Victor Tan immediately became interested and asked, “Oh? Is that so?”
Stella Jiang glanced at Victor Mo and said, “At the last ball, Mr. Mo’s dance with Serena was absolutely stunning.”
Victor Mo looked at the woman in front of him, raised an eyebrow, and after a moment, stubbed out his cigarette and asked, “What program did President Jiang invite her to participate in?”
Victor Mo knew that Stella Jiang knew Alex Qi , so he wasn’t surprised that she knew Serena Li . But he had heard rumors about Victor Tan ‘s mistress’s ruthless methods to achieve her goals, and he didn’t know why she had set her sights on Serena Li .
Victor Mo’s heart softens whenever he thinks of Serena Li , this little woman .
He was genuinely surprised by her righteous and impassioned remarks last Sunday, but not unexpectedly. His interest in her only increased, and he hasn’t contacted her recently to give her some breathing room.
Victor Mo and Serena Li dance together at the MD party , Stella Jiang had sensed something unusual between them. Now, as she talked about Serena Li , she was observing Victor Mo ‘s expression. She understood men, and when she saw the interested look in Victor Mo’s eyes, she lowered her gaze, her brows furrowed with calculation.
Serena Li , Victor Mo , and Gary Gu —it would be interesting to see the three of them performing together!
***
On Sunday afternoon, Serena Li went to the Siler Piano Shop to look at pianos.
Her aunt called her last week to tell her that the piano she was going to receive had arrived.
My aunt asked a friend to order an imported Yamaha piano as a birthday gift for me in early October, but unfortunately it didn’t arrive until last week due to customs clearance and transportation issues.
The music store owner was a friend of her aunt. After Serena Li arrived, the owner took her to see the music and they chatted about her aunt.
Finally, the boss had to leave, and Serena Li sat alone in the meeting room. The door to the music room opposite was open, and she saw a young teacher practicing the piano with a boy who looked to be about 10 years old.
The little boy told his teacher that he didn’t want to learn piano, thinking it was something for girls, but his father said he wanted to cultivate his artistic talent, so he sent him to learn piano…
This reminded Serena Li of one of her mother’s former students, who had a similar experience. It seemed that her mother played a piano piece for him, and the student changed his mind and suddenly felt the charm of music.
Suddenly, she felt the urge to play the piano again. She walked to the piano in the reception room, opened the lid, tried a few notes, and then played a piece.
After the piece was finished, Serena Li looked up and saw two people, one big and one small, standing at the door. They were the piano teacher and the little boy from the practice room across the street.
Perhaps she was too focused on playing the piano, because Serena Li didn’t notice someone walking over.
The piano teacher asked with a hint of surprise, “What piece did you just play? It was so unique!”
Serena Li smiled sweetly and said, “This piano piece is called ‘Song From Pi’.”
“Huh? Is it π, the value of pi?” the little boy asked in surprise.
“Yes, put the numbers from π on the A minor scale, and use your left hand to play the harmony,” Serena Li explained.
“I know π is an infinitely repeating number, but you not only memorized the digits after the decimal point, you can also play them! That’s amazing!” the piano teacher exclaimed.
Serena Li laughed and said, “Actually, it’s not difficult to remember the decimal part of π. There’s a method to memorize it. I’ve practiced it many times, so I can play it quite well.”
The piano teacher looked at her with admiration and said, “Miss, you’re a science student, aren’t you? As a humanities student who failed math, listening to this piece suddenly makes me feel that π is full of romance and magic!”
Serena Li smiled sweetly and said, “Mathematics, like music, is a very fascinating subject!”
Serena Li , who was smiling beside the piano , with eyes full of admiration.
After the boss finished his work and returned, he arranged a time to deliver the piano to Serena Li , and then Serena Li left the Serena Piano Shop.
Just as the white BMW drove away from the music store, a black Mercedes pulled up in front of it.
A handsome young man with a tall and slender build stepped out of the driver’s seat.
The middle-aged man in the passenger seat also got out and said to the young man, ” Gary Gu , you’re going back to America tonight, and I’m so sorry to have troubled you to come all this way to pick me up from school.”
Gary Gu smiled and said, “Brother Lin, don’t be shy. I haven’t seen Yangyang in a long time either, it’s a rare opportunity to see him.”
The middle-aged man nodded and said, “You’ll see him often when you come back to work in Pengcheng!”
Just then, a little boy ran out of the music store, saw the two people next to the Mercedes, and greeted them loudly: “Dad, Uncle Gary Gu .”
Then the little boy ran to his father, looked up at him, and said, “Dad, I saw a beautiful lady at the music store. She was so amazing! She could actually play a piano piece with π, the mathematical constant pi! She said that math is just as fascinating as music. I admire her so much! She has inspired me to learn the piano well and to study math harder!”
After hearing this, the boy’s father patted his head and laughed, “You little rascal, you just love looking at pretty girls!”
Gary Gu, who was standing to the side , looked both surprised and delighted after hearing Yangyang’s words.
Beautiful lady, song-from-π, mathematics is just as captivating as music, could it be Serena?
“Yangyang, is that older sister you mentioned also at the music store?” Gary Gu asked, his voice trembling slightly.
