Saturday.
Lu Qing suddenly changed his mind.
"Su Ling, you practice at home by yourself. I have some errands to run, and I'll spend the whole day with you tomorrow."
He was sorting through his wardrobe, picking out a few outfits that looked decent together, and instructing his sister.
"Huh? Brother, are you not coming home tonight?"
Su Ling put down "Black Cat" and seemed a bit concerned.
"No, I should be able to come back, but I have some work stuff to deal with, like on-site engineering adjustments. I'm not sure how long it will take. Anyway, I promised you I'd stay home, and even if the subway stops running at midnight, I'll walk back."
Lu Qing had checked the map.
He found that Dongyang Community was only three stops away, so walking wasn't out of the question.
If needed, he could always take a taxi. Tianhai City had plenty of cabs late at night. If he wanted to save money, he could even look into carpooling apps like Didi. There were many options.
"Oh. Brother, do you have some side project besides your studies lately?"
Su Ling didn't take her eyes off the 32-inch computer screen playing a tutorial.
While talking, she was adjusting the settings on the Boss ME-80 guitar effects pedal her brother had recently bought for her online.
As a 2000 RMB all-in-one effects pedal, this device could meet all of Su Ling's sound needs during her beginner phase.
Although it was foreseeable that she would quickly outgrow this stage, Lu Qing already had a plan.
He intended to upgrade her to the top-of-the-line, what was known as the "strongest on Earth," touch-screen digital modeling effects pedal, the Neural DSP Quad Cortex.
"If you're going to buy, buy the best."
That was his philosophy. So even for something that cost 15,999 RMB, he was willing to invest in Su Ling.
After all, she was genuinely practicing.
Kids who truly love playing music are good kids. Lu Qing believed she deserved good gear.
Even if he hadn't been able to afford it for himself back then.
"Yeah, I have some ideas for the outline of my new book, but it still needs some time to mature. After all, I want to 'write the best content possible,' or not write at all."
He affirmed, "So I need to find new ways to make money recently to ensure our life continues smoothly without being held back by financial issues."
"Oh..."
Su Ling seemed to understand, yet not quite.
After a while, she looked down with a complicated expression, her small face seemingly carrying a hint of self-blame.
"..."
Lu Qing quickly caught this detail and reassured her:
"Su Ling, you don't need to worry. Your brother still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Making money is just about relying on skills. Just stay home and relax. If you want to go out, let me know, and I'll cancel everything else to spend time with you. Oh, and practice in moderation, okay?"
He chuckled nervously, "I need to remind you, at your current level, after only five days of playing, there probably aren't many people in the world who have put in as much practice as you. You get what I mean, right?"
Su Ling: "Really?"
"Yeah... You can practice, but don't go overboard. After all... Black Cat needs her rest too, doesn't she?"
"So brother cares about 'Black Cat' more than me."
"???"
Oh no.
Did she catch that?
Although Su Ling's statement was spot on, for some reason, Lu Qing still felt a bit exposed and awkwardly laughed, unsure how to respond.
Fortunately, his sister didn't seem to mind, because in her heart, "Brother caring about Black Cat means he cares about me."
[I will one day become Black Cat, devour Black Cat. Let her become my weapon.]
—Black Cat is just the nourishment for my growth.
"It's fine, brother. I've been taking very good care of her. I always wash my hands before playing, and after practice, I use the cleaning cloth you bought to carefully wipe off the dust on the surface. I even ordered string oil and care kits from Dimao Shopping with your money. Once the lemon oil and polishing spray arrive, I'll take care of her daily to keep her in perfect condition as if she just came out of the factory."
Su Ling calmly revealed this SSS-level intelligence.
"What...?"
Lu Qing was stunned.
"No way..."
"What, Ling?"
"Yeah?"
"How did you get into learning about guitar maintenance? That's stuff for luthiers. Did you also read tuning and repair posts?"
"Yeah, I read a bit. It can't hurt to know a little."
Su Ling naturally said, "Brother asked me to take good care of her, so I naturally take it to heart, because I know brother wouldn't lie to me."
