Chapter 19

On Saturday, Yang Jingxing still rushed to the music academy early in the morning. After Zhang Chujia inspected his week's practice results, she said, "You're a weirdo, don't forget I taught you."

Yang Jingxing said he wouldn't forget and asked Zhang Chujia for staff paper, while Hu Yiqing also helped to confirm that he was indeed learning to compose.

"Don't get too cocky," Zhang Chujia was afraid that Yang Jingxing would lose himself in his excitement.

So Yang Jingxing played his half-finished piano version of "Until the End of the World" for Zhang Chujia. Although he knew there were many shortcomings, Yang Jingxing was brave enough to accept criticism.

Zhang Chujia indeed said, "It's really bad, your right hand is all over the place... but the arpeggios are not bad." However, she still took Yang Jingxing to buy a stack of blank staff paper during lunch.

Zhang Chujia treated Yang Jingxing to lunch, saying she should also fulfill her duties as a host, in return for the cakes and desserts he always brought when he came.

Li Yingzhen arrived early today, driving to the music academy to pick up Yang Jingxing and the others to go to the attached primary school. Li Yingzhen didn't ask Zhang Chujia about her evaluation of Yang Jingxing. After they arrived at the primary school, she directly asked Yang Jingxing to play for her. After listening, she smiled and said, "Did you learn a lot from the concert?"

Zhang Chujia reported that Yang Jingxing only liked 306 and was starting to follow the bad habits.

Li Yingzhen, however, was quite open-minded and wanted to listen to Yang Jingxing's compositions. After listening, she frankly said, "The intention is good, but the chords are messy. You still need a theoretical foundation; now is not the time to play inverted chords."

Yang Jingxing felt quite embarrassed.

The focus was still on practicing the piano. Li Yingzhen only gave the three primary school students half an hour, and spent the rest of the time supervising Yang Jingxing. She assigned him Bach's Two-Part Inventions for the day.

She selected five pieces, starting with the first one. Li Yingzhen gave no hints or instructions, letting Yang Jingxing look at the score for a few minutes and play it by feel.

After listening, Li Yingzhen first praised him, saying that Yang Jingxing had conveyed the theme, but the direction of the voices was not clear enough, and the ornamentation was not well integrated. What made Li Yingzhen laugh was that in the thirteenth measure, Yang Jingxing actually played "mi" with both hands at the same time. Was there any need for that!

Yang Jingxing self-deprecatingly said, "I respect Bach."

When Zhang Chujia finished her class with the next primary school student and came to the office, Li Yingzhen also had her listen to Yang Jingxing's progress for the day.

Zhang Chujia was quite dismissive: "I was playing like this when I was eight."

Yang Jingxing asked, "What about when you were eighteen?"

Li Yingzhen chuckled, looked at the time, and said, "We still have an hour, let's look at the third piece." In fact, she knew that the two-part and three-part inventions were not difficult for Yang Jingxing, but she believed that even for geniuses, learning must be gradual.

Starting with the third piece, Li Yingzhen still had Yang Jingxing look at the score first, then play it once. As she listened, she said to Hu Yiqing and Zhang Chujia, "I knew he would handle it this way."

Young people, who should be lively and cheerful, but Yang Jingxing seemed to be deliberately acting mature, making the theme less friendly and more reserved.

When Yang Jingxing played to the fourteenth measure, Li Yingzhen couldn't help but say to Zhang Chujia, "This part is played well." There was a development of the theme here, and Yang Jingxing suddenly became more active. Perhaps because he hadn't heard others play it, his handling was somewhat unique.

To be honest, being able to play it like this on the first try after looking at the score was quite good. But Zhang Chujia nitpicked, "The middle voice is covered up."

Yang Jingxing heard this and suddenly went back to the fifth measure. This time, he didn't let the high voice cover the middle voice. This guy, his playing style changed faster than the weather, and Li Yingzhen chuckled.

Class ended at 5:30 PM. Li Yingzhen was eager to go home for dinner, telling Yang Jingxing not to be late tomorrow morning, and Yang Jingxing thanked her.

Hu Yiqing, as if afraid of owing Zhang Chujia a favor, suggested that the three of them have dinner together. They wouldn't eat hot pot today; Hu Yiqing knew a good seafood grill.

After sitting down at a decent grill, they looked around and found that most of the diners were sweet couples. Zhang Chujia didn't act like a musical artist at all, starting to chat with Hu Yiqing about gossip, talking about a certain actress's luxurious wedding.

"Really, she's actually thirty-one, one of our teachers knows her," Zhang Chujia revealed mysteriously.

Hu Yiqing was unaware: "You can't tell, I guess she's around twenty-six or twenty-seven."

Zhang Chujia appraised Hu Yiqing and said, "If you put on makeup, you could look like twenty."

Yang Jingxing was puzzled: "Does makeup make you look older?"

Hu Yiqing gave Yang Jingxing a reproachful look but couldn't help laughing.

