“You’re here again!” An Siyao’s surprised voice echoed in Xia Yu’s mind.
Xia Yu didn’t respond since there was a maid nearby. He looked at the flowers in his hand.
Flower arrangement wasn’t simply about putting flowers in a vase. It required careful pairing of different flowers, just like matching clothes, and involved many intricate considerations.
Noticing Xia Yu’s dilemma, An Siyao said, “Cut it in the middle.”
Xia Yu then moved the scissors and cut the flower branch.
“You cut too hard, and it’s a bit too short. Throw it away and start with a new one!” the girl said.
Putting the ruined flower aside, Xia Yu picked up another identical white flower.
“This one won’t work either—it’s blooming too much. You need to choose something more reserved,” the girl’s voice chimed in again. “The second one on your left is barely acceptable. Actually, it would be better to go to the garden and cut a fresh one.”
Those who truly practiced the art of flower arrangement usually had a dedicated garden.
Picking up the flower the girl had indicated as a barely acceptable substitute, Xia Yu carefully cut it as she instructed.
“The cut is too messy,” An Siyao complained again, “but I guess it’ll do. Put it in the vase.”
Following the girl’s guidance, Xia Yu placed the flower in the correct position and let out a sigh of relief.
“Alright, we still need four or five more branches to finish,” the girl said.
Still four or five more?
“But the flowers here aren’t good enough. We need to go to the garden to cut a few more. It’s a bit troublesome.”
What was just a bit troublesome for the girl was already a disaster for Xia Yu.
After a brief silence, Xia Yu put down the scissors and stood up.
“Miss?” the maid also stood up. “Where are you going?”
“I’m not doing the flower arrangement anymore,” Xia Yu said.
“Eh?” The maid was taken aback, unable to believe that the gentle and obedient young lady would say something so capricious.
She looked troubled. “But according to the schedule, this is supposed to be the flower arrangement time.”
“Do you have any objections?” Xia Yu glanced sideways at the maid, who immediately fell silent.
Xia Yu walked out of the room. With An Siyao giving directions, he quickly arrived at the piano room.
The south side of the piano room had floor-to-ceiling windows, letting in the sunset’s glow that bathed the piano in orange light.
“Miss.” The maid had also followed in, clearly at a loss.
Seeing Xia Yu sit down at the piano, she hurried to his side. “Piano is tomorrow…”
“Get out,” Xia Yu interrupted her.
“I…” The maid panicked slightly.
“Get out. I don’t want to repeat myself.”
Unable to meet Xia Yu’s cold gaze, the maid hastily left the room.
“Close the door!”
The maid returned briefly to carefully shut the door.
Leaning against the wall beside the door, the maid exhaled in relief. In her memory, the young lady had always been gentle and easy to bully, but she hadn’t expected her to be so assertive this time.
“Hmph, acting all cowardly when the head maid was around, but daring to be so harsh to me when she’s away.”
While grumbling internally, the maid took out her phone and posted what had just happened in the maids’ chat group.
Inside the piano room, Xia Yu lifted the lid of the keyboard, casually pressing some keys as he spoke to An Siyao. “Your status at home must be really bad if even a little maid dares to boss you around.”
“They’re just following the head maid’s orders,” the girl replied.
From her offhand remark, Xia Yu picked up another piece of information.
An Siyao’s household didn’t just have one or two maids—it had an entire team of them.
Damn capitalist.
Xia Yu had considered getting money directly from An Siyao, but considering the power of the capitalists, he feared they might track him down in real life, so he gave up on the idea.
“You don’t have any objections to what just happened? I thought you’d complain about my lack of etiquette as a young lady!” Xia Yu chuckled.
“I don’t like flower arrangement either. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” An Siyao’s voice carried a note of joy.
“Who is this head maid, anyway?” Xia Yu felt the need to learn more about the girl.
“She used to be my mother’s maid,” the girl answered.
“Were she and your mother close?” Xia Yu asked.
“No, just an ordinary maid,” An Siyao denied.
“Then was she close to your father?” Xia Yu frowned. If that was the case, things would get complicated.
“She’s already in her fifties!” An Siyao caught the implication in Xia Yu’s words. Her tone carried a hint of complaint.
“So she’s just an ordinary maid. Why do you listen to her, then?” Xia Yu was puzzled. “Do you like her?”
“It’s hard to say I like her.”
“Alright, I get it. In short, you’re just afraid to defy the head maid, right?” Xia Yu understood the situation based on what he had learned about the girl’s personality over the past two days.
That reassured him. He had no need to be polite to these maids at all.
“Teach me to play,” he placed both hands on the keyboard.
“Start by getting familiar with the keys.”
Nearly eight hours later, Xia Yu stood up and stretched.
It was already 1:50 a.m. At ten o’clock, the maid had come in once, trying to get Xia Yu to go to bed, but was driven back by Xia Yu’s icy stare.
He walked to the window and looked down at the courtyard. There were many flowers he couldn’t identify, and a small man-made stream.
“You’re improving so quickly,” An Siyao’s voice sounded.
“But I still can’t play a complete piano piece, can I?” Xia Yu said. “Besides, shouldn’t you be more concerned about your own situation?”
“What should I be worried about?” The girl’s tone was genuinely puzzled.
“Yesterday, it wasn’t a coincidence that I took over your body. I came again today. Since I could come twice, I could come a third or fourth time…”
Xia Yu tried to make the girl panic.
“Isn’t that great?”
“???”
This girl was definitely abnormal, but it didn’t concern him. As long as he could gain musical and artistic skills from her, it was fine.
“Well, I’m going to take a shower now,” Xia Yu couldn’t resist teasing An Siyao again.
“Okay!” The girl’s voice was as usual.
She wasn’t even scared?
“My lady, have you already gotten used to exposing your body in front of a man?” Xia Yu narrowed his eyes.
“Eh? Eh eh eh? You’re a boy?!”
Finally, Xia Yu heard the girl’s panicked voice. However, he seemed to have revealed part of his secret.
Right, the girl had no way of knowing his gender. He had been careless.
He needed to be more careful in the future to avoid any mishaps.
“Um… Can I wash myself?” An Siyao made a request.
“It’s fine. Let me help you!” Xia Yu smiled happily, wanting to tease her.
[Warning: The other party’s emotional state is approaching the negative threshold. Once it turns negative, you will be expelled.]
Can’t even make a joke?
Seeing Xia Yu actually stand up, the girl was frightened. At that moment, her vision suddenly blurred, and her body tilted to the left.
Letting out a startled cry, she grabbed the wall.
Has my body returned?
She moved her hands and feet, confirming that she had regained control. She glanced at the clock on the wall: “Same as yesterday—eight hours.”
She puffed her cheeks. “Teasing me like that, you’re really mean!”
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