“Damn! What’s going on? I think I just heard a woman crying?” Li Zhe, whose bed was head-to-head with Pei Xingyan’s, exclaimed, “Old Pei, don’t tell me you’re about to take off? Send me the video!”
“Get lost—” Pei Xingyan shouted back unceremoniously, then plugged in his earphones and shut out the world.
He knew this method of stirring up her guilt would definitely work, but he hadn’t expected Lin Xiaoyu to get so emotional.
He quickly tried to comfort her:
[It’s okay, it’s okay. I remember you told me you practice piano specially, so you must be really good. It’s normal to have high standards.]
[Xiaoyu: I’m really sorry… I didn’t mean it… It’s just that I couldn’t stand hearing you hit so many wrong notes…]
Pei Xingyan had no choice but to keep reassuring her: [I told you it’s fine. If you really feel bad about it, why not help me correct my mistakes?]
To prevent her from refusing, he shamelessly dragged out his “deceased” parents again: [I believe my parents will be happy next time I play for them, too.]
Lin Xiaoyu didn’t reply immediately, which made him wonder if this innocent girl was hiding in a corner, crying her eyes out.
But he didn’t believe Lin Xiaoyu would refuse. After these interactions, he was confident he’d figured her out completely.
Sure enough, after a moment, a [Okay] popped up.
Then Lin Xiaoyu sent a long voice message, softly explaining music theory. But she sounded forced and lacked confidence, and at the end, she apologized again, saying she actually wasn’t good at this piece either and was always scolded by her mother.
Now Pei Xingyan understood—he knew who she subconsciously avoided.
He sent another message: [Is your mom so strict with you because she’s a pianist?]
Parents hoping their children would be as excellent as themselves—he’d seen plenty of tragedies caused by this.
But Lin Xiaoyu replied: [No.]
No?
For the first time, Pei Xingyan felt frustrated. He pressed on: [Then why does she always scold you?]
He was immediately met with a second setback. Clearly, Lin Xiaoyu didn’t want to talk about it. She was a bit naive, but not so dumb as to reveal her family situation to a stranger she’d only chatted with twice.
Not wanting to ruin the hard-won atmosphere, Pei Xingyan quickly steered the topic back to music theory. He acted like a student trying to show off in front of a teacher—deliberately asking questions Lin Xiaoyu could easily answer, but that sounded technical.
He kept sending compliments, even messages tinged with admiration. Even a kindergarten teacher coaxing children wouldn’t go this far.
Stuff like [You’re really amazing~], [I’d be satisfied if I could play half as well as you…], [Sigh… The gap in talent is just despairing]—even Pei Xingyan blushed reading his own flattery.
But this trick was incredibly effective. Lin Xiaoyu kept sending voice messages; he could tell she was floating on air. The sobs from before had vanished, replaced by a hint of pride.
Just as Pei Xingyan expected.
He knew girls in this situation had almost never been recognized or praised like this. While it seemed like he was asking Lin Xiaoyu for advice, the one truly enjoying it was definitely her. She must have loved this feeling.
A girl raised under constant pressure couldn’t possibly give up the temptation of being recognized by others—especially in music, where she was always criticized.
From what he’d seen at the restaurant today, it wasn’t hard to guess that hardly anyone around her could talk music. Pei Xingyan was probably the first to both discuss music and praise her like this.
As long as he held onto this, Pei Xingyan was like someone holding the reins of a horse, or a dog’s leash—controlling her was a piece of cake.
And so, the conversation with Lin Xiaoyu lasted the entire evening, until ten o’clock when she reluctantly said goodbye.
In her final farewell voice message, he could hear someone knocking on her door, and a stern woman’s voice outside.
That must have been her mother.
Pei Xingyan suddenly felt a headache coming on. If it was just about high standards for a daughter’s skill, that would be simple. But from this, it was clear Lin Xiaoyu’s mother was overly controlling.
Making a college student go to bed at ten, and insisting she live at home…
That was seriously over the top.
