Untouchable Lovers

Chapter 112: Chapter 104: One Minute on Stage

Under Huan Yuan’s guidance, Wang Yizhi found Chu Yu and Rong Zhi at the very end of a corridor. In the elegantly simple room, two long benches were placed side by side, with a square low table in between. Both were lying on the respective benches, comfortably cushioned, casually picking up nuts from a dish on the table and playing with them.

Seeing Wang Yizhi arrive, Chu Yu suddenly sat up, smiling and waving, “Brother Yizhi has arrived? I heard about what happened at today’s gathering and I must thank you for speaking so highly of me at that moment.”

Seeing that Rong Zhi appeared to be temporarily safe and sound, Wang Yizhi breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Chu Yu with a smile, “I merely gilded the lily. Even if I had said nothing, the name Yu Zichu would still have become known throughout Jiankang.”

Chu Yu smiled faintly, knowing that Wang Yizhi did not want to take credit, but he still noted this gratitude in his heart. To gild the lily was still to add a flower. If it were not for Wang Yizhi being the first to stand up and affirm him, certainly discordant notes would have appeared among the elite, and his words suppressed all potential sources of minor opposition.

Chu Yu’s gaze shifted to Huan Yuan next to Wang Yizhi, and he nodded at him, gratefully saying, “You’ve worked hard today.” In fact, Chu Yu had originally planned to personally perform, but after some thought, she had let Huan Yuan take over her role while she retreated behind the scenes to manage the overall arrangements and planning.

Thus, this tea party came into being.

After secretly training for a month, today he had demonstrated the results. Observing from the shadows, Chu Yu discovered the serious mistake she had previously made. Huan Yuan was naturally a genius in social interaction and persuasion, almost buried in bookkeeping by her in the past, nearly destroying his self-confidence. To use a modern phrase, it was like forcing a liberal arts genius to study science and mathematics.

At the tea party, Huan Yuan dealt deftly with many different guests, initially with one or two, and eventually conversing with seven or eight people at the same time, each discussing different topics. Huan Yuan responded smoothly, his logic never disrupted, gracefully refuting others, winning their admiration and agreement.

In the course of the conversations, he did not neglect any of the guests, making each feel as though he prioritized speaking with them, with none feeling left out.

Such an ability required not only a strong memory but also an extremely harmonious way of interacting with others. However, Huan Yuan had only practiced for such a short period yet had performed so flawlessly. This was not the result of training, but innate talent.

Yet this talent lacked the support of confidence and had not been discovered until today when it finally burst forth.

Yes, confidence. Always restrained and controlled, after entering the household he had constantly been suppressed by Rong Zhi. Huan Yuan’s talents failed to show, unable to see his own value being realized. His pride was strong but his confidence weak, this contradictory difference causing his heart to grow increasingly somber and painful. Although pain is the spiritual wealth of the literate, such suffering is not beneficial for one’s psychological health.

This past month, what Chu Yu had done most was not detailed guidance—Huan Yuan, with his elegant demeanor and scholarly aura, was much better than her in that regard—but continually telling Huan Yuan, “You can do it, I believe in you.”

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Though these were only a few simple words, they were exactly what Huan Yuan was most lacking.

Again and again, she told him, her gaze unwaveringly firm, her tone utterly sincere, transforming what might have originally been a lie into truth after repeating it a thousand times.

Today, at the gathering, Huan Yuan, almost completely transformed, was the sole luminary, bright yet not blinding, capturing the attention of all, even slightly surpassing Wang Yizhi, who, after all, was not the main character and had not participated too actively.

After this occasion, not only the name Yu Zichu would become known, but also that of Yu Ziyuan would circulate widely.

At that moment, Huan Yuan’s face still bore a warm and bright smile, though his body was tired, his mood was soaring unstoppably, his mind repeatedly reliving the moments of his interactions, joy and happiness growing boundlessly in his chest, as if he were in a dream.

Huan Yuan bowed slightly to Chu Yu, saying, “Princess, you overstate things, this is what Huan Yuan should do.” If anyone should be thanked, it should be him thanking Chu Yu, yet no words of gratitude could suffice to express his feelings, so Huan Yuan silently noted it in his heart.

