The piece played by Xia Yu was called “Tears of the Moon,” also known as “Moon’s Tears,” which is another name for a kind of white trumpet-shaped flower.
This piece did not involve any special techniques or intense emotions. It was simply an expression of praise for the sea of Moon’s Tears flowers and for things one loves.
With his level 4 music skill, Xia Yu couldn’t help but want to inject emotion into his playing. In his mind, he recalled things he loved, eventually settling on the white rice dumplings—Bai Yu Tangzi—he had eaten at An Siyao’s place.
The dumplings’ jade-like appearance, soft texture, and the sensation of their juice spreading on his tongue relaxed Xia Yu’s body and lifted his mood.
As soon as this emotion emerged, the old lady sensed it immediately. Her previously upright posture became languid.
She shifted from a common posture to a more comfortable one. Beautiful things should be appreciated with the most peaceful of minds.
As the piece ended, just as the old lady was about to speak, Kong Hanyue rushed forward and hugged Xia Yu first.
“What’s going on? Why has your skill suddenly improved so much?” As someone who had watched Xia Yu practice guzheng all along, Kong Hanyue clearly understood his level.
Three days ago, Xia Yu, whose skill had been growing rapidly, finally hit a plateau. She had even felt a bit pleased, thinking that Xia Yu wasn’t that kind of freakishly talented person after all. But now, within just three days, he had broken through again?
She had even invited her own teacher to teach him!
Since things hadn’t gone according to her expectations, Kong Hanyue was feeling a bit upset.
“Isn’t it normal for someone to suddenly have an epiphany?” Xia Yu pushed Kong Hanyue away.
Kong Hanyue wanted to keep acting up, but the old lady pulled her off.
“Teacher,” Xia Yu addressed the elderly woman before him.
“Calling me teacher is too formal. Just call me Grandma,” the old lady said, holding Xia Yu’s hand. The more she looked at him, the more she liked him.
So Xia Yu changed his address and called her Grandma.
Kong Hanyue frowned slightly as she calculated the generational relationship beside them, then showed a look of shock. She hugged the old lady and called her “Mom.”
“I don’t have such a silly daughter!” The old lady pushed Kong Hanyue away. Although her face showed disdain, her tone and eyes clearly revealed indulgence.
Then the old lady turned to Xia Yu again: “I’ll be staying in Zilang for more than half a month. If there’s no problem in these two weeks, you can come with me to Afang City.”
She wanted to take Xia Yu with her and personally guide him.
However, Xia Yu had no intention of truly pursuing a career in music.
“I still have a competition to participate in a month from now,” he changed the subject.
“A competition? What competition?” the old lady asked in confusion.
“The Musical Instrument Competition,” Xia Yu replied.
“You’ve entered it?” the old lady asked in surprise.
Since Xia Yu said he was competing in a month, it meant he had already passed the second round and could enter the third. However, the old lady had watched videos of everyone in the second round, and among the guzheng players, there had been no Xia Yu.
After Xia Yu confirmed her guess, the old lady asked in confusion: “But I didn’t see you!”
“Maybe it’s because I played the violin.”
“??? Are you kidding me?” the old lady’s expression showed disbelief.
Five seconds later, her confusion turned into realization. She slapped the table: “So you’re the one who played the ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’!”
“It was me,” Xia Yu nodded.
Now even more excited, the old lady grabbed Xia Yu’s hand again. Unlike before, when she had looked at his face while holding his hand, this time her gaze was fixed on his fingers.
“If you can play ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ so fast, your finger sensitivity must be excellent. Good, very good!” Her face overflowed with excitement.
Taking the opportunity, Kong Hanyue chimed in: “Yuyu’s fingers are super flexible. Teacher, you should definitely pass your most treasured piece to Yuyu!”
“Great, great, I will pass it on, I will!” As she stroked Xia Yu’s hand, the old lady looked at his face again and liked him even more.
