An Siyao: Archery

The stationery was blue special paper, indicating that the person writing the letter was either particular about it or a frequent letter writer. What could the content of the letter be? Xia Yu put down the paper cutter in his right hand and asked Wen Ziyin, "Can I take a look?" "There's nothing worth seeing, just some annoying stuff from a reader," Wen Ziyin replied without stopping him but not agreeing either.

Not knowing Wen Ziyin's intention, Xia Yu hesitated whether to read it, but then Wen Ziyin said, "If you want to look, go ahead." Xia Yu opened the letter, glanced at it, and closed it again. With the skills he acquired from exam-oriented education, he quickly grasped the meaning of the letter after only reading a few sentences. In short, it said the new book wasn't very good, somewhat disappointed, and hoped Wen Ziyin could write a better story in her next work.

Xia Yu stuffed the letter back into the envelope on the side, taking the opportunity to peek at the sender. It was the pen pal Wen Ziyin had mentioned before who often communicated with her. Was it because of this that Wen Ziyin came to the countryside? However, there weren't any extreme words in the letter. In that case, there were only two possibilities - either the letter had nothing to do with this matter or it was just a fuse, and there were other reasons for Wen Ziyin's departure.

Nevermind, just continue observing. After spending eight hours at Wen Ziyin's place, Xia Yu returned to his body in the evening. Picking up his phone, he saw messages from Yu Ningmeng and Ning Qiu'er. Yu Ningmeng invited him to practice archery together tomorrow, and Ning Qiu'er wanted to chat with him.

Xia Yu replied to Yu Ningmeng's message first. Was it just for archery? He was cautious about being lured into work or being bombarded with questions during the archery session. "Don't worry, I won't have any ulterior motives. You have to believe in the integrity of an elder," Yu Ningmeng quickly replied. "…That's not what I meant," Xia Yu sent a sighing expression.

An ordinary girl would probably feel ashamed for her misunderstanding at this point, but Yu Ningmeng, though lacking the figure of a mature woman, possessed the demeanor of one. She calmly replied, "It's okay, as long as I have such intentions." Anyway, as long as it wasn't work-related, it was fine.

They agreed to contact each other tomorrow morning, and Xia Yu ended his conversation with Yu Ningmeng. He then started replying to Ning Qiu'er. The dinner photos Ning Qiu'er sent seemed casual, but in reality, she wanted to get closer and occasionally bring up the topic of songs. Having already given up on digging deeper, Xia Yu's strategy with Ning Qiu'er was to stay in touch without delving further. He was slightly cold while chatting with her, feigning ignorance and evading her questions about the songs.

After ten minutes of chatting, Ning Qiu'er angrily threw her phone onto the pillow. Holding a toy bear on the side, she lay on the bed, grinding her teeth in anger. Xia Yu had suddenly given her two songs before, and she thought there was a chance, but then his enthusiasm waned, and his attitude was not as good as before.

If Xia Yu had been directly cold, she would have given up earlier. However, he was neither close nor distant, giving her the feeling that it might or might not happen, as if she were being led by a long, long bait. After calming down, Ning Qiu'er carefully thought about it, analyzed it, and came to a conclusion. It seemed that she had become a backup option.

This neither close nor far-off attitude, isn't it just the routine of nurturing a spare tire?

Damn it!

Throwing the teddy bear on the ground, Ning Qiu'er got up from the bed and walked towards the recording studio.

In that case, she could only use her trump card.

Opening the recording equipment, Ning Qiu'er sat at the piano and started playing the piece according to her memory.

She played very unskilledly, and it took her a whole night to play a version that she was somewhat satisfied with.

Exporting this version into an mp3, she cut off the last two parts, leaving only the first part, and a cunning smile appeared on Ning Qiu'er's face.

With this, Xia Yu will definitely be hooked.

At that time, the roles of the fisherman and the fish would be reversed!

She climbed back into bed, deciding to start planning as soon as she woke up.

As the sun rose, she fell fast asleep, Xia Yu woke up from his dream.

After washing up and having breakfast, Xia Yu arrived at the club.

The coach took him to the thirty-meter target range.

Yu Ningmeng had not yet arrived, so Xia Yu began practicing on his own.

He had been practicing like this for over half a month, and he had basically become accustomed to this kind of life.

He decided to take a leave of absence from school until the winter break.

He estimated that in about two or three days, his shooting skills would be able to reach LV3.

This speed was impressive in the coach's eyes, but Xia Yu was not satisfied.

