Chapter 130
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Chapter 130 Steel Piano
Don’t compromise yourself.
Wasn’t this the phrase she used to comfort herself when escaping from the capital?
But is it really possible to avoid compromising yourself just because you don’t want to?
It was precisely because she didn’t want to compromise herself, didn’t want to marry a man she didn’t love, that Qin Yueran “escaped” thousands of miles from the capital to Ninghai. However, life always has so many disappointments. She wasn’t completely free. Could she really completely abandon the family that gave birth to her and raised her?
The longer one stays in these so-called upper circles, the clearer one understands the unwritten rules, and the less one feels any desire to resist.
With no support, no understanding, Qin Yueran didn’t know how long this escape from marriage would last. Everyone thought the man she was supposed to marry or would eventually marry was so brilliant. Everyone believed it would be a perfectly matched union of talent and beauty. But who understood her suffering? No matter how excellent he was, if she didn’t like him, would forcing themselves together really bring happiness?
Qin Yueran wanted to pursue her own happiness, not simply appear happy for others to see—that would be too unfair to herself.
Although on the surface she appeared radiant and socially adept, a well-known social queen in Ninghai. However, when all the guests had left, when all the noise had subsided, in the quiet of the night, she would always stay on her private rooftop, quietly drinking a glass of wine, lost in thought, and then letting her fingers dance freely across the piano keys.
This piano could be said to be her best friend besides Xia Qing. All those quiet thoughts in a girl’s heart, Qin Yueran expressed through the music.
It had been nearly two years since she left. Qin Yueran didn’t dare go back. She feared that once she returned, she would face all kinds of pressure to marry. But unless she completely disappeared, staying in Ninghai still couldn’t free her from her family’s control. In their eyes, family interests always came before everything else.
In the face of what they called the bigger picture, no one cared about her happiness.
Two years is as precious as gold for a woman in the prime of her youth. She could have done many meaningful things, could have had a memorable romance, even if it ended sadly. But Qin Yueran could only force herself to hold on, to keep going… until she couldn’t hold on any longer.
“The Wedding in Dreams” was the piece she had played most frequently in the past two years, without exception.
Whenever she played this piece, Qin Yueran would have one less hope for her own wedding, one more disappointment with reality, feeling that her life would have one more touch of desolation.
But what could she do? She simply wasn’t strong enough to ignore her family, and besides, if her selfishness caused unnecessary losses to her family, that wasn’t what she wanted to see either.
Qin Yueran didn’t want to compromise, but reality forced her to. She was strong and didn’t want to surrender, but eventually she would raise her hands.
This wasn’t the outcome she wanted, and she didn’t even know how long she could persist.
This long journey was so helpless.
When feeling sad, with no one to comfort her, she could only crouch down and hug herself.
Therefore, when she heard Su Rui say “don’t compromise yourself,” Qin Yueran suddenly felt a lump in her throat and moisture in her eyes.
All these years, no one had ever said such words to her.
It felt like a warm, unspoken understanding.
Don’t compromise yourself. Qin Yueran truly felt wronged—why couldn’t she control her own destiny?
Many times, she would imagine, if she hadn’t been born into the Qin family in the capital, if she didn’t have such a seemingly prestigious identity, if she were just a daughter from an ordinary family, could she have had a romance free from utilitarian concerns, and a pure wedding?
But there are no “ifs.”
In this world, not only is there the law of conservation of energy, but happiness also exists in dynamic equilibrium. This path seemed predestined from birth—gaining some things meant losing others.
Could this equilibrium be broken?
When she looked up at Su Rui again, there was something different in Qin Yueran’s eyes.
Looking at Qin Yueran with her slightly reddened eyes, Su Rui gently held her shoulders and said very seriously, “You will eventually have a wedding of your own, believe me.”
“Mm.” Qin Yueran nodded, sniffled, and smiled, “I hope you’re not bluffing. If you can’t deliver when the time comes, I’ll come find you to settle accounts.”
Qin Yueran found herself saying these words naturally, feeling no barriers with Su Rui, as if they were old friends who had known each other for many years.
However, these words ultimately seemed somewhat intimate and ambiguous.
“Fine, if you can’t get married and become an old maid, then come find me. At worst, I’ll compromise myself and take you in,” Su Rui said, patting his chest.
“Get lost. Would marrying me be compromising for you? That would be good fortune you’ve accumulated over several lifetimes,” Qin Yueran laughed more happily, her smile appearing so radiant and captivating in the moonlight and starlight.
