Hide-and-seek An Siyao

Knowing that he couldn't hide it anymore, Xia Yu could only tell the truth: "I'm from the Chinese department."

The surrounding contestants were all stunned: "How did someone from the Chinese department end up participating in our music academy competition?"

"Your competition rules stated that all students from the school can participate, it didn't say that only people from the music academy could participate." Xia Yu explained.

They all let out a collective sigh.

"I remember now, you're the one who played 'Rainy White Horse' with Liu Manman on Mid-Autumn night!" They finally recognized Xia Yu.

Old Zheng and Old Gang exchanged glances; they had just been surprised that someone who suddenly appeared could produce such music and play it so beautifully. It turned out that Xia Yu was the composer of 'Rainy White Horse' and the second-place winner of the previous high school music contest.

Their hearts felt a little comforted – losing to such a person didn't bring shame.

The host finally invited the top three to the stage to receive a trophy and a certificate, marking the end of the competition.

The music academy students and teachers wanted to have further communication with Xia Yu, but he slipped away quietly after receiving the award.

They couldn't find Xia Yu.

At the same time, Xia Yu's true identity was revealed.

The five judges of the music academy, who were also the main initiators of the contest, caught the person who had gotten Xia Yu in through the back door–Shen Shengsheng.

"Old Shen, you are a teacher of our music academy. Doing this is really unkind!" The five of them complained.

When the announcement went out, the music academy's composition competition was won by a student from the Chinese department, which was very embarrassing.

"The rules didn't say students from other academies couldn't participate," Shen Shengsheng defended himself with the rules and regulations.

The five judges actually didn't care that much, and their topic turned back to Xia Yu's piano piece.

"Who would have thought, not only is he so good at guzheng and sheng music, Xia Yu is also an expert in piano," one of the judges sighed. It's already difficult enough to master one instrument, let alone three.

Guzheng and the piano are both played by plucking, so there's some relation, but sheng music is played using breath, the difference is huge.

"He also broke the world record for playing 'Flight of the Bumblebee' on violin!"

"During the High School Music Contest, he also played the piano. His piece, 'Old Fran's Wolf,' was a rare piece that could bring out the charm. But at that time, his piano skills were still immature. Who would have thought that within a year, he would have progressed to this level?" Shen Shengsheng sighed.

He said enviously, "Liu Ronglan is really lucky to have found such a disciple."

"Before, everyone thought that the Flower School guzheng would decline. Little did they expect that first, there was Liu Ronglan, and now there's Xia Yu. In comparison, Old Shen, your sheng music..."

The five judges all looked at Shen Shengsheng with sympathetic eyes.

However, Shen Shengsheng was not sad, feeling that Xia Yu had already rediscovered his passion for music. Now, it was time for him to dig deep and bring Xia Yu under his own banner.

At this time, Xia Yu, who was being discussed by them, was beside an artificial river behind the auditorium.

The environment here was quiet, with dim lighting.

Xia Yu originally just sent a message to An Siyao, inviting the girl over, but unexpectedly, Liu Manman also followed her.

Xia Yu didn't pay attention to Liu Manman. He came to An Siyao, handed her the trophy and certificate in his hand, and took out an envelope from his pocket.

"What's this, a letter of resignation?" Liu Manman looked at the scene with great interest.

Ignoring Liu Manman, Xia Yu gave the envelope to An Siyao as well.

"This is the piece called Serene Princess. It's a gift for you," Xia Yu said.

His words made Liu Manman beside him tense up.

Liu Manman felt that the atmosphere was somewhat wrong.

Taking the envelope, An Siyao looked at Xia Yu expectantly: "Can I take a look?"

If it were other girls, they would have hugged Xia Yu in excitement by now, not caring about the piece of music, only caring about the romance-like scenario.

This was also what set An Siyao apart, which is why Xia Yu didn't give her the piece during the performance.

He originally wanted to change the name of the piece to "To An Siyao."

However, Xia Yu considered that every time someone played this piece in the future, it would be odd to introduce it as dedicated to An Siyao.

More importantly, An Siyao would not care about such ostentatious displays.

For her, holding hands and strolling together every day was the epitome of romance. Things like a sudden shower of flowers or a carpet of roses would not touch her heart; they would only scare her a little.

An Siyao had already opened the envelope.

She took out the sheet of paper inside, on which Xia Yu had written the music score.

Thanks to the painting skill he had gained from An Siyao, Xia Yu's music score was quite impressive.

Liu Manman approached An Siyao and curiously looked at it together. When she saw the title "Serene Princess" and the subtitle "To An Siyao," her heart grew a lemon tree at an astonishing speed.

Giving me that piece of music was a clear price, but giving it to An Siyao was a free gift!

And it was even written in the subtitle!

Liu Manman could already imagine how music teachers would recount this anecdote every time they taught "Serene Princess" in the future.

How annoying, so envious!

After reading the music score, An Siyao carefully folded it and put it back in the envelope.

"I really like it," the girl said to Xia Yu.

"How much do you like it?" Xia Yu grabbed An Siyao's hand and looked into her eyes.

Dim street lights cast a pale yellow glow on the tree canopy, and due to the shelter of leaves, the light was broken into patches, shining on An Siyao.

Leaves rustled, and light and shadow swayed. An Siyao seemed to be swimming in the light and shadow, somewhat dreamlike.

The girl's lips appeared and disappeared between light and shadow, captivating.

Lowering his head, Xia Yu caught the lips that were playing hide and seek in the light and shadow.

After a moment of panic, An Siyao closed her eyes.

Beside them, Liu Manman looked at the two people kissing with a blank face:

Who am I, where am I, what should I do?

I'm still just a child, why do you have to show me this?

After a daze for two seconds, Liu Manman took out her phone from her pocket and put it to her ear.

"What? My daughter is giving birth? I'll be right back." After saying that, Liu Manman immediately walked quickly toward the school gate.

After her figure disappeared, Xia Yu, who felt that An Siyao was running out of breath, also let go of An Siyao.

The young girl lowered her head, her face flushed, not daring to look at Xia Yu.

Xia Yu smiled and lowered his head to look at her, she turned away, her back facing Xia Yu.

This posture was also very appealing. Xia Yu took a small step forward, holding the young girl in his arms, his hands wrapped around her waist, resting on her lower abdomen.

An Siyao wasn't tall, he rested his chin on the girl's head, and a light fragrance entered his nostrils.

This pose, while heart-stirring, also disturbed their bodies.

Bending down, Xia Yu pressed his face against An Siyao's, and the scent from the girl grew stronger.

An Siyao's body was cold due to her cold constitution, but at this moment, Xia Yu felt the burning temperature from her face.

Just as he was about to say something, two palms suddenly separated their bodies.

The attacker was Yu Ningmeng.

Pulling An Siyao behind her, Yu Ningmeng warily looked at Xia Yu, "What were you trying to do? We're outside!"

Yu Ningmeng had been waiting for An Siyao at the exit of the auditorium since before the end of the competition. Yet, An Siyao didn't come out even after everyone else had left. Yu Ningmeng sensed that something was wrong, so she quickly searched around the auditorium, only to find An Siyao being taken advantage of by Xia Yu.

Xia Yu was somewhat embarrassed, but that was all.

Xia Yu said, "Let's go home now."

"In your dreams!" Yu Ningmeng held An Siyao's hand, "Let's go, we're going back."

Holding the items Xia Yu had given her, An Siyao waved goodbye to him.

Xia Yu waved back.

He rode his battery-powered bike to the school gate, then got into a taxi.

He had passed his first subject on the driving test with a perfect score, and now only three subjects were left before he could drive on his own.

The next morning after returning home, Xia Yu received a call from the driving school, asking him to practice subject two.

Xia Yu arrived at the scene, performed an expert driving technique for the coach, and was granted the opportunity to not practice anymore.

In his previous life, he had already obtained his driver's license, and in this life, he had even acquired a level 2 driving skill from the old lady, making him an experienced driver.

After two days of returning to his leisurely life, Xia Yu received Duan Yi's message on the evening of the 19th.

The milk tea shop was set up, and it would open at noon. Duan Yi asked Xia Yu not to forget to come at six o'clock in the evening.

