Chapter 38: A self-proclaimed talented woman plays the guqin like sawing wood
"yes."
Zhou Jinyu looked at Xu Yanran innocently and playfully: "You are a talented woman. I feel very honored to ask you to come up and perform with me, or do you not want to?"
She frowned and thought for a moment, "If you don't want to, then..."
Xu Yanran interrupted with a smile, "Jinyu, I'm not unwilling, I just felt that today was your home court, and I was afraid that coming up would divert your attention, so I asked a few more questions."
Zhou Jinyu also laughed: "Aunt, you worry too much, I don't care about these."
"Then I'll come up."
Xu Yanran lifted her skirt and walked forward.
Since Zhou Jinyu brought this humiliation upon herself, don't blame her for being rude.
"Brother, sister-in-law."
When she got on the stage, she greeted Xu Haoran and Feng Qiaoyun politely.
Xu Haoran said "hmm" in a cold tone. Feng Qiaoyun said politely, "Yanran, Jinyu just came back and has suffered a lot in supporting the family. She is not so proficient in her talents. As her aunt, you should bear with her."
Xu Yanran said gently: "Sister-in-law, I will."
Feng Qiaoyun and Xu Haoran stepped down to give them space.
"Jinyu, what talent show do you want to perform?"
Xu Yanran spoke in the tone of an elder.
"Aunt, will you understand whatever I choose?"
Zhou Jinyu asked.
Xu Yanran was trained by Feng Jiaorou with the intention of marrying into a wealthy family. She hired the best teachers in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and etiquette to teach her. Otherwise, she would not have had the reputation of a talented woman in the circle.
She said confidently, "Yes."
"Then let's go for the guqin."
Zhou Jinyu chose the guqin from among many other talents: "I was bored and searched for guqin videos online. I thought it was quite fun to play."
Xu Yanran almost couldn't suppress the corners of her mouth: "Jinyu, you only watched Guqin videos online, but you haven't learned it?"
Zhou Jinyu deliberately smiled bitterly, "Aunt, when I was in the Zhou family, I was lucky enough to have enough to eat. How could they be willing to spend money to train me like this?"
Art has always been very expensive since ancient times. Children whose parents do not pay attention to them will find it difficult to survive at home, let alone learn music, chess, calligraphy and painting.
Xu Yanran felt that it was more certain that she would win, and she felt even more disdainful of her.
She's just a pretty fool, and she dares to compete with her for a man's attention. Is she worthy?
"Jinyu, if you haven't learned it before, why don't we choose singing?"
Xu Yanran said this with a look of concern for Zhou Jinyu.
Zhou Jinyu waved her hand: "Aunt, no need. Singing is too unchallenging. I prefer things I haven't tried before."
"Although I have never learned the guqin, I think it is quite simple after watching people playing it in the video. It should not be difficult to perform later."
She played the role of a young guqin player who had never learned to play the guqin so vividly that Xu Yanran completely believed that she was a complete novice.
Xu Yanran deliberately said: "Jinyu, the guqin is not as easy as you think. Why don't we not try it? Singing is also good. Let's choose an easy song..."
"Hey, little aunt, are you going to play with me or not? If you keep being so fussy, just get off the stage and I'll play by myself."
Zhou Jinyu interrupted impatiently.
Xu Yanran coaxed her good-temperedly: "Okay, okay, I'll play with you, don't worry."
But in his heart he was delighted. The more rude Zhou Jinyu was, the more sensible and gentle she seemed. As long as the people in the audience were not stupid, the balance of choosing a spouse or a daughter-in-law would inevitably tilt towards her.
Although she is only the old man's stepdaughter, she is smart and talented, and it would be a honor to marry her home and keep her as a treasure.
Two guqins were brought up from the lift.
"Aunt, which one do you want?"
Zhou Jinyu asked.
Xu Yanran was proud of her talent and said, "Jinyu, you are the junior, so you choose first. I can do anything."
Zhou Jinyu didn't hesitate and chose the guqin on the right.
The two of them sat on the left and right, both of them had divine looks. For the men in the audience, looking at them was a visual feast.
They chose a classic guqin piece "Guangling San". After the strings were tuned and they started to play, they heard a sharp crackling sound, just like someone was sawing wood with a rusty saw.
Zhou Jinyu stopped and turned to look at Xu Yanran.
Xu Yanran was embarrassed for a moment, then said stubbornly, "There's something wrong with this guqin. I'll tune it again."
She lowered her head to examine the guqin, but both the material and the strings were made of top-quality materials, and there was no problem at all.
Then what was that sound of the saw pulling wood that she just made?
"Aunt, are you okay?"
Zhou Jinyu asked.
Xu Yanran could only attribute it to her own careless mistake and looked up and said, "Jinyu, okay, let's get started."
The two of them played the piano again, and this time there was no problem at the beginning, but soon the sound of pulling on wood appeared again.
Zhou Jinyu turned to look at Xu Yanran again, her expression becoming subtle: "Aunt, you are known as a talented woman, but this is the level of your guqin playing?"
“…”
Xu Yanran's pretty face looked like five-colored fuel had been spilled, with red, orange, blue, green and blue all showing through.
She wanted to embarrass Zhou Jinyu instead of being treated like a monkey.
"Jinyu, there might be something wrong with this guqin. How about I ask someone to replace it..."
"Aunt, don't bother. Just come to my place and I'll go to yours."
"……Oh well."
Xu Yanran hesitated for a few seconds and agreed to her request.
If the two of them exchanged guqins and Xu Yanran still produced such an unpleasant sound, then it would not be the problem of the other person's guqin, but her own lack of talent.
They changed seats and sat down, and continued playing, and the sound of pulling wood appeared again.
Now, those who had witnessed Xu Yanran's talents and abilities looked at each other in surprise.
Could it be that what they had heard before was set up by Xu Yanran in advance?
Didn’t expect to be invited to the stage this time, so he was exposed?
Some people think so and ask this question.
Xu Yanran was speechless for a moment, and explained awkwardly: "It might be a problem with the guqin. I'll call someone..."
"Xu Yanran, come on, it's really the guqin's problem. How come Miss Zhou plays it so well?"
The man asked.
Xu Yanran looked at Zhou Jinyu, who was calm and composed, and was speechless for a moment.
Zhou Jinyu said, "Aunt, it's okay. If you don't know the guqin music, I can do it myself."
Now Xu Yanran's expression became even more interesting.
She had been trained by a famous teacher since she was young. How could she be said to be unfamiliar with music? Isn't this like slapping her in the face?
Zhou Jinyu didn't care about her mood and continued to play "Guangling San".
Her piano playing was beautiful, and there was no awkward wooden sound in the middle, which gradually made those who doubted Xu Yanran in the audience become intoxicated by it.
Everyone was enjoying the wonderful music, except Xu Yanran on the stage, who was so embarrassed that she wanted to escape by crawling into a hole in the ground.
Everything was fine before, how come she made such a bad sound?
Also, why does Zhou Jinyu really know how to play the guqin? Didn’t she say she had only seen the video?
Is it true that someone can play such a good version of "Guangling San" just by watching a few videos?
Xu Yanran's mind was in a mess, and she felt as if there were countless mocking gazes on her.
But in fact, few people looked at her.
But after Zhou Jinyu finished playing, she said to Xu Yanran, "Aunt, you see, there is nothing wrong with the guqin. It seems that your guqin skills are not good enough. You should stop using the title of talented woman in the future. I'm afraid that you will be laughed at when you go out."
“…”
Xu Yanran's face flushed red, and she stammered, "Jinyu, I made a mistake today by accident. How could you say that to me?"
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