Chapter 47: The Music Room

The lively stick figure in the chat box knelt down with a thud in the direction of Ming Can’s profile picture.

Ming Can was momentarily stunned, instinctively thinking, Wait, I didn’t send this from his phone, did I?

This guy was way too cooperative.

Ming Can suppressed a smile and quickly took a screenshot, just in case he tried to retract the message.

She was still wandering outside the banquet hall, Chi Xiao’s suit jacket draped over her shoulders, unsure of what to do with it.

Sun Moon Volcano: 【I’ll let you off this time. You may rise.】

Sun Moon Volcano: 【When are you coming to get your phone and clothes?】

Chi Xiao had assumed that after he left, she would hand his things to a waiter to return to him and then go back into the banquet hall.

Unexpectedly, from her tone, it seemed she was still waiting for him outside the hall.

Chi Xiao looked down at his watch, walking and replying at the same time: 【Right away.】

His long legs carried him swiftly through the crowd, his presence almost completely detached from the lively, bustling atmosphere around him.

A pair of eyes followed him briefly for a few seconds.

Looking away, Chi Yao heard his mother calling him beside him: “Ah Yao, your brother’s over there. He just walked past. Aren’t you going to talk to him?”

“Nah,” Chi Yao said, waving his phone. “I’m going to play a game.”

“Play, play, all you do is play games,” Li Ran rolled her eyes. “Ah Xiao is only a year older than you, and he’s already working on R&D at Xingchi’s Algorithm Research Institute. And here you are, still playing games.”

“Everyone has their own path. Having one brother like him is enough,” Chi Yao said, casually taking a glass of whiskey from a waiter’s tray and clinking it with Li Ran’s. “Mom, cheers.”

Li Ran really didn’t want to humor him, but she still picked up her wine glass and took a sip with him.

The authentic Scottish whiskey was a bit strong. Chi Yao’s throat felt like it had been smoked, and he coughed violently a couple of times, bending over as if to laugh but unable to.

Not long ago, just as the dance session had begun.

Chi Yao had been wandering around the hall looking for Ming Can, wanting to invite her to dance.

He finally found her, but he was a step too late. He watched as Chi Xiao walked over to her, standing between her and another young man.

When Chi Xiao left the banquet hall with Ming Can, he also spotted Chi Yao in the crowd.

The brothers’ eyes met in mid-air. Chi Xiao was only momentarily stunned before he met Chi Yao’s gaze openly and honestly.

There was nothing to hide. They both liked the same person.

And when it came to her, Chi Xiao wouldn’t back down an inch.

Soon, someone passed between them, breaking their line of sight. After that, Chi Xiao and Ming Can disappeared.

Chi Yao stood rooted to the spot the entire time, his eyes vacant, as if all his strength had been drained.

There was no point in complaining about the unfairness of fate.

After the banquet started, he had been in the same hall as Ming Can the whole time, while Chi Xiao had just arrived. Yet, Chi Xiao had managed to find Ming Can before him and appear by her side.

He had to admit that this time, he had lost completely.

Moreover, his obsession with Ming Can had started because of Chi Xiao in the first place.

It was the summer before college. Due to his father’s job transfer, Chi Yao’s family had moved back to the country. His parents had gone to great lengths to get him into the top-tier B University’s finance program. On the day he received his acceptance letter, his mother said to him with some concern:

“You might be a bit clever, but B University is full of top students. If you slack off even a little, you’ll fall far behind. You must learn from your brother. He ranked first in his department this semester and even won some prestigious scholarship…”

Chi Yao had been hearing these kinds of things for over a decade, and his ears were practically calloused.

In his parents’ eyes, his brother was capable of anything—excellent in academics, mature, steady, and independent, a hundred times better than their own son. While they didn’t treat Chi Yao poorly because of it and still loved and doted on him, the constant praise of his brother and the pressure to emulate him had left a shadow in Chi Yao’s heart. He felt like his brother was a mountain pressing down on him, and if his parents had a choice, they would undoubtedly prefer his brother to be their child.

To escape his parents’ nagging, Chi Yao spent a large part of that summer living with Chi Xiao. Chi Xiao had been independent since childhood and had moved out of the Chi family home during high school to live alone in one of his properties. It was a spacious, several-hundred-square-meter flat, cold and empty. After moving in, Chi Yao couldn’t imagine how Chi Xiao could stand living in such a place alone.

Soon, he discovered that Chi Xiao had a secret base here—a massive handmade workshop, larger than the master bedroom. The long workbench was lined with dozens of tools for cutting, carving, and polishing. The wall cabinets were filled with various types of wood, many of which looked expensive just by their color and texture. There were also many materials and tools Chi Yao didn’t even recognize. The room was equipped with a specialized temperature and humidity control system, making it look incredibly professional, far from a casual hobbyist’s pastime.

Compared to this workshop, the rest of the spacious flat seemed like an afterthought, utterly devoid of interest.

Later, Chi Yao would often join Chi Xiao in the workshop to dabble in some crafts.

At the very back of the workshop was another door, secured with a password lock. Chi Yao was curious, but Chi Xiao said it was just a storage room with nothing interesting inside.

Why would a regular storage room need a lock?

The workshop was filled with tools and materials, but Chi Yao noticed there weren’t many finished products. He figured his brother probably stored the completed items in that storage room but was too embarrassed to show them because they might not look great.

