[Anyway, at most you are just asking for help from the school. As long as you do it covertly, it will be fine. At worst... some people's backgrounds can make the school afraid to punish them too much.]
[So at school, you still try to avoid Eden as much as possible, on the one hand to avoid causing more trouble for yourself, and on the other hand to prevent Eden from getting involved in some unfounded rumors - you are very familiar with this routine.]
[It's just that Eden doesn't seem to care about these... or, she didn't notice these? ]
[No... You looked at the other students who were behaving cutely and politely around her, and rejected your previous guess.]
[Eden may not care about those rumors, but... she doesn't need to care, because other people won't show it in front of him. They won't even show their disgust towards you in front of her... This is just to avoid Eden having a bad impression of them, that's all.]
[It’s really…disgusting]
[However, compared to other people, Eden does prefer to communicate with you, preferably just you and her... because here, you are basically the only one who is "similar" to her, and after vaguely sensing the students' rejection of you, she actually hopes to communicate with you even more.]
[Because if I'm with you, you can avoid most verbal communication and instead use simpler music that can convey emotions to "communicate"... This is undoubtedly the happiest thing for Eden]
[Although you and Eden usually don't exclude other people from joining in, but... whenever you see others need to ask specifically and you can understand the meaning directly, Eden can't help but smile at you and show others a little bit... of "partiality" towards you]
[But this often leads to another consequence... When others see Eden staying with you and even having a good time with you, they will inevitably feel a little... "jealous" towards you.]
[Especially when they try to join you, but after one song, when they want to speak, they will get a somewhat lost look from Eden, and you will just go along with the flow and continue to play, and Eden will turn to look at you with eyes full of joy, and join in your music...]
[Anyone can see that the relationship between the two of you is rapidly getting closer, and anyone can see that Eden prefers to be with you... and as more and more people try to join, Eden becomes more and more obvious in his desire to be alone with you.]
[There’s nothing I can do. Compared to you, who can understand her quickly and communicate with her through music, the brilliance of others has become somewhat dimmed, and the colors of others also seem a little dim compared to you... This is what is called "no comparison, no harm"]
[Of course, their disgust towards you deepens... You are used to it and don't care, because compared to them, your focus is more on Eden]
[You can feel Eden's kindness towards you, and her growing closeness to you as time goes by... because she has found someone "like her", a "companion" who can be said to be walking on the same "road"]
[And you are willing to respond in a friendly way, and as time goes by, you are willing to get closer to her...but in comparison, you still keep some distance.]
[Nothing else, it's simply because of the malice emanating from other people... They naturally won't target you too much in front of Eden, but... it's another story when you're out of Eden's sight.]
[Even if Eden could occasionally sense that something was wrong, even if Eden had already noticed other students’ rejection of you, even if Eden was trying to persuade others not to be too prejudiced against you, but... it was useless.]
[They are still the same. They behave a little better in front of Eden, but they still radiate malice towards you behind your back. Because of Eden's words, this malice is gradually deepening and is showing signs of getting worse.]
[And this deepening malice... after reaching a certain point, will eventually lead to very, very bad consequences]
--------
????~
“Hmm~??”
The cheerful tune and happy singing echoed in the hall. People who lived under the same roof sat around Xi Wang, listening to his cheerful tune and playing around.
It was just a song, but everyone applauded and cheered happily, which made Xi Wang feel a little embarrassed... But over the past few days, he has become accustomed to everyone's enthusiasm.
"Has anything good happened to you recently, kid? You seem to be very happy these days?"
Someone asked with a smile.
"Of course, [Record Player] must have had something good happen to him! And it must be related to a girl. I tell you, every time [Record Player] goes to the piano store to practice, he is so happy. It's obvious that he has a companion!"
The other man took out a cigarette from his pocket while joking, put it in his mouth and was about to light it.
"Smoke (expletive), [record player] wants to sing, Yin is here too, if they both cough I'll beat you up."
Li, who was standing by, walked up and took the cigarette out of the man's mouth. He broke the cigarette with his fingers and threw it into the trash can.
"No!! Boss, you can't do this!"
