140. Bilibili and Favoritism: A Day of Coming Home Laden with Rewards

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Chen Xuan’s idea struck straight into Li An’s heart.

“But where should we post it?”

Bilibili was the first place that came to mind.

Li An had noticed while browsing the site that there were certainly uploaders who had recorded complete series of Czerny’s etudes, but they were almost all selling courses in collaboration with some conservatory. Others posted electronic recordings accompanied by sheet music, or made instructional videos explaining individual pieces.

As they drove around Jiangbei, their discussion grew increasingly fanciful.

Chen Xuan teased Li An about what he would do once he became famous.

“Obviously, I’ll monetize it like crazy,” Li An replied.

“Managing a life isn’t something you can just talk about.”

The jokes were only jokes. Once they got home, the two of them squatted in front of the computer and began researching.

Li An was a practical man. He had never considered doing something like this merely for fun, especially not in such an obscure niche.

It would be enough to treat it as a record of their lives and a way of sharing them.

If his playing brought him a few students for in-person lessons, that would already be an unexpected bonus.

After searching Bilibili for about ten minutes, he discovered that no ordinary amateur had uploaded a complete performance of Czerny’s Op. 299.

After discussing it, he registered an account.

The username “Bawan” had already been taken.

Li An found this rather irritating.

After thinking it over, he edited it again.

“Bawan Loves Practicing Piano.”

“How about this?” he asked.

“Wouldn’t ‘Bawan Hates Practicing Piano’ be better?” Chen Xuan suggested.

Li An considered it. She was right. The slight contradiction gave the name an immediate character.

Once the name was settled, they moved on to the profile picture.

There was a particularly good candid photograph on Li An’s phone. Bawan was sprawled across the piano, with Chen Xuan’s flute beside him and the night view outside the floor-to-ceiling window in the background.

It could practically be called a family portrait.

Chen Xuan was naturally delighted to take part in this way.

The profile signature was simple:

“A little fairy who plays the flute lives in this house.”

It had a certain gimmick to it, didn’t it?

After they entered the gender and date of birth, the first step—registering the account—was complete.

Once Li An had familiarized himself with the process of uploading videos, he had a general idea of what to do.

Since waiting for the right day was no better than acting on the day itself, he looked at Chen Xuan’s eager expression and said, “All right, let’s do it.”

They began recording at once.

Chen Xuan retreated two or three meters from the piano and held up her phone, searching for the best angle.

“Do you want your face in it, Maestro Li?”

“No, no. Let everyone focus on the music.”

Chen Xuan laughed. “What about your face?”

“Leave it out.”

Calmly, Li An stacked the sheet music on top of the piano and moved over beside Chen Xuan.

The angle was fine, but the frame seemed to lack a little atmosphere.

Having Bawan come over as a prop was clearly unreliable.

“Bring your flute over.”

Chen Xuan brought not only her flute, but also the plastic flower Li An had first given her, fetching it from Apartment 2502.

She placed it in the paper cup from the milk tea Li An had bought for her the first time.

The silver flute and the paper milk-tea cup holding the flower were arranged on the piano’s music desk. As soon as they were put there, the atmosphere appeared as if by magic.

Looking at the image on the phone, the scene had become a performance with a story behind it.

At least, that was what the two of them believed.

Anyone else would have had no idea what the flower and milk-tea cup meant.

—

The recording itself was much simpler.

One held the phone while the other played.

Li An planned to divide Op. 299 into four levels for recording.

The book contained forty pieces in all: the first level would cover pieces one through ten, and so on.

The difficulty progressed in order. The first ten pieces consisted mostly of scales and arpeggios, with considerable practice for the hands separately. By the fourth level, the pieces demanded both hands together, and the difficulty naturally increased considerably.

Because of the time, Li An recorded only the first ten pieces that day.

The image quality naturally could not compare with professional equipment, but after listening through the recording once, he decided it was fine.

The performance itself had reached a standard he could accept for uploading.

A minor problem arose when they were preparing to post it. Chen Xuan searched online and learned that a newly created account should preferably not submit a post on the day it was registered, or the system might identify it as an inactive account.

They needed to let the account mature a little.

“About five or six days should do it.”

Chen Xuan lowered her phone and looked up. “Leave it to me?”

How could Li An refuse such a good offer?

“Tomorrow’s lunch comes with an extra chicken leg!”

While Chen Xuan fussed over Bilibili, Li An prepared lunch for the next day.

Once he finished, he called Qin Yong.

The Jin City admissions event was scheduled for the following afternoon, but Taozi had not mentioned him in the Jin City group or assigned him any work. Presumably, the first day of admissions had nothing to do with him.

As a piano teacher, what would he even go there for? At most, he would serve as Chen Xuan’s backdrop.

So if Qin Yong agreed, he could stay away. He planned to take his scheduled leave from the next day through the following morning.

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“All right. Take tomorrow off.”

Qin Yong said only a couple of hurried words over the phone before hanging up. Li An had no idea what he was busy with.

