88. Pure Bach, Pure Beauty

As for whether he needed to thank anyone, Li An didn’t much care; after all, this wasn’t volunteer work. If parents could get their children’s hearts invested, it was enough for them to worry a little less.

After Wang Xiaohu’s tutoring session ended, Li An had a thorough conversation with Xu Li regarding Wang Xiaohu’s piano studies. The pleasantries had been exchanged, and Li An then made his position clear, pointing out the child’s “misdeeds” of not practicing at home and expressing his hope that this issue could be addressed moving forward.

Xu Li assured him that she would supervise Wang Xiaohu’s practice at home according to Li An’s requirements.

“Xiaohu’s lessons are almost used up, aren’t they?” Xu Li brought up the issue at the end of their conversation.

Li An replied, “There are two left. What do you think?”

Xu Li looked at Li An and smiled, asking directly without the slightest hint of probing, “Do you offer private tutoring, Mr. Li?”

“I do,” Li An responded promptly, “but given Xiaohu’s current rather lax approach to piano study, I suggest you continue bringing him here for lessons in the next phase.”

He paused to explain, “At home, a child can never feel the same tension and urgency as when attending classes at school. At home, their mood is more relaxed, quite the opposite of the classroom atmosphere.”

Xu Li hadn’t expected such a refusal and felt a newfound respect for him. When faced with profit, his first thought wasn’t how much more he could earn, but rather which teaching method best suited the child at this stage.

“In that case, I’ll follow your arrangements, Mr. Li.”

Li An accompanied Xu Li to the academic office to handle Wang Xiaohu’s lesson renewal. When Xu Li had finished paying, Li An called Wang Xiaohu back.

At the elevator, Li An ruffled Wang Xiaohu’s hair. “Practice ‘Summer’ diligently at home. I’ve already spoken to your mother—she’ll send me a practice video every day from now on. Did you hear me?”

Wang Xiaohu grinned mischievously, “Is there a reward?”

Xu Li’s brows furrowed, ready to scold her son, but Li An replied nonchalantly, “Then don’t practice. At worst, we’ll embarrass ourselves together on stage.”

Seeing that Li An wasn’t playing along, Wang Xiaohu pouted, “Fine.”

Wake up, child. It’s no longer the stage where I play games with you.

Li An smiled and turned to Xu Li. “Contact me anytime if you have questions.”

Xu Li nodded and took Wang Xiaohu into the elevator.

“Goodbye, teacher.”

“Goodbye.”

Waving farewell to mother and son, Li An returned to the classroom. Liu Fengrui was already at the piano, playing ‘Blue Bird.’

“Nicely played,” Li An praised, but Liu Fengrui stopped and turned, looking at him with a touch of grievance. “Then why can I only play pieces from the grading book?”

After a moment, Li An understood. He’d wondered what the two were whispering about when he called Wang Xiaohu earlier.

“Because you play better than he does,” Li An said, sitting by the window and crossing his legs. “Does this reason work for you?”

Liu Fengrui clearly didn’t accept it and pleaded, “Teacher, I want to play ‘Blue Bird.’ Is that okay?”

Li An had considered this before. For now, Liu Fengrui’s ‘Blue Bird’ was fine for private amusement, but it was far from stage-ready.

“Alright. If you can play the octaves well, I’ll let you perform ‘Blue Bird.’”

Liu Fengrui wilted at that, but didn’t give up. “I could play the simplified version.”

Li An smiled. “Do you know how many people will be watching you on the night of the recital? Your parents, and maybe even your principal from Experimental Elementary School will be there to see your performance. Do you think it’s suitable to play the simplified version?”

“Principal Qiu will come to see me?”

Seeing Li An’s indifferent expression, Liu Fengrui felt a bit deflated.

“Alright, teacher. I understand.”

Regret washed over Liu Fengrui for not practicing harder before. He sighed despondently.

Li An was somewhat surprised by this sigh and looked at Liu Fengrui a few more times. The child’s brows were furrowed with disappointment.

It was the first time Li An had seen this side of Liu Fengrui.

After a moment, Li An uncrossed his legs and moved to sit beside Liu Fengrui.

“Are you feeling disappointed in yourself for not practicing earlier and missing this opportunity?”

Liu Fengrui nodded.

Li An gazed at the keyboard and spoke softly, “I understand how you feel right now.”

Liu Fengrui turned his head, “Hmm?”

Li An smiled and began to play a gentle melody on the piano.

“When I was in my third year of university, the school invited a master from abroad to give us a masterclass. But not every student had the chance to go on stage and interact with the master.”

“Each year only two students were chosen.”

“I really wanted to go on stage, but in the end, my teacher didn’t choose me.”

Liu Fengrui asked, “Teacher, were you not prepared?”

Li An thought for a moment and nodded, “Perhaps. If I had another chance, I think I could have earned that spot.”

Hearing this, Liu Fengrui felt much better. “Teacher, what’s the name of the piece you’re playing? It’s very beautiful.”

“Bach’s Fugue in D Minor. Isn’t it lovely?”

As he spoke, Li An lifted his head slightly, his gaze settling on a speck of dust on the soundproofing foam on the wall, his hands never pausing.

“If we simply listen and feel, there’s so much pure beauty in Bach’s works.”

“They sometimes resemble architecture, sometimes painting.”

“Sometimes, they’re like two interlocking gears, ticking away, turning, flowing, transmitting at different rhythms.”

“Music just keeps moving forward, always forward.”

Li An fell silent.

Sometimes, music was just this pure, untouched by emotion or romance, distant from human affairs and refusing embellishment. Every note revealed the true face of the world.

When the piece finally ended, he withdrew his gaze and gently lifted his hands.

“Come, your turn.”

With that, Li An rose and returned to the window.

Liu Fengrui thought for a moment, then raised his hands and played his Bach Two-Part Invention.

Li An listened quietly.

While comforting the child, he was also guiding him in another way.

The Bach F Minor Two-Part Invention that Liu Fengrui was to perform on stage was already difficult to improve at this stage.

This invention was already a simple two-part structure, so Li An wanted to use a proper fugue to inspire Liu Fengrui a bit more.

How much the child could grasp was up to that old saying: the master leads you to the door, but cultivation is your own.

After playing once, Liu Fengrui seemed to feel he knew how to play, but wasn’t quite sure.

“Practice on your own.”

With that, Li An left. As his most valued student at present, Liu Fengrui’s performance had not disappointed him.

The rest of the time was for the child to digest on his own.

Just as he reached the door, he noticed it hadn’t been fully closed. He pulled it open and stepped out.

On his left, Chen Xuan was leaning against the doorframe of Classroom Five, smiling at him.

“What are you giggling about?”

Li An was still immersed in a certain mood and was startled as he stepped out.

“I was just about to look for you, but saw you were teaching, so I waited here.”

“Principal Qin just called for me.”

Li An frowned.