——From the note change to being discovered, it took less than 12 hours.
At 4:30 in the morning, Su Ling stood by the window in her bedroom.
Backlit by the moonlight, she stared at the unpleasant message displayed on her brother's phone screen in her palm.
"If you ever decide to keep a cat, don't keep a black cat, okay?"
She narrowed her eyes,
Deeply inhaled.
…
I had intended to spare her life.
But within three days, she was already wagging her tail, pitifully seeking comfort from my brother.
Indeed.
I was right about you.
You won't give up until you're utterly shattered, is that it?
There are so many other options out there,
Yet you're so picky that you only want my brother,
Desiring nothing more than to devour the most delicious, high-quality, and coveted bite by his side.
Your scars heal so quickly, don't they?
"Bai Xing."
The air was so quiet that no one dared to speak.
Su Ling took another deep breath.
Silently.
Glanced at the tightly closed bedroom door.
Finally, her gaze fell on his phone.
The password was 0224.
It would only take 225 attempts.
My brother's deep sleep period is from 3:30 to 5:00.
Therefore, every day at 4:00 in the morning is the best time for me to wander.
The girl moved like a ghost.
Stepping silently in her black cat-patterned slippers, she glided through the room without a sound.
Under her eerie gaze, the chat history between him and her was clearly visible.
Less than 30 casual conversations, plus over 50 voice messages.
The first half was about homework, while the latter half gradually lost its sense of distance.
"Using your voice to seduce my brother?"
"Is this the reason you have 'six more tricks' than me?"
Su Ling clenched her teeth lightly, feeling restless.
It had been a long,
long time since she felt this displeased.
From childhood to adulthood, she had never been outshone in terms of looks or cuteness.
She had never lost.
Never.
Carefully walking on a tightrope, meticulously managing everything, the feedback from the outside world had long confirmed her near-perfection, leaving her fearless.
But today.
Today, she was being overshadowed by a little cat in my brother's eyes?
You two are planning some secret 'project,' aren't you?
Very well.
At this thought, Su Ling took a third deep breath.
Indeed.
Ever since the first encounter, the decision to 'protectively observe' my brother was the right one.
Otherwise, you might have found an opportunity to slip through the cracks.
"Voice actress, huh."
I underestimated you.
It seems you've put in a lot of effort in your professional field.
Solid basic skills,
A sweet voice that even I can't help but envy,
Precise kill shots,
Combined with your not-so-inferior appearance and obviously well-researched fashion sense.
Bai Xing.
"I need to find a chance to have a good talk with you."
Su Ling thought this.
……
She tried her best to remain calm.
Flipped through the chat history again.
It was clear that my brother and the little cat were planning to collaborate on some kind of live-streaming program.
Although she had never delved into the knowledge of VTBs, the information from Little Red Book and Zhihu would soon fill the gaps.
Su Ling understood that
My brother was going to be her mastermind.
Pushing her, propping her up, from scratch, step by step, to the top of this circle, and during this period, he would assist her with all her problems.
"Heh."
"Interesting."
Su Ling was not in a hurry.
Not at all.
"My brother hasn't started writing yet, which must be because he hasn't made full preparations."
"And his personality is quite stubborn, which, in a way, is another extreme."
Anything, any project, if it's not perfect, he won't blindly proceed.
The fact that he was able to prove his worth on the previous website obviously came after unimaginable suffering and torment.
Su Ling understood this very well.
"So."
"My brother, feeling short of money due to my arrival, was forced to cooperate with her. His goal is to use her abilities to earn a new income, which will then be used to support me."
Su Ling narrowed her eyes, "In other words, your efforts, your gains, a part of it will be handed over to me."
"。"
Bai Xing.
If that's the case, then maybe I can let you stay for one more round.
At this thought, the girl's expression gradually softened.
"Waste away."
"While you're still at the stage of begging my brother to pay attention to you, I've already moved on to the next level.
I will enter my brother's heart, read his past, control his thoughts, and dismantle his behavior."
And you, my little darling,
Just keep trying your best,
Show off in front of my brother,
Use all your tricks to work for me."
"Tsk."
As she spoke, Su Ling approached the door and locked the bedroom door.
Then, she took out a 'key' from the pocket of her nightgown.
