Chapter 130 A Gentleman's Character is Like a Steadfast Jade Pendant (5)
Madame Grana was a very contradictory person. She was often weak and bedridden, as fragile as a piece of glass, yet gentle and compliant, making it impossible to feel any ill will towards her.
Shi Yu's distinctive appearance and personality seem to be more derived from her mother's genes.
In contrast, there was Shi's father, who had already passed away "due to illness." Shu Ningmiao had heard various rumors about this uncle from the adults' casual conversations, including the mental problems inherited from the family and his manic-depressive and cold personality.
She could quickly conjure up a rough and arrogant man in her mind. These men, though from different social classes, shared a striking resemblance in their roles as fathers or husbands.
The truth was quite different from what she had imagined. Shi Yu's father actually doted on Shi Yu quite a bit and would grant her almost any request. This kind of love for his heir was very simple and did not involve anything else.
But this kind father was a monstrous tyrant in the marriage. His mental problems made him sometimes manic and sometimes gentle; he threatened her and pleaded with her; sometimes he beat and scolded her, and sometimes he was like a considerate and perfect husband.
As a suffering lamb, Madame Grana never resisted. Whenever she was rebuked by her husband, she would only silently embrace her son and weep, constantly whispering her fears.
Pain shifts in the murmurs; the mother's misfortune is the child's misfortune.
"So," Shu Ningmiao looked Shi Yu up and down, his youthful and delicate face sculpted, and noting that he was now slightly shorter than her, finally revealing a hint of curiosity, "How did you do that?"
How could a seven-year-old child kill an adult man who was several times taller and stronger than himself?
Shi Yu raised his hand, arched the back of his hand, and made the fingering of a piano, his fingers striking the table forcefully, making a dull thud.
Light refracted through the glass as it filtered through the flowerbeds, and leaves rustled as they fell to the ground.
He said, "Sound."
"The increase or decrease of the frequency of musical notes forms a musical scale, and this frequency is called Hertz." Shi Yu's voice was deep and gentle, like a musical sound: "Ordinary people cannot hear sounds below 20 Hertz."
“I know that sounds with a frequency less than 20 Hz are infrasound.” Shu Ningmiao rested her chin on her hand and observed him, a hint of surprise slowly shifting across her face: “The frequency of this kind of sound wave is similar to the oscillation frequency of the human internal organs, and it is easy for it to resonate with the human body. In mild cases, it can cause epilepsy, and in severe cases, it can lead to death.”
This is common knowledge in music theory class; even she knows it.
Although Shu Ningmiao is not interested in music, she still has basic appreciation skills.
For such a child, obtaining specialized equipment to accurately adjust the sound wave frequency and kill someone discreetly in a specific enclosed environment is far more difficult than directly killing someone.
She looked at him with disbelief.
Shi Yu was completely unaware, and continued to tap the stone table in front of him gently before saying, "My hearing is very good."
He should be called a genius.
He inherited not only Madame Grana's looks, but also her musical talent. He started playing the violin as soon as he learned to walk and could play accurate notes without any prompting.
Even if he were to strike a piece of iron, he could pinpoint the exact frequency and pitch.
On the morning that Mrs. Grana unexpectedly discovered she was pregnant, Mr. Shi was happily embracing his wife, racking his brains to think of a name for their second child.
Shi Yu sat quietly at the piano, practicing while listening to the two laughing and joking.
In reality, Shi Yu's fingers continued tapping on the table, and she could tell from the precise rhythm that he was simulating the opening of Rachmaninoff's Second Concerto.
The muffled thud of fingertips echoed in the garden, like the distant tolling of bells.
That night, perhaps her father received some unpleasant news. Shi Yu heard muffled curses coming from downstairs and pushed open a crack in the door.
Although the shouts weren't loud, the woman's cries were persistent and impossible to ignore.
The tall man gripped the woman's beautiful platinum hair tightly and slapped her across the face. Lady Grana was knocked to the side, and blue and red finger marks appeared on her pale face. Blood uncontrollably spilled from her nose.
Shi Yu stood on the stairs, calmly watching this scene repeat itself countless times.
Both of them saw him come out, but neither of them spoke to him.
The father continued cursing and slapping his wife across the face, then kicked her hard: "Tell me, is the child in your belly mine or not?"
The woman clutched her stomach tightly, curling her body into a ball, unable to utter a word from the pain. She lay prostrate on the ground, swaying as she saw Shi Yu's shoes. She raised her eyes and looked at him with pleading eyes.
