Chapter 25

1:00 PM (3)

The piano room had no open windows, and the air was filled with a faint scent of wood.

Xu Muzi wanted to respond to Deng Yun’s question, but as she opened her mouth, she felt the warm breath against her neck. She couldn’t help but shiver, and as the kisses continued, a soft sound escaped her throat.

This, perhaps, could also be considered an answer.

Deng Yun paused, looking down at Xu Muzi, continuing to kiss her while she was still catching her breath.

The kiss was long, forcefully clearing her mind of all thoughts and logic. Whether the idea of “becoming a street racer” was genuine or not faded into nothingness.

After seeing Deng Yun to the school gate, Xu Muzi returned to the piano room, trying to fend off her distracted state with Brahms.

After a disastrous performance relying on muscle memory, her brain finally began to reconsider note values, handling legato and staccato. Then she received a message from Deng Yun—

“Next time, don’t hum when you kiss.”

“Don’t tease me.”

Xu Muzi rested her forehead against the piano, the notes re, mi, fa, sol protesting with a resonant sound.

She thought to herself, who was really teasing whom?

Perhaps it was because she was gradually getting used to not being a genius; or maybe it was the companionship of a fellow rebel. After experiencing a series of rebellious and thrilling events during the winter break, her tense nerves finally began to relax.

Xu Muzi remained her usual introspective self, often overthinking things. However, that semester, her mindset noticeably began to improve. She could now even make light of some of her negative emotions and anxiety.

During the busy preparations for her solo performance and competitions, Xu Muzi and Deng Yun occasionally kept in touch.

Most of their communication happened on weekends.

They had discussed Xu Muzi’s birthday at one point.

The conversation started when Xu Muzi mentioned the date of her competition in June.

She brought it up during a call, saying, “What a coincidence, the competition is on June 8, which is also my birthday.”

Deng Yun asked, “Your birthday is June 8?”

“Yes! Do you know Robert Schumann? He’s a German musician. I don’t know if you remember, but there’s a portrait of Schumann hanging in the piano room at my school. Schumann and I share the same birthday—June 8.”

There was a long pause from Deng Yun’s side.

Xu Muzi was walking to the piano room and thought it might be due to a bad signal or the noise outside, so she called his name a couple of times into the phone.

“Deng Yun, Deng Yun? Can you still hear me?”

“I can hear you. I’ve been listening.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything? I thought you couldn’t hear me.”

Deng Yun replied, “I was a bit distracted. I was thinking about what kind of birthday gift to get you.”

That day, Deng Yun was at his house.

Xu Muzi vaguely noticed that he had been returning home much more frequently this semester than before.

He hadn’t mentioned the specific reason, and she didn’t delve into it too much.

Deng Yun walked to the corner of his house’s first floor and sat on the stairs, holding his phone and letting Xu Muzi hear the loud voices of his parents in the living room.

Xu Muzi’s mother was lecturing Deng Yun’s father: “I’m telling you, you’re just a worrywart. Do you know that no investment is without risk?”

Xu Muzi’s father chimed in, “Exactly, there are risks, but it’s not that bad to the point that it’s all falling on us!”

Deng Yun’s father countered, “You need to think ahead; do you understand the concept of being cautious in times of peace?”

Deng Yun’s mother naturally defended her husband: “That’s right; I think he’s making a good point.”

Deng Yun, being mischievous, listened to the amusing state of the elders after drinking too much and smiled as he asked Xu Muzi, “Did you hear that? They’re at it again.”

As the new school year approached, Xu Muzi felt a stronger sense of homesickness while looking out at the dim outline of the moon on a foreign morning.

She smiled lightly, “I heard them.”

Her contact with Deng Yun remained hidden from their elders.

One morning, while practicing in the piano room, Xu Muzi received a call from her parents.

With the time difference, it was already night in their country. Her parents had likely gotten drunk at a gathering and probably bragged about the video of her recent solo performance, asking if she could play a piece for everyone.

