Chapter 35#
Playboy (5)#
Lu Yi: …He felt he had played the piano badly enough, and he had even hit a few wrong notes. Why was he still considered at a level where he could be a teacher?
Looking at Teacher Rong Huan, whose expression had suddenly changed, he chose honesty: “I’ve learned piano before, but I never got a certificate. I came here to study mainly to get one. I prefer to leave related work to the professionals.”
Back when he was in university, Lu Yi had also obtained several certifications. He had never been stingy with money, leaving all paperwork to the relevant educational training institutions.
For the time it took to run those errands, he could earn several times or even dozens of times that fee.
He said this very sincerely, without a hint of pretense, merely omitting part of the truth.
As he spoke, he stared unblinkingly at Rong Huan, his eyes seemingly saying: “I’m telling the truth, not lying.”
The young man’s gaze was clear and pure. Though his face wasn’t particularly angular, it exuded an air of righteousness. His gaze was so intense that even the other party found it hard to look away.
After a brief eye contact, it was Rong Huan who yielded first.
He believed the words the person before him had just spoken were true, but his real intention definitely couldn’t be that simple.
He then “grilled” Lu Yi with a few more questions, confirming that he wasn’t there to cause trouble, before relenting: “You’re at a level where you can take the certificate exam. But before that, you need to pass the music theory certificate first.”
Candidates under seven or over forty didn’t need this certificate, but the age of the person in front of him clearly didn’t fall within that range.
“Alright.” Lu Yi breathed a small sigh of relief inside.
Rong Huan added: “You can find all this information online. Someone your age shouldn’t need me to teach you how to use the internet.”
“I’ll look it up.” Although Rong Huan had relented, Lu Yi could still keenly sense that his first impression hadn’t been great.
Changing a first impression wasn’t easy, and if it continued negatively, it might end up working against his purpose for coming here.
“I really haven’t touched a piano in a long time, and I might not be very clear on the relevant knowledge points. Since I’m also a student at this music store, when I encounter things I don’t understand, could I ask you for guidance, Teacher Rong?”
Rong Huan sensed something unusual. People of the same kind often have a special connection. The moment he saw Lu Yi, he knew the other man also liked men.
He wasn’t the only man who had shown him interest, but the young man in front of him had a clear and upright gaze, hadn’t made any improper moves from start to finish, and hadn’t said anything to express affection.
What if he was just flattering himself? That would be awkward.
Besides, although what Lu Yi said sounded absurd, it wasn’t impossible. After hesitating for a moment, Rong Huan agreed: “Fine, leave me your contact information.”
“No problem.” Things had turned out tougher than he’d expected, but at least he’d made some progress today. He exchanged contact info with Rong Huan and then left the advanced class piano room without a hint of lingering, waving goodbye without taking a single cloud with him.
After Lu Yi left, Rong Huan went to the front desk and asked: “Give me the registration materials for this batch of students.”
A thick stack of documents was handed to Rong Huan. He flipped through from the most recent date backwards and found Lu Yi within a few pages.
The one-inch photo he provided wasn’t very different from his actual appearance, but there was quite a difference in temperament and gaze. If you didn’t look closely, you’d think they were two different people.
His age was listed as twenty, still a university student.
Attached to the materials was a copy of his ID. He checked the age, and it was indeed so.
Moreover, the university looked familiar. He had a nephew who seemed to be studying at the same school.
If he really was a university student, then he probably wouldn’t do the things Rong Huan had suspected.
Could it really have been a misunderstanding? Rong Huan felt somewhat embarrassed, but because of this, he paid a bit more attention to this person named Lu Yi.
He usually ignored most people who added him, but after work, he kept checking his phone, waiting for a message from the person who had said he wanted to ask questions.
But embarrassingly, there was no message at all—no calls, no texts, and other communication tools that kept online records were also grayed out.
He really had been overthinking. Glancing at himself in the rearview mirror, Rong Huan felt his cheeks flush, ashamed of his own wishful thinking.
Letting out a long breath, he put the day’s matters behind him.
Meanwhile, after leaving the music store, Lu Yi returned to his university dorm to start researching.
Their dorm had the typical bunk bed setup with a desk underneath, four to a room. While Lu Yi was looking things up downstairs, Wang Wang passed by to get water and glanced casually, not really paying attention, and asked offhandedly: “You want to buy a piano? So many pictures?”
