Chapter 24
Chapter 24 - Für Elise
Shi Jian told the manager of Jia Shi Platinum’s concert hall that she also wanted to go up and play a piece . The manager agreed to Shi Jian’s request without hesitation . Then, the manager walked onstage with a blinding smile, and improvised: “The music was wonderful! Kindred spirits are difficult to find . It’s rare that everyone was moved by He Xin’s music tonight . Such elegance, as if she’d made friends with the piano . A girl told me just now that she also wanted to challenge the handsome mister on stage . Come, let’s welcome her with a round of applause!”
Shi Jian: “……”
Eh? She didn’t say anything about a challenge . She merely wanted to go up and play a song .
The applause already filled the room .
Shi Jian looked at Ye Jiacheng, and Ye Jiacheng was also looking at her . He’d even been the first one to start clapping . He stood tall in her line of sight, watching her with his head tilted and the corner of his mouth curved up . Then, he had slowly started clapping .
Shi Jian went onstage . She exhaled, ignoring Ye Jiacheng’s gaze following behind her, calmed her heart, and sat on the piano bench .
She hadn’t played the piano in a long time . She’d been in classes for a few years when she was little . The next time she’d played was when she was pregnant . In the end, she had persuaded Ye Jiacheng to agree to not abort the baby . She wanted to be a mom, and he couldn’t stop her . In the last month, she had a piano prenatal class . Ye Jiacheng spent more than a hundred thousand yuan to buy a grand piano, and she also earnestly relearned sheet music .
It was on a sunny afternoon that she had sat by the window playing «Für Elise» . Ye Jiacheng listened from a sofa behind her . Then, from time to time, he came over to annoy her . He reached out his hands from behind, as if playing a game, and guided her across the keys: “This passage is played like this . ”
“Wrong, the sheet music clearly says……”
“Let’s not look at the sheet music . ” Ye Jiacheng said to her, “Bagatelle No . 25 in A minor is a song written by old man Beethoven for a young Elise . It simply cannot express…… the love for the Elise in my heart . ”
She smiled without restraint, and deliberately asked Ye Jiacheng: then who is the Elise in your heart? Ye Jiacheng was disinclined to reply to questions with obvious answers, and just kissed her cheek, both being fully aware of the answer .
On a sunny afternoon, she played it and Ye Jiacheng rearranged it . They were happy together like that . The black and white keys bounced ceaselessly under their fingers . Low notes, high notes, played with two pairs of hands, from slow to quick, the notes fluctuating as if he and she had the same heartbeat on that day .
In the end, «Für Elise» was rearranged beyond recognition by Ye Jiacheng . He was just adamant like that . Adamantly loving her, adamantly appearing in her life……
The distinct sound of the piano progressed, higher and higher…… Shi Jian was engrossed in her playing, all the way to the final note . She slowly turned her head, and stared at Ye Jiacheng .
This rearranged version of «Für Elise» was his gift to her . She had given it back to him today .
Ye Jiacheng sat on the side, facing directly towards her, as calm and composed as before . She looked at him motionlessly . He softly blinked at her, elegant and enchanting .
He was still unmoved . Shi Jian stood, walked offstage, and walked out of the concert hall .
Ye Jiacheng turned his head slightly, watching the silhouette of someone leaving rapidly . Did she want him to follow after her? As expected, this was the little fox’s favorite game to play . Ye Jiacheng slowly stood up . Gao Yanfei was following behind him compliantly . Oh, he almost forgot that he still had another friend .
He tossed the car keys to Gao Yanfei, “You can take the car . Go back by yourself . ”
“What about you?!” Gao Yanfei asked unwillingly and forcefully .
“Walking . ” Ye Jiacheng laughed . With the little fox .
Fucking hell! Gao Yanfei was exasperated . He kept it in, and continued to hook an arm over Ye Jiacheng’s shoulder, “I just invited He Xin for a midnight snack, and she agreed . How about we go eat barbecue in a bit?”
“Barbeque?” It was windy outside . Ye Jiacheng wrapped a wool scarf around his neck and raised his chin high . He tidied the scarf with his hand, and didn’t forget to retort: “Did you forget that I’ve been eating vegetarian recently?”
Gao Yanfei: “……”
Ye Jiacheng picked up his cellphone, and planned to give Shi Jian a call . He was going to have a good chat with her about music, about life, about her original version of «Für Elise»…… After a pause, Ye Jiacheng ultimately decided to set down his cellphone .
He really was eating vegetarian recently .
The result of cultivating for half a month was scant .
Everytime she provoked him, he would follow her . Was it meaningful?
When Ye Jiacheng took his keys back from Gao Yanfei, Gao Yanfei lit up . As if he guessed his feelings correctly, he grinned, “Have you decided to come eat barbeque after all?”
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“No, I’m going home . ” Ye Jiacheng rejected Gao Yanfei’s offer . He wasn’t even able to be lured by a little fox, how could he be lured by a meal of barbeque? He sighed softly, tied a knot with the ends of his scarf, and walked outside .
Jia Shi Platinum’s parking lot was in the back . Shi Jian looped in a semi-circle to get there . Yi Pei didn’t give her a call, and she also didn’t know whether Yi Pei had come out yet or not . On the way to the parking lot, she’d shook her head, turned her mind over, and kept telling herself: Shi Jian, you want Ye Jiacheng for your whole life, not for a little while, for your whole life!
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So, a dealt hand that was not easy was still good . He said he didn’t understand her, so she would think of a way to make him understand her thoroughly! Constricting him too tightly would yield negative results .
Regrouping her thoughts, Shi Jian looked up . In the brisk wind, she saw Yi Pei leaning beside the car, waiting for her .