Xia Yu sent back a pigeon nodding picture to show that he knew.

On the morning of the 20th, after class, Xia Yu encountered Duan Yi's reminder again.

By noon, he simply didn't go back, and took An Siyao out for a meal, then went to Duan Yi's milk tea shop.

The milk tea shop had just opened, and there were only a few passing customers who had ordered a few cups of milk tea, making it quite deserted.

Upon entering, Xia Yu saw a somewhat disheartened Duan Yi.

Duan Yi also saw Xia Yu. She stood up excitedly, wanting Xia Yu to start working early, but Xia Yu chose to refuse. He ordered two milk teas and went to the second floor with An Siyao to drink.

As he drank, he observed the flow of customers. As he had guessed before, there were very few customers. This was because there was another milk tea shop at both the entrance and the end of the street, and Duan Yi's milk tea shop was right in the middle, which was in a vulnerable position.

Duan Yi wanted to improve her competitiveness through the design of the shop. The other two shops were small and had no seats, while she had a small second floor. However, most people would hold milk tea while shopping, and few would care if the milk tea shop had seats or not.

Duan Yi and Kang Kang were working in the milk tea shop, both looking somewhat worried. At this time, a commotion came from the doorway. The door was pushed open, and Qin Youliang led his eight friends into the milk tea shop.

They each ordered a drink and chatted in the seats downstairs. Whether due to a herd mentality or not, after Qin Youliang and his nine friends occupied the seats by the window, more people started to come in.

After half an hour, a group of girls from their class came to the milk tea shop. Half of them ordered a drink and went shopping, while the other half stayed in the shop, filling up almost all the seats downstairs.

These were all friendly customers who came to support the shop. They might not come again tomorrow. The real future consumers were the random guests, but there were very few of them.

"Xia Yu!" From upstairs, Xia Yu was discovered by the girls downstairs. He was sitting inside the second floor, not easily visible. The previous party of Qin Youliang hadn't noticed him.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival performance and the composition contest, Xia Yu's fame had risen sharply. Especially after the composition contest, there were hardly any people in the Chinese department who didn't know Xia Yu.

This was because the dean of the Chinese department had hung up a huge banner in front of the teaching building, saying "Congratulations to Xia Yu from our department on winning the Music Academy Composition Contest."

Xia Yu estimated that the dean of his department must have had a grudge against the dean of the Music Academy and did this deliberately to annoy the latter.

Regardless of the reason, many students saw the banner when they arrived at the teaching building and had already searched for Xia Yu's information online.

Snap!

A few girls took photos of him. Xia Yu didn't care, as there was nothing embarrassing about the photos. The girls then posted the photos on the school forum.

Students from the Chinese department who were browsing the forum saw that Xia Yu from the banner had appeared and even invested in a milk tea shop. A small group of bored people immediately prepared to come and take a look.

Students from the Music Academy on the forum saw that Xia Yu, who had snatched the award from their department, had actually shown up and even invested in a milk tea shop. A small group of bored people also headed this way.

Students from other departments on the forum saw that Xia Yu, who had performed during the Mid-Autumn Festival, was now at a milk tea shop near the school and had even invested in it. More bored people came over to take a look.

Duan Yi and Kang Kang began to get a little busy.

There was a significant difference between the appearance and demeanor of students and working people, and Duan Yi was puzzled by the sudden influx of unfamiliar students.

She noticed that these students who entered would look in the direction of Xia Yu before leaving.

It turned out that Xia Yu was the reason.

However, even with these people, the business of the shop was not optimistic.

By this time, Xia Yu and An Siyao had finished a cup of milk tea. Xia Yu was considering whether to take An Siyao for a stroll or stay here when Liu Manting arrived.

Having no choice, Xia Yu ordered three more cups of milk tea and accompanied Liu Manting.

After Liu Manting, two small figures, Yuxue and Yin Ling, walked over.

Later on, even Yu Ningmeng and Yan Wei arrived.

The small second floor was filled with six beautiful women ranging from high school to workplace, leaving the people on the first floor astonished.

The girls who had taken pictures of Xia Yu earlier updated their new photos on the forum.