157. Little Bei, who plays the zither, and Little Che, who flicks his wrists

Seeing Li An and Chen Xuan walking over from a distance, Wang Xiaohu kicked his legs and sat up smartly, startling the dozing security guard nearby.

Li An looked around from left to right, but did not see Xu Li.

Wang Xiaohu: "My grandma dropped me off today."

He then added, "My mom has something to do this morning."

Li An nodded, "Your grandma went back to playing Tai Chi after dropping you off."

Wang Xiaohu grinned: "She started learning social dancing recently, with a bunch of old men. It's a lot of fun."

Li An corrected him: "It's called ballroom dancing."

Wang Xiaohu: "Right, right."

Imagining the scene, Li An chuckled: "So didn't your grandpa go along to socialize as well?"

Wang Xiaohu shook his head: "My grandpa doesn't have the time. He's busy doing square dancing."

Li An nodded: "Alright, you all have your pursuits."

Arriving at the bustling lobby, the group of one adult and two children stopped in front of the elevator doors.

Li An emphasized to Wang Xiaohu once more, "Next time you arrive early, go straight to the classroom. Don't wander around the lobby."

Wang Xiaohu gave a perfunctory acknowledgement, constantly craning his neck toward the main entrance as if waiting for someone.

"The elevator has arrived."

-

Wang Xiaohu's lesson was the second period. For safety's sake, Li An had originally intended for him to sit in on Xiaobei's class in the classroom.

Who would have guessed that Wang Xiaohu insisted he would just wait outside.

That simply wouldn't do. It would be one thing if he were as well-behaved and obedient as Liu Fengrui, but what would happen if he ran around everywhere and caused trouble?

"No."

Li An refused once again with absolute finality.

While the teacher and student were haggling, Xiaobei's figure appeared at the classroom door amidst a flurry of footsteps.

Wang Xiaohu said in a deep voice: "Okay."

The sudden change in his attitude was baffling.

"Yu Xiaobei."

Ignoring Li An completely, he waved at Xiaobei.

Xiaobei politely waved back at him, "Morning."

Then, turning to Li An with a hint of excitement, she said, "Teacher, my speed has improved."

Li An was slightly surprised, "Play it for me to hear."

According to the backend records, Xiaobei's piano practice time this week had not been long.

Only six hours.

-

The formal lesson began.

Xiaobei sat down at the piano and began to play Kuhlau's Sonatina.

This piece was her grade examination piece from the summer, and also the piece she would use for the preliminary auditions of the competition.

At the same time, it was currently the piece Xiaobei played best.

The reason Li An had Xiaobei play her trump card in the first round was because he knew very well that Xiaobei could at most advance to the second round—meaning the offline second round of the branch division.

If Xiaobei managed to break out of the second round, she would have to go to Beijing for the third round.

However, that possibility was infinitesimally small.

Based on Li An's past experience in taking children to competitions, although it was merely the children's amateur group, Xiaobei's standard was completely average among them.

Instead of having no chance of competing for a better result, it was better to take a step back and try to secure the entry ticket to the second round.

This way, Xiaobei would get the opportunity to perform on stage.

While gaining an extra stage experience, it would also to a certain extent compensate for her absence from the late-summer concert.

Completing a stage performance before graduating from elementary school. (√)

Xiaobei finished playing the entire first movement from memory, and looked at Li An with a gaze filled with uncertainty.

Li An nodded and smiled slightly for two seconds, then said solemnly: "Xiaobei, you can play the piano now." There was a somewhat emotional undertone in his words.

Xiaobei blinked her eyelids twice consecutively. Hadn't she been able to play the piano before?

Though she didn't quite understand the teacher's words, she could read the teacher's expression and hear the tone of his voice.

She felt as though she had gained a certain kind of recognition from the teacher.

[Yu Xiaobei's teacher-student index increased to 92]

Li An did not use the word "progress" to express his thoughts after listening today; he had used that word enough times when it came to Xiaobei.

