Ch. 10 Mom won’t object
Shi Qingning turned his head to look at Bai Yexi curiously, but at first glance, he was attracted to the long black hair hanging by the side of his cheeks.
When he looked back at the person, the handsome profile of the boy had returned to its usual calm state, showing no signs of tension.
Shi Qingning did not detect any kind of clues from the other party.
But suddenly he found out that he seemed to have a little… long-hair addiction.
He suddenly started reflecting on why he was always interested in other party’s hair. But in the end, this brief distraction was just a small episode.
The teacher quickly continued teaching and they returned to their formal routine.
The old lady speaks slowly, but it doesn’t make people feel bored or sleep-inducing.
Her voice has a special rhythm that makes people immersed in it, both physically and mentally, without even realizing it.
As he continued the class, Shi Qingning learned that, rather than being in class, he felt more like he was being led by the hand to meet a new friend.
To be honest, Shi Qingning had a purpose when he first proposed to learn the piano.
It was for Bai Yexi.
But the old lady’s gentle guidance made Shi Qingning gradually discover that the piano was not just a musical instrument, but instead was an art.
It can also be a friend.
Shi Qingning had been in the hospital ward for a long time. He didn’t know how, many children hated practicing piano and cried and made a fuss about it.
That, how many people will look back when they grow up and mention it with nostalgia and a smile.
It has nothing to do with honors or achievements.
It’s just youth.
And now, little boy Qingning is at his best age to learn the piano.
The time full of concentration passed quickly, and the two-hour lecture ended in the blink of an eye. When the teacher asked the two to take a break, Shi Qingning came back to his senses.
The old lady asked, “When will the both of you be free for the next class?”
Shi Qingning said, “I’m free anytime during this week.”
He turned to look at Bai Yexi, and the old lady also looked over and asked.
“How about you, little boy?”
Bai Yexi, who had been silent for a long time, took a breath, as if he didn’t expect that he would be asked.
Shi Qingning said he was hiring someone to learn with him, but everyone from Shi Qingning to the old lady made it clear that they treated Bai Yexi as another student.
Bai Yexi lowered his eyes.
“…I have something to do tomorrow.”
“Then the next day?”
The old lady clapped her hands and set the time with a smile.
“Then we’ll see each other the day after tomorrow.”
The old lady got up to leave after the class. Shi Qingning went to see her off, leaving Bai Yexi in the piano room alone.
When passing by the courtyard, Shi Qingning made a special trip to the garden, took out a basket of beautiful, carefully trimmed glass begonias, and gave it to the old lady.
“This is what my mother said to give to you. She said you like it.”
The pink and white glass begonias painted a totally different kind of scenery on this kind of dull winter day. The flower basket was full of bright colors, but it was not heavy.
The old lady took the flower basket and said with a smile.
“Thank you.”
The flowers perfectly complemented the person.
Shi Qingning sent the teacher outside the fence of the villa. When they passed by the main entrance, from their angle, they could just see the piano room on the second floor.
The scene in the piano room was half-blocked, and only a silhouette could be seen, playing the piano.
It was Bai Yexi.
The two people downstairs stopped and watched for a while, and then the old lady said,
“That child is very suitable for playing the piano.”
Shi Qingning nodded. No one agreed with this sentence more than him.
“Yes.”
However, the teacher’s words were not based on Bai Yexi’s skills or talent.
It was evaluated face-to-face.
“He is a person with stories.”, said the old lady.
“And people with stories are suitable for playing the piano.”
Shi Qingning was stunned for a moment, then thought of the different plots in the novel.
He couldn’t help but clench his fingertips.
The price of having those stories is too high.
“And you, dear.”
The old lady said suddenly.
“You seem to be a little too tense.”
“When you play the piano, your piano sound is always a little tense. This state will easily make you tired.”
“You need to learn to relax.”
Shi Qingning was stunned.
“Can this be also known from how a person plays a piano?”
“Yes.”
The old lady wrapped her shawl around her and said with a smile.
“People who play the piano can hear the voice of one’s hearts via their music.”
She gently patted Shi Qingning’s slender forearm.
“Have a good rest.”
After helping the old lady into the car, Shi Qingning returned to the villa.
In the piano room, Bai Yexi was still playing the piano.
The sound of the piano was melodious and soothing. Shi Qingning sat down next to the boy and listened attentively.
After listening to the melody for a while, he discovered that it was a famous piece by Debussy.
“Moonlight”.
Bai Yexi’s long eyelashes were slightly lowered, and he was looking at the piano intently. He wasn’t reading the music score, as if he was simply used to playing it. The black and white piano keys seemed to come to life under his fingers, pouring out beautiful musical notes.
Shi Qingning followed the other and looked at the piano, but his eyes unconsciously fell on those slender, cold-white fingers.
The boy’s hands were naturally suited for playing the piano, and his technique of playing also has a sense of natural elegance, creating an indescribable sense of beauty.
It was as if there really was a kind of clear moonlight flowing through those cold white long fingers.
Shi Qingning watched Bai Yexi’s movements in fascination.
He was so immersed in it that he didn’t even know when he fell asleep.
This sleep of his was calm and peaceful, and it was not until Shi Qingning woke up on the large soft chair, he didn’t realize that he had fallen asleep.
Simply because there were no nightmares or in-between awakenings in this sleep.
