Chapter 157 : Chapter 157
Chapter 157
After being briefly charmed by Bai Xuechao wearing the long-eared hat, Mu Xinyue immediately came to her senses. She glanced at Yuan Lan, who was standing in front of Bai Xuechao and looking back at her, to clear her head.
She stepped into the piano room, raising the hand holding the fluffy slippers as she walked, as if showing them to Bai Xuechao. "I brought the shoes. This style and color match your pajamas quite well. It's just that the shoe size probably isn't big enough. It's a size 39. If it really doesn't fit, just wear them like regular slippers."
This pair of fluffy slippers enclosed the foot, with an upper part around the heel, making them very warm. Mu Xinyue's meaning was for Bai Xuechao to step on the upper part at the heel and wear them by sliding his feet in.
She walked to Yuan Lan's side with the shoes and added, "Oh, right, I forgot to mention, these are new slippers I bought. I was planning to wear them next month when it gets colder. I haven't worn them yet, so you can wear them without worry."
Bai Xuechao repeated, "Size 39?"
"Yes! What's wrong?" Mu Xinyue suddenly became super fierce, narrowing her eyes at Bai Xuechao. "You're not trying to say my feet are big, are you?"
It was clear she had been told her feet were big quite a few times before, making her extremely sensitive about it.
Yuan Lan watched the two of them from the side as if watching a play, not saying a word to mediate.
"No," Bai Xuechao said frankly.
Whether Mu Xinyue's feet were big or not had nothing to do with him.
Perhaps Bai Xuechao's frank and open attitude soothed Mu Xinyue. She put away her fierce expression, her red eyes continuing to stare at him, as if to see what he would say.
Bai Xuechao was heard saying, "I wear a size 40. Your shoes are indeed a bit small for me."
As a result, Mu Xinyue blurted out, "Your feet are such a small size?"
Bai Xuechao: "..."
It was obvious that Mu Xinyue really cared about shoe sizes.
Besides, his feet were not that small, right? Mu Xinyue's tone made it sound as if he wore children's shoes.
Actually, among boys of similar height, Bai Xuechao's feet were indeed considered relatively small. Perhaps because he had been frail and sickly since childhood and had been in an unhealthy state for a long time, his body was thin, and his feet did not grow very large. But they were still within the normal range, at least a size starting with a 4.
Among his subordinates, there was one whose shoe size was even smaller than his. Every time the organization ordered shoes uniformly, the finance department would hand him the report, and that person always stood out, but he was the only one.
Bai Xuechao opened his mouth and spoke nonsense, "I heard that people with feet that are too small can't stand steadily and get tired easily when going upstairs. It's better to have bigger feet; it's more convenient for exercise."
"Is that so?" Mu Xinyue actually thought about it seriously. "I only know that having feet that are too small can affect your body's balance."
Bai Xuechao said with a straight face, "Yes, it is."
Yuan Lan stood beside Mu Xinyue, and while she was focused on Bai Xuechao and not paying attention to him, he quietly pursed his lips and smiled, smiling so hard his mouth was almost crooked.
He could tell that Bai Xuechao was teasing Mu Xinyue.
Perhaps Bai Xuechao also cared about shoe sizes, and after being told his feet were small, he immediately got his "revenge" on the spot.
Although Mu Xinyue could not see Yuan Lan, Bai Xuechao could from where he was standing. He looked at Mu Xinyue, his eyes not moving, but his peripheral vision caught sight of the happily laughing Yuan Lan.
Yuan Lan seemed to notice that Bai Xuechao was looking at him. Using the motion of lifting his hand to brush back the hair by his ear, he gave Bai Xuechao a thumbs-up.
As if to say: You're really something.
If Mu Xinyue discovered he was playing with her, he would be in for a world of trouble.
"That's not right. You can't judge based on foot size alone. You also have to look at the shape of the foot, like how the person's arch is, whether it's high or low, or if they have flat feet." Having studied medicine for many years since she was young, Mu Xinyue was very rigorous about matters related to the human body. She put the slippers on the floor while pondering something. "How about this, I'll ask my family when I get back later, and then I'll tell you if this concept is correct or not."
Bai Xuechao: You're taking this too seriously, sis.
However, ask her family?
Is Mu Xinyue's family related to medicine?
"Alright, hurry up and put on the shoes." Yuan Lan, who had been laughing for a while, finally spoke. He offered a hand to Bai Xuechao, gesturing for him to hold on to it.
Bai Xuechao did not stand on ceremony. He held Yuan Lan's hand for support and stepped into the fluffy slippers as he got off the piano bench.
After both his feet were in the slippers, Bai Xuechao tried to pull up the back of the slippers without much hope. His feet indeed could not fit in unless he curled his toes, which would be too uncomfortable. So, he made do and wore them by sliding his feet in.
"They look alright. The shoes are yours." Mu Xinyue moved a sofa from the corner, which was meant for people to rest on, and placed it next to the piano bench.
As a special ability user, moving a sofa was a trivial matter and not tiring at all.
Bai Xuechao was polite to her, "Thank you."
Hearing this, Mu Xinyue just gave a reserved nod and turned to walk towards the corner. It seemed she was going to bring over the other remaining sofa as well.
Yuan Lan suddenly tilted his head and leaned close to Bai Xuechao's ear, complaining in a low and slow tone, "You really are generous with your thanks to everyone except me..."
As if afraid that Mu Xinyue would hear clearly, Yuan Lan's voice was very soft. His warm breath sprayed by his ear, bringing a tickling sensation.