Since they shared a dorm and were in the same class, whatever he did would come out eventually. Wang Wang backed up and said, “Nice, when did you secretly learn to play the piano behind our backs?”
Nowadays, more and more people were learning instruments—piano, guzheng, guitar. But guitar was more popular, both because it was easier to pick up and because you could sing and charm girls with it.
Piano was different. You could carry a guitar around to play and sing, but you couldn’t just haul a piano to a girl’s dormitory to confess your love.
Lu Yi just smiled without saying much. “I’m not in a club. I’m going for the music theory certificate first before I can qualify for the advanced exam.”
“Oh, I see.” They figured he was a beginner. A lot of university students were taking up music nowadays, given how many music teachers there were.
Zhang Zhicheng, playing games on his bed, heard them. “What, piano?”
“Little Deer is talking about learning piano.”
Zhang Zhicheng looked at Lu Yi: “Come on, Lu Yi, you’re not still hung up on that Li Tang, are you?”
Wang Wang shot him a glare: “Don’t talk nonsense. Our Lu Yi keeps his word—he said he was cutting off Li Tang, and he did, right?”
Zhang Zhicheng put on an expression of “I feel wronged, bro,” then said: “Because Li Tang once said he really liked people who played piano. Thought it made them look classy.”
Wang Wang immediately blew up and asked Lu Yi: “Bro, are you serious? You’re not over it? We agreed—you don’t fall into the same cesspool twice. If you do, I’m not pulling you out.”
“It has nothing to do with him. I’ve always loved the piano.”
Lu Yi was telling the truth. He had learned piano when he was very young, and his teacher had praised him for being talented. When he was still small, he had pestered his teacher about becoming a musician. But then his father, Old Lu, had scolded him. Later, he delved into finance, his piano certificates gathered dust, and he forgot what it was like to practice every day.
As he said this, a nostalgic expression naturally crossed his face. Wang Wang took one look and felt there was more to the story. As long as it wasn’t because of Li Tang, he wouldn’t say anything more.
After all, it was Lu Yi’s own life, and how he lived it was his choice.
Although most things in this world were the same as his own world, there were still plenty of differences.
Lu Yi spent over half a month studying and researching until he had a thorough understanding of everything.
When he was focused on something, he basically didn’t use any tools to contact others.
Once he had absorbed all the relevant knowledge, he remembered that he still needed to contact Li Tang’s “white moonlight.”
He logged into Feixun, the popular online messaging tool for young people in this world, and messaged Rong Huan: “Teacher Rong, I’ve been reviewing the materials these past few days and I understand most of it, but there are still a few points I’m not clear on. Could I ask you?”
Then he uploaded an offline file. After waiting ten-plus minutes with no reply, his roommate called him to go eat, so he turned off his computer and left.
After work, Rong Huan checked his messages. He saw that the contact’s profile picture looked familiar. When he clicked on it and recognized the tone, he remembered—it was that young university student from before.
He received the file and opened it while drinking water. It contained several small documents and images labeled 1, 2, 3, 4.
When he opened them, he nearly spat his water onto the computer.
Not because what Lu Yi had done was bad, but because it was too good. He had made tables, Word documents, PPTs—every question and detail he was confused about was laid out, with key points highlighted in red. It was pretty impressive.
If he did everything to this extent, it might just be his natural personality.
No wonder when Rong Huan had seen him before, he felt that Lu Yi had a maturity and steadiness beyond his years.
Rong Huan let out a long sigh and then adapted Lu Yi’s template, listing everything out point by point.
If a student was putting in this much effort, a teacher being sloppy and perfunctory would be too irresponsible.
Lu Yi wanted to register, and it would still be a few months before he could take the piano exam. During those months, the two of them rarely talked face to face; they mostly communicated this way.
At first, they only talked about piano and music. Over time, the topics drifted.
One day, as they chatted, they ended up discussing major life issues.
Lu Yi looked at his computer screen.
The other party had sent a message: “My mom wants me to go on a blind date again. I’m about to lose it.”
Lu Yi replied: “Didn’t you say before that you like men? Deceiving someone into marriage wouldn’t be a good thing.”
Rong Huan: “Who’s deceiving anyone? I came out in high school. Back then, I almost had my legs broken. You’re young, you don’t understand. My mom is setting me up with a man, but I don’t want to go.”
Lu Yi paused his typing: “Being single has its advantages, being in a relationship has its own. Trying more things is always good. How about considering finding a boyfriend?”