In that case, Pei Xingyan felt that even a hundred thousand yuan wasn’t a big sum. With that kind of family pressure, no wonder Lin Xiaoyu was willing to fork over a thirty-thousand deposit…
Turns out she wasn’t stupid—just desperate…
But Pei Xingyan still had to see this deal through.
Ye Ziwei had already tossed her abacus beads in his face. Maybe she thought she was still perfectly hiding behind her good-girl image.
But Pei Xingyan had seen through her long ago…
He drifted into his memories, but suddenly the curtain was lifted at one corner, letting the dorm’s light stab into his eyes.
“Fan Jian, are you looking for death? Wash your ass clean, I’m coming down to kill you in a minute.” Only Fan Jian would be shameless enough to pull open his clipped curtain. Remembering how Fan Jian had sworn loyalty to him at lunch, Pei Xingyan shouted menacingly.
A burst of laughter erupted around him.
Pei Xingyan sensed something was off. A pleasant, fresh scent wafted in from outside—like from a lady. He turned to look and saw it was their class’s part-time counselor, Shen Zhishu.
Strictly speaking, she wasn’t really their teacher. This lady’s real identity was a professor from another department.
Speaking of Professor Shen, she really was a legend. As far as Pei Xingyan knew, she was the school’s first professor under thirty—an associate, but still a professor.
She’d finished her PhD straight through at twenty-five, then was specially hired by the biology department as a professor. Apparently she also held some kind of youth title. In short, she was a star. If you asked Pei Xingyan, he wouldn’t be surprised if she became an academician one day.
But such an elite still liked working as a counselor and interacting with students. Out of respect for talent—and to keep the neighboring universities from poaching her—the school came up with a plan: she was specially approved to manage a class, just without an official administrative appointment.
She wasn’t technically their teacher, but could still wield that authority.
But none of that mattered now. Pei Xingyan only knew that offending her would never end well.
He quickly opened his curtain, rolled off his bed, and landed nimbly on the floor.
“Sorry, Professor Shen, I thought it was Fan Jian being a jerk again…” Pei Xingyan apologized awkwardly.
Shen Zhishu paused, then smiled, showing her teeth. She waved her hand and actually apologized herself, “No, if anything, it’s my fault. I should’ve said something before opening your curtain. Good thing you weren’t sleeping, otherwise it would’ve been a hassle~”
As she spoke, her gestures grew more animated, and she laughed even harder, covering her mouth. Pei Xingyan had no idea what she found so funny, so he just laughed along.
“Alright, I’m just here for a dorm check. As long as you’re all here, that’s fine. Don’t sneak out to meet girlfriends or anything—if you get caught, the consequences are serious.”
“Then Professor, you’d better keep an eye on Pei Xingyan. He’s the only one with a girlfriend.” Fan Jian finally couldn’t help himself, acting like a tattletale and reporting Pei Xingyan for betraying their singlehood.
He really couldn’t stand the fact that Pei Xingyan had quietly landed such a pretty girlfriend!
Shen Zhishu, halfway out the door, turned back. Suspicion instantly clouded her face as she stared at Pei Xingyan like interrogating a criminal.
“Absolutely not! Lies, pure slander!” Pei Xingyan, unnerved by her stare, immediately saluted and denied it righteously.
He swore to himself that later, he’d use the bloodiest methods to deal with Fan Jian.
Shen Zhishu stared for a long while. Only after Pei Xingyan repeatedly promised did she finally leave, exhaling for some reason as she bowed her head and exited the dorm.
“Huh? Professor Shen isn’t checking the other dorms? Why’d she only check ours and leave?”
“Who knows? Maybe she came just to see our handsome Pei. Once she saw he wasn’t out with some girl, she could leave at ease.” Fan Jian started running his mouth again. “Sigh, being good at modeling really lets you do whatever you want. So jealous—”
“Damn it, Fan Jian, you’d better sleep against the wall tonight, and don’t wear your long johns inside out. Otherwise, I’ll make sure your ass blooms in the middle of the night.”
“Crap! What’s that in your hand? An electric heating rod? No! I was wrong!!!”