“The sound quality isn’t good; it will affect the performance.”

Xu Muzi’s parents insisted, “Just treat it like a regular practice; we’re just listening casually.”

Even though they said that, Xu Muzi knew her parents were quite vain, so she chose a well-known piece that even those outside the music field would recognize.

Once she started playing, she indeed heard the voices of other elders chiming in. They were more excited than when watching her other performance videos because they were familiar with the piece.

“This song is amazing! It’s the same one you hear in music boxes!”

“Your Muzi is really doing well; she plays beautifully, it sounds so good!”

She placed her phone on speaker mode on the chair.

After finishing the piece, Xu Muzi heard her parents talking to friends about her, repeatedly mentioning her recent solo performance and her upcoming competitions.

Amidst the excessive and exaggerated praises, Xu Muzi received a message from Deng Yun.

He wrote—

“I’m thinking of transferring to another school for my graduate studies. Any suggestions?”

Along with that message was a link to the official website of the school he was considering.

Even without the link, Xu Muzi knew it was a prestigious institution, one that even her parents, who were far from intellectuals, would have heard of.

Just like they had heard of “Für Elise.”

Most importantly, this school was very close to hers, less than an hour’s drive away.

Xu Muzi’s mother hadn’t hung up the phone yet, and the proud voices continued in the background, “Muzi often practices at five in the morning.”

She could even recognize Deng Yun’s mother’s voice among them.

The elders were unaware of their secret communication and continued to compare notes.

Deng Yun’s mother said, “Yes, yes, it’s not easy for the kids. Deng Yun also wakes up around five. He mentioned wanting to apply for a recommendation slot at his school during the New Year.”

Holding her noisy phone in her hand, Xu Muzi felt a mix of private desire and embarrassment as she texted Deng Yun back amid the parents’ banter:

“This school is great; I fully support you coming here for graduate studies.”
—-
Regarding Deng Yun’s past and their frequent communication during that time, Xu Muzi hadn’t often thought about it in the last two years due to her busy life and studies.

The family upheaval came too suddenly; many things became easier to let go of when one felt utterly powerless.

Xu Muzi had never imagined she would have the chance to connect with Deng Yun again.

Now that opportunity had arisen.

Xu Muzi realized, only after the fact, that when she first met Deng Yun at the inn ten hours ago, it was so sudden that she hadn’t really processed the idea of “opportunity.”
—-
After more than two years, and hundreds of days and nights filled with numerous events, life had been overwhelming.

Aside from practicing the piano, she also needed to earn her tuition and living expenses. She could only grit her teeth and move forward, not daring to pause or look back.

Having been numb for too long, Xu Muzi almost forgot that whenever she started to reminisce about her lowest point in life, she could never bypass the existence of Deng Yun.

She thought it was just “a light boat has passed through a myriad of mountains.”

But in the ten hours after arriving at the inn, thoughts about Deng Yun kept flashing through her mind.

These past memories, separated by time, connected Xu Muzi and Deng Yun once more.

She even felt a surge of impulsiveness and courage.

Around five in the morning, Xu Muzi had once slapped her forehead in frustration, admonishing herself.

At that moment, she believed she had no right to ask Deng Yun about his current situation or his academic issues.

But now, Xu Muzi changed her mind.

In their previous interactions, all the way until they lost contact, there were many questions she had never found the opportunity to ask Deng Yun.

For example, his major for graduate school, whether the black-framed glasses he wore in high school had prescription lenses, what aspects he was planning to pursue in his entrepreneurial endeavors with his friends, and whether his height was indeed “189” as his mother claimed or “186” as his mother also claimed…

Not enough familiarity, perhaps.

But Xu Muzi had always had certain expectations and hopes regarding their interactions.

These old matters would be missed if not brought up again.

