Spoiled by a Paranoid Big Shot Since Childhood - Chapter 13

To make it to Young Master Qin’s performance, Xi Bei practically scrambled and sprinted for a grueling ten minutes, racing from the westernmost edge of the school grounds all the way to the grand auditorium at the eastern end.

By the time he skidded to a halt outside the auditorium doors, he was completely out of breath.

Xi Bei had never been particularly fond of physical exercise. His slender, boyish frame was somewhat delicate; a little extra running was always enough to make his entire face flush a bright, rosy pink.

He stood outside for another couple of seconds to catch his breath though, in truth, he was mainly trying to figure out how to phrase his apology when he saw Qin Yian. As he deliberated, his hand instinctively dipped into his pocket.

Naturally, Xi Bei didn’t just stand around bossing others around in the Art Club; he was well-accustomed to crafting vivid, lifelike little wood carvings himself, and his pieces were frequently used as blueprints or exemplars for the rest of the class.

While many of his creations had been contributed to this graduation exhibition, he had secretly held back his absolute best piece, unwilling to display it for the public eye.

That was because it was his graduation gift, crafted specifically for Qin Yian.

Well…

If I show An An this carving, surely, he won’t mind me being a mere ten or fifteen minutes late… right?

With that hopeful thought in mind, Xi Bei pursed his lips. He rifled through his pockets with one hand while using the other to quietly push open the side door of the auditorium—

The performance on stage had just concluded.

The sudden rush of cold air conditioning and the thunderous waves of applause from the audience washed over him all at once, nearly causing Xi Bei to stumble right at the threshold.

On stage, the heavy red velvet curtains were gracefully drawing shut. In their place, a vibrant cascade of colorful stage lights flared to life as a male and a female student host stepped forward in elegant, measured strides.

“Everyone! Was classmate Qin Yian’s piano performance absolutely magnificent?!”

The crowd erupted into a fresh, ecstatic wave of applause: “Yes!”

“Let us give our heartfelt thanks to classmate Qin Yian for his spectacular performance! Next, let us take a moment to look back on the green, fleeting years of our six years in primary school! Let us express our deepest gratitude to…”

Wait… wait a minute.

Xi Bei stared blankly, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

He had no doubt that Yian’s piano playing was magnificent.

The problem was, he hadn’t managed to hear a single note of it!

It wasn’t until the two hosts passionately announced, “The Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2011 has officially come to a successful close,” that a thoroughly deflated Xi Bei finally realized two very, very severe problems.

First, Qin Yian’s performance was completely over.

Second, his pockets were entirely empty.

The wood carving had been left behind at the club’s exhibition preparation area.

This time, he was in absolute, total trouble.

Wanting nothing more than to break down and cry, Xi Bei dragged his heavy, reluctant feet forward, wading against the massive tide of students exiting the venue.

A good number of people in the crowd recognized him. Several girls he had met only once in passing blushed deeply as they called out greetings to him, while a few girls he knew a bit better pointed toward the backstage area, teasing him with bright smiles:

“Qin Yian looks like he’s over there waiting for you!”

“Yeah, yeah, he’s been waiting for ages~”

“Oh, by the way, when Qin Yian was playing the piano just now, he kept lifting his head to scan the audience. It looked like he was searching for you. Did you really miss it?”

“…”

A few stray beads of sweat clung to Xi Bei’s long, curled eyelashes. His bright, crystalline black eyes blinked softly, making him look incredibly innocent and compliant. After a long pause, he parted his lips to murmur, “I’m heading over right now…”

Moments later, amid the echoing, cheerful laughter of the girls, Xi Bei resumed his hurried dash toward the backstage area.

Their school’s graduation festivities were split into two distinct parts: the formal ceremony took place in the auditorium during the morning, while the afternoon was reserved for the clubs’ exhibitions. The entire affair was a full-day event.

Consequently, the moment the morning session concluded, practically everyone bolted to grab lunch. No one remained behind to tidy up the backstage area. The entire performance wing was profoundly quiet, save for the occasional, muffled voices of a few staff members walking past with equipment.

Xi Bei’s pace gradually slowed from a sprint to a hesitant walk. Ultimately, he stopped right outside the door marked “Boys’ Dressing Room,” instinctively bringing his thumb to his teeth to bite nervously at his fingernail.

After standing there for a long while, he finally tapped lightly against the wood, calling out in a small voice:

“An An?”

