Butler Wang felt a mix of joy and worry. The young master had decided, but no candidate had been chosen yet. His gaze drifted back to those two brothers.
"Then do you want a tutor who's a little older than you, or a little younger?"
Tao Lehua didn't know what he was thinking, so he simply said, "...Whatever."
'Whatever' was the hardest word to deal with. Nothing was more troublesome than 'whatever.'
Butler Wang frowned in pain, feeling like he needed some oxygen.
---
Ji Yanyi sighed in relief as the people left. He pressed on Bo Yuxu's shoulder and leaned forward. "Finally gone."
Bo Yuxu squinted in exasperation. "You've seen this guy before. Why do you look even more unfamiliar than me?"
Ji Yanyi was a bit frustrated. He bounced up and down to vent. "I saw him on the awards podium. The podium. So far away, it's like I never saw him at all. And this is a case where I've seen him but he hasn't seen me—of course it's unfamiliar."
Bo Yuxu didn't feel like listening to excuses. He propped his chin on his hand. "The thing is, you don't seem like someone who gets shy with strangers."
Ji Yanyi thought about it and sort of understood.
"He looks like a startled bird. If I talked to him like I usually talk to my friends, he'd definitely run away."
Bo Yuxu found it amusing. "You've been learning some good idioms lately."
Ji Yanyi puffed out his chest proudly. "Of course. I learned them from my dad."
Like some others too, like 'people are hard to see through' and such.
Bo Yuxu snorted coldly.
Ji Yanyi winced, his expression a bit pained. Yeah, his younger brother still seemed pretty annoyed with Dad.
He leaned on the railing next to Bo Yuxu, now focusing on the stage, and his eyes widened.
"Looks like you're up!"
Bo Yuxu glanced over, his 'It can't be that fast' stuck in his throat. It really was that fast.
The venue was divided into a waiting area and an audience area. The minimum age for participants was eight, and the trained children—except for a few special cases—were fully capable of being independent.
Simply waiting quietly was something they could do.
Bo Xin, in the audience area, also saw Yuxu's stage time. Going on so early meant ending early.
That left plenty of free time.
She pulled out a small notebook and calculated her bet. If Yuxu won, with the 1.5-to-1 odds, how much would she get?
Ji Xingzhi also spent three hundred kuai on the same hopeful bet.
He pointed at the principal and hinted that she could add another three hundred.
Bo Xin refused.
Ji Xingzhi tilted his head. "What are you calculating?"
Bo Xin thought for a moment. "Didn't you want to teach Yuxu the importance of investment? I'm the same. If I calculate it this way, the investment Yuxu makes with his own money might earn him more than his actual competition."
Ji Xingzhi clicked his tongue, then sighed. "If he loses, the blow to the kid would be quite big."
Bo Xin glanced at him, then said confidently, "Isn't all investment like that? Besides, don't you have that little faith in Yuxu? He wouldn't make an investment he's not sure of."
Ji Xingzhi nodded. That was true.
That was why he had thought Yuxu was steadier than him. If he was a go-with-the-flow type, Yuxu was definitely an information-flow type.
He won by absolute, solid data.
Like with the piano—he practiced day after day. Ji Xingzhi bit his nails, feeling the pressure.
Bo Xin: "..."
Don't tell her that Ji Xingzhi, at his age, still had the oral fixation of biting his nails.
Was that really mature?
Bo Xin grabbed his wrist and forced his hand down. Deprived of his chewing tool, Ji Xingzhi could only clench his jaw and finally let out a sigh.
On stage, Bo Yuxu's performance was solid. Since the piece wasn't very difficult, he finished in about three minutes.
Applause rang out from below. People who had been looking down now raised their heads to see what kind of prodigy had burst onto the scene.
The judges unanimously gave him a perfect score of ten, and he unsurprisingly won the round.
Bo Yuxu lifted the curtain, a hint of excitement in his slightly raised eyebrows.
The next contestant seemed to be that autistic older boy, named Tao Lehua. He wondered if an abrupt visit might upset him.
But they had spoken before, so hopefully he wouldn't be too resistant.
He thought about it and finally appeared outside the window of the private room, tapped on the glass to get his attention, and softly said, "Good luck."
Tao Lehua was startled, then made a cheering gesture too.
His face reddened. It felt strange.
This was the first time he had received encouragement.
Bo Yuxu walked out, passing by a storage room. He heard a loud noise but didn't pay much attention. Storage rooms often had things fall due to improper placement—nothing to make a fuss about.
Sui Dongsheng leaned against the door, gritting his teeth. He didn't understand why he had reacted instinctively.
Maybe it was just an accident that Jiang Yuxu—no, Bo Yuxu—had shown up at a piano competition. That hick? Now he even changed his surname to Bo.
Because of him, Sui Dongsheng's plan had been completely ruined.
Even if Butler Wang was unwilling, Sui Dongsheng knew he was just a servant and had no real say against the young master.
Sui Dongsheng also knew how stubborn Tao Lehua was.
So as long as Tao Lehua agreed, Butler Wang would have no choice but to comply. There was no room for Sui Dongsheng to intervene.
Having spent so much time with Tao Lehua, he knew what Tao Lehua lacked most.
It was recognition.
But this time, Jiang Yuxu had beaten him to it.