The less she responded, the more delirious the man became, spewing insults and vulgarities at her.
Shi Yu glanced at them coldly, turned around and went upstairs, closing the door to her room.
There was a loud banging at the door, and the noise continued for a long time. Finally, the man got tired, left his battered wife in the living room, and slammed the door shut.
Neurotic men have difficulty falling asleep normally and must be accompanied by soft music before going to sleep. Years ago, he met his current wife at a concert because of this. Before their marriage, he would gaze at her profile as she played the piano with fascination almost every night.
Those intimate moments are now just memories.
As the night passed and dawn broke, Shi Yu got up, washed, dressed, walked through the villa's corridor, and opened her father's bedroom door.
The door was unlocked, and he didn't knock.
The man lay on the bed, maintaining the same relaxed posture he had adopted, yet not a single breath could be heard.
The boy walked to the bedside, pressed the still silently flashing speaker switch, and unplugged the audio cable from the back of the speaker.
With his keen hearing, he had heard hurried footsteps behind him long ago. The woman stood by the door frame, her slender hand pressed tightly against her abdomen, staring at him in disbelief.
"The frequency of brain resonance is eight hertz, the frequency of chest resonance is six hertz, and the frequency of heart resonance is five hertz."
He gripped the audio cable, turned his head, and looked at her with his dull, lifeless eyes.
He said, "Mom, don't look at me like that."
At that time, Shu Ningmiao did not hear the whole story, nor did she know the reaction of Madame Grana after witnessing the murder.
Over the past few days, she suddenly remembered this while having afternoon tea and casually brought it up.
Shi Yu glanced at her indifferently, raised her teacup, and took a small sip: "She said I must be crazy."
The woman's reaction was far more intense than his nonchalant words. Madame Grana completely broke down, rushed forward and slapped him, clutching her face and hair as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Shi Yu watched expressionlessly as the emotions in her eyes shifted from anger, reluctance, and self-blame to deep fear.
There was not a drop of blood at the scene of Shi's father's death; the only things left were drops of blood that splattered from when his mother's fingernails scratched his cheek, and specks of blood beneath his mother's body.
From then on, Shi Yu still didn't say a word to outsiders, but he spoke very fluently in front of her.
While idly swinging on the swing in the garden, he said something quite outrageous to Shu Ningmiao: "That child wasn't beaten to death by my father, but he was scared to death by me."
Shu Ningmiao stomped on the ground, making the swing swing, looking like she didn't really want to pay attention to him.
Shi Yu, wearing an apricot-yellow wool sweater, looked at her while holding a cup of tea: "I don't understand why she hates me? She's the one who keeps complaining to me, crying that she wants to leave here, crying that she's afraid of her father. I'm the one who set her free, gave her wealth and power, yet she tells me—"
"You must be sick too."
“Mom…you’re my only child.” Lady Grana clutched her stomach, knelt down in front of her husband’s body, tears streaming down her face, and hugged him tightly. She whispered firmly in his ear, “Mom will heal you. You have to promise Mom you won’t do this again. You have to be a kind…normal person.”
Between the two of them, she was like the real patient, constantly repeating the same sentence, grabbing his arm, and making him promise.
Shu Ningmiao didn't know whether Shi Yu agreed or not, but she knew that Shi Yu had refused to speak since that day.
“I have not inherited any mental illness.” Shi Yu smiled at her. “But my mother is determined to prove that my father and I are the same kind of people.”
He resented his mother's lack of understanding and chose to punish her by remaining silent. Since Madame Grana thought he was wrong, he insisted on being an abnormal person.
He clearly gave her freedom and granted her wishes, yet she turned around and blamed him for being despicable.
After seeking help from countless doctors in secret to no avail, Madame Grana donated a large sum of money to the church and devoted herself wholeheartedly to charity, believing that this was God's punishment for her and that she could only be redeemed through atonement.
Many people thought she was driven to desperation by her husband and son's situation, but Shi Yu actually became normal shortly after she converted to the Yangsong Church, which briefly sparked a wave of enthusiasm in the church.
Of course, this "normal" made no difference to Shu Ningmiao. She didn't know why Shi Yu suddenly decided to speak again, nor did she ask—perhaps he was just too lazy to pretend anymore.
The Church of Praise, which Lady Grana so highly recommended, only made the Shi family's pastries taste worse. She didn't find that the church had any concrete effect on Shi Yu. In her presence, Shi Yu was still half-dead.
Shu Ningmiao had wondered how the people at the church "healed" him during the few hours he was taken to church by Mrs. Grana every few days.
