After Transmigrating into a Novel, I Am in a Relationship with My Scummy Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother - Chapter 15

Shen Junfu looked at Huo Qingzhuo for a moment, waved his hand with feigned indifference, and walked toward the stairwell. “Hmph, I can’t be bothered to care about you.”

Watching Shen Junfu leave, Huo Qingzhuo pinched the bridge of her nose and checked the time.

Lunch breaks were limited. Since the dormitory gates were already locked, there was no point in going back. Huo Qingzhuo decided to go straight to the piano room in the lab building to take this opportunity to get a feel for the keys.

In her past life, Huo Qingzhuo had learned many skills. This included various musical instruments; while she wasn’t an expert in any, she could be considered “slightly proficient.” Since she was about to perform on stage, practicing in advance was certainly necessary.

Sitting in front of the upright piano, Huo Qingzhuo placed one hand on the keys, took a photo, and sent it to Shu Yueqing.

[Huo Qingzhuo: Is there any piece of music Sister wants to hear?]

Having just lied down in the office lounge, Shu Yueqing saw Huo Qingzhuo’s message. She zoomed in on the image. The young girl’s slender fingers resting on the black and white keys were exceptionally striking, and she couldn’t help but look at them for a few extra moments.

[Shu Yueqing: I’m about to take a nap.]

Huo Qingzhuo propped her chin on her hand, looking at Shu Yueqing’s reply, and dialed her number.

“What is it?” Upon answering the phone, Shu Yueqing didn’t know what Huo Qingzhuo intended to do.

But the only response she received was a melodious lullaby, soothing and soul-quieting. Shu Yueqing had never heard this piece before, but she found it very comfortable to listen to.

“Don’t you need a nap?” Perhaps because she was sleepy, or perhaps because the music was too peaceful, Shu Yueqing’s habitually cold voice carried a hint of lazy casualness.

“I don’t need one. I’m practicing in the piano room. Go to sleep; I’ll play for you.” Huo Qingzhuo’s voice was very soft. Mingled with the slow piano music, it had a hypnotic effect.

Shu Yueqing was truly tired. She didn’t say anything more, placed the phone on the nightstand beside her, and drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

Huo Qingzhuo hadn’t started a video call, so she didn’t know the situation on the other end. She simply played the same piece over and over again, tirelessly.

Shu Yueqing’s assistant pushed open the lounge door right on time, intending to wake her boss. She heard music playing from the phone of a boss who usually never allowed any noise while sleeping.

After listening quietly for a while and finding it quite nice, the assistant was about to wake her boss when she accidentally glanced at the phone screen. She discovered that it was actually an ongoing call.

Realizing where the music was coming from, the assistant was more or less astonished. She looked hesitantly at her boss and then at the phone, but eventually leaned over to whisper Shu Yueqing’s name. After all, there was a very important meeting coming up, and she couldn’t afford the responsibility of delaying it.

As a result, after the assistant finished calling out, her boss didn’t move, but the music from the phone stopped abruptly.

“Is this President Shu’s assistant?” Huo Qingzhuo asked in a low voice. Her ears were very sharp, and since Shu Yueqing had the speakerphone on, she recognized the assistant’s voice immediately.

The assistant looked at the contact name on the screen—it was that young girl from before. On one hand, she was surprised the other party recognized her voice; on the other hand, she was somewhat embarrassed.

“Yes, Miss Huo.”

“Please tell President Shu for me that I have to go to class. Bye-bye.” Since only the assistant was there and Shu Yueqing wasn’t awake yet, it wasn’t convenient for Huo Qingzhuo to say much else, so she initiated the end of the call.

“Okay, bye-bye.”

The assistant agreed and looked at the disconnected screen, still a bit dazed. When did her boss get on such good terms with this girl?

Before the assistant could figure out the reason, she turned around and met her boss’s gaze, which was as cold as the North Pole.

“President Shu, you’re awake?”

The assistant was so startled she forgot the report on the afternoon schedule she had prepared.

Shu Yueqing gave a faint “mm,” took the documents from the assistant’s hand, and began reading them while leaning against the headboard, as if she had forgotten what had just happened.

After playing the piano all noon, Huo Qingzhuo’s fingers were a bit stiff. While stretching them, she walked toward the classroom.

