Sheet music 20

"Mother."

"Tang Xi."

The voices of mother and daughter overlapped easily, and their gazes collided like a rainbow of sugar, with opposite sour and sweet tastes, but blended just right.

Tang Xi exhaled, and just as she opened her mouth, she spoke in unison with her mother.

"You speak first."

Song Duzhou put one hand on his waist, unable to resist the urge to laugh: "You two, mother and daughter, are really interesting. You always have to be polite and yield when speaking."

Yu Ji didn't hold back on being polite to Song Duzhou. He deliberately looked her up and down with a strange look, then snorted contemptuously, "How dare you call others interesting? Anyone with a discerning eye can see that your aesthetic taste is the most interesting thing."

Song Duzhou wasn't angry at all. He gestured up and down his body with his hands, grinning and saying, "My clothes are not only a hundred times more comfortable than your cheongsam, which makes it hard to move your legs, but they are also absolutely classic. If you can't appreciate them, I'm starting to doubt whether you're really an artist."

"If artists had to dress like you, I probably wouldn't have been able to get into Peking University as my first choice, a psychology program, to study 'Why do artists always dress in bizarre ways?'"

"I think if you want to be an artist, you have to dress like that all the time. You might as well have been selling pancakes at the gate of Peking University."

The two of them were arguing with each other, neither of them willing to give in.

Tang Xi suddenly remembered that some time ago, his mother was watching the live broadcast of a piano competition in the living room, and her comments on Song Duzhou were so sharp, "In his free time, he doesn't play the violin properly, but runs to the piano competition to attract attention."

She originally thought that her mother hated Song Duzhou, but now it seems that what others see as enemies bickering with each other is just the most common joke to them.

As for 'talking bad about others behind their backs', it is just proof that they are consistent in what they say and do.

Instead of hiding your true thoughts, it is better to say everything directly. This will help explore the other person's boundaries, make communication very efficient, and make it easier to get into the other person's heart and confirm whether you can become soul mates at a very fast speed.

Song Duzhou raised her arm, revealing a golden watch that matched her aesthetic taste. She glanced down to see the exact time, tapped her palm twice with her fingertips, and said decisively, "Enough of the nonsense. I'm afraid if I don't give the things to the staff, your husband, with his vengeful nature, will immediately make things difficult for her."

Yu Jigang nodded and was about to take the folder from her hand, but she easily dodged him.

Song Duzhou stretched out a finger and shook it left and right: "I was the one who handled the discharge just now. Are you still worried about leaving the follow-up to me? I will also pack Aunt Lu's things for her. Just relax and chat with Xiaoxi."

Tang Xi wanted to say that there would be plenty of opportunities to chat later, and what was more important than grandma now?

Who knew that Yu's mother agreed faster than she opened her mouth, as if she was very confident in Song Duzhou's work. Of course, she did not forget to add,

"Of course I'm relieved to leave everything else to you, but...I'd better drive Mom home myself."

Song Duzhou narrowed his eyes slightly and looked annoyed: "Yu Ji, what do you think of my driving skills?"

Yu Ji feigned surprise: "You should ask who has no problem with your driving skills."

Although Tang Xi remained silent, he nodded his head twice quietly as a gesture of acknowledgement of his mother's words.

Song Duzhou really couldn't find any evidence to refute this matter, so he could only leave cursing.

Yu Ji looked at his friend's back and shook his head twice. Then he naturally took his daughter's hand that was hanging by her side and pulled her delicately into the emergency exit.

She stopped with her back about a centimeter away from the wall. To avoid a repeat of the awkward situation, she gave up the initiative. "Just ask whatever you want to ask. I can guarantee that everything I tell you now will not be a lie."

Tang Xi certainly believed that her mother would not lie. If she had bothered to weave yellow flowers, the relationship between her and her, or between her and her father, would never have reached the point where it is today.

As for asking direct questions, Tang Xi thought that even if he had to face his mother's anger, he could no longer retreat into his shell. Besides, his mother might not be angry about it.

At this moment, he was no longer afraid. He carefully considered his words and boldly raised his head to meet his mother's gaze.

"Mom, I just wanted to ask you, do you really accept that I don't like piano, or are you saying that just to go against Dad?"

Yu Ji snorted softly from his throat: "Tang Xi, I don't even bother to lie to your father. Everything I said just now came from my heart. Yes, I think you are just doing what you like, so no one has the right to be disappointed in you, including me."

Tang Xi got a satisfying answer and couldn't help but smile sweetly. She opened her arms and gave her mother a gentle hug.

Yu Ji accepted her daughter's truth well, but when she hugged her, she really couldn't control her stiff body. You know, the last time she received such a hug was when she was in elementary school.

She touched her back with her trembling palms, tilted her neck back and took deep breaths.

Tang Xi's hug was broken instantly. She adjusted her hair by her ears and bared her white teeth at her mother: "So Mom doesn't hate pop music at all."

Yu Ji's hand lingered on her back, his expression softening. "You might not know this, but back then... when your grandfather commented on my piano hobby, he said it was just something low-class actors did. No matter how well I played, I was just trying to please people with a smile."

