Chapter 39, Song 39...
Qu Jiaying had been thinking about this all the way. No matter how eloquently Teacher Zhong spoke, he didn't own the Stradivarius violin. He couldn't make a decision; only the charitable foundation could decide its fate.
The situation has come full circle. She only knows Liu Ru. Should she still accept his invitation to help promote his wife's clothing brand?
"I never expected that Liu Ru would actually be in charge of the finances of their charity foundation, and all the use of the funds is completely transparent," Xiang Min said in surprise.
Le Yi laughed and said, "A charitable foundation is at least better than simply donating money to temples for incense offerings; at least it helps people."
“People have many facets,” Yan Zheng said, then reassured Qu Jiaying, “Don’t worry, there’s no rush to use that zither right now.”
Qu Jiaying nodded slowly: "That's true."
However, I first need to report to Teacher Xia about what has happened these past few days, as I happen to have one of her classes tomorrow.
Qu Jiaying is waiting for Teacher Xia Xiaolei to praise her for finding her own performance style, and there is also a considerable chance that she will own a Stradivarius violin.
Unexpectedly, Xia Xiaolei gave her a severe scolding.
"You're using both schools of thought haphazardly! Is this how I teach you to play the violin?!"
Qu Jiaying stared blankly at the teacher. She had finally gained her own understanding of techniques in addition to emotional expression. Wasn't that a good thing?
She didn't think she had been much bolder or more innovative; she simply mixed two different techniques, relying entirely on her own feeling about the music to decide which sounded better and which made her play more smoothly.
“Some musicians do it this way too…” This is something she confirmed after watching many videos of famous musicians online. Although there aren’t many of them, their achievements are all quite high. She is also more comfortable with this model, even though she is not yet proficient and needs a lot of practice to find the way she feels most comfortable.
"Why do you care what others do? You're more suited to the Russian faction!" Xia Xiaolei was so angry that her chest felt tight.
Qu Jiaying quickly poured her some water and carefully explained, "But I don't feel comfortable doing it that way. Isn't my current performance better? The competition is next year."
"You still remember the exam?!" Xia Xiaolei roared. "No judge would accept a performance like this!"
“I understand what you mean, but it’s not that serious, is it? Isn’t there someone here?” Qu Jiaying argued again. “Besides, the different performers handle the details of the same piece differently. Isn’t that considered part of the Russian school?”
Xia Xiaolei sighed and slowly sat down: "Why don't you understand, child? There's a reason why I told you to focus on one school of thought. Although next year's competition is an international one, most of the judges are from China. Half of them are from the French and Belgian school, and another half are from the Northeast who are thoroughly Russian. Only a small portion are like me, who have been educated in both schools but whose skills are either French and Belgian or Russian. If you choose one school, most of the judges will accept your interpretation. But if you do it this way, only the smallest portion will accept your interpretation."
“But as long as I do it well, there won’t be any problems,” Qu Jiaying said calmly.
"It's not that simple..." Xia Xiaolei slowly sipped her warm water.
Qu Jiaying breathed a sigh of relief and called out "Auntie" with a smile: "I almost thought you thought I was too opinionated and was starting to rebel."
"Am I that kind of person?" Xia Xiaolei said irritably. "In fact, I've always thought you were too indecisive. This belated rebellion is fine, but I really think you can't do this. You should know that the judges of foreign competitions are not much better than these teachers in China. The more conservative the classical music world is, the more it clings to these theoretical concepts."
“But some people do succeed,” Qu Jiaying retorted. “Maybe I’ll be next. Don’t you believe me?”
"But I hope you can take it a step more carefully," Xia Xiaolei earnestly advised.
Qu Jiaying understood that Teacher Xia Xiaolei meant well, but she was the stubborn type who wouldn't give up until she hit a wall, and insisted on giving it a try.
She has also argued with Le Yi, Yan Zheng, and Xiang Min about their musical philosophies, but she always wins. Perhaps they give in, or perhaps she is just more right. However, when it comes to elders, both her will and theirs are very strong, and neither can convince the other.
Still holding her breath, Qu Jiaying practiced in the school's music room for a while, but she was still very irritable. After packing up her things, she walked around the campus.
It was lunch break time, and there was almost no one on campus.
Yan Zheng was reading music in an empty classroom when he glanced casually out the window and saw Qu Jiaying carrying her violin case, seemingly in a race.
"Jiaying!" he shouted as he opened the window.
Qu Jiaying raised her head, squinted, and looked in the direction of the sunlight. Sunlight shone through the leaves and onto the glass, creating patches of light.
She stood under the shade of the tree waiting for Yan Zheng, and every now and then she could see yellowing leaves falling down.
A short while later, Yan Zheng came out of the teaching building.
"What happened?" he asked with concern.
Qu Jiaying remained silent for a while before telling him about her argument with teacher Xia Xiaolei.
"Or should I pretend to switch to a completely Russian-speaking class?" Qu Jiaying couldn't help but want to escape.