Xiaobei could play the piano now.

This had nothing to do with the slightly increased tempo of this performance; it was that her playing finally had some shape to it.

For a very long time before, Xiaobei had been in a "loose" state when playing, which was also a common ailment of the vast majority of piano students.

A concrete explanation of "loose" could probably be described as "a lack of overall control over the phrasing and breathing of the musical line."

Some children would play a long phrase as several small phrases, while others would play several small phrases as one long phrase.

Consequently, this destroyed the overall integrity of the musical score, making it feel fragmented and incomplete.

Analogous to speaking, it meant not knowing how to breathe and phrase properly.

Some children were born knowing how to speak, but clearly, Xiaobei was not one of those children.

Four months ago, she couldn't even figure out the wrist drop and lift.

Yet today, Xiaobei had actually—actually been able to bring him this kind of auditory experience.

Li An felt that he needed to reflect on this matter later and figure out what on earth had happened to Xiaobei.

At the same time, Li An quietly changed the lesson plan for this class. Capitalizing on Xiaobei's state, he helped her further refine and process the emotional expression of this piece.

How much of it Xiaobei truly grasped after half a lesson was hard for him to say; he would have to wait until the next lesson to verify it.

Through a little over a month of studying with the new teaching materials, Xiaobei had made progress in score analysis, and her hands-together efficiency had also noticeably improved.

At the end of the second half of the lesson, Li An decided to assign Xiaobei two pieces for the week.

-

One new Czerny Op. 599 study, and the sixth march from the *First Lessons in Bach*.

"Do you have the confidence to conquer them?"

"Yes."

Finally, he posed a question: "What should you pay attention to when playing the front acciaccatura and the sixteenth notes together in the seventh measure?"

Xiaobei bared her teeth: "The wrist cannot be tense."

Li An just loved this vibrant and energetic momentum in Xiaobei.

"Alright, you two chat for a bit."

With that, Li An left.

The first question the two children in the classroom asked each other was—

"Have you finished your homework?"

-

Outside the door, Li An detailed the situation of the lesson to Xiaobei's mother, who was quite surprised upon hearing it.

Naturally, she didn't think Li An was joking with her. Recalling Xiaobei's piano practice situation that week, she said, "I didn't notice anything special about her practice this week."

With a smile, she said, "It's mainly thanks to Teacher Li's good teaching."

Li An smiled and changed the subject: "How is Xiaobei doing after moving up to the sixth grade? Is the study pressure heavy?"

Xiaobei's mother sighed: "They have too much homework."

As a head teacher of a graduating class, she could understand the mindset of teachers when assigning homework. Take her own Chinese class, for example: if the teacher didn't make them copy the text, some children wouldn't even open their Chinese textbooks when they got home.

Yet, as the mother of a sixth-grade child, her heart ached seeing her child sit at the desk for hours every day.

But what could she do? As a teacher herself, she had no alternative. Everyone was in the same boat; if you couldn't get into a key middle school, what would you use to get into a key high school?

"Set your mind at ease; Xiaobei will definitely be fine."

Li An could only say this to comfort her, while thinking to himself that it was still this difficult even with a teacher guiding her at home.

He suddenly wondered if his own child would have to go through all of this in the future.

He certainly couldn't tutor a child with their schoolwork, which subconsciously made him think of Chen Xuan.

Two music majors...

He estimated that Chen Xuan's academic subjects might even be worse than his own.

-

In Classroom No. 4.

"So are you going to take the exam for the Provincial Experimental Middle School?"

Wang Xiaohu felt that Yu Xiaobei was pretty awesome. In his mind, anyone capable of taking the exam for the Provincial Experimental Middle School was a "chosen one" in his eyes, such as Li Mingming, the class committee member of their class, who was always in the top ten of the grade level.

Xiaobei: "My mom is making me take it."

Wang Xiaohu sighed. By comparison, he was much more fortunate; his mom never forced him to aim for any key school. He wanted to offer some comfort, but didn't know what to say.

