Chapter 8: Do You Want to Hear My Story?

After finishing the syrup, Tang Liyue followed Yu Minchuan to the southern most part of the manor.

It was a plant garden the size of a football field, filled with all sorts of flowers and plants.

At the deepest part of the garden, surrounded by a sea of flowers, stood a glasshouse, its glass walls draped with soft white curtains. As the gentle breeze passed by, the white curtains fluttered, accompanied by falling leaves and petals.

When the wind lifted the white curtains, Tang Liyue noticed a black lacquered piano inside the glasshouse.

Tang Liyue gasped, “You play the piano?”

Yu Minchuan smiled lightly, “Did you really not learn anything about me before coming to the Yu family?”

Tang Liyue awkwardly shook her head.

Yu Minchuan didn’t mind and maneuvered his wheelchair into the glasshouse with Tang Liyue.

Inside the glasshouse, besides the piano, there was also a swing made of woven vines. Yu Minchuan asked Tang Liyue to sit on the swing while he sat by the piano, gently caressing its spotless surface.

Yu Minchuan’s fingers were long and slender. As he casually pressed the keys, harmonious notes filled the air.

His expression changed.

If he was a gentle breeze before approaching the piano, now, sitting beside it, he resembled a noble prince.

Yu Minchuan moved his fingers and placed both hands seriously on the piano keys.

He looked up, meeting Tang Liyue’s gaze with a smile. “Liyue, you’re the first person to hear me play since my accident.”

Tang Liyue gripped the vine swing, her eyes slightly wide in surprise.

But it was clear that Yu Minchuan didn’t need her response. He closed his eyes and let his fingers dance elegantly across the piano keys.

The sky was clear, the temperature just right, and the breeze was soft.

Before her, Yu Minchuan was dazzling.

Music can express emotions, and although Tang Liyue didn’t understand the piano, she could sense a feeling of solitude in the notes he played.

When the last note played, it lingered for a brief moment before fading into silence. The piece ended.

Yu Minchuan looked up, his beautiful eyes filled with anticipation as they met Tang Liyue’s.

Tang Liyue quickly clapped to show her appreciation, “That was so beautiful!”

Yu Minchuan smiled, “I haven’t touched the piano in three years. I’ve lost quite a bit of skill.”

“Did… you stop playing after the accident?”

Yu Minchuan maneuvered his wheelchair closer to Tang Liyue, smiling gently as he pushed the vine swing.

Then, he softly asked, “Liyue, we pretend to be a loving couple in front of others, but what about when we’re alone? Can we consider ourselves friends?”

Tang Liyue paused for a moment, then nodded, “Mm.”

Are we friends?

Although they had only known each other for a day, so much had happened in that time, Yu Minchuan had kept last night’s absurdities a secret for her and had protected and cared for her.

When she was with him, she didn’t have to be on edge or worried. She wasn’t opposed to being friends with Yu Minchuan.

So, yes, they were friends.

Satisfied with the answer, Yu Minchuan’s smile became much warmer.

He spoke softly, “Earlier in the restaurant, you asked me why the young master of the Yu family would be so helpless. I didn’t want to answer at the time because complaining takes courage.”

“But after thinking about it, we’ll be playing the role of a loving couple for a long time, so it’s only right for you to get to know me better. And as you said, we’re friends in private.”

“So, let me share my story with my friend. Do you want to hear it, Liyue?”

Tang Liyue saw the loneliness reflected in Yu Minchuan’s eyes.

The sense of loneliness in Yu Minchuan’s eyes stirred something in Tang Liyue, because she knew the pain of having no place to voice one’s struggles.

So, she nodded and gave Yu Minchuan a kind and sweet smile. “Mm, I want to hear.”

As the wind blew, it carried pink petals, one of which fell right onto Tang Liyue’s shoulder.

Her long hair, reaching her waist, was blown by the wind, a few strands sweeping away the petals. The petals, in turn, landed softly in Yu Minchuan’s palm.

At that moment, Yu Minchuan inhaled the fragrance of the lily of the valley.

He wasn’t sure whether it was the scent of the petals or Tang Liyue’s own fragrance.

The scent was faint, sweet, and soothing, bringing peace to the mind.

“Minchuan?” Seeing that Yu Minchuan was lost in thought, Tang Liyue waved her hand in front of his face.

Yu Minchuan snapped out of it, subtly closing his fist to keep the petals in his hand.

Then he began speaking slowly, “As the eldest grandson of the Yu family, I’m indeed luckier than other children. After all, this identity ensures that I have no worries about food or clothing.”

“But aside from wealth and a prestigious identity, it seems like I don’t have anything else.”

“Each villa in the Yu family estate is separated by a distance of a thousand or two thousand meters. Since I can remember, I’ve been living in the current villa, while my grandfather, my father, and my mother all live in their own separate villas.”

“Even though we’re a family, the only time I see them is during breakfast.”

“Since we don’t meet much, I long for their attention during breakfast. So, I try to make conversation, talking about what I learned at school, or how I aced a test.”

At this point, Yu Minchuan smiled and asked, “What do you think their response was?”

Tang Liyue guessed, “They praised you?”

Yu Minchuan continued to smile, but the smile was tinged with bitterness. “They told me to shut up.”

Tang Liyue was taken aback, “Huh?”

“Because I was interrupting their conversation about work.”