Besides, I don't want to always bother brother to look things up for me. After all, brother is just an 'amateur theory enthusiast,' not a 'professional musician or guitarist.' It makes me feel bad to always trouble you."
As she spoke, she gently stroked "Black Cat," her eyes soft and innocent.
"The 'Black Cat' you brought me is priceless."
"Whether in terms of its significance to me or as a global one-of-a-kind piece."
"What?!"
"Brother, don't be surprised."
Su Ling suddenly looked up, meeting Lu Qing's slightly widened eyes, and continued:
"This guitar is very precious. Extremely precious. I understand. I get it all.
So, I will dedicate my life
to treating 'her' as a companion,
until
I can truly hear 'her' voice,
until I can truly merge with 'her.'"
"..."
"Brother, you'll wait for that day, right?"
...
...
Lu Qing took a deep breath.
He was overwhelmed.
For the umpteenth time, he was moved by his sister's passionate and dedicated words.
A surge of emotion welled up inside him, forcing him to turn and rush out of the room, into the bathroom, trying to calm the storm in his chest.
"Su Ling... she truly understands my intentions."
He sighed inwardly.
"She looked up the information and found out the price of this guitar."
"That's normal. I would also check equipment details to avoid being scammed. But... her determination, her state of mind, it's exactly like mine back then... no, even more so."
Lu Qing couldn't figure out what drove his sister's "inner motivation."
He couldn't quite grasp it yet.
"What does she want?"
"Is she a born genius for the guitar?"
"There are indeed such geniuses in the world, but Su Ling doesn't seem to be 'absolutely pitch-perfect'; she's more of a 'hardworking type.'"
"She's pouring an enormous amount of time and energy into this."
She wants to reach a level she's satisfied with in the shortest time possible.
And clearly, the only shortcut in learning music is "putting in the hard work to practice."
Under effective practice, the so-called stupid method is the shortcut.
—Practice over and over.
Focus on what you don't know, what you're not familiar with,
instead of avoiding your weaknesses and only playing what you're good at.
Such people can't achieve comprehensive progress, and the same applies to other fields.
Lu Qing believed that mastering a direction required solidifying the fundamentals. Otherwise, the building would collapse at some point, leaving one to regret.
"Alright, Su Ling, I tentatively acknowledge you."
But only tentatively.
For now,
just temporarily,
I acknowledge your attitude toward learning the guitar.
If you can maintain this,
or at least try to maintain it, until you smoothly step out of this room and return to school.
Then, I'll prepare a big gift for you,
letting you fully inherit
my legacy.
...
Lu Qing looked at his tired, haggard reflection in the mirror.
He took a deep breath,
lifted his head, and exhaled.
He thought:
"I still need to sort out the initial plans for the VTB project these two days."
"Yang Zai has finished his part, and Bai Xing has indirectly hinted at the role she needs to prepare, so she'll probably be working on that soon."
"Next, there's only Lubia's outfit left to deal with..."
He redirected his gaze back to the mirror,
staring, staring,
suddenly feeling utterly exhausted.
For the past few weeks, he hadn't relaxed at all.
His sleep was restless.
His mind was constantly in disarray.
Walking down the street, when the sunlight hit his face, it always felt blinding.
He instinctively wanted to raise his hand to shield his eyes.
Ah...
He really wanted to let himself unwind for a moment.
"..."
"That's it."
Suddenly, his expression tightened.
He thought,
Since it's like this,
"Why not go out and find some fun?"
All of a sudden.
"Yeah."
The idea struck Lu Qing.
Silently, he picked up his phone.
He sent a voice message to Lubia:
"I might be very busy on Sunday, so let's change our plans and meet this afternoon. I'll be there in 30 minutes."
[Whoosh]
The second phase of punishment began.
But of course, that wasn't all.
After doing all this,
without any warning, he pulled out the membership card from Maidolia,
licked his lips,
and a cunning plan came to mind—
"For a gift, I'll go to Chengkai and buy her a full set of the Succubus + Garter Belt outfit with goat horns and bat wings, right?"
"Tang Hua, if it's you, you definitely won't be able to resist wearing it, will you?"
...
...