From then on, every day at noon, Huo Qingzhuo would sneak out to play a lullaby for Shu Yueqing. The two didn’t speak much, and the music was never repeated. The only commonality was that Shu Yueqing had never heard any of the pieces Huo Qingzhuo played. Gradually, she began to get curious about the music, and her interactions with Huo Qingzhuo increased, though she never asked about the source of the songs.

This continued until Tuesday, when the preliminary report performance began. It took up the lunch break and the first two periods of the afternoon. Shu Yueqing prepared to head to the school at noon to serve as a judge and sent a message to Huo Qingzhuo on the way.

[Shu Yueqing: I have business and won’t be at the company this noon. Have a good nap.]

Looking at this message, Huo Qingzhuo—who had just finished composing a text to tell Shu Yueqing that she was busy this noon—deleted her draft character by character. She re-entered her reply and ended it with a well-behaved emoji.

[Huo Qingzhuo: Mhm, it just so happens I have something to do this noon as well. Sister’s business is more important.]

Putting down her phone, a slight trace of regret flashed in Huo Qingzhuo’s eyes as she stood backstage and tucked her phone away.

“Who is Huo Qingzhuo?”

A person holding a hosting script stood on stage shouting into a microphone.

Huo Qingzhuo looked at the person with some confusion but still took two steps forward. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s you, right?” The person confirmed once more. “You registered for a piano solo with vocals. But unfortunately, news just came in that the grand piano used for the performance is broken. There is nothing for you to perform on. Either you bring your own piano, or you withdraw from the competition.”

The person stood on stage, looking down at Huo Qingzhuo with arrogant indifference, and casually crossed Huo Qingzhuo’s name and act off the program list.

Huo Qingzhuo frowned slightly at the person on stage, only to see them give her a contemptuous look and then openly signal to someone not far away.

Another girl, heavily made up and already in her performance costume, didn’t hide anything and gave the host a “no problem” hand gesture.

If Huo Qingzhuo still couldn’t see that these people were targeting her, she really deserved to be cornered—she would be a textbook example of being blind and stupid.

“Then can I change my act to a vocal solo?” Although the opponent’s scheme was laid out right in front of her, it was useless for the current Huo Qingzhuo; she was alone and temporarily had no recourse.

“Do you think the school is run by your family? Is the program list prepared just for you? You think you can just change it whenever you want? Impossible. Don’t waste time here.”

The other girl, who had just exchanged glances with the host, walked over with her arms crossed. Along with a few others, they stood in front of Huo Qingzhuo with a blatant, arrogant attitude of “we are bullying you, what are you going to do about it?”

The peaceful campus life of recent days had basically made Huo Qingzhuo forget the original host’s difficult situation. She hadn’t expected that even though she had broken up with Shen Junfu for so long, she would still be a target for Shen Junfu’s ex-girlfriends’ revenge.

Just as Huo Qingzhuo was considering how to extract herself, the backstage door was violently pushed open. Shen Junfu rushed in from somewhere, his hair still slightly damp.

“Who said Huo Qingzhuo can’t go on stage? Step forward right now!”

Dressed in sportswear, Shen Junfu slapped the table next to him and scanned the crowd with an unfriendly expression, finally locking his gaze on the person in front of Huo Qingzhuo.

“It’s you again, Liu Yangyang,” Shen Junfu identified the mastermind immediately. “I just made a bet with Huo Qingzhuo a few days ago, and you’re pulling these small tricks to keep her off the stage? What? Do you want people to think I, Shen Junfu, can’t afford to lose and can only trip people up behind their backs? You’re intentionally sabotaging me, aren’t you? Looking for trouble?”

“No… No!” Liu Yangyang, who had been incredibly arrogant a moment ago, looked at the suddenly appearing Shen Junfu and retreated two steps in a panic. “The school’s piano is broken. It has nothing to do with me.”

Shen Junfu looked back and forth between several people and gave a light laugh. “The piano is even broken? If I remember correctly, that piano was donated by my family, wasn’t it? Just wait. Once I find out who broke it, they can pay the original price in compensation. Don’t worry, the piano isn’t expensive—only about 1.2 million.”

“1.2…”

Hearing the price of the piano, the group immediately panicked. The little clique disintegrated in an instant.

“Liu Yangyang did all of this; it has nothing to do with us.”

“You guys…” Looking at her followers who sold her out and ran faster than anyone else, Liu Yangyang was practically dying of anger. She didn’t dare vent her rage at Shen Junfu, so she could only glare fiercely at Huo Qingzhuo before slinking away in disgrace.