Zhang Chujia scolded Yang Jingxing: "Little high schooler, who taught you to be so slick! You should be cool at your age!" Then she tried to get information from Hu Yiqing: "How is he at school?"

Hu Yiqing laughed and said, "I used to think he was pretty cool."

Zhang Chujia asked, "Does he have a girlfriend?"

Hu Yiqing shook her head: "I don't know."

Zhang Chujia directly asked Yang Jingxing: "Be honest, do you have one?"

Yang Jingxing, not knowing the gravity of the situation, asked, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Zhang Chujia tilted her head: "I do!"

Yang Jingxing immediately deflated: "I don't..."

Hu Yiqing chuckled, but quickly stopped laughing because Zhang Chujia asked her, "What about you?"

Hu Yiqing shook her head: "No."

Zhang Chujia was a bit skeptical: "You have such good conditions..."

Hu Yiqing asked Zhang Chujia, "Is your boyfriend from your school?"

Zhang Chujia threw the napkin: "No, I lied to him."

Yang Jingxing was hurt: "I didn't lie to you."

The two teachers laughed.

Yang Jingxing returned to school at around eight o'clock, already late, and Liu Miao had sent several text messages urging him. He rushed to the practice room and called Liu Miao. Xia Xue was at Liu Miao's house today.

First, they talked about trivial things, like whether the temperature in Puhai had dropped and how Jiu Chun was doing. To Liu Miao's disappointment, Yang Jingxing didn't plan to go home for National Day, which was unusual.

Liu Miao asked, "Are you really going to apply to the music academy?"

"Really, encourage me."

"Are you sure? You change your mind every day."

"Pretty sure."

"It's not fun." Liu Miao didn't know from what perspective she was considering, "So you can only come back during winter break?"

Yang Jingxing said, "I can't come back for many days during winter break either, I have to take classes and prepare for the exam."

Then Xia Xue's voice came from the other end of the phone: "We were looking forward to you coming back to play for us and cheering you on."

Yang Jingxing said, "Of course. Are you ready? I've been practicing the Canon for a week."

Then Liu Miao's voice came from the other end: "Turn up the volume... I'm closing the door, wait a moment."

After the two girls were ready, Yang Jingxing placed his phone above the keyboard and started playing. Pachelbel's Canon, a piece that probably has the most listeners in the world, with countless versions and legends... but it has never become cliché.

Yang Jingxing played very seriously, fully immersing himself in the music, feeling every note and the melody they formed. It could be said that he was fully engaged.

Liu Miao and Xia Xue sat in front of the computer, the phone standing on the table. The sound quality of the phone's speaker was certainly not as good as the speakers they had used to play the downloaded version, but the slightly noisy piano sound made them listen more attentively and carefully. Both of them were completely still.

The short five minutes felt like an eternity. Yang Jingxing picked up the phone and, after a while, reminded the two girls, "I'm done, I've finished playing."

"Finished already," Xia Xue's voice was soft.

Liu Miao said, "It sounds a bit different from what we heard before, but it's still nice."

Yang Jingxing said sarcastically, "Thanks, Miao Miao, thanks, Xue Xue."

Liu Miao asked, "This isn't the first time we're hearing it, right?"

Yang Jingxing said, "My teacher has heard it, but you are the audience. I think I played better than before."

Liu Miao chuckled, looked at Xia Xue, and complained into the phone, "I wish I could see you play."

Yang Jingxing said, "No applause, no playing."

Although Yang Jingxing couldn't see, Xia Xue still smiled sweetly and clapped twice, saying, "I support you."

Liu Miao said, "I strongly support you."

Yang Jingxing asked, "What do you want to hear next week?"

This stumped the two girls. They really didn't know. Liu Miao said, "We haven't decided yet, I'll tell you tomorrow."

Xia Xue said, "We can listen to the Canon again, or you can focus on preparing for the exam."

Liu Miao said bluntly, "Play it again, I'm not satisfied yet."

Xia Xue giggled in support and clapped.

Yang Jingxing said, "Okay, I'll play it once for each of you, fair enough?"

After listening to Yang Jingxing play again, Liu Miao asked, "Will you buy a piano for your home during the holiday?"

Yang Jingxing said, "Even if we don't buy one, I'll definitely play for you."

Xia Xue suggested, "You can go to a music store, but I don't know if the pianos there are good, or if an electronic keyboard will do."

Liu Miao said, "You can take a picture of you playing and send it to us online, you haven't been online for a while."

Yang Jingxing said, "I need to practice hard, so you won't get tired of listening to me in the future."

Xia Xue said, "That won't happen."

Liu Miao asked, "Are there any other students at your school applying to the music academy?"

"No."

"Are there any classmates who come to listen to you play?"

"None."

Liu Miao was afraid of asking too many questions and whispered to Xia Xue, "You ask."

Xia Xue asked, "What should I ask?"

Yang Jingxing protested, "Oh, you're whispering."

Liu Miao laughed, "No, we're not."

Xia Xue giggled, "We didn't say anything."

...

After a long, boring conversation, they finally hung up. Xia Xue and Liu Miao recalled what they had heard on the phone and compared it to the downloaded version, then thought about what task to give Yang Jingxing for the next week.

Xia Xue was a bit worried: "The exam will test classical music."

Liu Miao comforted her, "It doesn't matter if he doesn't pass, he doesn't really care."

After much deliberation, they agreed on "The Maiden's Prayer."

"I'll send him a text message," Liu Miao was very proactive.

Yang Jingxing quickly replied, "Okay, two maidens."

Xia Xue was delighted and suggested, "We'll pray for your success in the exam."

Liu Miao bared her teeth, "How corny," but still did it.

That night, Yang Jingxing wrote out the manuscript of his piano version of "Until the End of the World." Although it was an arrangement and his level was poor, he did it very carefully, drawing the notes beautifully. After finishing, he played for two more hours, making many revisions.

He dared to spend so much time because he had become blindly confident in his piano playing.

On Sunday morning at 9:00, Yang Jingxing rushed to the music academy. Zhang Chujia was already waiting, and Yang Jingxing felt embarrassed for delaying her weekend.

Zhang Chujia was quite happy: "I like watching weirdos."

Li Yingzhen arrived at 9:30 and had Yang Jingxing continue with yesterday's content, Bach's Three-Part Inventions. He passed after just one hour, but Li Yingzhen emphasized, "You need to experience it more deeply."

Next, Li Yingzhen had Yang Jingxing start practicing Czerny's 299, selecting five pieces starting from the sixth one, focusing on training his musical expressiveness. His fingers were no longer a concern.

When Yang Jingxing played the third time, Li Yingzhen said to Zhang Chujia, "Look at him."

Zhang Chujia was quite angry: "He's a weirdo."

Hu Yiqing arrived a bit late, asked Yang Jingxing what he had practiced in the morning, and took notes. The four of them had lunch together, and Li Yingzhen asked Yang Jingxing about his plans for the National Day holiday. Yang Jingxing, of course, would still practice the piano and study music.

Li Yingzhen asked, "Are your parents coming to see you?"

Yang Jingxing said his mother would come.

Li Yingzhen said, "If there's time, we can meet and talk about your issues."

Yang Jingxing was nervous: "Are they good issues or bad issues? I usually make my own decisions."

Li Yingzhen smiled, "Your exam issues, I think your parents should make the decision. I want to hear their opinions."

Yang Jingxing was grateful: "Thank you, but I'm afraid of bothering you."

Li Yingzhen said it wouldn't be a problem, not allowing Yang Jingxing to question, and said, "Then let's meet on the 2nd, in the afternoon. We'll decide on a place to meet."

In the afternoon, Li Yingzhen didn't bother going to the primary school, leaving the task to Zhang Chujia, and continued to supervise Yang Jingxing at the music academy.

Li Yingzhen also said to Hu Yiqing, "Xiao Hu, high school teachers work hard, it's rare to have a weekend off. You should rest."

Hu Yiqing said, "I don't mind, thank you, Professor Li."

Li Yingzhen nodded, "From now on, you don't need to worry about his piano lessons."

Although it had already been like this, Hu Yiqing's expression was still a bit surprised, and she nodded in agreement.

Li Yingzhen gave Yang Jingxing a private lesson for the whole afternoon, a rare privilege even for students at the music academy. Li Yingzhen also said to Yang Jingxing, "If you're really determined to apply to the music academy, you can actually allocate more time. You won't fail the cultural subjects and English, right?"

Yang Jingxing said, "My parents are vain, if I do poorly, they'll scold me."

Li Yingzhen said, "We'll talk about it after I meet your mother."

That night, only Hu Yiqing and Yang Jingxing had dinner together. The weather was cool, so they had a hot pot.

Hu Yiqing said, "Professor Li values you highly, you need to work hard."

Yang Jingxing was grateful, "Thank you for that call. Who says you have to seize opportunities yourself, others can help too."

Hu Yiqing was skeptical, "Professor Li might want you to apply for the piano department."

Yang Jingxing thought for a moment, "I like the piano, but I'm more interested in the things you've been teaching me these days."

Hu Yiqing was embarrassed, "I'm not that skilled."

Yang Jingxing protested, "Are you denying my taste?"

Hu Yiqing laughed, "What taste do you have?"

Yang Jingxing said, "I think your music theory knowledge is very rich, really. You should teach more of this in class to broaden students' horizons, otherwise it's a waste."

Hu Yiqing laughed, "You're a frog at the bottom of a well... think about how you used to behave in class."

"I've already admitted my mistakes. But no matter how the students are, you're an excellent teacher," Yang Jingxing kept flattering her.

Hu Yiqing didn't bother to deny it and said, "The school is planning to develop a music research room. If you pass the exam, there's more hope."

Yang Jingxing said, "Then you should at least be the deputy director, doing the real work."

Hu Yiqing felt a bit elated and thought for a moment, "In terms of skill, I'm not the worst in our office."

Yang