Extra:
Ling Ke: “I am also going to pretend I don’t know you!”
Qi Yu: “???”
Author’s note: The guy that was playing the violin was actually Qi Feng’s older brother…
The audience who were sitting further did not hear Ling Ke’s bold declaration, but both Qi Feng and Jiang Ying had heard it clearly.
Jiang Ying was surprised. Most of the students would clamor for the chance she had given Ling Ke. Yet, he wanted to give up this chance, and the most important point was that his performance was not even that bad, in fact it was quite remarkable, so why did he want to drop out?
She could not help feeling curious. “What’s the reason behind your decision?”
Ling Ke shut his eyes. The intense surge of emotions has yet to fade, but his rationality has already returned.
He felt that his piano skills was actually pretty average for his level. It was only because of Qi Feng’s accompaniment that the performance turned out to be so impressive. If there wasn’t such an outstanding violin accompaniment, this performance would have been a failure. A performance which sole purpose was to express one’s conflicted emotions and selfish desire was no doubt a failure of a performance.
How was he any different from the guy that was eliminated earlier on?
The thunderous applause from the audience only seemed to emphasize Qi Feng’s competence. If he had to enlist Qi Feng’s help to be able to stand on this stage, his pride would not be able to take it.
However, Ling Ke did not voice out his thoughts. He did not want to appear weak in front of Qi Feng.
Thus, he stood stoutly on stage. His eyes flashed with subtle defiance. “I do not like to perform on stage.”
Such a preposterous answer surprised even Qi Feng.
Jiang Ying did not know what to say. She looked at Ling Ke before breaking out into a small chorus of laughter.
“…”
“How did you know I will definitely choose you?”
Ling Ke blushed. He was suddenly embarra.s.sed by his brazen reply and wanted to bury himself in a hole.
The audience broke out into hush whispers. Although these two contestants may have managed to pa.s.s the first round because of their connections, their fabulous performance was enough to convince the audience of their capabilities. Thus, they could not fathom why Ling Ke waned to drop out.
“I know that when this student was allowed to perform, many of you have started questioning the fairness of this compet.i.tion…I want to take this opportunity to clarify your doubts.” Jiang Ying strode gracefully onto the stage and gazed at the students sitting below. “This student here was unable to find a suitable partner. Yet, I gave him a chance to perform. Do you think that he was simply lucky?”
No one uttered a reply. Everyone felt oppressed under Jiang Ying’s intense gaze.
“No, that was not it. If we were to give any of the contestants sitting here a special chance, it can only be said that there was something in that contestant which had managed to spark our interest.” There was a short pause. “The boy who was complaining that the compet.i.tion was unfair. Maybe, you all might think that he was simply unlucky, but really was it his luck that was not good enough? No, that’s not it. He was simply not capable enough.”
She stopped walking. “This is something we would like you to understand. The media industry is never fair. Sometimes, the “luck” that you all mention is actually part of the person’s talent. So, I hope that everyone here will be able to continue on this path with an open heart, and not discriminate against any single individual. On this stage, you only have two paths left – the first one is to hone your skill and talent until you succeed; the other is to accept the results with good grace.”
Although her tone was warm and gentle, her words were potent and resonated deeply with Ling Ke.
Ling Ke did not expect that Jiang Ying would take this opportunity to give a lecture to the other compet.i.tors.
Ling Ke understood that the world was unfair. Even his parents had mentioned this before, yet it had not bothered him much at that time.
Although Jiang Ying’s words were for everyone, in Ling Ke’s eyes, her words seem to be specifically meant for him
This woman was really too observant. She was able to deduce so much from just one look at Ling Ke’s eyes.
Yes, he had dropped out because he felt that he was not good enough.
He did not want to rely on his luck or Qi Feng’s ability to stand on this stage.
He was scared. Instead of waiting to be eliminated, he decided to take the easy way out: to drop out.
Jiang Ying turned around to look at Ling Ke. This time, her eyes were filled with warmth and encouragement. “You would definitely have pa.s.sed if you have performed something like this. Next time, tell me that you want to drop out after you have gotten the chance to choose.”
Ling Ke felt very ashamed but at the same time he was moved by Jiang Ying’s speech.
The compet.i.tion had ended. Those who were selected stayed behind to proceed to the next round while those who were eliminated left the hall.
