Villain: Fairy, please offer your loyalty

This isn't a no-go, it's a recommendation for the treasure book "Villain: Fairy, Please Offer Your Loyalty":

Gu Fan's voice wasn't loud, but every word was piercing.

"You've been living in this small courtyard since birth, reading only dead books and playing other people's stories. Your mountains are nothing more than artificial hills in the back garden; your streams are just a few splashes in a foot bath."

"This is what is called 'forcing oneself to write new words to express sorrow'."

"What are you so self-satisfied about? It's like sawing wood, it's making my head buzz."

"You...you..."

Cai Wenji was so angry that she trembled all over, and her eyes immediately turned red.

No one has ever said that about her before!

She's a talented woman!

She was the center of attention!

"I refuse to accept this! If you can play something better, Cai Yan... Cai Yan will serve you like a slave! If not, please take back your words and apologize to my zither!"

Gu Fan smiled.

He laughed like a big bad wolf who had just seen a little white rabbit fall into a trap.

"I don't care about being treated like a slave, I have plenty of animals to feed. But..."

Gu Fan snapped his fingers.

"Tongzi, exchange for that 'Steinway Crystal Lover'."

boom!

The courtyard was bathed in bright light.

Cai Yong was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, thinking that the immortal master was about to unleash a powerful attack to kill people.

The light dissipated.

A colossal, completely transparent structure, refracting a halo of seven colors, stands quietly among the bamboo grove.

The crystal piano body gleamed in the sunlight, and the black and white keys resembled neatly arranged jade stones.

The lines, so full of modern industrial aesthetics, and the visual impact from thousands of years later, left the indigenous people present speechless.

"What...what is this?"

Cai Wenji opened her eyes wide with curiosity.

"piano."

Gu Fan straightened his cuffs and walked over.

He didn't sit down, but instead stroked the piano lid first.

At that moment, his demeanor changed.

The carefree, cynical, and dissolute air about him disappeared.

Instead, there is a profound, melancholic sense of history, as if it has seen through the vicissitudes of thousands of years.

Gu Fan sat down, his slender fingers hovering above the piano keys.

"Listen up, little girl."

"Today, I, the Holy Son, will show you what true... Chinese style is."

when--

The first note fell.

Crisp and ethereal.

Like jade beads falling onto a plate, it instantly pierced Cai Wenji's eardrums.

That was a tone she had never heard before!

More grand than the guqin, clearer than the se, each note seems to resonate, striking deep into the soul.

The prelude begins.

That's Jay Chou's "Blue and White Porcelain".

In an era where people still listen to the five notes of the pentatonic scale, this melody, which combines R&B rhythms with the pentatonic scale, is simply a game-changer.

Gu Fan closed his eyes slightly and began to sing softly:

"The unglazed porcelain is outlined with blue and white brushstrokes, the intensity gradually fading..."

"The peony depicted on the bottle is just like your first makeup..."

His voice was magnetic, languid, yet deeply affectionate.

Cai Wenji was startled.

This word...

Is this what words are?

"Unglazed porcelain", "Blue and white porcelain", "Peony", "First makeup".

With just a few words, a stunning picture of Jiangnan slowly unfolded in her mind.

There are no obscure allusions or abstruse philosophical principles.

It's beautiful.

The ultimate beauty.

Gu Fan's fingers danced across the black and white keys, faster and faster, like flowing water.

"The gentle scent of sandalwood wafts through the window, and I understand your unspoken thoughts..."

"The brushstrokes on the rice paper are halfway stopped here..."

Cai Yong, who was standing nearby, was dumbfounded.

He clutched his hair with both hands, tears streaming down his face, muttering repeatedly, "A masterpiece... another masterpiece... this artistic conception, this choice of words... I've lived in vain! In vain!"

Cai Wenji, at this moment, had forgotten how to breathe.

She stared intently at Gu Fan's profile.

Sunlight filtered through the bamboo leaves and fell on him, making the "rough man" she had previously despised seem to glow.

That focus, that deep affection, that effortless elegance.

How can this be considered a boor?

This is clearly a celestial being descended to earth!

In comparison, the piece I just played, "High Mountains and Flowing Water," really felt like... sawing wood.

As he said, he was just making a fuss over nothing, while he was singing with his soul.

"The sky is the color of rain after a storm, and I am waiting for you..."

"Smoke rises gently from chimneys, thousands of miles across the river..."

The climax is approaching.

When this lyric came out, Cai Wenji felt her heart inexplicably tighten.

The poignant beauty of waiting, the helplessness of gazing across the river, overwhelmed her like a tide, accompanied by the sound of the zither.

Clang.

The scorched-tail zither slipped from her hands and crashed heavily to the ground, breaking two strings.

But she was completely unaware.

In her world, all that remained was the man sitting in front of the crystal piano and the words, "And I am waiting for you."

Who is he waiting for?

Are you waiting for me?

Cai Wenji's eyes became unfocused.

The song ended.

The lingering sound persisted for a long time.

Even the cicadas, which love to chirp, fell silent in the courtyard.

Gu Fan withdrew his hand, but did not get up immediately. Instead, he remained in that melancholy posture for three seconds.

If you're going to show off, you should see it through to the end.

Then, he turned his head to look at Cai Wenji, who had lost her soul, and that wicked smile reappeared on his lips.

"How about it, Miss Cai?"

"Is this wood-sawing technique up to your standards?"

Cai Wenji trembled, as if waking from a dream.

She looked at the broken zither on the ground, then at Gu Fan, her expression extremely complex.

She took a deep breath and slowly walked up to Gu Fan.

This time, she didn't put on airs.

Instead, he knelt on one knee and bowed his proud head deeply.

"Wenji... is blind."

"Your talent surpasses Wenji's by a thousand times. This is truly... a high mountain and flowing water."

Gu Fan stood up, walked up to her, and reached out to lift her chin.

Her usually aloof face was now flushed, and there were tear stains at the corners of her eyes, making her look pitiful.

[Ding! Cai Wenji's Daoist heart has wavered, and her worship value has skyrocketed! Current progress: 80%!]

"Since we've lost, we have to accept the punishment."

Gu Fan's fingers gently traced her delicate cheek as he leaned close to her ear and whispered:

"Would you like to learn that piece of music?"

Cai Wenji's eyelashes trembled, and she nodded subconsciously: "I want to..."

This was too tempting for someone obsessed with music.

"If you want to learn, that's fine."

Gu Fan's smile became even more wicked.

"However, the fingering for the piano is very particular, and you have to teach it hand-in-hand."

"There are too many people and too many eyes here, making it inconvenient to teach."

"Let's go to your room."

"Tonight, I'll give you a... private lesson."

Upon hearing this, Cai Wenji felt her ears burning and her whole body going weak.

To her private quarters?

Teach me step by step?

The ambiguity in those words was so strong it was almost palpable.

If it were anyone else, she would have scolded him for being a lecher.

But when she thought of the captivating, unparalleled music she had just heard, and the man's eyes that seemed to see right through her soul, she couldn't bring herself to say the words of refusal.

"Wenji...it's all up to you, young master."