Xu Muzi ran down from the upper floor of the inn but didn’t see Deng Yun; she first spotted Xia Xia.

Xia Xia was at the door, putting away an umbrella, standing next to a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing glasses, who was likely a pet doctor.

Xia Xia placed the dripping umbrella into the umbrella stand by the door and pushed it open: “Doctor Fang, please come in…”

With a rush of emotions that were hard to articulate, Xu Muzi glanced past them, peering into the common areas on the first floor, and finally saw Deng Yun outside.

Deng Yun was with other people.

They weren’t entirely unfamiliar faces; during breakfast, hadn’t he been chatting with the long-haired beauty in a suit jacket in that romantic, drizzly outdoor setting?

They seemed to be having a great time.

And now he was chatting again.

When invited to drink a little or go out, he didn’t participate, appearing disinterested.

But he seemed very lively chatting with the beauty.

That sense of annoyance returned.

Xu Muzi began to understand why she felt uncomfortable before going out for a drink.

This discomfort wasn’t just because Deng Yun “helped” her out of a situation by eating the pineapple tart, making her feel like she couldn’t showcase the growth and progress she had made over the past two years.

It was also due to the appearance of that beauty, who seemed quite familiar with Deng Yun.

The presence of a new woman beside Deng Yun reminded Xu Muzi that no matter how many old stories existed between them, they were all in the past.

Now, there was over two years between the current Xu Muzi and the current Deng Yun.

Things had changed; people had changed.

The old matters she had hesitated over for so long might not even need to be brought up again.

Xu Muzi’s expression was likely not pleasant; she frowned and muttered, “It’s just nice to say I came alone. What, is she also a guest at the inn?”

Xia Xia didn’t catch that clearly but turned her head upon hearing, and after seeing Xu Muzi’s expression, looked a bit worried: “Miss Xu, are you feeling unwell?”

“No…”

Xu Muzi took a deep breath, suppressing the chaotic thoughts in her mind, and walked over to the sofa to pet a stray cat.

After just a moment, the impulse to find Deng Yun and talk was extinguished by reality, and even the stray cats didn’t want to play with her, all hiding away.

Xu Muzi felt extremely frustrated, while Xia Xia said beside her, “You can name them.”

In her peripheral vision, two tall figures were chatting happily under the eaves.

The beauty in the suit might be leaving; Deng Yun took an umbrella from the stand and handed it to her.

Xu Muzi gloomily thought:

What names should she give? Since there were exactly three cats, she might as well call them “Bai Bai,” “Yan Yan,” and “Lang Lang,” or perhaps “Lang Lang,” “Xin Xin,” and “Gou Fei” would work too.

The stray cats were still innocent, rubbing their foreheads against Doctor Fang’s hand.

But that unfamiliar Mr. Deng, whom she hadn’t seen in over two years, was even more outrageous.

The beauty in the suit had already left with an umbrella, while he was still lost in thought, gazing into the distance.

However, she couldn’t express her dissatisfaction to Xia Xia; she didn’t want to involve her.

Xu Muzi forced a smile and said, “I haven’t thought of a name yet; I’ll… think about it some more.”

Xing Pengjie came over from behind the duck-footed tree, complaining about the mosquitoes in the house, saying he had several bites and needed to borrow Xia Xia’s ointment for mosquito bites.

“These mosquitoes in the mountains are too fierce; my arm is all swollen. Hey? Xu Muzi?”

Xu Muzi was curled up on the sofa that Deng Yun had sat on, clutching a cushion. The cool girl image she had when she said, “He kisses well,” had vanished, replaced by a sulky demeanor like a jealous little girl.

The quick change caught Xing Pengjie off guard for a moment.

His gossiping heart reignited, and he leaned in to whisper, “Aren’t you going to talk to that guy? Didn’t you go? Or did it not go well?”

Xu Muzi turned on her phone screen and repeatedly pressed it off and on, sulking, “There’s nothing to talk about.”