Chapter 26: Early Love Is Not Allowed
“No one ever taught you to knock before entering someone else’s room?”
Gu Qinian stretched out his long legs and got down from the far side of the big bed, walked around to the other side, nudged Gu Tang’s little bear slippers into place on the floor, and then untied the ribbon around his wrist.
He was tall, so Gu Tang lifted his wrist to cooperate with him.
The teenage boy standing by the bed had a tall, upright figure like green bamboo. The boy sitting on the bed looked up with a likable baby face, with several little tufts of hair sticking up from sleep, making him look unbelievably obedient.
In the morning light, the scene looked very beautiful.
Xie Qian stared blankly for a moment. When he came back to himself, he realized that young master Gu’s words had been directed at him.
“Yeah, no one in my family ever taught me.”
Xie Qian scratched his cheek innocently, walked back to the doorway, and raised his hand to knock twice. “Like this?”
Gu Qinian: “…”
Gu Tang still remembered that during dinner the night before, Xie Qian had mentioned that his parents taught for years at an overseas art academy, and the family of three rarely saw one another.
From that angle, Xie Qian was basically a left-behind child from a wealthy family.
His family’s financial conditions were certainly good, but his family education was seriously lacking.
No wonder Xie Qian had all those odd behaviors.
Fortunately, the child was still young, and his nature was not bad.
He could be taught slowly.
Young master Gu had clearly thought of the same thing and said nothing more.
Gu Tang smiled at Xie Qian in a friendly way. “It’s okay. Thank you for coming to wake us up.”
“Ah, right! Wake up!”
Xie Qian finally remembered the important matter. “I came to get you up. It’s almost noon. Are we still practicing piano or not?”
Gu Tang jumped off the bed. “What? It’s that late already?!”
Xie Qian nodded and patted his rounded stomach. “Yup. I even ate one more breakfast than you two. Your family’s chef makes insanely good food!”
Gu Tang: “…”
That was true.
The Gu family’s head chef really had skills.
“Wait…”
Gu Tang rubbed the wrist that had just been freed, suddenly remembering something. He turned and stared at Gu Qinian.
Because his gaze was too intense, young master Gu guiltily turned his head away, only to have Gu Tang cup his cheeks with both hands and turn his face back.
Gu Tang: “Look at me.”
Gu Qinian pressed his thin lips together and waited for the interrogation.
Gu Tang was definitely going to keep asking about the ribbon.
But he had not yet figured out how to answer.
Then the baby-faced boy narrowed his eyes, stared at him carefully for a moment, and asked, “Why do you still have dark circles under your eyes after sleeping so long?”
Young master Gu froze.
…That was it?
Gu Tang held his head and looked left and right. “You didn’t secretly stay up all night playing games behind my back, did you?”
Gu Qinian: “…”
“I don’t play games.”
Young master Gu pulled Gu Tang’s hands away and let out a breath of relief.
Gu Tang also relaxed.
He had seen many classmates at this age get obsessed with gaming and let their studies go to waste. But his Gu Qinian was the male lead, someone destined to rise up and become a big boss in the future. He absolutely could not become addicted to gaming.
Besides, staying up at night could stunt growth.
That point was also very important.
Although young master Gu was not short anymore, it was said that children who grew early were more likely to lose momentum later and fail to grow taller.
He had to keep a close eye on young master Gu.
Gu Tang pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then at young master Gu, meaning: I’ll be watching you.
Gu Qinian: “…”
The one who slept like a little pig at night really had the nerve to say that.
The opening ceremony performance was drawing near, and practice time was precious.
After getting up, washing up, and eating a little, Gu Tang and Xie Qian began practicing the school anthem as a four-hand piano duet.
The school anthem had a bright rhythm and was not difficult to play. The main thing it tested was the two players’ coordination. After running through it several times, Gu Tang and Xie Qian gradually became more and more in sync, and mistakes like hitting each other’s hands or missing beats basically disappeared.
During a break, Gu Tang relaxed his fingers and praised Xie Qian. “You really play so well!”
That was the honest truth.
Before, he had only heard Zhu Xu talk about how many awards Xie Qian had won in competitions. But because of Xie Qian’s rather eccentric personality, it had been hard to connect those awards with the real him.
Once he actually sat down at the piano, though, the halo of the little piano prince officially descended upon him!
When Gu Tang spoke, he had the habit of looking directly at the other person. His bright, clear round eyes did not blink, making him seem extremely sincere.
