At six, you entered first grade and asked your parents to enroll you in extra music lessons. Eden had already started learning other instruments, and if you did not learn them too, you would have nothing to talk about. So you felt it was necessary.
Besides your daily studies, you made time to practice sword forms. Every day, you swung a toy sword around the yard so much that your parents nearly thought you had lost his mind.
You and Eden were signed up for another competition by your teacher. Eden did not go, but you did—and easily took first place.
At seven, you were in second grade. You and Eden...
At eight... nine... sixteen...
In the blink of an eye, he was sixteen. Ye Chang'an could barely remember what he had done over the past decade or so.
After all, aside from studying, practicing, and looking for Eden, there was nothing worth remembering.
As for the various music championship trophies filling his room, he had never taken them seriously.
Eden had only participated in competitions back in kindergarten and never attended another one afterward, so Ye Chang'an had swept up every championship.
"Ugh, if my family did not need the prize money to support ourselves, I would not even want to compete."
His family was poor. He could attend school only because it was free, and the money for his additional lessons had all come from his prize winnings.
Fortunately, their finances had improved considerably lately. Even if he stopped competing, he could still move on to high school.
"Oh, right. My high school tuition was waived because I got guaranteed admission."
Remembering something so trivial, Ye Chang'an shook his head, slung a bag over his shoulder, and headed out.
"Dad, Mom, I'm heading out to work. I'll eat dinner outside."
After calling out to them, he left the house and went straight to the restaurant where he worked to earn money.
It felt a little like his life as an overworked office drone before he transmigrated. He was making money by playing the piano again.
The difference was that back then, it had been for survival. Now, it was to buy instruments.
He had learned too much music and wanted to get every instrument he knew how to play.
Not that many. Just a few hundred.
So he had to work hard and make money.
While he was busy performing, a tall, leggy beauty with red hair and golden eyes walked into the restaurant.
The moment she entered, she drew everyone's eyes. She was simply too eye-catching.
Image: "Eden, long in all the right places", Location: "Images/1702640055-100390983-111108964.jpg"
Those legs, that chest—once people looked, they could not look away.
Eden was already used to it. Since she had entered puberty, she had gradually received more and more such looks. By now, she was immune.
But there was one thing she could not let go of.
Staring at the white-haired youth sitting before the piano, playing so intently that he had forgotten himself, she felt a little annoyed.
This guy really has no interest in me at all.
In Eden's eyes, Ye Chang'an was a strange person. She had found him odd ever since kindergarten, when he had loudly declared that he wanted to be good friends with her.
Every day, whenever he came to see her, all he talked about was music. Nothing else.
When they were little, it had been fine. Aside from music, there really had not been much to discuss.
But she had grown up now. She was so beautiful that people stared themselves silly, yet whenever this guy came to see her, he still only talked about music.
He did not talk about life or ideals. Only music.
She seriously wondered whether he was even a man.
If he was not a man, though, he was incredibly manly when he beat people up. No matter how many lecherous men tried to harass Eden, he could knock them all flat.
Then, after beating them up, he went right back to talking about music.
But if he was a man, that almost felt like an insult to the word "man," because he seemed completely uninterested in women.
He found even three sentences with other women too much, but three hundred sentences with Eden too few—and yet within three sentences, the topic always returned to music.
"Do you want to spend the rest of your life with music?"
Eden wanted to ask him that, but she had never been able to say it aloud.
She was afraid Ye Chang'an would seriously answer that he wanted to spend his whole life with music. If that happened, she would be heartbroken.
He was so handsome and so talented, yet the man she liked only liked music, not her.
She was numb.
"No, no. I have to steal him back from music."
Eden muttered softly as she strode toward Ye Chang'an on her long legs.
Chapter of Creation: Journey to a New World: 4. Living Together? Do You Want a Night Raid?
"Chang'an, do you want to take a break?" Eden asked gently.
Ye Chang'an looked up and saw Eden. The faint smile on his lips gradually brightened, revealing a row of neat white teeth as he said, "Eden, you're here! Want to play a duet?"
This guy really looked too good when he smiled. Eden was briefly captivated and hurriedly shook her head.
"No. I haven't touched the piano in a long time, so I'm a little rusty."
She really had not touched the piano in a long time. Or rather, she had not touched any instrument in a long time.
It was not because she lacked the time. She simply did not want to touch them.
She was afraid she would smash the instruments.
After all, they were always monopolizing Ye Chang'an.
"If you're rusty, you should play more. Come on, sit down. I even saved you a spot."
Ye Chang'an shifted his butt aside, making a tiny bit of room. If Eden sat down, she would definitely have to squeeze in right beside him.
There was no helping it. It was a single seat. The restaurant owner had never considered the possibility of a two-person duet.
Why pay two salaries when one salary could do the job?
So Eden had nowhere else to sit. She could only squeeze in.
Was she willing to?
"Then let's play a duet."
Of course she was. She immediately squeezed over, pressing half her body against Ye Chang'an. Even her ample curves were slightly distorted by the pressure.
