Chapter 163 Encounter Outside the Piano Room

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Zheng felt a sharp headache coming on.

Joining a club or anything of the sort was the absolute furthest thing from his mind. Why would he join a club? To play in professional leagues?

As a gamer, he did have a certain interest in professional leagues, and if possible, he wouldn't mind giving it a try. Not for victory or defeat, but simply as a journey to fulfill a dream.

However, the Jiang Zheng of today was not the Jiang Zheng of yesterday. Yesterday, he had slaughtered all opposition in the game, pinning even professional players to the ground and grinding them into the dirt.

Today, he was entirely in the position of being pinned to the ground and ground into the dirt by others.

With that level of skill, playing in professional leagues was completely out of the question.

Therefore, Jiang Zheng had zero interest in joining any clubs.

What gave him a headache was the constant stream of invitations from those clubs.

Since one club had found out about him, it meant others knew as well.

If every single one of them came to invite him, it would turn into an immensely troublesome ordeal.

Just thinking about this gave Jiang Zheng a headache.

He had chosen to stream with a voice-changer and without showing his face precisely to conceal his identity and avoid unnecessary trouble.

Yet, it now appeared that his identity was impossible to keep hidden; the only ones he could possibly fool were ordinary viewers.

He had no intention of contacting them again.

Arriving at the library, Jiang Zheng originally intended to read quietly for a while, believing that only the knowledge one actually acquired truly belonged to one's self.

Yet, he found it completely impossible to settle down, as phone call after phone call poured in.

His phone was on silent, but the frequent vibrations were enough to fray anyone's nerves.

Left with no other choice, Jiang Zheng simply gave up on reading and walked out of the library.

The callers were either representatives from various gaming clubs, agents offering him endorsement deals and commercial sponsorships, or even scouts from several other streaming platforms who had managed to track him down.

Every single call represented a windfall of cash; all Jiang Zheng had to do was agree to one or two of them, and he would secure a massive payout.

Instead, Jiang Zheng didn't agree to a single one, brushing them all off with vague excuses and polite refusals.

It wasn't that he had no interest in money; rather, he lacked the skill and the confidence to follow through.

In truth, Jiang Zheng was indeed tempted, and had even considered simply walking down that path—the money came fast, and the work was relatively easy.

Temtped as he was, Jiang Zheng remained rational. He didn't want to pigeonhole himself so early in the game; instead, he wanted to experience a wider variety of things.

Even after stepping outside, Jiang Zheng's phone kept ringing relentlessly, to the point where he developed a sudden urge to just go and cancel the SIM card altogether.

This particular phone card wasn't his primary one, but rather a temporary number he had purchased on campus after arriving at university.

Getting it deactivated was easy enough.

Passing the afternoon, Jiang Zheng made his way to the lakeside on campus and sat down.

This was a sacred sanctuary for dating couples; typically, single men and women subconsciously avoided this area, or even if they did wander in, they wouldn't linger for long.

After all, nobody wanted to be forced to witness public displays of affection here.

Jiang Zheng didn't mind; he simply wanted to find a quiet spot. This place was relatively tranquil. Although it was a lovers' haven, everyone shared a tacit understanding and kept their voices down.

Sitting on an empty bench, Jiang Zheng kept fielding incoming calls.

Suddenly, Jiang Zheng's attention was captured by the sound of zither music. It sounded like a guzheng, and the melody was so exquisite that Jiang Zheng felt as though he could perceive the inner emotions of the person playing it.

Compelled, he stood up and followed the source of the sound.

Gradually, the music grew clearer from its faint beginnings, until Jiang Zheng finally stopped in front of a building.

He walked inside, tracing the music to a specific door. The door was closed, and the curtains on the windows were drawn shut.

Without stepping inside, Jiang Zheng simply stood at the threshold and listened.

Just then, the music stopped. Jiang Zheng felt a tinge of regret; he had only just managed to hear it up close, and now it was over.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, the zither notes rang out once more.

Jiang Zheng halted his departing steps and stayed at the doorway to listen further.

He didn't know the title of the piece, having no particular expertise in guzheng music, yet he could clearly discern the sorrow lingering in the player's heart.

After listening through another complete piece, Jiang Zheng waited a moment, but no more music followed. It seemed the session was over.

He checked the time; it was getting late and dinner hour was approaching.

Just as he prepared to leave, the door swung open. The person stepping out and Jiang Zheng locked eyes, both of them registering a flash of surprise.

"Why are you here?" ×2

Both of them spoke in unison.

The person standing opposite him was none other than Jiang Qianyue. Jiang Zheng was somewhat astonished to run into her here. Was she the one playing the zither inside?

Jiang Qianyue, standing before him, hadn't expected that after coming to the music room simply to vent her melancholic mood, she would step outside to find Jiang Zheng waiting right by the door.

"Was that you playing just now?" Jiang Zheng asked.

"Mhm," Jiang Qianyue readily acknowledged.

"Judging by your music, are you troubled by something?" Jiang Zheng asked again.

Hearing this, a trace of surprise flickered in Jiang Qianyue's eyes, and she promptly asked, "You could tell?"

"It just sounded as though you had something weighing on your mind," Jiang Zheng replied.

Jiang Zheng didn't realize that the moment he said those words, the look in Jiang Qianyue's eyes toward him completely changed.

Ever since the first day she started learning the guzheng, she had harbored a dream of finding a kindred spirit who truly understood her music, much like the deeply moving, legendary tale of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi.

"Since we bumped into each other, let's go get dinner," Jiang Qianyue said with a smile.

"Sure, let's go," Jiang Zheng nodded in agreement.

The two of them were already quite accustomed to dining together.

As they walked side by side, Jiang Zheng noticed that Jiang Qianyue seemed to be walking a bit closer to him than usual, crossing the boundary of ordinary friendship.

Jiang Zheng frowned slightly, though he chose to say nothing.

Rather than eating at the campus cafeteria, the two of them headed outside the school gates.

They rarely ate at the campus dining halls together, primarily because Jiang Qianyue's popularity on the university network was quite high. Whenever she ate with Jiang Zheng, it inevitably attracted a multitude of strange and lingering stares.

Thus, after trying the cafeteria twice, they had abandoned it entirely in favor of restaurants outside the campus.

Arriving at an eatery just outside the school, the two of them sat down together.

They chose a shop specializing in intestines rice noodles, and each ordered a bowl.

As they ate, they chatted casually.

"You're never in the library on weekday afternoons. Don't tell me you've been coming here to play the zither all this time?" Jiang Zheng asked abruptly.

He had just remembered something: every week, the two of them would study in the library together during the mornings, but Jiang Qianyue would always vanish by the afternoon.

Jiang Zheng had previously asked her where she was going, but Jiang Qianyue had always remained mysteriously tight-lipped.

Seeing her play the zither today made Jiang Zheng suddenly connect the dots, wondering if her afternoon disappearances had been spent here.

Hearing this, Jiang Qianyue smiled and answered, "Mhm, yes."

"Why were you being so secretive about going to play music? When I asked before, you wouldn't say a word," Jiang Zheng said.

"I just figured there wasn't really anything special to tell," Jiang Qianyue chuckled.

Then, she looked at him with a hint of curiosity, asking, "What about you? How did you end up outside the music room?"

Jiang Zheng replied, "I followed the sound of the music and ended up finding the place."