But the sky outside had already become dark.
Shi Qingning looked at his watch blankly and realized that he had slept for almost an hour.
When his eyes passed over the clock, Shi Qingning also saw a swath of long black hair beside him.
His eyes which had just woken up gained focus instantly when he saw Bai Yexi sitting next to him.
In the darkness, the boy was silently gazing at the piano, looking very desolate. His gaze was still on the keys, but he didn’t seem to be looking at the piano.
In the shadow that Shi Qingning couldn’t see, Bai Yexi’s thin, slender chest rose and fell slowly, not like steady breathing, but more like… silent suppression.
Shi Qingning stared at the person blankly for a while and whispered to himself.
“It’s happening.”
Hearing his movement, Bai Yexi turned his head.
“What?”
Those dark green eyes were unusually cold and dark.
Shi Qingning blinked and did not say the second half of the sentence.
——It’s happening, a special occurrence where one can only fall asleep peacefully when they are next to the protagonist!
Shi Qingning, who had been reading novels for a while, shook his head and shook off those unreliable thoughts.
He said,
“Nothing. Sorry, I fell asleep.”
Bai Yexi’s thin Adam’s apple moved and he uttered two words in a low voice.
“It’s okay.”
Shi Qingning sat up, holding on to the armrests of the soft chair. As Shi Qingning sat up, his movements inadvertently touched something, and he exclaimed, “Huh” and subconsciously raised his arm to pull.
It was then that he saw that it was Bai Yexi’s dark coat, which was being pulled by him.
“This…?”
Shi Qingning hurriedly put down his arm and then realized that he had been sleeping on the other person’s coat all this while. The two chairs were very close to each other, so Bai Yexi’s coat zipper got stuck to Shi Qingning’s cuffs at some point and was pressed against him in a twisted arc for a long time.
…Even the hem of his clothes was slightly wrinkled.
“Sorry…”
Shi Qingning quickly unzipped the zipper from his cuffs and smoothed the hem of his clothes. But then he inadvertently glanced at the display screen of the central air conditioner in the room and realized that–
The temperature in the room had obviously been raised.
No wonder he didn’t feel cold.
‘While sleeping…’ Shi Qingning thought, and then suddenly realized something, and looked at Bai Yexi with his beautiful eyes wide open.
“You, you haven’t moved since then?” Shi Qingning said, “You didn’t take off your coat and the room is so hot…”
Bai Yexi glanced at him and said, “It’s not hot.”
How could it not be hot?
The sun was directly above their heads during the afternoon class, and the old lady had a slight cold, so the air conditioner was not turned on until the class was over. Both of them were still wearing coats while playing the piano.
But now the temperature was almost 30 degrees, and Shi Qingning didn’t feel cold even while sleeping. How could the other party…
Suddenly, Shi Qingning came up with an inexplicable idea.
Mint didn’t take off his coat… was he afraid that his movement would wake him up?
Perhaps the way he was staring at him was too direct, causing Bai Yexi to turn his head and look away.
This caused the boy’s slender side neck to be exposed, and only then did Shi Qingning realize that the chain on his neck was missing.
Bai Yexi had taken off his chain, but did not put it away. Instead, it was wrapped around his slender and well-distinct wrist.
Because of the pulling and tearing of his coat, a small section of his wrist was exposed, and Shi Qingning caught a glimpse of the silver chain wrapped around it.
It was wrapped around the boy’s thin wrist and the base of his palms. It seemed to be wrapped too tightly, as he could see a few faint marks.
The boy who had been silent all this while suddenly spoke, with a slightly lowered tone.
“In the future, don’t casually fall asleep in front of strangers.”
Shi Qingning was stunned and subconsciously touched his face.
“Ah, did I drool while I was sleeping?”
“…”
Bai Yexi paused.
“No.”
“That’s good…”
Shi Qingning was about to feel relieved when he suddenly heard a knock on the door outside the house.
“Second Young Master, the person who is delivering the customized piano is here. They need you to sign for it.”
Shi Qingning was surprised, “So soon?”
He had thought that he would have to wait until tomorrow.
The delivery personnel had just walked downstairs, and they could be seen from the floor-to-ceiling windows of the piano room.
Shi Qingning stood up, “Then let’s go down?”
He pulled Bai Yexi, wanting to go downstairs together.
“Take a look at the new piano!”
But, instead of tugging on the other person’s sleeve, he took the other person’s hand by mistake.
Shi Qingning was startled by the slightly cool feeling between his fingers. He also clearly felt that the fingers he was holding stiffened.
Still remembering that the other party didn’t like physical contact, Shi Qingning hurriedly let go of his hand and was about to apologize when he heard a sound coming from the door.
“Xiao Ning?”
As soon as she came back from work, Mother Shi wanted to come to the piano room to see her youngest son.
But when she saw the two people in the piano room, her expression visibly paused.
Then her tone became gentler as she spoke.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
“No need to hide from mom.”
“…?”
Only then did Shi Qingning suddenly realize how easy it was for people to misunderstand his hasty action of releasing their hands.
Before he could speak, he heard his mother’s gentle voice once again.
“Mom won’t object.”
Mother Shi looked at Bai Yexi with some curiosity and said, “This is…”
“Baby, were you talking about him when you asked about love before?”