Xie Qian had always been proud and rarely felt embarrassed by other people’s compliments. But this time, because of Gu Tang’s overly genuine gaze, his cheeks turned a little red. For once, he even spoke modestly. “It’s okay, I guess. Back when I was learning piano, I had to practice ten hours a day. It’s just skill through repetition…”
Gu Tang exclaimed, “So even geniuses still need to work hard!”
Being praised as a genius made Xie Qian very happy, so he returned the compliment. “You play really well too!”
To be honest, he had been amazed by Gu Tang’s piano skills.
Xie Qian had studied piano since childhood and had outstanding talent. Very few pianists impressed him, let alone junior-high classmates, so when the teacher first arranged for the four-hand duet, he had refused.
Xie Qian: How could a swan flock with sparrows?
But after actually playing together, all he could think was—
So good!
The feeling of coordinating so perfectly with someone was amazing!
Gu Tang’s piano skill was actually no less than his own!
It might even surpass his… because this piece was not difficult enough, and Gu Tang clearly still had a lot of ability he had not yet shown.
Previously, Xie Qian had only thought Gu Tang was a nice person. Now, he suddenly felt the deep kinship of Boya and Ziqi.
Xie Qian’s standards for certifying a good friend were very simple:
—This brother could play piano with him in the future.
Since they were now good brothers, it was only natural to understand each other a little more, so Xie Qian asked, “When you were learning piano, how long did you usually practice every day?”
Before Gu Tang could answer, a slightly low voice answered for him.
“Not much. Just one or two pieces whenever he happened to feel like it.”
Xie Qian: “?”
Gu Qinian wore the expression of someone proudly showing off his family’s child. “When Gu Tang was little, he could already play ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ without anyone teaching him.”
Xie Qian: “!!!”
How was that possible?
“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” was so hard!
When he had been little, he had cried from how hard that song was!
“You’re lying to me!”
Xie Qian turned around in grief and indignation and looked at Gu Tang with a bitter face. “Geniuses really are born that way!”
“Haha…” Gu Tang awkwardly rubbed his nose.
It was not as if he could say he had learned it in his previous life.
Still, his piano practice time truly had not been very long, because he had always lived in the hospital and had not had the conditions to play a real piano.
Back then, there had been a beautiful black grand piano in the center of the hospital lounge. Every evening between seven and eight, an elderly pianist would come and play.
Music could soothe people’s emotions, so many patients would also wander over after dinner to listen to the old pianist.
Gu Tang had been one of them.
Whenever his body allowed it, he would come listen. After returning to his hospital room, he would use the simulated piano keys on his tablet, find sheet music, and practice by himself.
If there was something about piano that he did not understand, he would go ask that elderly pianist.
The old man had been very kind and let him try playing directly on the real piano.
Little by little, Gu Tang learned how to play.
The elderly pianist had thought Gu Tang was a promising seedling and wanted to accept him as his final disciple. But at the time, Gu Tang could only tell him that he could not leave the hospital and might not even live much longer.
To this day, he still remembered the sorrow in that old man’s eyes.
But the current Gu Tang was doing very well.
If the old man knew, he would definitely be happy for him.
He had companions to play piano with, and he also had listeners.
From childhood to now, young master Gu had always been his most loyal listener.
Before practice, when Xie Qinian sat to one side, Xie Qian had not quite understood it and had quietly asked Gu Tang, “We’re playing piano, so why is he here too?”
Unfortunately for him, it had not escaped young master Gu’s sharp ears.
Gu Qinian said coldly, “Xie Qian, if you want to be thrown out, just say so.”
Called out by name, Xie Qian shrank his neck and pretended nothing had happened.
Gu Tang smiled and explained to him, “When I play piano, Niannian is always there.”
Just like how when young master Gu exercised, he would sit nearby and draw, when he played piano, Gu Qinian would also sit quietly nearby and listen.
Oh, no… not always quietly.
There had been one time when he had definitely not been quiet.
That had been back when they were in third grade.
Gu Tang had composed a little tune of his own and excitedly tried it out on the piano, wanting to share it with young master Gu.
Unexpectedly, halfway through playing, Gu Lin suddenly rushed in and scooped him up in one arm.
Gu Tang’s legs dangled in the air as he struggled, but when he realized he could not break free, he could only hang helplessly in his uncle’s arms the way he had as a baby.
Gu Lin was so excited he seemed half-crazy. “Tangtang! Where did that tune just now come from?”