As soon as he looked up, Huan Yuan caught a glimpse of Rong Zhi beside Chu Yu, still lazily reclining on the bench, his dark eyes unfathomable, his lips slightly curled in a mocking and playful smile, making Huan Yuan suddenly feel uncomfortable, pressing down the good mood he felt, and with another bow, he turned and left.

Rong Zhi let out a barely audible chuckle.

While not oblivious to the tension between Huan Yuan and Rong Zhi, Wang Yizhi was still somewhat concerned about the abrupt cessation of Rong Zhi’s singing earlier, as it indeed did not seem to have stopped naturally. He expressed his purpose, asking, “Are you truly alright?”

Rong Zhi smiled slightly and said, “Brother Yizhi need not worry. I just stopped singing because, embarrassingly, I ran out of breath and could not make a sound, so I had to stop reluctantly.”

Staring at Rong Zhi for a while, Wang Yizhi finally slowly smiled, “If you say that, I am relieved.” He walked to the long bench where Chu Yu was sitting, sat down next to her, and recalling what he had seen today, he couldn’t help but praise her, “How did you make this garden so cool? It seems like a different time from outside.” Although he had lakes and trees in his own yard, he could not achieve such a thorough and pure coolness, so he thought of asking Chu Yu for advice.

If one could enjoy coolness at all times during summer, that would be nothing short of wonderful.

Wang Yizhi had not mentioned it before, but once he did, it made Chu Yu sigh repeatedly, saying, “I now realize that what is called elegance is all piled up by obstructions.”

As the saying goes, one minute on stage takes ten years of work off stage. For this little show, Chu Yu had not spent ten years, but she had exhausted herself with careful thoughts and strenuous efforts over the past month.

Apart from the hard training, what Chu Yu felt even more deeply was the expenses flowing like water. She could not bear to look at the accounts these days, afraid her heart could not take it. Princess Shan Yin, although wealthy, was not supposed to spend like this.

Firstly, buying the mansion was expensive, and since it was an old house, it needed to be renovated according to her own demands, which involved another large sum of money. These were still minor expenses, but what really pained Chu Yu was the massive amounts of ice used to create this so-called cool ambiance. The ice used to chill fruits was just a small fraction, the majority just melted away uselessly.

Hearing Chu Yu’s heartfelt explanation, Wang Yizhi realized that for today’s tea party, Chu Yu had spent a large sum of money, almost purchasing more than half of the ice blocks stored by wealthy families in Jiankang City, which were then stored in water carts hidden in the corners of the mansion to freely melt away.

Chu Yu casually pointed at the wall and said, “Not to mention the outdoors, inside the house there is no shortage either. Don’t believe me, Brother Yizhi? Go to the next room and see, surely there are water carts that haven’t been cleared away yet.”

When ice melts, it absorbs heat, and the substantial amount of ice melting would significantly lower the surrounding air temperature, while the excess water vapor also made the many days without a hint of rain in the courtyard become moist and cool. Thus, when guests moved from the sweltering outside into Chu Garden, they felt as if they had entered another world.

The great contrast from scorching heat to coolness left a profound impression. The hotter it was outside, the more shocking the coolness once they stepped inside would be. Hosting the tea party during this sweltering summer weather, and even turning early visitors away rather than accommodating them, was all to create this contrast.

Elegance, it appears, requires a foundation of money. Having experienced it herself, Chu Yu spoke these words with extra harshness, each word imbued with her heartache.

Details decide success or failure; those inconspicuous, seemingly casual places that didn’t capture attention were where she truly invested her efforts.

Chu Yu pointed at her faintly smiling face and earnestly said to Wang Yizhi, “Don’t look at me smiling now; actually, I am crying.”

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Today, a cat ran into the room, small, with a tiny head and a soft body, with medium-length, light brown fur with white stripes. Although this little cat looked harmless, I was quite scared…

I tried to chase it away, but it kept hiding in corners, and I didn’t dare to touch it, nor did I have the heart to hit it with a broom… After a lot of effort, I finally managed to coax it out the door and lock it, taking a big sigh of relief.

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