Since he was practicing in his own body, he couldn't use experience cards, nor could he accelerate. Otherwise, by using all the experience cards he had accumulated for so long, he would have at least reached LV4, and it was likely enough for LV5.

To upgrade a skill level with experience cards, they have to be used in an alternate body with the relevant bonuses, but using Liu Manting's body for archery made Xia Yu hesitant.

If she were a stranger, it would be fine, but Liu Manting happened to be a close acquaintance. If she were as intimate as Yuxue, it would be easy to handle, but she was not at that level yet.

This awkward relationship was troublesome.

Well, he won't need it soon anyway, so he might as well treat it as a hobby.

Archery is a sport that easily gives one a sense of accomplishment.

First of all, it's an individual sport, without unreliable teammates, at least in the initial stage, one can clearly see one's own progress; secondly, the equipment for archery is not as expensive and numerous as photography, a few thousand yuan is enough to play luxuriously; finally, the movement of drawing a bow and shooting an arrow is not as restless as basketball or football, it is a quiet sport, therefore it is included in the etiquette, and in some places, a set of philosophy is even fabricated.

Xia Yu felt that shooting philosophy in archery was a bit far-fetched, but it was indeed interesting.

After about half an hour, Xia Yu's phone rang. It was Yu Ningmeng who called.

"I'm here, are you up yet?" Yu Ningmeng's voice came from the phone.

"I'm already inside." Xia Yu replied helplessly.

"You're already there? Yao Yao told me you don't usually get up until nine o'clock!" Yu Ningmeng's surprised voice came through.

Why did this girl always tell Yu Ningmeng everything!

Opening his mouth, Xia Yu found that he could not explain himself for a moment since, after all, he did have a period of time when he got up at nine o'clock.

He opted to hang up the phone.

Before long, Yu Ningmeng walked in with the coach, followed by another figure.

It was An Siyao.

Rushing to Xia Yu's side, An Siyao grabbed his hand.

Touching An Siyao's soft cheek, Xia Yu glanced at Yu Ningmeng.

"What, are you unhappy to see me bringing Yao Yao here?" Yu Ningmeng said, as she gestured for the coach to leave.

Xia Yu looked back at An Siyao and, indeed, a nervous expression had appeared on the girl's face.

"Don't listen to her nonsense." Xia Yu poked An Siyao's forehead with his finger.

"Why didn't you bring Yao Yao with you? Are you planning to develop a relationship with that coach?" Yu Ningmeng stirred up trouble.

"Do you think Yao Yao is interested in archery?" Xia Yu asked Yu Ningmeng in return.

Yu Ningmeng stopped talking, she had never considered whether An Siyao was interested in archery or not, as An Siyao was always quiet and content no matter where she went, never showing dissatisfaction or refusal.

"I want to learn." An Siyao tugged on Xia Yu's hand.

"I'll teach you." Xia Yu glanced at the Ming bow he was using and knew it wasn't suitable for An Siyao. He walked to the edge of the field to fetch a practice bow.

Only then did Yu Ningmeng notice that Xia Yu was using a traditional bow.

Although compound bows are not normally used in archery competitions, it was unusual for someone to use a traditional bow with no assistive devices, such as a sight or stabilizer bar, which are common on recurve bows.

A sight, as the name implies, is used for aiming, while the stabilizer bar is a long rod connected to the front of the bow, mainly to increase its stability and make shooting more accurate.

Just as she was about to ask, Xia Yu had already left the field.

Soon, Xia Yu returned with a recurve bow and asked the coach to switch to another venue.

They arrived at another outdoor target range, a large one with targets ranging from ten to seventy meters, specifically designed for well-off users.

"You're actually using a traditional bow?" Yu Ningmeng found the opportunity to express her doubt.

"Yes," Xia Yu replied.

"Can you shoot a ten-meter target now?" Yu Ningmeng asked curiously, "How do you know I'm shooting at the thirty-meter target now?"

Yu Ningmeng assumed Xia Yu's time at the thirty-meter range was in response to her progress.

Ignoring her, Xia Yu instructed An Siyao on how to draw the bow and nock an arrow.

Feeling neglected, Yu Ningmeng took An Siyao to her side after she fired an arrow, "Stop teaching nonsense. I'll do it."

Without arguing, Xia Yu silently picked up his Ming bow and shot an arrow, hitting the nine-ring on the thirty-meter target.

Yu Ningmeng's eyes widened in disbelief. In traditional archery, a thirty-meter nine-ring score was already enough to compete in national competitions.

Xia Yu shot another arrow, hitting the ten-ring.

Silently releasing her grip, Yu Ningmeng went to the thirty-meter target and set up her own recurve bow. She aimed for four seconds and released the arrow in her hand.

