Chapter 153 : Chapter 153
Chapter 153
Bai Xuechao fell silent for a moment, hesitating to speak.
He had originally wanted to suggest that he could just squat on the piano bench, but after imagining what that would look like, he quickly swallowed his words.
If it were just him, it wouldn't matter. He could squat for a while.
But Bai Guzi had told him through a side quest that the next chapter would feature his story at the Apocalypse Society. If this current plot was invalid, it would be deleted, but if it was related to the subsequent plot, it would definitely be in the manga. If he was squatting on the side like a dog, the scene would be unbearable to look at.
In Xiao 6's words, it would be called: a complete collapse of coolness overnight.
Besides that, he could also sit on the piano bench with his knees hugged to his chest, just like his current posture. Although the piano bench wasn't wide, he was thin enough to barely fit.
However, after a very brief moment of thought, Bai Xuechao decided not to say anything.
He felt that Yuan Lan's choice of this posture was probably intentional.
In that case, he would play along and see what the other party wanted to do.
So, to the outside world, Bai Xuechao seemed to have hesitated for a few seconds before compromising, "Alright."
Hearing this, Yuan Lan put on a pitiful expression and complained, "You're clearly the one benefiting, so why do you look so reluctant?"
Bai Xuechao smiled, his tone a bit passive-aggressive, "Don't you think this distance is a bit... hmm?"
"What's wrong with this distance?" Yuan Lan leaned his upper body to the side to look at Bai Xuechao, and said jokingly, "You're just sitting on my lap, not my waist. Why are you being so shy?"
As he spoke, he held Bai Xuechao's ankle with this sideways leaning posture and placed it on his leather shoe.
Bai Xuechao was momentarily choked by Yuan Lan's words, even thinking of a few curses in his mind.
At the same time, he heard a "beep—" from Xiao 6 in his mind, unsure of what it was doing. But since Xiao 6 didn't speak, Bai Xuechao ignored the sound.
He said to Yuan Lan with a cold face, "I'm a minor, watch your words."
After placing both of Bai Xuechao's feet down, Yuan Lan maintained his sideways leaning posture, looking up at Bai Xuechao's face from below. His golden eyes were even more brilliant in the sunlight, with a hint of a smile.
"Don't overthink it, I was just teasing you with some dirty talk to distract you." His gentle voice carried a hint of teasing, and the corners of his eyes curved with a smile. "See, now you're not hung up on the distance anymore, are you??"
Bai Xuechao: "..."
He hated people without a sense of boundaries.
"I'll try and see if this is comfortable first, don't move around, okay?" Yuan Lan said, his hands reaching around Bai Xuechao's sides and pressing a few keys on the piano.
After all, there was an extra person's width in front of him. Even though Bai Xuechao was very thin, he still shook his head in dissatisfaction, but he still played a short piece to try it out.
While Yuan Lan was trying out the piano playing posture, Bai Xuechao heard Xiao 6 sigh, and then a small cloud of smoke appeared in front of him. It was obvious that Xiao 6 was smoking a cyber code cigarette again.
Xiao 6 said, "I just restarted."
"Oh? What happened?" Bai Xuechao remembered the "beep" sound from before. Was that the sound of the system restarting?
Xiao 6 took another puff of smoke and said melancholically, "How can it be so shippable... I can't take it, I really can't take it. How can a hot-blooded shonen manga be more shippable than otome and BL manga? It's so shippable that I'm going to die! Oh, it's me who's going to die! I just crashed and restarted hahaha..."
Bai Xuechao felt it was hard to put into words, "Why don't you quit?"
"No!" Xiao 6 threw away the cyber cigarette in his hand and said firmly, "Crashing is just a fatal wound."
Bai Xuechao: 6, then you can just crash.
At this time, he heard Yuan Lan say, "Little Xuechao, open your arms."
Bai Xuechao thought to himself that Yuan Lan was really troublesome, but he still cooperated and opened his arms. He felt Yuan Lan's arm pass through the gap between his arm and waist and place it on the piano keys.
Yuan Lan tilted his head, his gaze passing over Bai Xuechao's shoulder to look at the piano keys.
His fingers pressed a few keys to try. Since Bai Xuechao's waist was very thin, he felt that the distance between his two arms did not affect his piano playing this time, and it was much more comfortable.
"I'm going to start now, Little Xuechao. I'll only play it once, don't forget our bet." Yuan Lan said with a smile, then stretched his foot forward and stepped on the pedal.
Bai Xuechao's foot was on Yuan Lan's, so he had to stretch it out as well.
The first few notes were crisp and not difficult. But with a little thought, one would know that Yuan Lan couldn't possibly play a simple piece.
Soon, Yuan Lan's right hand began to lightly press back and forth across several keys, his movements light and fluid, the sound of the piano like pearls rolling down, crisp and distinct.
Only then did Bai Xuechao notice something he had overlooked before.
Yuan Lan's hands were quite large, and his fingers were also very long, so he could easily span ten keys with some room to spare.
Next, the sound of the piano began to become complicated, with the left and right hands even overlapping.
Bai Xuechao had never heard this piece before, nor had he ever learned to play the piano, but even a layman like him could tell how difficult this piece was. He had already noticed how wide Yuan Lan's right hand could span, but as long as his pinky and thumb were fast enough, he could still keep up.
There were also parts with very fast speeds later on, and parts where the right hand did finger rolls. Even so, Yuan Lan played the piano smoothly and freely.
