“Hello, Senior Brothers and Sisters, I’ll begin now.” As He Yuxuan spoke these words, a tiny bit of embarrassment flickered inside him, but he quickly got into the zone.
When he performed, he was utterly self-oblivious, able to cast everything else aside completely.
There were four interviewers in total: besides the Club President and Vice President, there were two department heads. All wore fitted formal wear, sat upright, and maintained largely impassive expressions.
The Club President was male, handsome, needless to say, with a very steady aura.
Even these judges, already suffering from aesthetic fatigue after nearly a whole morning of interviews, felt their pupils slightly constrict the moment they saw He Yuxuan.
Appreciating beauty is human nature; wanting to look a couple more times at a good-looking person is a physiological reaction. But it was only a couple of glances. When they pulled up He Yuxuan’s registration form, slight disappointment colored all four hearts.
With such raw materials, as long as his other aspects weren’t too terrible, his admission would’ve been practically guaranteed.
But if he truly was a pretty face who knew nothing, they couldn’t help but hesitate.
The Club President had sharp eyes. He observed that He Yuxuan’s opening stance and presence were notably different. He didn’t jump to conclusions just yet.
He had previously attended concerts of top domestic cello masters and had friends who studied it as a hobby. The feeling He Yuxuan gave him… wasn’t something an ordinary person could give off.
“Classmate He, please begin,” the Club President said in a deep voice.
He Yuxuan had played this piece countless times since childhood; the sheet music was completely etched into his heart.
When he was little, after school, while other kids were already free, He Yuxuan carried his schoolbag every day, shuttling between various practice rooms.
His temperament was broad-minded and not sharp; naturally, there were very tiring times—indeed, he was tired all the time—but he had never cried or, like other kids, clamored and shouted to quit. He just slowly persisted, which also meant his talent wasn’t wasted but was fully channeled into music.
Almost instantly, whether it was the four interviewers facing the direct impact at the front or the classmates clustered outside the window watching the fun, everyone became intoxicated by the serene, natural prelude.
It was an extremely gentle piece, flowing slowly like a river, soothing their restless hearts in the summer heat.
The performing young man was focused, immersed in it himself. He seemed to meld into the forest stream his music evoked, narrating bit by bit, whispering intimately.
Meng Jingshu also watched intently, immense shock filling her heart.
At this moment, she felt He Yuxuan was completely different from the stereotypical image of just a good-looking male classmate she had initially imagined.
His aura was pure, yet when performing, he held a rich sense of story—a very contradictory charm.
As the piece ended, He Yuxuan’s back was soaked with sweat. Although it was just a classroom on a university campus, he had still performed with the same devotion he gave every time in an auditorium. Even though the audience was perhaps just students without much appreciation ability, no social celebrities, He Yuxuan still derived immense happiness from it. He also hadn’t touched an instrument in a very long time.
As a child suffering through practice, he thought he’d never want to play again. Later, he genuinely grew to love it.
After a few seconds of silence in the classroom, the Club President took the lead in applauding, the clapping very loud and clear. Then not only he and the other interviewers, but even the classmates outside the window couldn’t help but applaud this performance.
It felt completely different from the previous students’ performances. This young man just sat there, played his cello strings, as if a master had descended.
After finishing his performance, He Yuxuan first carefully put away the instrument someone had lent him before standing up and lifting his head to meet the eyes of the four in front of him.
“He Yuxuan, right? You’re quite handsome. Just now, when our eyes met, my heart skipped a beat,” the Club President joked, perfectly timed.
The atmosphere instantly relaxed. The others’ tense faces also loosened.
They genuinely hadn’t expected this seemingly pretty-face guy to be so capable.
“Not just handsome, you played handsomely too!” the Vice President added.
He Yuxuan knew he was handsome, but being praised after transmigrating into the book felt completely different. After all, initially he was called an ugly guy on the forum.
He smiled bashfully.
“You can go back and wait for the news now. Don’t be nervous.” They looked at He Yuxuan with expressions like they were looking at a kid.
He Yuxuan said thanks to the Senior Brothers and Sisters and left with his things. In truth, he wasn’t nervous at all. Instead, future interactions with everyone made him a little nervous… he always felt like he was pretending to be young.
After He Yuxuan left, whispers continued.
“What he played weren’t the cello strings, they were clearly my heartstrings!”
“Guys who play the cello are so handsome 555555~ I’m going to find a cello-playing boyfriend too.”
“Wake up! It’s clearly the person who’s handsome. He’d be handsome even playing cotton.”
Meanwhile, He Yuxuan and Meng Jingshu walked down the stairs side by side.
“I didn’t expect you to be this amazing! That was stunning just now.” Meng Jingshu shrugged, admitting she had initially underestimated him.
“Not really, I’ve just practiced for a long time.” Although He Yuxuan agreed wholeheartedly in his heart, he had to be modest. Now wasn’t like before when he could hide behind comments and secretly gloat.
“I’ll learn from you in the future.”
Though He Yuxuan didn’t personally handle matters of social etiquette, he wasn’t stupid. He knew he should treat her to a meal.
