After finishing his classes on Friday afternoon, Xia Yu went to a coffee shop and played the piano for two hours before returning home. He had a simple dinner and then lay down on his bed.
He logged into An Siyao’s body.
Opening his eyes, once again he was in the familiar piano room with a plate of white rice dumplings.
After eating two dumplings, Xia Yu responded to An Siyao’s greeting and then asked, “Do you know any modern songs?”
“Do you mean ‘Gallery of Variance’ or ‘Nine Lang’s Amulet’?” An Siyao replied.
Xia Yu had previously checked on Baidu Baike and knew that the difficulty levels of these two songs were quite high.
“This girl always wants to trick me into learning difficult songs.”
“No need. Just something like ‘Ashina Autumn’ or ‘Echoing Reed Leaves’ will do.” These were songs recommended by the young shop owner to Xia Yu, who had originally thought Xia Yu already knew them, allowing Xia Yu to bluff his way through.
Although the young man wanted to make his little coffee shop more upscale, compared to classical pieces like the “Gourd of Art” series, the general public was more familiar with songs like “Ashina Autumn.”
Hearing that Xia Yu wanted to learn two songs with very low difficulty, An Siyao felt puzzled. However, she was still pleasantly surprised and reassured that Xia Yu was willing to continue practicing.
“I don’t know these two songs,” the girl said.
“You don’t know them?” Xia Yu’s heart sank. Did this mean he would have to practice them himself?
“No problem though. These songs are so simple. Just play a video of someone else performing them, and I’ll be able to learn by watching,” An Siyao continued.
Is she that strong?
Taking out his phone, Xia Yu selected a piano performance video and watched it together with An Siyao.
After the song ended, Xia Yu hadn’t even memorized the sheet music yet, while An Siyao told him they could start practicing now.
The girl hadn’t lied to him. Her expert teaching made Xia Yu suspect that she had actually known the song all along.
We watched it together, so why can you already play it while I still need to learn?
Are you some kind of immortal?
With An Siyao’s guidance, Xia Yu managed to master the two songs in five hours without using any experience cards.
If An Siyao hadn’t been there to serve as a comparison, Xia Yu would have been very proud of his progress. But now, all he wanted was a cigarette.
For the remainder of the time, he learned a slightly more difficult modern piece called “Maple Leaves of the Xianfeng Temple.”
He expected it would take until the next session to complete this song.
Closing the piano lid, Xia Yu sighed, realizing how much of a difference a teacher made. If he had to figure it out on his own, it would probably have taken several times longer.
Why couldn’t that Xu Youxiang be as friendly as An Siyao?
Small chest, big temper.
Entering An Siyao’s bedroom, Xia Yu spent the remaining ten minutes chatting with the girl.
“By the way, if a girl becomes particularly irritable, how should I deal with it?” Xia Yu tried to get advice from An Siyao.
“Girl?” An Siyao immediately became alert.
Thinking for a moment about when she herself might feel irritable, the girl answered, “Maybe it’s that time of the month. It’ll pass in a few days.”
“It’s not that time. I know,” Xia Yu replied. He hadn’t felt any discomfort while using Xu Youxiang’s body.
How do you know that!
Warning bells rang in An Siyao’s mind.
So you really went to see another girl!
A sense of grievance welled up in the girl’s heart.
“In that case, I don’t know. Maybe just staying alone and quiet for a while might help,” An Siyao, though feeling wronged, still did her best to offer advice.
Every time her mood was bad, she would feel better by herself on the balcony, watching the garden.
Xia Yu didn’t think that ordinary quieting down would calm Xu Youxiang. Judging from her words, her anger mainly stemmed from her paralyzed legs. Other than curing her legs, little else would be effective.
Especially since Xia Yu had taken over her body, she had already listed him as her enemy.
Forget it, he decided. He would give up on her and find someone else.
With this thought, Xia Yu relaxed.
It was already early Saturday morning, the holiday time. First thing in the morning, he would try to scout around, and after work in the evening, he would immediately go to make the body exchange.
As he planned further details, An Siyao spoke up, “Actually, besides white rice dumplings, there are other delicious things too. Tomorrow I’ll ask the chef to make some. Would you like to try them?”
“Sure,” Xia Yu immediately agreed.
He could leave the search for a new body until Sunday. He didn’t have to work on Sundays and could prepare more thoroughly.
“Okay,” An Siyao’s mood became cheerful.
When the time came, Xia Yu returned to his own body.
He sat up, thinking about the upcoming delicacies, and opened the marker list.
Currently, the list included:
1. An Siyao
2. I Am a Cat
3. The Cursing Little Girl
To enter someone else’s body, there needed to be an empty slot, meaning Xia Yu had to delete one of them.
Should he delete Xu Youxiang?
If the black cat could be freely selected, deleting the black cat would be the best choice, since the cat was already at home and could be added back anytime.
But Xia Yu was unsure whether the black cat, which had appeared due to a bug, could reconnect after deleting its slot.
He would try it out tonight.
Putting this matter aside for now, Xia Yu went to his desk, spinning a pen while reading a novel.
In these past few days, he had read more novels than in the previous semester. Mainly because he didn’t have a laptop for gaming, and the mobile apps in this world were really not very interesting.
At 7:30 a.m., Xia Yu sent a message to Gui Zixiao. Gui had an older brother who worked locally as a programmer.
If he could learn something about female programmers through her, it would be very helpful for Xia Yu.
It wasn’t until 11 a.m. that Gui Zixiao finally replied.
[Gui Zixiao: What do you need female programmers for?]
[Xia Yu: I’m working on a news article and need to investigate some female programmers.]
Xia Yu chose an excuse that fit Gui Zixiao’s perception of him.
[Xia Yu: I don’t need you to ask your brother to arrange meetings. Actually, there are additional requirements for the participants, so just names and companies will do.]
[Gui Zixiao: I see. I’ll ask my brother.]
An hour and a half later, Gui Zixiao messaged again.
[Gui Zixiao: This is something I secretly took from my brother’s computer. Don’t let anyone else see it!]
[Gui Zixiao: File: “List of Female Programmers in Zilang City”]
Xia Yu had expected maybe one or two names at most, but he actually received a full list.
Xia Yu: Don’t worry, you know how discreet I am.
Opening the file, Xia Yu quickly skimmed through it. It listed names and companies, which was normal. Then came phone numbers and photos, which was still acceptable. But further down were notes like “Available on Sundays,” “Likes outdoor activities,” and “Boyfriend goes on business trips around the middle of each month.”
Well, prying into others’ privacy wasn’t a good thing.
With the list in hand, Xia Yu quickly narrowed it down to three primary candidates and five backup options.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage