Wen Tingxue’s heart skipped a beat. "Who?"
A fight would inevitably draw blood.
But singled out, it implied something else.
At least, not as simple as mere bloodshed.
Que You closed his eyes. "Shang Ziqian."
That night, someone brought a knife.
A very sharp fruit knife.
Normally, a fight between children would suffice with fists and kicks.
No one would want to cause a death.
So, Yu Wenli and Xing Jiahe went empty-handed.
When the knife was revealed, both were stunned.
Then came the dodging.
But the person holding the knife was truly reckless, chasing the two of them wildly.
Yu Wenli, not one to have his temper tested, saw his chance and kicked the knife away.
Fatefully, it landed by Shang Ziqian's feet.
Shang Ziqian, determined to teach Xing Jiahe a lesson, picked up the knife and moved towards him.
Yu Wenli, fearing an accident, pushed aside a few attackers and rushed to Xing Jiahe’s side.
By the time he arrived, the tip of the knife had already pierced Xing Jiahe’s hand.
Blood rolled down his pale skin.
Yu Wenli’s eyes turned red with urgency. Without further thought, he deftly disarmed the assailant.
Shang Ziqian, naturally unwilling to yield, pushed and struggled, and the knife penetrated Shang Ziqian’s palm.
Completely, entirely, through and through.
And it was his right hand.
The incident happened so suddenly that even Yu Wenli couldn't recall the exact sequence of events that night.
But he had undeniably shattered Shang Ziqian’s dream of becoming a pianist.
Even with the fastest trip to the hospital, it couldn't be undone.
Shang Ziqian’s right hand would never again be able to play demanding pieces.
Yet, strangely, Shang Ziqian didn't cry out for revenge.
From start to finish, he barely uttered a word.
For so many years, he rarely mentioned the incident.
It was as if nothing had happened.
Yu Wenli felt immense guilt about it.
He knew Shang Ziqian’s talent for piano. Had this not occurred, he would have achieved great things.
Indeed, his fame might not have been inferior to Xing Jiahe's.
Alas...
Misfortune rarely comes alone. The following year, Shang Ziqian’s grandparents passed away in succession.
Shang Ziqian calmly handled the arrangements for both funerals.
He spared no expense, holding the most dignified ceremonies.
People in the alley all said Shang Ziqian was truly filial.
Yu Wenli sensed something was wrong and continued to monitor Shang Ziqian’s movements in secret.
On the seventh day after the death, Shang Ziqian returned from burning offerings, holding medicine and a knife.
By the time Yu Wenli arrived, Shang Ziqian’s consciousness was already hazy, and he was instinctively calling out, "Grandpa, Grandma."
Shang Ziqian was truly lucky to be alive.
If a specialist hadn’t arrived from the capital that day, Shang Ziqian would have certainly followed his grandparents.
Precisely because he truly wanted to die, he harbored a deep hatred for Yu Wenli, who had saved him.
Yu Wenli took care of Shang Ziqian until he recovered. During this time, no matter how Shang Ziqian cursed or hit him, Yu Wenli remained unfazed.
That period was the only time they coexisted peacefully.
However, good times don’t last.
The day before Shang Ziqian was to be discharged from the hospital, Grandpa and Grandma Wen unexpectedly passed away.
Yu Wenli received the news while he was tutoring Que You and the others.
Que You remembered it clearly. They were discussing having roast duck for dinner that night.
Grandpa and Grandma Wen had agreed, saying they would bring the roast duck back for them.
Instead, what they waited for were only two cold bodies.
At the funeral, Shang Ziqian brought a wreath to pay his respects.
He encountered Yu Wenli’s parents.
What should have been a normal scene, when observed by the people in the alley, inevitably led to gossip.
Though not said in front of Shang Ziqian, with so many people talking, the rumors eventually reached his ears.
Perhaps due to being abandoned as a child, what he hated most was others’ pity.
He couldn't accept that after his grandparents died, he was alone in the world.
While Yu Wenli could return to his parents’ embrace, and moreover, his parents were envied for their success.
Unlike him, who had been told since childhood that his parents were murderers.
"I still don't quite understand why Shang Ziqian showed up when Brother Yu returned to Mo Xiang Ya Ju."
Que You rubbed the rim of his cup, lost in some memory.
"And why they had such a big fight."
Most importantly, their relationship deteriorated rapidly after that.
Yu Wenli returned to his parents when he was nine and was withdrawn for almost half a year, spending his days with his guitar, playing from morning till night.
Often, he couldn’t even be bothered to go to school.
Even when they accompanied him, it was difficult to get him to speak.
Yu Wenhe and Wen Jinye were extremely worried, and they consulted one psychologist after another.
But the effect was minimal.
Yu Wenli’s personality began to change from that time onwards.
It wasn't until his tenth birthday that he received a letter, and only then did he seem to come back to life.
In truth, he didn't quite come back to life.
More accurately, he was like a walking corpse.
He remained taciturn, his face often expressionless.
He spent his days reading or playing musical instruments. Whoever spoke to him, his reaction was always slow.
This condition lasted for nearly a year and a half.
It wasn't until A Rui was thrown into the river by Shang Ziqian that he began to perceive the world again.
What was even stranger was that during the two years Yu Wenli was withdrawn, Shang Ziqian’s favorite pastime was to harass people around Yu Wenli.
From Xing Jiahe, to Mu Chen, then to Que You and Chi Zerui.
He missed almost none of them, as if he was determined to cause trouble.
Even stranger, when Yu Wenli recovered, the first thing he did wasn't to confront Shang Ziqian.
Instead, he formed a band.
Que You was their first fan.
He accompanied them from obscurity to millions of fans.
The difficulties involved were known only to those who experienced them.
For a band with an average age of less than twelve to gain recognition and performance opportunities.
It was difficult in itself, let alone with Shang Ziqian constantly causing trouble.
Many times, after Yu Wenli painstakingly found a venue, they would be disrupted by Shang Ziqian after just a few songs.
Shang Ziqian's reason was: "Why is your formation date June 1st?!"
Coincidentally.
The day Shang Ziqian's grandparents passed away was June 1st.
And their band's formation date also fell on June 1st.
At the time, no one thought much of it.
By the time Yu Wenli realized something was amiss, it was a week after the band's formation.
There was no point in changing it anymore.
For this matter, Shang Ziqian caused trouble day and night.
As soon as they started performing, he would arrive within half an hour.
They went back and forth like this for two years.
Finally, they settled at the bar owned by Chi Zerui’s uncle.
Shang Ziqian, out of respect for Chi Zerui’s uncle's reputation, didn't cause trouble there.
Wen Tingxue asked with some confusion, "Then why didn't they start here from the beginning?"
Que You smiled. "That leads to the dramatic saga of A Rui's family. I'll tell you more about it next time..."
As he finished speaking, Wen Tingxue received a WeChat message.
Que You instinctively glanced at it and said with a half-smile, "Sis, let me kindly remind you, absolutely do not get involved in the Mu family's affairs."
Wen Tingxue lowered her gaze and saw that the message was from Uncle Mu.
Mu Chen's father.