"Can you take me up there?" Grandma Li asked, eagerly getting into the tricycle.
Jiang Chao said, both amused and exasperated, "Grandma Li, you need to take a boat to get on the pleasure boat. Please get off, and I'll take you there."
"Haha, you're hitting me, you're getting senile." Grandma Li quickly got off the tricycle.
Anyway, Jiang Chao was going to find Chu Yang, so even if he didn't go, he wouldn't mind helping the old lady out.
So after parking the tricycle, he took her to a boatman.
He offered us a cigarette: "Uncle, could you give us a ride to that pleasure boat?"
"Hey, Hua Zi, you've made a fortune after going to college?" The boatman took the cigarette, chuckled, and tucked it behind his ear.
"I earned some money from part-time work, but it's nothing. It's not even as much as my dad earns driving a tricycle," Jiang Chao said modestly.
Then he helped Grandma Li onto the fishing boat.
"Hold on tight!" The uncle steered the boat away from the shore toward the pleasure boat.
The closer you get, the clearer the music becomes.
But then the song changed.
"High Mountains and Flowing Water? She can even handle such a grand piece. This young lady is quite something!" Grandma Li said, her expression full of delight as she played the air zither.
"So that's how good Milk Tea Sister is at playing the guzheng!" Jiang Chao exclaimed in surprise.
The fishing boat gradually approached the painted barge.
"Thank you for your hard work, Uncle." Jiang Chao handed over twenty yuan.
The uncle waved his hand: "Alright, I won't accept your money. Hurry up and help the old man upstairs."
Jiang Chao didn't stand on ceremony: "Thanks then, I'll come over for dinner sometime."
"You brat, you're trying to mooch off my boat and then your meal too," the uncle said with a laugh.
Jiang Chao chuckled: "Who can blame me when my uncle is such a good cook? I love your cooking the most."
Then she asked, "By the way, have you seen my sister?"
The uncle pointed to the pleasure boat: "It's up there. I thought you knew."
Jiang Chao was taken aback.
He helped the old lady onto the painted boat, and then he saw his sister shaking Chu Yang's arm: "Handsome guy, can we take a picture together?"
Jiang Chao: "..."
He stepped forward, his forehead covered in black lines, and said, "Sis, can't we be a little more reserved?"
Then he greeted Chu Yang: "Boss, you look... damn cool!"
"The eldest brother?" His older sister was taken aback, then exclaimed excitedly, "Is he the Chu Yang you were talking about, the one who's so handsome he's practically flying?"
"Yeah, I wasn't lying to you, was I?" Jiang Chao said helplessly.
"Then what are you waiting for?" His sister slapped him on the forehead, handed him the camera, and said fiercely, "Hurry up and take pictures for us!"
Jiang Chao: "..."
"Sorry, boss, my sister is a bit wild and a little lecherous, please don't mind her."
"So it's your sister." Seeing this, Chu Yang stopped trying to pull away and let her hold his hand.
"I didn't lie to you, did I? Isn't my sister hot?" Jiang Chao said, winking.
Chu Yang nodded: "Indeed, it's hard to believe that we were born from the same womb."
Jiang Chao's sister chuckled: "Yeah, yeah, everyone says so too."
"Damn, I'm still handsome even when I'm thin!" Jiang Chao said dejectedly.
Then I took two photos of them with my camera.
"My name is Jiang Ying! Chu Yang, would you mind having another girlfriend?"
Chu Yang: "..."
Jiang Chao quickly pulled her away: "Sister, stop fooling around, your sister-in-law is here!"
Over there, Li Qingshu's fingers paused as she played the zither, and the music became somewhat disordered.
The old lady standing nearby chuckled and said, "Alright, you're too flustered to play well."
Li Qingshu gave an awkward smile, placed her hands on the surface of the zither, looked at Chu Yang with a somewhat resentful expression.
Chu Yang quickly came over to comfort her: "That's Chao'er's sister, otherwise I would have thrown her into the lake long ago."
Jiang Chao: "Ha..."
Jiang Ying: ……(??ω??|||)
The old woman smiled, her eyes crinkling, and leaned closer to ask, "Young lady, is your surname also Li? What's your name?"
Li Qingshu smiled gently and said politely, "Qingshu, Qing as in clear water, Shu as in beautiful woman."
“Qing Shu…” The old woman pondered carefully and exclaimed, “She lives up to her name, with a pure and beautiful appearance, truly a peerless beauty!”
The character 姝 (shū) already implies a beautiful woman and a lovely appearance. Adding the character 清 (qīng) further enhances the connotation of purity and gentleness, perfectly matching her appearance and temperament. She is just as her name suggests.
The old lady liked it more and more the more she looked at it.
"How long have you been learning the guzheng? Who did you learn from?" she asked again.
"I learned from my mother when I was little, and I also learned to play the pipa, but I'm not proficient enough, so my grandma laughed at me," Li Qingshu said modestly.
"Not at all, not at all, you played very well, Grandma loved listening to you!" the little old lady said with a smile.
Then he made a startling statement: "I want to take you as my apprentice. I wonder if you would be willing to come with me to the capital and study at the Huaxia Academy of Arts?"
…
"Huaxia Art Academy..."
Sitting on Jiang Chao's tricycle, looking at the business card in her hand, Li Qingshu fell into deep thought.
My enthusiasm for visiting West Lake seemed to have waned considerably.
She didn't even pay attention to Jiang Ying, who was riding a bicycle next to her and constantly flirting with Chu Yang.
"Chu Yang, talk to Shu'er and let you have another girlfriend. I don't have high requirements, she'll just be your mistress!"
"How about a one-night stand? I'll just have some fun, and you won't have to take responsibility!"
"You look handsome in period costumes, but you look even more handsome in modern clothes. I like you even more now."
"..."
Jiang Chao, who was pedaling a tricycle, felt utterly humiliated and really wanted to take his older sister to West Lake.
"It's alright, Chao'er." Chu Yang ignored his sister's teasing and looked at Shu'er, his gaze falling on the business card in her hand.
Li Changyuan is a professor at Huaxia Academy of Arts.
To put it simply, the famous guzheng piece "Fighting the Typhoon" is a solo piece she composed.
Bring the art of the Chinese guzheng to Lincoln Center, to Carnegie Hall, and to the Royal Opera House in London!
A renowned folk music master and a leading female guzheng player.
Approaching sixty, she has made tremendous contributions to the development of Chinese folk music through decades of creation and performance.
This extraordinary master of folk music recognized Shu'er's talent for the guzheng and wanted to take her on as his apprentice and teach her personally.
Shu'er clearly knew her; her eyes were full of admiration and respect, and Chu Yang could tell she was deeply moved.
This is truly a golden opportunity.
At this moment, Shu'er was extremely conflicted. She wanted this opportunity, but if she made this choice, it would mean going to Huaxia Art Academy, leaving Yuebei University, and leaving Chuyang...
Shu'er slowly turned her head, her gaze lingering, her voice slightly choked with emotion: "Chu Yang..."
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