Meng Jingshu would have liked to spend more time with him, even just as friends. But she already knew He Yuxuan only had a few hundred bucks; no point putting him in a tough spot. So she just let He Yuxuan see her back and said goodbye.
She was more curious what kind of person He Yuxuan would end up with later, or whether he’d really stay busy with his career and never date.
Having finally got a chance to play the cello, He Yuxuan entertained himself by moving his fingers. His mood was quite cheerful.
If he wanted to buy his own instrument, he’d need to save up a lot of money first now.
He first went back to the dorm. He wanted to take a quick shower; he’d accidentally gotten white wall dust on him earlier, dirty and uncomfortable.
But just as he reached the dorm hallway, he spotted two people standing at the door of their dorm.
He calmed himself and squinted before making out that one of them was Tang Yi. The other person he’d never seen before.
As He Yuxuan approached, he noticed Tang Yi’s expression seemed off—very impatient, as if he’d been enduring something all along.
“Even though it’s sudden to say this, I really do like you. I understand you might not be able to accept a guy all at once, but we can still just stay friends for now, right?” The guy across from him looked quite sad.
He and Tang Yi had studied together a few times during military training and talked a bit then. But later, there weren’t many chances to keep in contact, so today, he couldn’t help but find Tang Yi’s dorm to confess his feelings.
Tang Yi didn’t answer him. He just looked at the love letter in his hand, expressionless.
The next moment, he tossed it into the trash can.
Normally, no matter how aloof he was, he wouldn’t do something so impolite.
He Yuxuan understood. This was the plot point where the protagonist shou discovers the protagonist gong is homophobic.
Tang Yi was a die-hard straight man, extremely homophobic to the point of physical revulsion. That’s why he did something so rude.
He Yuxuan considered himself a die-hard straight man too, but he felt nothing like that. He was a person more tolerant of diverse sexualities; he wouldn’t feel sick to his stomach.
“Why are you doing this?” The guy opposite was considered petite among males. Seeing Tang Yi’s actions, his eyes reddened.
His position had been blocking the dorm door. Seeing that Tang Yi’s roommate wanted to enter, he quickly made way and said, “Sorry,” with a tearful voice.
Then, when he looked up and saw He Yuxuan’s face, he forgot to let the tears well up, never expecting Tang Yi had such a handsome roommate.
“Still standing there? Not coming in?” Just as He Yuxuan was about to say “No problem,” he heard a familiar voice speaking in an unhappy tone from his own chair.
Chu Ci, who had been having a great time watching the drama, had been in a leisurely state before that scene just now.
He took in all of Tang Yi’s coldness and decisiveness, but Chu Ci’s heart didn’t stir in the slightest because a roommate was homophobic. He wasn’t angry either, despite being gay himself.
Because Tang Yi had already left the impression of incompatibility in the Young Master’s heart. He hadn’t even planned to have any dealings with the guy, so he just viewed it as something amusing.
A person of no importance being homophobic—what the hell did he care? If the guy couldn’t stand him later, they’d just fight.
But when he suddenly saw his pretty roommate in black brush past that person, from Chu Ci’s angle, during that brief friction of clothing, he saw the male’s expression very clearly.
Stunned and enchanted.
This slightly pissed off the Young Master.
If they were eyeing someone else, he’d just watch the show. Don’t go eyeing someone inappropriate though.
And He Yuxuan didn’t even seem to react, as if being bumped into was nothing. At this moment, Chu Ci would rather the homophobic one was He Yuxuan.
“Chu Ci, you’re back at the dorm today?” Having not seen him for a few days, He Yuxuan felt they weren’t that familiar anymore. Yet the Young Master remained as familiar as ever. He couldn’t say much, just exchanged pleasantries.
“What, not welcome?” Chu Ci faked a joking tone, his expression looking genuinely concerned.
He saw He Yuxuan covered in dust and knew this guy had definitely been bustling around at that Photography Club or whatever, getting all dirty.
In the Young Master’s heart, He Yuxuan was just like a silly boy, all face and nothing else.
“That person at the door is gay. You better stay far away from those people,” Chu Ci spouted nonsense.
He purely looked down on other gays. The ones He Yuxuan needed to stay away from were naturally all gays other than himself.
Admittedly, his heart was conflicted. If He Yuxuan liked women, he’d just sulk in silence. But if He Yuxuan took a liking to some other guy, that would be worse than killing him.
Despite all this, Chu Ci had no intention of developing a relationship beyond roommates with He Yuxuan.
He just wanted to occupy him.
He Yuxuan pondered for a moment and understood. The Young Master was upset seeing Tang Yi so homophobic.
He, the matchmaker, didn’t even know how to help anymore. After all, he couldn’t exactly advise against being homophobic.
Forget it. Beating is affection, scolding is love. The label “Bickering Couple” wasn’t pasted on for nothing.
“It’s fine, I’m not homophobic.” Maybe this would make the Young Master feel better? How normal his sexuality was. Generally, truly straight guys like him didn’t even care.
Then he was met with Chu Ci’s chilly gaze.
