The Black Cat's Cry

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

The girl had calculated the time he would arrive and sat there waiting for him in advance.

"You're back!" An Siyao greeted him.

"Um." Xia Yu responded casually, opened the piano lid, and began practicing Guda's étude.

This piece was very difficult for beginners, but it was a qualified introductory piece that could comprehensively train various skills.

An Siyao said that this piece was regarded as an entry-level teacher by many pianists.

After smoothly playing the first part, Xia Yu's fingers trembled in the second part, pressing a key too early, and the music immediately became chaotic, with a series of wrong notes appearing.

Stopping, Xia Yu relaxed his mood and continued practicing.

Playing awkwardly, he managed to memorize the key positions. However, piano music required not only reproducing the key sequence but also mastering the rhythm – the key point was the rhythm.

After more than seven hours, Xia Yu was able to play the second part completely. The remaining third part was completely different from the first two parts, and the difficulty would increase.

However, even though it was more difficult, Xia Yu could finish the third part within two days at most, and spend another day getting familiar with the whole piece. In three more days, Guda's étude would be considered complete.

With the foundation of Guda's difficult études, many other pieces would be learned quickly, and becoming a money-making pianist was not far away.

Checking the time, it was ten minutes before two o'clock in the morning, and Xia Yu was talking with An Siyao.

"Do you really like playing the piano?" An Siyao asked.

"No, I don't." Xia Yu answered honestly.

"Then why are you using my body to practice the piano?" An Siyao wondered.

Fearing that Xia Yu might misunderstand, she added, "Ah, I don't mean it's wrong for you to practice with my body."

Xia Yu pondered how to answer An Siyao's question. Should he tell her that he was learning the piano just to become a pianist at the corner cafe to make money?

After a moment of silence, Xia Yu spoke in a low voice, "I'm just enjoying the feeling of my fingers moving freely."

He opened his hands and stared blankly at his ten fingers.

In An Siyao's mind, she pictured two bare, fingerless palms, and a feeling of sadness rose in her heart.

So, was he a handicapped person without fingers?

"I'm sorry," the girl said.

"You actually believed it?" Xia Yu laughed.

"???"

He's tricking me again!

An Siyao was angry and ignored Xia Yu.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just because you're too interesting," Xia Yu comforted the girl. He still needed her to teach him the piano.

"I'm not interesting just for you to tease!" An Siyao protested.

"I'll be more careful in the future," Xia Yu promised.

"So why do you want to play the piano?" The girl continued to ask the previous question.

"I won't tell you." Xia Yu closed the piano lid and left the piano room.

He went to his bedroom and lay on the bed. There were still five minutes before he would leave. He didn't want to take over An Siyao's body in a hurry, bumping and colliding.

"By the way, you said earlier that the head maid would be back soon. When exactly?" Xia Yu asked.

From the girl's words, Xia Yu already knew that the head maid was the boss of this villa. It was necessary to know when the boss battle would begin.

"Aunt Dong will probably be back the day after tomorrow," An Siyao replied.

"Is she hard to deal with?" Xia Yu asked.

"It should be a bit difficult." An Siyao had never tested the head maid's toughness, so she couldn't give an accurate answer.

"Tell me the specifics, what exactly is the situation in your family?" Xia Yu glanced at the time, there were still five minutes left, enough time to listen.

An Siyao was silent for ten seconds, organized her language, and began to explain.

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

After her mother passed away and her father became busy with work, she was left alone in this villa. From the age of five to now, she was taken care of by a woman named Aunt Dong, the head maid.

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

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

Sitting up from the bed, Xia Yu pondered.

An Siyao aside, the maids didn't look weak. The head maid, who could suppress these maids, must have some skills.

Moreover, from An Siyao's words, it could be inferred that the head maid also had her father's support.

After thinking for a while, he decided on a plan.

He looked at the black cat under the desk. It was sleeping in its nest.

Tomorrow, he would not go to An Siyao's place. First, he would go to the black cat's place and learn how to intimidate.

Getting up from the bed and turning on the desk lamp, he read a book for a while, played a game for a while, and did a simple review of his homework.

The Zi Lun Third High School he attended was just an ordinary public school. The difficulty of its courses was far from that of private schools. With the foundation from his previous life, a little attention in class and a last-minute review before exams would be enough to get him into the top five of his class.

At seven o'clock, he left the house, went to the vegetable market and the pedestrian street, and successfully found a small vendor selling hamsters.

To gain the Black Cat's intimidation, he needed to practice first, and practice required an opponent. Xia Yu couldn't use Yuxue to gain experience, so the most convenient option was to buy a hamster.

For a price of five yuan, Xia Yu got a gray hamster and a cage was included.

Carrying the cage, he returned home.

"It's a hamster!" Yuxue was excitedly looking at the gray hamster.

Hamsters are fluffy and small, not just popular among girls, but even some boys like to have them as pets.

In Xia Yu's previous life, during college, his roommate had raised one. Due to a poorly designed cage and lack of supervision, the hamster managed to escape one night and was only found in a rarely used cup, nearly lifeless, three days later.

The hamster was finally buried in another roommate's succulent pot.

In order not to let Yuxue develop feelings for the experimental equipment, Xia Yu explained: "This is for Black Cat to play with."

"A fake hamster?" Yuxue questioned.

"It's real." Xia Yu replied.

Using a hamster as a toy for a cat? The girl had doubts in her heart but didn't say anything.

Boys of this age having some oddities were said to be normal.

For example, closing the bedroom door tightly every evening once they returned.

As a qualified younger sister, Yuxue did not pry into her brother's privacy.

After having breakfast, Xia Yu went to school for class. When he returned in the evening, he couldn't wait to close the door and enter Black Cat's body.

The black cat 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 to the ground.

Arriving at the hamster cage, Xia Yu brewed his emotions and meowed.

The fur didn't burst open, the hamster raised its head, glanced at the creature in front of it, and lowered its head again.

Adjusting his mood, Xia Yu tried again several times, and finally succeeded in making the fur explode after reminiscing about his remaining three thousand savings.

Bang — —

The hamster was startled and bumped into the cage.

Smoothing the fur, Xia Yu launched his exploding fur ability again.

The sound insulation in the bedroom was not good, and Yuxue, who was cleaning up dishes in the living room, looked worriedly at the bedroom from where the meowing sound kept coming.