My Best Friend Begged Me to Be a Stay-at-Home Dad for the CEO Goddess - Chapter 18:

Chapter 18: Beginner-Level Piano Skill

Jiang Ning wore a warm smile as he extended an invitation to Su Che, “Old Su, why don’t you stay for lunch? I’ll show you what I’ve got—let you try my cooking.”

The moment Su Che heard that, his eyes lit up. He replied without hesitation, “Sure! I actually came here today just for this meal.”

Jiang Ning: “…”

He was momentarily speechless and looked helpless. “Old Su, I was just being polite. You actually took it seriously? If you’ve got nothing else to do, you better head back. I don’t have time to entertain you. If you want me to hang out, you’ll have to wait three months.”

Su Che immediately put on a sulky look and said, “Come on, Old Jiang. You just said you’d treat me. How can you take it back?”

Jiang Ning replied seriously, “I need to give Mengmeng my full attention. If I don’t do this job well and lose it, are you going to support me?”

Su Che continued to tease, “Old Jiang, you’re not a girl. Why so uptight about everything?”

Jiang Ning was growing impatient and waved him off, “Alright, alright, if you’ve got nothing to do, just go. I still have to teach Mengmeng how to draw.”

Su Che exaggeratedly shouted, “Ah, Old Jiang, you ungrateful guy! You got a little girl in your life, and now you don’t need your brothers anymore?”

Jiang Ning gave a helpless smile and asked, “Seriously, Old Su, don’t you have work today?”

Su Che grinned and proudly said, “I took the day off just to hang out with you.”

Jiang Ning had no way to deal with him and gave in. “Fine, I’ve got work to do. Do whatever you want—just don’t disturb me while I’m with Mengmeng, alright?”

With that, Jiang Ning walked toward the balcony.

As soon as he got there, he saw Mengmeng’s drawings and couldn’t help but praise, “Wow, Mengmeng, your little white rabbit looks great! As for the bear, you can draw it like this.”

While speaking, Jiang Ning picked up a piece of paper and began to draw seriously.

Mengmeng pouted a little and muttered, “Uncle Jiang, I can never draw the bear right.”

Jiang Ning gently patted her head and patiently guided her, “Take your time, Mengmeng. Look, bears can stand upright or walk on all fours. So think—what’s something special about bears?”

Mengmeng tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, “They’re chubby.”

Jiang Ning asked again, “Anything else?”

Mengmeng shook her head.

Jiang Ning smiled and explained, “Their limbs are thick and strong too.”

Mengmeng’s eyes lit up. “Oh yeah! A bear’s arms and legs are way bigger than a person’s!”

Jiang Ning nodded approvingly. “Smart girl! Let’s draw with that in mind, and we’ll get the bear just right.”

Meanwhile, Su Che, standing nearby, quietly pulled out his phone and secretly recorded Jiang Ning teaching Mengmeng how to draw. He sent the video to Su Meng.

At that moment, Su Meng was on a private jet with her bodyguards.

Her phone chimed with a [Ding]. She opened it and saw the video from Su Che.

In the video, Jiang Ning was patiently guiding Mengmeng with her drawing.

Watching it, Su Meng’s lips curled into an unconscious smile.

No wonder Mengmeng had improved so quickly at drawing—Jiang Ning explained the techniques so clearly.

But the moment she realized Su Che had gone to the villa, she frowned.

She knew her brother too well. With Su Che’s personality, he just might try to push Jiang Ning into chasing her.

Thinking of that, Su Meng’s cheeks flushed slightly.

An hour later, Mengmeng finally finished her drawing.

Jiang Ning looked at her and asked warmly, “Mengmeng, drawing time is over. Do you want to learn piano?”

Mengmeng’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “Yes! I really want to! Mommy plays the piano so beautifully.”

Jiang Ning smiled, “Alright then, Uncle Jiang will teach you how to play. How about that?”

“Yay! Let’s go, Uncle Jiang, let’s play piano!” she said as she grabbed his hand and led him toward the living room.

