Chapter 55: Zhao Haoyu’s Story

Zhao Haoyu’s shrill screams echoed through the empty, silent observatory hall, threatening to shatter the very structure.
He tore at his hair frantically, his bloodshot eyes staring intently ahead.
His frantic demeanor resembled that of a cornered beast, ready to tear at anything.
Everyone looked at each other, and from what they said, it seemed that there was something else hidden in this matter?
“Tsk.”
Yin Xiran let out an unhappy sound.
She didn’t have the patience to watch a madman go crazy here.
Before Chen Dongyang and Yin Qingle could react, Yin Xiran had already taken a step forward, casually raised her slender white fingers in the direction of Zhao Haoyu, and then gently pressed down.
A pressure that was invisible to the naked eye but as heavy as a mountain suddenly descended.
Zhao Haoyu’s frantic movements came to an abrupt halt.
He was pinned to the worn swivel chair by the pressure, his body firmly bound, his limbs unable to move, even the muscles on his face twisted and deformed by the immense pressure.
His mouth, which had been wide open just moments before, was forced shut, and only a meaningless “woohoo” of struggle could be heard from deep in his throat.
Only those eyes were still filled with madness and resentment, staring at everyone.
The entire hall instantly returned to a heart-pounding silence.
“Okay, now we should be able to talk properly.”
Yin Xiran put down her hand, her tone flat, as if she had just done something insignificant.
She turned to look at Jiang Yuxin and raised her eyebrows.
“What are you going to do?
Read his memory directly?
Although it’s a bit rough, it should be the fastest way.”
Jiang Yuxin glanced indifferently at Zhao Haoyu, who was struggling in vain on the chair.
His face looked so ugly because of its extreme distortion that a trace of disgust was revealed in her eyes, which were always calm.
“There’s no need to go through so much trouble.”
She always tried to avoid delving into the consciousness of such people and exploring their dirty, crazy, twisted, and disgusting memories.
Jiang Yuxin slowly raised her right hand and snapped her fingers in the direction of Zhao Haoyu.
“That’s enough,” she said lightly.
Yin Xiran looked at her in confusion, not understanding the meaning of her action.
Chen Dongyang and Yin Qingle were even more confused.
“He can only tell the truth now,” Jiang Yuxin said.
She could insert psychological hints into anyone through words, body movements, and even eye contact.
These hints would persist and could not be removed by anyone other than Jiang Yuxin.
The target would subconsciously follow these hints and could not resist.
This was an extremely convenient and labor-saving ability application that did not require any mental interaction throughout the process.
It was simple and effective.
She nodded gently to Yin Xiran, who understood and released the pressure on Zhao Haoyu’s mouth.
Zhao Haoyu, freed, suddenly opened his mouth, gasping for air, greedily breathing in it.
The terrifying madness and violence in his eyes had somehow faded.
Instead, there was a bottomless sadness and exhaustion, as if all life force had been burned out.
Chen Dongyang hesitated for a moment after seeing his sudden change, but finally mustered up the courage, took a step forward, and asked in a deep voice, “Zhao Haoyu, calm down.
Tell us what happened back then?
Tell us the truth about Lin Shiyao’s death.”
Zhao Haoyu slowly raised his head, his cloudy eyes staring at Chen Dongyang.
There was no more madness in them, only a dead sadness.
He seemed oblivious to Chen Dongyang’s questioning and simply began his story in a hoarse, dreamy voice.
“You guys… you know?
Shiyao… she’s a genius.”
“The first time I met her was at a choir recruitment audition.
She was small and thin, wearing a washed-out school uniform, and so nervous she couldn’t even speak clearly.
But the moment her fingers touched the keys… the whole world fell silent.”
A look of almost intoxicated memories appeared on Zhao Haoyu’s face.
“Her family was poor, and her parents were both vulgar people.
They didn’t understand music, art, or her.
They only treated her as a tool to show off, forcing her to enter various competitions and win prizes…
Only I, only I could understand the loneliness and longing hidden in her piano music.”
“I became her teacher, teaching her everything I know.
I watched her improve little by little, shining a little bit.
Like a budding flower, watered and cared for by me, it was about to bloom with its most brilliant glory…
We… we were confidants, the people in this world who understood each other the most…”
As he spoke, he actually raised his hand and stroked the empty air in front of him, as if there was a girl sitting there quietly playing the piano with a sickly expression on her face.
Yin Qingle felt a chill down her spine and subconsciously leaned closer to her sister.
“She’s amazing!
She easily won first place in the city’s competition,” Zhao Haoyu continued in his hoarse voice, a bitter smile playing on his lips.
“I’m really happy.
I used the salary I’d been saving for a long time to go to a boutique and order her a gift.”
His hands fumbled at his sides, as if trying to take something out of his pocket, but in the end, he just clenched his fists empty-handed.
“It was a beautiful music box.
The music inside was written by me for her.
I told her that this melody belonged to her, a gift to congratulate her on flying to a wider sky.”
“She was… smiling so happily.
That was… the happiest I’ve ever seen her.”
At this point, the gentle look of reminiscence on Zhao Haoyu’s face instantly faded, replaced by a resentment as deep as venom.
“But we never imagined that the devil’s eyes had already been fixed on us.”
His voice suddenly turned cold.
“Zhang Weiming… that beast… that sanctimonious hypocrite!”
“He’d noticed Shiyao a long time ago.
I’ve seen people like him many times.
He always looked at those beautiful young female students with that hypocritical, elder-caring look.”
“He discovered what was going on between us, or rather, he distorted our relationship.
He smeared our pure feelings and mutual understanding, built on art, into a dirty, unacceptable teacher-student relationship.
He used this as an excuse to lock up Shiyao… locked up Shiyao!”
Zhao Haoyu’s body trembled violently with excitement.
Tied to the chair, he let out a low roar like a trapped beast.
“I went to him to argue, I begged him to let Shiyao go.
But he just sat behind his big desk, looking at me like I was trash, and told me he was saving a fallen girl and cleaning up the school’s atmosphere!”