Shen Yujing wanted to howl in frustration, but clearly, no one would believe him.
He could only silently put on his headphones and secretly replay the video recording in his pocket once more.
While the erhu music was indeed sorrowful, it had no substantial effect on him - if anything, it made his food taste even better.
Shen Yujing posted on Saint Slee Academy's anonymous forum:
[Why don't I feel sad when listening to Song Yila's erhu?]
1st post: Oh my, OP must have a heart of steel
6th post: As someone who went through a box of tissues, I can't believe this.
9th post: I don't understand, are there really people who don't get emotional listening to Song Yila's erhu?
12th post: Is OP some kind of cold-blooded monster? Even Song Yi's erhu can't move you?
15th post: +1 to the above, besides a cold-blooded monster, I can't imagine anyone remaining unmoved by Song Yi's erhu performance
...
Shen Yujing's hands trembled slightly as he held his phone.
Why... why was this happening?
Why was everyone moved by Song Yi's performance while he alone seemed so out of place?
Could it be that these people were right - was he really a cold-blooded monster?
No! Impossible!
At that moment, Quan Le suddenly looked up at Shen Yujing, "Seriously, were you really completely unmoved by Song Yi's performance? Didn't it make you think of anything sad at all?"
Murong Huan put down his chopsticks and analyzed, "If Shen Yujing really didn't feel anything, then..."
"That's impossible!" Shen Yujing couldn't bear to hear more and immediately interrupted Murong Huan, "I was sad! Of course I was sad! How could I be unmoved? How could I be a cold-blooded monster!"
Song Yi: "...?"
Murong Huan: "?"
Quan Le: "No one called you a cold-blooded monster, why are you so worked up?"
"I..."
Shen Yujing opened his mouth, wanting to explain but suddenly started stammering.
Oh right, it was the people on the forum who said that, not them - why was he feeling guilty?
So Shen Yujing immediately relaxed and said, "Never mind, let's eat."
Although Song Yi and the others found Shen Yujing's reaction strange, they didn't think too much about it.
Just as lunch was about to end, someone suddenly walked past their table.
A pair of fair, slender fingers placed a strawberry milk on the table in front of them. Song Yi looked up and said with some surprise, "Hang Feng? What brings you here?"
"Congratulations, your performance was wonderful." The young man lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on Song Yi's face, his thin lips slightly pursed.
His expression carried complex emotions, as if he had gathered all his courage to come find Song Yi.
"Thank you." Song Yi looked up and smiled at Hang Feng, then tried to return the strawberry milk to his hand, "But this isn't necessary."
Hang Feng didn't take it back, his narrow eyes showing a hint of stubbornness as he looked at her, "You said you'd be friends with me."
Song Yi narrowed her eyes, her memory returning to that night.
Well, that did seem to have happened.
Since she had already said those words, it wouldn't be appropriate to refuse now.
So Song Yi moved the milk aside slightly, "Well, thank you then."
"Hey." Shen Yujing looked at Hang Feng and suddenly extended his hand, "Let's be friends too."
Before Hang Feng could react, Shen Yujing forcefully shook his hand and immediately sat back down.
The next second, Song Yi watched as Shen Yujing snatched away the strawberry milk that "symbolized friendship" from her hands.
Song Yi asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
Shen Yujing inserted the straw and took a drink, saying matter-of-factly, "We're all friends here."
Then he looked at Hang Feng and asked, "Want something to eat? My treat?"
Hang Feng ignored Shen Yujing and instead expressionlessly took out another bottle of strawberry milk from his other pocket, placing it again in front of Song Yi.
Shen Yujing: "?"
How did he have a backup plan?
So Shen Yujing immediately looked at Quan Le, signaling him with his eyes.
Years of understanding allowed Quan Le to catch his meaning instantly. He immediately stood up, also wanting to shake hands with Hang Feng, "Why don't we become friends too..."
"No." This time Hang Feng reacted quickly, instantly pulling his hand behind his back, then looked at Shen Yujing, "That goes for you too."
After saying this, Hang Feng turned and left, clearly not taking any of them seriously.
Murong Huan took a sip of the drink on the table, expressing what both Shen Yujing and Quan Le were thinking, "What an irritating personality."
"Alright, alright, let's go." Song Yi said as she picked up the strawberry milk in front of her and was the first to stand up and walk away.
She was still wearing the qipao she had performed in earlier, not having had the chance to change into her own clothes.
Shen Yujing quickly caught up, walking alongside Song Yi, and asked, "By the way, why aren't you wearing the clothes I gave you?"
Although Song Yi looked beautiful in the qipao, Shen Yujing also wanted to see if the clothes he had carefully chosen would suit her.
Mentioning those clothes seemed to suddenly remind Song Yi, and she looked at Shen Yujing, saying, "I forgot to tell you, the clothes you gave me were so beautiful that someone got jealous and cut them up."
