One Word Changed, Characters in Chaos

There were no surprises.

The voice on the other end of the line was ecstatic in agreement.

Lin Yun smiled, “See you tomorrow.”

Outside the window, the night was deepening.

Lin Yun stood in front of the large floor-to-ceiling window, her expression calm.

Ye Bingtong,

we are going to meet again soon.

As a child, I chose to escape and built a thick shell around myself.

Latterly, I dedicated all my efforts to the career I loved, never daring to relax for a moment.

What about you?

Have you put in the same amount of effort?

If the videos are anything to go by, your current performance has declined quite a bit!

Lin Yun’s thoughts drifted back to many years ago.

Back then, she was still a child.

She and Ye Bingtong participated in a children’s piano competition together.

For that competition, she practiced night and day, telling herself that she had to achieve a good ranking this time.

At that time, their families were neighbors.

Every time she practiced frantically at home, she would see Ye Bingtong playing downstairs.

They were good friends then, and Ye Bingtong was also in the competition. Lin Yun urged Ye Bingtong to spend more time practicing the piano.

What did Ye Bingtong say at that time?

“I’m just participating for fun, it doesn’t matter if I don’t get a ranking, Xiaoyun, just do your best.”

Lin Yun believed her and did not press Ye Bingtong to practice together.

Then came the competition.

Ye Bingtong played before her.

Ye Bingtong said to her with a smile, “Xiaoyun, I haven’t practiced much recently. If I play terribly, you mustn’t laugh at me, okay?”

She took it seriously and sincerely assured that she would not do so.

But in the end,

Ye Bingtong went on stage and skillfully performed a challenging piece, winning thunderous applause.

At that moment,

she was somewhat shocked but still genuinely happy for her friend.

She clapped very hard for Ye Bingtong, until her palms turned red and she finally stopped.

After Ye Bingtong finished performing, she didn’t come down from the stage immediately; she took the microphone and publicly said,

“My level of piano is nothing special. My good friend Lin Yun, her skills are a thousand, no, a million times better than mine. Lin Yun said, the foreign prodigy Leo is no match for her at all. When it’s Lin Yun’s turn to perform, everyone must give her even warmer applause.”

Because of Ye Bingtong’s words, all eyes turned to her.

Lin Yun started to feel panic.

Her skills were about on par with Ye Bingtong’s.

To say that she was a thousand or a million times better than Ye Bingtong was a gross exaggeration.

As for the prodigy from abroad, Leo, though their ages were similar, he had already participated in many piano competitions and was recognized as a super prodigy.

Indeed, she had joked that Leo was no match for her, but it was only a child’s playful boast!

Who hasn’t uttered some braggart words as a kid?

But for Ye Bingtong to say it on such an occasion twisted the meaning entirely.

Especially since!

One of the judges at that time happened to be Leo’s piano teacher.

At that time,

Lin Yun truly understood what it felt like to be on pins and needles!

“Xiaoyun, you can do it. The first place is yours for the taking,” Ye Bingtong was still loudly cheering her on.

Lin Yun just felt the hostility around her growing.

At that time, the little girl she was simply couldn’t withstand such pressure, and when her turn came, not only did she fail to perform at her usual level, but she also played terribly out of the ordinary and made a complete mess of her performance.

Because of what Ye Bingtong had said before, after her mistake, she was directly criticized harshly by the judges, and below, there were nothing but scornful gazes.

Under those gazes, she completely broke down and immediately fled the scene.

She locked herself in her room, refusing to come out for an entire day and night.

At that time, she didn’t even hold a grudge against Ye Bingtong, she just felt that it was her own lack of mental strength that had led to her poor performance.

She was annoyed, especially at herself.

It wasn’t until that day that Ye Bingtong came looking for her with the trophy in hand.

“Lin Yun, I came first in the competition,” Ye Bingtong said with a smile.

“Congratulations,” she congratulated.

Ye Bingtong seemed quite embarrassed, “Sorry. I didn’t even take this competition seriously, and I didn’t prepare for it at all. I never expected to win first place. When the judges gave me the trophy, I even told them that you had worked a thousand, no, ten thousand times harder than me, and that the trophy should be yours. But the judges said that while effort is certainly important in playing piano, talent is even more important. They insisted that I had more talent than you and forced the trophy on me. I really couldn’t refuse. But now, I’ve brought the trophy, Xiaoyun, I’m giving this trophy to you.”

Lin Yun found it very hard to recall how she felt at that moment.

All she knew was,

the wound that had barely started to heal was ruthlessly torn open again after seeing Ye Bingtong.

That time, she refused to accept the trophy, but Ye Bingtong just left it in her house and left straight away.

The trophy in her room was a constant reminder of her mistakes during the competition.

She was in pain.

She felt like a terrible person.

Clearly, Bingtong had left the trophy with her because she considered her the best friend.

Yet, she felt jealous, angry, and even a bit repulsed at the thought of meeting with Ye Bingtong.

She felt like a stranger to herself.

She decided to take the trophy and go find Ye Bingtong.

She wanted to tell Ye Bingtong that they would always be best friends, but that she couldn’t accept the trophy, and she would earn her own in the future.

That was the time,

she overheard the conversation between Ye Bingtong and Chen Yueyue.

“Sister Yueyue, that Lin Yun is such a fool!”

“Her skills are almost as good as mine, and in this piano competition, she was my greatest rival. But all it took was for me to say a few words to see if I could affect her. And she actually panicked and completely underperformed.”

“I even purposely brought the trophy to show her yesterday. The look on her face was so priceless!”

“I intentionally left the trophy in her room, guessing that every time she saw it, she would be furious. Hahaha.”

“But no matter how angry she gets, a few words from me and she still treats me like her best friend. In the future, I’ll make sure she remains forever in my shadow!”

Ye Bingtong and Chen Yueyue said more, but by then the little girl she was could no longer take it in.

Bang.

The trophy in her hands fell directly to the ground.

The little Lin Yun ran away in panic.

She had failed in the competition.

Her talent was questioned.

And to top it all off… it was all orchestrated by her best friend.

The little girl she once was, under all this immense pressure, completely collapsed.

Consequently, she fell seriously ill, an illness so severe that until she left Xia Country, she never had the courage to confront Ye Bingtong face to face.

After leaving,

she gave up piano for a while.

But later on,

she realized that she ultimately still loved the piano.

She took up piano again.

She poured her soul, her everything, into the music.

Once,

she had lost one competition, and almost lost her entire life because of it.

This time, she wouldn’t lose again.