"Miss Meifeng… Have you ever felt desperation?" Yuan suddenly asked her after getting off the bed.
"Desperation?" Meifeng raised her eyebrows, wondering to herself why he would ask such a question.
"The feeling of being helpless— a sense of weakness and hopelessness." Yuan stood there with a profound aura around him that felt a little different than usual.
"I can't really say that I have…" Meifeng shook her head.
"However, the closest I have felt to desperation was when my husband died, I guess."
"Your husband?"
Now that he thought about it, Yuan has never seen Meixiu's father before.
"He died in an accident before I could even give birth to Meixiu," she said with a bittersweet smile on her face.
"I'm sorry for asking…"
"There's no need for you to be sorry. It happened really long ago." Meifeng said with a smile.
"Anyways, why the sudden question, Young Master? Does it have something to do with your nightmare?"
"I guess…" He nodded.
Sometime later, they sat around the living room and began eating breakfast.
"Wang Xiuying said that she's currently on the way here with the piano," said Meixiu after they sat down.
"This early in the morning?" Yuan chuckled.
"That just shows how much she wants to listen to your music again, Young Master," Meifeng said to him.
"Even if you say that, it's been years since I last touched an instrument… Not counting Cultivation Online, of course. I probably won't even be able to play it properly."
"You're underestimating yourself, Young Master. Even if you haven't touched any instruments in years, you'll quickly familiarize yourself with them once you start playing again."
"I hope so," he nodded.
After breakfast, while Meixiu cleaned the dishes and Yuan practiced his movement technique, Wang Xiuying arrived at their apartment door with her piano.
"Where should I put this?" Wang Xiuying asked.
"We have made some space in the living room. You can put it there." Meifeng said to her.
"Okay!"
The delivery company she hired to deliver the piano then placed the piano at the corner of the living room.
Once everything was done, Wang Xiuying immediately urged Yuan to play the piano.
"Don't worry, I won't break my promise…" Yuan said as he took a seat in front of the piano.
"Are you sure you want to give this piano away? It's quite rare and expensive." Meifeng recognized the piano's value at glance, and she asked Wang Xiuying.
"Yes, it is an honor for me to let Yu Tian play music using my piano. Furthermore, now that I am focused on cultivation, I don't have any time to play it. Instead of letting it rust in my room, I might as well give it to someone who can use it at its full potential."
After getting a feel for the smooth keys on the piano, Yuan swiped his fingers across the keyboard, filling the room with beautiful sounds.
'This feeling… How long has it been since I last felt it?' Yuan asked himself as he recalled one of his favorite songs.
Then, without using divine sense, Yuan began playing the piano almost instinctively.
Music quickly filled the place, and when the three ladies heard this heavenly music, their hearts throbbed with excitement.
Even though it's been years since Yuan last played the piano, he was currently playing it as though he never took a break. In other words, he was playing it flawlessly.
Tears flowed down Wang Xiuying's face as she stared at Yuan's figure that was moving elegantly behind the piano, recalling the first time she first witnessed his performance on the stage.
As for Meixiu and Meifeng, they could only silently admire Yuan's talents.
'This is it… This is the music that once took over the world. I can't believe that I am actually hearing it again, and it's not being played on a device.' Meifeng recalled Yuan's elegance and grace on the stage as he captivates the audiences' heart and soul with his musical talents.
A few minutes later, after playing the final note to the song, Yuan asked them, "What do you think? I think I could've played that a lot better."
"A lot better?" They all looked at him with raised eyebrows.
Meifeng then said, "I did notice a few delays between notes, but it's almost unrecognizable, and the delay is so minuscule that one wouldn't normally be able to tell the difference if they're not an expert."
"I guess I am just used to playing it to perfection. Let me try another song."
Yuan then began playing a new song, and it somehow sounded even better than the last, something Wang Xiuying didn't think was possible until it happened.
After his second song, Yuan continued to play a few more songs, getting better with each song until he eventually reached the perfection that he was used to.
Ding.
In the midst of Yuan's 9th song, Meixiu suddenly received a notification on her phone.
She looked at it to see that Yu Rou had texted her.
Her eyes widened when she read the contents.
"Y-Yu Rou is coming here right now!" Meixiu said to them.
Yuan immediately stopped playing the piano and said, "Yu Rou is coming here? Why?"
"She said that she needed to talk to me. Also, she said that she received her parents' permission."
Hearing this, Meifeng said, "The Yu Family probably told Yu Rou to come to convince you to return to the family after the last failure. They're really predictable."
"What should we do now, Young Master?"
Yuan then pondered for a moment before speaking, "I have been thinking about how I should surprise Yu Rou regarding my recovery…"
He touched the piano and said, "I think I know how I should surprise her. Can you all help me out?"
"Of course!" Wang Xiuying quickly said.
Meixiu and Meifeng also agreed.
"Great! Then here's the plan…"
After telling them his plan to surprise Yu Rou, Yuan returned to his bedroom and patiently waited for Yu Rou to arrive.
Half an hour later, someone knocked on their door.
"It's me!" Yu Rou's voice then resounded.
As they had expected, it was Yu Rou.
However, Yu Rou was completely unaware of the surprise that was in store for her.