Chapter 78 Chapter 78 Zhou Yu’s aunt. …
On the day Tao Siyun officially reported to the orchestra, he unexpectedly met teacher Zhou Jinghan, whom he had not contacted for many years, on the campus of Shanghai University.
She used to be a very prestigious professor at the Conservatory of Music. When she was young, she and Qin Ru studied together at a university in Hong Kong. The two met and worked together for a period of time.
When Tao Siyun was in the second year of junior high school, the teacher who had taught her cello since she was a child was about to go abroad to settle down and would no longer be able to take her to the art exams. After Qin Ru learned about this, she contacted Zhou Jinghan through personal connections.
At that time, Professor Zhou had already left the school because he lost both legs in the earthquake.
When Qin Ru found her, this once glorious artist had been living alone in a poor urban village and had been depressed for more than half a year.
It wasn't until today that Tao Siyun accidentally learned of Zhou Jinghan's other identity——
Zhou Yu's aunt.
Tao Siyun was stunned for a few seconds when his eyes met Zhou Yu's, and they both caught the "unbelievable" meaning in each other's eyes.
It's a small world...
Tao Siyun squatted down, just like she did every weekend before practicing piano at her teacher's house in high school, and they usually had a few minutes to chat.
Usually, Teacher Zhou asks the questions and she answers them.
Sometimes Zhou Jinghan would ask her if there was anything interesting or new happening recently.
For Mr. Zhou, who seldom goes out, doesn't go online, and is not very willing to interact with outsiders, even why the cats and dogs in Hudong Lane were fighting today was a new thing.
Apart from the news broadcast at 7 o'clock every night, Tao Siyun was her only source of information from the outside world at that time.
Over the years, Zhou Jinghan has changed neither much nor little. The only thing that has not changed is her attractive melancholy and innate artistic temperament.
Her long hair was as well-maintained as it was before, shiny black, never permed or dyed, and styled into an elegant French bun.
Tao Siyun was deeply impressed by what Teacher Zhou once said to her: "Girls who play the cello must have long hair."
Zhou Jinghan is a talented artist, elegant and beautiful, and is Tao Siyun's goddess.
"When your aunt found me, I refused at first."
Tao Siyun was a little surprised. This was the first time she heard Teacher Zhou say this to her.
"Well, you can understand it as a disabled person who has some psychological problems because he can't accept his own physical defects."
Professor Zhou is still haunted by the disaster that happened many years ago, but she has long since gotten over the loss of her calf. Now she can smile and tell Tao Siyun about this past event that she never wanted to mention to anyone else.
"After I was discharged from the hospital, colleagues and students came to visit me every now and then. I really didn't want to face their sympathetic and pitiful gazes every day. I just wanted to find a place where no one could find me, so I moved to Hudong Lane."
"Those were tough days. My world was bleak. I couldn't accept the fact that I would be disabled from now on. I felt like I had no hope for the rest of my life. I always refused to get a prosthetic limb. It wasn't because I was being pretentious, but I felt that if I did, it would mean accepting a different life, submitting to society's arrangements, and classifying myself as a 'vulnerable group'..."
Teacher Zhou's smile was a little bitter. "Phantom limb pain may be unbearable for others. But for me, it is a kind of painful enjoyment, because the real existence of pain often gives me the illusion that I am still a normal person."
In aesthetics, the definition of beauty in imperfection often uses the example of the goddess Venus with broken arms.
She is the embodiment of "love" and "beauty" in Roman mythology.
Throughout history, many artists have wanted to attach arms to Venus to make her more perfect, but facts have time and again proved the "impracticability" of art.
Art is valuable because it has room to be discussed.
For a work worth talking about, the word "perfect" itself is the biggest flaw.
Venus has attracted people's endless imagination and fascination because of her broken arms.
Tao Siyun guessed that Teacher Zhou was unwilling to wear a prosthetic limb because he probably didn't want to maintain this hypocritical "perfection" on the surface.
Her spiritual world is not affected in the slightest by the changes in her body, so even though there are many inconveniences in her life, she sits in a wheelchair.
In this way, she told others that she was disabled, and she gradually accepted it in the process.
Maybe many people don’t understand, but Tao Siyun thinks she is very brave.