“Oh, by the way, Teacher, you also have a granddaughter. You should pass it to Yuyu as well!” Kong Hanyue added.
“Great, great, I will pass it on… Hmm?” The old lady gave Kong Hanyue a light tap on the head, coughed once, let go of Xia Yu, and sat upright.
She then said to Xia Yu: “I have a granddaughter. She’s eighteen this year. How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
The old lady then asked Xia Yu his birthday and smiled: “What a coincidence! You’re just one day younger than her. From now on, you should call her ‘older sister.'”
“…” Was this a polite way of saying not to have any ideas about her granddaughter? After all, once you call her “older sister,” how could you make a move?
But Xia Yu had no intention of making a move anyway, so he didn’t care much about it.
“My granddaughter also studies guzheng. She’s not very dexterous, so she had to learn the Northern School,” the old lady sighed, but after looking at Xia Yu again, she became happy once more.
Xia Yu had heard from Kong Hanyue about the different schools of guzheng. The Southern and Northern Schools were the mainstream, while the Flowery School he had learned was nearly extinct.
“She also participated in the Musical Instrument Competition. You’ll get to meet her during the third round.”
After finishing this topic of conversation, the old lady directly and eagerly entered the teaching phase.
She started by correcting Xia Yu’s posture.
“What has Yueyue been teaching you? Your posture isn’t even correct,” she complained.
Actually, this wasn’t really Kong Hanyue’s fault. Xia Yu had only studied guzheng for a short time, and his posture had not yet become habitual.
“And your movements—be handsome! Understand? In our Flowery School, how can you not be handsome while playing guzheng!”
Xia Yu had originally thought that Kong Hanyue’s emphasis on being “handsome” while playing guzheng was just her own personal quirk, but he hadn’t expected it to be a concept inherited from the old lady.
Under the old lady’s guidance, Xia Yu studied until ten o’clock in the evening before saying his goodbyes and leaving.
On his way home, he used the internet to search for famous guzheng masters and finally learned the old lady’s name.
Her name was Liu Ronglan, the sole master of the Flowery School of guzheng and one of the leading figures in the guzheng world.
He found videos of Liu Ronglan from her younger days and watched them.
In the video, Liu Ronglan wore long-sleeved Hanfu as she took the stage, her hair in a bun with a golden hairpin. A golden butterfly on the hairpin fluttered its wings with her finger movements, reflecting sparkling light under the stage lights.
She wore a smile on her face, her fingers moving gracefully over the strings. Her performance was not only an auditory feast but also a visual one.
Reflecting on this, Xia Yu realized that influenced by piano, he had always focused solely on the music itself when playing guzheng, never considering that his own performance should be “handsome” as well.
This was a flaw somewhat difficult to correct, requiring a longer period of time. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to fix it in time for the third round and finals.
Sighing, Xia Yu fell asleep.
The next morning, he pressed the button for An Siyao’s location as usual, preparing to go to her place.
However, after a moment of darkness, a noisy sound entered his ears.
An Siyao’s villa could never be this noisy.
Opening his eyes, Xia Yu saw that he was in a white cage.
Had another bug occurred?
What had he turned into this time?
After lifting his hand and seeing the paw pads, Xia Yu felt a bit disappointed.
He had become a cat again.
What bug? Just call it Catug directly.
Since he was a cat again, it meant he had no value. He already had a black cat, and its dexterity bonus had already been converted into a permanent bonus.
He casually glanced at the bonus interface.
Two eyes.
Then he stared.
[Elegant Bonus Lv.1, Telepathy Bonus Lv.1, Soothing Bonus Lv.1]
They were completely different from the black cat’s!
The previous “elegant” could be understood—cats were often called elegant creatures. But what were the last two? Especially telepathy—wasn’t that already a supernatural ability?!
As Xia Yu was excited in his heart, voices sounded again around him.
His originally cheerful mood suddenly sank.
Because he realized that the language being spoken was one he couldn’t understand at all.
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