Mu Yao knew Zhou Yuan catching her and Nangong Ruihui in each other’s arms would be a huge problem. She tried to let go, but Nangong Ruihui refused. Mu Yao pushed her twice, yet couldn’t move her at all.

The two of them had completely different thoughts. Mu Yao was thinking that Zhou Yuan knew they were both boys, so hugging each other this ambiguously really didn’t look good. Nangong Ruihui, meanwhile, thought that she and Mu Yao were engaged, and they looked like a boy and a girl anyway. A hug wasn’t excessive. They hadn’t even kissed.

Ignoring Zhou Yuan’s dumbfounded stare, Nangong Ruihui pinched Mu Yao’s chubby cheek hard. Then she released him without the slightest hurry.

“Ruihui, why’d you pinch me? It hurts…” Mu Yao covered her left cheek and looked at Nangong Ruihui aggrievedly.

“Because I want to tell you that, in this academy, I’m the only one allowed to bully you.” Nangong Ruihui gave him a faintly indulgent smile and patted him on the shoulder. “Tomorrow, I’m taking the academy’s car to a citywide violin competition. You’re coming too. Refusing means suffering the same fate as Yang Xu.”

With that, Nangong Ruihui left the field with elegant steps, never once looking back.

“What nonsense… She knows perfectly well that I’d follow her if she asked. And she still has to threaten me…” Mu Yao grumbled under her breath, though she couldn’t bring herself to hate this kind of “threat.”

“Mu Yao, what were you two doing just now? Would you please explain? This is a very serious matter.” After Nangong Ruihui left, Zhou Yuan approached and interrogated her. Her expression looked especially severe.

“Uh… Well, it’s not what you think. Someone was giving me trouble, and Rui—Student Nangong stood up for me. That’s all.”

“Oh, I believe you. Were you about to call her Ruihui? How intimate~”

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you suddenly reacting so strongly?” Mu Yao asked cautiously. Even if she had hugged Nangong Ruihui, Zhou Yuan shouldn’t be angry about it.

“Am I reacting strongly? No! I’m telling you to remind yourself at all times that you can’t expose your identity as a man in the academy. Did I tell you to change your sexual orientation too? Hmm?!”

“No…”

Even now, Mu Yao still didn’t understand why Zhou Yuan was raising her voice at him. He didn’t like boys, to begin with. Even if he did, what would that have to do with Zhou Yuan? Technically speaking, Zhou Yuan wasn’t his manager anymore.

From the company’s perspective, this really wasn’t appropriate. If someone with bad intentions took a picture of him embracing Nangong Ruihui, it could become a scandal and a stain on his reputation once everyone confirmed that he was actually Long Xueer. That would be disastrous for his future. Very few people wanted their idol to stop being single.

But if it was based on Zhou Yuan’s personal wishes…

She simply didn’t want him getting too close to Nangong Ruihui.

Mu Yao didn’t dare think any further.

‘…’

Self-deception. It really was quite possible.

If it were the former, Zhou Yuan only needed to tell him not to get too close to boys. After all, Long Xueer was publicly known as a girl. The two things had nothing to do with each other.

Mu Yao stopped thinking about it. Maybe she was just overthinking things.

That was what she told herself.

…

The next day.

Yesterday, Nangong Ruihui had said it was the academy’s car. In reality, it was her family’s car. Mu Yao had never seen an academy equipped with a stretch limousine before. Even a noble academy wouldn’t go that far.

The driver was Nangong Ruihui’s personal butler, Wang Kong, whom Mu Yao had never met before. He wore a suit and white gloves, and everything he did placed Nangong Ruihui first.

Nangong Ruihui’s music teacher was supposed to come along too, but she had taken sick leave and couldn’t make it today. As a result, the eight-door stretch limousine carried only three people.

Mu Yao and Nangong Ruihui were still sitting beside each other.

“Young Master Ruihui, may I ask who this is?” The butler glanced at the rather nervous Mu Yao through the central rearview mirror. His voice was deep and seductive, filled with the romantic charm of a mature man.

“Drive your car.” Nangong Ruihui kept gazing at the scenery outside and didn’t answer him.

“Yes.”

Mu Yao hadn’t expected Nangong Ruihui to be so cold even toward her own butler. Was she the only one favored by her?

Apart from Mu Yao, he had barely seen Nangong Ruihui smile at anyone else.

Although Nangong Ruihui hadn’t invited him to sit beside her, she deliberately moved farther inside, giving Mu Yao a silent hint. Only then did he sit down beside her with peace of mind.

There was no tide of people and no noisy din. Their destination was a medium-sized recording studio.

The preliminary rounds had already ended. This was the final match, with only two contestants remaining.

The other contestant was the very girl who had defeated Nangong Ruihui in the previous violin competition.

At the thought of that, Nangong Ruihui clenched her fists. She couldn’t tolerate anyone surpassing her in the field she excelled at.

She had fought her way to the finals this time just to meet her “old friend” again. Nangong Ruihui knew that girl would come.

As for why she had insisted on bringing Mu Yao, even Nangong Ruihui couldn’t explain it herself.

Perhaps watching her perform would help her stay steadier. Having someone accompany her also made the experience feel different.

“Ruihui, good luck! You have to win!”

Mu Yao clasped both hands around one of Nangong Ruihui’s hands. This was the only thing he could do to help.

He wanted the warmth passing through his hands to carry his feelings to her.

Call it wishful thinking or self-indulgence. Mu Yao simply wanted Nangong Ruihui to win.

He didn’t even say, “It’s okay if you lose.” He knew how proud Nangong Ruihui was. All she needed was the conviction that she could definitely win.

“I will~” Nangong Ruihui seemed to fill with strength from head to toe.

There were six professional judges this time, including several renowned violinists and professors of music theory.

One of the judges in the middle looked a little familiar to Mu Yao. He thought he had seen her on television before.

Nangong Ruihui was the second contestant to perform, so the pressure was considerable. If her opponent performed well, that pressure would only grow.

Last time, Nangong Ruihui had lost so completely that she had been forced to admit defeat. Her opponent had flawlessly performed a seven-star-difficulty piece.

Nangong Ruihui had practiced that piece too, but her performance had been stiff. She kept rushing the notes, and the frustration had once driven her to hide in a corner of her room and cry.

She hadn’t even performed a six-star piece well, while her opponent had mastered a seven-star one.

Nangong Ruihui had once believed her violin skills had reached perfection. Now she knew that belief had been nothing more than the view of a frog in a well.

The judges’ murmured discussion fell silent. All their attention shifted to the violin pieces played by the two contestants.

The two performances would last less than ten minutes combined. That was why the judges had made the trip here.

It would be the ultimate feast for the ears—and the decisive factor in a fair contest between the two.

The girl with the ponytail began. She looked straight at the judges with confidence, her expression unchanged.

A world-class melody soon entered its main passage: a violin piece adapted from Liszt’s piano composition *Evening Harmonies*.

The judges praised her one after another. Without exception, any contestant who dared to perform this piece possessed formidable skill.

Nangong Ruihui’s lips curled upward.

This was the very piece that had defeated her last time. Was she really going to fall in the same place again?

This time, she had come prepared.

She would make sure this troublesome opponent paid for it.