Only by maintaining the tenacious vitality to grow upward like a vine, and climbing up step by step from the abyss of pain, can the life that survived under the ruins many years ago be truly saved.
Not everyone has the courage to face the rest of their life like this.
Zhou Jinghan pinched Tao Siyun's fingers and smiled, "Your aunt came to see me several times, almost like 'three visits to the thatched cottage'. I was really pestered by her and had no choice but to give in. I said I would give you a test first. If you pass, I will teach you. If you don't pass, then forget it."
Speaking of this, Tao Siyun also smiled.
She still remembered that when her aunt called her to tell her about this, she was almost scared to death, thinking that the new teacher must be very strict and fierce.
He's the most authoritative professor at the music school...
What if I perform poorly and fail to meet her assessment standards?
She was extremely nervous at such a young age and worked very hard that year.
Sometimes, when Qin Shu saw her locking herself in the room to practice the piano on weekends, he would ask Tao Qian to take her out for a walk, so that she could have some rest and combine work and rest.
Tao Siyun put down the piano, hugged Qin Shu and cried falsely: "Mom, what if I don't pass!"
Seeing how much pressure she was under, Qin Shu felt a little sorry for her. "At worst, you can just stay in Jingfu. We'll slowly look for a suitable teacher. We'll eventually find one."
"But my aunt said that Teacher Zhou is the best cellist in the country and has won many awards abroad..."
Qin Shu rubbed her hair and sighed, "Then, then you should work hard."
…
In June, as soon as the high school entrance examination was over, Qin Ru took her to Shanghai West for an on-site examination.
During the days of waiting for the results, Tao Siyun couldn't eat or sleep.
Qin Ru was already working on the transfer procedures for her. If she was "returned" in the end, wouldn't it be all in vain?
Tao Siyun was worried for several days.
On the third day, Qin Ru received a call from Zhou Jinghan. Professor Zhou said to her on the phone, "The little girl is a good seedling. I like her very much."
***
"After the results of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music's re-examination came out, I called your aunt several times, but I couldn't get through. Later, I contacted our old friends and learned that she had an accident." Teacher Zhou sighed and gently patted Tao Siyun's hand on her leg, as if it was a belated comfort to her.
Tao Siyun didn't say anything and shook Teacher Zhou's hand.
Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Zhou Jinghan changed the subject in time. "I also graduated from Shanghai University. After graduation, the Conservatory of Music became independent. The leader and conductor of your orchestra are both former classmates of mine. We were just catching up. I'll also come to your rehearsal when the time comes."
…
Students pass by the campus from time to time.
Zhou Yu pushed the wheelchair to the lakeside, sat on the bench, and listened to them talk quietly.
When he was in college, he heard his aunt say more than once that there was a very talented little girl who was learning piano with her and was very hardworking.
I just didn't expect that the little girl Zhou Jinghan was talking about would be Tao Siyun...
When Tao Siyun was in high school, he was attending university in Beijing and only returned to Shanghai West during the winter and summer vacations. His schedule was exactly different from Tao Siyun's, so naturally he had no chance to see her.
After they got to know each other, they rarely told each other about their family matters.
Many things are like this, they happen by accident.
Sometimes, no matter how unwilling you are, you have to compromise with fate.
This is the helplessness of being human.
Zhou Yu looked at her with an unclear gaze for a long time, then lowered his head and smiled faintly.
Coincidentally, when they shared a house, there was a musician living upstairs.
The chubby and cute old grandfather plays the cello on the balcony every morning.
Tao Siyun gets up late when he doesn't have classes, and is occasionally awakened by the sound of the piano upstairs.
The warm sunlight penetrates the glass and shines on the soft bed, accompanied by the sound of the piano, making people feel happy all day long from the moment they open their eyes.
Once, when Zhou Yu was taking a break, the two met in the kitchen and both gave a thumbs-up to salute the upstairs.
After they each commented on the world-famous music played by their neighbor, they realized that they had all learned cello.
…
Originally, Zhou Yu thought that he and Tao Siyun had something in common, but now it seems that this commonality doomed them from the very beginning to have no intersection in the relationship he expected.
How can I describe fate? A little more is perfect, a little less is regret.