Gu Tang honestly said that he had composed it himself.
“Really?!”
Gu Lin’s eyes were filled with delight as he looked at him almost as if he were looking at a god. “Are you a genius? You’ve definitely got to be a genius! Uncle wants to ask for your authorization, okay?”
Gu Tang had long known that his Gu-family uncle usually dressed in a punk-rock style. What he had not known was that Gu Lin had actually formed a band in university.
It was graduation season, and Gu Lin wanted to perform with his band at the graduation ceremony. But the songs they submitted kept getting rejected, because the school wanted to hear something original.
But being able to perform and being able to compose were two completely different things.
Gu Lin had been crouching at home, scratching his head over sheet music, when he suddenly heard a beautiful melody he had never heard before.
With just a tiny bit of modification, it would perfectly fit the atmosphere of a graduation ceremony.
How could he not get excited?!
Faced with his uncle’s request, Gu Tang was very generous. “Uncle, just use it. Don’t be polite.”
“Wuwuwu, Tangtang, you’re a little angel… no! You’re my little immortal!”
Gu Lin was so excited that he hugged Gu Tang tightly and rubbed his face against the soft, plump cheeks of his little immortal.
Gu Tang had always been obedient, so he let himself be rubbed without moving.
The second young master of the Gu family was hugging the soft little child and rubbing happily when he suddenly felt a chill on the top of his foot. Based on experience, he immediately sensed trouble. Looking down—
Orange juice had been splashed all over his foot.
And not a small amount, either.
Beside him, his own nephew held an empty glass in his hand and shrugged expressionlessly.
Gu Qinian: “Sorry. My hand slipped.”
Who was he trying to fool?!
If your hand slipped, then why was the cup still in your hand?!
And this was not even the first time!!!
“My limited-edition new shoes, aaahhhh—”
Gu Lin could only let Gu Tang go and rush off to rescue his shoes.
The moment he left, Gu Qinian sat down on the piano bench and looked at Gu Tang with a pair of deep dark eyes. “I want to learn piano. Teach me.”
Gu Tang was surprised.
Although young master Gu would listen to him, he had never shown much interest in music and never deliberately listened to pop songs or light music.
But since the other party said he wanted to learn piano, Gu Tang naturally encouraged it.
The more skills, the more paths in life.
Let him be the one to light up the music skill tree for the future Boss Gu!
Gu Tang plopped down beside Gu Qinian, tilted his head, and asked, “Niannian, what do you want to learn?”
Without hesitation, young master Gu answered, “The one you wrote.”
“Sure.”
Gu Tang also liked that piece a lot.
That day, he had been sitting by the window, looking out at the Gu family garden and thinking of all the scenes of him and Gu Qinian playing there as they grew up together. The melody had naturally appeared in his mind.
It could be said that the piece gathered all the little moments of their growth together.
And it was also a piece perfectly suited to a four-hand duet.
Originally, Gu Tang had felt a bit regretful that he could only play it alone.
Now that young master Gu was willing to learn it, it was exactly what he had hoped for.
It did not matter that young master Gu had no piano foundation—he could teach him hand over hand!
The warm wind of early spring blew into the room.
The two boys, barely in their teens, shared one piano bench, sitting shoulder to shoulder and leg to leg, looking utterly close.
Their fingers overlapped on the black and white keys, striking out beautiful notes…
But what Gu Tang had never expected
was that young master Gu only ever learned that one song.
Or rather, Gu Qinian had simply memorized the positions and order of the keys for that specific piece.
If one had not seen it with one’s own eyes, it would have been hard to imagine that the future Boss Gu, with all his exceptional abilities, could only stare blankly at the little tadpoles on sheet music, with absolutely no artistic sense whatsoever.
Other than the one song Gu Tang had taught him hand over hand, he could not play anything else.
Remembering that, Gu Tang could not help smiling.
He shifted slightly, patted the empty side of the piano bench next to him, and turned to ask young master Gu, “Niannian, want to play together?”
Xie Qian was surprised. “He can play too?”
His answer was a cold glance from young master Gu.
Gu Qinian unfastened the cuffs of his shirt, rolled them up to reveal his long, strong forearms, and sat properly beside Gu Tang.
Since they had grown older, sitting together on the piano bench now made them even closer than when they were children.
Gu Qinian’s ears turned slightly red.
He placed his fingers on the keys and nodded at Gu Tang.
Gu Tang’s eyes curved in a smile, and he also placed his fingers down.
