Chapter 102 Pink Envelope

"I haven't heard the piece you're going to play in the competition yet. Play it for me."

Lu Yinzhao did this to help Bian Ji alleviate his pre-match tension.

With repeated practice, you'll become proficient and won't feel intimidated in even the biggest situations.

“Okay, after we finish eating, I’ll play it for you,” Bian Ji agreed.

Lu Yinzhao even ate a little faster so he could enjoy the music from the big boss sooner.

After the two finished their meal, Bian Ji went to her room to get her violin.

Lu Yinzhao sat on the sofa and waited silently.

A moment later, the boy brought over a black violin case.

"Is this new? I don't think I've seen you use it before."

Over the years, the two had lived together, and Lu Yinzhao knew everything about Bian Ji's house, but he had never seen this violin case before.

"Yes, it's new." Bian Ji placed the zither flat on the sofa, then squatted down. "Lu Yinzhao, do you still remember Ms. Giovanna?"

Lu Yinzhao pictured a blonde woman in his mind, "Is she the judge who chased after you after your singing competition back then?"

"Yes, this zither was commissioned by a craftsman in Y country on my behalf. When I contacted her, I didn't expect her to agree so readily..."

Whenever Bian Ji talks about music or musical instruments, Lu Yinzhao feels that the boy has become a different person.

Bian Ji's eyes held a whole dazzling galaxy universe, even more radiant than Lu Yinzhao had imagined.

Lu Yinzhao watched as Bian Ji took the violin out of its case; the violin body gleamed with a deep luster.

The ebony fingerboard is delicate and warm, and the tuning pegs are decorated with beautiful European-style carvings, making it as exquisite as a work of art.

Lu Yinzhao was amazed and wanted to touch it, but stopped when she was a centimeter away.

Wow, this quality looks incredibly valuable...

Lu Yinzhao was afraid of breaking it.

Bian Ji replied, "You can touch me as you like."

"It's so beautiful."

"Things are meant to be used, you don't need to worry."

Bian Ji clearly understood what Lu Yinzhao was thinking, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

After hearing Bian Ji's words, Lu Yinzhao dared to place his hand on it, feeling the warm and silky touch on his fingertips.

It must have been carefully polished by craftsmen many times. Through the body of the instrument, Lu Yinzhao seemed to be able to feel the passage of time on it.

No wonder many musicians treat their instruments like children.

It's so beautiful, it really deserves to be cherished.

Lu Yinzhao watched as Bian Ji quickly tuned the bow and rubbed the bow hair with rosin several times.

Then, he handed his phone to Lu Yinzhao.

"Okay, I'm ready. Can you press the play button for this accompaniment? Just say 'start' and it'll start."

Bian Ji pinched the neck of the violin with his fingertips and turned it halfway around. The violin rested against his collarbone. His left hand lightly pressed the fingerboard, and his right hand held the bow. His posture was relaxed and steady.

Lu Yinzhao held Bian Ji's phone, looked up and met the boy's gaze.

"Okay, let's begin."

Lu Yinzhao pressed the play button, and the pre-recorded piano accompaniment on his phone began to play.

This accompaniment was also pre-recorded and played by Bian Ji.

When the actual competition begins, the organizers will provide professional piano accompanists, and the contestants will rehearse in advance.

Today I'm just testing the fusion effect of two pieces of music at home.

When the fourth note of the accompaniment is played, the violin begins.

As the boy's bowstring fell, a string of clear notes flowed out like water.

Hearing this, Lu Yinzhao got goosebumps.

My goodness, that voice is so beautiful...

A capable person needs a capable "weapon"—how could they not be strong?

Lu Yinzhao quickly calculated that the big shot would absolutely crush everyone in the competition this time.

With this level of skill, how can you lack confidence?

He felt that Bian Ji was setting too high a standard for himself.

In the following minutes, the entire room was filled with that melodious tune, sometimes low and gentle, sometimes high and passionate, with each note carrying just the right amount of strength and warmth.

Is this really not a live concert?

The song ended.

Bian Ji opened his eyes and saw the little boy in front of him blinking his starry eyes and clapping his hands non-stop.

"Brother, you looked so cool playing the violin just now!"

Lu Yinzhao praised him without reservation.

The boy was already good-looking, and with the added boost of music, he was practically glowing.

"..."

Bian Ji's ears turned slightly red from the praise. He coughed lightly and carefully put the zither back into its case.

"What's the name of this piece? It's so beautiful."

"It's my original composition, and I named it 'Moonlight Shadow'."

Because it is an original piece, Bian Ji needs to submit the sheet music to the organizing committee for review in advance. The competition organizers need to determine the professionalism and difficulty of the work, as well as whether it meets the competition's time requirements.

The review has been approved, and I'm just waiting to go to the competition.

“You can definitely win the award, I told you so,” Lu Yinzhao repeated.

“There are many people more capable than me.” Bian Ji’s statement was not a lie.

He knows his current level and that confidence doesn't mean anything; there are always people better than him and there's always something beyond his reach.

However, Bian Ji would never disappoint Lu Yinzhao. He hoped that after each performance, he would see admiration in Lu Yinzhao's eyes.

He himself needed Lu Yinzhao's encouragement; the other party could provide much more than that.

*

The violin competition was held on a Wednesday afternoon.

After school, Lu Yinzhao immediately went to the competition venue to pick up Bian Ji.