The moment they entered, Mengmeng saw Su Che and looked up at Jiang Ning curiously.

Jiang Ning quickly explained, “Mengmeng, this is Uncle Su. He’s a good friend of Uncle Jiang and came to visit. He’s not a bad guy.”

Mengmeng greeted politely, “Hello, Uncle Su!”

Su Che smiled, “Such a sweet girl,” and rubbed her head.

Mengmeng blinked her big eyes and looked at him curiously. Then she asked, “Uncle Su, you and Mommy both have the same surname. Are you Mommy’s little brother?”

Su Che: “…”

He froze for a moment, not knowing how to respond.

Jiang Ning quickly jumped in to smooth things over. “Alright, Mengmeng, Uncle Su isn’t Mommy’s little brother. Come on, let’s leave him to play by himself. Let’s go learn piano.”

Mengmeng nodded obediently and said to Su Che, “Uncle Su, you play by yourself, okay? I’m going to play piano with Uncle Jiang.”

Then the two of them took the elevator to the third floor.

Inside the piano room, Jiang Ning lifted Mengmeng onto the bench and began patiently teaching her the basics of the piano, pointing to each key as he explained, “Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si…”

Since Jiang Ning’s piano knowledge was limited, he was extra careful with these basics and spent quite a bit of time going over them.

Fortunately, Mengmeng learned quickly. Before long, she was already familiar with the keys and their positions.

Jiang Ning tested her, “Mengmeng, which key is ‘mi’?” She immediately pressed the correct one.

Five minutes later, a system notification rang out in Jiang Ning’s mind:

[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have acquired Beginner-Level Piano Skill.]

In that instant, a massive amount of piano knowledge flooded into Jiang Ning’s brain. He felt a strange change in his arms and vocal cords—any previous clumsiness disappeared completely.

Jiang Ning quietly let out a sigh of relief. “Finally got the reward. If it took any longer, it would’ve been embarrassing.”

Once Mengmeng had memorized the keys and their functions, Jiang Ning began playing the simplest song—Two Tigers.

The cheerful melody echoed through the piano room. Mengmeng clapped her hands and cheered, “So pretty! Uncle Jiang, I want to learn too!”

Jiang Ning smiled and encouraged her, “Great. I’ll teach you this song over the next few days. When Mommy comes back, you’ll be able to play lots of songs for her. Sound good?”

“Yes! Yes! Mengmeng will study really hard!” she said with determination in her eyes.

And so, the two of them—one teaching seriously, the other learning attentively—became fully immersed in the world of music.

Outside the piano room, Su Che was still quietly recording video and sent it off to Su Meng again.

Actually, when Su Che saw how wholeheartedly Jiang Ning cared for Mengmeng, he had the idea to record more videos like this for his sister. He wanted her to regularly see Jiang Ning’s gentle, responsible side.

He figured trying to push Jiang Ning directly would be tough, but if he could move his sister’s heart, that was a different story.

As the saying goes: a man chasing a woman is like climbing a mountain, but a woman chasing a man is like pulling aside a veil.

For someone like Jiang Ning, from an ordinary background, he might not even have the courage to pursue Su Meng. But if she made the first move, things would be much easier.

The more Su Che thought about it, the more he felt this plan would work. He sincerely hoped his best friend could become his brother-in-law.

After all, in his eyes, most of those rich second-generation heirs were just after the Su family’s assets—but Jiang Ning was different.

He knew Jiang Ning too well. Back in college, Jiang Ning was so broke he had to pinch pennies to eat. One time they ran into a beggar on the street, and Jiang Ning gave away 200 yuan without hesitation, leaving himself with just a few yuan for food. Within a day, he was broke and had to borrow money from others.

Call him foolish, but Jiang Ning was also incredibly smart—just too pure and kindhearted.

And that kindness touched Su Che again and again.

After graduation, most of their classmates had gone their separate ways, gradually losing touch. But his friendship with Jiang Ning remained just as strong as it was in college—they still contacted each other frequently, like nothing had changed.