bookbashuk Page 117
Page 117
"That kind of thing..." Su Shi thought of the expressions on Xiangzi and Deng's faces and the deep trust and attachment in their words when they mentioned Yanming, and a chilling coldness rushed straight to her head.
"Su Shi, they are all important friends of yours, you wouldn't want them to be sad, right?"
Su Shi regretted it a little.
Why was she so arrogant that, after suffering a loss once, she still chose to talk to this person alone, thus falling into the trap set by the other party once again?
Yanming smiled and said, "But actually, I don't need to mention it. Someone as gentle as Su Shi would definitely have comforted Xiao Xiang and the others after I left without saying goodbye. Am I right?"
"You..." Su Shi suppressed the chill in her heart, still trying to figure out Yan Ming's background, "...do you really have to hurt them?"
"About this," Yanming suddenly said, his eyes darting around as he rubbed his earlobe. "Look, Su Shi, I'm still so young, right? I have so many years to squander. Why should I hang myself on one tree? It's better to travel and explore while I'm young, and then find a place that truly suits me, a perfect spot, where I can enjoy my old age. Isn't that better than staying here forever? As for you guys, just pretend I'm dead, okay?"
This statement is a complete lie.
Su Shi could reach this conclusion almost without making any distinction.
However, this person seemed to have no intention of hiding it at all, and openly told Su Shi that he was lying.
He had told the truth before, but he concealed his true thoughts on this one point... This strange behavior made Nagasaki Motoyo even more unable to understand the young man in front of her.
My mind is in turmoil.
"Su Shi, what's your answer?"
Because he rarely gets injections, Yanming has been somewhat afraid of sharp objects since childhood.
But he firmly believed in the childish saying that "liars will swallow a thousand needles."
That's why Yanming always thinks things through carefully before telling a lie and not wanting to be discovered.
"I……"
Yanming stood up, called the waiter, and after settling the bill for the day, he looked at Su Shi, who was speechless, and said calmly, "Just like I said before, your answer is not important to me."
"Goodbye, see you tomorrow." Yanming withdrew his gaze, left his seat, and gave a final reminder, "And don't be late."
Only after he had walked out of the store did a heavy, hesitant reply sound behind him.
"……it is good."
Upon receiving the reply, Yanming knew that Su Shi was, to some extent, already one of his own.
[Changes in Intimacy Level]
Name: Nagasaki Motoyo
[Current Intimacy Level: Suspicion (-1) → Accomplice (-41)]
Chapter 176 *Gaze*
"Ugh—" Yanming was finally able to relax when he reached a tree. He leaned against the trunk and pounded his back with his hands behind his back.
No more
It's disgusting.
Playing the role of a heartless scumbag in front of a 17-year-old girl is really beyond Yanming's tolerance limit.
Only when the truth is absolutely true, and the lie is obviously false, can such a lie not arouse the suspicion of a discerning person.
However, if possible, Yanming still hopes that one day he can get to know Nagasaki Motoyo again with his true self.
However, this probability is now extremely low after today.
"Never mind... I don't want to think about it anymore. Let's go back first, it's getting late." Yanming wiped his mouth, straightened up, and walked towards where the motorcycle was.
……
The next day
Yanming and Su Shi stared at each other in the private room of the coffee shop, and an awkward atmosphere instantly filled the entire street.
"...Why are you here so early?"
"...Didn't you tell me to come earlier?"
But isn't this way too early?
Yanming glanced at the clock on the wall and, after confirming that the hour hand was indeed pointing to the number nine, felt even more embarrassed.
He said it's true that it's good to come early, but the problem is that today is the weekend. Don't you, a middle school student, need to catch up on sleep on the weekend?
At this hour, Xiangzi is still fast asleep in his bed at home, and you've already come here?!
"Didn't you arrive this early too?"
Yanming covered his forehead: "I was worried that someone might arrive too early, so I came here almost two hours early. And what happened? You just happened to bump into me at the door?"
It's not that there's anything wrong with doing this, it's just that neither Yanming nor Su Shi really wanted to be alone with each other for a while after yesterday.
One reason is that he lied, and he felt inexplicably guilty whenever he saw Su Shi.
Su Shi was afraid that she had fallen into Yan Ming's trap again.
After hearing what Yanming had said yesterday, her escape route was immediately blocked.
...Saying he'd take care of Xiaoxiang and the others after he left...It's like he couldn't stay. He's clearly just a scumbag who started something and then abandoned it.
She couldn't directly remind Xiao Xiang and the others of this fact... because even Su Shi herself didn't quite believe it, but she had to be on the safe side.
Ahhh...
This kind of swindler should really swallow a thousand needles!
Su Shi's eyes were practically spitting fire as she looked at Yan Ming.
The latter noticed this and his lips twitched. Then he spread his hands, as if to say, "It's no use glaring at me."
Su Shi also realized something, and then chose a spot furthest away from Yan Ming, sulking to herself.
Yanming had no choice but to order a coffee and then take out his laptop from his bag and turn it on.
"...What are you doing?" Although she was sulking, Su Shi's attention was actually still on Yan Ming.
After all, there were only the two of them in the room, so it would be hard not to notice if the other party made any small moves.
"Me?" Yanming was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized that the other person was talking to him.
He turned the computer screen a little closer to Su Shi and showed it to her: "I'm doing rehabilitation because it's been a long time since I last arranged music. I haven't touched this stuff in so long, I need to practice more."
“Oh…” Su Shi responded subconsciously, then realized that she shouldn’t speak to the other person in such a bland tone from her perspective, so she squeezed out a disgusted expression, “I mean… someone like you who doesn’t care about others must compose selfish music.”