Tang Liyue didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Yu Minchuan went on, “If I say they don’t love me, it’s true that I’ve had everything I wanted since I was a child. But if I say they love me, then why wouldn’t they keep me close?”

“But at least, in this house, I’m not completely invisible.”

Yu Minchuan touched the piano, “Because my second uncle, seeing how pitiful I was, moved into my villa to live with me.”

“Every day when I got home from school, I’d run after him. He would take me to play basketball, race cars, run with me.”

When Yu Minchuan mentioned his second uncle, Tang Liyue unconsciously straightened her back.

“My second uncle is only five years older than me. We were more like brothers than uncle and nephew.”

“I call him Brother Yuan, and he calls me Little A Chuan.”

“This piano, it was his gift to me for my tenth birthday.”

Tang Liyue spoke up, “It sounds like Yu Mo Yuan treated you very well, but from what I saw of your interaction today, it doesn’t seem very harmonious.”

“Because he caused my father’s death. He also made me become the way I am now.”

Tang Liyue’s eyes widened in disbelief.

So the rumors about Yu Mo Yuan killing his own brother for the family inheritance were true?

Yu Minchuan spoke again, “After I got this piano, my life gained a bit of meaning. I loved the feeling of the keys dancing under my fingers. Every time I pressed one, it would respond with the most pleasant sound.”

“I have a talent for the piano. After just a year of lessons, my teacher said I was already at a master level. He recommended me to participate in a national piano competition.”

“And at the age of ten, I won first place in the Huaguo region.”

“At fifteen, I won first place in the national competition.”

“At eighteen, I was selected by the Young People’s Grand Theatre and invited to become their chief pianist. I spent another two years becoming the youngest pianist, the most attention-grabbing piano prince.”

“Liyue, can you imagine what it feels like to be watched by everyone? It feels amazing.”

“In a venue that can hold fifty thousand people, every single audience member is there for me. When I play, they listen quietly, and when I finish, they shout loudly, ‘Prince encore.’”

“As my twentieth birthday approached, I jokingly mentioned to my second uncle that my birthday wish was to have my grandfather, father, and mother come to one of my performances. My second uncle said he would help me fulfill this wish.”

“Coincidentally, my hundredth performance was scheduled for the day of my twentieth birthday.”

“The Yu family’s breakfast rules are unchangeable, and during breakfast, my second uncle insisted that everyone had to come listen to my concert.”

“My grandfather had no objections, and agreed.”

“As for my mother, she unrelentingly said, ‘Why can’t you just be a good Yu family heir? I don’t expect you to help with the business, but can you stop embarrassing us? In ancient times, only prostitutes performed for others.’”

“My dad didn’t oppose me playing the piano, and even praised me for being good. But, he chose to go to the company meeting instead.”

Tang Liyue asked, “So… did only Mr. Yu attend in the end?”

Yu Minchuan smiled. “I never really expected them to come to my concert. But, my second uncle is always strong-willed, and when he promises something, he makes sure it happens.”

Tang Liyue listened intently.

Yu Minchuan continued, “So, he forced my dad into the car and made him personally take me to the theatre.”

“All the men in the Yu family are strong-willed. My second uncle is, and my dad naturally is too. So, my dad stepped on the gas and drove towards the company.”

“My second uncle, naturally displeased, chased after us in his car…”

Tang Liyue’s heart tightened. She didn’t need Yu Minchuan to continue, she could already guess how things unfolded.

Yu Minchuan lowered his head and gently touched his numb leg, a sarcastic smile appearing on his face. “My second uncle couldn’t catch up, so he used the intercom to say, ‘If you don’t go to the concert and listen to A Chuan today, I’ll go to the company tomorrow and fight you for the inheritance rights.’”

“Once those words were out, I could only feel the car below me rush forward like a missile, slamming directly into a truck full of steel bars.”

“The car window was pierced by the steel bars. I watched helplessly as the steel bars stabbed into my dad’s body, and blood splattered everywhere, soaking half of my body. I could even feel my dad’s hot blood seep into my eyes.”

Yu Minchuan’s body was trembling. He didn’t know when it started, but his hand was gripping his thigh so tightly that his fingers were turning white.

His leg was numb, but his fingertips were digging in hard.

Tang Liyue felt uneasy and, after thinking for a moment, gently took Yu Minchuan’s hand off his leg, not allowing him to keep squeezing.

“Don’t think about it anymore. It’s all in the past…”

Aside from these helpless words, there was nothing else to say.

Yu Minchuan took the initiative to hold Tang Liyue’s hand. “Since then, I’ve never called him Brother Yuan again. And since then, I’ve had no one to talk to…”

“I’ll listen to you from now on.”

Yu Minchuan looked up, his eyes full of hope. “Really?”

Tang Liyue nodded firmly. “Mm, we’re friends, aren’t we?”

Only then did Yu Minchuan smile again, a genuine smile. “Mm, we’re friends, friends who met like old acquaintances.”

Every response from Tang Liyue was exactly what Yu Minchuan had anticipated.

And that was what he wanted, and the reason he was peeling back his scars, showing his misery.

But when the word “friend” came from Tang Liyue’s lips, without hesitation, it left Yu Minchuan a little lost.

Tang Liyue’s sincerity made him feel a slight sense of guilt, but fortunately, Tang Liyue didn’t notice.