face the audience, "I'm sure everyone, like me, was moved by Senior Song Yi's performance. Besides us, there's also someone special who has something to say - our principal! Let's welcome him with applause!"
Scattered applause followed. The 80-year-old principal was known for being long-winded, and clearly, no one was in the mood to hear him ramble at this moment.
However, Song Yi found it strange - why would the principal have anything to say about her erhu performance?
Still, Song Yi stepped back a couple of paces to give the principal center stage.
When she saw the principal's red eyes and nose, clearly showing he had just been crying, Song Yi fell silent.
What was going on?
Was her playing so terrible that it had moved the principal to tears?
Fortunately, the situation wasn't as bad as Song Yi had imagined. The principal stood on stage and passionately praised her performance.
For once, the principal didn't ramble but spoke concisely: "What is art? This is art! Truly good music can strike directly at one's soul! I recalled many things from the past, including the most difficult days of my life. I believe many students felt the same way - I saw many people crying, didn't I? Don't feel embarrassed. We were moved by art, crying for art!"
Song Yi silently hugged her erhu closer.
It really wasn't quite at the level of "art" - such praise seemed a bit exaggerated.
The audience burst into enthusiastic applause once again.
As soon as Song Yi left the stage, Murong Huan rushed over to grab her hand, repeatedly saying, "You performed so wonderfully just now! You almost moved me to tears! I nearly cried, and Quan Le actually did cry! Look! He's still wiping his nose!"
Quan Le, who had appeared at some point, also had red eyes, but unusually, he didn't deny it and instead awkwardly said, "I admit, I was truly moved by your performance."
Song Yi: "?"
Huh?
What was all this about?
What confused Song Yi even more came later - her erhu performance video was recorded by students and posted on the forum.
Soon, it wasn't just Saint Slee Academy's forum; students from other schools began sharing the video as well.
[Look! Beautiful girl in qipao playing erhu!]
[When she seriously announced she would play "Moon Reflected on Er-Quan," I thought it would be a joke, but it turned out to be a real expert performance]
[Wuu wuu wuu wuu wuu wuu wuu wuu so touching I can't control myself]
[Is it just me? I cried for as long as she played]
[Does this music have emotions? Why do I suddenly feel so sad?]
[It reminded me of my saddest memories...]
[Same as above +1]
Within less than an hour, the video spread wildly across all high school forums in the Imperial Capital, with everyone discussing this young woman in sunglasses and qipao playing the erhu.
The video thumbnail looked strange, making people click out of curiosity, but they ended up being moved to tears by her performance.
At the end, when she took off her sunglasses during the bow, revealing her beautiful face and giving a shy smile to the audience.
[Ahhhhh I declare I'm in love]
[Her smile instantly healed all the sadness from listening to the entire "Moon Reflected on Er-Quan"]
[So, is she an amateur? Or a performing arts student from some school?]
[Could this be promotion for a future debut?]
[I'm calling dibs on being a die-hard fan when she debuts!]
[Everyone needs to calm down, she's from Saint Slee Academy, which means her family is either extremely wealthy or she's exceptionally smart. Don't try to turn every talented beautiful girl into a potential celebrity]
Saint Yu High School was no exception to the buzz.
A young man sat in the last row, leaning back in his chair, holding a milk tea and wearing earphones, having watched the video on his phone three full times.
It wasn't quite moving enough to make him cry as others claimed, but it did remind him of certain things.
Like his not-so-well-behaved younger brother, who wasn't really that close to him.
And his grandmother, that frail old woman who never took the initiative to see him because she despised his parents.
Despite saying they wanted to minimize encounters to avoid Hang Feng seeing them, every time the elderly person saw him, their eyes couldn't hide their love. The calendar at home clearly marked the times he would visit each month, and when parting, they would secretly slip money and candies into his pocket.
Though well aware that he wasn't short of money, to avoid disappointing their younger grandson, the elderly person could only express their care for their older grandson in such clumsy ways.
Actually, this feeling wasn't unpleasant at all. It made him suddenly miss them, realizing it had been a long time since he'd gone back to visit her.
And the elderly person didn't know that the son she had resented for half her life - his nominal father - was actually near death.
They say death absolves all sins; he wondered if she would forgive him.
Xu Che thought about this as he lowered his head to bite the bubble tea straw, though he didn't actually sip it. He just maintained that position while spacing out, seemingly lost in thought.
*
Meanwhile.
At noon, in Saint Slee Academy's cafeteria.
Looking at the forum's unanimous praise for Song Yi, and thinking about how everyone had red eyes this morning, Shen Yujing still couldn't understand.
He looked at Quan Le beside him, then at Murong Huan in front of him, and asked, "Did you all really cry?"
Murong Huan: "My eyes just got a bit red, that's all."
Quan Le: "I just had to wipe my nose, that's all."
Seeing Shen Yujing's skeptical gaze, Murong Huan slammed her chopsticks on the table. "Hey, don't look at us like that! So what if we cried? We're not ashamed to admit it. Everyone was crying today anyway, so no one can mock anyone else!"
"Exactly," Quan Le nodded in agreement. "Didn't you see how everyone was praising Song Yi? They said her performance could make people recall their most painful and sad memories. It's normal to cry!"
Song Yi couldn't bear to watch anymore and tried to mediate: "Let's just eat and not argue."
Though Song Yi had initially found this situation unreasonable too, when she remembered that she was the protagonist, everything suddenly made sense.
Being the protagonist meant nothing was impossible, hmm.
Shen Yujing thought for a few seconds and said, "But forget about crying, I didn't feel sad at all."
Murong Huan let out a cold laugh, "Heh."
Quan Le rolled her eyes, "Heh heh."
Song Yi nodded perfunctorily: "Mm-hmm, let's eat, let's eat."
Shen Yujing: "..."
How could he convince them that he wasn't just saving face? He really wasn't affected at all!
