Chapter 16: Who Played the Piano

Suddenly, gentle piano music began to drift through the entire villa. The four people in the living room all looked up from their game, turning their heads; the two cooking in the kitchen left their work behind and came out curiously to see what was happening.

There, in front of the piano, stood Li Jiayan, dressed in a white camisole dress, her straight black hair cascading over her shoulders. She sat with elegance, her ten fingers dancing nimbly over the black and white keys. The melody wound around their ears like spring water tinkling over stones, gently tapping at the heart.

In that moment, Li Jiayan was enchanting—she seemed illuminated by a shaft of light, dazzling and radiant. Lu Zhou had fallen for her at first sight because he had witnessed her shining before the piano. Now, as she played, she was even more at ease than she had been at nineteen.

The music was tender, suffusing the living room and affecting the mood of all who listened. Chu Yao, who was still wearing her apron, looked on with envy flickering in her eyes. Beside her, Wen Yiming swallowed, his heart beating wildly. Without realizing it, Zhang Chen raised his brows and leaned back against the sofa, his gaze fixed on Li Jiayan as he quietly savored her music. Xu Junze’s head began to sway in time with the notes, while Qi Jiajia softly hummed along to the melody.

Li Jiayan was playing a familiar tune—the piano version of the song “Encounter.” In this setting, the song seemed to strike a chord with everyone. No one knew which passage of music touched Chu Yao’s heart, but suddenly her eyes reddened. She quickly wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes and, taking advantage of everyone’s distraction, turned and hurried into the kitchen, calling out, "I’m going to check on the stove."

The piece ended to a round of applause. Li Jiayan turned around, her face full of embarrassment, and gave everyone a shy smile.

Wen Yiming immediately gave a whistle and praised her, "That was beautiful!"

“How come you’re out here? Aren’t you supposed to be cooking?” Li Jiayan asked in surprise, not expecting to see Wen Yiming among the audience.

"Your playing was so lovely that I couldn't resist my curiosity. I snuck out for a break, but I’d better get back now," he replied, giving her a wink before hurrying back to the kitchen.

Li Jiayan returned to the sofa. Although everyone’s eyes now held a hint of admiration, she still felt awkward, worried that her sudden performance might be seen as a deliberate attempt to show off and seek attention.

But in truth, she was intentionally displaying her talent. She hadn’t joined this show for no reason; since she was here, she intended to make the most of every opportunity to gain screen time and expand her career’s reach.

“Jiayan, who would have guessed! You’re so good at the piano,” Qi Jiajia remarked.

“I may not know much about music, but I think you played beautifully,” Xu Junze added, giving her a thumbs-up.

“I just noticed the piano here and played a song out of boredom,” Li Jiayan replied, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks flushed.

She was lying. It wasn’t as if she had just discovered the piano—she had actually requested it as a condition for joining the show. But some lies are harmless, and if they give her an excuse to save face, she didn’t mind telling one.

Lu Zhou watched her quietly for a moment, saying nothing. Instead, Zhang Chen smiled and remarked, “With skills like that, you ought to play a few more songs for us.”

Li Jiayan covered her mouth with a smile. “A few more tunes as background music for your games?”

Zhang Chen grinned. “I wouldn’t say no to that.”

At that moment, a figure appeared at the top of the stairs. Zhang Chen looked closely and realized it was Ye Fangfei. His eyes widened a little with surprise and a touch of awkwardness. “You’re back? I didn’t even know you were home.”

Ye Fangfei’s hair was a little messy, and she yawned sleepily as she walked over. She ignored Zhang Chen’s comment, instead lifting her eyes to look at Lu Zhou.

“Who was playing just now?”

Clearly, Ye Fangfei had been napping and was woken by the sudden music. Lu Zhou’s lips twitched—her expression seemed to say: You promised to keep my piano playing a secret; did you really just perform for everyone?

That was quite a misunderstanding.

Li Jiayan’s cheeks flushed bright red at Ye Fangfei’s question. Oh no, she hadn’t realized Ye Fangfei was back, let alone that she’d been sleeping… If she’d known, she never would have chosen this moment to play!

“I’m sorry, it was me. Did I disturb your rest?” Li Jiayan asked cautiously.

Ye Fangfei turned toward the sound of her voice, her gaze settling on Li Jiayan. There was something so delicate and pitiful about the girl that even as a woman, Ye Fangfei felt protective.

Well, she sighed inwardly, her annoyance at being woken from a good dream suddenly vanished. She curved her lips into a smile and said, “It’s all right; I should have been up anyway. You play well. I didn’t expect our show would be so full of talent—are we sure we’re not on a music competition rather than a dating show?”

Lu Zhou fell silent.

Li Jiayan pressed her lips together, unable to tell whether Ye Fangfei was genuinely complimenting her or subtly mocking her.

As a top singer in the entertainment industry, Ye Fangfei’s presence was intimidating in its own way, and Li Jiayan couldn’t help feeling a bit uneasy around her.

Then Ye Fangfei slowly made her way to the sofa and sat down right beside Lu Zhou. As she settled in, she murmured just loud enough for him to hear, “It’s a bit cramped, isn’t it?”

Lu Zhou took the hint and shifted over half a seat to give her more room.

Ye Fangfei paused, then turned to look into his eyes, raising her brows. “You don’t get the subtext?”

Lu Zhou cleared his throat quietly. “I get it.”

He understood her meaning—she was hinting that he and Li Jiayan were now competing for the spotlight with the same talent, making things a little crowded on this show. But Lu Zhou didn’t care. Competing for attention? That wasn’t how he saw it.

But to Li Jiayan, watching the two of them whispering together across from her, the scene looked a little too intimate. When had they become so close? Had something happened between them besides Lu Zhou helping Ye Fangfei move her luggage that afternoon? The thought made her brows knit and a sour feeling rise unbidden in her heart.

“Dinner’s ready!”

Suddenly, a voice called from the dining room doorway. All the ingredients and condiments for the hotpot were ready, and Wen Yiming summoned everyone to the table.

After waiting so long, everyone was famished and moved eagerly to the dining room. Because the table was square and sharing just one pot would make it hard to reach the food, Chu Yao had thoughtfully prepared two divided hotpots for everyone.

The eight of them split into two groups of four, each sharing one hotpot. In this setup, choosing seats became a surprisingly delicate affair. At first, they all hovered around the table, surreptitiously watching each other, paralyzed by indecision.

Lu Zhou, however, was oblivious to the subtle maneuvering and sat straight down in the chair in front of him. Ye Fangfei chose almost simultaneously, picking a seat diagonally across from Lu Zhou at the corner of the table. That meant the two of them would share the same hotpot.

There was a curious little scene: once Ye Fangfei had sat down, both Wen Yiming and Zhang Chen tried to claim the seat directly opposite her. After exchanging glances for a few seconds, Wen Yiming gave way, and Zhang Chen successfully sat across from Ye Fangfei.

Wen Yiming then tried to take the seat beside Ye Fangfei, but as he rounded the table, Chu Yao got there first, so he settled for the seat next to her instead.

Li Jiayan sat beside Lu Zhou, directly across from Wen Yiming. Xu Junze took the seat next to Wen Yiming, with Qi Jiajia across from him. The four of them shared the other hotpot.

At last, all the seats were chosen. Through this small ritual of seat selection, each person’s thoughts and feelings began to shift in subtle new ways.