As Ling Ke walked out from the multi-purpose hall, someone called out to him. “Wow, Ling Ke, I didn’t know your piano skills were so good!”
Ling Ke turned around to see the boy from his school who was good at singing. The other two girls had apparently left first. Only the boy had stayed behind. He had secretly slipped into the multi-purpose hall to listen to Ling Ke’s performance.
Ling Ke went to the vending machine to buy a can of c.o.ke.
The boy was still babbling. “I don’t understand why you were eliminated even after such a superb performance. I am sure there must be some conspiracy behind your elimination!”
Ling Ke’s lips twitched. Did this guy not understand what Jiang Ying had said?
“It is fine. There are so many talented people. I wouldn’t be able to rely on my luck to continue winning.”
He did not tell the boy that he was the one who suggested to drop out. That was nothing to boast about.
Just as they were leaving the studio, the boy said he needed to go to the toilet.
As Ling Ke waited for him outside the washroom, two girls who were also eliminated walked pa.s.sed him. They were chatting to each other excitedly. “I heard that the boy who was playing the violin is actually Teacher Jiang’s son!”
“What! Really? The wonder he look so handsome, and was so talented…but Teacher Jiang looks so young, I wouldn’t even imagine her having a son who is about the same age as us.”
“All the hosts are very good at maintaining their appearance. Look at the other hosts, can you even guess their ages?”
The girls’ voices gradually faded away.
Ling Ke’s eyebrows were now furrowed in deep contemplation as he held his can of c.o.ke.
Great, now he and Qi Feng are not just separated by a silver river, but also separated by a G.o.ddess.
…
Just as he was in a daze, a pair of familiar shoes flashed pa.s.sed his eyes. Ling Ke was startled as he looked up. Qi Feng had unexpectedly came to the toilet.
“Hi.” Qi Feng had remembered their excellent rapport on stage. He wanted to introduce himself but was unsure of how to start a conversation. He hesitated before asking, “What’s your name?”
Ling Ke could feel that Qi Feng was scrutinizing him. His eyes flashed with curiosity similar to that during their first meeting a year and a half ago, causing Ling Ke to feel complicated.
He threw his empty c.o.ke bottle into the waste bin beside him before causally striding in Qi Feng’s direction. As he pa.s.sed Qi Feng, he threw out a few words. “Not telling you.”
Qi Feng: “…”
Ling Ke silently swore to himself that only when he had sufficient skills and capability, would he stand confidently in front of Qi Feng and tell him his name. He will not let his name be one that is easily forgotten.
When he got home, Ling Ke took out all his piano sheets, and decided to continue playing the piano.
His harmonious performance with Qi Feng had ignited his long forgotten pa.s.sion towards the piano. Furthermore, he had already completed all his piano examinations, and thus did not have to fret over pa.s.sing them. With his current foundation, he would have no trouble learning new sheets of music on his own.
In his first year in middle school, Ling Ke mastered all the pieces from Schubert and Beethoven’s collection.
He was unable to be like Qi Feng: a jack of all trade, but he could at least focus on something that he like and master it to the fullest.
After coming back from the studio, Ling Ke studied even harder, especially for his cultural cla.s.ses. Initially he was simply satisfied with being slightly above average in cla.s.s, but now he was striving to get first.
As long as he had trouble with a question, he would seek the answer relentlessly and study it until he was certain that he could get it correct.
In addition, Ling Ke would jog and play basketball frequently. He even requested his mother to buy two bottles of fresh milk for him everyday.
Under such intense physical exertion and his eager antic.i.p.ation, Ling Ke finally started to grow.
During his last year in middle school, he suddenly grew more than 10cm more in height. His features have also matured substantially and his once child-like face had developed into a handsome one.
Due to having both good grades and a handsome countenance, as well as being proficient in the piano, Ling Ke was popular among the girls in school. Some of them even call him “Prince” in private.
However, Ling Ke did not think that he was outstanding. He simply felt that these girls had not have the opportunity to see a really outstanding person, and hence was satisfied by his level of talent and looks.
If someone his level could be dubbed “Prince”, wouldn’t they go crazy if they see Qi Feng?
As Ling Ke was undergoing this tremendous change in appearance and height, only Ling Ke’s parents who although happy for their son were also worried at the same time.