On the black and white keys were two pairs of hands, one larger and one smaller.
The two of them were so in sync that they did not need to say a word, and they did not even need to tell each other when to begin. They simply started playing smoothly, their fingers dancing happily, notes pouring out from between them…
More than ten minutes later, the piece ended.
Listener Xie Qian still had not recovered from the song just now. Only after a long while did he come back to himself.
Compared with the fact that Gu Qinian could play piano, he was even more curious about something else.
“Isn’t that piece by the famous mysterious composer Sugar?!”
Xie Qian trusted his own ears. There was no way he could have heard wrong. “Released by Xinglin Media, right?”
Gu Tang felt a little embarrassed and turned to exchange a glance with Gu Qinian.
Xinglin Media was the entertainment company Gu Lin had founded after graduation.
After Gu Tang’s piece was performed at Gu Lin’s graduation ceremony, it had received huge praise. Some companies in the industry had contacted Gu Lin wanting to buy the copyright.
But Gu Tang had not wanted to.
This was the song he had written for himself and Niannian. He did not want to sell it to outsiders.
Gu Lin had a clever idea. If they did not want to sell it to someone else, then they could just release it themselves!
This rich second-generation young master might not have been as capable as his elder brother, and certainly could not take care of a giant enterprise like the Gu family business, but running a small entertainment company was more than manageable for him.
So Gu Lin set about working on it.
Unexpectedly, after a few years of development, Xinglin Media had become a company with a real voice in the industry.
And the spark that started it all had been Gu Tang’s song.
When the time came to release it, there was a problem: Gu Tang was too young and needed to be protected, so they definitely could not use his real name.
So Gu Lin gave him a stage name: Sugar.
Tangtang, sugar candy.
How sweet!
Gu Lin loved it. Gu Qinian was also very satisfied. The entire Gu family thought the stage name suited Gu Tang perfectly.
Cute.
Although Gu Tang felt a little embarrassed, he could only agree.
And now that a classmate had said it out loud, his cheeks turned completely red.
Once Sugar was mentioned, Xie Qian’s chatterbox burst open.
The little piano prince clasped both hands over his heart and said dreamily, “Sugar is my goddess! It’s such a pity she only composed this one song and never shows herself. Otherwise, I would definitely go to her autograph signing!”
Gu Tang: “???”
Gu Qinian: “!!!”
“Wait a second!”
Gu Tang interrupted Xie Qian’s fantasy and asked with difficulty, “The single never wrote Sugar’s gender, so how are you sure it’s a girl?”
Xie Qian also looked at him in shock and asked back, “You play Sugar’s piece so well, and yet you still don’t understand her soul?!”
Gu Tang: “…”
Understand what soul?!
[Host, he says you don’t understand yourself. I’m dying, hahahaha—]
Even the system, which had been slacking off, found this hilarious.
Gu Tang: “Don’t talk, or you’re working overtime tonight.”
[Waaah!]
The system retreated humbly.
Since when had the host started arranging its work schedule?!
And yet it loved that fact to death!
Xie Qian clasped his hands to his chest again, his gaze distant and dreamy. “Sugar’s song is so sweet, just like her name. She must be a very beautiful and lovely girl.”
“I don’t know exactly how old she is, but from the music, I can feel that she should be around my age…”
If props had allowed it, the little piano prince probably would have liked nothing more than to hold a rose in his mouth at that moment.
Gu Tang took a deep breath and deliberately interrupted. “Maybe Sugar wrote this song when she was young, and now the composer herself is already very old.”
“Impossible.”
Xie Qian raised one finger with certainty. “When Xinglin Media was first founded, it had nothing besides Sugar’s song. I have reason to suspect that the founder of Xinglin Media decided to start the company only because he discovered this supernova.”
“And more than that! The founder of Xinglin Media must have a very close relationship with Sugar!”
Gu Tang: “!!!”
This guy… was always so sharp at exactly the wrong times!
Xie Qian’s little mouth kept going. “I’ve written so many letters to her company. I wonder if she ever received them…”
Gu Tang let out a breath.
Thankfully, for the sake of his safety, all the letters had been handled by Gu Lin.
Xie Qian’s gaze gradually became firm. “It doesn’t matter if she’s a little older than me. As long as she’s single, when I grow up, I’m going to pursue her like a gentleman!”
“You wish.”
Young master Gu, who had stayed silent until now, suddenly spoke in an icy tone.
At the same time, the system also made a strange electronic sound.