It struck the five-ring.

After shooting three more arrows, scoring seven, six, and seven rings respectively, Yu Ningmeng crouched on the ground calculating how many years she had been practicing archery compared to Xia Yu's few days.

Her ten years of experience couldn't even compete with Xia Yu's one month of playing! Although she practiced on and off, she never expected to be outclassed like this!

"Is your family from an archery lineage?" Yu Ning Meng couldn't accept this fact and began to look for external reasons.

"Don't you know what kind of family I'm from?" Xia Yu continued to teach An Siyao.

Yu Ning Meng had seen information about Xia Yu's family from Yu Liang and knew that their family wasn't from any particular lineage, but if she had to attach a label to it, it should be a guzheng lineage.

She looked for another reason, "It must be that when you were a child, on a snowy and windy night, you saved a homeless man who had fallen at your door. In gratitude, he gave you a 'Nine Shooting True Scripture.'"

Xia Yu lowered his head to look at An Siyao. An Siyao looked at Yu Ning Meng and then at him, tilting her head with an expression of confusion. Although she wasn't interested in 'Nine Shooting True Scripture,' An Siyao still wanted to know more about Xia Yu.

"She's gone crazy. Just ignore her." Xia Yu kissed An Siyao on the forehead, grabbed her hand and guided her to draw the bow.

On the other side, the defeated Yu Ning Meng rallied her fighting spirit. She remembered that at her peak, she could barely hit a 60-meter target. Thus, she hadn't lost to Xia Yu but to herself!

It was her regression! She defeated herself!

Now, it was time to regain her long-lost skills and return to her strongest state!

With her renewed sense of determination, Yu Ning Meng began her intensive practice.

Ten minutes later, she put down the bow and arrow, and decided to treat herself to a cup of coffee upstairs.

Once she had left, Xia Yu became more open and relaxed, and his teaching methods became less formal.

Fortunately, Yu Ning Meng remembered her duty and returned after finishing her coffee.

Picking up the bow and arrow again, Yu Ning Meng reflected what had brought her so low. Did she still want to return to the top?

Taking up the bow and arrow, she redoubled her efforts.

After shooting twenty-four arrows, she glanced towards the 5-meter target, noticing Xia Yu and An Siyao almost shoulder to shoulder.

She shot another round and looked again in that direction, seeing Xia Yu helping An Siyao correct her posture.

After watching two funny videos on her phone, she noticed An Siyao was feeding water to Xia Yu.

Dealing with two emails in her inbox, Yu Ning Meng rejoined the practice, only to see Xia Yu performing a foot-based bow draw, with An Siyao expressing astonishment in the background.

Hugging her hands, she couldn't help but think: was it the right decision to bring An Siyao along? While they were both having fun, what about her?

Darn it, if it wasn't for Xia Yu, Yao Yao would be by her side!

Drawing her bow, Yu Ning Meng channeled her anger towards Xia Yu into the target.

At noon, Yu Ning Meng left the club to handle work, giving Xia Yu and An Siyao some time alone.

However, Xia Yu didn't dare to overstep, as there were surveillance cameras in the facility, and he didn't want to be caught on tape.

At 4 p.m., Yu Ning Meng came to pick up An Siyao, and Xia Yu returned to his home.

After taking a bath and drying his hair, Xia Yu checked his phone. An Siyao had sent him a selfie to let him know she had arrived home safely.

The photo was taken by Yu Ning Meng, and in it, An Siyao was posing with a bow and arrow.

Xia Yu sent back a smiling emoji, then clicked on the message Ning Qiuer had sent him.

It was an audio file with no additional text.

Xia Yu thought: Seems like Ning Qiuer is quite confident in this audio, believing that once I listen to it, I'll definitely take the initiative to respond.

With that, he initially planned to play it out loud, but after glancing at Yuxue on the sofa, he opted to put on headphones instead.

In case there were any inappropriate sounds in the audio, his image would be ruined.

As he played the audio, he realized it wasn't a strange human voice, but a piano piece.

The piece wasn't played well at all, even featuring some noticeable trembles.

After listening to it patiently, Xia Yu couldn't understand why Ning Qiuer sent this to him.

Was he supposed to praise how poorly this piece was played?

Listening to the piece again, Xia Yu noticed something off, and his eyebrows furrowed.

Closing his eyes, he replayed the audio and tried to mimic the piece with his fingers in the air.

A minute later, he opened his eyes with a jolt.

This was—

The Piano Sonata No.14 in C-sharp minor!