The Dark Side of the Piano Boy (5)

In the narrow basement room, the door was closed, and there was only a small skylight that let in the night outside and a faint light.

There was a big wolfdog locked in the room. Lu Ya only asked people to bring food to the dog every day and never took the dog out for a walk. So this dog, which was not taken care of by anyone, was more like a stray dog ​​and was not close to people.

As soon as the door closed, Lu Zhiran heard the fierce barking of a big dog.

“Woof!! Woof! Woof woof…!”

When Lu Zhiran was very young, he was bitten by a dog once, so he is very afraid of dogs in his heart.

Lu Ya knew that Lu Zhiran was afraid of dogs, so she raised a dog in the basement.

It was so that when Lu Zhiran did something too excessive, she could use effective means to discipline him and shock him.

"Woof! Woof!" The dog sensed human presence, bared its teeth, and howled endlessly.

The barking of the dog was particularly frightening and harsh in this dark night and in this small room.

Lu Zhiran tensed up and clenched his fingers tightly, but he still couldn't help shivering slightly.

He looked in the direction of the dog and kept backing away.

The dog could also sense Lu Zhiran's direction and ran towards him desperately.

Fortunately, the dog had a collar around its neck, and the other end was tied securely. It couldn't break free from the restraints, and before it could run to Lu Zhiran as it wished, the iron chain was tightened to the maximum.

The dog jumped up and down unwillingly, and the iron chain made a cold sound of metal collision, as if it could take its life and make people's scalp tingle.

Accompanied by the constant barking of dogs, Lu Zhiran seemed to be going crazy.

All the fear deep in his mind surged out, lingering over the thirteen-year-old Lu Zhiran like a shadow. Lu Zhiran huddled in the corner, not daring to move, his thin shoulders trembling slightly.

"teacher……"

An unknown amount of time had passed before a person's name slowly came out of Lu Zhiran's lips.

He sat on the ground in the corner with his head buried.

Like an abandoned child who can only live in the same room with a dog.

…

Lu Ya returned to her room, simply removed her makeup and washed up, then fell on the soft big bed and fell asleep.

During this time, her cell phone, which was placed next to her pillow, suddenly rang.

Lu Ya picked up her phone in confusion.

Finding it was Jiang Ye's call, Lu Ya frowned impatiently. She thought it couldn't be anything important. Even if there was something important, it probably had nothing to do with her...

Lu Ya was annoyed and hung up the phone without hesitation.

Jiang Ye's eyebrows twitched when he failed to get through to Lu Ya's call.

Will Lu Zhiran be okay?

He didn't even know whether Lu Zhiran had returned home.

Apart from contacting Lu Ya, he couldn't contact Lu Zhiran at all.

Because Lu Zhiran didn't have a mobile phone, nor QQ or WeChat, Lu Ya didn't allow Lu Zhiran to access those.

Jiang Ye was desperate and couldn't think of any other way, so he could only choose to go to the door.

It was already past two in the morning when Jiang Ye arrived at Lu's door.

The doors and windows of the Lu family were tightly closed. Jiang Ye tried to call Lu Ya twice, but Lu Ya didn't answer, perhaps because she fell asleep or something.

Because he was too worried about Lu Zhiran, Jiang Ye hardened his heart, forced open the lock of Lu's house, and sneaked into Lu's house.

Lu Zhiran's house was extremely quiet. Jiang Ye looked around the house carefully, but he couldn't find Lu Zhiran.

It was not until the end that Xiao Ju helped and gave Jiang Ye Lu Zhiran's location.

Jiang Ye rushed to find Lu Zhiran, and asked angrily, "Why didn't you give me his position earlier?"

[…Do you think the system works all the time, 24/7?] It can’t be resting just now.

Jiang Ye quickly found Lu Zhiran's location.

He only now found out that the Lu family actually had a basement, and that woman Lu Ya was so heartbroken that she raised a dog specifically to punish Lu Zhiran.

There was no sound of dogs barking in the basement, and no one knew what the situation was in there.

"Lu Zhiran, are you there?" Jiang Ye leaned against the door and asked cautiously.

Because of Jiang Ye's voice, the wild dog that had been lying on the ground to rest suddenly started barking again, "Woof woof woof", and even Jiang Ye, an adult, was scared.

Just as Jiang Ye was waiting for Lu Zhiran to make a move, Lu Zhiran's three words suddenly rang out in the basement room.

"Teacher Jiang..."

These three words did not reveal overly obvious emotions, as if they were suppressing something. However, due to Jiang Ye's understanding of this child, Jiang Ye could still feel Lu Zhiran's fragility and pain.

Jiang Ye's heart was in a knot. He tried and found that the door could be opened.

He walked quickly into the room.

The big dog kept barking, and with the faint light, Jiang Ye saw Lu Zhiran in the corner at a glance.

"Don't be afraid, I'm coming."

Jiang Ye walked over, squatted down, and held the young Lu Zhiran in his arms.

Lu Zhiran slowly raised his head.

Under the dim light, Lu Zhiran's dark pupils were dim. He looked at Jiang Ye who suddenly appeared and bit his thin lips tightly.

The thin shoulders trembled slightly.