With a soft click, the door swung inward, leaving a tiny sliver of an opening.

Xi Bei’s heart skipped a beat. He blinked, reaching out a hand to gently nudge the small gap.

The dressing room inside was pitch black. Peering blindly into the darkness, Xi Bei couldn’t make out a single thing. Feeling lost and helpless, he instinctively raised his hand, reaching out along the wall to find the light switch.

Yet, the exact instant his fingers brushed against the wall, a scalding hot, powerful hand locked securely around his waist. Before an exclamation of surprise could even escape his throat, he was effortlessly hoisted up and slung over a shoulder like a little prize piglet.

Following a brief, dizzying blur of motion, Xi Bei found himself gently deposited onto a small sofa inside the dressing room.

A soft emergency light was clicked on. The dim, warm amber glow was just bright enough for the two boys to clearly reflect each other within their eyes.

Even though Qin Yian was still quite young, his height had already reached an impressive 1.77 meters, and his strength was formidable. From years of playing piano, horseback riding, and golfing, he possessed a remarkably superior posture and a chillingly imposing aura. Whenever he pulled his features into a stern expression, those translucent, glass-like amber eyes possessed a magnetic charm that felt as though they could pierce through a person’s very soul.

He had already shed his formal suit jacket, leaving him in just his white dress shirt. The collar was slightly unbuttoned, revealing a strikingly handsome collarbone.

Normally, Xi Bei would have to crane his neck quite a bit just to look Qin Yian in the face. But Qin Yian took a step back and dropped down on one knee, bringing himself to a direct eye-level with Xi Bei.

Xi Bei’s heart was still hammering wildly against his ribs. After taking a moment to settle his breathing, he asked in a small, tentative voice:

“Your performance… is it over?”

Qin Yian chose not to answer the question. Instead, he coolly countered, “Do you happen to know anyone else by the name of Qin Yian?”

Xi Bei shook his head blankly. “Of course not.”

Qin Yian stated definitively, “Right. Then Qin Yian’s performance is presumably over.”

Caught between a laugh and a cry, Xi Bei couldn’t help but rub his own face. He had never realized Qin Yian could be this childish.

“I was wrong.” Xi Bei solemnly hoisted four fingers into the air, swearing an earnest oath of apology. “I will absolutely be on time next time. Today wasn’t because I didn’t want to come, it’s just that there was way too much work over at the club…”

Seeing Qin Yian calmly arch an eyebrow, seemingly waiting for him to continue his “feeble justifications,” Xi Bei paused to catch his breath and decided to pivot to a more roundabout tactic.

“I am never, ever eating mangos again.”

Xi Bei delivered this conclusion with absolute finality. His eyes, swimming with immense hope, locked onto Qin Yian, explicitly waiting for the older boy to ask him why.

Yet, Qin Yian’s expression remained entirely unbothered.

Only after a prolonged silence did a half-smile finally grace his lips as he drawled, “Are you trying to make a pun? Saying you’ll never eat mángguǒ (mangos) again, meaning you’ll never be máng (busy) again… so that I’ll stop being angry with you?”

“…”

Xi Bei was completely thrilled, his voice involuntarily spiking in excitement. “How did you know?!”

Cupping his own face, he beamed joyfully. “I knew it! Only An An understands me best. None of the others can ever catch my jokes…”

The faint smile on Qin Yian’s face only deepened, his brow arching slightly higher.

He asked, “Is that so?”

“Yes!”

Suddenly, Xi Bei caught himself. It finally registers that they weren’t just playing around right now—his primary mission was to appease a disgruntled Qin Yian!

“An An, Gege,” Xi Bei leaned his body forward, pressing his palms together in a desperate, deeply sincere gesture of repentance. “I was wrong—”

Because he had just run a marathon across campus, his entire face was currently a soft, powdery pink. Paired with those bright, crystalline black eyes and his plush, crimson lips, his entire being exuded the aura of a thoroughly obedient, pitiful, and utterly adorable doll. It was physically impossible for anyone to direct any real anger toward him.

In truth, Qin Yian had never truly been capable of staying angry at little Xi Bei.

Even today, despite being stood up, the sentiment remained.

It was just that after hearing Xie Ye’s words, and then thinking about all those young girls constantly crowding around Xi Bei back at his club… for some inexplicable reason, a wave of irritation had settled in his chest.

