Su Ling did not practice the piano today.
For the first time since she first met the black cat, she did not spend the entire day honing her piano skills.
Until Lu Qing returned home, she remained in the same posture—
hugging the "black cat," curled up in the corner of the bed, her legs wrapped in a blanket, her face solemn and her expression dazed.
She murmured:
"What should I do…"
"What should we do…"
【Black cat, help me.】
…
…
By now, she had come to understand why her brother was so obsessed with the piano.
In such difficult times, even if she did nothing but hold her beloved piano, she could faintly hear a response from its intermittent sounds—
It was the voice of the "soul."
A voice from beyond dimensions, spreading to her eardrums, whether from the outside in or the inside out—it was "her" voice.
Su Ling couldn’t clearly articulate what she heard.
But she could distinctly feel a certain "power" transforming into a "warmth" flowing through her heart and coursing through her limbs.
This was—
the power of the "black cat."
"She’s telling me that we’ll win."
"She’s conveying to me that even someone like Lin Mu, who seems insurmountably distant from me, isn’t entirely out of reach."
Although.
Deep down, she knew.
Her greatest reliance was the combination of "divine instruments" and "twisted effort."
The former eliminated 99% of music enthusiasts, while the latter directly eliminated 99.9% of the remaining.
But for Lin Mu, these two points seemed… completely irrelevant.
When,
ordinary people hear the concept of "practicing the piano for 8 hours," they instinctively think, "How is that even possible? Wouldn’t that be exhausting? Don’t they have other things to do?" Meanwhile, Lin Mu had already been playing for half a day.
This was the gap.
【Complaining is also a form of waste.】
【If you’re not absolutely prepared, don’t attempt to challenge the professionals. Just treat it as a hobby for your own enjoyment.】
Su Ling had thought that practicing 8 hours a day was something few could match, that she could master the rhythm guitar part of "Only for Your Sunny Day" in the shortest time possible, add small solos, and practice relentlessly to achieve the effect she desired.
This rapid progress was something ordinary people could hardly hope to achieve.
But after watching Lin Mu’s performance videos, a sense of "helplessness" surged like a tidal wave, engulfing her, leaving no escape.
Indeed—
【Lin Mu’s talent in music defies logic.】
【She has Groove (rhythmic flow) when she plays.】
【Her posture while playing is as graceful as a spirit, as beautiful as a painting.】
—It was a kind of "natural" beauty, where the person and the melody became one, seamless, with all the notes flowing effortlessly, shining like "celestial stars."
She made no mistakes, showed no nervousness, no timidity, no hesitation.
Her musical talent was no less than her brother’s, perhaps even surpassing it.
So why, then, did she practice through the night, buy equipment by the truckload, and record hundreds of videos, capturing "perfect fragments" to send to her brother?
"Ah…"
"Black cat… save me…"
"I feel so terrible."
Su Ling felt defeated.
For the first time, she felt defeated.
And she finally understood what it meant when they said, 【Some people struggle their entire lives just to reach Rome, while others are born standing in the square of Rome, already clicking 'Next Destination.'】
…
How could she possibly compete?
Lin Mu had "holy instruments," and not just one.
She had "time," improving with every all-nighter.
She had "patience," steady as a whale in the deep sea.
She also had "talent," even if she didn’t think so herself.
And she had "depth," the carefully woven emotional bond with her brother, which had been mended after tears.
Now, the only thing she lacked was "meeting" her brother.
No.
Rather, her brother had already met her once.
Even she herself had met her once.
"So, it’s her."
Following the subtle hints in her brother’s words, she found the logo on the background of the video,
seeing the words "Twilight Coffee" right before her eyes, and finally understood why her brother had rescheduled their originally planned "date time."
"…"
It was for Lin Mu, after all.
To see Lin Mu.
Not to accompany her.
Well, he did accompany her.
"But only incidentally."
"The main focus was still to visit her, wasn’t it?"
Su Ling felt a heavy weight in her heart, sensing that her already improving condition was now stirring, threatening to relapse and erupt under this triple blow.
【It hurts.】
【It’s unbearable.】
【Brother…】
The girl hugged the black cat tightly.
Her fingertips accidentally brushed against the first string on the fretboard.
A faint E note sounded.
"Ah… at least I have you."
She gently stroked "her" fur.
Silently feeling "her" comfort.
She further understood her brother’s twisted affection for "them."
Yes.
When there was no one to accompany her.
When her emotions were this low,
who could she turn to for solace?
Who could dissolve this pain?
Living alone must have been so helpless.
Her brother had once lived here, carrying his scars, bearing the pain of abandonment, carrying a heart that felt as if it had been pierced by a blade, empty and hollow, licking his wounds under this roof, with no one to listen.
【Only "they" were there to listen, right?】
In his moments of sorrow, he would confide in "her" and "her," finding some solace for a heart that could never fully heal.
Perhaps, "they" gave him the strength to move forward,
but this strength, compared to the storm ahead, still felt despairing and disorienting.
So, he didn’t want to hurt "them," temporarily storing "them" away as a form of protection and forgetting.
—Was that it?
Su Ling couldn’t be sure.
But today, she knew that on the road ahead, there was a deity-like presence, waiting for her with an expressionless face.
This Saturday, the day after tomorrow, she would have to face her, face that disdainful tone, alongside her brother.
"…"
Helpless.
No way to begin.
Bai Xing was the fastest-growing type, resilient and relentless, thriving on setbacks.
Tang Hua was the heaven-blessed type, effortlessly captivating others without even trying.
Lin Mu was the abyssal type, starting at the ceiling and steadily climbing higher, her calm and steady progress leaving everyone else on the same track with only one feeling—
【Despair.】
"At this rate, surpassing her in music is impossible."
"If I practice 8 hours, she practices at least 9. Because just going through her 'daily practice routine' already takes her four or five hours. That’s just maintaining her level… So, afterward, she’ll invest even more time into composing, arranging, recording, mixing, and practicing other instruments…"
Those videos had fully documented her daily life, some even being Vlogs, sharing every detail of her all-nighters with Lu Qing.
—【An ordinary 9-10h practice session.】
"No. I can’t."
Su Ling took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.
"I can’t lose."
"I mustn’t lose."
"I can’t let her intimidating aura scare me before we even face off."
"She has weaknesses. She must have weaknesses."
From childhood until now, even at her most severe moments, Su Ling had never felt such suffocating dread.
The financial anxiety of not having enough money,
the survival anxiety of her mother leaving,
the mental and physical anxiety of her worsening condition—none of these combined had ever struck her as hard as this triple blow.
The carefully woven web of her heart was cracking under repeated heavy blows.
【But would this defeat Su Ling?】
"Don’t underestimate me."
Without warning, the moment she heard footsteps outside and the sound of a key turning in the lock,
a surge of newfound energy filled her hollow body, healing her as if she had been "reborn"—
Su Ling threw off the blanket, tossed it aside, grabbed the black cat, slung the guitar strap over her shoulder,
and with the determination of someone swimming against a hurricane,
she sat back down on her brother’s swivel chair, turned on the amplifier, and took a deep breath.
Firmly, she declared:
"No one can interfere with me."
"I will drag all of you down into the abyss."
……
……