Chapter 87 – Du Xinrui’s Obsession

No one really knew when this trend started—

They said that eating apples on Christmas Eve could symbolize peace and safety.

It was kind of laughable, really.

Christmas Eve was clearly a tradition imported from abroad.

It wasn’t even a true holiday here.

Yet somehow, people managed to associate it with eating apples, just because the word “apple” in Chinese (苹果 píngguǒ) sounded vaguely similar to “peace” (平安 píng’ān).

Anyone with even a little bit of English knowledge knew that “apple” and “peace” weren’t remotely connected in pronunciation

It was probably some marketing trick made up by a fruit shop owner to boost sales.

When Jiang Ning came out of Yang Mei’s office, she stood by the balcony, letting the cold wind whip around her, loosening her stiff arms while her thoughts wandered.

Not that she could be blamed.

An apple weighs a few hundred grams, and she’d dragged dozens of them—boxes and gift wrap included—all by herself into Yang Mei’s office.

If even one of those brats like Luo Shanshan had helped, she wouldn’t have ended up this tired.

Those wild little girls needed a serious lesson!

Jiang Ning huffed twice angrily.

Next class was music.

It was held in the multimedia classroom.

For some reason, Jiang Ning had the feeling lately that their music teacher, Du Xinrui, seemed to have a problem with her.

During class, Du Xinrui would often glance in her direction.

From time to time, she would even single her out to ask questions related to musical perception.

It wasn’t the questions that bothered her—it was the sense of being watched that made Jiang Ning uncomfortable.

She much preferred goofing off with her girlfriends, chatting and playing around, maybe sneaking in a little handsy fun here and there.

“Jiang Ning, your turn.”

“What’s the difference in tone between the erhu and the gaohu?”

There it was again.

Jiang Ning had been whispering with the girls about which street had the best skewers and which clothing store had cute new arrivals—only to be called out mid-conversation.

Erhu and gaohu?

Jiang Ning stood up reluctantly, glanced at the propped-up textbook on Zhang Shuangshu’s desk in front of her, and cleared her throat twice.

“Well… the erhu has a mellow and lyrical tone.”

“The gaohu is bright, crisp, and more forceful, and its pitch is higher than the erhu’s…”

After hearing the answer, Du Xinrui gave Jiang Ning a long, meaningful look.

“Sit down. Pay more attention in class. Less idle chatter.”

Yep.

She was being made an example of.

At once, the girls around her went quiet, casting sympathetic glances her way.

But Jiang Ning, the target herself, wasn’t all that fazed.

She’d been a guy in her past life. She was used to being called out in class.

If a day went by without being singled out once or twice, it’d feel weird.

After class—

The music class monitor, Nie Yao, blocked Jiang Ning just as she was about to head out with her girl gang for lunch.

“Jiang Ning, Ms. Du wants to see you.”

???

In a flash—

Jiang Ning mentally reviewed every music class from the past month.

After confirming she hadn’t offended the beautiful Miss Du, she leaned closer to Nie Yao.

Looking at the petite and delicate class monitor, she whispered,

“Nie Yao, did Ms. Du say why she wants to see me?”

“Nope.” Nie Yao shook her head, then seemed to recall something and added,

“But she seemed to be in a good mood.”

Oh?

That made Jiang Ning relax quite a bit.

Feeling cheeky, she gave Nie Yao a playful pat on her cute curve—making the girl blush and scurry off.

Jiang Ning then said a few words to Luo Shanshan and the others before turning back toward the multimedia classroom.

By now, the room was empty.

The students had all cleared out.

She looked at the vacant classroom, then at Du Xinrui sitting by the piano.

The setting sun poured through the windows, casting a warm golden glow. The whole room had an oddly beautiful, dreamlike atmosphere.

Piano, a mature woman, and a short skirt…

This setup…

Jiang Ning couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu.

Hadn’t she seen this scene somewhere—in a certain kind of movie?

“Ms. Du, you wanted to see me?”

Du Xinrui didn’t say much. She simply pointed to the empty seat in the front row.

“Sit.”

“…Okay.”

Jiang Ning sat down with a puzzled look.

Then she watched as Du Xinrui lifted the piano lid and adjusted the bench.

The next moment—

A string of beautiful notes flowed from her fingertips.

But after just a few seconds, Jiang Ning’s brow furrowed involuntarily.

