Chapter 092: Blue Love

At that, Wang Yue'e, usually so domineering, actually softened her tone by half and pleaded, "Zhilin, can you grant a mother's request?"

After speaking, Wang Yue'e immediately turned her eyes to Yang Zhilin.

In truth, not only she, but also Hu Bin, Zhang Yang, Jiang Lele, and everyone else present fixed their gaze on the dazzling Yang Zhilin, watching to see whether she would choose to become the heroine of tonight and complete a beautiful tale of prince and princess.

In the hall, one person's gaze was especially complicated, as if his heart had been twisted tight. He was Wang Keming, the deputy class monitor of Senior Three, Class Seven, who had once pursued Yang Zhilin and failed.

Wang Keming had always felt that in their class he alone was the one most suited to Yang Zhilin, but when he compared himself with Hu Bin, they seemed to belong to entirely different worlds. And so, inwardly, he began to pray in silence.

While everyone's attention was fixed on Yang Zhilin, Lin Yu, who outwardly seemed carefree and unbothered, had wandered over to the adorable little girl Qi Xin and was talking nonsense with her about Sailor Moon.

Qi Xin's mother, Wu Nianci, had earlier seen Lin Yu walking alongside Yang Zhilin.

Now, seeing that Lin Yu was paying no attention whatsoever to what was unfolding, she asked curiously, "You seem very calm. That girl isn't your girlfriend, is she?"

"No." Lin Yu, who had just been defeated by the little girl's "In the name of the moon, I will punish you," smiled faintly and replied.

"Then why is she looking at you?" Wu Nianci asked with a smile, glancing toward where Yang Zhilin stood.

Lin Yu rose to his feet and turned to look. Sure enough, under everyone's watchful eyes, Yang Zhilin had focused her gaze on him.

In that moment, Lin Yu's heart gave a sudden, inexplicable constriction. In the envious, jealous, and resentful stares of all the boys in the hall, he merely gave the goddess-like Yang Zhilin a slight nod.

Receiving his response, Yang Zhilin let a very faint smile appear on her face. She walked up to the piano, switched on the microphone mounted there, and said softly, "I dedicate to you Blue Love. As for whether the song ends with people parting or gathering, I do not ask."

When she finished, Yang Zhilin sat elegantly by the piano and began to play softly with her slender, lily-white fingers.

A celebrated man once said: listening to light music, drinking afternoon tea, strolling along a wooded path—these are all pleasures for the eye and heart that I love. In ordinary times, my mind is burdened with a hundred sorrows, and every matter wears down the body; I labor hard to make a living. Yet at such moments, the tired limbs stretch out, and the drifting thoughts grow still. I have the right to ask life for a blank space and fill it myself. If my mood is too foul, I fill it with beer and friends. When there is neither wine nor company, I still have Paul Mauriat's music.

And among Paul Mauriat's pieces, the one I naturally loved most was the lovely Blue Love.

Under Yang Zhilin's heartfelt playing, Blue Love was nearly perfect. Its pleasing melody flowed like water, clear and natural, like the music of heaven.

The tune was graceful and tender, gentle and affectionate, enchanting, spreading through everyone's ears and leaving them warm, romantic, intoxicated.

It seemed to conjure up blue sky, blue sea, blue hearts, blue love.

Serene, tranquil, sincere, deeply affectionate blue love.

When the piece ended, Yang Zhilin suddenly stood and walked with her head held high to the spot where Lin Yu stood.

Before anyone in the hall could react, she took Lin Yu's hand directly and walked with him toward the exit. Wherever they passed, the crowd naturally parted.

After they left, the hall erupted into chaos, with discussion rising and falling in waves.

Yang Xiong and Xia Ling exchanged a glance and both let out helpless sighs. They felt that their daughter and Lin Yu had rather badly embarrassed the Hu family, pushing the poor fellow into the eye of the storm.

"No wonder he was always brushing us off. So he already had a girlfriend like that!" Jiang Lele, who had earlier declared with absolute confidence that she would win Lin Yu over, sighed softly.

"Sure enough, no diamond can hide its brilliance!" said Hu Shui, who had an ordinary face but a proud heart.

"I think I may have had my heart broken..." This was the silent, tearful lament echoing through the minds of more than a dozen boys present. The sound of hearts breaking was countless.

Wang Keming left in a daze. Hu Bin, meanwhile, put on a brave front and went up onto the stage to continue hosting the unfinished eighteenth-birthday coming-of-age ceremony. That, in turn, earned him quite a good reputation.

No one had expected that the perfect Prince Hu Bin would, at his coming-of-age ceremony, grow up through heartbreak.

On the other side, after leaving the hotel lobby, Yang Zhilin drew a long breath and let go of Lin Yu's hand. At that moment, whether from nervousness or embarrassment, there was a faint flush on her slightly mixed-race features.

"Why did you have to go so far?" Lin Yu asked once they stopped, puzzled. He felt that Yang Zhilin need not have done this; it would have been better to decline the request to play the piano a little more tactfully.

"Because I am Yang Zhilin, because this is simply who I am," Yang Zhilin answered coolly.

"All right, then let's go home." Lin Yu felt that her actions did suit her character, so he did not say much more.

As for the fact that, after making such a splash, he would inevitably be resented by many of the boys, he did not mention it at all, nor did he give it a second thought.

"But it's not midnight yet. In fairy tales, doesn't Cinderella's glass slipper vanish only after twelve? Today, I want to be the Cinderella in a fairy tale," Yang Zhilin said with a light laugh.

"Heh, you're not Cinderella. You're the real Snow White," Lin Yu said with a smile.

"But being too perfect isn't necessarily a good thing," Yang Zhilin said, not denying her own excellence; she believed excessive modesty was merely hypocrisy.

"Come on. I'll go get the car," Lin Yu said, then slowly walked toward where the bicycle was parked.

This time, because the little red Flying Pigeon had been parked in an unobtrusive spot, it had not suffered any damage.

When Lin Yu pushed the bicycle and slowly appeared before Yang Zhilin, the girl's clear, slightly cool eyes were instantly filled with amusement. She had never ridden a bicycle before.

But she said nothing more, only murmuring, "Suddenly, I very much want to go to the seaside."

"Heh, how about I ride you there?" Lin Yu said half jokingly, holding the bicycle.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Yang Zhilin immediately said, "That is exactly what I mean."

"All right, get on then. I know that road, the coastal highway, very well." Lin Yu did not say the refusal he had originally intended.

After speaking, he sat directly on the black leather bicycle seat, planted one foot on the ground, patted the rear rack, and signaled for her to get on. He thought to himself that since the theme of the day was a fairy tale, they might as well play it out until midnight before ending it.

Once Yang Zhilin was seated, she placed her hands lightly around Lin Yu's waist. With a push of his foot, the bicycle rolled forward slowly.

That scene happened to be seen by Wang Keming, who had just stepped out of the hotel.

At the sight, Wang Keming felt his heart shatter completely. Yet at the same time, he realized that Yang Zhilin truly was not like the kind of shallow woman who valued only appearances.

Otherwise, she would not have given up Audi, BMW, and even Maserati to sit on the back of a bicycle.

At that moment, Wang Keming, with a bitter twinge in his heart, immediately understood the difference between a good girl and an exceptional one.

A good girl knows how to choose the right person for her future.

An exceptional girl rises above the vulgar world and remains untouched by dust.