The Dark Side of the Piano Boy (3)

Lu Zhiran has the halo of the male protagonist, and his talent on the piano can be called a genius.

During the following training, Jiang Ye's relationship with Lu Zhiran was not as cold and unfamiliar as it was at the beginning.

Sometimes, Lu Zhiran, who was sitting in front of the piano, would suddenly raise her head, look at him with her beautiful eyes, and ask in a low voice,

"Teacher Jiang, are you thirsty?"

Apart from being taciturn and not liking to laugh, Lu Zhiran seems to be no different from other people of his age.

Jiang Ye almost forgot that in the original novel, Lu Zhiran was a mentally ill and cold-blooded murderer who eventually killed his mother.

Half a year later, Lu Zhiran's piano skills had improved by leaps and bounds.

When Lu Zhiran was in the second year of junior high school, the school held an art evening.

After Lu Ya learned about this from the class group, she forced Lu Zhiran to sign up for the competition.

"Your piano teacher always praises you for being smart, saying that you learn things quickly, and that you are doing very well now."

"Jiang Ye is a champion of the National Youth Piano Competition. Even he praises you so much, you must be great."

Lu Zhiran lowered his head expressionlessly.

But when he heard Lu Ya talking about Jiang Ye, a hint of brightness involuntarily appeared in his dull eyes.

In the past six months, Jiang Ye has become the first and only person who treats him well without reservation.

At first, Lu Zhiran thought Jiang Ye had other intentions, such as trying to please him so as to get more rewards and recognition from Lu Ya...

But after half a year of contact, Lu Zhiran already knew that Jiang Ye's kindness to him was not mixed with any complicated thoughts.

"Are you listening to me?"

Lu Ya couldn't help raising her voice. She looked at Lu Zhiran with dissatisfaction and said coldly, "Listen to me, you must win me a first prize in this arts evening."

"Only if you win the first prize can you prove to me that you have taken piano lessons seriously in the past six months. If you don't win the first prize, I will fire your piano teacher."

Although Lu Ya's understanding of Jiang Ye in the past six months was only superficial, she could still easily feel that Lu Zhiran liked that piano teacher.

She arranged several tutors for Lu Zhiran, and Lu Zhiran's mental state would only be better on the day he attended Jiang Ye's class.

Sure enough, after hearing Lu Ya say this, Lu Zhiran, who had been lowering his head, suddenly raised his head and looked at her straight.

"Do you understand?"

Seeing how much Lu Zhiran cared, Lu Ya threatened him again, "If you don't win the first prize, I will fire Jiang Ye and find you a better piano teacher."

Lu Zhiran pursed his thin lips.

There were emotions in his eyes that were heavier and more complicated than before.

After a moment, he said to Lu Ya, "I will win the first prize."

He would not let Jiang Ye be fired.

He couldn't let Jiang Ye leave.

…

Over the next period of time, Jiang Ye found that Lu Zhiran's training became more intensive and rigorous.

Lu Zhiran often challenges himself with high-intensity pieces.

The students are more focused in class.

Jiang Ye understood Lu Zhiran's diligence and concentration, and under his perseverance, Lu Zhiran finally fell in love with the piano.

That is why I study actively and diligently out of love.

Daisy: Even if it was out of love, it probably wasn’t love for the piano, but care for someone…

Half a month later, the art evening party at Lu Zhiran's school was officially held.

Lu Ya was busy with work. Although she required Lu Zhiran to win the first prize, she could not spare the time to attend the party that night.

Jiang Ye didn't know about this at first, but on the night before, Lu Zhiran suddenly asked him to go and watch his performance the next day.

"I have a performance tomorrow..." I will get dressed and tie.

"Teacher Jiang, you must come and see it."

Since it was the first time that the boy took the initiative to ask him to do something, Jiang Ye agreed without hesitation.

That night.

The school's auditorium was decorated beautifully, with flower baskets and stereos on both sides of the stage. In front of the stage were hundreds of students, and the crowded heads made Jiang Ye's eyes hurt.

The party hadn't started yet, so the students present were talking loudly and the place was noisy.

Jiang Ye stood up from the audience seat reserved for parents and walked around to the backstage.

He saw Lu Zhiran at first sight.

"You look handsome dressed like this."

Lu Zhiran, who is already in the second year of junior high school, is nearly 1.7 meters tall, which makes him very tall among his peers.

He was wearing a tuxedo for formal performances tonight. He had a snow-white shirt underneath the black tuxedo. The distinct contrast between the black and white colors made Lu Zhiran, with his delicate features, look as noble and elegant as a noble prince.

His dark eyes stared at Jiang Ye. After being praised by Jiang Ye for being so handsome in this outfit, a hint of uncontrollable joy flashed across Lu Zhiran's eyes.

"Um."

He was not humble at all.

Jiang Ye smiled, he stretched out his hand, calmly and casually, helped Lu Zhiran to tidy up his messy hair, and asked kindly,

"Do you have the confidence to win the first prize?"

Although there may be hidden talents among the outstanding students in such a large school, Jiang Ye has no doubt about Lu Zhiran's quality.

Lu Zhiran let Jiang Ye's hands shuttle through his hair. He pursed his light-colored lips, and his dark eyes stared at Jiang Ye's face intently without blinking.

