Chapter 58

Xu Yang’s adorable appearance couldn’t help but make Bi Yuan suddenly sneak up and kiss him. His lips were soft, and he couldn’t resist sucking on them for a moment. Seeing Xu Yang staring at him in disbelief with wide eyes, a corner of Bi Yuan’s heart melted, feeling incredibly comfortable.

“There are so many people here. What if…” Before Xu Yang could finish his sentence, or even have a chance to worry, Bi Yuan took his hand without asking and said, “I saw a lot of people heading toward the small square up ahead. There might be a performance. Let’s go check it out?” Without waiting for Xu Yang’s response, he pulled him off the bridge and followed the crowd.

Being passively led by the hand, Xu Yang was nervous about being noticed, but he also felt the warmth of Mr. Bi’s hand. The dry autumn night breeze made him feel cool, but the warmth of the hand touched his heart. So he foolishly and self-deceptively thought: It’s pitch black, no one will notice.

The square wasn’t big, with only a small pond and a few sparse fountains spraying water, but under the glow of the surrounding colored lights, it actually looked quite soft.

A young man in a long-sleeved T-shirt stood by the pond playing the violin, with a small box nearby filled with harmonicas. A small, earth-colored dog was crouched nearby. It was hard to tell what breed it was, but it was very well-behaved. The dog had a small tag around its neck that read, “If you like my music, please buy a harmonica and spread the music by word of mouth.” There was also a QR code for payment printed next to it.

“Yangyang, look, that dog is stepping on a phone.” Biyuan, with his sharp eyes, pointed at the puppy and told Xu Yang.

Before Xu Yang could ask why out of curiosity, a young mother pushing a stroller beside them explained, “The phone belongs to the student. After scanning the QR code to pay, the phone will vibrate. If the phone doesn’t vibrate, someone has taken the harmonica, and the puppy will bark.”

The young mother smiled as she spoke: “They come here every night. The student attends an art school nearby. He’s been selling harmonicas for years, and everyone who lives around here knows him…” Before she could finish speaking, the young student had already begun his performance for the night. As soon as the violin melody began, Xu Yang immediately smiled and named the piece, surprising Bi Yuan and the people around him.

“Yang Yang…” Bi Yuan was about to say something, but before he could finish, he saw Xu Yang walk over to the dog with his phone, pet its head, and then scan the QR code to buy a harmonica.

After Xu Yang tried blowing the harmonica a couple of times, he walked directly to the student playing the violin, nodded his head to the rhythm, found a suitable spot, and began playing along with the melody.

At that moment, Bìyuán’s mind felt like fireworks had exploded. Beneath the fireworks was a handsome young man standing in front of a teenager playing the violin, blowing a cheap harmonica yet producing the most beautiful music. At least in Bìyuán’s heart, that music was like heavenly music, and the scene was as beautiful as a fairy.

That scene was deeply etched into Bi Yuan’s mind. Years later, he even commissioned an artist to paint the scene from his memory and hung it on the wall of their bedroom.

The applause came about half a minute after Xu Yang’s harmonica duet with the violin. At that moment, Xu Yang, who had been looking at the student, turned his gaze toward Bi Yuan. He smiled, his eyes sparkling like stars, staring intently at Bi Yuan for a long time, as if he wanted to play this piece of music for him. For a moment, a warm current surged through Bi Yuan’s heart.

“Thank you so much! I’ve been performing at the small square for a long time, but no one has ever played with me before. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful experience!”

After the music ended, the young student couldn’t help but embrace Xu Yang, as if hugging a dear friend, unwilling to let go for a long time. His voice betrayed an uncontrollable joy that infected Xu Yang. Though he wasn’t one to engage in excessive physical contact, he silently allowed the passionate embrace, though his eyes secretly glanced toward Bi Yuan.

Closed Wall had noticed Xu Yang being hugged and had also seen him secretly observing his expression, but he interpreted it as a friendly embrace and could see the obvious joy on Xu Yang’s face, so he didn’t mind. Even when he saw many people, inspired by Xu Yang, scanning the QR code to buy harmonicas, causing the puppy to become nervous, he walked over and patted the puppy’s head.

In the time that followed, Xu Yang asked the violinist what pieces he could play, and they performed Mozart’s Minuet, Tchaikovsky’s Neapolitan Dance, and Wald’s Ice Skating Waltz together. It wasn’t until the night grew dark and the crowd began to disperse that they reluctantly packed up their things.

“I sold so many harmonicas today—enough to cover my and Kaixin’s food expenses for a week! Thank you!” The violinist boy cheerfully thanked Xu Yang and Bi Yuan while packing up his things.

Xu Yang, who hadn’t been this happy in a long time, watched the boy’s excited expression and couldn’t help but smile all night, his eyes crinkling with joy. He asked the boy, “Is that your dog? Is his name Happy? What a nice name…” He then patted the little dog’s head, who was still guarding his owner’s phone.

“It’s my favorite friend!” the boy answered loudly, as if being friends with this little dog was something to be proud of. He said, “I found him by the roadside. It was very hot, and he was almost dying of thirst. I gave him my water to drink. Later that night, I met him again at the small square, and after that, he came every day to listen to me play the violin, so I just brought him home to live with me.”

The puppy, named Kaixin, seemed to know that his young master was talking about him. He picked up the phone and rubbed against his young master, tilting his head and wagging his tail in a very cute manner.

Xu Yang was still chatting with the young man. The two seemed to have endless topics to discuss, talking about music one moment and part-time work the next. Xu Yang had never discussed these topics with Bi Yuan before, but at that moment, Bi Yuan wasn’t bothered by the lack of common ground with Xu Yang. Because even when Yang Yang was chatting with like-minded friends about topics he didn’t understand, he would still occasionally look at him with his bright, kind eyes.

In the morning, Bi Yuan asked Li Mu how to date, and Li Mu told him that evening to let things take their natural course. But at that time, he didn’t understand what “natural course” meant. He worried that if he didn’t clarify things with Xu Yang sooner and make their relationship clearer, he would lose the feeling and taste of love.

But now Bi Yuan seemed to understand what Li Mu meant by “natural course.”

Only now did he realize how much he loved this person, so much that he felt ashamed for having once arrogantly tried to test and destroy that purity through sex and filming sexual videos. But Xu Yang was so good—not only had he never resented him for it, but he had always accepted Bi Yuan’s demands with gratitude.

But now he no longer wanted Xu Yang’s gratitude. He began to arrogantly speculate whether the eyes of Xu Yang, who was currently talking to others but kept glancing his way, also held a hint of lingering affection. He wanted something more—for instance, the opportunity to be in a relationship.

“Yangyang, let’s be together!” Bi Yuan shouted at Xu Yang, who was still chatting with the young man. Seeing him turn his head in surprise toward him, he shouted again solemnly, “Yangyang! Let’s be together!”