Teacher Daxiang, please teach me how to play Kasuga Shadow!

How could she have seen it wrong, and how could she have remembered it wrong?

That vase was the most valuable ancient Kutani Aote porcelain in her family. It was put on the antique market after her family was forced to sell all their property when they went bankrupt.

The location of the crack above was exactly the same, and the crack on the bottle at this moment was like a playful smiling face, mocking her misery.

Would the person who has the financial resources to buy it not know himself and the true value of the vase?

Without a second thought, Shoko Toyokawa turned around and planned to escape from this ironic place.

But before she could run to the entrance, she was grabbed by Ayano behind her.

"Xiangzi?"

"Let go..."

Chapter 12 Xiangzi: Am I a cheating adulterer?!

"Are you... a little too much?"

Is she, too much?

Shoko Toyokawa really wanted to refute, but after thinking about it carefully, she realized that her current behavior was indeed not normal.

What's wrong with me? Why has my mood become so unstable since I met this Mizushima Ayano? I wasn't like this when I met Suyo yesterday.

"I won't stop you if you want to leave, but you have to at least explain why, right?"

Ayano immediately let go of Xiangzi's hand, and without caring whether the other party would run away, she sat back on the sofa, crossed her legs and looked calm.

"……Feel sorry."

"You really should say sorry." Ayano looked at Xiangzi unhappily. "So as a punishment, I won't pay you for today's lesson. But as compensation, I can treat you to dinner."

"...Well, thank you."

Xiangzi took a deep breath and walked back silently under Ayano's strong gaze, but he did not continue to look in the direction of the vase.

But her deliberate look seemed a little ridiculous in Ayano's eyes.

Ayano turned her head and glanced at the vase that her father had sent over, but with her limited knowledge of antiques, she really didn't find anything special about it.

Maybe this thing is really important to someone?

If it were someone else, they might have directly suggested giving the vase to Shoko, but for Ayano, who has always liked observing others, she knew that doing so was the stupidest choice.

Things themselves are actually worthless.

It is people who give them value, whether it is the market value of antiques or the spiritual meaning they hold, it is all given by people.

What's the point of just giving someone a vase if its true value can't be realized? And it's obvious that the value that Toyokawa Shoko values should be the latter.

"Is this thing valuable?"

"Ah."

"So you think I'm deceiving you and teasing you on purpose, and that's why you doubt my character?"

"..."

Xiangzi's face turned red as his dark thoughts were revealed.

Apart from anything else, she really looked cute in Ayano's eyes at this moment, but it was that kind of awkward cuteness.

"To be honest, I really don't know its value, because in my opinion its true value is meaningless. Its importance to me is probably not as great as that broken guitar on the shelf over there."

Xiangzi followed Ayano's gaze with some surprise, and also noticed the black guitar bag on the so-called shelf.

He's a completely incomprehensible person.

However,

Based on her first impression of Mizushima Ayano and the simple understanding she gained from the brief contact last night, she felt that she was really being a little pretentious.

So after all this time, the other party turned out to be a stupid daughter of a landlord?

Living in a small house, does that mean you really think your family has no financial resources? Perhaps in Ayano's eyes at this moment, she still thinks that the value of the vase is not that high?

A faint smile suddenly appeared on Xiangzi's lips, as if he discovered that Ayano, who always looked so superior, also had some "shortcomings" that ordinary people could not find.

Maybe even she herself doesn't know how rich her father is?

"What if one day you find that your guitar is lost?" For some reason, Xiangzi asked this question.

"It's lost, so it's lost. As long as the person is not lost, that's fine."

"……what?"

"Stop talking about this. If you want to slack off and eat for free, just tell me. I'll fire you."

Xiangzi curled her lips, but her mood became much happier.

"Let me teach you music theory today."

"Music theory?"

Ayano was relieved to see Xiangzi back in business mode, but when she heard the word "music theory", her brows furrowed again.

"Can't you just learn how to play the piano?"

"That's fine, but I think it would be irresponsible to you and my job if I didn't learn music theory first."

As soon as Toyokawa Shoko talked about music, she temporarily forgot all other miscellaneous things. At this moment, she looked very focused, as if she had really become a strict teacher.

Moreover, she felt guilty about her previous extreme behavior. Even if she didn't have any income today, she felt that she should complete the job with the most serious attitude.

"And you're different from others. Ayano, you possess a musical sense and creative talent that most people can't envy, so learning music theory is very necessary for you.

Of course, I'm just suggesting it. If you really don't want to learn, I can also teach you how to quickly get started and play the corresponding temperament according to the score."

"Forget it, since I've decided to learn it... I might as well treat it well."

Ayano really doesn't like troublesome things, but it seems that there is really nothing else in life worth her time and effort.

She had finally caught something that interested her, and she didn't want to deal with it hastily.

"Okay, let's learn the basics first."

Because it is more convenient and intuitive to have an electronic keyboard to assist during teaching, the two of them naturally studied in front of the electronic keyboard. Ayano, as a student, sat on the keyboard stool, and Shoko moved a chair and sat next to her.

The distance between the two was very close, and Xiangzi also saw the rare serious side of Ayano, who seemed to be indifferent to everything.

And the facts are exactly as Xiangzi expected. Ayano, who has never been exposed to music, has a very high talent for learning music theory.

From simple knowledge such as solfège, key signature, and beat to advanced knowledge such as original key, transposition, modulation, and modulation that should not be learned on the first day, Ayano was able to master them quickly.

