Chapter 54

Lin Chunfeng agreed to write a song for Bai Yin, and even a whole album for her.

When this news spread online, fans were shocked and couldn't believe it -

"I knew it! I knew their mutual following on social media wasn't just a coincidence!"

"So they really are collaborating, how exciting!"

"I'm just so curious, Lin Chunfeng has never written so many songs for the same artist before, is he really doing a whole album?"

"It's been officially announced, how could it be fake."

"I really want to know more about their relationship, it's so fascinating."

"Bai Yin's resources are simply the best!"

"With Lin Chunfeng's personality, they can't just have a business partnership, they must be good friends as well."

"With their mutual following, how could they not be good friends already."

"Could there be something more than friendship between them, I'm just so curious!"

In his office, Chen Huaixiao was looking over the schedules for the artists in the next six months.

At the top of Bai Yin's schedule was making a new album, with the music production and supervision by Lin Chunfeng.

Chen Huaixiao's brows furrowed slightly.

Lately he had been busy with IKU's matters, and didn't even know when Bai Yin got acquainted with Lin Chunfeng.

Chen Huaixiao actually wished that she would chat with him more about her work and life, just like any normal couple.

But Bai Yin only spoke the bare minimum with him every day. Her own thoughts and feelings, interesting anecdotes, she wouldn't share any of that with him.

Chen Huaixiao knew why - it all boiled down to three words: disinterest.

One would only not have any desire to share anything with someone they don't like.

Thinking of this, Chen Huaixiao's heart burned fiercely, yet he was powerless to extinguish the flames.

Chen Huaixiao had met Lin Chunfeng before, and knew this talented producer had an eccentric and arrogant personality. Other artists at the company had to plead repeatedly to get even one song from him - getting any was already a great favor.

He didn't expect that Lin Chunfeng would personally produce a whole album for Bai Yin.

When Shen Bin mentioned this matter, he was over the moon, pride evident in his expressions.

With Lin Chunfeng's input, plus Bai Yin's ethereal voice and steadily rising popularity, the album selling well was guaranteed.

Bai Yin was an artist of Brilliant Stars Media, so the company earning the lion's share of profits was a given. Shen Bin had always prioritized the company's interests like a professional office dog, so of course he was elated -

"Ahhh Bai Yin is so capable!"

"How did she get acquainted with a big shot like Lin Chunfeng!"

"Meow meow meow, she's so amazing!"

Hearing his "meow meow meow", Chen Huaixiao frowned, looking at him as if he was an idiot.

Shen Bin immediately restrained his exuberant expressions, reverting to his professional and serious office worker facade.

Chen Huaixiao's slender fingers lightly tapped the desk. "Check how they got to know each other," he said indifferently.

"How they met isn't important!" Shen Bin said excitedly. "What's important is the whole album! The whole album - our company will earn a windfall from this!"

Chen Huaixiao glanced at Shen Bin. The sudden chill in his eyes instantly sobered Shen Bin.

He almost forgot, Bai Yin wasn't just an artist of their company...she was also Chen Huaixiao's wife!

No wonder the boss was so sensitive.

"I'll go investigate right away!"

Shen Bin retreated from the office apprehensively.

...

Bai Yin sent Lin Chunfeng back to school. The two walked on the street in the winter chill.

The girl wore a pure white down jacket, with a ring of fluffy rabbit fur around her neck, contrasting sharply with her fair complexion.

She wore a face mask, blocking out the harsh winter cold, and of course also to avoid being recognized on the streets.

Lin Chunfeng also had on a mask, and a very stylish denim jacket. The print on the back incorporated Chinese animation elements, very fashionable.

Walking together, even with their facial features hidden, they gave off an attractive couple vibe. In fact, after hearing her voice at the Maple Music Hall that day, Lin Chunfeng had already decided to write songs for her.

So the first song was already completed. He asked her to the recording studio today to try singing it, so he could make minor adjustments to the melody after listening to the demo.

Bai Yin followed Lin Chunfeng and entered Beicheng Media University.

She still felt it unbelievable, confirming again with the man beside her, "You really are Lin Chunfeng?"

"Want to see my ID?"

Lin Chunfeng smoothly took out his ID card. Bai Yin accepted it.

The photo on his ID card was from five or six years ago, but was no different from how he looked presently.

