Chapter 67: You Know All of These?

After that, Xu Yannuo looked at Chen Ciyi, reached into the pocket of his denim shorts, pulled out a door key, reached back, and directly inserted the key into the lock of the opposite door…

Now, the one with an indescribable expression was Chen Ciyi.

Chen Ciyi froze for two seconds. The two stared at each other for countless seconds before Chen broke the silence in the stalemate, “Fuck! So you’re that brain-dead idiot!”

Xu Yannuo: “Yeah, I never thought that dumbass would be you either!”

After saying this, they looked at each other and suddenly burst into inexplicable fits of laughter. Neither knew exactly what was so funny, but they just felt like laughing.

After laughing for a while, Xu Yannuo entered Chen Ciyi’s piano room. Chen placed the drink in his hand on a small table, then picked up the air conditioner remote and pointed it at the unit.

Xu Yannuo looked around the room. This piano studio was twice as large as hers across the hall, with excellent natural lighting. In the center stood a piano, while against the wall was a row of black metal shelves scattered with sheet music. In the corner sat two guitars, a saxophone, and a violin—quite a collection of instruments.

Xu Yannuo pointed to the instruments in the corner. “Are all these yours?”

Chen Chenyi must have turned on the air conditioning, as cool air gradually began to circulate. He set down the remote and glanced in the direction Xu Yannuo was pointing. “Yeah. Wang Sinan—the guy who was with me at the café last time—and I sometimes take on work composing music. We use all kinds of instruments.”

“You can play all these?” Xu Yannuo asked him.

Chen Ciyi smiled and said, “Yes.” He looked at Xu Yannuo as if waiting for praise. “Suddenly realized your idiot desk mate has quite a few strengths, huh?”

Xu Yannuo couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “You don’t need to remember the word ‘idiot’ so clearly.” After a pause, Xu Yannuo added, “You are pretty impressive.” This compliment came from the heart. Because being skilled in multiple instruments isn’t actually surprising—they’re all interconnected. As long as you’re diligent and willing to practice, learning one makes the others easier.

But what’s truly remarkable about Chen Ciyi is that he excels in many different fields.

Chen Ciyi walked over to the piano, lifted the lid, and sat down on the bench. “We’ve been competing behind the scenes all this time. Now we’re finally face to face. Why don’t you go get your erhu, and we’ll have a proper showdown?”

Xu Yannuo smiled and said, “No need. Are you afraid we won’t end up fighting? Or are you trying to use playing the piano as an excuse to test whose combat skills are stronger?”

Chen Ciyi didn’t insist further. “Alright then.” After that, his long, elegant fingers rested on the piano keys, casually and effortlessly playing a piece.

To her surprise, it was “Canon”—her absolute favorite piano piece, no contest. Partly because it truly sounded beautiful. Even before she knew the story behind it, she was moved every time she heard it. Later, when she learned about Pachelbel and Barbara’s tragic missed connection, listening to it always brought a touch of melancholy to her emotions.

Xu Yannuo glanced at Chen Ciyi, just about to feel a melancholic sense of kindred spirits. But the moment she saw his strikingly handsome yet undeniably aggressive face, she suddenly snapped back to reality. What melancholic sense of kindred spirits? His emotional intelligence wasn’t even fit for discussing love!

Sure enough, that rendition of “Canon” was just a warm-up. He played a short segment before stopping, then switched to an especially explosive piece—clearly his own creation, and quite familiar at that. It was the same tune from when the two of them had their musical showdown out of spite.

After finishing playing, he turned his head and provocatively smiled at Xu Yannuo, his smile radiant and handsome enough to make one’s head spin. What a pity he’s an idiot!

Xu Yannuo sighed helplessly. Sure enough, sentimentality is just bullshit!

Later, Chen Ci asked her: “Is there anything you’d like to hear? I can give you a private concert—you can request songs. Consider it my apology for what happened before.”

Xu Yannuo casually flipped through the sheet music on the black stand. “Which part before the compensation?”

Chen Ci clicked his tongue, “Deskmate, why are you so vindictive?” His tone carried a hint of complaint and even a trace of coquetry. The notorious school bully Chen Ci turned out to be this kind of Chen Ci!

Xu Yannuo smiled, “Alright.” She flipped through the sheet music, looking at the pieces he had composed, and casually remarked, “Play one of your own compositions.”

“Got it!” Chen Ciyi waved his hand. “The exclusive concert brought to you by Chen Ciyi begins now.”

After that, Chen Ci’s slender, elegant fingers danced nimbly across the row of black and white piano keys before beginning a soothing and melodious tune.

Xu Yannuo was holding a half-read score, listening in a daze. The melody was beautiful, and Chen Chenyi’s piano playing was truly exceptional.

In fact, even if he wasn’t very emotionally perceptive, Xu Yannuo felt that fate had already been extraordinarily kind and generous to him.

Around the fourth piece being played, a knock was heard outside the door. The piano room door was open, but no one was at the entrance—the knocking must have been for the opposite piano room. Xu Yannuo glanced at the time; her accompanist’s session was due, and the child accompanist must have arrived.

Xu Yannuo interrupted Chen Ciyi, “My training session is about to start. It ends at 12 noon. Where are you going later? Will you still be here?”

“Here, go ahead. I’ll wait for you to have lunch together,” Chen Ci replied to her.

“Alright. See you in a bit.” With that, Xu Yannuo returned to the piano room across the way.

Two hours, three students: one for an hour, two for half an hour each. Time passed quickly.

After it was over, while the accompanying student was still packing up the violin, Xu Yannuo was also putting away his instrument when he caught a glimpse of two figures at the door from the corner of his eye. One was the parent coming to pick up the accompanying student, and the other—quite familiar, with an exceptionally striking silhouette.

Chen Ciyi?

Xu Yannuo looked up and saw Chen Ciyi standing side by side with the parent of the child she was coaching, leaning against the doorframe and smiling at her. She had no idea when he had arrived.

After the child said goodbye to Xu Yannuo and left with the parent, Chen Ciyi walked in and said, “You actually play the violin quite normally when you’re just playing normally.”

This kind of mediation is worse than none at all. Xu Yannuo was speechless. “Looking for a beating? Just say the word!”

Chen Ci smiled, then waited for Xu Yannuo to put away the zither and lock the studio door before the two walked out together.

Chen Ci asked her, “What would you like to eat for lunch?”

The two walked outside the office building. It didn’t feel this hot when they first arrived, probably because they’d gotten used to the air conditioning in the piano room. Now, stepping out abruptly made the heat feel stifling, instantly killing their appetite.

“How about grabbing some light food at the café?” Xu Yannuo suggested. Mainly because it was nearby, and the café would be cooler.

“Sure.” Chen Ci nodded.

They headed toward the café together.

Arriving at the entrance of the café, the two pushed the door open and went inside, only to find that there were no empty tables left.