Hearing this, Shen Yujing's brows furrowed so tightly they could have killed a fly, and he said, "Let me see it."
Since it was something Shen Yujing had given her, he naturally had the right to see how badly it had been damaged, so Song Yi led him to the backstage dressing room.
Because it was lunchtime, the room was empty.
At Song Yi's position from the morning, the destroyed tulle dress still lay there.
It was lonely, existing in its destroyed state.
Shen Yujing picked up the bag and said, "I'll investigate this thoroughly."
"There's no need," Song Yi said, "Just don't give me things like this anymore."
Shen Yujing didn't understand and asked, "Why?"
"I told you today, I don't want to be misunderstood. It was because some girl who likes you misunderstood our relationship that this happened to me." Song Yi looked into Shen Yujing's eyes, "Last time it was Chen Xue falsely accusing me of cheating on exams, this time it's destroying my performance dress - who knows what they'll do next?"
"Shen Yujing, I can't keep bearing their senseless malice just because of your so-called kindness, can I?"
Just like the original protagonist.
Actually, at the root of it all, although Shen Yujing had bullied the original protagonist in the original plot, he hadn't really done anything truly terrible to her - at most just pulling her braids and hiding her love letters.
The harm he brought to the original protagonist was instead due to his overly flamboyant actions and direct displays of kindness toward her, which made others jealous and act maliciously.
"But..."
Shen Yujing opened his mouth, trying to explain something.
Like how he gave her the dress out of goodwill, how this wasn't the result he wanted, and perhaps to say sorry.
Song Yi said seriously, "Shen Yujing, actually I find it more comfortable being around you than Jiang Yiheng or Hang Feng. So I'm still quite willing to continue being friends with you, and if you feel the same way, then don't be so nice to me anymore."
Shen Yujing looked at her, his peach blossom eyes showing confusion, "But if I'm not nice to you, how can we still be considered friends?"
Isn't this how friends are supposed to be? What's wrong with it?
"Hmm..."
This question made Song Yi think for a moment, then she said, "Then just don't treat me specially, treat me the same way you treat Quan Le. You wouldn't give Quan Le a dress, so don't give me one either in the future."
Song Yi started walking out as she finished speaking, "Alright then, don't investigate about this dress either. I know who did it."
"Who?"
Song Yi's last sentence successfully caught Shen Yujing's attention again. He followed her out carrying the bag, "Who is it? Who? Why won't you tell me? Who is it?"
Song Yi lowered her head to play with her phone, casually taking another sip of strawberry milk.
Both playing piano, both wearing white tulle dresses, performing one after another - who would be most affected by her successful performance?
The answer was too obvious.
Song Yi walked very quickly, directly leaving Shen Yujing behind.
Or perhaps for Shen Yujing, rather than catching up with Song Yi, he had a more serious question to ponder.
Don't treat her specially, treat her the same way as Quan Le.
Song Yi's words were right - they were friends, yes, just friends, so of course there shouldn't be any special treatment.
So Shen Yujing took out his phone and called the butler, "That blue evening gown from yesterday, send it to the Quan family right away."
"Who is it for? Who else could it be for? Of course it's for Quan Le."
After making that call, Shen Yujing felt much better.
That's right, he only saw Song Yi as a regular friend too, and wouldn't give her any special treatment.
Since Song Yi had a dress, Quan Le should have one too - that's what treating everyone equally means.
That must have been what she meant, right?
Definitely, he was so clever.
*
Evening, at the academy ballroom.
Song Yi changed into a black evening gown, which was also prepared by Murong Huan.
The thin spaghetti straps design and black color made her skin appear even more fair. Murong Huan had deliberately added some highlighter to her beautiful collarbones, making them shimmer under the lights.
Murong Huan held Song Yi's shoulders with both hands and looked at her with satisfaction, saying: "So beautiful! Just absolutely beautiful!"
Song Yi helplessly grabbed her arm, "Alright, that's enough, you're being too dramatic. I'm tired of hearing your constant compliments even if you're not tired of giving them."
Murong Huan said: "Let me tell you, when I was little, my wish was to have a human-sized Barbie doll, and your appearance has fulfilled all my fantasies! Yi Yi, let's go out and play every weekend, I've prepared more than ten princess dresses for you..."
Song Yi covered her ears with both hands.
Enough, really enough.
Who would have known that Murong Huan, who appeared to be such a cool and aloof queen on the outside, would be so obsessed with princess dresses and Barbie dolls in private!
But fortunately for today's occasion, Murong Huan didn't persist with her princess dresses, instead reminding her: "Did you put cotton padding in the high heels? I really can't trust his dancing skills."
Song Yi wore a lifeless expression, "Whatever, if he breaks my legs, that's fine too. Then I won't have to work hard for the rest of my life and can just lie around like a lazy fish."