With a firm tone, "I will definitely win the first prize."

To be so determined is as if you have to win the first prize.

"It's a good thing to have confidence." Jiang Ye sighed, and suddenly rolled his eyes. After a pause, he said mysteriously, "If you win the first prize, the teacher will give you a small gift."

Lu Zhiran's eyes lit up, "Really?"

Jiang Ye chuckled, "Would I deceive a child like you?"

Although Lu Zhiran is no longer a child in terms of appearance, there is an age difference between them after all. Jiang Ye always has a preconceived idea and subconsciously thinks that Lu Zhiran is still very young.

Therefore, even the tone he used when talking to Lu Zhiran was definitely that of coaxing a child.

Lu Zhiran frowned slightly. For some reason, he was particularly resistant to being treated as a child by Jiang Ye.

"I'm not a kid anymore."

Lu Zhiran's tone was a little biased, and even his eyes turned colder, inexplicably giving off a sense of resentment.

"Only a head shorter than you, Teacher Jiang."

Jiang Ye is 1.78 meters tall and Lu Zhiran is 1.68 meters tall. At first glance, they appear to be only about a head taller than the others.

Jiang Ye looked at the young man in front of him with his eyelashes drooping, a bright smile in his eyes, and it was obvious that he didn't take Lu Zhiran's words to heart.

In order not to offend Lu Zhiran, Jiang Ye casually said, "Well, let's talk about it when you are a head taller than me."

After a brief chat, Jiang Ye patted Lu Zhiran on the shoulder and encouraged him, "Do your best in your performance later and try to win the first prize."

"Don't forget I promised to give you a small gift."

After bidding farewell to Lu Zhiran, Jiang Ye left the backstage and returned to the viewing area specially set aside for students and parents.

…

Soon, the performances of the cultural and artistic evening officially began.

Lu Zhiran's school is a combination of junior high school and high school. Even the cultural performances are not only performed by junior high school students, but also by high school students.

After all, he has the advantage of age, so after watching quite a few shows, Jiang Ye found that the performers with better performances were almost all high school students.

Fortunately, up to now, Jiang Ye doesn't think that anyone's performance can surpass his expectation of Lu Zhiran.

Finally, it was the turn of the 14th contestant, Lu Zhiran's performance.

As soon as the performance started, Lu Zhiran received a lot of screams and praise.

"Ahhh, so handsome!"

"Is he really a junior high school student? He looks to be 1.7 meters tall, and feels like a high school student..."

"He's a junior high school student. I heard he's the most handsome guy in the school. He has good grades, good looks, and comes from a wealthy family. He's a tall, rich, and handsome guy in the school."

"It's starting! It's starting! Quiet!"

The huge auditorium fell silent in an instant.

On the stage, Lu Zhiran, dressed in a formal suit, sat in front of the piano like an elegant gentleman. His ten slender white fingers looked as white and beautiful as jade under the lighting of the stage.

The bow tie on his white shirt made him look elegant and calm, like a noble gentleman who had just started a performance.

The first note sounded without any abruptness.

Jiang Ye straightened his posture and began to listen attentively.

The piano prelude is calm and gentle, telling a story in a leisurely and fascinating way, full of gentle attraction that makes people immersed in it involuntarily.

Just as everyone was immersed in it, the piano pitch suddenly became higher without them noticing, the tempo of the whole piece began to speed up, and the atmosphere instantly became intense.

It was as if I was brought from a greenhouse into the wilderness in a storm. Before I could react, a tingling pleasure ran down my spine, as if I was going crazy in the fierce rain and fierce wind.

Under Lu Zhiran's fingertips, everyone seemed to have become a puppet controlled by the music.

Finally, the song ended and after a brief silence, there was a burst of warm applause.

Jiang Ye, who was sitting in the back seat, could even see that the judges sitting in the front row couldn't help but applaud Lu Zhiran's performance.

It must be the champion.

Jiang Ye had never seen the judges applaud so enthusiastically and excitedly for anyone in previous performances, and expressed such strong recognition from the bottom of their hearts.

Across the crowd, Lu Zhiran on the stage raised her delicate and beautiful eyes, looking straight at Jiang Ye who was sitting in the corner through the gazes of thousands of people.

It feels like being hit by someone at first sight in a sea of ​​people.

Jiang Ye was stunned.

In response, he raised his hand and gave a thumbs up to Lu Zhiran on the stage.

Lu Zhiran couldn't help but slightly curl the corners of his lips and smiled at Jiang Ye for the first time.

It's not bright, but it's particularly touching.

It was obvious that he was well-prepared and confident that he would receive the gift that Jiang Ye promised to give him.

…

After all the contestants finished their performances, the relevant person in charge counted the scores of several judges.

Finally, the host stood in the center of the stage holding a script with the results written on it and announced the champion of tonight's competition.

"Let us give a warm round of applause to the highest-scoring contestant of tonight's arts performance, the champion selected by the judges - Zhou Ningning!"

Standing in the backstage, waiting for the result, Lu Zhiran's face suddenly darkened when he heard the microphone coming from the front stage.

Below the stage, Jiang Ye's brows also frowned subconsciously.

How is that possible?