—

Early the next morning, Li An dropped Chen Xuan off outside her workplace, then took a bus to a nearby Xinhua Bookstore.

It was time to begin making gradual preparations for writing the instructional materials.

At the bookstore, Li An searched through every music-theory textbook in the music section. The results were more or less what he had expected, with no unexpected discoveries.

There were no music-theory textbooks specifically published for children.

He then went to the municipal library and paid two hundred yuan for a membership card.

After searching through the collection, he found no surprises there either.

It seemed there was nothing worth borrowing from others’ work.

But since he had gone to the trouble of getting the card, he could hardly leave empty-handed. He borrowed two cookbooks and two books on child psychology before leaving the library.

His final stop that morning was Teacher Wei Sanwan’s home.

For one thing, Wei had written quite a few textbooks, and Li An wanted to learn from his experience.

For another, he needed to explain Ji Yang’s situation in advance.

The third matter concerned his choice of competition repertoire.

“Teacher, are you busy this morning? I was thinking of coming over to freeload a meal.”

At the bus stop outside the municipal library, Li An held his phone in one hand and searched the route map with the other.

—

After getting off the bus, Li An bought two packs of Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes, which Teacher Wei liked to smoke. Grinning, he crossed the street and entered the school gates.

From the direction of the practice rooms came the distant interweaving of various instruments. Looking at the younger students walking back and forth across campus, chatting and laughing, he sighed. School really was a comfortable place.

If he had another chance to enter those gates, he would be over the moon.

When Wei Sanwan heard Li An was coming, he personally went into the kitchen to stew fish.

He was busy at the stove when there was a knock at the door.

A moment later, his wife’s voice rang out.

“Don’t bring these things next time you come. Otherwise, don’t come at all.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I know I was wrong, Ma’am. It smells wonderful! Teacher’s stewing fish!”

“You always have such a sharp nose. Hurry and come in.”

—

During the meal, Li An told Wei Sanwan about his plan to write music-theory study materials for students preparing for the Blue Sky Arts Entrance Examination. Wei immediately declared that it was an excellent idea.

The news that the arts examination would be incorporated into the standard high-school entrance examination the following year was no longer fresh in their circle. When Wei heard that Li An had been assigned to write the materials, he set down his bowl and chopsticks and said solemnly, “You can’t treat this carelessly.”

The veteran teacher was not merely sentimental. He repeatedly urged Li An to take the matter seriously.

Naturally, alongside a few principles, he also offered practical suggestions and assistance.

“Come to me anytime you run into problems.”

With Wei Sanwan’s support, Li An felt reassured. With the old man willing to help, he had even more confidence.

After the meal, Li An brought up Ji Yang’s situation.

When Wei learned that Ji Yang had already intended to apply to Rongcheng Conservatory a month earlier, his energy returned at once.

He reproached Li An. “You should have brought the child here sooner. If that wouldn’t work, you should have quickly considered another school. Aren’t you wasting the child’s time?”

Li An had anticipated this reaction.

He understood the man’s concern, but Ji Yang’s situation was indeed too unusual.

No amount of explanation would help, so he took out his phone and played a recording of Ji Yang performing the Black Key Etude a month and a half earlier.

“Please watch this first, Teacher.”

Wei Sanwan needed less than ten seconds to mentally reject Ji Yang. The child was nowhere near good enough.

Still, he watched the entire recording carefully.

“The fundamentals are far too weak.”

After a pause, he added, “That old Yu is just fooling people. Two years of teaching, and this is all he produced?”

Wei removed his reading glasses and sighed.

“Li An, tell the child to consider another school.”

“Don’t be in such a hurry.”

As he spoke, Li An found the recording of Ji Yang playing the Black Key Etude on Saturday evening.

At first, Wei did not understand what was happening. He was just about to say that changing the piece would not help—the problem was not the repertoire—when the clear, fluid, crystalline rush of notes suddenly poured from the phone’s speaker.

He hurriedly took the phone and put his glasses back on.

Was this really the same child?

Wei lowered his head and narrowed his eyes, his brows drawing into a deep furrow.

It was the same child.

When the recording ended, he looked at Li An in utter confusion.

“What exactly is going on?”

Only then did Li An recount the entire story, including the ten-thousand-yuan monthly lesson fee.

When Wei learned that Li An had taken over the student from Teacher Yu, his first reaction was pride.

Li An was his student, and in less than two months he had taken one of Yu’s pupils and turned him into this.

Nothing could have made Wei more proud.

His second reaction was curiosity. How had Li An managed it?

To be honest, after teaching piano for most of his life, Wei had seen many cases where a student underwent a complete transformation in two months.

But Li An had only graduated recently. How many students had he taught? How much experience could he possibly have, to accomplish something like this?

Playing well and teaching well were two entirely different things.

Li An then told Wei about the month-long intensive training plan he had drawn up for Ji Yang.

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“It’s also because the child is gifted and willing to work hard. He practices eight or nine hours a day, more or less.”

Wei nodded. First of all, he had accepted the child.

As for everything else, he would say nothing for now. He would wait until he met the boy in person.