Bai Xuechao's head ached from trying to remember the keys Yuan Lan pressed. He hadn't even recovered from his fever yet, and he was already engaging in mental activity here.
As he thought about it, he suddenly had a thought——
Eh, he didn't have to win.
He should lose, so that he could present the opportunity to poison him to Yuan Lan.
Having figured it out, Bai Xuechao immediately started to slack off. No matter how difficult or brilliant Yuan Lan's playing was, he didn't remember it at all, he just listened.
Especially the final part, Yuan Lan's hands were so fast that they were almost a blur, but his playing was very stable, without any sense of chaos. The sound of the piano was also rich and powerful, and from time to time, he could hear the crisp sound of the right hand pressing the high notes.
The only problem was that in the latter part, Yuan Lan was stepping on the pedal faster than a sewing machine, and Bai Xuechao's foot was also bumping along with it.
After Yuan Lan finished playing, he rested his chin on Bai Xuechao's right shoulder and asked him, "Little Xuechao, did you remember it?"
Bai Xuechao blurted out, "I remember."
In fact, he hadn't remembered the latter part at all. There was a part where the left hand was practically scraping the keys. At that time, he was secretly glad that he had started slacking off early, otherwise it would have been too much of a headache to remember that.
But Bai Xuechao's memory was so good that he remembered things at a glance. Even if he didn't deliberately try to remember, he could still recall the latter part, just not as clearly as if he had deliberately memorized it.
"Then let's begin~" Yuan Lan's chin was still on Bai Xuechao's shoulder without moving. "I'm looking forward to you being able to replicate my version, that way we'll be the same."
Bai Xuechao didn't reply to Yuan Lan's words, but just in his current sitting position, he placed his hands on the piano keys and began to replicate Yuan Lan's movements from just now.
He didn't know the piano keys, but that didn't stop him from playing the piece. He just had to follow what Yuan Lan did.
Bai Xuechao's piano playing was a one-to-one replica of Yuan Lan's, including his pedaling technique—it was hard for him to forget, after all, when Yuan Lan stepped on the pedal, he would be forced to follow—it was just that every time he stepped on the pedal, Yuan Lan's foot was still under his, so he had to use more force.
So Yuan Lan said, "I'll help you with the pedal."
Since Yuan Lan was helping with the pedal, Bai Xuechao completely ignored it and focused on pressing these piano keys that he didn't know.
After playing the beginning and reaching the part where his right thumb and pinky were flying back and forth on the keys, the crisp sound of the piano was like a ticking clock. Bai Xuechao felt that he was playing okay, but suddenly heard Yuan Lan let out a low laugh in his right ear, then tilted his head and pressed the side of his face against the root of his ear.
Bai Xuechao ignored it and indulged Yuan Lan's intimate action, continuing to play.
—Because he discovered that Mu Xinyue had arrived.
And Yuan Lan's low laugh and face-pressing had all started when Mu Xinyue arrived. It could be said that as soon as Mu Xinyue came over, she would have seen this exact scene.
A smile lifted the corners of Bai Xuechao's lips.
So Yuan Lan was doing all this for Mu Xinyue to see, whether it was their current posture or Yuan Lan's intimate behavior just now.
It seemed that Yuan Lan had prepared a backup plan.
Regardless of whether he won or lost, Mu Xinyue, a "master poisoner" with super strong jealousy, would not let him go after seeing him and Yuan Lan so close.
Bai Xuechao still had that faint smile on his face, his hands moving without stopping, waiting for Mu Xinyue to walk in.
On the other side, Mu Xinyue did indeed see it.
Among the people in the Apocalypse Society, only two could play the piano, one was Yuan Lan, who learned everything very quickly, and the other was Mu Xinyue, who had been learning piano since she was a child.
This piano room was not specifically soundproofed, so the sound of the piano could be heard on the floors above and below, and even outside the window—and the special ability users had enhanced bodies and very good hearing. Especially Mu Xinyue, because she had been learning piano since she was a child, she was very sensitive to the sound of the piano.
Originally, she was in the medical room writing a thesis when she suddenly vaguely heard the sound of a piano.
Without even guessing, she knew it was Yuan Lan playing the piano.
She was about to continue writing her thesis while listening to Yuan Lan's piano, but suddenly remembered that because of the five-day agreement with Bai Xuechao to provide information, Yuan Lan had to go to the laboratory for the next few days.
Why was Yuan Lan not in the laboratory at this time, but playing the piano instead?
Because it was unusual, Mu Xinyue curiously followed the sound of the piano to check. Although she could hear the sound from the piano room, her medical room was not close to the piano room. As she walked over, the piano sound stopped for a moment after the piece ended, and soon started again, still repeating the same piece.
As soon as she reached the door, she saw Yuan Lan holding Bai Xuechao.
Even though the piano bench could seat two people side by side, Bai Xuechao was sitting on Yuan Lan's lap, as if he was being held in Yuan Lan's arms. He was playing the piano, and the way he handled the dynamics and finger techniques was exactly the same as Yuan Lan's, as if he had been taught by hand.
Bai Xuechao's pale feet were on Yuan Lan's black leather shoes, creating a strong contrast.
And Yuan Lan was helping Bai Xuechao with the pedal, the two of them were in perfect sync.
Yuan Lan also seemed to be in a good mood because of this, and he let out a low laugh and leaned his head towards Bai Xuechao, his posture intimate.
Afterward, she saw Bai Xuechao also reveal a faint smile.