—Bathe him with holy water, then mix talisman ash with water and give it to him to drink?
Shi Yu replied calmly, "They didn't do anything. I was just spacing out at the church."
No amount of moral education can correct his naturally lacking qualities and morality. But if he wants to act like a normal person, no one can tell there's a problem. His musical talent, intelligence, privileged family background, and status as an only child whose father has died make even awakening superpowers just icing on the cake.
When they were fifteen, as soon as they entered the Fire Seed period, Shi Yu awakened his superpower. It was not surprising that Shu Ningmiao was not at all surprised that he awakened a superpower like "Splendid Melody".
But she didn't awaken her supernatural abilities until the very last day of the flame.
During the three years of the Fire Seed period, Shu Ningmiao carefully considered what impact it would have on her life if she hadn't awakened her superpower.
The older brother, who is famous for his abilities, and the younger brother, who has also lost money, have awakened their superpowers. The status and preferential treatment of people with superpowers in society is already a tacit rule. If she cannot awaken her superpowers, she may one day be controlled by others. Therefore, she is eager to hold onto all the inheritance she can get her hands on.
With this in mind, on an ordinary afternoon, she looked up at Shi Yu and said, "Let's get engaged."
——
In the courtyard.
The Shu family's driver handed the invitation to Shi Yu, who walked up to her and slowly stopped.
He stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at her. Shu Ningmiao noticed that the dryness and cracks at the corners of his mouth were oozing a little red, making his lips appear even paler, but his face remained expressionless.
Why didn't you go to class?
"You finally remembered to care about me?" Shi Yu smiled, but didn't explain why. He reached out and placed the invitation in her hand: "You'll come, won't you?"
Shu Ningmiao didn't say whether she would go or not, but waved the invitation in her hand: "I told Mrs. Grana about dissolving the engagement through the terminal."
Having overheard this conversation, the driver, who had already turned his back, scrambled back into the driver's seat as if he'd seen a ghost, quickly closed the door, and pretended he hadn't heard anything.
“My mother won’t make decisions without my consent.” Shi Yu’s pale face remained calm as she smiled gently. “Back then, you were the one who said you wanted to get engaged to me. Why are you so quick to back out now? I’ve said it before, I don’t care who you like… Our relationship is different.”
The more misunderstood one is, the more one needs the comfort of a cold and indifferent kindred spirit. Shu Ningmiao and he were neither lovers nor friends; she was merely a shell wrapped around his body.
Because of her, he is the "normal" and "perfect" person.
“Come on, you can’t go back on your word.” Shi Yu raised his hand and extended his little finger: “Last year when you used my card to bid on that five million cin ‘The Death of Sappho,’ it seems you said something like that.”
Shu Ningmiao crossed her arms: "That painting is in your room now, and has nothing to do with me."
Shi Yu's smile widened slightly: "Didn't you give me that? I've kept it safe all this time. Shouldn't you at least keep your promise a little?"
Shu Ningmiao lowered her head to meet his gaze. The boy's smile was calm and distant. Shi Yu was usually very clever, but when he really needed to be sensible, he pretended not to understand.
She couldn't understand the world Shi Yu could hear, nor could she hear what he heard.
She wasn't interested then, but now she really wants to know—among all the frequencies that Shi Yu can hear, are there the sounds of strings?
Shi Yu didn't hear her reply. Her ears twitched, and her smile gradually faded: "What should I do? The person I hate is about to speak."
A faint light shone through the crack in the door behind her. The man leaned against the doorframe, his serene blue eyes looking down at her with a warning gaze.
Shi Yu smiled at Shu Ningmiao, adjusting the curve of his lips: "...It's okay, I don't mind."
"You don't care, but I do."
Shu Changyan's eyes were clear yet indifferent.
A crisp gunshot rang out in the empty courtyard. Shu Changyan released the safety and pointed the gun at him; the dark muzzle gleamed with a faint, bright blue light.
The research center's bullets, specially designed for superhumans, are made from insulating crystals from the northern base. Due to their difficulty in extraction and scarcity, only a few people possess them.
Shu Ningmiao held up the invitation in her hand, blocking their view: "What did Yang Hua say in the last text message she sent you?"
"What did you say?"
Shi Yu stood beside the car, her hand on the handle, tilting her head, frowning as she thought for a moment before smiling and saying, "She said, I don't want to die."
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Author's note: That's right, the insulating crystal (foundation stone) itself is blue, the color of my eyes. The insulating crystal box that Miao got before was black because it was painted after secondary treatment. There's also a pink one.
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