This Is the Worst Piece I Can Play

The hall fell silent.

Under the dazzling lights, Deng Hao's body trembled slightly. His face felt hot, burning fiercely.

He had no idea what his expression looked like now, but it certainly had to be awful.

Everyone in the hall turned their eyes toward Deng Hao and Bai Yanyun at Su Rui's final remark. Their expressions were strange—some amused, some sighing, and some who loved a spectacle had already taken out their phones to record.

"A wealthy young heir attends the Wen Feng Gala, tries showing off, and gets slapped in the face instead!"

By tomorrow morning, such a wildly popular headline would surely appear on the entertainment news Toutiao...

Bai Yanyun's face was pale.

She looked at Su Rui on the piano platform, then turned to glance at Li Ruobing, who calmly sipped red wine from her glass. She only felt a stifling surge rise from her chest to her head. Her body swayed, and she bumped into the decorative table beside her. Her lips trembled for a long time, but in the end, she could not say a single word.

"How boring... High mountains and flowing water, yet a true friend is hard to find." Su Rui shook his head and sighed. "I thought I had found an opponent who could match me evenly. Who would have thought... Heh, I was overthinking it."

Those words were like a sharp blade scraping bone, ruthlessly grinding over Deng Hao and Bai Yanyun's faces again and again.

Beneath the hall's brilliant lights, their faces were so dark they seemed ready to drip water.

Hu Yuhua stared in astonishment. Deng Hao's earlier performance had already exceeded his expectations. He had thought tonight's clash between Bai Yanyun and Li Ruobing would end with the former victorious... Yet Cheng Yaojin had appeared out of nowhere. Su Rui had utterly crushed Deng Hao with perfect, invincible poise. Even someone like him, who knew little about music, could hear the enormous difference between their melodies.

If Deng Hao's performance could be called an exquisite glasswork, then Su Rui's piano music was peerless blue-and-white porcelain passed down through the ages!

Snap!

Su Rui snapped his fingers and smiled. "Mr. Deng, do you think there's still any need to ask someone to judge who won our competition?"

"..." Veins bulged on Deng Hao's forehead, and his expression shifted unpredictably.

Between those two pieces, anyone who was not deaf could easily tell who was superior. Trying to confuse the public now would be pointless.

"You lost. Do you admit that?" Su Rui asked again.

"Heh..." Unexpectedly, Deng Hao chuckled twice and lightly applauded. "Mr. Su played A Midsummer Night's Dream quite well. But a music master does not become famous merely by reaching the pinnacle with one piece! There are many people in this world who take shortcuts. In order to gain fame, from the very day they begin learning the piano, they play the same piece day after day, year after year, just so that they can perform it on some occasion and astonish everyone present! To outsiders, it would naturally sound far more beautiful than someone else learning many famous pieces. Heh... Mr. Su, surely you aren't one of those people?"

The hall erupted in an uproar, then fell into deathly silence. No one spoke again.

Su Rui feigned surprise, then understood what Deng Hao meant. He slowly picked up a glass of champagne from beside the piano and took a sip. With drunken eyes, he leaned lazily against the grand piano, smiling broadly at Deng Hao.

Deng Hao remained unmoved and returned the smile.

He was gambling—gambling that Su Rui was exactly as he claimed, someone who had practiced one piece to absolute perfection in order to amaze the world!

Otherwise, there was no way to explain how Su Rui, who was about the same age as him, possessed such superb skill.

Hu Yuhua frowned.

"I've seen plenty of people who seek fame and reputation over the years. Having spent so long in the music world, I know that some people will use any means necessary to become famous. This... is nothing unusual." Deng Hao smiled without really smiling. A trace of complicated emotion drifted through his eyes, which shone with an air of wisdom. "I admit that I lost today! But the reason you defeated me does not mean your skill is truly that extraordinary. It is because you took a shortcut!"

Su Rui was expressionless.

He stared seriously at Deng Hao's face. Seeing how earnest the other man looked, he almost wanted to laugh.

But no one in the hall could laugh. The air had become incredibly oppressive.

Deng Hao was accusing him, yet Su Rui said nothing.

Could it be true?

The Young Girls no longer looked at Su Rui with the same infatuation as before. Their gazes had become somewhat strange, carrying traces of scrutiny and suspicion.

"I once studied under Master Merope. He once told me that if one wished to become a top master, one could not be confined by the quality of a single piece. One had to set one's sights upon famous music from all over the world." Seeing Su Rui like this, Deng Hao felt even more confident. A smile curled his lips. "Mr. Su, I lost tonight. When it comes to the technical mastery of A Midsummer Night's Dream, I truly am far inferior to you!"

After saying that, Deng Hao bent toward Su Rui with great grace and smiled. "Congratulations, Mr. Su. You achieved your goal. Tonight, you finally became famous."

Silence.

Because of Deng Hao's words, the hall became utterly silent. One could hear a pin drop.

People's thoughts began to stir as well. They looked at Su Rui and Deng Hao in the room, whispering softly among themselves. The way they looked at Su Rui was no longer quite so worshipful or admiring.

People's hearts were easily swayed.

Sometimes, just a few words could guide their direction.

"Yan Yun, let's go!" Deng Hao said softly at last. Holding Bai Yanyun's hand, he swept his indifferent gaze across the crowd. "Tonight, I have truly seen Tongzhou City's young talents. What an eye-opener! Heh."

Deng Hao and Bai Yanyun headed together toward the hall's exit.

The crowd remained silent, merely staring at Su Rui and wondering whether he had no intention of offering an explanation.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

At that moment, someone in the hall suddenly began applauding!

Su Rui, who had been leaning against the piano in silence, rose to his full height. Smiling at Deng Hao and Bai Yanyun, who were about to walk out the door, he laughed drunkenly. "Today has been quite an eye-opener for me too. I never imagined there would be people in this world who, after being slapped on the left side of the face, would voluntarily offer up the right side for another slap!"

The crowd erupted.

Deng Hao spun around sharply. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that since you don't want that face anymore, I'll tear it off for you and stomp on it a few more times." Su Rui stepped forward, his eyes filled with amusement and contempt. After taking two steps, he stopped before Li Ruobing, snatched the red wine glass from her hand, and drained it in one gulp. His eyes gleamed brightly. "You just said that there are people in this world who spend their whole lives practicing one piece to seek fame and reputation... But I'm different..."

The entire hall was deathly silent. Only Su Rui stood alone and proud in the center.

"To you, A Midsummer Night's Dream is the best piece I can play... But to me..." Su Rui said each word slowly. "It is the worst piece I can play so far!"

Li Ruobing's fingers tightened slightly.

"Pour me some wine." Su Rui turned around and handed the empty glass to Li Ruobing, then walked back toward the piano platform.

He sat down.

All ten fingers settled onto the keys.

Su Rui took a deep breath and did not look back. "Since you've decided to throw away your own dignity, don't blame my slap for hurting too much!"

Deng Hao's brow throbbed wildly. Looking at Su Rui in that state, he felt as though...

He had provoked someone he never should have provoked.