Xiaobei asked, "What about you?"

Wang Xiaohu was asked in bewilderment: "I don't know either."

Xiaobei remembered: "Your Jinhua can be a direct promotion." In her mind, Jinhua was also a good school.

Wang Xiaohu curled his lip: "I don't want to stay in Jinhua anymore. I'm monitored by my aunt every single day, it's so annoying."

Xiaobei didn't understand. She actually wished she could study in her mom's school.

With two knocks on the door, Yu Xiaobei stood up from the piano bench holding two music scores, "Goodbye."

"See you next week."

Wang Xiaohu also stood up, but his thoughts had already wandered elsewhere. It seemed today's plan had failed.

-

Before leaving, Xiaobei's mother asked Li An about the video recording for the first round of the competition, "I saw the competition regulations mention a lot of requirements."

Li An calculated the dates, "Next weekend, I'll take you two to record it. I've already contacted a place—it's a recording studio run by a senior fellow apprentice of mine, and he's giving us the lowest price."

With Li An's word, Xiaobei's mother was relieved. The amount of money didn't matter.

"Then I'll trouble Teacher Li. Go ahead with your busy work."

Mother and daughter Xiaobei left, and Li An returned to the classroom to teach Wang Xiaohu.

Since Student Xiaohu had registered for the professional group competition, the requirements for the preliminary round called for two pieces.

Li An had no other choice; he could only let him use a grade examination piece and a relatively difficult study from Czerny 599 to participate.

Participating in the professional group, Wang Xiaohu had almost no pieces he could actually showcase.

But since he had already registered, they had to grit their teeth and put two pieces together, didn't they?

It wasn't that Wang Xiaohu hadn't performed well this semester; on the contrary, Wang Xiaohu's attitude toward learning the piano and his home practice this semester were completely worlds apart from the previous semester.

It was just that this semester, Li An's teaching plan for Wang Xiaohu focused more on plugging gaps and strengthening technical training, which was why the musical pieces had not been updated for a long time.

Wang Xiaohu played the two pieces selected for the competition for the entire lesson.

During the process, he contributed a rare three teaching moments for Li An.

-

"Teacher, can we really not play *Summer*?"

After class, Wang Xiaohu still refused to give up.

"Have mercy on the judges."

Li An had some doubts whether that judge, who suddenly heard Xiaohu's *Summer* amidst thousands of competition videos, would even be able to survive this winter.

"Alright, goodbye teacher."

"Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Li."

Outside the classroom door, Grandma Xiaohu led Xiaohu away.

Li An returned to the classroom to wait for Che Lin. Out by the elevators, Wang Xiaohu followed the ascending numbers on the elevator display, silently counting in his heart: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

The elevator stopped, and the two doors slid open with a click.

Looking at the figure before him, Wang Xiaohu felt as refreshed as a spring breeze.

As Che Lin brushed past him, he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a pen.

After two weeks of ideological struggle, he had finally decided to seize the opportunity to return the pen to its owner.

He had thought there would be no chance today.

-

"Che Lin."

Wang Xiaohu summoned his courage and called out Che Lin's name.

Student Che Lin stopped in her tracks and turned back, her face blank and devoid of expression.

"Your pen."

Wang Xiaohu walked up to Che Lin with what he considered a very handsome stride, and handed the pen to her.

Looking at the pen before her, and then looking at Wang Xiaohu, this pen wasn't hers; it belonged to the teacher.

Thinking of this, Che Lin didn't dwell on it further. She reached out, took it, and without saying a single word, turned around and quickened her pace.

She was going to be late.

Watching Che Lin's "hurriedly" departing figure.

The matter that had been weighing on Wang Xiaohu's heart for a month was finally resolved, and an indescribable joy welled up inside him.

Things were much simpler than he had imagined.

At this moment, he didn't mind in the least that the other party hadn't even said a single "thank you."

Girls, after all.