"Then you'd have to do something worthy of my thanks." Bai Xuechao turned his head slightly to avoid Yuan Lan's breath, grabbed his chin with a straight face, and pushed him fiercely to the side.
Bai Xuechao used a lot of force, and Yuan Lan was almost pushed sideways.
"What were you two muttering about just now?" Mu Xinyue happened to turn around while carrying the sofa, looking at them speechlessly. "You two big men are just going to watch me, a single girl, move it?"
"I'm not a big man," Bai Xuechao said righteously. "I'm still a minor."
Then who was left?
Yuan Lan revealed a smile and walked forward. "My mistake, how could we tire out our Miss Mu? Let me take the sofa~"
In the end, both sofas were moved next to the piano bench, with Yuan Lan and Mu Xinyue each sitting on one.
Bai Xuechao had the piano bench to himself, his right foot on the rightmost pedal.
"Let me state the bet between me and Little Xuechao again." Yuan Lan sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, his right elbow propped on the armrest, and his fingertips resting on the side of his face. From this angle, he could just see Bai Xuechao's semi-profile. "Little Xuechao has to play the piece I just played once. The loser has to eat a very unappetizing mutated species. Mu Xinyue is the witness to our bet."
Mu Xinyue also sat in a posture similar to Yuan Lan's. She supported herself with her left hand on the armrest, leaning her body to the left to get closer to Yuan Lan, who was sitting to her left.
Her angle was just perfect to see the front of Bai Xuechao as he played the piano.
Mu Xinyue said, "You can begin."
"Wait, I have a question." Bai Xuechao turned his head, his plum-blossom-like red eyes looking at them. "Is it enough to just play it through, or can there be no mistakes?"
Hearing this, Yuan Lan smiled, "Hmm, that's indeed a question worth discussing."
Bai Xuechao quietly looked at Yuan Lan, waiting for him to continue.
He had a look that said, "I'm just waiting to see what nonsense you'll spew."
Yuan Lan pretended to think with difficulty, as if he was struggling with whether to give Bai Xuechao some slack. Bai Xuechao just watched him act quietly.
Of course, Mu Xinyue did not want Yuan Lan to relax the conditions. She still wanted to use this great opportunity to poison Bai Xuechao. But if she spoke up and said not to relax them, it would make her seem so evil. So, she could only stare intently at the side of Yuan Lan's face with her blood-red eyes, as if that would make him feel her anticipation.
"Since it's a bet, the difficulty should naturally be a bit higher," Yuan Lan said.
Bai Xuechao had a look of having expected this all along, his face all but screaming, "I knew you would say such nonsense."
Yuan Lan continued, "No mistakes are allowed, not a single note."
"...Fine." Bai Xuechao placed his hands on the piano keys, pressing them meaninglessly a few times. "Shall I begin then?"
Yuan Lan extended his left hand in a "please" gesture, "Begin."
Bai Xuechao started playing the piano just as he had before Mu Xinyue arrived.
His handling of the piece was exactly the same as Yuan Lan's; the dynamics of each note and when to press the pedal were completely identical. If not for the different size of Bai Xuechao's hands compared to Yuan Lan's, one could really believe it was Yuan Lan sitting there playing the piano.
Mu Xinyue remembered Yuan Lan saying it was "the piece I just played once."
Was this something Bai Xuechao could do after listening to it just once?
This piece was very difficult, and to be able to play it like this after hearing it only once could be called genius. But Mu Xinyue still thought, annoyed and jealous, that Bai Xuechao just had a better memory.
At the same time, Bai Xuechao was thinking as he played—
He had changed his mind.
Why should he go easy and deliberately lose?
Since Yuan Lan and Mu Xinyue wanted to poison him for different reasons, let them figure out a way to do it. Why should he hand the opportunity to them?
Poisoning, of course, is only interesting when it's difficult. It can't be too easy.
As Bai Xuechao played the piano, the corners of his mouth curved up slightly, like a little fox.
Although he had only simply listened to Yuan Lan play the second half and had not specifically memorized it, with his powerful memory, he could still recall how Yuan Lan had played. The only problem was that he would not be as proficient as in the first half; there would be a process of recollection.
But Yuan Lan had said, no mistakes were allowed.
Bai Xuechao reached the part with the fourth and fifth finger tremolo.
As he played, he complained internally, who wrote this piece? To put it dramatically, it was beyond human limits, right? His ring and little fingers were about to cramp.
It was obvious that Yuan Lan had chosen this piece on purpose.
After this section, he came to the second half, which he had not carefully memorized.
There were parts where the melody repeated, so he did not need to make a special effort to recall them. But what followed was a fast-paced section, with notes that were jumpy and had a distinct, granular quality.
Yuan Lan watched Bai Xuechao with a composed and leisurely air.
He seemed to know that Bai Xuechao had not been listening carefully at this part earlier, so he quietly waited for him to make a mistake.
At this moment, Bai Xuechao suddenly slowed down his playing speed, a very noticeable slowdown.
Hearing this, Yuan Lan's expression faltered slightly. He tapped his fingertips on the side of his face a few times, then lifted his lips into a silent smile, showing no annoyance at having the loophole in the rules exploited. His dazzling golden eyes stared at Bai Xuechao with great interest, curved into a pleased arc.
Indeed.
He said no wrong notes, but he didn't say it couldn't be played slowly.
Thus, the final fast-paced section was also played slowly by Bai Xuechao. Throughout the entire piece, not a single note was played incorrectly; it was just slow.
After finishing the piece, Bai Xuechao stood up gracefully and smiled, "I won."