In Tang Xi's impression, her grandfather hated her very much. He never gave her a good face, and he didn't even bother to call her name when they met during the holidays.

Probably because she seldom saw him, and he suddenly passed away when she was in junior high school, so she didn't have time to feel too much disgust. Now that her mother mentioned it, she remembered that "there was such a person."

"That's why my mom's piano playing was not accepted at that time." Tang Xi muttered softly.

"If your grandmother hadn't been so persistent despite arguments, I probably wouldn't have had a chance to get into your school."

She bent her fingers slightly behind her back, tapping her spine as if it were piano keys, and hummed a familiar tune.

There was not much sadness on her face, and her words afterwards were even more cheerful.

"So, my thinking is different from Tang Guangyao's. Fame and fortune are worthless to me. I play the piano because I enjoy it. Pop music is no different to me. I don't even consider myself mainstream, so how could I think others are inferior?"

"Besides, I watched Xing Chui grow up. When she threw away her violin and said she would rather play the erhu than learn classical music, it was me who persuaded Song Duzhou."

I would rather play the erhu than the violin... This is indeed what Song Xingchui would say.

The mother continued, recounting the story. "I apply the same logic when I advise others. I never say anything against my heart. So, since I agreed to her playing guitar, how could I object to you becoming a pop singer?"

Tang Xi puffed out half of his cheeks and said the problem that troubled him the most: "Well, now I can understand why you don't mind that I like pop music, but I still feel strange. You used to care so much about whether I could play the piano well, but now you accept it so easily. I don't like it."

When she asked this question, her mother's expression became very embarrassed, and her fair cheeks turned a little red. Before she gave the answer, Tang Xi tried many different ways.

For example, it is more in line with the control desire of East Asian parents.

'I think it's for your own good.'

However, the answer given by her mother once again surprised her.

She coughed twice and shifted her gaze to the stairs above her head. "It's actually very simple to explain."

She said,

"From the moment you were born, I assumed you had what I always dreamed of: the opportunity to touch the piano keys from a young age. You also possess a talent far beyond that of an ordinary person. Furthermore, you are my daughter, so it is only natural that you would fall in love with the piano."

She exhaled, her brows knitted together in confusion.

"Even now, I still can't understand why you don't like it. I'm not blaming you, just like I don't understand Xing Chui's choice of pop music. But that doesn't mean I can't respect your choice."

The mother pressed her hand on her solar plexus, feeling a headache. "So when Tang Guangyao took out the application form, I didn't resist at all. At most, I felt confused. The life you choose is entirely your own business, and all I can do is provide for you."

Tang Xi never thought that this was what her mother was thinking.

The mother didn't notice her surprise and continued,

"At the time, I thought that what you found most difficult to accept was my plan to divorce Tang Guangyao. I just came out of the office intending to explain this to you, but I didn't expect you seemed to care at all."

"It's not that I don't care." Tang Xi denied it quickly.

But she knew very well that even if she cared, she could not change her parents' relationship, which had long been fragile to the point of being vulnerable.

And even now, when she is extremely disappointed with her father, she still feels that the breakdown of her parents' marriage has no direct impact on her relationship with her parents.

Tang Xi scratched his cheek and exhaled, then asked his mother in a more tactful way,

"Mom, I don't think you should be surprised. From the perspective of others, your relationship is so close that even if you two immediately go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a divorce, everyone will just say, 'Finally divorced.'"

Yu Ji never refuted objective facts: "Song Duzhou has indeed been complaining all the time. It's amazing that I have been able to endure it for so many years."

Well, actually she thought so too, but she always felt that there was someone else who was tolerant.

'Mother is not a victim, but a culprit'.

Her face was filled with embarrassment and guilt, mixed with hatred for her past stupidity: "I never understood why Dad didn't divorce you."

As soon as she said this, she quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't know how complicated things were at the time, so I believed what I saw was the truth without thinking."

Far from feeling angry, Yu Ji was delighted by his daughter's honesty. "In my opinion, no one in this world can always avoid making mistakes. You are willing to admit your mistakes now. This is a good start. How can I blame you?"

She raised her hand and patted her daughter's head, smiling broadly. "Besides, if the three of us really had to judge who was the king of mistakes, it wouldn't be your turn. Tang Guangyao is a high-end liar who never tells lies. As for me, I'm a fool who naturally thinks a three-year-old should understand people's hearts. I didn't even think of explaining it to you."

Yu Ji's palm never left her back, gently playing the melody of a loving mother: "I'm sorry, Tang Xi, I hope you know that the end of my marriage with Tang Guangyao will be another new beginning for our mother-daughter relationship."

Of course they will have a new beginning, no, their story has already begun.

Tang Xi stared straight at the mother in front of him.

When she cleared away the disturbing fog and saw a new side of her, she felt that she was unfamiliar, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel extremely familiar from the bottom of her heart.

She turned her face away and uttered a muffled laugh. Now she was going to sell Song Xingchui directly.

"Sister Xingchui is absolutely right. If we must judge who was right and who was wrong in the past, we both deserve a few slaps in the face. Mom, perhaps the problems between us will never be completely resolved in this lifetime, but... I am now very confident in how to find a solution!"