And, step by step, she moved towards a corner of the room.
"Although I could wait until tomorrow when my brother leaves the house, curiosity is indeed hard to suppress."
She muttered to herself,
Her gaze fixed on the only part of the house she hadn't explored yet.
——A black, three-cubic-meter-sized vertical storage cabinet.
In fact,
Whether it's my brother's clothes or the CDs hidden under his bed, I've already examined them over and over again.
Every little thing in the room, when he's not home, has been thoroughly inspected by me.
Except for this cabinet.
The contents of this cabinet are quite intriguing.
As for the reason…
Su Ling suddenly glanced at the computer desk to her left.
This morning,
I used the 'What's Worth Buying' mini-program to analyze everything my brother owns.
By taking photos and scanning them, I calculated the prices of all his devices and their information on the internet.
Among them, one thing caught her attention.
——A sound card.
Generally, the mainboard of a computer comes with a built-in sound card.
But for someone like Bai Xing, who is a streamer, they would buy an external sound card to improve sound quality, connecting it via USB to replace the mediocre built-in one.
The price of such an external sound card, for beginners, is around a few hundred dollars, with the cheapest being three to five hundred, and the usable ones around seven to eight hundred.
But my brother's sound card, named 'RME' Babyface,
Costs $7500, from Germany.
This immediately raised Su Ling's suspicions.
"Why does my brother have something so expensive?"
The price of a sound card, why is it more expensive than his headphones, keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals combined?
Even equivalent to a whole ordinary computer?
Very suspicious.
Although Su Ling didn't know much about equipment-related knowledge, after searching for information, she learned that this sound card is "music production" level.
That is, only professional music producers, mixing engineers, and mastering engineers use such high-end equipment.
Amateurs buying such devices are basically wasting them, somewhat like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.
"My brother doesn't like waste."
"He wouldn't buy unnecessary things."
"From the dust on the knobs, this device should have been around for a while."
Has my brother ever fully utilized its capabilities?
Su Ling was very curious.
Soon.
She came to a startling conclusion——
"Could it be that my brother likes music?"
……
This thought arose in her mind.
But then she thought,
There isn't even an audio host in his current computer, let alone a music player.
Even the commonly used Yiyun Music, Tencent Music, or Shuaigou Music, he seems to have uninstalled their PC versions,
Only keeping one of them on his phone.
"How strange."
For Su Ling, such an 'S' level mystery is a realm that any other opponent cannot reach.
They can't even get close to this room, let alone my brother's private space.
Much less delve into Lu Qing's secrets in such an environment.
She knew that about Lu Qing, about her brother, there were still too many undiscovered pasts.
If she could be the first to study him more thoroughly…
Then no matter what opponent she faces in the future, she would at least have the advantage of time and place, accurately grasping the situation, making the first move.
"Opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared."
The girl firmly believed in this truth.
……
"Huh."
Her gaze returned to the key in her hand.
Su Ling knew that finding this key was no easy task.
It was hidden deep within her brother's wallet, in the tiny gap behind the plastic ID card sleeve.
If you didn't dig deep, it would be nearly impossible to get your hands on such a thing.
Clearly.
Items stashed in such an odd place were usually the most important.
"Brother must be hiding something from me," Su Ling said with a smile, bending down to align the key with the storage locker's keyhole.
She believed that the secret of the sound card was likely connected to this mysterious locker.
All the clues pointed here.
"Speaking of which... what did Brother do during the years before he started writing, after coming to the city?"
She twisted the lock.
Frowning in thought.
"Just studying?"
Su Ling wasn't sure.
But based on her understanding of her brother, she knew he wouldn't be content with "just studying."
She knew that many college students had their own extracurricular lives, some dedicating themselves to gaming, others pursuing romance and academics.
Brother, ever since she had come into this household, had never touched a game.
When it came to girls, except for Bai Xing, he was completely indifferent.
Curious, Su Ling had secretly peeked at her brother's messaging app and found private messages from girls in his department.
The girls had sent him messages with ill intentions, saying a lot, while Brother's replies were all just "En," "Oh," "Ah"...
In the end, he couldn't even be bothered with punctuation, just read the messages and ignored them, incredibly aloof.
"...Brother doesn't date."