Yangyang said, ” Uncle Gary Gu , you find it interesting too, right? Do you also want to meet that lady? But she just left. I saw her leave from the front desk, and then you came over.”
Gary Gu remembered the white BMW that had been parked in front of him, but looking at the busy road, he could no longer see the car.
Is that you, Serena?
I still haven’t run into them this time I’ve come back!
Serena, it’s been a long time. In a little over a month, I will be back in China for good.
Gary Gu closed his eyes and thought that the 4 p.m. sunlight on his cheeks made his skin appear even whiter, almost transparent.
***
Serena Li’s house at night
Joyce Wu and Lynn Yan came over, and the three of them watched TV and had hot pot in the living room.
Serena Li then told the two of them about Stella Jiang inviting her to her show yesterday.
“Your old classmate is really good at scheming. People like to watch good-looking people on these kinds of TV shows; good looks generate discussion. But if you become famous, all your personal information will probably be dug up by netizens, maybe even your elementary school photos will be found,” Joyce Wu said.
Serena Li nodded, then bent down and poured three glasses of orange juice.
Lynn Yan looked at Serena Li , as if she had just thought of something, and asked, “Serena, what’s the name of that company you mentioned earlier?”
Serena Li looked up and said, “Genting Technology.”
Lynn Yan silently repeated the four words “Yunding Technology” in her mind.
Isn’t that where Gary Gu is going to work again? What a coincidence!
Lynn Yan ‘s cousin and Gary Gu were high school classmates; they were all alumni of the same high school. They were two years older than the three of them and knew about Serena Li and Gary Gu ‘s relationship. Last week, when her cousin was chatting with her, he mentioned that Gary Gu had returned to G City for a reunion with his classmates and that he would be returning to China to work at the end of December for Genting Technology.
Although Genting Technology was well-known, it wasn’t in the same industry, and Lynn Yan hadn’t paid much attention to it. So, at the time, she assumed Genting Technology was located in G City and didn’t intend to tell Serena Li . Five years ago, Gary Gu left gracefully, and it was only recently that Serena Li had begun to let go of this past grievance. Therefore, when she first learned of the news, she didn’t tell Serena Li .
But Gary Gu chose Pengcheng as his work location this time. What does he mean by that? It can’t be such a coincidence, can it?
Lynn Yan glanced at Serena Li ‘s profile; she was smiling and discussing a TV program with Joyce Wu . With her dimpled smile and captivating beauty, how could anyone not cherish such a charming woman? Did Gary Gu have some hidden story back then? Is his visit to Pengcheng an attempt to win her back?
Seeing Lynn Yan frozen in place, Joyce Wu said, “Lingling, why are you standing there like that? The beef in your bowl has been sitting there for ages, hurry up and eat it! It won’t taste as tender when it’s cold!”
After stirring the beef in her bowl with her chopsticks, Lynn Yan said to Serena Li , “Serena, have you considered participating in that show?”
Serena Li shook her head and said, “No, firstly, I don’t have the time, and secondly, I really don’t want to be famous. Like Joyce said, once you’re on TV, you lose all your privacy, and I don’t want to be so high-profile.”
Joyce Wu laughed and chimed in, “Yes, people are afraid of becoming famous, just like pigs are afraid of getting fat!”
Lynn Yan was still debating whether or not to tell Serena Li about Gary Gu when her phone rang.
Serena Li took the caller ID and saw “Principal Liu” on the screen. She couldn’t help but slap her forehead and frown.
Seeing her like this, the two asked, “What’s wrong?”
Serena Li waved her phone to show them the caller ID before getting up and going to the balcony to answer the call.
“Hello, Principal Liu.”
“Xiao Li, it’s so late, I hope I didn’t disturb your rest?”
“No, what are your instructions, Principal Liu?”
“Xiao Li, there’s a meeting tomorrow. City leaders are coming to attend. The Dean of Students is on leave, so I’d like you to come and give a statement.”
Serena Li didn’t want to agree hastily, so she asked, “Principal Liu, what kind of meeting is it?”
“The teaching work seminar will start at 3 pm. I looked at your first-year high school timetable and you don’t have any classes at that time, so come over to the administration building.”
…
She couldn’t refuse this work arrangement, but after hanging up the phone, she couldn’t help but curse in her heart that Principal Liu was cunning and treacherous, and that he was addicted to ordering her around.
After the three finished their hot pot meal, it was already 10 p.m. After cleaning up, Joyce Wu and Lynn Yan went home. Lynn Yan thought about it and ultimately decided not to tell Serena LiGary Gu about it.
On Monday, Serena Li planned to go to the fabric market after school to pick out a piano dust cover, so she drove her BMW to school in the morning.
At 3 p.m., she went to the administration building for a meeting to take notes. After the meeting, the leaders had a dinner party, and Principal Liu also invited her. Serena Li couldn’t refuse because Principal Liu said that the leaders’ conversation before the dinner party would also involve the content of the seminar, and these should be recorded.
Serena Li rolled her eyes inwardly, but she couldn’t afford to offend her direct supervisor, so she had no choice but to follow along. Little did she expect to run into Frank Wang at the dinner party .