He understood.

She was just shy.

-

In Classroom No. 4.

Li An fiddled with the stolen goods in his hand and asked, "What else did he say?"

Little Che shook her head, "He didn't say anything else."

Half a minute earlier, as soon as Che Lin entered the classroom, she had handed the pen over to Li An.

"It's fine, just keep using it."

The missing pen had actually been taken away by Che Lin. He hadn't thought much of it, assuming the child had taken it by accident, and now she had found it and brought it back to him.

"No."

Che Lin showed a rare look of anxiety and explained, "Wang Xiaohu gave it to me just now, and he said it was my pen."

"I'm sorry."

It was only then that Li An took the pen back, and looking at Little Che Lin, he said: "Next time, the teacher will buy you a pretty pen."

He felt that his previous words might have carried a hint of "wronging" the child—after all, the child was blushing—which was why he had added the latter remark.

Who would have expected—

[Che Lin's teacher-student index increased to 76]

Just a pen, this child.

"Come, let's listen to your new piece."

-

Unlike the other two children's competition preparations, or rather, Che Lin's pre-competition work should truly be called proper competition preparation.

Li An felt that Little Che had a chance to advance to the third round.

Disregarding the later rounds, as long as she passed the second round, she would secure a division ranking.

For the vast majority of ordinary piano students, this was already a brag-worthy achievement.

As for Che Lin, his expectation was simply to secure a division ranking.

Regarding the selection of pieces:

For the first round of video auditions, using the two grade examination pieces prepared for her by Tian Yu would suffice.

Li An had carefully listened to these two pieces in the previous lesson; passing the preliminary round with them was a high-probability certainty.

For the second round, after hesitating several times based on Che Lin's technical characteristics, he ultimately finalized Mozart's Sonata in C major, K. 545, and the third piece from Czerny Op. 849.

In a professional group competition, a study featuring technical characteristics served as bonus points.

This particular study tested the running of right-hand triplets, and similar works could also be found in Op. 599.

However, the characteristic of this piece was that while the right hand was running, the left hand did not have a large number of sustained notes, but instead featured a lot of movement in the fourth and fifth fingers.

In this way, the technical characteristics of the work were intuitively displayed: the right hand had to pay attention to circling movements while the left hand had to balance the downward striking force of the fourth and fifth fingers.

To play it well, one had to place even greater emphasis on the coordination between the left and right hands.

In this study, Che Lin's right-hand technique passed muster, so Li An only needed to focus on training her left hand.

Yet, Czerny 849 No. 3 was merely the appetizer.

Mozart's K. 545 was the true centerpiece; whether Little Che could break through the siege depended entirely on this piece.

As a common piece in all kinds of children's piano competitions, if one wanted to play K. 545 brilliantly, one had to bring out the lively spirit inherent in the piece.

Otherwise, it would be better to choose another piece and play it safe.

Because for this piece, the judges' ears had already heard calluses; there was no mediocrity—only good and bad.

Li An admitted that choosing this piece carried a certain element of risk, but he was certainly not gambling blindly.

Che Lin possessed a solid foundation in both hands, and the right hand of this piece made extensive use of scale runs.

Based on this single point, Che Lin had the opportunity to make some predictable accomplishments with this piece.

Next, it would depend on whether this new teacher-student pair could spark a different kind of chemistry in the coming month.

"Stop."

Che Lin, sitting before the piano, was interrupted.

If Che Lin had left behind one or two minor problems from her time with Tian Yu, it was the issue of her wrist occasionally making meaningless movements.

This problem existed in Tian Yu, existed in the original host, and also existed in Li Muyan.

Not only that, the late famous French-school piano master Vynograd even became famous for this in his early years, and failed to break the habit even before his death.

Therefore, whether this habit was actually harmful to piano performance was hard to define.

However, Li An did not allow such a situation to appear in Che Lin.

Perhaps influenced by self-training along the lines of Samir, he now advocated for clean, precise wrist movements.