Chapter 31. The music was wrong, and Zhou Yu noticed.
On the last day of the year, the day of Song Huai's performance, Bai Xiao finished her work for the day and arrived at the S City Grand Theater early without even having dinner.
The concert hall is predominantly gold in color and is circular in shape. Layers of Jiuzhaigou blue seats surround the stage in the center. The dome is painted with colorful and magnificent murals, and the gilded pillars on all four sides are carved with exquisite reliefs. The hall is decorated with carved beams and painted rafters, and is resplendent in gold.
The performance was scheduled to start at 7:00, and it was now 6:50. The announcements over the loudspeaker were repeating important information for the audience during the performance.
"Please turn off your mobile phone or put it on silent mode at the entrance to avoid the embarrassment of your phone ringing while you are enjoying the music..."
Bai Xiao looked around and saw that almost all the seats were occupied, with everyone's eyes shining as they stared at the stage in the center. Bai Xiao's heart began to pound as he thought about the people who were about to appear on the stage.
Suddenly, the hall went dark, and the opening bell rang.
The venue was completely dark, except for the stage lights.
After the host announced the program, a tall and handsome young man walked steadily to the center of the stage.
The young man placed his left hand on the piano, his right hand across his chest, faced the audience, bent his body at a ninety-degree angle, and gave a standard bow.
The dazzling spotlights on the stage made Song Huai dizzy. Looking at the sea of people below the stage, Song Huai vaguely thought, "Mom, I finally did it. I finally became a pianist like you, playing music for thousands of people on stage."
Then, Song Huai sat down on the piano bench, took a deep breath, and after a moment, began playing the first piece.
From the moment Song Huai appeared on stage, Bai Xiao's gaze never left him; the man on stage captivated him so much that he almost stopped breathing.
Bai Xiao sat in the seat closest to the stage. Although it wasn't the best spot to enjoy the music, it was the closest to the performer. From there, Bai Xiao could even see Song Huai's delicate, fair neck above the collar of his shirt, his Adam's apple bobbing, and the glistening beads of sweat on his forehead.
For some reason, despite the solemn and dignified occasion, Bai Xiao couldn't help but recall the scene from that night.
That chaotic night, he desperately inhaled Song Huai's fragrance, leaving red marks on Song Huai's neck as if addicted. Now, those marks have mostly faded. Also, Song Huai's hands, which were playing the piano, had scratched his back several times during that night's struggle...
At this moment, even though Song Huai was about five meters away from Bai Xiao, Bai Xiao could still faintly smell the unique fragrance that belonged to Song Huai.
Bai Xiao's mind was racing, and he looked down, ashamed to find that he was having a physical reaction in front of everyone.
Fortunately, the audience seats were completely dark, and everyone was focused on the music on stage, so no one noticed Bai Xiao's unusual behavior.
Bai Xiao had no choice but to take off his suit jacket and cover it with his legs to hide his abnormality, letting the fire extinguish itself.
The first few pieces were all scores composed by Song Huai for various films in recent years. As soon as the familiar tunes came out, the corresponding movie scenes naturally came to mind for many viewers.
The closing piece of the first half was "At the moment," a piece that Song Huai composed in his youth and which brought him instant fame.
As everyone knows, this piece was composed by Song Huai for the person he fell in love with at first sight. Everyone is very curious about this mysterious person—what kind of person could make such an excellent musician fall so deeply in love with her at first glance? But Song Huai refused to reveal a single detail, so to this day, no one even knows whether this person is male or female.
However, everyone who hears this piece is moved, thinking that the composer must have loved that person very much to write such tender and poignant music.
The piece begins with a series of arpeggios, like countless little elves frolicking on the piano keys. But in an instant, the melody and style change abruptly. The notes become gentle, the little elves are no longer mischievous, but slowly dance gracefully on the black and white keys. Song Huai's fingers no longer move so swiftly across the keys as before. His wrists and knuckles become incredibly flexible. He has shed all the armor in his heart, revealing his beating heart in the music.
Beneath the soothing melody lies the throbbing in the heart of a young man who fell in love at first sight, and Song Huai's unspoken, illicit love.
The audience couldn't help but recall their first love from their youth as Song Huai played the music. In the audience, some people covered their faces and wept, some smiled secretly with pursed lips, and some had a smile on their lips but tears glistening in their eyes.
Bai Xiao's expression was completely different from those around him. He stared intently at the person on the stage, his eyes burning with desire, his heart filled with almost insane jealousy. He cursed in his heart once again that bastard who kept Song Huai hanging on, leaving Song Huai unable to have him. That bastard must have had eight lifetimes of bad luck to have such good fortune in this life, otherwise why would that person still be able to possess Song Huai's heart even though he clearly didn't cherish her?