Yes, because Ling Ke was too much of an introvert, to the point that he felt that there was no need for him to socialize with others.
Even though in the eyes of his cla.s.smate, he was simply being “cold”.
Rumors were that someone had observed that Ling Ke’s conversation with the girls in the school could be less than ten sentences in a week.
Even with male friends whom he was slightly close to, he also did not speak much to them, perhaps around twenty sentences a week.
However, in a typical Chinese family, as long as one’s grade is good, everything else could be overlooked. Since Ling Ke was always first in cla.s.s, his parents decided to ignore this slight flaw in his personality.
Ling Ke did not even have to take the final examination in his third year, and was directly admitted to the town’s best government highschool under a scholarship which ensured that he did not have to pay any school fees, causing his parents to feel very proud of him.
As a present, they gave Ling Ke his first smartphone.
After middle school, Ling Ke parents had already adopted a different approach to their son. Before middle school, they had encouraged him to focus on studying, but now, they pressed him to relax and hang out with his friends more often.
Ling Ke’s only reaction to his parents’ advise was a raised eyebrow.
…The boy’s mind was simply too difficult to understand.
After shutting his room door, Ling Ke download the QQ application to his phone.
In this one year, Ling Ke would still frequently visit Qi Feng’s webpage to admire his photographs.
In that year when he came back from the studio, Ling Ke realized that the contradiction in his feelings: the sense of both antic.i.p.ation and the urge to escape stemmed not only from that person’s perfection or their brief meeting during the piano examination. It was also because…Qi Feng was a guy.
Yes, Ling Ke had realized that he likes guys.
Ling Ke did not struggle much to accept his unique s.e.xual orientation.
Perhaps, it was because he had already morphed all his feelings of fear and apprehension about his s.e.xual orientation into a source of motivation to study. Perhaps, it was because he was able to vent out his feelings through his piano. Hence, even after realizing he was gay, he did not like other gay people who just realized their orientation, started to doubt and lament oneself and society.
Even after two years of following Qi Feng’s QQ account, Ling Ke could not quite understand what Qi Feng’s existence meant to him.
In the past, he had used Qi Feng as a source of motivation for him to strive to his goal, but gradually he realized that he was simply attracted to that person’s appearance.
To put it in a simpler term, Ling Ke felt that he could be considered “a fan of Qi Feng’s appearance”.
He continued to monitor Qi Feng’s posts, and just like all those enthusiastic fangirls, he would find his heart pounding because of that person’s every smile and be secretly excited over the Qi Feng who was drenched in sweat after playing basketball.
Ling Ke no longer cared what new talents Qi Feng had acquired and how much more capable he had become. All these were no longer important because he already knew how outstanding Qi Feng was.
The only thing he cared about was whether Qi Feng had uploaded any new photographs, and whether these photographs were able to keep him snuggling under his blankets all night as he unabashedly browsed through the photographs
Ling Ke felt sorrowful over his uncontrollable desire spurred by his adolescence. However, he was unable to resist his attraction for Qi Feng.
He was only able to find himself being captivated over and over again and eventually becoming addicted to it.
Extra:
Qi Yu: “Today I met this guy at mum’s workplace and I played as the accompaniment to his piano performance. I have to admit that his Schubert’s was much better than yours.”Qi Feng flashes an indignant face: “Oh? What is his name? Did you ask for his QQ number?”
Qi Yu: “…I don’t know, I didn’t ask him.”
Qi Feng: “Ha, so you are just bulls.h.i.tting! I don’t believe you.”
Qi Yu: “……”
Author’s note: I seriously think that the name of this chapter can be changed to >”T/N: Ha so were you guys surprised? The extra at the start was actually for the previous chapter. I totally missed it out. This explains why “Qi Feng” was so much taller than him, plays the violin and did not recognize him. I am so glad that it wasn’t that Qi Feng didn’t recognize him, rather it’s the opposite. Heh does that mean that Ling Ke’s first love is kind of half Qi Yu half Qi Feng since the moment he realized his s.e.xual orientation was when he met Qi Yu but he continues to monitor and like Qi Feng’s posts. I kinda like Qi Yu more though: the cool and silent type, rather than the overly-outgoing and sunny type (Qi Feng) XD