The point he missed has now changed from -1 to -0.5 because of Zhou Jinghan.
***
Hudong Lane has been demolished long ago and a new residential building with an elevator has been built, which is very convenient.
Zhou Jinghan is still used to living alone, so after Zhou Yu returned to the west of Shanghai a few years ago, he rented a house outside.
The relative who had taken care of her for many years returned to his hometown a few years ago. Zhou Yu repeatedly proposed to find a nanny for her but was rejected every time.
Professor Zhou gave a very good reason: now you can buy groceries on your mobile phone, life is much more convenient than before, and there is no need for a nanny at home.
However, Zhou Yu's worries were not unfounded.
Last year, Zhou Jinghan accidentally fell off his wheelchair and almost got into an accident. It was the first time in Zhou Yu's life that he cried in front of his aunt.
She is his only relative in the world...
Professor Zhou was really at a loss, so he reluctantly agreed to hire an aunt to take care of his daily life and diet.
She doesn't like having strangers at home, so the aunt she hired doesn't live at home. She comes every other day to help buy groceries, clean the house, and leave after cooking.
Tao Siyun felt like he was back in high school.
Every time after the orchestra rehearsal, Teacher Zhou would take her back to Hudong Lane to give her a "small lesson", guiding her just like before, and then invite her to have dinner after practicing the piano.
There were also some subtle changes between Tao Siyun and Zhou Yu because of their relationship with Zhou Jinghan.
They gradually returned to the way they were before Liu Ying entered her life.
There are not many classes this semester, so Tao Siyun spends most of his time practicing the piano.
Originally, she planned to go to the company at least three days a week, but because of the school anniversary, she had to tell Zhao Yiran that she only had two days a week to spare.
So there was one more person who went to Professor Zhou's house to eat for free.
Zhou Yu was in the kitchen, scrambling to stir-fry, spatula in hand. He asked his aunt miserably, "When will Sister Li be back? My cooking skills are truly disappointing. Just make do with what you have and don't ask for too much. Especially you, Zhao Yiran. You can live on a vegetable salad every day. Can you please be more careful and stop buying fish and meat every time you come over? You just want to bother me."
Zhao Yiran had no time to pay attention to his complaints. He was sitting in the living room happily enjoying Tao Siyun playing the cello.
Only Zhou Jinghan answered him: "She said next week."
Zhao Yiran was particularly envious of girls who could play musical instruments, but unfortunately, when they were young, they were only interested in learning something for a short time and no one could stick with it.
During the meal, he joked, "If I were like Zhou Yu, and had an aunt this beautiful who could play the cello, and who could influence me at home every day, I might be an artist now."
Zhao Yiran ate the rice in his bowl and sighed, "What a waste of such excellent educational resources."
"You don't know him yet. When we were little, every time I watched him practice, you little brats would come to play with him on time in the afternoon, as if it were an agreement." Professor Zhou glanced at Zhou Yu and shook his head. "He fishes for three days and rests for two days. His level is barely enough to fool laymen."
Tao Siyun was still there. Zhou Yu was embarrassed to mention the embarrassing things in the past in front of her, "Aunt, please don't expose my shortcomings!"
"You still feel embarrassed!"
Zhou Jinghan teased Zhou Yu a few times, and after showing concern for Zhao Yiran, he asked about Tao Siyun.
"What about Si Yun, do you have a boyfriend?"
The three young men at the dinner table smiled at each other.
It was the first time that Tao Siyun mentioned Xu Ji in front of his elders, and he felt a little embarrassed and nodded slightly.
"Really?"
Zhao Yiran thought of the man she had met last year and said to Zhou Jinghan, "Si Yun's boyfriend is very handsome and looks like a celebrity."
"Really? That's great."
It was the first time Zhou Yu heard Zhou Jinghan speak in such a little girl's tone. He couldn't help laughing and stood up to serve her a bowl of soup. "Auntie, why are you prying into other people's privacy?"
"I'm just asking."
***
It was already half past eight when they finished their meal. Zhao Yiran and Zhou Yu both drove, and both offered to give her a ride.
Tao Siyun said no, and asked them to go first. Xu Ji would come to pick her up. He was going back to his parents' house for dinner today and would be here soon.
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