“An An…” Xi Bei tugged gently at Qin Yian’s cuff, offering a fierce guarantee. “Because it’s our final exhibition, everyone was completely swamped, and I couldn’t just sneak away by myself… But I can listen to you play the piano every single day—”

“B-but, you are absolutely the most important person in my heart! This exhibition is definitely not as important as you, I swear!”

Sensing that his initial wording might have been slightly clumsy, Xi Bei rushed to fix it, hoisting his fingers in another earnest oath, looking thoroughly pathetic.

Qin Yian’s expression remained notoriously difficult to read.

Xi Bei’s heart was lodged firmly in his throat for what felt like an eternity before he finally heard Qin Yian utter a slow, casual, “Fine.”

But before Xi Bei could even begin to celebrate, Qin Yian smoothly added a condition: “However, since you missed my piano performance today, you won’t get to hear it ever again in the future.”

“…!”

Xi Bei’s eyes widened into perfect circles as he cried out in panic, “You can’t do that—”

He watched as Qin Yian stood up, casually gripping the handle to open the dressing room door as if he truly intended to walk out right then and there. Hit by a sudden wave of dejection, Xi Bei scrambled to his feet, chasing desperately after Qin Yian’s retreating back.

Both of them walked at a brisk pace, their movements kicking up a sharp draft as they quickly exited the backstage area.

He pleaded earnestly, “Why? I want to hear An An play the piano. I really, truly am sorry…”

Xi Bei’s quiet, breathless rambling cut off with a sharp gasp as he slammed directly into Qin Yian’s back. The bridge of his nose turned a faint pink from the impact. Lifting his wet, shimmering eyes, he stared up at Qin Yian with ultimate desperation.

Qin Yian felt entirely helpless, his heart softening completely.

Reaching out a hand, he gently pinched the tip of Xi Bei’s pink nose, murmuring softly, “Are you a little pig?”

Xi Bei replied in a muffled, nasal voice, “…Yes.”

Who cared? So long as it kept Qin Yian from being upset, Xi Bei was entirely willing to be whatever he wanted.

After a beat of silence, Qin Yian finally couldn’t hold back a soft, low chuckle. His voice carried a faint, echoing amusement:

“Fine. Then it looks like today, I can only cast my pearls before swine.”

“…!?”

Xi Bei’s eyes flew wide with sheer delight.

Only now did his mind register exactly where the two of them had walked.

The grand auditorium’s grand piano sat pristine upon the stage, completely untouched. The heavy curtains draping down on either side effectively partitioned this specific area into a tiny, intimate, and enclosed sanctuary. A single, pure beam of white spotlight cascaded down from the ceiling, illuminating the space with a sacred, immaculate glow.

The youth, dressed in nothing but his crisp white shirt, softly closed his eyes and took his seat upon the piano bench.

In that singular fragment of time, the entire universe seemed to grind to a absolute halt.

The surrounding air grew profoundly tranquil.

Xi Bei’s eyes shimmered with an intense brightness, his fluttering gaze locked unmovingly upon Qin Yian’s form. He felt as though his heart was going to leap straight out of his chest, melting completely into a puddle of warm, tender spring water.

In the very next instant, a cascade of extraordinarily breathtaking notes began to flow seamlessly through the air.

“…”

Even though Xi Bei didn’t possess an abundance of musical cells, he recognized this deeply familiar piece instantly.

It wasn’t the Western graduation piece Qin Yian had been practicing tirelessly back home. While that composition was undeniably beautiful, it couldn’t even begin to compare to the profound chord this specific melody struck deep within Xi Bei’s soul.

— It was The Butterfly Lovers.

It wasn’t a conventional piece to perform for a primary school graduation ceremony, but it was absolutely perfect for this exact moment.

As the final note reverberated and faded into silence, Qin Yian gently lifted his hands from the keys, slowly opening his eyes.

Xi Bei had completely forgotten to clap. He stared at Qin Yian like a boy lost in a dream. Only after a long while did he snap back to reality, curling his lips into a radiant smile: “An An…”

Qin Yian’s lips tilted upward. Raising a single index finger, he pressed it gently against his own lips, offering a soft, conspiratorial “shh” gesture.

“Tuan Tuan.”

Qin Yian rose from the bench, bending slightly at the waist as he gracefully extended his right hand toward Xi Bei.

“Happy graduation.”