For some reason, the arc of the tremor became larger and larger.

At this moment, to Jiang Ye's surprise, the boy in the corner suddenly lost control.

He crawled into his arms, hugged him, and cried out in a trembling and pitiful sob, "I... I didn't get first place..."

He is not number one.

Lu Yahui resigned from Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye can no longer teach him to play the piano.

Lu Zhiran, who had previously claimed that he was no longer a child, was, after all, still only a thirteen-year-old child. After experiencing a night of injustice and fear, he eventually lost control.

Jiang Ye clearly felt his shirt was wet with Lu Zhiran's tears. He could never have imagined that the boy, who was always cold and stubborn, would lie on him and cry loudly in the night.

The sobbing sound was an emotional release suitable for a man of Lu Zhiran's age.

This is Lu Zhiran.

An immature child.

Even if he is accustomed to his mother's violence, he will still feel sad, lost, and even desperate.

He appeared indifferent to Jiang Ye's care and concern, but he was actually grateful.

He is like all kids his age.

He has feelings, he yearns for warmth, and he wants the starlight that Jiang Ye talks about.

Jiang Ye's hand slowly rested on Lu Zhiran's back. He gently stroked Lu Zhiran's back, listening to his crying, feeling extremely heartbroken.

"Zhi Ran is good, Zhi Ran is great..."

"You are the best performer tonight. You are definitely the first place..."

Jiang Ye said, "You are the champion. I have already told the judges. Zhou Ningning was behind all this. She confessed it herself. You are the first..."

Jiang Ye didn't know whether Lu Zhiran heard what he said.

But later on, Lu Zhiran gradually regained control of his emotions.

The boy had wet eyelashes and a delicate and youthful face.

He asked, "Will you go? Will you leave me?"

Jiang Ye had already guessed that Lu Ya was probably using this to threaten Lu Zhiran, which was why Lu Zhiran cared so much about this competition.

Jiang Ye comforted him, "I will bring your championship trophy and certificate tomorrow. Your mother will definitely change her mind after she knows you are the champion."

"Really?"

"Of course, your mother wants you to be the champion, right? If you are the champion, it means that I taught you well. Why would she fire me?"

Next, Jiang Ye said a lot more, and Lu Zhiran felt relieved.

Even so, the ups and downs of the night still left the boy in a very bad mental state.

Seeing that Lu Zhiran looked tired, Jiang Ye prepared to let him go upstairs to bed, but the boy was very stubborn.

"No, I'm here."

It was Lu Ya who locked him up here.

He can't go out without Lu Ya's consent.

Lu Zhiran had never disobeyed Lu Ya's orders before, and this time was no exception.

However, this time, the reason why Lu Zhiran was so stubborn and refused to leave was...

He didn't want to anger Lu Ya.

Maybe if Lu Ya is angered, she will fire Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye guessed that Lu Zhiran was worried about something. He knew that he couldn't convince Lu Zhiran, so he had to say, "Okay, I'll stay here with you."

Jiang Ye stayed with Lu Zhiran in the basement until six o'clock the next morning.

He estimated that Lu Ya might be getting up, so he quietly left Lu's house.

Otherwise, if Lu Ya knew what happened last night, Jiang Ye couldn't guarantee that Lu Ya would be ready to fire him again.

…

The next day, when Jiang Ye was about to give Lu Zhiran tutoring lessons, Jiang Ye went to Lu's house again.

This time, Jiang Ye told Lu Ya all the truth about the night of the game.

"Mrs. Lu, Zhiran was originally the first place winner. It was just that the female student had connections with the judges, so she was forced to win the first place by some means..."

"But it doesn't matter, Mrs. Lu, you see, we got the championship trophy and the certificate back."

After Jiang Ye finished speaking, he took the trophy and certificate that should have belonged to Lu Zhiran and presented them to Lu Ya.

The arrogant Lu Ya suddenly regained her composure at this moment.

She looked at the things Jiang Ye handed over and raised her eyebrows slightly.

Lu Zhiran stood quietly aside.

As long as he didn't hear Lu Ya mention resigning from Jiang Ye, he would have nothing to worry about.

What Jiang Ye cares about is whether Ms. Lu will feel a little guilty and apologize to Lu Zhiran after finding out the truth.

After all, Lu Zhiran deserved to be the first place and didn't need to suffer such a great injustice.

Jiang Ye originally thought that in this way, he could stand up for Lu Zhiran and slap Lu Ya in the face.

However, Lu Ya just glanced at the things in Jiang Ye's hand. After she took it, she casually placed the trophy and certificate on the table.

Then he looked at Lu Zhiran and said, "That's the way it should be."

These four simple words, besides being taken for granted, also convey a sense of contentment. However, there is no sense of guilt or embarrassment.

Although Lu Ya didn't show it, it doesn't mean she was truly at peace with herself.

"My dear son, what gift do you want?"

Lu Ya smiled calmly, and while smiling, she reached out to touch Lu Zhiran's head.

But before her hand touched Lu Zhiran's hair, Lu Zhiran gently avoided her touch.

"I have everything, I don't need a gift."

The boy's cold voice made Lu Ya's expression ugly for a moment.