Ji Weixi was wearing a champagne-colored dress.
She was especially vibrant with her fair skin under the night light. Her jet-black hair was loose over her shoulders alongside the diamond necklace that dangled loosely on her taut collarbone. Perhaps because she was embarrassed, she had a rather playful pout, her cheeks faintly red and charming.
And she was angrily stamping her feet.
âYou are a rotten egg, Li Shaoling!â
How could he do something so embarrassing! Wouldnât the crowd in the concert see?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Aaaargh. It was humiliating to even think about it!
Li Shaoling walked up and wrapped his arms around her, staying patient as he quietly sweet-talked. âGood girl. You look so nice.â
âLooks nice, my foot!â
Ji Weixi had more to say, but was speechless when she looked up.
Li Shaolingâs devilishly handsome face was flawless beneath the night. His eyes were tenderly invasive and irresistible, and anyone would easily be enchanted.
And yet such a person of astronomical levels of pride got down on his knees for her, stabbing his own palm without hesitation.
Ji Weixiâs heart ached and became reluctant to curse at him. Holding back her tiny annoyance she pulled his hand and quietly said, âLetâs go...â
Li Shaoling was rather surprised. Usually, she would have been throwing quite a long fit.
But now...
He looked down at their linked hands, his thin lips curling into a smile as he crossed his fingers into hers.
***
Inside the concert hall.
Their seats were closer to the stage, and the venue was mostly full when they entered.
Several male university students turned when Ji Weixi arrived, unable to avert their eyes.
But even before they could debate who amongst them should get her contact, a tall, slim and devilishly handsome man took her into his arms and kissed her as if no one else was around.
Even as they continued watching Ji Weixi, lines of text appeared before their eyes:
[Has a boyfriend]
[Heâs richer]
[Heâs more handsome]
After taking their seats, the lights on the stage went out almost immediately.
It was so dark they couldnât find their own fingers. Li Shaoling hence wrapped his arms around Ji Weixi so that she wouldnât be afraid.
Ji Weixi smiled sweetly but quietly. It was dark, and he wouldnât see her.
In seconds, a beam of light suddenly shone upon a man at the center of the stage.
Beside the huge grand piano, his seating posture was perfect. His silver hair was especially conspicuous as it shone.
Though his facial features were exquisite, he had a melancholic look.
Today, he was clothed entirely in black, and seemed to fuse into the grand piano.
Abruptly, his long, thin fingers were placed over the piano keys, playing a deep tune.
Then, as if flowing spring, both hands danced.
The tune was so sad that people wouldnât be able to help imagining.
Su Yang seemed to have lost himself in the darkness just then, a dark angel that willingly severed his own wings.
The longer she listened to it, the more Ji Weixi wanted to cryâbut though her eyes became hot, she had no tears.
Li Shaolingâs glowered when he saw the small woman beside her being caught in the mood.
He turned, sneering at Su Yang by the piano,
Manwhore.
Hollow and basically all-skin, what good was he?
He only knows how to play the piano!
Trash!
After the tune ended, Su Yang took up a mic and spoke slowly after a few seconds of silence. âPlease welcome my symphony.â
His voice seemed lethargic like a dry well, showing no spirit at all.
The symphony entered, surrounding Su Yang as they played an elegant rhythm on their violins.
At the heart of it all, Su Yang, who had been handed a cello started to play as well.
His accompaniment was like the raging sea, but no matter how tall the tides could rise, they could never drown out Su Yangâs solo performance.
âLetâs go.â Li Shaoling said coldly as he crossed his long legs.
That prideful look of disdain was a little like an instructor at an auditionâunable to accept the rubbish performance of the students, pulling a long face and simply crossing them out.
Ji Weixi caught his hand. âI think itâs good.â
Li Shaoling sneered. âItâs hideous.â
Perhaps because he was a little loud, and coupled with how the audience had been very quiet, his complaint seemed to be quite audible.
Hence, everyone turned to glare indignantly at Li Shaoling.
It was as if he was a delivery boy amongst a flock of teen idol fans, sticking out like a sore thumb!
That left Ji Weixi very afraid that his poisonous tongue would add something else, and heâs finished if everyone ganged up on him.
Catching his arm, she mustered a tender voice, âCould you wait for me outside? Iâll leave once itâs over. Okay?â
It was rare that she was so tame, even acting like a spoiled child twice.
Therefore, Li Shaoling happily agreed. âOkay.â
Ji Weixi quickly breathed a sigh of relief after he left: the great demon king was finally gone.
The concert hall continued echoing with musical tunes, but Ji Weixi suddenly seemed to smell something even as she listened.
It was at once weird and familiar.
Her heart also became anxious and unsettled.
It was only after half an hour that waves of smoke began wafting into the concert hall and the crowd began to cough.
âWhatâs going on?â
The smoke only increased, and Ji Weixi was choking violently.
âCould it be a fire?â Someone said.
âNo way. Why would a concert catch fire?â
But it was in that very moment that someone came out of the stage, shouting, âFire! Run!â
âAaargh!â
âFire!â
The crowd started to scream and swarmed towards the entrance.
Ji Weixi easily left the concert hall since her seat was close to the emergency exit. As such, there were few people outside when she arrived, but she couldnât find Li Shaoling.
He was very tall, so his frame should have been quite obvious!
She called his phone repetitively, but no one answered.
Oh no.
Ji Weixi had a foreboding thought.
He couldnât have run inside to look for her, surely?!
But she knew that he could be ruthless even with himself, and thereâs nothing he wouldnât do.
She quickly rushed inside. However, the crowd was swarming out, and only she alone was re-entering after leaving.
Everyone was squeezing their way outside, and as Ji Weixi was going the other way, she was knocked down several times.
It was lucky that she stood up quickly, or she would have been trampled to death.
âLi Shaoling!â
Ji Weixi yelled as she rushed inside as hard as she could, but no one answered her.
***
Meanwhile, inside the concert hall...
What remained of the red curtains dropped to the floor. The orange-yellow fire burned rapidly and mercilessly, consuming everything in reach.
The fire was blinding. Thick, suffocating smoke billowed.
The remaining fragment in his mind surged like a fearsome tide.
âMommyââ
âRun, Shaoling!â
Li Shaolingâs ears rang with the deafening, tangled voices of a woman and a child. The fiery light before him wafted, alongside fragmented scenes that ate at every single strand of his nerves.