Chapter 50: The Love Letter He Played for Her

Su Tian again assumed he was being sarcastic and still didn’t bicker with him. She continued, “When I was little, my mom had too high expectations for me. She dragged me to one specialty class after another. But no matter what I learned, I was always just average – I could only say I knew it, not that I was good at it, utterly unremarkable. So Mom felt it was because we hadn’t found what suited me, switching to the next thing as soon as I got a taste of one. She wanted me to be at the top. Being in the middle was no better than not knowing it at all.”

“What about now?” Jiang Chiyu asked. “Does Auntie Bai still think that way?”

“Now that I’m in high school, there’s no time for specialty classes anymore. Studying is most important.” Su Tian shrugged helplessly.

Jiang Chiyu didn’t say anything. Suddenly, he stood up and walked toward the balcony. Su Tian watched his slender back, not knowing what he was going to do.

“Request a song.” Jiang Chiyu sat down at the piano, placing his hands on the keys.

Su Tian didn’t react for a moment. “What?”

“The name of the piece.” Jiang Chiyu’s fingertips glided across the keys, producing a series of well-timed notes. His light voice drifted over, interspersed among the sounds. “Big bro is in a good mood today. I’ll show you a specialty.”

Su Tian was dazed for a bit before realizing he was going to play the piano.

So Jiang Chiyu could play piano after all!

“Hm? Why aren’t you saying anything?” Jiang Chiyu turned slightly to look at her. “One-time offer. You won’t get another chance.”

“Can it be anything?” Su Tian asked.

Jiang Chiyu nodded casually, looking so confident and wild.

“Then Beethoven’s ‘Für Elise’.”

If she remembered correctly, that piece was in the last chapter of the piano book she saw as a child.

The final note said it was the most difficult. Wouldn’t picking something too simple lower Jiang Chiyu’s level?

With a music teacher for a mother, the son’s musical talent naturally wouldn’t be lacking.

Jiang Chiyu’s fingers tapped out a few scattered, disorderly notes on the piano.

Su Tian walked over to the piano and watched him.

Jiang Chiyu suddenly clicked his tongue. “This…”

He pressed another meaningless string of notes on the piano and looked up to meet Su Tian’s puzzled gaze—

“I really don’t know how to play it.”

“…”

Su Tian was speechless. She started thinking back on what pieces were in the middle chapters of that teaching material.

But it was from too long ago. No matter how hard she racked her brain, she couldn’t recall a single piece of average difficulty. So she wearily waved her hand. “Play whatever you want…”

That worked.

Jiang Chiyu sat up straight, shedding his lazy demeanor. After a moment of contemplation, his two hands began to perform.

The opening melody of the piece he played was very gentle. Soon after, the rhythm gained a sense of bounce. Following a transition, the speed of his hands suddenly increased, all ten fingers assuming a beautiful posture yet precisely landing on each note. After repeating this melodic segment a few times, the leaping speed of his hands accelerated again. Su Tian could hardly keep up just watching.

In the latter half, the distance between Jiang Chiyu’s opening and closing hands also grew, going from pressing keys within a small range to spanning the entire keyboard. Gradually, the tempo of the piece slowed down, but the number of keys needing to be pressed simultaneously increased.

At this point, Jiang Chiyu still showed no hint of fluster, effortlessly completing this segment.

Finally reaching the last part, the speed of his playing slowed as he pressed the last two keys.

The piece concluded.

It took a while for Su Tian to snap out of the lingering melody. She slowly started clapping.

Alright, she took back what she said about Jiang Chiyu not having any specialties.

This was clearly very specialized.

Jiang Chiyu stood up from the piano and shook out his slender hands.

This piece sounded very familiar, but Su Tian wasn’t certain if it was that one. So she asked, “What’s the name of this piece? It’s quite nice.”

“Mm,” Jiang Chiyu’s left hand seemed a bit uncomfortable as he kept massaging it. Not answering the question, he said, “Played it for you.”

Su Tian froze for a second, seeming to want to say something but didn’t voice it.

“I’m going to wash my hands.” Jiang Chiyu turned and walked toward the bathroom.

After he left, Su Tian stood at the piano and picked up the sheet music sitting on top.

“Luv Letter”

Jiang Chiyu hadn’t looked at this sheet music while playing.

But based on her limited piano knowledge, Su Tian held out both hands and mimed over the keys, comparing them to the sheet music.

What he had just played was this piece—

“Love Letter”

A love letter, played for her.

Su Tian suddenly felt a bit flushed.

It was a coincidence. Jiang Chiyu hadn’t even heard what she asked and blindly responded.

The setting sun was infinitely beautiful, making the entire room bright and clean, coated in a layer of warm yellow.

Su Tian put down the sheet music and shifted her gaze to look out the window.

It was October. Why was it still so hot?

…

Jiang Chiyu was still washing his hands when Mrs. Jiang knocked on the door outside. Su Tian went to open it for her and heard her say apologetically, “Tian Tian, I’m sorry. Something suddenly came up at your Uncle Jiang’s company. We need to go over for a bit and probably won’t be able to make sweet and sour pork for you.”

Su Tian quickly said, “No worries at all. Uncle, Auntie, hurry and go take care of it. I can come eat it another time, it’s all the same.”

“I can’t make it.” Mrs. Jiang’s voice took a turn. “But— Ah Yu can make it for you.”

Su Tian froze.

Jiang Chiyu happened to come out of the bathroom, wiping his hands with a towel. Hearing this, he glanced at the two of them by the door.

Mrs. Jiang: “When Ah Yu was in England, he didn’t live with us. He usually cooked for himself. His sweet and sour pork has thoroughly inherited my essence and is not one bit worse than what I make. Then it’s settled. We need to leave as soon as possible. If he messes it up, you two can just order takeout.”

Su Tian was still dazed. “Okay.”

From inside the room, Jiang Chiyu let out a scornful laugh. “Heh.”

Before long, they heard the sound of a car engine starting. Looking from the balcony, their car had already driven out of the villa.

The two stood face to face in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Su Tian didn’t know what to say. She made a “please, go ahead” gesture.

Jiang Chiyu sighed and tossed the towel onto the sofa armrest. “They definitely don’t have company business.”

This kind of sudden incident had happened countless times. Jiang Chiyu held back for a while but couldn’t help getting a bit irritated. “They just had a whim to go out for a candlelit dinner.”

Su Tian let out a snicker.

She complimented, “Your parents really have a great relationship.”

Before exiting the room, Jiang Chiyu glanced at her, recalling something.

He pointed to the vase in the corner of the room. “Your parents too.”

Su Tian instantly couldn’t laugh anymore.

The two who held equal low status at home: “…”

Jiang Chiyu resignedly went downstairs to make sweet and sour pork. Bored by herself, Su Tian took the initiative to offer to help.

Su Tian also hopped downstairs. “Didn’t expect you could cook too.”

“There are many things I can do.” Jiang Chiyu really couldn’t stand her hopping down the stairs. With one hand, he pressed down on her shoulder. “Settle down, you’re like a flea jumping around.”

“…”

Su Tian’s expression changed a few times.

Shouldn’t hopping around be like a bunny!

Ah ah ah ah ah! This guy!

*

「Translator’s Note」DO NOT BUY THE NEXT TWO CHAPTERS.. THEY ARE NOT PART OF THIS BOOK. Just go back to the chapter list and manually click chapter 51 (which you’ll see when I upload it).. The next two chapter just got mixed up with mine by other translators.. sorry for the inconvenience.