Bai Yin carefully examined the photo on the ID card, then looked at him in person. She realized there was little change because his dark eyes remained clear and pure.

Perhaps only people who kept a clean and pure heart could have such eyes - stripped of worldliness and cunning, no plots or schemes, only a passion for music. So time was particularly kind to him, leaving him with a youthful air despite the years.

Bai Yin envied him a little.

If possible, who wouldn't want to sever all unnecessary connections with the outside world, and immerse themselves in their own little inner world, persisting in their ideals and passions?

Bai Yin handed the ID card back to him with a smile. "You've tricked me for so long!"

"Actually I didn't trick you. Li Chunhong, Lin Chunfeng - you were just too dumb."

"I really didn't think in that direction!"

Bai Yin had always seen Lin Chunfeng as a super big shot, how could she have associated this nerdy assistant with him?

Passing by a cafe on campus, Lin Chunfeng stopped in his tracks.

Through the floor-to-ceiling window, he saw an elegant white piano placed quietly in a corner of the cafe. Sunlight streamed onto the black and white piano keys, as if it was frozen in time.

He suddenly had an idea. He brought Bai Yin into the cafe and sat her down in front of the piano, asking, "Can you play the piano?"

"I can, but not very well."

"Let's play together then, what do you think?"

"Play what?"

Lin Chunfeng took some music score sheets out of his sling bag, placing them on the piano's music stand. "Let's play this song I wrote for you, 'Meeting You in the Summer Breeze'."

Bai Yin also wanted to hear the melody played live by the big shot's hands, to help her absorb this song better. So she nodded in agreement.

Lin Chunfeng's long, beautiful fingers then landed on the black and white piano keys. With each flow of his fingertips, gentle, beautiful notes trickled out unhurriedly.

Whether listening to his music or watching his elegant fingers on the piano, it was an extremely pleasing audiovisual experience.

Under Lin Chunfeng's encouraging gaze, Bai Yin also tried to join in. Looking at the music score, she played along to this gentle, delicate song.

At the start she was a little flustered due to unfamiliarity, but Lin Chunfeng guided her all the way, allowing her heart to slowly settle down.

It was as if an entire summer breeze blew past the osmanthus tree, scattering tiny petals that fluttered down gently. The girl in a white dress sat on a garden chair, petals landing on her shoulders. Looking back, she saw the youth in a white shirt leaning casually against a motorcycle. His composed dark eyes glanced lightly at her.

Bai Yin was immersed in the music, and also immersed in her own memories.

Those beautiful, precious memories she had hidden away...she would always remember that summer when she first met Chen Huaixiao. Her heart thumped rapidly, like the bubbles continuously popping out of a bottle of soda.

Chen Huaixiao, Chen Huaixiao, Chen Huaixiao...his name accompanied her to sleep every night, permeating her dreams.

No matter how unrecognizable and shameful she later became for the sake of revenge...Bai Yin had already given him her most beautiful, purest side.

As he played, Lin Chunfeng turned his head quietly, gazing tenderly and attentively at the girl beside him who was lost in thought.

...

This photo of the two playing piano together was swiftly spread online.

The photo's angle was excellent - capturing the winter sunlight streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling window, the romantic white piano, and the youth's clean yet deep gaze.

In an instant, the entire web exploded. Rumors of Bai Yin and Lin Chunfeng being in a relationship spread like wildfire -

"I knew it! I knew there was something between them!"

"The way Lin Chunfeng looks at Bai Yin, omg, too killer!"

"They look so good together at the piano!"

"Please, just get together already!"

"The civil affairs bureau is here for you, please get married on the spot!"

"‘I’ll write songs for you. From now on, every song will be for you.’"

"Ahhh kill me, let me add some cheer for the couple!"

"Hey now, aren't you fans letting your imagination run too wild? They just happen to have a music collaboration, playing piano together is normal right."

"Agree. It's just a working relationship, stop speculating."

"Anyway I'm determined to buy the album, this ship is too good!"

... Bai Yin sprawled on a reclining sofa, browsing through the comments of the fans' wild imaginations about her and Lin Chunfeng on the hot search topics. She snuck an apprehensive glance at Chen Huaixiao.

The man wore a casual and comfortable gray turtleneck sweater, sitting in an armchair by the bookshelves and flipping through a thick book. He exuded composure, with an indifferent expression.

It seemed...he didn't care about the online rumors linking her romantically with another man.