At that time, Bian Ji had finished the match and was walking towards the door.

"Brother Aji, over here!"

Lu Yinzhao waved to the boy not far away.

Bian Ji also spotted Lu Yinzhao at a glance and walked towards his car.

Get in the car and close the door.

Lu Yinzhao asked, "How did you perform?"

"No mistakes." Bian Ji took off his neatly tailored jacket from the match and loosened a button on his shirt collar.

"That's good! No matter the results, don't think about it anymore now that the competition is over. Go back and have a good meal," Lu Yinzhao said.

"Hmm." Bian Ji moved her backpack beside her. "Your backpack is quite heavy today. Do you have a lot of homework?"

"Uh, no..." Lu Yinzhao scratched his head, hesitating to speak.

Seeing Lu Yinzhao's strange expression, Bian Ji asked, "Can I open it?"

“Okay.” Lu Yinzhao thought that since Bian Ji wanted to see it, he would let him see it.

Anyway... they're all just kids' toys.

Bian Ji opened his schoolbag right in front of Lu Yinzhao.

The box was filled with gift boxes of various kinds, some of which looked like candy and chocolate, while others contained comic books that children love to read and toys they like.

"Didn't you receive a bunch of gifts for your birthday last month?" Bian Ji asked, puzzled.

Lu Yinzhao sighed.

"These were given to me by girls from other classes. They said they wanted to make up for the lack of a gift for me. I refused many times, but they still secretly stuffed them into my drawer every day. My drawer is now completely full..."

"..."

"I figured they meant well, and it wouldn't be right to throw them away, so... I took some home, otherwise my desk would explode."

"..."

"Brother, there's some food inside. Feel free to take whatever you want."

Lu Yinzhao forced a smile, but suddenly felt that the boy next to her was a little sullen.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Bian Ji closed his backpack. "We have storage boxes at home, let's just put them all together."

“Okay.” Lu Yinzhao did indeed have this plan.

He didn't even know who sent some of the gifts, and some had names on them. He would find an opportunity to return the favor later, and then he would never accept any more gifts.

Lu Yinzhao was named one of the school's "Top Ten Outstanding Youths" this year, making him even more famous on campus.

Everyone knows that there's a male classmate in Class 1 who's academically excellent, has a good personality, and is also good-looking.

Bian Ji was initially shocked by this; these elementary school students, at such a young age, were already expressing "like" by giving gifts.

Although he knew that this "liking" was rather innocent, he still felt annoyed that his precious child was being coveted by countless people.

But then I realized that I seemed to have gone through a similar period myself.

Perhaps because his face was too cold, after Bian Ji sternly refused several times, no one deliberately put things in his drawer anymore.

Lu Yinzhao has such a soft heart, she definitely couldn't be as heartless as him.

So many gifts...

This is enough to show how popular Lu Yinzhao was at school.

After returning home, Lu Yinzhao took the things out of his schoolbag and put them into the storage box.

Bian Ji stood silently to the side, watching with a dark look in his eyes.

Bian Ji suddenly realized that he had no reason to interfere with the relationship between Lu Yinzhao and his classmates.

That's something Lu Yinzhao needs to handle himself; he can accept gifts from whomever he wants.

Kids like to share interesting things...

Snap.

"Huh? What's this?"

A pink envelope fell out.

Just as Lu Yinzhao was about to pick it up, Bian Ji took the envelope first and opened it with a serious expression.

[Lu Yinzhao, the moment I saw you, I knew I was in love with you...]

The childish Chinese characters appeared on the paper, and Bian Ji and Lu Yinzhao simultaneously saw the most eye-catching sentence, and both of them went black.

Lu Yinzhao panicked, "I..."

Bian Ji said coldly, "You can't accept this! Return it, or I'll throw it away for you. You choose!"

"..." Lu Yinzhao was stunned.

Of course he knew what it was.

What are elementary school students thinking about these days?

Lu Yinzhao had no idea when the love letter had been placed inside.

What were you doing when you were ten years old in your past life?

It seems like he doesn't know anything at all.

Now he really wants to say to the person who wrote the letter: Your ten years and my ten years seem different...

"It seems I need to talk to your teacher about the issue of early romantic relationships at your age. Instead of studying, you just like writing these kinds of things?"

This was the first time Lu Yinzhao had seen Bian Ji act so fiercely.

He looks...he looks like a father who has children at home.

Lu Yinzhao had never been in a relationship in his early years, or even in either of his two lives; he was indifferent to such things.

But seeing Bian Ji's anxious appearance, a sense of curiosity arose in his heart.

"Brother, have any girls confessed their feelings to you while you were in high school?"

"I……"

Lu Yinzhao asked innocently, but Bian Ji was speechless.

Because there are indeed... quite a few.

Of course, he coldly rejected them all in the end; he had no interest in dating whatsoever.

He couldn't quite imagine what his future partner would be like. He had so many things to do every day—studying, creating—and most of his time would probably be spent on music. If his partner couldn't understand him, being together would only be torture.

Bian Ji even made plans to never find a partner for the rest of her life.

His emotional needs are limited to maintaining family ties; he probably can't provide anything more.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Zhao Zhao: Oh my god, brother, please let me explain!

——————

A moment ago, Bian Ji thought: "It's nothing wrong for kids to exchange gifts." [Patting head]

A split second later, a jolt of fear shot through him: Quick! Retreat! [Cracks open]