Li Lei blinked, looked at Xia Lusheng for a moment, and suddenly burst out laughing.
Just then, Gu Yitong returned from buying ice cream. Looking at Li Lei in confusion, she asked, “What’s the matter? What are you laughing at?”
Li Lei smiled with pursed lips: “I just think Lusheng is a bit cute.”
Xia Lusheng felt somewhat stifled by Li Lei’s laughter and forcefully broke free from Li Lei’s hand.
Gu Yitong looked at the two of them without understanding why, but she didn’t press for details. She gave one of the ice creams to Li Lei and then took the clay figurine from Xia Lusheng’s hand.
“I’ll hold this for you for now; you eat your ice cream.”
Xia Lusheng took the ice cream and took a fierce bite. Gu Yitong couldn’t help but say, “Eat slowly, don’t let it freeze you, be careful of a headache.”
Li Lei watched Xia Lusheng with curving, smiling eyes. Previously, Xia Lusheng had been smileless and silent, keeping people a thousand miles away with her seriousness; Li Lei had never dared to speak to this distant and cold girl. But at this moment, she suddenly discovered that Xia Lusheng was just like them, a young girl who could throw fits, whose possessiveness was just as childish when it flared up.
Thinking this way, Li Lei felt a sense of peer-to-peer closeness toward Xia Lusheng.
By the time the three returned to the hotel, it was already past eight in the evening.
When Yu Qi and the others saw the food Gu Yitong brought back, they jumped three feet high, beyond excited: “Sister Yitong is the best! I love you to death!”
“Thank you, Sister Yitong!”
Yu Qi held a golden, honey-glazed grilled chicken wing, took a deep sniff, then closed her eyes and took a bite. “Mmm, so delicious! Sister Yitong, you are simply the only one in my heart.”
Gu Yitong was amused by the words of these clever little ones.
Li Lei peeked quietly at Xia Lusheng; sure enough, hearing Yu Qi and the others’ words, Xia Lusheng had a “stinky” little face, looking very unhappy.
Xia Lusheng tugged at Gu Yitong’s hem: “I’m tired, I want to go back to the room.”
Gu Yitong didn’t think much of it: “Okay.”
After returning to the room, Xia Lusheng felt her way to the table and placed the clay figurine down. She stood in front of the table with her back to Gu Yitong, not moving.
Gu Yitong looked at Xia Lusheng strangely, stepped forward, and tugged at her: “What’s wrong? Why are you standing here? Aren’t you tired?”
Xia Lusheng turned around and accurately grabbed Gu Yitong’s wrist. Her cheeks were puffed out: “Whose sister are you?”
The sudden question made Gu Yitong freeze for a moment.
Not hearing an answer, Xia Lusheng increased the strength of her grip on Gu Yitong’s wrist. Her tone was half-willful, half-coquettish, stubbornly demanding an answer: “Whose sister are you?!”
A smile appeared on Gu Yitong’s face. She followed Xia Lusheng’s lead and said, “Your sister. I am Xia Lusheng’s sister.”
Xia Lusheng gave a soft huff and released Gu Yitong’s wrist.
Seeing Xia Lusheng’s huffy little appearance, the smile on Gu Yitong’s face widened. She reached out and poked Xia Lusheng’s cheek.
…
It wasn’t until the competition reached the finals that Gu Yitong and Xia Lusheng went to the arena. Just as Zhao Yasuo had said, this small-scale competition didn’t have anything particularly stunning; coming here was merely to get familiar with the feeling of competing and to understand the level of their peers.
After the competition ended and before the concert began, the group let themselves go for two days, having a wonderful time playing in S City.
Li Lei ran over to Xia Lusheng, proactively took her hand, and said, “Lusheng, I found something fun, come quickly.”
Xia Lusheng was pulled away by Li Lei reluctantly.
Zhao Yasuo watched the two receding figures with a smile and remarked to Gu Yitong beside her, “Lusheng and Lusheng are both introverted children; I didn’t expect the two of them to become so well-acquainted.”
Ever since that day they played together, Li Lei had begun coming to find Xia Lusheng every now and then. Acting as if she couldn’t perceive Xia Lusheng’s coldness, Li Lei always met her with a smiling face.
Lusheng’s attitude toward Li Lei had also slowly changed from avoiding speech at the beginning, to normal interaction, and finally to how it was now.
Gu Yitong hesitated for a second before finally asking the question that had puzzled her for days: “What’s going on with Li Lei’s body? Is it that she can’t hear the sound of the cello?”
Hearing this, Zhao Yasuo sighed with regret and explained slowly, “Li Lei’s mother was obsessed with the cello. When Li Lei was little, she forced her to learn. Li Lei lived up to expectations and had great talent for the cello, but her mother was never satisfied. She forced Li Lei to participate in all sorts of competitions; as long as Li Lei didn’t place, she would kick and beat her.”
Gu Yitong was shocked: “So Li Lei developed a psychological shadow regarding the cello?”
To her surprise, Zhao Yasuo shook her head: “No. It was because during one competition, Li Lei performed poorly and got one of the last rankings. Her mother was severely triggered and suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage, dying on the spot. At the time… Li Lei was right beside her mother, watching her die with her own eyes. It was from that moment on that whenever Li Lei heard the sound of a cello, she had a physical stress response, and her personality became more and more introverted.”
So that was it. For a moment, Gu Yitong didn’t know what to say.
In an instant, Gu Yitong seemed to understand why Li Lei would cling to Lusheng. For such an introverted person to take the initiative to show kindness to Lusheng was probably, in a way, because they were the same kind of people, a sense of belonging among kindred spirits.