"Why are you howling? I didn't even slap you."
"Boss, you are just seeking revenge! And what's in your mouth, boss?!"
"Lollipop, what's up?"
With an expressionless face, Li pulled out the stick from his mouth, revealing the light green candy on it, and then reached out and hit the man on the head.
"I told you not to smoke at this time. Don't smoke at this time. You don't learn your lesson, do you? You're asking for a beating!"
"Ahahaha...Brother Li, you don't have to be like this...I don't particularly hate the smell of cigarettes."
Xi Wang said with a smile while packing up his musical instruments.
"Don't worry about them."
Yin, who was sitting on the sofa nearby, said this in a voice with almost no inflection.
"You want to sing. If you stay in a smoky environment for a long time, it will hurt your throat and lungs. You can't let them ruin your future artistic career."
Curling up his petite body slightly and adjusting the laptop on his lap, Yin spoke as he tapped on the keyboard.
"And I don't like the smell of cigarettes either...it's good to get them to quit smoking."
The almost motionless light blue pupils shifted slightly and looked at Quercus beside him.
"At least my body won't smell so bad anymore... My mouth won't smell so bad anymore, it's sweet, which is nice."
"Wow--"
"What are you looking at? What are you making a fuss about? Are you looking for a beating?"
Facing the meaningful looks from everyone, Li held a lollipop in his mouth, clenched his fists and waved them in the air, pretending to be threatening.
"If you keep yelling, I'll beat you up and kick you out... Also, be careful, smoke somewhere else, don't (expletive) indoors, understand? Don't make me say it a second time."
"What if you smoke indoors, boss?"
One of them raised his hand high and asked loudly with a teasing smile on his face.
"It's okay, I'll beat him up."
Yin's eyes stayed on the computer screen, and then he spoke in a calm tone, as if nothing had happened, words that everyone liked to hear.
"Great!!!"
"If you make any more noise, I'll (expletive) beat you up!"
Li waved his fist again in annoyance, trying to maintain his deterrent power... Unfortunately it was useless, at least not now. After all, Yin and Xiwang were here, and Li would not beat them directly.
Although other people didn't quite understand why Li liked Xi Wang so much...even though he often helped out and had learned some cooking skills so he could cook for everyone from time to time, and when he had spare money he would make some small items for everyone, and he would sing for everyone whenever he had time, and he also supported song requests, and if he encountered a song he didn't know, he would specifically learn it and sing it for everyone.
In order to take everyone's status into consideration, he even went to find Li to learn the language, just to be able to understand some of the "proverbs" spoken by everyone in their hometown dialect... Well, having said that, Xiwang is indeed very likable, because his efforts are seen by everyone, and everyone also enjoys the help that Xiwang gives them.
Therefore, everyone was willing to respond with kindness and make some changes for Xiwang... Even though the boys here were more or less addicted to smoking, after knowing that the strong smell of smoke might damage Xiwang's voice, everyone accepted the new rule set by Li: "No smoking indoors"... They had received so much help from Xiwang, so they should at least give something back to Xiwang, and at least not ruin Xiwang's future path because of them.
But...it's not so easy to quit smoking. It's still difficult to get them to completely change this bad habit. But asking them to give up listening to music around Xiwang and go out to smoke...they are unwilling to do so.
There was no other way. Many of them wanted Xiwang to sing specific songs. If you wanted to listen to the song you wanted to hear, you had to stay next to Xiwang and "order a song" from him, otherwise the song would definitely be replaced by others.
It's similar to the feeling of [ordering songs in a KTV, then going to the restroom in the middle, when you come back to find that the song you ordered has been replaced by someone else, resulting in you not being able to sing the song you like, and if you order a song again, you will have to wait at the back of the queue, and you may not even get to sing the song by the time you leave].
Basically, people are in a state of "I feel uncomfortable if I don't smoke for one song, and I feel uncomfortable for the whole day if I smoke", so they would rather endure their urge to smoke and run outside to smoke after the song they ordered is over, rather than miss their own song to relieve their urge to smoke.