Gu Tang heard it and called for the system a few times, but it did not respond, so he temporarily ignored it.
The system had probably seen some strange plot point floating up again in the sea of storylines.
Not a big problem.
If a plot came, he would just do it.
Xie Qian was genuinely startled by Gu Qinian’s look and said unhappily, “Why are you being so fierce? Do you secretly have a crush on Sugar too?”
The speaker had no such intention.
But when Gu Qinian heard that, he froze.
Xie Qian thought about it and suddenly felt something was wrong. “You can’t play anything else, only Sugar’s song… holy crap! Gu Qinian, you really do secretly like my goddess!!!”
Gu Tang instinctively turned to look at young master Gu.
He saw that young master Gu’s face had gone red, then pale.
Gu Tang secretly shook his head: Tsk, tsk. His young master must really be furious…
But Gu Qinian was not angry.
He was simply feeling too many complicated emotions at once and did not know what to say. After a long moment, he finally forced out two words: “How boring.”
Xie Qian let out a huge sigh of relief. “Since you say that, I’m reassured. Good thing you don’t like her, or I definitely wouldn’t be able to compete with you.”
Gu Qinian: “…”
“Alright, alright.”
Gu Tang stepped in to smooth things over. “Since we’ve already practiced the performance piece, let’s stop here for today.”
Xie Qian helped lower the piano lid, and while doing so, he said regretfully, “Gu Tang’s piano skills are great, but unfortunately, this piano is pretty average.”
Gu Qinian reacted even more strongly than Gu Tang. “What did you say?”
Gu Tang, on the other hand, answered very naturally, “I think it’s good enough. There’s no need to buy something too expensive.”
Pianos were already expensive to begin with. Even raising the grade a little could mean spending tens of thousands more.
He felt it was unnecessary.
But young master Gu shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“I don’t think so either.”
Gu Quan had just finished his work and wanted to come upstairs to listen to the children playing piano, only to hear a classmate saying their good little child’s piano was no good. How could he tolerate that?
The head of the Gu family did not even need to ask to know that the good little child was trying to save him money.
No one else in the family really played piano, so since the good little child had never said anything, the others had no idea whether the instrument was good enough or not.
It was his oversight.
Gu Tang could only watch helplessly as Papa Gu picked up his phone, told his assistant to look into how to choose a good piano, and then asked Gu Tang to pick one.
Gu Tang waved both hands repeatedly and said it was unnecessary.
Gu Quan very much disagreed. “If the good little child won’t choose, then I’ll buy the most expensive one. The most expensive is the best.”
Xie Qian: “??? What kind of sugar-daddy statement is that!”
He was fiercely jealous!
In order to stop Papa Gu from spending money recklessly, Gu Tang could only choose a white grand piano that he had always wanted.
Among the options, it was not the most expensive, but it had the best tone quality and suited him the most.
Logically speaking, getting a piano from Papa Gu had to count as a plot point.
Something like “the fake young master spends the male lead’s father’s money.”
But Gu Tang waited and waited until nighttime, and never heard the system notification.
He thought the system had clocked out early to slack off.
Unexpectedly, right before bed, the system popped up again.
[Host, this is bad!]
Gu Tang was startled. “You didn’t skip work?”
[How could I skip work at a time like this?! Something happened, host! The male lead’s romantic line is faintly appearing! That plot point about ‘the male lead being jealous’ is floating back up in the plot sea again!]
Gu Tang frowned in confusion. “Did the original story even have a romance line for the male lead?”
It seemed like he had died before reading that far.
[It definitely did! The author just didn’t make it a key focus. But the timing of it showing up now is definitely wrong! It’s way too early!]
[Could it be that Gu Qinian already has someone he likes?]
Hearing the system’s doubt, Gu Tang reacted as if facing a great enemy. “What? Niannian wants to get into puppy love already?!”
That was even more deadly than gaming!
Early romance would not only affect future Boss Gu’s speed in drawing his sword on the path of his rise, the most dangerous part was that it could twist the plot!
Gu Tang jumped off the bed with a whoosh and grabbed young master Gu, who had just finished washing up and was coming out of the bathroom. Nervously, he said, “Niannian! No early dating allowed!”
Gu Qinian: “???”
Author’s Note:
Tangtang: No early dating allowed!
Gu Niannian: feeling guilty…
Some little angels suggested using the name Gu Niannian in the author’s note, and Mianmian also thought it was very cute! So I used it! Thank you, little angel, for the suggestion! Love you all~~