"A selfish song? What are you talking about? How could such a thing exist in the world?" Yanming didn't care about the targeting in the words, and shook his head with a smile to refute, "Writing songs is about writing songs for other people besides yourself to listen to."
Songs are one of humanity's greatest inventions, and only humans, who have evolved a complete emotional system, can understand the rich imagery within melodies.
A collection of excellent pieces, enough to resonate with millions of people.
In literature, there will be a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people, but in reality, most people outside of those thousand people do not have the patience to read classic works.
But the music is different
A melody, ranging from two or three minutes to five or six minutes long, requires almost no effort to appreciate.
Yet, such a brief content can fill those who hear it with the same emotions within minutes.
Such terrifying transmission efficiency destined one thing...
The purpose of writing every piece of music is for others to hear it.
Su Shi became interested in his words without even realizing it, and couldn't help but ask, "Then why do you want to learn something that is so difficult and thankless for you?"
"My reason for studying composition is probably similar to your reason for joining Crychic." Yanming held the mouse, constantly operating it while taking time to talk to Su Shi. "We both belong to the imperfect category of people, but we have both sought change for our own happiness."
“Su Shi, I can feel that you have changed significantly compared to a few months ago, which is great…” Yan Ming quickly stopped talking.
I almost blurted out my true thoughts.
"What I mean is, I'm actually quite happy to see you starting to pay attention to things other than crychic. After all, this way you can better take my place in their hearts, which is a good thing for you, right?"
Su Shi: “…”
Fine.
“But you still haven’t told me your reason.” Su Shi shook her head, dissatisfied with this ambiguous answer.
"There's no need to be so fixated on this..."
Su Shi: *glare*
"But since you want to know, it's not something that can't be said." Yanming readily admitted defeat. Although it was a little embarrassing to reveal his own secrets, it was better to avoid trouble.
If Xiao Xiang Hongwen is followed by a fierce and battle-hardened octopus berserker...
If you provoke Su Shi, she will first observe your every move without making a sound, then find a weakness that can be used for revenge, and silently use her owl's long claws to choke your throat from behind.
Among the people Yanming knew, his level of danger was second only to the Little Mu Headman at full power.
"Hey Su Shi... stop glaring at me like that, it's making me feel uncomfortable even when I'm using the mouse." Yan Ming chuckled and asked Su Shi to stop glaring at him. Then he took the two drinks that the waitress brought over and handed one to Su Shi. "Here, have something hot to perk you up."
Su Shi snorted and looked away, then smelled the aroma in the cup.
Chapter 177 How could they be so similar?
'This is……'
Su Shi's gaze fell on the steaming liquid in the cup.
It was the Earl Grey tea she ordered yesterday.
'Did he remember it? Was it intentional or unintentional?'
"There's nothing I can do if it doesn't suit my taste, I'll just have to make do." Yanming poured some milk into his black coffee, took a sip, and frowned. "...It tastes better without it."
'...It must just be a coincidence.' Su Shi closed her eyes and took a small sip of the black tea in her cup.
...Even the sweetness is just right.
Then, accompanied by the sound of mouse clicks, Yanming began to recount his past to Su Shi once again.
“I used to be in a band, and I could be considered a guitarist and lead singer. Although my skill level was only average, the others were willing to accept my ordinariness and brought me on stage to perform.”
“The arrangement was not my responsibility from the beginning; it was handled by another keyboardist… I only started learning the arrangement after joining that band.”
"As for the opportunity, it's probably because I've always been the type of person who doesn't give up easily. After my first live performance, I had the idea of learning music arrangement. And I didn't just want to learn it casually, but to surpass that person one day."
"But... I seem to have very little talent in this area, and the practice of guitar and vocals takes up a lot of my energy, so the distance between us has not only not narrowed because of my efforts, but has become wider and wider."
“From that time on, I knew that the person was a genius in composing, while I was just an ordinary person with no talent. No matter how hard I tried, I could not close the gap, because those geniuses often worked even harder than you in places you could not see.”
"This feeling of achieving nothing even after giving it your all can easily lead people into obsession, and no one can escape it."
"Of course I would feel the same way, and Li Xi's situation is pretty much the same right now."
"However, those guys who usually starve to death at home even when I don't cook actually noticed my abnormality and forced me to stay in the hospital for a whole month to recover, so that the tragedy didn't happen."
Given Yanming's personality, his obsession would only be more twisted and stubborn compared to Lixi's current state.
Staying up for days and nights, drinking bags of coffee by the bag—that was commonplace for him during that period. He was on the verge of collapse, needing only a small accident...
boom.
That word, symbolizing the end, is never far from people; only the instinct of fear can somewhat contend with it.
"After I was discharged from the hospital, those people wrote a new song for me behind my back as a discharge gift. Instead of performing it on a live stage, a bunch of grown men with their raspy voices sang it to me while I was getting up... Those BYD guys are really scum."
Yanming rebuked him with a tone of disgust, but a smile played on his lips.
That was the first time he felt afraid and resistant to that word. In the days that followed, he would feel a pang of anxiety every time he stayed up all night or did extra practice.
"Later, I continued to study music arrangement as a hobby, but no longer to prove that I could surpass geniuses, but simply to avoid owing favors... You see, since they all wrote songs for me, shouldn't I write one to return the favor?"
[Arrangement Ability: Lv4]
This is the level that ordinary people can reach after a lot of practice. Yanming once thought that this was his limit, and also the gap between him and geniuses.
However... it seems that things didn't turn out the way Yanming had imagined.
"Su Shi, do you want to know how it ends?" Yan Ming asked with a mischievous grin, keeping everyone in suspense.
How can he be expected to recount such unpleasant past events without giving anything in return?
He's not one to like being taken advantage of.