"He doesn't seem like a gaming addict either."
So what are his hobbies?
Besides writing...
Does he have no other interests?
At that moment, with a click, the old, tiny key finally turned the heavy, probably ten-year-old antique lock.
Creak, creak, creak—
In the space filled with dancing dust mites,
Su Ling stepped back with a frown, holding her phone with one hand, using the flashlight to illuminate the area, while with the other hand, she pulled open the large storage locker's handle.
The next second,
finally revealed,
Lu Qing's "secret" stored inside.
"This is..."
The first thing that caught her eye was a photo.
The photo was hung at the top of the locker, showing Brother and a charming middle-aged man arm in arm.
"Huh?"
Su Ling was very curious.
She furrowed her brow and took it out.
In the corner of the photo, there was a signature in black ink—
Kotaro Oshio.
Su Ling didn't know how to pronounce this name, but she quickly took out her phone and did a quick search on her little red book.
She found that this was the name of the middle-aged man in the photo, translated as Mr. Oshio, a somewhat famous fingerstyle guitarist from Japan.
She quickly realized—
Brother had taken a photo with the master.
"......"
She examined it closely.
It seemed,
he was very happy in the photo.
Never so happy.
His face was filled with sunshine, with a relatively pure hope.
Not like now, where he was always frowning, burdened with pressure, even groaning in pain occasionally when turning over on the couch at night.
"He must be very tired."
Su Ling was silent,
moving her gaze downward.
Inside the locker, there were two seemingly very heavy instrument cases.
One was wider, with "Martin GO" printed on it, the other flatter, with "Schecter N" written on the surface.
These two items, Su Ling didn't need to search to recognize, were two guitars.
"Come to think of it, when Brother looked downstairs at those devices in Twilight Cafe, he seemed surprised."
"So he recognized those things?"
The girl pursed her lips, recalling and thinking.
She didn't take out the instrument cases.
Instead, she continued to scan the last section of the storage locker.
There was a square, speaker-like device, with the logo "Marshall."
It didn't look light.
There was also a small aluminum flight case.
It was locked with a delicate lock, looking very expensive and sturdy.
Finally, in the corner, there was a stack of sheet music, with a black-and-white eye printed on the cover.
"Yorushika."
Su Ling looked puzzled.
It seemed Brother's things had entered her knowledge blind spot.
But it was clear that within this 3 cubic meter space, there were at least two guitars, one speaker, one unknown device, one secret album, and one preserved photo with a master musician.
These items might contain the most precious past for Brother.
Looking at these items, Su Ling fell into deep thought.
Must be very important, right?
For Brother.
After all, taking a photo with a master, does that mean Brother once really liked, really loved these things?
That expensive sound card must have been bought at the same time as these devices, right?
But now,
Brother never mentioned anything about music.
Every day it's just studying, writing outlines, occasionally browsing tutorials and books to accumulate material for his creations.
He's never seen practicing the guitar, nor touching these devices.
Why?
Su Ling didn't understand.
After thinking for a long time.
Suddenly, she frowned slightly:
"Could it be..."
"Brother gave up on music?"
When this thought suddenly appeared, she felt its possibility was huge.
So she quickly opened her phone,
entered the model information of one of the guitars on Taobao, and clicked the search button.
【Martin D28 — 25,500 RMB, high-end handmade acoustic guitar.】
"......"
She pursed her lips.
Calmed down.
Continued searching.
【Schecter NV3, signature model electric guitar by Master Kobayashi, discontinued.】
"......"
Though she didn't understand, she could guess it was a discontinued instrument, the kind that could be passed down as heirlooms.
Su Ling took a deep breath.
.
She looked again at the things in front of her.
"Is he keeping these for his future children?"
She speculated.
After an unknown period of time.
The girl restored the room, came to the door, and looked out.
She murmured softly:
"Brother..."
Did he give up music to focus on writing?
Or was it...
out of necessity?
But were they, even as hobbies, erased?
Or,
did seeing them make him feel heartbroken?
If,
if the current life makes you feel unhappy.
No matter how much comfort you receive, you can't get back that pure joy.
The girl slightly lowered her head.
Then, let's find a way to help you regain your original intention.
After all.
"—You also need to be saved, don't you?"
......
......