Chapter 10: The Meow of the Black Cat

After the familiar darkness, Xia Yu saw the black piano.

The girl had calculated the time of his arrival and was already sitting here waiting for him in advance.

“You’re back!” An Siyao greeted him.

“Hmm.” Xia Yu gave a simple response, opened the piano lid, and started practicing the Guda Etude.

This piece was extremely difficult for beginners, but it was a qualified introductory piece that could comprehensively exercise various techniques.

An Siyao mentioned that many pianists regard this piece as the “introductory teacher.”

Xia Yu smoothly finished the first part. When he reached the second part, his fingers trembled, pressing a key too early, causing the melody to immediately become chaotic, with consecutive wrong notes appearing.

He stopped playing, calmed himself down, and continued practicing.

Playing awkwardly, he could only memorize the key positions. However, piano pieces required more than just replicating the sequence of keys; they also required mastering the rhythm, and in fact, the emphasis was primarily on the rhythm.

After more than seven hours, Xia Yu could now finish the second part. The remaining third part was completely different from the first two parts and was more challenging.

Nevertheless, it was just more difficult. At most, Xia Yu could complete the third section within two days. Then, spending another day to get familiar with the entire piece, and three more days, and he would have mastered the Guda Etude.

Once he had the foundation of the Guda Etude’s difficulty, learning many subsequent pieces would become much faster. Becoming a pianist who could earn money was already within reach.

He glanced at the time; there were only ten minutes left until 2 a.m., and Xia Yu began talking with An Siyao.

“Do you really like piano?” An Siyao asked.

“No.” Xia Yu answered straightforwardly.

“Then why do you use my body to practice piano?” An Siyao asked in confusion.

Afraid that Xia Yu might misunderstand, she quickly added, “Ah, I don’t mean that using my body to practice piano is a bad thing.”

Xia Yu pondered how to answer An Siyao’s question. Could he say that he was learning piano merely to work as a pianist at the corner cafe and earn money?

After a moment of silence, Xia Yu replied in a low voice, “I’m just enjoying the feeling of my fingers moving freely.”

He stretched out his hands, gazing absentmindedly at his ten fingers.

An Siyao’s mind flashed with the image of two bare palms without fingers, and a sense of sadness welled up in her heart.

So, he was a disabled person without fingers?

“I’m sorry,” the girl said.

“You really believed it?” Xia Yu burst out laughing.

“???”

So you were lying to me again!

An Siyao turned away in a huff, ignoring Xia Yu.

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just that you’re so amusing,” Xia Yu consoled the girl, knowing he still needed her to teach him piano.

“I’m not amusing just for your entertainment!” An Siyao protested.

“I’ll be more careful in the future,” Xia Yu promised.

“So why do you play the piano, really?” The girl continued asking the previous question.

“I won’t tell you,” Xia Yu closed the piano lid and walked out of the practice room.

He went to the bedroom and lay on the bed. There were only five minutes left before his departure time, and he didn’t want An Siyao, who would hastily take over her body, to bump into anything.

“By the way, you mentioned earlier that the maid supervisor will return soon. Exactly when is that?” Xia Yu asked.

From the girl’s words, Xia Yu had already learned that the maid supervisor was the biggest boss of this villa. It was quite necessary to find out when the boss battle would begin.

“Auntie Dong will probably come back the day after tomorrow,” An Siyao replied.

“Will she be hard to deal with?” Xia Yu asked.

“She should be somewhat difficult,” An Siyao answered, as she had never tested the maid supervisor’s level of challenge and couldn’t provide an accurate answer.

“Tell me specifically, what exactly is the situation at your home?” Xia Yu glanced at the time; there were still five minutes left, and he should have time to listen.

An Siyao remained silent for ten seconds, organizing her words before beginning her explanation.

From the girl’s words, Xia Yu summarized her situation.

After her mother’s death, her father was busy with work and left her alone in this villa. From the age of five until now, she had been taken care of by the maid supervisor, known as Auntie Dong.

The maid supervisor was very strict, with detailed rules for everything, and all the maids were afraid of her.

After asking some minor details, the eight-hour gaming time ended, and Xia Yu returned to his own body.

Sitting up on the bed, Xia Yu started thinking.

Putting An Siyao aside, the maids didn’t seem like weak individuals. The maid supervisor was capable of keeping these maids in line, so she must have some skills.

Moreover, from An Siyao’s words, the maid supervisor also had the support of her father.

After pondering for a while, he finalized his plan.

He looked toward the black cat under the desk; the black cat was sleeping in its nest.

He wouldn’t go to An Siyao’s place tomorrow. First, he needed to learn intimidation from the black cat.

He got up from the bed, turned on the desk lamp, read for a while, played some games, and briefly reviewed his lessons.

The school he attended, Sanhe High School, was just an ordinary public school. The curriculum difficulty was far behind that of private schools. With his past-life foundation, listening attentively in class and cramming before exams could easily place him in the top five of his class.

At seven o’clock, he left home and wandered through the market and pedestrian street, successfully finding a vendor selling hamsters.

To obtain intimidation from the black cat, he first needed to practice, and practice required a target. Xia Yu couldn’t use You Xue to gain experience, so the most convenient option was to buy hamsters.

For five yuan, Xia Yu obtained a gray hamster, along with a cage.

Carrying the cage, he returned home.

“It’s a hamster!” You Xue’s eyes lit up as she looked at the gray hamster.

The hamster was furry and small. It was something that not only girls, but even some boys, liked to keep as a pet.

Back in his university days, his roommate had kept one. Due to poor cage design and negligence in supervision, the hamster successfully escaped one night and wasn’t discovered until three days later, when his roommate found the nearly lifeless hamster inside a long-unused cup.

The hamster was eventually buried in another roommate’s succulent plant pot.

To prevent You Xue from developing emotional attachment to the experimental equipment, Xia Yu explained, “This is for the black cat to play with.”

“A fake hamster?” You Xue questioned.

“No, it’s real,” Xia Yu replied.

Using a hamster as a cat toy? Doubt arose in the girl’s mind, but she said nothing.

It was normal for boys around this age to have some peculiarities.

For example, locking the door tightly every evening upon returning home.

As a responsible younger sister, You Xue never pried into her older brother’s privacy.

After breakfast, Xia Yu went to school for classes. When he returned in the evening, he eagerly shut the door and entered the black cat’s body.

The black cat, which had been lying on the windowsill, stood up.

Controlling the black cat’s body, Xia Yu carefully jumped from the balcony to the desk, then from the desk to the chair, and finally onto the floor.

Standing in front of the hamster’s cage, Xia Yu prepared himself and meowed.

The fur didn’t puff up. The hamster lifted its head, glanced at the creature in front of it, and then lowered its head again.

Adjusting his mood, Xia Yu tried several more times. Finally, recalling that he only had three thousand yuan left in his savings, he successfully made his fur stand on end.

Clang—

Startled, the hamster jumped and hit the cage.

After smoothing his fur, Xia Yu launched his puffing ability again.

The bedroom wasn’t well soundproofed. In the living room, You Xue, who was tidying up the dishes, worriedly glanced toward the bedroom, which continuously emitted meowing sounds.