"Mm..." The pressure against his arm made Ye Chang'an frown. He lowered his head and stared for a long while.
"What are you looking at?" Eden's face reddened, and she felt a little shy.
How could he just keep staring like that? Could he not even try to hide it?
Still, she felt a little secretly delighted. At least Ye Chang'an was not completely uninterested in women. He just had not been stimulated enough before.
After all, this was the first time she had been this close to Ye Chang'an... before she developed did not count.
"Eden, this is a little inconvenient. Let's make it harder," Ye Chang'an said, raising his head.
Eden: "(⊙_⊙)? Make it harder? How?"
"You turn ninety degrees to the right, and I'll turn ninety degrees to the left. We'll play with our backs against each other, one hand each."
Ye Chang'an had already turned ninety degrees. All that was left was for Eden to turn around.
Once she turned, none of her sensitive areas would be able to touch Ye Chang'an, and she would only be able to play with her left hand.
"My left hand isn't flexible enough," Eden said through gritted teeth, completely making it up.
How could her left hand possibly not be flexible enough? She could perform an entire piece with one hand without any problem.
She simply wanted Ye Chang'an to turn back around so they could play a normal duet.
But who was Ye Chang'an? He immediately stood up and said, "Then you sit on my side and play with your right hand. I'll use my left."
Why is this straight man so hopelessly dense?
Eden was furious. Eden was not furious. Taking a deep breath to calm her heaving chest, she sat down in his spot.
"Fine. Let's do it."
She was already used to Ye Chang'an's extreme straight-man behavior. It just occasionally broke her defenses.
"Then let's begin. The piece is..."
Ye Chang'an turned and sat down. His left hand danced skillfully, sending the notes fluttering with it, while Eden beside him performed just as deftly in harmony.
The two understood each other's playing styles far too well. Even with one hand each, they worked together flawlessly.
"Clap, clap, clap!" Enthusiastic applause erupted. The diners in the restaurant all chose to applaud after the performance ended.
Mostly because Eden's arrival had left them unable to focus on eating. They had watched the duet unfold from beginning to end, as if they were attending a concert.
Ye Chang'an stood and bowed in thanks. Eden likewise lifted her skirt and curtsied.
The applause grew even more enthusiastic, making the atmosphere feel even more like a concert.
"Ahem, Chang'an, who is this young lady?"
The restaurant manager came over to ask. Ye Chang'an enthusiastically introduced her, "Manager, let me introduce you. This is my good friend, Eden."
The standard he had set back in kindergarten had been met. He and Eden had become good friends.
But Eden felt that "childhood sweetheart" could be added before it, or perhaps "good" could be changed to "girlfriend."
However, she knew Ye Chang'an could never say those words. She only shot him a resentful glance before nodding and smiling at the manager. "Hello, I'm Eden."
"Oh, oh, hello, hello. Ahem, then you two carry on. I won't disturb you."
The manager tactfully walked away without mentioning whether they needed another stool.
They were all adults. How could he fail to understand the thoughts of young people?
"Mm, let's rest for a bit first. By the way, Eden, why did you come here? Were you here to eat?"
Ye Chang'an turned back to ask why she had come. Eden's mouth twitched as she shook her head. "No, I came to see you."
"Oh, so you wanted to play a duet with me. Hehe, looks like I did nothing wrong just now. And how were you rusty? You played perfectly. You didn't seem rusty at all."
Ye Chang'an suddenly understood, smiling as he praised her. Eden looked even more resentful.
"Couldn't I have come to see you for something else?"
"Something else? What is it? Is there a competition?"
"No."
"No? Then is there a concert that needs more people?"
"Do you even count as making up the numbers at a concert? When have you not been the finale?" Eden could not hold back her jab. As soon as she said it, she realized the topic was about to veer off course and hurriedly covered Ye Chang'an's mouth.
"Mmph? Mmph?" Ye Chang'an could not speak, so Eden quickly explained the real matter.
"I came to take you to see a place. Didn't you say before that you wanted to rent a place near the school in high school so you could work on music?"
"(⊙o⊙)..." Ye Chang'an blanked out for a moment. Thinking carefully, he seemed to remember saying that.
"Right, I was going to rent a place. How did I forget about that? Hey, is there still time to go today? School starts tomorrow."
Time was a little tight. Even if he skipped work to look now, it would be too late.
What rental agent would still be helping people find a place late at night? It was not like buying a house.
"Looks like it's already too late. I should just stay in the school dorm," Ye Chang'an sighed. Eden was speechless.
"Could you think carefully about what I said before deciding? I said I came to take you to see a place, not find one."
"Isn't finding a place and seeing a place the same thing? What's the difference?" Ye Chang'an asked, genuinely unable to see one.
"Forget it, forget it. Just keep working for now. When you get off, come with me."
Eden did not want to waste any more breath on Ye Chang'an. Talking about anything besides music with this music maniac was like playing the lute to a cow.
So she found a place to sit and wait. When Ye Chang'an got off work, she grabbed him and led him straight to a car.
Before you continue