Actually there was nothing between her and Lin Chunfeng. It was just because that photo was shot at a very aesthetic angle, with a romantic filter added. Seeing it prompted the netizens' imaginations to run wild.

Bai Yin silently opened Shen Bin the assistant's WeChat, asking about the situation: "Help! Does chx know about this?"

Shen Bin: "Don't worry, when it comes to gossip about you, Boss Chen always finds out first thing."

Bai Yin: "He's...not angry right?"

Shen Bin: "It's fine, he only kicked down two high-end speakers in the music room, and flipped over a blue and white porcelain vase in his office."

"..."

Bai Yin frowned, and glanced again at the aloof Chen Huaixiao.

He didn't seem very angry at all.

Bai Yin reckoned she was overthinking it. Chen Huaixiao probably didn't care about stuff like this.

The plastic marriage between them was agreed upon from the start to only entail physical fidelity to each other, but neither would interfere in the other's life or work.

Thinking this far, Bai Yin relaxed a little, humming a tune as she sauntered back to her own room to rest.

However, after she had already fallen asleep, she suddenly heard the sound of piano music from downstairs. It was the first song Li Chunfeng had written for her new album - "Meeting You in the Summer Wind".

Bai Yin thought he would stop after playing it once. She ignored him and continued sleeping with her head covered.

But unexpectedly, this man played it over and over again...seven or eight times!

The piano music woke Bai Yin up completely. Irritated, she flipped off her quilt and angrily went downstairs.

There, she saw a black piano in the open glass room on the first floor that Chen Huaixiao had brought from who-knows-where.

He sat at the piano, adeptly playing this song.

This was the first time Bai Yin had seen him play the piano. His long, beautiful fingers nimbly danced across the black and white keys. His noble and elegant temperament unexpectedly blended well with his innate edginess.

If Li Chunfeng playing the piano was like a flutter of dancing snowflakes on a winter's day, then Chen Huaixiao was more akin to the frozen miles of a winter's arrival.

Although very pleasing to the eyes and ears, it was the middle of the night!

Who plays piano in the middle of the night!

Bai Yin hurried downstairs in her furry slippers, angrily making her way to Chen Huaixiao's piano and slapped her palm on the keys: "Chen Huaixiao, you're disturbing the peace in the middle of the night!"

Chen Huaixiao continued to elegantly and calmly play, his expression indifferent: "There are no residents within a hundred meters, so it doesn't count as disturbing the peace."

"But you're disturbing me! I need to sleep. I still have to go to the recording studio tomorrow!"

"Oh." Chen Huaixiao glanced at her. "I thought you liked this song."

After speaking, ignoring her objections and irritation, he sped up the tempo and continued to frantically play "Meeting You in the Summer Wind".

The originally gentle and melodious tune was turned by him into something like "Symphony of Fate".

"......"

Bai Yin now realized that while Chen Huaixiao was outwardly indifferent and didn't even mention the scandalous hot searches, he was actually harboring resentments here against her.

Bai Yin pressed down on the keys and commanded: "Stop playing."

"Move your hand." His voice was low and forceful.

"No way." Bai Yin stubbornly sat in the soft chair next to him, laying her arms across the black and white keys and obstinately saying: "No more playing."

Chen Huaixiao pried her hands away, using force. Bai Yin was peeled off the piano keys by him.

"So annoying!"

Chen Huaixiao glanced at her, the corners of his eyes mockingly raised, as he continued playing the piano.

The next second, Bai Yin's hands clasped his neck as her alluring figure sat on his lap: "You know, this song... reminds me of when brother was 18, standing under the osmanthus tree, so beautiful, like an elegant white rose."

"When I was 18 that year, the Bai Yin in front of me was still a scrawny little monkey."

"That's right."

Bai Yin leaned over to kiss his lips: "Back then that little monkey's greatest wish was to hurry up and grow beautiful, then pluck this white rose that was brother."

The music abruptly came to a screeching halt.

Chen Huaixiao ignited in an instant, putting his arms around the woman's slender waist, picked her up horizontally, and strode upstairs towards the bedroom.

Bai Yin hooked his neck with her arms, sneering coldly: "Not playing anymore?"

Chen Huaixiao's expression was icy, he didn't speak, carrying her into the bedroom and forcefully shutting the door.

She always knew how to deal with him.