In the concert hall spanning several thousand square meters, all the spotlights were on Song Huai, and all eyes were focused on Song Huai alone.
The charm that Song Huai exuded while playing the piano captivated countless people, including Bai Xiao.
Bai Xiao's blood surged, and secret, crazy thoughts kept running through his mind. He couldn't stand anyone other than himself staring at Song Huai with such worshipful, admiring, and fiery eyes. All he wanted to do now was pack Song Huai up and take him away immediately, then lock him in a dark room so that no one could covet his Song Huai.
He wanted to brand Song Huai with his own mark, to make Song Huai belong solely to him, to make Song Huai's music only for him, and to make Song Huai's piano only for him to hear.
On stage, Song Huai played the piece that brought him both joy and pain once more. He hadn't actually wanted to play it on this stage; his relationship with Bai Xiao was now special, and he had been trying his best to control himself and avoid any improper thoughts about her. He feared that playing this piece again would undo all his previous efforts. However, Qiu Wu told him that if he didn't add the piece to the program, the people who came to see his performance would likely be very disappointed, so Song Huai relented.
As the music flowed, his thoughts drifted back to that lazy afternoon years ago, and he seemed to see again the boy by the lake who had captivated him at first sight. Later, Song Huai often mocked himself for being so pathetic, wondering how he could have been so hung up on someone for so many years just because they were good-looking. Song Huai could never understand why, and his head ached from thinking about it so much that he eventually gave up on the matter altogether.
Suddenly, Song Huai felt a special gaze following him closely. It was as if there was a strong magnetic field in the direction of the gaze, driving Song Huai to look in that direction.
It was fine if he hadn't looked, but what he did look gave Song Huai a huge fright.
Even though the audience seats were dimly lit, Song Huai could recognize the person sitting upright and looking at him from the seat closest to him. Wasn't that the boy by the lake whom he had been longing for?
In a daze, Song Huai thought he was dreaming. Otherwise, why would whatever he thought come true? Song Huai turned his head again uncertainly. Yes, it really was Bai Xiao.
Since his debut, Song Huai's performances have all been like a meticulously crafted instrument. No matter how long or difficult the piece, he can recite the entire score without making a single mistake, which is truly amazing.
But just now, the piece Song Huai was playing missed a beat—just a very short beat, so short that no one in the industry could hear the mistake.
After realizing his mistake, Song Huai hurriedly withdrew his gaze from Bai Xiao and focused on playing the piece.
However, the more Song Huai tried to endure it, the less he could control the urge to turn his head away.
Finally, the music reached its last measure. As Song Huai pressed the last note, he could no longer control himself, turned to look at Bai Xiao, and smiled sweetly.
The echo lingered, and Song Huai's smile lasted until the moment he bowed and left.
Halftime break —
Bai Xiaofei strode to the bathroom and splashed cold water hard on her burning cheeks, trying to cool down her face.
Song Huaigang was actually smiling at him.
Song Huai just smiled at him!
Song Huai's laugh completely shattered Bai Xiao's last shred of rationality.
Bai Xiao didn't even bother to wipe her face; she came out of the bathroom, still wet, and made a phone call.
Back in the audience, Bai Xiao heard people around her talking about Song Huai's smile just now.
The two girls sitting behind Bai Xiao were also whispering to each other.
"Ahhhhh, was Song Huai just smiling at us?!"
"...You're daydreaming. How could he possibly be smiling at us?"
"Ahhhhh I don't care, Song Huai's smile is so handsome, I'm going to die, I'm going to be killed by his handsomeness ahhhhh!"
"..."
Every word of their conversation reached Bai Xiao's ears.
Bai Xiao smiled contemptuously. Song Huai was clearly smiling at me. All of Song Huai's smiles belonged to me. You two shouldn't even think about getting a share.
At that moment, Bai Xiao's phone lit up; Song Huai had sent him a message.
【What brings you here, little puppy?! jpq】
Bai Xiao pondered for a moment and replied:
"Yeah, a friend gave me a ticket, so I just came along the way."
You played very well.
Song Huai's message popped up again: 【Red-faced kitten.jpq】
For some reason, Bai Xiao found the kitten to resemble Song Huai more and more. Song Huai's eyes were also big and round, but Song Huai's gaze was far more captivating than this kitten's.
Bai Xiao also replied to Song Huai with an emoji, which was one she had saved from Song Huai before:
【Little White Dog with Starry Eyes.jpq】
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