Moreover, they are not just talking about it on paper, but practicing it through electronic piano while learning.

If Xiangzi didn't know that Ayano had no need to deceive herself and wasn't that kind of person, she might really think that Ayano had been secretly studying on her own for many days.

"Xiangzi."

"Now let me talk about the higher and lower octaves... huh?"

Seeing Ayano suddenly interrupt her, Xiangzi was slightly stunned, then followed Ayano's gaze and saw the clock on the wall.

Is it already 7:?

Time passed so quickly and she didn't even feel it.

Xiangzi's mood suddenly became a little complicated, because during this period of time she did regain the sense of freedom she had when playing music before.

Although Ayano seldom interrupts, she is a qualified listener and practitioner. Her speed of understanding and sensitivity to musical knowledge give Xiangzi a very refreshing feeling, and this feeling gradually makes her immersed in it.

"It's not good to keep squeezing you like this. Take a rest first. I'll make you dinner."

"I'm not..." Just as she was about to say she wasn't hungry, her stomach growled twice. A little embarrassed, Xiangzi said awkwardly, "Okay, thank you."

Looking at Ayano getting up and leaving, Xiangzi suddenly felt a little empty.

It was like waking up from a dream and having to face reality. However, her hands unconsciously rested on the piano, and her fingers trembled slightly.

It’s nothing, I’m just addicted to playing the piano.

Just play one song, just one song...

But just when Xiangzi finally couldn't help but want to hit the first note, he was suddenly scared to death by a knock on the door.

And the knock on the door was accompanied by a very loud voice: "Ayano-chan, open the door quickly, it's me~"

Ayano, who was still busy in the kitchen, reacted immediately, but she did not open the door at first. Instead, she turned her head to look at Shoko Toyokawa who had a dazed look on her face in the house.

"Do you... want to hide for a while?"

"Hide... where?"

"cabinet?"

"Wouldn't that be an affair?

! ”

Ayano rolled her eyes and asked unhappily, "So, do you want to hide or not? If not, I'll just open the door."

"Okay, you..." At this point, Xiangzi's tone became a little soft, "You do it as soon as possible."

Chapter 13 Anno: I forgot something here (1/2)

"Then I'll... where is your room?"

"Over there, no, wait a minute." Ayano looked at Xiangzi, who was inexplicably panicked, unhappily, then walked to the entrance and picked up his shoes. "You forgot this."

"..."

The two spoke quietly, but the voice from Aine at the door was like a death urge. After Xiangzi took his shoes, he immediately ran towards Ayano's bedroom.

Without even having time to close the door, he went straight to the only closet in the room, opened the door and went in.

There's plenty of space in the closet, which might be because Ayano rarely buys clothes.

In her closet, apart from the two sets of school uniforms of Yuqiu Xiadong, there were only a few simple shirts and sweatshirts. However, when Xiangzi went in, she didn't have time to look at the other clothes in there. When she closed the closet door, she was completely engulfed in darkness.

Her hands restlessly groped around the walls of the closet, trying to find a space where she could sit down, but she ended up touching a bunch of slippery things.

After taking out his cell phone and shining the dim screen backlight on it, Xiangzi finally revealed a speechless expression.

"This guy...does he like pantyhose so much?"

But it seemed to be in line with that guy's personality. She guessed that Ayano didn't buy so many pantyhose because she thought wearing them would make her legs look better.

Judging from that guy's personality, he probably simply thought that when staying at home, he could use pantyhose instead of skirts, pants and socks, so that he would have one less item to deal with when washing and drying clothes. This really fits his lazy personality.

It seems that this person will be easy to get along with.

However, when Xiangzi slowly calmed down, turned off her cell phone screen and sat on the pile of clothes to listen quietly to the noise outside, she suddenly thought of something.

I... don't think there's any need to really hide myself, right?

Is it illegal to make new friends? Is it illegal to visit a friend's house? And judging by the silly look that pink-haired girl had on that day, it didn't seem that difficult to deal with.

But now it's too late.

She had already missed the best chance to escape. Now, Toyokawa Shoko seemed to have confirmed the crime of "affair". As long as she came out of the closet at this time and happened to bump into the pink-haired girl outside, she would really have no way to explain herself.

I always feel like...she was tricked by that Ayano guy.

Unable to do anything else, Shoko Toyokawa had to give up resisting, and then lay down beside the cabinet door and listened carefully to the faint conversation coming from the direction of the living room.

It’s a pity that I can’t hear it clearly.

Having given up the idea of eavesdropping, Shoko Toyokawa decided to just sit quietly in the closet. However, just as she was about to sit down, she felt something prickly under her butt.

When Xiangzi took another photo with his mobile phone, he found that the object in his hand seemed to be... a wallet?

……

"Ayano-chan, why are you so slow..."

At the entrance, Aine, who was about to take out her cell phone to call Ayano, finally waited for the door to open. As soon as she saw Ayano, she pouting and asked with some dissatisfaction.

"I was in the kitchen and didn't hear anything."

Seeing that Ayano was indeed wearing an apron and the range hood in the kitchen was indeed working with a roar, Aine could only attribute it all to her recent bad luck.

But when she took off her shoes and skipped to the kitchen door, she looked at the large piece of meat on the chopping board with some surprise.

"Ayano, are you eating so much by yourself?"

"Hmm?" Ayano followed her gaze and noticed that the ingredients she prepared were specially chosen for both herself and Shoko.