Chapter Thirteen: All Because of It

  Today's piano lesson Yu Yao was not in the mood at all, and Zhou Qing said a few words to her but it didn't work.

  After class, he gave Ji Xin a meaningful look and left in a hurry without even saying goodbye.

  Yu Yao bumped into Shilin as soon as she walked out the door, and they walked together, "Lin Lin, accompany me to see Uncle Liu, it's been a long time since I last visited him."

  Xilin certainly wouldn't object, so the two of them walked off in another direction.

  "What brings you two little girls here today, and how did you think of Uncle Liu?" A slightly thin middle-aged man opened the door for them, and upon seeing them, he smiled and welcomed them in.

  "It's been a while since I came here, and I miss Uncle Liu." Yu Yao surprisingly showed a rare smile, with a slightly coquettish tone.

  "This girl is just flattering, she's not thinking of Uncle Liu, but thinking of the dishes Uncle Liu made!" Although saying so, it seems to be quite enjoyable.

  "Liu Shu, how can you say that about us? If you keep talking like this, we won't come visit you again!" Shi Lin pretended to be angry and pouted.

  "Alright, I won't say anything more, you two little girls!" He led them to the living room and turned around to get some fruit.

  Xilin sat down without hesitation, while Yu Yao walked to the glass cabinet on one side of the wall and looked at it carefully. Inside, several small violins were hung up, wiped clean, with an obvious empty space in the middle, apparently one of them had just been taken away.

  "Liu Shu, why is one of your treasures missing?" Yu Yao suddenly felt a lump in her throat when she saw the empty space and asked casually.

  "It's not that kid Zou Ze, he must have a say in this, and if I don't give it to him, he'll come every day to pester me. He even brought his father's good wine to bribe me, and has been bothering me for a month, as if he won't rest until I give in." Liu Shu had a painful expression on his face, but also showed some helplessness.

  "Isn't he not learning to play the violin? What's the use of it?" Yu Yao hid her hands behind her back, clenching them tightly, and even digging her fingernails into her flesh without feeling it.

  "Who says it isn't! Let him learn, he won't even learn, if he had learned by himself, I would have been delighted to take it from him, but now I don't know what to do with it." Uncle Liu handed the washed apples over to them.

  "Liu Shu, you think it's too late for me to start learning now?" Yu Yao suddenly spoke up after a moment of silence.

  "Of course, it's okay, but... aren't you doing pretty well with the piano now?" Liu Shu was excited to hear that she wanted to learn violin and stood up, but then thought about the several years of piano practice she had done and felt sorry for her.

  "I want to practice together. If others can do it, I must be able to do it too." Yu Yao said firmly, as if persuading Uncle Liu, but more like persuading herself.

  "Alright, Uncle Liu will give you the qin." He opened the cabinet door with a flourish and took out one without any hesitation. "The best one was taken away by that kid, but this one is not much worse than the one he took. Take it! Study hard."

  Yu Yao saw Liu Shu trust herself so much, and her tears fell down. "Liu Shu, thank you."

  "Silly child, why be polite with me? You're just like my own kids. Don't mention a piano, I wouldn't hesitate to give you whatever you want! Stop crying." He turned around, found a piano box and handed it over to Yu Yao. "You two sit here for a bit, I'll go cook lunch, and we can have a feast at noon."

  Shirley came over to help Yu Yao pack her qin and didn't forget about his favorite dishes. "Uncle Liu, I want to eat fish-flavored shredded pork and your special dish."

  "Don't worry, you little glutton, your favorite food won't run out." He smiled and went into the kitchen.

  Xilin saw Liu Shu enter the kitchen, then turned back to look at Yu Yao, and found that her face didn't look good. "Yao Yao, how did you think of learning this? Didn't you say yourself that whatever you do, you have to focus on one thing?"

  "It doesn't matter, if you want to learn then just learn." Then he silently sat on the sofa, staring at the piano box in his hand.

  "Oh, I see. So Zou Ze is also going to ask Liu Shu for a guqin. He won't be thinking of becoming a monk halfway through, will he? You're following him too closely!" Shi Lin suddenly remembered their conversation and couldn't help but tease.

  "It's not him, it's... Ji Xin'an." Yu Yao said the name that made her uncomfortable with some reluctance.

  "She? She's already so old and just started learning instruments, what can she learn well?" Shilin also didn't believe that she could learn all of these things together.

  "Yes, I thought so at first, but now, let's not mention other things, just the piano progress is very fast, Zhou Qing almost always praises her, and this is under the condition that there is no piano at home and she only practices once a week." Yu Yao showed a wry smile.

  "You... are you saying that Zou Ze took the guqin for Ji Xin'an?" Shi Lin connected these words with what came before, and suddenly looked at Yu Yao.

  "Yes, Linlin, you said where is not as good as Ji Xin'an? In study, I always get the first place in exams, but he doesn't even glance at it, as if it's nothing. But when Ji Xin'an gets one question right, his eyes light up. I've been practicing piano for seven years and everyone praises me, but he has never intentionally listened to my playing. Ji Xin'an can't even recognize the score, plays only a few single notes and always makes mistakes, yet he listens with relish. He's never given me a gift, not even the cheapest one, but he begged Liu Shu for his best piano and gave it to her. Why is it always her?!" Yu Yao held back tears that were welling up in her eyes.

  "Yao Yao......" Shilin wanted to say something to comfort her, but in the end didn't say anything, and could only tightly hug her in his arms.

  "Alright, Linlin, I'm fine now. Talking to you makes me feel much better." Yu Yao leaned on Shilin's shoulder for a while, holding back her tears, then stood up. "I just think that if she can do it, so can I. From now on, no matter what Xi'an learns, I'll go too. I want to show her that I, Yu Yao, am not inferior to her in any way."

  "Yeah, Yao Yao, you must be the best." Shilin's eyes sparkled with tears, but she was still smiling at her.

  Yu Yao listened and nodded, also slightly nodding her head, as if telling Shilin and also telling herself.

  The next day, Ji Xin'an arrived early as usual, tidied up and did some preparatory work.

  Just before class started, the violin teacher walked in, followed by someone behind her. At first, Ji Xin'an didn't pay attention, but when they walked in, she found out it was actually Yu Yao.

  It should be apparent that Yu Yao's background is quite large, or rather, her family's background is quite large. It wasn't obvious at Zhou Qing's place, but here the teacher is being very polite to her.

  Yu Yao walked in and didn't even glance at Ji Xin An. When she passed by Ji Xin An's side, her back was straight, her head held high, and she proudly walked past her with an air of arrogance.

  Ji Xin'an was baffled by her attitude, and she had been fine just yesterday, but somehow seemed to have offended her at some point.

  When everyone took out their own instruments, Ji Xin'an finally understood that the problem must be with this.

  Among a pile of ordinary violins, she and Yu Yao's stood out, one glance was enough to know they were purely handmade, obviously crafted by the same person. Not to mention other students, even the teacher took several extra glances.

  Ji Xin'an thought that Zou Ze didn't know where he got the guqin from, yesterday Yu Yao must have seen it and recognized it, which is why today's events happened. But just for this matter to come and learn guqin here, isn't it a bit childish?

  She now regrets it, if she had known that this piano would cause so much trouble, she would have never accepted it, but now it's too late to say anything.