Push Me Away When I Come, Don't Hold Me Back When I Leave - Chapter 116

Chapter 116: Does The Young Lady Know About The Guqin?

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Xia Ruoming certainly wouldn’t take this polite question as Ye Han having any interest in her. Perhaps Ye Han was just curious about her as a “newcomer.”

But even if there was a 1% possibility, she had to prevent it.

So she directly used her most skilled technique from her previous life, playing deaf and mute, clearly hearing but choosing not to answer.

She even held her teacup with her gaze wandering everywhere, deliberately not paying attention to Ye Han.

“Hey! Did you hear what I said? I’m talking to you!” Discovering that Xia Ruoming seemed to not have heard her words at all, Ye Han immediately tore off her disguise of gentleness + politeness, she was truly very displeased, regardless of whether Xia Ruoming was pretending not to hear or genuinely hadn’t heard.

Xia Ruoming: “…”

Now Xia Ruoming’s main strategy was complete avoidance, no matter what she said, Xia Ruoming pretended not to hear everything, and when approached would pretend to look at other things by shifting her view to another direction.

Ye Han was truly bewildered. Even playing hard to get wasn’t done like this. There were truly many people who wanted to curry favor with her, and the rest who didn’t like her personality would at least come up to say hello to leave a good impression, but Xia Ruoming was different, from the moment she sat down it was like she was deliberately avoiding her.

No, even if she wasn’t beautiful enough by Xia Ruoming’s standards, she shouldn’t be that frightening, right? Why was Xia Ruoming acting like she’d seen a ghost?

Even someone with a temper as bad as hers would at least give some response if not exchanging polite pleasantries. If there were any benefits to be had, exchanging contact information would be perfectly normal.

How could someone have an even stranger temperament than her?

Ye Han truly couldn’t understand.

Looking at Ye Han’s face that could turn red at any moment, Xia Ruoming was truly having trouble keeping her composure, while also feeling very helpless inside.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be polite, but rather if her politeness made Ye Han develop good feelings and get attached to her, what would she do then? Moreover, the Ye family patriarch already didn’t allow this kind of thing. In her previous life, Xu Fengwu could carefreely elope, but now she had her own newly started career, wasn’t it asking for trouble to go against the Ye family patriarch?

“Hey! I’m asking you! Which family are you from, why are you so impolite?” Ye Han was truly getting a bit anxious, persistently questioning.

“Friend, Miss Ye is asking you a question. She’s the daughter of the prestigious Ye family. Shouldn’t you at least answer out of respect for the Ye family?” Li Bokan also smiled and chimed in from the side at the right moment.

“…Xia Ruoming.” After hesitating for a while, Xia Ruoming had no choice but to respond, while giving Li Bokan a malicious look. If everyone had just played mute, couldn’t I have gotten through this? Brother, what’s the meaning of putting me on the spot like this?

Hearing Xia Ruoming finally answer her question, Ye Han revealed a slight smile. Just as she was about to ask more questions, she noticed some commotion in a corner of the hall.

Finding her opportunity, Xia Ruoming immediately stood up and walked towards the noisy area. She certainly had no interest in joining the commotion, but she had no choice but to do so to escape from Ye Han.

But just like her previous life’s trajectory in matters of love, fate had never gone according to Xia Ruoming’s wishes.

When Xia Ruoming walked over, she discovered several wealthy second-generation youth gathered around a guqin discussing it. Reportedly this Nanmu wood guqin was also a famous instrument, made by a master craftsman, costing around 100,000 yuan to purchase, considerably more expensive than those several 10,000 yuan guqins “supervised” by masters.

Playing a piece on the guqin in front of everyone in this classical setting would undoubtedly be an excellent opportunity to show off. These wealthy young people wanted to display their skills but were helpless, if it were piano, they could all still demonstrate some ability, but with the guqin, they had barely even touched one before, wanting to show off but not knowing where to start.

“Is the young lady also interested in the guqin? May I ask about your understanding of it?” A young man who had been introducing the guqin saw another newcomer and eagerly asked.

He himself wasn’t very skilled with the guqin but enjoyed collecting instruments. This guqin was also something he had recently acquired by chance, but since the guqin wasn’t his forte, he thought of bringing it to the party to give to someone who appreciated music, thereby gaining social connections. Plus, with the guqin finding its rightful owner rather than being wasted in his possession, he would be satisfied.

“Um… I know a little bit…” Actually Xia Ruoming was being quite modest saying this. In her previous life, she was quite skilled with the guqin, mastering everything from Xiaoxiang Shuiyun to Guangling San.

There was no help for it, when people lose their material pursuits, they need some spiritual pursuits. But piano required cutting tendons later on, which wasn’t her cup of tea, so she chose the guqin instead.

As everyone knows, phrases like “know a little bit” are generally used for modesty, ranking below terms like “entered the door” < “pure skill” < “transcendent” < “peak mastery”. When the guqin’s owner heard Xia Ruoming’s words, he immediately subconsciously regarded her as a guqin master.

“Is that so… If the young lady likes, why not play a piece?” That young man pulled Xia Ruoming to the side, his face seemingly full of anticipation.

“Really?” Xia Ruoming also became somewhat interested. Counting her previous life, it had been 10 years since she had touched a guqin. Encountering a famous instrument this time actually aroused some of her interest again.

“Really, please go ahead, young lady.” Speaking thus, that young man directly cleared the way.

Xia Ruoming walked to the guqin, narrowed her eyes and tried playing it. Of the nine virtues of the guqin — ancient, quiet, round, clear, moist, even — this guqin had no problems with any of these, while it was somewhat lacking in the remaining — extraordinary, penetrating, fragrant. However, this wasn’t a major issue, as modern guqins, even those made by famous craftsmen, rarely possessed all nine virtues.

There were also no problems with the wooden bridge, sand sounds, or finger resistance — it could truly be considered a good instrument, but the price certainly wasn’t worth this much. The guqin’s owner had probably been quite deceived.

“What does the young lady think of this instrument?” Seeing that Xia Ruoming had finished testing the guqin, that young man asked.

“Not bad. The sound doesn’t scatter, the tone is even. Although it doesn’t possess all nine virtues, it’s still a rare good instrument. Do you really want me to play a piece? Aren’t you afraid I might damage your expensive guqin? I couldn’t afford to compensate for it.”  Xia Ruoming said with a smile.

“Please go ahead and play, young lady. I always mean what I say. Never mind damaging it, if the young lady truly masters the art of the guqin, I would even painfully part with this instrument and give it to you.”

“Since that’s the case, I’ll graciously accept.” Rarely encountering a good instrument, Xia Ruoming also had itchy fingers for a moment, and directly sat down in front of the guqin. She placed her fingers on the strings, attracting many second-generation rich kids to gather around, including Ye Han.

There were also many people discussing quietly on the side.

“This Luo Hongyu is usually stingy as hell, acting like touching his guqin would cost him his life, how come today he’s willing to let someone play it?”

“Don’t know, but it seems this woman must really understand the guqin, otherwise Luo wouldn’t let her touch it.”

“Wonder which prestigious family’s young lady she is, even knowing the guqin. Wearing such cheap clothes probably to not stand out too much. Looks like we should try to get to know her well later.”