In the end, Lu Yu still braced himself and pulled open the piano room door.

The piano room was easy enough to find. The butler had already run off somewhere with his schoolbag, but a place like this could be found just by following the sound.

The heavy wooden door and soundproof foam blocked out most of it. But the moment Lu Yu opened the door, the lingering notes drifting from the keys reached his ears.

A woman in an elegant dress sat on a black piano bench. That massive grand piano was the only thing in the entire room.

Its lacquered surface was spotless. The top lid was propped open on its stand. Several A4 sheets rested quietly on the music stand. As the rich yet clear notes rolled out, the fragile pages trembled faintly in the sound.

Lu Yu’s palms were slick with sweat, but he still kept his composure and calmly stepped to the woman’s side.

“Teacher Gao.”

He called her softly in Lin Beixing’s voice.

He’d just heard that name from the butler. Lu Yu had always had a good memory.

The woman’s fingers flew across the black and white keys. With every tap of her fingertips, a pleasant melody danced through the air.

Music was a magical thing.

Too bad Lu Yu knew nothing about it.

He had neither the talent nor any training in it...

Right now, Lu Yu had no mood to pray for a miracle. His mind was full of one thing only—how to deal with this woman.

The final chord fell. The woman closed her eyes and immersed herself in the lingering echoes. Her chestnut curls draped over her arm, and the gold jewelry at her neck and wrist glittered under the light.

Judging by her refined, graceful outfit, she’d probably dressed up on purpose for teaching.

Lu Yu wouldn’t comment on whether it looked good or not, but it definitely doubled the pressure.

This woman didn’t just teach piano, did she? She taught etiquette too or something?

Lu Yu’s head was starting to ache.

“Sit.”

The woman stood, smoothing down the tight black skirt over her legs, then gestured to him.

Copying her elegant manner, Lu Yu pressed one hand against the skirt at his backside and slowly sat down on the piano bench.

“Your hair’s a little messy. Fix it,” the woman said lightly beside him.

Lu Yu nodded at once. “Oh, okay.”

“Just say ‘mm.’ One response is enough. I’ve taught you this before. Don’t answer twice.”

“...Mm.”

On the surface, Lu Yu looked calm as still water. Inside, though, it was absolute chaos.

Women really were troublesome.

Slowly, Lu Yu took off the hair tie from his head. Then he copied how he’d seen girls tie their hair in PE class and looped the band twice behind his head.

He didn’t know how to do this either. Lin Beixing hadn’t taught him, so he could only fumble through it by feel.

After tying the ponytail, he carefully glanced at the woman’s reaction.

Luckily, her attention wasn’t on his hair. Her gaze had dropped to inspect what Lin Beixing was wearing.

“In the future, don’t wear short skirts to school. Don’t you have a uniform?”

“...The uniform has long pants. It’s very hot.”

Lu Yu took a deep breath and kept his face calm. Then he added,

“And Mom agreed to it.”

He was thinking that this Teacher Gao, while Lin Beixing’s teacher, was probably also in an employment relationship with Lin Beixing’s mother. If he brought Lin Beixing’s mother out as a shield, this woman should back off.

Sure enough, aside from a brief pause in her expression and a flicker of surprise, she didn’t continue the topic.

She withdrew her gaze, curled her slender fingers, and pointed at the piano in front of them.

“Begin.”

Lu Yu straightened his back and lowered his head.

Past the slight swell of the chest before him, he looked at the black-and-white keys and took a deep breath before touching them with his fingertips.

The keys were far colder than Lin Beixing’s body temperature, a chilling cold that made his heart jolt.

Dong—

Lu Yu lightly pressed down with his index finger. At the same time, a long, clear note rang out from the piano.

“Look at the score.”

The woman’s voice turned cold, and a trace of confusion flashed through her eyes.

She had taught this many times already. At Lin Beixing’s current level, she should be looking at the sheet music while playing, not staring at the keys.

But today, Lin Beixing wasn’t just distracted. Her fingering and hand placement were a complete mess.

Then, the usually obedient “Lin Beixing” slowly raised her head. Her hands also lifted away from the keys.

“Teacher Gao...”

“Yes?”

“I’m not feeling well.”

Lu Yu made his voice very soft, and his gaze gentle too.

His face was pale, and a fine mist of sweat covered his forehead. He really did look unwell.

But this was actually just nerves. On top of that, Lin Beixing’s body was far too frail. Maybe even Lu Yu himself hadn’t realized how frighteningly sickly his pale face looked right now.

“What’s the reason?”

The woman frowned and looked the girl over from top to bottom.

“...My period.”

“Lin Beixing” said it while holding her lower abdomen.

“You wore a skirt to school while on your period?!” she snapped.

“Mm... I only realized at noon. And there weren’t any pants at school I could change into.” Lu Yu kept his head deeply lowered, his delicate body trembling slightly on the soft piano bench.

That finally made the piano teacher panic.

She knew the Lin family’s young miss was physically weak. Her menstrual cramps also seemed to be quite severe.

Besides, Lin Beixing had never been a girl who lied. That much was beyond doubt.

The woman weighed the pros and cons for a moment.

If she forced Lin Beixing and the girl collapsed in the piano room, things would only get worse.

Her tone softened a lot.

“If it’s the first day of your period... that’s understandable.”

“You should rest well today. Tomorrow, make up for it and practice harder... Your parents assigned us this piano practice. Both you and I are responsible for it. I hope you understand.”

No, Lu Yu did not understand.

But after getting his way, he still smiled faintly without showing it. In the instant he looked up, that triumphant smile vanished and turned into pained grievance.

Lu Yu bit his soft red lip and nodded.

“I understand... Teacher Gao... I’m sorry.”

“Fine, then that’s enough for today. Take the sheet music back to the study and look it over. The butler said the schoolbag you brought home today was very heavy, so you probably have a lot of homework. Hurry along.”

Lu Yu shot to his feet. Then he realized the movement had been too big. He quickly covered his stomach, hunched over, and said weakly,

“Then, Teacher Gao, I’ll head back to the study first...”

“Ah...” The woman looked at the girl’s frail appearance and couldn’t help sighing.

“I’ll help you over. After that, I’ll have the butler make you a bowl of brown sugar ginger tea and send it to you.”

The woman stood up and took Lu Yu by the arm.

Lu Yu naturally let her support him as they walked. His steps were slow, and he nodded apologetically.

“Then I’ll trouble you, Teacher Gao...”

Oh yeah. Nice.

He’d been worrying about not being able to find the way.