One day, when Chi Yao was alone at home, he wandered into the workshop and stood in front of that door, thinking he’d try the password on a whim. If he was lucky, maybe he could open it.

Chi Yao first tried Chi Xiao’s birthday. Incorrect password.

He thought for a moment and then tried Chi Xiao’s phone password. That string of numbers was easy to remember—Chi Yao had caught a glimpse of it once and never forgot.

With a beep, the password was correct.

The heavy wooden door slowly opened before him. The space inside was dark and quiet, filled with the scent of wood and the sharp tang of varnish. Chi Yao turned on the light and looked up to see a row of violins hanging in a massive glass cabinet.

Nine violins in total, their surfaces reflecting the light, glowing as if they were about to burst into music at any moment.

Chi Yao was stunned. Since when did his brother have a hobby of collecting violins?

Suddenly, he realized something. He moved closer to examine the nine violins. The two on the left were clearly made with less skill, but as he moved to the right, the craftsmanship became more refined and fluid. It was easy to see the maker’s progress…

Could it be that these were all handmade by him?

Chi Yao then noticed a pile of professional violin-making tools, handmade blueprints, and several half-finished or discarded violins, confirming his guess.

Inside the glass cabinet, the nine violins varied in color and design, but they all shared one thing in common—each one had a beautifully engraved script near the tailpiece: Seraphina Ming.

It was clearly the English name of a girl.

Chi Yao’s intuition told him that this girl might be the one insurmountable obstacle in his brother’s life.

He had spent years here, making so many violins, yet kept it all locked away as a secret.

Either he didn’t have the courage to pursue her.

Or he had tried and been harshly rejected.

It was hard to imagine that someone like Chi Xiao could suffer such a defeat over a girl.

Chi Yao was extremely curious about who this girl was, but for some reason, he didn’t ask Chi Xiao. Instead, he silently memorized the name.

Fate works in mysterious ways.

Not long after starting university, he saw that English name again, engraved in the same spot on a different violin. The owner of the violin was his classmate, Ming Can.

For some reason, Chi Yao was absolutely certain that the girl his brother had been secretly in love with was her.

She was beautiful, smart, and capable, quickly becoming a well-known campus goddess shortly after starting university. A large number of boys in their class admired her, and after the Mid-Autumn Festival performance, Chi Yao became one of them.

With the mindset of “if my brother couldn’t do it, maybe I can,” Chi Yao began pursuing Ming Can.

He stuck to Ming Can’s side like a clingy puppy. Even though he was constantly met with disdain, he remained calm, treating it like a casual game of pursuit.

Some time later, the finance department held an intra-department basketball tournament. Both the men’s and women’s teams from Ming Can and Chi Yao’s class suffered heavy defeats, getting crushed by other classes.

There was one final round of a mixed-gender fun match. Since the finance department had more girls than boys, each class fielded three girls and two boys. The boys had to follow regular basketball rules, while the girls were given more leeway with physical fouls—as long as they didn’t go too far, the referees wouldn’t call it.

Chi Yao was the best basketball player in their class. As soon as he stepped onto the court, he was targeted by the opposing team’s girls, who pulled, dragged, and hugged him without restraint. He couldn’t fight back and was practically torn apart by the other team. The referee watched with amusement but refused to blow the whistle.

Just when he felt most helpless, someone suddenly appeared in front of him. The figure was tall and slender, with a high ponytail swaying and a neck so pale it was almost blinding.

The girl stood with her back to him, speaking with utmost seriousness: “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.“

Chi Yao froze, his breathing faltering, and he couldn’t help but laugh: “How are you going to protect me?“

“Like this.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ming Can shoved one girl aside and then stomped hard on a boy’s foot with all her might. Immediately after, she turned and tightly hugged a girl who had rushed in from the side trying to steal the ball from Chi Yao. The scene was nothing short of fierce.

Under Ming Can’s protection, Chi Yao managed to close the gap in the score, but unfortunately, they still lost in the end.

After the game, Chi Yao followed Ming Can, reminding her that her hair was messy.

Ming Can reached up, grabbed her hair tie, and pulled it off. Her smooth, long hair cascaded down like a waterfall. She turned her head, her beautiful face slightly tilted, and said to him with little energy, “Is this better?“

At that moment, Chi Yao’s breath completely stopped, his heart pounding like thunder.

Ming Can didn’t bother waiting for his reply. She waved her hand and walked away.

From then on, Chi Yao no longer wondered why Chi Xiao had spent so many years fixated on one person.

Someone like Ming Can.

It was really hard not to be drawn to her.

…

Outside the banquet hall, in the corridor, Ming Can had just sent a message to Chi Xiao, telling him she was still in the same spot, when she heard footsteps approaching.

“Sorry, have you been waiting long?”

Chi Xiao’s shirt collar was now undone, his face pale, and he looked tired and disheveled, as if he had just been in a fight with someone.

“Not too long,” Ming Can said, pouting as she stood up. She casually asked, “What did you talk to your dad about?”

“He wanted to send me abroad for studies,” Chi Xiao said. “I refused and told him I’m staying to pursue a master’s degree here.”

“Oh, why?” Ming Can asked, handing over his phone and suit jacket as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Chi Xiao looked at her, not immediately taking the items. Instead, he smiled faintly and asked her in return, “Why do you think?”