Murong Huan laughed at Song Yi's joke.
While the daytime school celebration was an activity for both teachers and students, the evening ball was exclusively for students.
Everyone present could invite dance partners, and after the first dance ended, they could move freely.
They could either stay in the ballroom or go anywhere else in the school, as all activity rooms in the school were unlocked today.
At this moment, Jiang Yiheng and Shen Yujing arrived together.
Both wore black and white suits respectively, but their expressions were equally serious and heavy.
Jiang Yiheng was naturally worried about his dancing skills, while Shen Yujing was somewhat dissatisfied.
He had been so close, just a little more and Song Yi would have been his dance partner! Just a little more!
The four gathered together.
Murong Huan pointed to a corner and directed: "You two should stay in that direction later. If you really can't dance well, just hide there, no one will see you."
"Okay." Song Yi nodded, then lifted one foot towards Jiang Yiheng and waved it, "Don't feel too much pressure, I've put many layers of cotton padding this time, so it's okay if you step on me. Of course, don't do it on purpose."
"Okay." Jiang Yiheng nodded.
As the music started playing, all the students quickly found their dance partners and entered the dance floor.
Song Yi and Jiang Yiheng also moved towards the corner as Murong Huan had suggested earlier.
Dancing on the side meant that even if something went wrong, it wouldn't affect others.
Jiang Yiheng's hand rested on Song Yi's waist, his eyes lowered to watch their feet, moving his steps as rigorously as if he were reciting mathematical formulas.
Although Jiang Yiheng's dancing wasn't particularly graceful, he was performing exceptionally well today, having not stepped on Song Yi's feet for quite a while.
So Song Yi praised him, saying: "You're doing very well today."
After receiving the affirmation, Jiang Yiheng felt his heartbeat gradually return to normal, and much of his previous nervousness dissipated.
Just then, suddenly all the lights in the ballroom went dark, and the venue was plunged into darkness.
Someone screamed.
Song Yi: "..."
This scene felt so familiar, hadn't something similar happened at the Shen family's banquet?
So Song Yi asked in her heart: "Again?"
[...]
The system replied somewhat grievously [It's not me]
The system quickly cleared its name, as someone's voice rang out, "Dear boys and girls, please don't panic, this is just a little game we've added to make tonight's ball more interesting."
"The lights will go out again for ten seconds, during which you can decide whether to continue dancing with your original partner, or take a risk and hold the hand of someone nearby whose name you don't know, treating it as fate. Ten, nine, eight..."
Song Yi: "..."
What kind of cliché and boring game was this, couldn't a normal high school "gathering" just be normal?
But given Jiang Yiheng's personality, he probably wouldn't participate in such a boring game to switch partners...
Huh? Why did the hand on her waist let go???
You really can't judge a book by its cover - who would have thought that Jiang Yiheng, despite his cool and dignified appearance, actually liked seeking thrills.
She had wasted so much time practicing dance with Jiang Yiheng, how heartless...
Wait, that's not right!
With Jiang Yiheng's dancing skills, they had only just managed to look somewhat decent after all their practice together. If he suddenly found someone else, wouldn't he be exposed?
So Jiang Yiheng definitely didn't let go of her voluntarily! But what exactly happened then???
Before Song Yi could figure out the answer, suddenly a strong hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her into an embrace.
Her nose bumped into the person's chin, causing Song Yi to grunt in pain. She put her hand on their arm to create some distance between them and asked: "Who are you?"
It was just a brief embrace that quickly released.
When the lights came back on, there was no one in front of Song Yi, as if it had been her imagination, or just an unremarkable little incident.
Song Yi wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but she thought she had smelled... strawberry milk.
Suddenly, a scream broke out nearby, interrupting Song Yi's thoughts.
"What the hell! What's going on!"
Song Yi was startled and looked towards the source of the voice - it was Shen Yujing speaking.
Song Yi's brows furrowed.
The scene before her was strange, because Shen Yujing was holding Jiang Yiheng's wrist.
The blonde young master immediately let go, his face showing an expression of horror as he asked in disbelief: "How is it you?"
Jiang Yiheng said expressionlessly: "You're the one who pulled me over."
Shen Yujing laughed in anger, explaining for himself: "An accident! This was just an accident!"
"An accident?" With Jiang Yiheng's intelligence, he immediately understood Shen Yujing's original intention.
So Jiang Yiheng looked at Song Yi and directly translated for Shen Yujing, saying: "He wanted to dance with you."
Just then, the voice from earlier rang out again.
"Congratulations to everyone who has either reconfirmed or found new dance partners, now please continue dancing with your partner!"
Song Yi tugged at the corner of her lips and took two steps back, "Then I won't disturb you, please continue, continue."
Jiang Yiheng: "...???"
Shen Yujing: "...!!!"