Truly apologetic, she walked to Yi Pei: “Sorry, I just……”
“You play very well . ” Yi Pei interrupted her . He complimented her with a tone of approval, expressing that he already knew, and that she needn’t continue to explain .
Shi Jian didn’t say any more . So Yi Pei saw her when she was playing the piano in the concert hall? She felt a bit bashful, going onstage impromptuly and playing the piano wasn’t something a normal person could do, and she’d even played a song that expressed emotion . Unless, Yi Pei believed she was making a confession in public .
Yi Pei entered the shotgun seat . As she got ready to get in the car, her eyes were blinded for a moment by bright headlights . Who was so stupid as to deliberately blind her?! Before she could even see clearly, a white car drove away with astonishing driving skill .
Ye Jiacheng!
Ye Jiacheng’s car was parked across from them just now? He sat in the front, saw her and Yi Pei together, then used his headlights to blind her? The hell he blinded her for? What qualification did a man who emitted hormones everywhere have to blind her?!
Strangely, her heartbeat sped up slightly . Ye Jiacheng cared a little about her?
Shi Jian composed herself and stooped into the driver’s seat . She didn’t know why, but she was a bit embarrassed towards Yi Pei . Probably because Ye Jiacheng misunderstood that she had something going on with Yi Pei . Yi Pei didn’t notice the headlights that flashed at them just now . Even if he did, he wouldn’t have thought it strange .
She skillfully reversed Yi Pei’s Mercedes-Benz out of the parking spot . Yi Pei, who had been resting against the seat, suddenly asked: “Shi Jian, how many more skills do you have that I don’t know about?”
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This compliment was more deliberate than the last one . On the contrary, Shi Jian became modest, and reminded Yi Pei: “Vice President Yi, I actually haven’t taken the test for…… my driver’s license . ”
“En . ” Yi Pei softly replied . He didn’t need her to remind him of this . The phone in his hands lit up . It was a text from Zhao Wenwen . He didn’t want to reply, so Yi Pei continued to ask about something that he’d wanted to ask two days ago in his office, “How did you learn?”
None the women he had interacted with before had driving skills half as good as her’s, even if they were older than her, such as his Xiao Gugu1 .
Eh? Shi Jian blinked . She smoothly stepped on the accelerator pedal as she said a half-truth, “I liked to drive bumper cars, then I just…… learned . ”
“En en…… cough . ” It seemed Yi Pei was distracted, then he coughed for two moments . Then, he seemed suffocated, laughed for two moments, and tossed two words at her: “Very incredible . ”
Yi Pei said these two words as if he was exhilarated, casting aside the airs of a vice president, and with a hint of delight seeping through his voice .
Shi Jian also laughed for two moments . Sorry, pardon her shamelessness, alright? She indeed had good driving skill; she had six years of driving experience, after all . After she married Ye Jiacheng, they were childless, so they liked to go on both short and long distance road trips .
……
When Shi Jian returned to the dorm, she was by herself; Lai Qiao wasn’t there . Today, she had driven Yi Pei back to the Yi residence . She’d thought she would have to take a taxi back again, but Yi Pei let the Yi family chauffeur drive her home .
Annoying .
Why did Yi Pei seek her out to be his driver if there wasn’t anything important? Shi Jian washed her face in front of the mirror; the glass was fogged up by the steam . She was already thirty years old inside, so she naturally couldn’t easily overthink like a young woman would . Maybe because she was also influenced by Ye Jiacheng’s personality, she now also cared less about other people’s thinking .
Don’t mention the fact that Yi Pei couldn’t have an interest in her, even if he really did . It was normal for a mature man to have a favorable impression towards a “young and beautiful, smart and quick-witted” girl .
This kind of emotion could be called appreciation .
Y Pei was appreciating you! Shi Jian narcissistically raised an eyebrow at herself in the mirror . Proud of you, young lady!
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But, would Ye Jiacheng misunderstand her? Shi Jian came out, leaned against the bunk bed, and typed a text message, intent on explaining what happened tonight at the parking lot . She thought about it, then deleted the text message .
There was no need .
There was no need to explain even when he and she had a husband and wife relationship, let alone the fact that she and Ye Jiacheng currently had no relationship . In the past, when a young talent at the company had expressed his feelings for her, Ye Jiacheng not only wasn’t nervous, he also praised that man: “Not bad, his taste is passable . ” Naturally, Ye Jiacheng didn’t believe that she would fall in love with other men . In his own words: “How can that be? Shi Jian isn’t blind . ”
Sure enough, she was right to not explain . As she picked up her phone, the screen lit up, as if it sensed it . It was a text message from Ye Jiacheng .
“Was it Für Elise? Not a bad rearrangement,” he said to her .
Shi Jian laughed . He could still tell it was «Für Elise» . Of course, the one who had rearranged it was himself . Only, Shi Jian recalled the image of four hands playing the piano in the concert hall, and her heart soured a bit .
“Not as good as you . ” She replied, then added, “The pianist was even more beautiful . ”
Ye Jiacheng replied: “En, she does look pretty . I heard she’s the most beautiful woman in City . ”
The most beautiful woman in City! So he came today to cheer on the most beautiful woman in City . Shi Jian patted her stomach, and pretended to not care about it: “Oh . ”
Then, nearly at the same time, Ye Jiacheng sent: “But, not as pretty as you . ”
Ye Jiacheng stood in the kitchen and retrieved his freshly made and extremely healthy deep green colored vegetable smoothie . He took a sip as if it was red wine . The “But, not as pretty as you” that he’d sent to the little fox was completely sincere and heartfelt .
Only, he really did intend to cultivate for a while .
Even if he had to break the rules sooner or later .
1 Xiao Gugu - Chinese pronunciation for 小姑姑: little paternal aunt .