Both had their own bitterness that others could not empathize with; only they themselves knew. Furthermore, neither of them had a mother anymore.
Zhao Yasuo continued, “Li Lei knows her mother’s greatest wish was for her to stand at the peak of the cello world, so Li Lei is unwilling to give up and has been trying to overcome herself.”
Just then, the two girls who had left returned.
Li Lei raised a flower wreath in her hand and said to Gu Yitong, “Sister Yitong, look quickly! See how beautiful Lusheng looks wearing the flower wreath!”
As she spoke, Li Lei placed the wreath on Xia Lusheng’s head. Xia Lusheng wanted to take it off reluctantly but was held down by the arm of Li Lei.
“It looks good,” Gu Yitong responded with a smile.
…
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Before the group set off for the concert, Gu Yitong looked at Li Lei worriedly and whispered to Zhao Yasuo, “Will Li Lei be okay going to the concert like this? In case…”
Zhao Yasuo signaled Gu Yitong to rest easy: “Don’t worry, I’m well-acquainted with the concert organizers. I’ve already alerted them; if Li Lei experiences discomfort, she will go backstage immediately.”
Gu Yitong said no more.
Upon arriving at the venue, a staff member saw Zhao Yasuo and came to greet them: “Teacher Zhao, it’s truly wonderful that you could come. Seats have been reserved for you long ago; I’ll lead you over.”
Zhao Yasuo smiled and thanked them: “I’ve troubled you.”
The staff member hurriedly said, “No trouble at all, Teacher Zhao is too polite. Many teachers backstage heard you were coming today and reminded me repeatedly to let them know as soon as you arrived.”
During the conversation, many people cast glances their way. Some looked at Zhao Yasuo with excitement, looking like they wanted to come forward to say hello but hesitated.
“Tea… Teacher Zhao, I am your fan. Could you give me an autograph?” Finally, someone plucked up the courage to come forward, looking at Zhao Yasuo with excitement.
Zhao Yasuo nodded with a smile: “Of course.”
The person seeking the autograph was so excited they didn’t know what to say. Seeing someone successfully get an autograph, the onlookers stepped forward one after another.
“Teacher Zhao, I’ve liked you for a long time. I’m so happy to see you!”
“Teacher Zhao, I really like your work. Your original piece ‘Daughter Lake’ is so beautiful; the emotions are very delicate, I feel something different every time I hear it.”
This was the first time Gu Yitong truly felt Zhao Yasuo’s fame and prestige.
Xia Lusheng was being squeezed by the crowd; she subconsciously gripped Gu Yitong’s hand and leaned tightly against her.
Gu Yitong pulled Xia Lusheng out of the crowd. As the surroundings relaxed, Xia Lusheng let out a light breath.
After a moment, she asked, “Sister Yitong, you said before that if I achieve success in my studies I could earn a lot of money. Is it by being famous like Teacher Zhao?”
Gu Yitong had almost forgotten she had said such a thing. It took her a moment after Xia Lusheng asked to remember what she had said to persuade Lusheng to study cello with Zhao Yasuo.
After thinking about it, she said, “Yes and no. Someone like Teacher Zhao is very formidable; she has already surpassed the realm of money and should be described in terms of art and culture.”
Hearing this, Xia Lusheng was silent for a long time before saying, “But I don’t want those empty things. I just want to earn money.”
Gu Yitong rubbed Xia Lusheng’s head: “Okay, we’ll earn money; we don’t need those empty things.”
“Sister Yitong, Lusheng, catch up quickly!” Chen Jiale’s voice rang out. Gu Yitong looked back and saw that the crowd around Zhao Yasuo had dispersed. The staff member was leading them toward the front-row seats.
“Let’s go.” Gu Yitong held Xia Lusheng’s hand and caught up with the others.
Once the concert began, the hall was exceptionally quiet. Only the cello music—sometimes soothing, sometimes melodious echoed in their ears. The timbre of the cello was ancient and deep; even a layman like Gu Yitong was moved.
But Li Lei couldn’t hold out for long. Gu Yitong had been keeping an eye on Li Lei’s movements; noticing Li Lei’s abnormal reaction, Gu Yitong immediately pulled the medicine bottle from Li Lei’s pocket.
“Two pills!” Zhao Yasuo spoke urgently from the side.
After giving Li Lei the medicine, Zhao Yasuo helped her to the backstage lounge. Gu Yitong felt uneasy; she instructed Yu Qi to look after Lusheng and then followed them.
The staff member led them into a lounge and said earnestly to Zhao Yasuo, “This is the lounge with the best soundproofing, specially set aside. Rest assured, Teacher Zhao, no one will come to disturb you.”
“Thank you.”
Li Lei sat weakly on the sofa, her head hanging in discouragement.
The atmosphere was silent and oppressive. Seeing Li Lei like this, Zhao Yasuo felt her heart ache. She stepped forward and stroked Li Lei’s head: “Don’t force yourself too hard. Didn’t the doctor say? The tighter you push yourself, the stronger the reaction becomes.”
Li Lei nodded gently. After a moment, she said to the two of them, “Teacher Zhao, Sister Yitong, I want to be alone for a while.”
Zhao Yasuo and Gu Yitong exchanged a glance and silently left the lounge.
The two returned to the audience seats in silence. When they saw the person on the performance stage, both froze in shock. The person on stage was sitting with a straight back, holding a cello in her arms, eyes closed as she devotedly vibrated the bow and pulled the strings.
It was no one else but Xia Lusheng.