Because the piece Du Xinrui was playing…

Was her first composition—the song she had sold to Liao Liao, “Passing Through the Mortal World.”

What was this supposed to mean?

Jiang Ning couldn’t figure it out.

After a while, the piece ended.

Du Xinrui placed her long, slender fingers gently on the keys.

“Well?”

“What do you think?”

Though she had no clue what this cool, elegant teacher was getting at, Jiang Ning paused a moment and said—

“It sounded nice.”

“That’s all?”

Du Xinrui smiled, turned to face her directly, her gaze locking in.

“Aren’t those words a little beneath your title, little composer, Jiang Jiang?”

Just one sentence.

And Jiang Ning immediately tensed.

Her pupils contracted slightly, and her mind ran through several possible scenarios of how she’d been exposed—

And how to deal with them.

But outwardly, she put on her best clueless expression.

“Composer? What are you talking about, Ms. Du?”

“I don’t really understand what you mean.”

“You don’t?” Du Xinrui’s lips curled up.

“Orange Music…”

The mention of those four words made Jiang Ning’s face twitch.

So that’s where the leak happened…

She just didn’t know if it was that trendy dude or the twin-tail girl.

Still—

Jiang Ning didn’t plan on admitting anything. She stuck to her innocent, naive look.

Determined to play dumb to the end.

Thankfully—

Du Xinrui didn’t seem intent on pushing the issue.

She simply spoke in a calm, reassuring tone:

“Relax. It was a surprise discovery.”

“I’ll keep your secret.”

Hearing her say that, there was no real point in denying it any further.

But Jiang Ning still didn’t give a direct admission. Instead, she put on a subtle smile and calmly looked at this beautiful, mature teacher.

The message in her eyes was clear—

What do you want?

Just asking what you want to do.

Du Xinrui was a smart woman. With just one glance, she could see the shift in expression on the young girl’s face in front of her.

In response—

She placed her hands on the piano and casually pressed a few keys, saying:

“I like the piano.”

“I like using the piano to play music.”

“I can play almost every song on the market using the piano.”

“But I’m not satisfied.”

“Because the majority of those songs are composed for percussion, orchestral instruments, and the like.”

“Playing them on the piano completely loses the original flavor of the music.”

“So I want to ask you to compose a song that centers around the piano.”

“Is that okay?”

So that’s what it was.

Jiang Ning finally understood what this mature teacher of hers had in mind.

Simply put, she just wanted justice for her beloved instrument.

“I remember there’s a Master Lu in Jiangzhou City.”

“That’s right,” Du Xinrui nodded.

“I reached out to him, but he quoted 500,000. I couldn’t afford it.”

Five hundred thousand.

And just for a song with a piano rhythm? That guy actually dared to charge that much.

This Master Lu was seriously a rip-off.

Jiang Ning let out a soft sigh.

“Teacher Du, do you have any ideas for this song?”

Upon hearing this, Du Xinrui’s eyes lit up.

“As long as it’s piano-led! The melody can be anything—fast or slow!”

A string of requirements spilled out without a pause.

Clearly, she’d been thinking about this for a long time. She probably said the same thing when she went to that shady Master Lu.

To this—

Jiang Ning fell into deep thought.

But at that moment—

Du Xinrui spoke again:

“No rush, we’re not in a hurry.”

“A month, two months, even half a year or a year—I can wait.”

“There’s really no need to rush!”

“In the meantime, I can teach you piano. That’ll be the payment for the song.”

“How does that sound?”

After saying that, Du Xinrui looked at Jiang Ning with hopeful eyes.

A bit like a little girl pleading with her parents to buy her that long-desired doll.

“Teacher Du, why don’t you play something first?”

“Anything?”

“Play whatever you’re feeling…”

And so—

At Jiang Ning’s cue, Du Xinrui lifted her hands and played a piece freely on the piano.

At times fast, at times slow. Sometimes light, sometimes heavy.

Five minutes later.

Jiang Ning walked up behind her and bent over, leaning close.

Breathing in the mature scent of the woman, Jiang Ning suddenly grabbed her hands.

Then—

She pressed her fingers down on the keys, one by one, playing a structured melody.

Du Xinrui noticed that several of the notes were ones she had just played.

She understood at once and began following the melody, playing along gradually.

And the more they played, the more beautiful the tune became.

Finally—

When she stopped—

She blankly asked:

“Does this piece have a name?”

“‘What She Said.’”

(End of this chapter)