Su Rui continued his shameless banter: “They say fortune and misfortune come hand in hand. Who knows, maybe you’re a jinx.”
“You’re the jinx. I had a feng shui master from the capital read my fortune when I was young, and he said I have a rare destiny that brings prosperity to my husband.” Qin Yueran’s expression darkened as she said this: “Later, this comment somehow spread, and it’s because of this that I got involved in all these matters.”
“You believe what fortune tellers say?”
“Not a fortune teller, a feng shui master,” Qin Yueran corrected.
“They all seem like con artists to me.”
“That master has a very high reputation in the capital, and many people are very superstitious about him.” Qin Yueran’s mood improved a bit, and she smiled, “If they knew what you said about their idol, they’d probably form a group to beat you up.”
“Then I’ll take you with me and beat him up first. Isn’t he misleading people?”
“You said it, you’d better help me get this revenge when the time comes.” Qin Yueran smiled, not taking Su Rui’s words seriously.
“Alright, after I finish this fight, don’t be so moved that you offer yourself to me.”
“Offer myself to you? Would that be a loss for me? If Xia Qing heard this, who knows how she’d deal with you.”
“I’ve already said, my relationship with her is innocent.”
“I believe you’re innocent toward her, but she might not be innocent toward you,” Qin Yueran seemed to imply.
“Huh, I’d rather believe in ghosts than trust a woman’s words.”
“What a cliché and boring joke.”
After bantering for a while, they both suddenly fell silent, and the atmosphere became subtly tense.
“Why so quiet?”
“Why so quiet?”
After a brief silence, they both said these words almost simultaneously. Looking at each other in surprise, they both laughed.
“Do you mind if I try your piano?” Su Rui suddenly asked.
“Of course not. You play the piano?” Qin Yueran looked at Su Rui with curiosity, though she had noticed his excitement when he first saw the piano.
“Just a little.”
After saying this, Su Rui was already sitting at the piano.
In a woman’s eyes, once a man can play the piano, he gains a different quality.
Qin Yueran rarely saw men play the piano. She could hardly believe that Su Rui, who had kicked the second young master of the Bai family until he coughed blood in public half an hour ago, could play this instrument.
For someone with a six-star classified identity, shouldn’t he prefer guns and explosives?
But Qin Yueran hadn’t expected that once Su Rui’s fingers touched the piano keys, those fingers seemed to take on a nimble life of their own!
After trying a few notes lightly, Su Rui’s expression became unprecedentedly focused.
His long fingers moved over the keys like flowing water, and heavenly notes poured forth like quicksilver.
At this moment, these notes and melodies seemed to shine in harmony with the stars above, giving this rare night a special atmosphere.
So brilliant, so rare, making one reluctant to let go.
Qin Yueran stood to the side watching his brows and eyes, his expressions, the movements of his fingers, and became somewhat entranced.
Unlike the clear flowing water she had played earlier, Su Rui’s melody conveyed a sense of grandeur, and within this grandeur was a faint trace of sadness, though not heavy, but clearly perceptible.
Sometimes passionate, sometimes flowing, with cascading notes like a waterfall after sudden pauses. To play such a melody required more than mere technique; it needed the most intense and sincere emotions.
Through the melody, Qin Yueran seemed to see the figure of a lone wolf.
Blood and gunpowder, loneliness and vastness, weariness and hope.
Through the music, Qin Yueran seemed to feel many emotions and see many things. What painful experiences had this man gone through to be able to play such moving melodies?
Qin Yueran felt a faint pain in her heart. At this moment, this man playing the piano seemed so heartbreaking.
She didn’t know what he had really experienced before, but she could clearly feel those emotions—past hesitation, past helplessness, past sorrow, but never ceasing to express an undying hope for life.
The melody slowly stopped, the notes ceased to flow, but under the night sky, there was an added touch of serene beauty.
The name of this piece was—”We Have No Tomorrow.”
“Su Rui, I suddenly want to hug you.”
When Su Rui played the final notes, Qin Yueran suddenly said.
Su Rui turned his head in surprise to see that she was already in tears.
“Okay.”
Su Rui stood up, wiped away the tears on Qin Yueran’s face with both hands, and then gently embraced her.
But Qin Yueran hugged Su Rui even tighter in return.
This simple embrace had nothing to do with ambiguity or romance; it was only about commemorating the past and hoping for life.