Li An thought that Ji Yang had now taken his first step forward, and he could give the family an answer.

Unexpectedly, Wei then asked whether he had any free time on a regular basis.

Li An’s thoughts began to race. “Please, Teacher. Go on.”

Wei still had three students preparing for the arts entrance examination whose progress had slowed. He had been considering finding them a practice accompanist, and today Li An had walked straight into his line of fire.

“What do you think?” Wei asked with a broad smile.

Li An was overjoyed. How could he refuse such a good opportunity?

“Thank you, Teacher.”

There were plenty of people Wei could have found for the job. Taking on all three students would bring Li An at least another three thousand yuan that month.

Seeing Li An agree immediately without even asking about the lesson fee, Wei was delighted.

After all, two years of experience in society had made him much more efficient than before.

“Are you busy this afternoon?”

Li An had originally planned to return home and practice piano.

“No, I’m free.”

Wei nodded. “Perfect, then.”

As he spoke, he took out his phone and called the three students, arranging lessons for that afternoon.

“When they arrive, listen to them first.”

—

While waiting for the students, Li An consulted Wei Sanwan about his choice of competition repertoire.

His idea was to perform a Chopin etude in the preliminary round, while for the second piece he planned to choose the fast movement of a Mozart sonata.

He was completely confident about passing the preliminary round.

For the second round, he had two plans. The first was another Chopin etude paired with a fast movement from a Mozart sonata. The second was a Liszt Transcendental Etude paired with the fast movement of a Beethoven sonata.

Wei Sanwan asked, “If you make it to the third round, what piece are you planning to play?”

“The Moonlight Sonata.”

Wei’s brows drew together slightly. The Moonlight Sonata was not a popular choice in competitions. It was much like choosing the third movement of the Moonlight Sonata for the arts entrance examination: it was an awkward piece, one that offered little advantage unless the technical treatment was exceptionally polished and the emotional expression deeply convincing.

That was true even though Wei had great faith in Li An’s performance of the Heroic Polonaise.

An etude and a three-movement sonata were two different things.

“Are you confident?” he asked.

Li An nodded. The Moonlight Sonata had also been the piece he had once planned to perform in the third round of a competition.

“Play it for me.”

—

As dinnertime approached, Wei Sanwan again insisted that Li An stay for a meal. Li An could not find a way to refuse, so he sent Chen Xuan a message explaining the situation.

Her reply told him not to worry:

“I’m already home. Take your time and do what you need to do.”

After dinner, Li An sat with his teacher and teacher’s wife for a while longer. A little after nine, he finally set off for home.

On the way, he called Ji Chengguang and told him that Teacher Wei had listened carefully to Ji Yang’s performance video.

“Teacher Wei would like to meet Ji Yang.”

Ji Chengguang thanked Li An repeatedly upon hearing the news.

“I’ll bring Ji Yang over on Sunday evening.”

Li An had not even boarded the bus after ending the call when a transfer from Ji Chengguang arrived.

This time, the other man had sent him thirteen thousand yuan.

Ten thousand was the lesson fee for the month. The remaining three thousand was for the arrangement they had discussed.

When he brought Ji Yang to see Teacher Wei, Li An planned to say nothing about the money. He would find a way to have Ji Yang take a slightly longer lesson—perhaps a little more than one full session—and then, when the class ended, place three thousand yuan directly on the piano.

Payment for two lessons.

At that point, he would add a few words of encouragement. With his help, Teacher Wei would have to accept the money, whether he wanted to or not.

It was payment for his labor, after all.

As long as Teacher Wei accepted it, the family’s good intentions would also have been properly conveyed.

Li An opened his bank account and did the calculations. Including the eight thousand three hundred yuan that Yudong had paid him on the thirteenth, he now had nearly twenty-three thousand yuan in total.

After repaying this month’s rent and the money he owed Uncle Ma, he would still owe fifty-nine thousand yuan.

By the end of the month, he estimated that he would have around sixteen thousand yuan left.

He had calculated everything a couple of days earlier. Leaving Blue Whale had indeed cost him a major source of income.

But he had been forced to do so by his plans for the future.

Now, however, he had also acquired three students preparing for the arts entrance examination. For the time being, each would take one practice session a week, at three hundred yuan per session.

He knew perfectly well that according to the internal rates at Rongcheng Conservatory, a practice accompanist recommended by a professional teacher would normally receive two hundred yuan per lesson. The extra hundred was a sign of the teacher’s particular affection for him.

Moreover, all three students’ practice sessions were concentrated into a single evening at a practice-room facility near the school, one that specialized in serving arts-examination candidates.

In other words, one evening of work each week would earn him as much as four evenings at Blue Whale, with another hundred yuan left over.

It had truly been a day of abundance.

Not only that, but Wei’s guidance on his competition repertoire had given him a new direction.

He was happy.

—

Several days passed in the blink of an eye, and soon it was Sunday afternoon.

“All right, Teacher. I’m coming up now.”

Outside the Yudong Building, Ji Yang ended the call and walked into the office tower.

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