Yan Zheng shook his head: "Isn't this similar to what I did when I hid it from you? Besides, you'll still perform the exam the same way you do now, so she'll still find out."
"I really don't know what to do. Although my parents have a good relationship with her, they don't know anything about playing instruments and have always let her have her way. Even though they support me, they can't persuade her," Qu Jiaying said dejectedly.
Yan Zheng took her for a slow walk, comforting her by using himself as an example: "I'm even worse off than you. My dad plays an instrument, so he's even more bossy. Although he respects Teacher Xia, he still has a lot of opinions from time to time, and he has to interfere with how I should practice and where my progress in learning new skills should be."
"Your dad and Teacher Xia will argue because of your teaching arrangements?" Qu Jiaying asked in surprise.
Yan Zheng nodded helplessly: "In the early years of learning the violin, he was very frequent. He always wanted to speed up the process, but Teacher Xia thought that I hadn't practiced well enough and that I needed to have a solid foundation. He said that I didn't have enough talent. My dad was unwilling to admit it at first, but later he accepted his fate and stopped pushing me to progress. However, when it came to choosing pieces for competitions and switching to the viola, he still always disagreed with Teacher Xia."
"I can imagine." Although Yan Jing eventually let go, Qu Jiaying's impression of him didn't change much.
Yan Zheng pulled Qu Jiaying to sit down on the grass by the lake. The autumn afternoon sun felt warm and comfortable on their skin. Looking at the shimmering water, she felt a little sleepy.
Qu Jiaying didn't want to use the violin case as a pillow, so she lay on the grass, propping herself up with her arm, but couldn't find a comfortable position for a long time.
Yan Zheng couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he pulled her close to him.
Qu Jiaying hesitated for two seconds, but then lay down on his lap and looked up at the sky.
Yan Zheng looked at the calm lake surface and didn't explain much. Instead, he continued the previous topic in a soft voice, "I've always envied you."
Qu Jiaying's gaze shifted to him: "Really?"
“Your talent is certainly part of it, but it’s also thanks to your aunt and uncle. They’re not as strict as my parents,” Yan Zheng sighed.
“But it’s not easy for me either,” Qu Jiaying said.
“I know, because you chose a more difficult path,” Yan Zheng said. “Compared to you, I chose an easier path.”
Because Yan Jing was in the provincial symphony orchestra, and Yan Zheng could at least get a job as an assistant conductor in the provincial symphony orchestra after graduation, Qu Jiaying understood what he meant by "easier".
"But you also want to go to higher places, and you are not willing to accept this way of retreat."
"At least I have a way out."
Qu Jiaying laughed and said, "If you put it that way, I also have a way out: I can work as a violin teacher at the institution."
Yan Zheng laughed: "So what are you afraid of? Just act it out according to your own ideas."
Qu Jiaying was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "That's right!"
"As for Teacher Xia, you can ask Teacher Cai Rui for help. He plays the violin and piano, and his conducting is also at an international level."
Qu Jiaying didn't know if Yan Zheng's idea would work, but she was desperate and decided to give it a shot. After the school symphony orchestra's rehearsal ended, she stopped Cai Rui.
Cai Ruixian offered her a few words of encouragement. Recently, she has finally found her footing and has even surpassed his expectations, truly finding her direction.
“I’ll try to persuade Teacher Xia for you, but could you do me a small favor too?” Cai Rui asked.
Qu Jiaying naturally agreed, but she didn't expect the problem to be so incredibly difficult.
“Xiang Min hasn’t been attending my classes lately, or even this semester, and he hasn’t handed in any assignments. If this continues, he’s definitely going to fail this course. Even if he’s absent for the entire semester, he should at least hand in his assignments, right?” Cai Rui sighed.
The conducting and composition departments are located in the same college, both with a five-year program, and many courses are shared.
If Xiang Min doesn't take Cai Rui's conducting course this semester, she'll have to retake it next year, but he'll probably still be the teacher. Xiang Min will definitely miss the class, which will ultimately prevent her from getting her graduation certificate.
Qu Jiaying had already foreseen the future, and she couldn't blame Xiang Min for wasting his talent. Based on her understanding of Xiang Min, he himself didn't care about these things. At the age of twenty-something, he felt he had plenty of time to squander.
But Qu Jiaying doesn't want Xiang Min to regret this in the future.
"Do you have some kind of conflict with him? You should have a good talk with him." Qu Jiaying had no way to resolve the issue; the one who tied the knot must untie it.
“He doesn’t want to attend my classes, let alone talk to me. I don’t ask for too much, just hope he can finish his assignments.” Cai Rui shook his head.
Qu Jiaying felt embarrassed to press her elders for their private past. She suspected that even if she pressed them, Cai Rui wouldn't tell her. But when she tested Xiang Min last time, he also kept quiet.
She gritted her teeth: "Xiang Min is unwilling to talk about it either, could you give me a little hint?"
Cai Rui said with a sigh, "I've always wanted to apologize, but is it too late?"
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