The two boys gripped their items tightly. They had sneaked out early in the morning specifically to obtain these items.
The thin boy held a baseball bat that he had stolen from a supermarket, and he swung it around.
The fat boy held a safety helmet that he had taken from a construction site, and he put it on.
They exchanged glances and nodded.
They began searching for Xia Yu, but after walking around, they found nothing.
Returning disappointedly to the backyard, the two boys saw Xia Yu lying on the wall of the backyard, watching them.
“You damned cat, so you were here all along! This time, even God can’t save you!” The thin boy raised his bat.
“We’ll pluck every hair from your body!” The fat boy followed up with threats.
Their words frightened the other children who were playing in the backyard, and they ran off screaming.
The thin boy swung his bat at Xia Yu, but Xia Yu dodged sideways.
Xia Yu looked at the fat boy, who was the one he had previously dominated.
Touching the safety helmet on his head, the fat boy felt safe this time. However, he didn’t step forward to fight, only watching from the sidelines.
Unlike the hotheaded thin boy, he preferred to avoid trouble when faced with a strong opponent.
The thin boy kept swinging his bat, but Xia Yu dodged every strike.
The more he missed, the more frustrated the thin boy became, swinging the bat wildly.
Dodging another swing, Xia Yu ran toward the fat boy, with the thin boy chasing behind.
Seeing Xia Yu approach, the fat boy tightened his helmet, ready to protect his face.
But Xia Yu didn’t leap onto him; instead, he ran to the fat boy’s feet.
The thin boy’s bat came down, and the fat boy cried out in pain as he clutched his leg and fell to the ground.
As the thin boy stood stunned, Xia Yu stepped onto the fat boy’s body and lunged at his face.
The thin boy fell to the ground, curling up and clutching his head.
When a staff member arrived upon hearing the commotion, he found two troublemakers lying on the ground and a white cat standing on the wall, gazing at the sky.
The two boys stood up, clutching their injuries, and decided to implement Plan B.
“You’ll see!” They ran off together to go upstairs and report to the elderly caretaker.
Pushing open the door to the elderly caretaker’s study, they took turns accusing Xia Yu of his misdeeds.
“Grandma, a cat that hits people shouldn’t be kept here. Throw it away quickly!” said the thin boy.
Looking at the baseball bat in the thin boy’s hand and then at the boy’s frail appearance, the elderly caretaker nodded: “Fine.”
The two boys happily left the study. They went downstairs and proudly told Tina: “Your cat is done for! This time, it’s going to be sent away!”
“What did you do?” Tina panicked.
“Look, the old witch’s top hound has already come out. He’s going to catch your damned cat!” The two boys excitedly pointed to the young male staff member approaching.
However, the young man didn’t go to the backyard to catch the white cat but instead grabbed their hands.
“What are you doing!”
The two boys tried to resist but were effortlessly pinned to the ground by the strong young man, one in each hand.
They couldn’t believe it, unable to understand why things had turned out this way.
At that moment, footsteps approached them.
Looking up, the two boys saw the elderly caretaker. They excitedly wanted to tell him that his henchman had grabbed the wrong people, but they couldn’t get the words out.
Because they saw the white cat in the elderly caretaker’s arms.
The white cat smiled at them.
This cat had even captured the old witch!
The two boys felt their future darken.
“Lock them in their room. Take turns watching them.” With that, the elderly caretaker walked away, holding Xia Yu.
The two boys, pale-faced, were dragged to their room by the young man and locked inside.
Seeing that Xia Yu was unharmed, Tina happily followed the elderly caretaker. She dared not ask for the cat, so she simply followed.
The elderly caretaker glanced at her but said nothing, allowing the girl to follow him into the study.
Returning Xia Yu to Tina, the elderly caretaker took a loaf of bread from a drawer and gave it to the girl, telling her to go play.
Going downstairs with Tina, Xia Yu noticed a group of middle-aged administrators and the remaining two staff members heading toward the study. He felt something was about to happen.
He followed them to the study and openly eavesdropped.
Inside, the group was discussing plans for tomorrow and the day after, when potential adopters would come to visit.
Though called visits, it was likely that some children would be taken home afterward.
Tina was so sweet and lovely; she would surely be chosen. He needed to find a way to ensure she went to a good family.
This was no problem for Xia Yu. Once he approached someone, he could sense their goodness or evil through telepathy.
However, tomorrow and the day after were competition days. Using the body-switching opportunity on the white cat during these two days would delay his return to An Siyao’s body.
The final round was five days after the three-day competition, totaling ten days. All competitors would stay in A Fang City, so a two-day delay was manageable.
“… Should we hide the good children first? Let those with firm adoption intentions take the ordinary ones first, and then use the good children to tempt those who aren’t determined to adopt?” One staff member suggested.
It sounded like a good strategy, but only beneficial to the orphanage.
“No, that wouldn’t be fair to the good children. We can’t make things harder for them just because they’re good,” the elderly caretaker rejected the idea.
Hearing this, Xia Yu felt reassured. It seemed there was no foul play involved, so he could relax.
Eight hours later, Xia Yu returned to his own body.
At that moment, he was sitting on a plane heading to A Fang. There were only three competitors and three accompanying teachers on the plane. Two competitors hadn’t come, and An Siyao wasn’t there either.
This was normal. The organizers couldn’t force competitors to take this flight, though this flight had reimbursement available.
After landing at 4:30 PM, they arrived at the hotel, quickly tidied up, and went to the banquet hall.
Xia Yu had no interest in the banquet. He searched around for An Siyao but couldn’t find her.
Had this girl directly refused to come after listening to his advice?
Walking around the hall, Xia Yu unexpectedly saw Liu Ronglan and Kong Hanyue.
Kong Hanyue excitedly wanted to hug Xia Yu, but he raised his hand, pushing against her face to stop her from getting too close.
It was inappropriate to show affection in public.
“You heartless guy,” Kong Hanyue angrily said and turned away, ignoring Xia Yu.
Unwilling to comfort her, Xia Yu turned to Liu Ronglan. As one of the judges, she should know about An Siyao.
“Why didn’t An Siyao come?” Xia Yu asked.
“An Siyao? She has a bit of a cold. Her teacher didn’t allow her to come.” An Siyao was a promising newcomer, and Liu Ronglan was paying attention to her.
So she had a cold.
Relieved, Xia Yu went to comfort Kong Hanyue.
He didn’t notice that two people were watching him.
They were the two individuals from the Kaiyang Round 2 banquet who had been mocked by Xia Yu for harassing An Siyao.
The two looked at Liu Ronglan in surprise and muttered together.
“How does that guy know Liu Ronglan? Didn’t people say his teacher has no reputation and hasn’t even entered the industry?”
“Who knows how Liu Ronglan became close to him. Logically, guzheng and piano or violin don’t really go together.”
“Could that guy actually play guzheng?”
The two exchanged glances and smiled, both finding the idea extremely amusing.
Mastering one instrument was already difficult. Excelling in two was surprising. Mastering three instruments? Impossible.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage