She was considering how to greet her biological parents when she looked up and saw Wen Yun stand up. The next second, she heard Wen Yun exclaim in surprise.
"Wow! Xiaoyu, you look so beautiful in this dress!" Wen Yun exclaimed with delight, pulling her over to her parents without waiting for a reply. "Mom and Dad, look, Xiaoyu is a natural clothes hanger!"
Ruan Yu smiled politely and let Wen Yun pull her down to sit, apologizing, "I'm sorry to have kept Mom and Dad waiting."
"That's not true!" Mrs. Wen said with a smile, and stretched out her hand to her again, "Xiaoyu, come here, let Mom take a closer look."
The butler quickly brought tea and snacks.
The finest Ceylon black tea was slowly poured into the bone china teacup. The light red tea liquor, which stood out against the white cup, inexplicably reminded Ruan Yu of blood dissolved in water, and she was momentarily lost in thought.
"Xiaoyu, we don't have a spare master bedroom at the moment, so you'll have to make do with the guest room for now."
She heard her father say.
If it's familiar, then it's a familiar arrangement.
"It's alright, I'm not wronged at all." Ruan Yu knew the truth, shook her head, and maintained a polite smile. "Thank you for worrying about me, Mom and Dad."
The father nodded and continued, "Yunyun is willing to give up her art studio so you can convert it into a bedroom. You and she can go upstairs and take a look in a bit. I'll have a designer come over tomorrow; you just need to tell the designer your ideas."
Ruan Yu was stunned, unable to believe her ears.
Wen Yun actually offered to give up her beloved art studio and even wanted to convert it into her bedroom?!
However, before she could speak, Wen Yun said with a smile, "Dad, it's almost time for dinner. Can I take Xiaoyu to see him now?"
"You silly child, Xiaoyu hasn't even had a sip of tea yet!" Her mother interjected, then pushed a plate of cookies toward her. "Xiaoyu, try these before you go. They're handmade cookies, made by the family's pastry chef."
As she bit into the sweet cookie, Ruan Yu even wondered if she was dreaming.
—To live a beautiful dream that you will always yearn for but can never realize.
But when she looked up at the happy family of three in front of her, she suddenly realized that she had been too naive.
If her biological parents truly cared about her, or even had the slightest hope that she could integrate into the family, then she should have fulfilled her dream in her past life.
Instead of returning to the beginning of everything after death.
She couldn't help but look at Wen Yun again, her feelings becoming increasingly complicated.
Wen Yun, however, was checking her attribute panel.
Current name: Wen Yun
Current survival time: 30 hours
Tea flavor level: 14 points
Interpersonal relationships: [Click to expand]
She hadn't used the template for "green tea" speech; it was all improvised. She only occasionally picked out some non-aggressive "green tea" remarks and mixed them into her normal sentences. She didn't expect to accumulate so much "green tea" flavor.
"Host, you can draw a mystery item once you have 10 points of tea flavor!" The system proactively opened the exchange shop.
Wen Yun responded and exchanged 14 basic life-extending cards without hesitation.
System: ...fine.
"First, accumulate enough survival time, then become a gambler." After explaining, Wen Yun glanced at the survival time that had increased to 72 hours and couldn't help but sigh.
It seems that achieving freedom in survival time in the short term will be a bit difficult.
She had just taken a big gulp of tea to calm herself down when Ruan Yu said apologetically, "Thank you, Mom, but I'm still feeling carsick and can't eat anymore."
Seeing that her mother was still trying to persuade her to eat, Wen Yun quickly swallowed her tea and said, "Mom, let me take Xiaoyu upstairs to relax! We still have dinner to eat later!"
After saying that, she put down her teacup, stood up, and extended her hand to Ruan Yu with a smile.
Ruan Yu nodded, obediently placed her hand in Yunyun's palm, and said softly, "Thank you for your trouble, Yunyun."
Leading her back to the second floor, Wen Yun quickly browsed through the original owner's memories of the art studio while taking Ruan Yu to the studio door.
“After I started high school, I was busy with my studies and practicing my musical instruments, so I didn’t have time to draw anymore.” Wen Yun said, turning the key in the door. “But the nanny comes here regularly to clean, so the room is always very clean and there is no dust.”
The door opened, and a dimly lit and quiet art studio came into view.
Wen Yun walked to the window, pulled back the heavy curtains, and the twilight light poured in, bathing everything in the room in a faint red glow.
The easel stood on the floor near the window, with two stools around it, one for holding a bucket of water and the other for sitting.
The storage cabinet, far from the window, is half filled with plaster statues, various fruit and vegetable models, palettes, paint jars, and other items, while the other half contains Chinese calligraphy and painting tools. Next to it is an exquisite wooden table with an inkstone and a brush holder, and the chair is also a high-quality Chinese wooden chair.
Wen Yun had wanted to complain about this "East-meets-West" arrangement when she was reading the book, but now that she saw it in person, she inexplicably felt that the protagonist was lucky. With two choices in front of her, if she had the ability, she could either focus on one or do both.
But... what is the protagonist thinking?
Will she seize this opportunity?
Wen Yun thought for a moment and tried to provoke her, saying, "This will be your bedroom from now on. If you're not interested in painting, you can move all these things out of your way without worrying about my feelings."
“But I’ve never studied painting.” Ruan Yu looked at her and said with difficulty, “I don’t know if I’m interested in it.”
Their eyes met, and Wen Yun instantly understood what she meant. Overjoyed, she quickly exclaimed, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry! How about this, I'll talk to Mom and Dad during dinner and ask them to hire a painting teacher for you. If you also want to learn a musical instrument, you can mention it to them as soon as possible."
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for Mom and Dad?" Ruan Yu asked softly. "If there are many things I want to learn, will they... be angry?"
"Why are you angry?" Wen Yun asked back, unconsciously raising her voice. "You're so outstanding, you want to learn everything. If your parents are still angry with you, then they really don't know how to cherish you!"
These are actually the words she most wanted to say to the protagonist while reading the story.
In the original story, the protagonist, who was forced into the circle of the wealthy, had already done everything she could. To put it bluntly, the Wen family owed her something.
Probably not expecting her to say such a thing, Ruan Yu looked stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered, nodded, and smiled again: "Okay, I'll listen to Yunyun."
"Then I'll take you to the music room to take a look," Wen Yun said. "If you see an instrument that you like and want to learn it, be sure to tell your parents!"
The soundproof practice room is not far from the art studio; it's just a few steps away.
Seeing Ruan Yu looking at a closed door across the corridor, Wen Yun recalled for a moment and said, "That's my brother's room, but he's still studying abroad and won't be back until Christmas."
In the original story, the protagonist has a brilliant older brother named Wen Lu, who has a very low profile. He is a textbook example of a sister-obsessed brother who dotes on the original protagonist even more than Wen Lu's parents.
When he learned that the original owner who had grown up with him was not his biological sister, he was devastated for a long time. Under the original owner's continued brainwashing and embellishment, he grew increasingly disgusted with the protagonist and secretly helped the original owner do many shady things, all in order to drive the protagonist, who was "bullying his sister," out of the house.
Recalling the absurd plot of the original story, Wen Yun felt a chill run down her spine and quickly pushed open the door to the music room.
There weren't many musical instruments in the practice room: a grand piano, a violin locked in a cabinet, various wind instruments arranged in the cabinet, and wooden guitars of different sizes hanging on the wall.
According to the original text, the original owner specialized in piano, while his older brother Wen Lu was learning violin, and he only had a slight understanding of other instruments.
Wen Yun remembered that Ruan Yu practiced the piano diligently in the original text—after all, the piano is easy to learn.
Unfortunately, she had too little time to focus on practicing the piano, and she was also preparing for her senior year of high school exams, so she was unable to take any grade exams before she passed away.
She sighed inwardly, opened the piano lid, and lifted the dust cover.
"This is a piano," Wen Yun introduced. "You should have seen it in music class, right?"
In the original story, the protagonist goes to school in the town at the foot of the mountain, and even though he takes minor subjects like music and art, the basic infrastructure is still there.
Seeing Ruan Yu nod, Wen Yun warmly invited her, "Then, would you like to touch it and play a few notes for me to hear?"
Ruan Yu quickly waved her hand: "No need..."
"Don't be shy! As I just said, you can learn any instrument as long as you feel comfortable with it. Play whatever you like, I won't mind," Wen Yun said.
Hearing this, Ruan Yu was taken aback again.
She knew that Wen Yun cherished the piano very much. She would always wash her hands before playing and carefully cover it with a dust cover after playing. Even if her brother Wen Lu wanted to borrow the piano, she would make sure that Wen Lu washed his hands before allowing him to touch it.
How could someone as gentle and refined as a musician say something like "touch it and see" or "play it casually"?
Ruan Yu was completely baffled. After hesitating for a few seconds, she tentatively said, "Actually, I was worried that playing without washing my hands would make your piano dirty. I just got some snacks, although I wiped my hands with a tissue..."
"It's okay, I don't mind at all."
Before she could finish speaking, she heard Wen Yun say with a smile.
Chapter 5
Faced with Wen Yun's expectant gaze, Ruan Yu's eyes changed slightly, but she still said apologetically, "I'll go take a shower and I'll be right back."
Wen Yun respected her wishes and, upon hearing this, stopped trying to persuade her and politely stepped aside.
When Ruan Yu returned after washing her hands and sat down at the piano, Wen Yun quickly stepped back to the door and carefully closed the half-open door to prevent the piano music from reaching downstairs, fearing that the Wen family elders might hear her clumsy playing.
The next second, she heard a very familiar intro.
—It is Beethoven's "Für Elise".
The Ruan Yu was played very slowly, with her fingertips dancing gracefully on the keys, rising and falling like breathing, producing a melody that was exceptionally smooth and melodious.
Wen Yun never expected that she could play the piano, and play it so well. She was stunned and immersed in the beautiful melody.
When she came to her senses, she realized that Ruan Yu had not played the whole piece, but only the beginning part with simple chords and a soothing, repetitive melody. She did not use the pedal, and stopped playing after playing the last "la" and chord.
Seeing Ruan Yu looking at her anxiously, she quickly clapped her hands and praised with a smile, "You played really well! Your hand gestures are so beautiful, have you studied piano with a teacher?"
"Well, my music teacher at school taught me a little bit," Ruan Yu said shyly, following her lead. "I only know how to play this one piece, and I haven't learned the whole thing yet."
These humble words made Wen Yun want to say something more, but before she could speak, the butler's voice rang out at the door: "Ladies, please come downstairs for dinner."
Wen Yun turned her head and responded, but when she turned back, she found that Ruan Yu had already laid out the dust cover and was closing the zither lid.
Their eyes met, and Wen Yun said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't have time to take you to try other instruments, but you should already have some ideas, right?"
Ruan Yu smiled and nodded, but other plans were brewing in her mind.
Before opening the door, Wen Yun couldn't help but remind him again: "When we eat later, wait until Dad finishes his opening remarks before you stand up to toast him and Mom with drinks. Don't pick up food that's too far away, and don't stand up to pick up food either. If there's anything you want to eat, just tell the housekeeper. Otherwise, don't speak on your own initiative."
"Yes, I understand." Ruan Yu nodded again, her obedient appearance making Wen Yun feel particularly at ease.
Tonight's dinner was also a welcome feast for Ruan Yu, and it was very sumptuous.
Wen's father had the housekeeper open a bottle of red wine and prepared a large glass of thick, sweet corn juice for Wen Yun and Ruan Yu.
After the drinks were all filled, he raised his glass and said warmly to Ruan Yu, "Xiao Yu, welcome home!"
Ruan Yu quickly agreed, stood up, and held out her glass of corn juice, gently clinking glasses with it. Then she said to Wen's mother, "Mom, I'd like to toast you too. I'll have to trouble Dad and Mom to take care of me from now on."
"Don't mention it, we're family, it's only right that we take care of you." Mrs. Wen smiled and clinked glasses with her, personally serving her food. "Xiaoyu, try this! It's our chef's specialty—pan-fried steak!"
Wen Yun sat to the side, watching this scene of fatherly love and motherly affection, her face still bearing a kind smile, but in her heart she only felt irony.