But... sure enough, it's still a bit uncomfortable when the urge to smoke comes back.
"Boss, do you have any candy?"
The man who just wanted to smoke but failed smacked his lips and asked.
"It's okay not to smoke now, but it's uncomfortable to have nothing in my mouth."
"It's gone, go buy it yourself (expletive)."
Oak curled his lips and refused mercilessly.
"Ah, I have some here..."
"Don't give them your record player. Let them buy it themselves."
"It's okay. I love sweets, so I buy a lot... But I can't eat them all the time, it's bad for my teeth. I can share them with everyone."
Xi Wang smiled and put a box of candy on the table, intending to leave it there for anyone who needed it or was craving it in the future. He then took out a bag of lollipops and gave one to everyone present, earning everyone's thanks.
"Thank you [record player]."
Yin naturally had one as well, but she just said thank you and then reached out without looking back and handed the candy in her hand to Li who was standing beside her.
And Li also understood, so he helped her unpack the food and then fed it to Yin De's mouth... This action naturally caused another commotion.
Seeing such a harmonious atmosphere, Xi Wang smiled happily, and immediately moved his musical instrument back to his room. Then he said hello and went out to the piano store to practice.
"........."
When Xi Wang left, the whole room fell into a brief silence, and then everyone quickly moved, packed up their things, and sat together.
"Hey, [Record Player] is going to participate in a competition soon, right? He will definitely win a place. What do you think we should prepare as a celebration gift?"
"Musical instrument? Hasn't he been saving money to buy a cello? Should we buy one for him?"
"Then he definitely won't want it."
Yin said quietly at the side, and at the same time used his tongue to slightly adjust the lollipop in his mouth, and continued to speak in that calm tone.
"You know the character of [Record Player], and when the time comes he will definitely give you the money he has saved and buy it from you... In that case, you might as well not give it to him."
"Just don't collect it when the time comes."
"When [Record Player] gets anxious, I'll cry in front of you."
"Ah? Really?"
"…I was just kidding. And don't look like you want to see it so badly. Don't bully others, or we'll beat you up."
"You're talking as if you don't want to see it..."
"I want to see it, but that doesn't stop us from beating you up. It was you who suggested it."
"Ha ha--"
The crowd burst into laughter again.
"Prepare him a musical instrument that he can take away, and it shouldn't be too expensive. Then find a suitable excuse for him to accept it."
Oak said casually.
"Don't even think about the piano and the violin. He can't take the piano with him, so he definitely won't take it. He still needs the violin, so he definitely won't take it. He's planning to buy a cello, so even if he takes it, he'll definitely pay us... and give us something else."
"As for the others... the first thing that comes to my mind is the guitar. Will he collect the [record player]? He didn't learn this, did he?"
"How about... an accordion?"
"Are you serious?"
"Or a harmonica? It's easy to carry and not too expensive. I think [Record Player] will accept it, right?"
"How about giving him something else, like... a camera? Or helping him get a new terminal?"
"Why are you giving him a camera? Just to take pictures? Or do you want to lead him into SLR hell?"
“I think the guitar is fine.”
Silver spoke up.
"When the time comes, we can just say that we want him to sing for us on guitar, and the price of guitar is right."
As he spoke, Yin turned on the projector in the living room and projected the screen from his laptop onto it.
"Hey, Big Sister, you didn't say anything nonsense... Have you already picked out several for us to choose from?"
"You're obviously well prepared, Big Sister~"
"Why is there a shamisen mixed in there? A record player isn't suitable for playing this, right? Big sister, even if you are partial to your family, you can't be so partial..."
"There's a guitar body, a guitar neck, and strings... Confirmed! It's a guitar!"
"Are these two different?!"
"If you think it's not appropriate, we can discuss it again."
Yin took the lollipop in his mouth, pointed at a few at random, and continued.
"In addition to giving him musical instruments, you can also think of other things, mainly things that he can use in the future."
"……money?"
"Well said. Don't say it again next time. Li, hit him!"
Boom!
Before Yin could finish his words, Li punched the man on the head.
"What else can I do? Isn't money the most practical thing?"
