Entertainment: A song that brought his deceased wife back to life.

Luo Qianyu tossed and turned until 2 a.m. but still couldn't fall asleep.

She checked the price of the "second best guitar in the world" on her phone again.

I still can't afford it.

She threw her phone on the bed and stared at the ceiling for five minutes.

Then she sat up abruptly.

She remembered something.

That old man, Luo Tianxiong, has a collecting obsession.

Antiques, calligraphy and paintings, jade, walnuts.

There's also a whole wall of guitars.

Luo Qianyu remembered sneaking into that collection room when she was a child. The guitars inside hung on the temperature- and humidity-controlled display shelves, each one more beautiful than the last.

Although her father was tone-deaf, that didn't stop him from spending a lot of money to buy musical instruments as decorations.

Luo Qianyu jumped off the bed.

She tiptoed out of the bedroom.

There were no lights in the living room.

The study door was closed.

There was no keyboard typing sound inside.

Xu Qing is asleep.

Luo Qianyu reached the entrance. She changed into sneakers, then pulled on her thickest black down jacket. She pulled the hood up, put on a mask, and was fully armed.

She gently opened the door.

The door lock made a very faint clicking sound.

She held her breath and waited for three seconds.

There was no movement in the study.

Luo Qianyu slipped out the door, closing it so lightly that even she admired herself.

2:30 a.m.

Luo Qianyu took a ride-hailing car to the back gate of the Luo family villa area.

After getting off the bus, she stood outside the wall and looked up at the three-meter-high wall.

"..."

She flipped through it once back then.

When she was fifteen, she climbed over the stones by the flower bed in order to sneak out to participate in a school singing competition.

I'm twenty-three this year.

Their physical strength should be about the same.

Luo Qianyu exclaimed—no, she patted her face to encourage herself.

She still remembered the password for the side door.

She went around to the side door and entered a six-digit password.

drop--

The green light is on.

The old man hasn't changed his password in ages; it's still her birthday.

Luo Qianyu crouched down and slipped inside.

The villa has a large garden. The lawn is neatly trimmed, and streetlights are spaced ten meters apart.

She deliberately chose to walk on grassy areas without lights.

The sneakers made almost no sound when they stepped on the grass.

The lights in the living room on the first floor of the main building were still on.

Luo Qianyu cursed inwardly.

What's that old man doing in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?

She went around to the back of the main building and peeked out from under the window.

In the living room.

Luo Tianxiong sat cross-legged on the sofa, wearing a silk nightgown.

Playing with walnuts in the left hand.

He is holding a tablet computer in his right hand.

The screen prominently displayed the interface of the End Literature Network.

Luo Qianyu almost burst out laughing.

The richest man in China is reading online novels in the middle of the night.

She saw the title of the book on the screen.

"goodbye."

Xu Qing's new book.

Luo Tianxiong wiped away tears as he read, muttering something under his breath.

Luo Qianyu listened intently for a long time.

I vaguely heard someone say, "That little brat is writing about dogs again. I cried for three days after reading his last book..."

Luo Qianyu covered her mouth and took two steps back.

If her father knew that the "emotion" behind this book was Xu Qing, he would immediately recognize her as his son-in-law.

wrong.

First, steal the zither.

The collection room is located on the east side of the second floor of the main building.

Luo Qianyu went around to the back door. The lock on the back door was a fingerprint scanner, and her fingerprint was still in the system.

The door opened.

She took off her shoes and carried them in her hand. Barefoot on the marble floor, she felt her way up to the second floor.

The door to the collection room was unlocked.

Luo Tianxiong never locks this room.

He felt it was unnecessary because the security system for the entire villa was worth 20 million.

Luo Qianyu pushed open the door.

The collection room was lit by a dim motion-activated night light.

The constant temperature and humidity system emits a faint humming sound.

A whole wall directly opposite.

Twelve guitars were neatly hung on the display rack.

Each one was polished to a shine.

Luo Qianyu walked over.

The first one looks very expensive, with mother-of-pearl inlay. It's too flashy; Xu Qing definitely won't like it.

The second instrument was too big. Although Xu Qing's fingers were long, he was used to playing smaller instruments.

The third one is a bright red. No way.

Luo Qianyu looked at them one by one.

She stopped when she saw the seventh round.

The body of this violin is dark brown. There are no superfluous decorations. The lines are clean and crisp.

She carefully took the violin down from the shelf.

She paused for a moment the instant she held the instrument.

The wood has an extremely warm and smooth feel.

She subconsciously leaned closer and smelled it.

A faint scent of rosewood wafted into my nose.

It smells good.

Luo Qianyu doesn't understand the zither.

All she knew was that the guitar smelled nice, had a beautiful color, and was the right size.

She held the zither and smelled it a couple more times.

"You're the one."

She put the violin into a black violin case that was standing next to her.

Carry the instrument case on your back.

He looked like a special forces soldier carrying a rocket launcher.

Luo Qianyu returned via the same route.

Go downstairs.

Put on shoes.

Push open the back door.

Just took a step.

"Young Miss?"

Luo Qianyu froze on the spot.

The personal butler stood at the bottom of the back door steps, holding a flashlight in his hand.

"..."

"Young Miss, does Master know you're coming to the house at this hour?"

Luo Qianyu hadn't had time to take off her mask yet.

She gave a dry laugh.

"Uncle Zhou, what a coincidence!"

Old Zhou looked her up and down. His gaze finally settled on the huge violin case on her back.

"Young Miss, what are you carrying on your back?"

Luo Qianyu took half a step back.

"It's nothing."

Old Zhou remained expressionless.

"Miss, the sensor system in the collection room is connected to my phone. I received a notification when you went in."

Luo Qianyu cursed Luo Tianxiong's security system eight hundred times in her heart.

She simply took off her mask, revealing a face full of guilt.

"Uncle Zhou, I'd like to borrow a zither."

"Young Miss, everything in the master's collection room is his lifeblood. Last time, a cleaning lady accidentally touched the stand of that zither and almost got fired by the master."

Luo Qianyu hugged the violin case on her back tightly.

"But my boyfriend's piano string broke."

Old Zhou's expression froze for a second.

"What did you say? Boyfriend?"

Luo Qianyu realized she had let something slip.

"No, I meant my friend—"

"Young Miss," Old Zhou's tone changed. "If the Master knew you had a boyfriend—"

"Uncle Zhou!"

Luo Qianyu rushed over and grabbed Lao Zhou's arm.

"Good Uncle Zhou, dear Uncle Zhou."

"Just pretend you didn't see me."

"I'll just borrow a violin, and I'll return it in a few days."

"If you tell my dad, I'll go and trend on social media tomorrow saying that Luo Tianxiong's daughter was caught stealing from the Luo family."

Old Zhou's lips twitched.

"Young Miss, you're threatening me."

"That's just being affectionate."

Luo Qianyu unleashed her most powerful cuteness offensive in years.

Old Zhou stood there facing her for a full thirty seconds.

Finally, he sighed.

Which one are you holding?

"The seventh one. The brown one. It smells nice."

Old Zhou's expression completely changed.

"Young Miss, that's a top-of-the-line custom-made piano made of Brazilian rosewood."

"How much?"

Old Zhou gave a number.

Luo Qianyu's face turned green.

"Uncle Zhou, don't scare me."

"I'm not trying to scare you. That violin was ordered by your father from a master luthier in South America. Only three were ever made."

Luo Qianyu glanced down at the violin case behind her.

There was a five-second silence.

Then she hugged her violin case tightly, turned around and ran.

Goodbye, Uncle Zhou!

"Young Miss—!"

"Just tell them I wasn't here!"

Luo Qianyu disappeared into the darkness of the garden in a flash.

Old Zhou stood there, his flashlight shining on her receding figure.

He shook his head helplessly and took out his phone to take a look.

In the end, they did not call Luo Tianxiong.

-

4:10 a.m.

Luo Qianyu sat on a garden bench downstairs in the Jinxiu Garden residential complex.

The violin case was placed on my lap.

She unzipped the zipper and took out the Brazilian rosewood guitar.

The streetlights shone on the piano.

This violin is indeed excessively beautiful.

The wood grain is delicate, and the craftsmanship is exquisite. The luthier's signature is also present on the headstock. The brand logo is delicately inlaid inside the soundhole.

Luo Qianyu stared at that logo for a long time.

Xu Qing is a shrewd person; he could tell at a glance that this was no ordinary zither.

If he finds out how much the instrument is worth, given his temperament, he'll definitely return it intact.

They should also add a line like "I don't want anyone's charity" that's just asking for trouble.

Luo Qianyu thought for two minutes.

She pulled a crumpled piece of sandpaper from her down jacket pocket.

She picked this up casually when she bought furniture at IKEA last week. She was using it to smooth out the rough edges on her desk.

Luo Qianyu looked at the sandpaper in her hand.

He looked at the zither again.

My eyelids twitched with heartache.

Three in the world.

She wanted to personally grind it into a battle-damaged version.

Luo Qianyu bit her lip.

Then she applied sandpaper to the smooth side of the instrument.

My wrist moved slightly.

stopped.

Come again.

It stopped again.

"For that annoying Xu Qing."

She gave herself three seconds to mentally prepare herself.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, the sandpaper scratched the first mark on the instrument.

Luo Qianyu felt a clench in her chest.

She continued grinding.

The second course. The third course.

Several artificially aged scratches appeared on the originally glossy lacquer surface of the instrument.

She turned the violin over again and stuck a small fish sticker on the brand logo on the headstock.

The sticker was a pink clownfish pattern that she always kept in her wallet.

It perfectly covered up the priceless luthier's signature.

Luo Qianyu picked up the zither and examined it closely.

Ok.

It looks like an old violin that its owner has used for many years.

It has a sense of realism.

It has a story to tell.