Chapter 54 Nian Nian is a mini student
"Oh?" Xi Zhu laughed out loud at the absurdity of Nian Nian's reason. She raised her eyes and glanced at the three members of the Shi family. "Your family members are quite humorous."
Shi Nanqi forced a fake smile and looked at Shi Guilin. Shi Guilin replied with an awkward smile: "Actually, I didn't..." He didn't even say that his son was shameless! God, he was wronged!
Nian Nian was naive, unaware that she had unwittingly betrayed her father. After greeting him, his round eyes met the kitten in Xi Zimu's arms again. The kitten lazily flicked its tail at him and said a perfunctory "hello." Nian Nian observed the kitten, scratching her face with her little hands.
Xi Zimu, however, was looking at Nian Nian. He stroked the kitten's head with his fingers, his eyes rolling slightly under his eyelids. Then he moved his feet and sat down between Xi Zhu and Shi Guilin, who was holding Nian Nian.
This seat was very close to Xizhu and the new kid. Fortunately, he was only two years old and not very tall, so his unprovoked insertion into the adults' social distance was not noticeable. The adults probably just thought he was clinging to his mother.
Nian Nian's eyes followed the cat. He also wanted to touch it.
The adults paid no attention to the children's little tricks, continuing their small talk. The little one had already made a fuss about Xi Zhu becoming Nian Nian's mentor, and Shi Nanqi, taking advantage of the situation, simply brought it up.
"Master Xi Zhu..."
As soon as the words came out, Xi Zhu interrupted, her eyes gentle: "Hey, don't call me Teacher Xi Zhu all the time. It sounds so strange and makes me uncomfortable. Just call me Sister Xi, what do you think?"
Shi Nanqi let out the breath she had been holding. She was so relieved she quickly changed her tone, "I didn't think about it. My brother and I will be more than polite, Sister Xi."
"Oh, it's a small matter." Xi Zhu waved his hands casually in front of him, "Go on, what do you want to see me for?"
"It's like this," Shi Nanqi said, her eyes drooping as she glanced at Nian Nian, whose beautifully curved profile was visible. "Some time ago, I was playing the piano for my little nephew Nian Nian at home, and I discovered..." She recounted her observations about Nian Nian's musical talent. Her well-reasoned and unwavering conviction piqued Xi Zhu, who always valued talent.
After Shi Nanqi finished his statement, Xi Zhu looked at the self-proclaimed "shameless" kid, who was obsessed with staring at cats, with great interest. Then he said, "His concentration is quite good. He's been watching cats for quite a while. If his talent is as good as you say, he can go very far in the field of music."
Shi Guilin and Shi Nanqi smiled, but before they could fully smile, their hearts tightened at Xi Zhu's words: "You want to find me as a—"
She seemed to be thinking of a name for the little guy: "Be Nian Nian's teacher? If I'm not mistaken."
Shi Nanqi licked his lips nervously, "...I did request that. You've never accepted students before, so my brother and I just took the plunge and came to give it a try.
Shi Guilin's palms were sweating. "Give Nian Nian a chance. You can test his abilities before making a decision." He slowly tightened his arm around Nian Nian. Since Shi Nanqi had said that his Nian Nian's talent was rare, one in a million, he was 50% confident that Xi Zhu would agree to be Nian Nian's teacher.
To put it bluntly, who would miss the opportunity to be a teacher to a genius?
Shi Guilin and Shi Nanqi were very nervous and waited anxiously for Xi Zhu's answer.
The three of them were caught in a strange confrontation for a moment. Their eyes occasionally met, but they could not see through each other's thoughts at all, like a game on a chessboard.
"I agree."
A brisk voice.
Shi Guilin and Shi Nanqi were both stunned, and they could see the confusion in each other's eyes. Shi Nanqi even began to doubt whether he and Xi Zhu had a deep friendship that was as close as life and death.
"Aren't you going to test Nian Nian?" Just agreed so directly? Shi Guilin asked in disbelief.
"What's there to test?" Xi Zhu laughed, casually pushing her long hair back over her shoulders. "Hasn't Shi Nanqi checked it out? She's not a complete musical novice, so why shouldn't I believe her?"
"Because, because..." Shi Guilin's confused explanation was surprisingly similar to Nian Nian's. He hesitated, "My sister might have deliberately exaggerated Nian Nian's sensitivity to music in order to convince you to become her teacher."
Shi Nanqi held his forehead with his hand. For the first time in his life, he felt that his own brother was foolish.
Xi Zhu didn't laugh at Shi Guilin's foolish speculation. Her voice remained as broad and generous as water, embracing everything. "This kind of pretense is too thankless. When it comes to the abstract aspect of musical talent, exaggeration doesn't exist. The gap between excellence and genius can't be masked by pretty words. No one is foolish enough to joke about such a thing."
Just like singing, even an ordinary person can judge which songs are average or okay, and which are like heavenly sounds when faced with different singing voices.
Shi Guilin groaned sheepishly, rubbed the back of his neck, and then rubbed the soft face of the little girl in his arms: "Niannian, your Aunt Xi has agreed to be your teacher. Can you call her teacher?"
Nian Nian, who had been silently watching Xi Zimu petting the cat, finally came back to his senses. He curved his eyes at Xi Zhu and said in a sweet voice, "Teacher. It's Nian Nian's turn."
Xi Zhu was attracted by his sweet personality and couldn't resist the temptation. She stretched out her index finger and scratched Nian Nian's chubby cheek. She imitated Nian Nian's sentence and said, "Good student, it's mine."
Nian Nian's fat skin trembled when Xi Zhu's fingers scratched it. Maybe it was because of the perfume sprayed on her wrist. When Xi Zhu reached out to get closer to the little one, the fragrance from her wrist filled Nian Nian's face.
"Wow," Nian Nian sniffed dreamily, her eyes shining, "Teacher, it smells so good."
"Hahahahaha." Xi Zhu's heart was almost captured by Nian Nian's sweet mouth. She joked to Shi Guilin and the others, "If I had known Nian Nian was so cute, I would have let her ask to become your disciple herself. I feel like I would agree more quickly than if I heard you two say it."
When praising his son, Shi Guilin never hesitates: "Nian Nian has always been like this. Almost everyone who has met him doesn't like him."
Shi Nanqi didn't say anything, but his expression clearly showed that he and Shi Guilin were of the same opinion. After all, Shi Nanqi had previously made the following remarks at the Shi family:
Please, if anyone can resist the temptation of Nian Nian's cuteness, then he must have quit drugs.
Everyone in the Shi family affirmed her statement.
"Hearing you say that, I'm really getting more and more curious about Nian Nian." Xi Zhu poured each of them a cup of tea to moisten their throats. "It's perfect. You can tell me about everything from the development of Nian Nian's musical talent to his age and daily habits. Just treat it as me getting to know your student."
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