The Pianist And The Lady[Republic Of China Gl] Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Half a month passed. At the end of the second lunar month, this was Shen Xian’s first visit to Lan Yuan’s courtyard. All the things Hunter had sent arrived, and she came to deliver things to Lan Yuan.

The Lan family is a large house with three entrances and three exits. There are several courtyards inside. Shen Xian feels like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

Mr. Lan and his wife live in the innermost courtyard. The two elders like to be quiet and don’t like to be disturbed. As the eldest son, Lan Yuan lives in the east courtyard.

Lan Yuan lives in the west courtyard, which is not as big as that of his parents and brother, but it covers an area of ​​more than ten acres. The decoration and design are similar to the front yard in front of Lan’s house where guests are greeted. Even this pavilion is not much different from the pavilion where Lan Yuan made tea that day, just smaller in proportion.

When Shen Xian entered the courtyard, he was stopped by his servants. He waited at the outer door until Jasmine informed him before letting him in.

“It turns out that you have to walk such a long distance to come to class on weekdays. It’s really hard.” Shen Xian sighed. Today she came here carrying a big box and walked a full mile. She was very tired.

“Teacher, you can sit in a sedan next time. There is a sedan in the house. I will talk to dad about getting one for you.”

Lan Yuan was used to walking, so she didn’t think the road was long, but it was true that you could ride in a sedan chair in the mansion. It was the tradition of the Lan family to respect teachers and moral principles, so her father would probably agree to this request.

Shen Xian felt that she was worrying too much. She forgot that the eldest lady didn’t need to walk. “No, no,” she waved her hand to refuse, “I just want to exercise. Besides, I don’t come here often.”

“Why did the teacher suddenly come to see me today?” Lan Yuan saw the sweat on her head and hurriedly poured Shen Xian a cup of warm tea.

Chen Xian took a few sips. The tea was fragrant and sweet in her mouth. It was different from what she usually drank in her house. “This tea tastes good.”

“These are Lu’an melon slices. They taste great. I’ll ask Jasmine to get a box for the teacher later.” Seeing that Shen Xian liked it, Lan Yuan quickly showed her favor, although she didn’t understand why she was so proactive.

“I appreciate Miss Lan’s kindness, but you won’t be rewarded for your efforts. Mr. Lan has just paid his course fees. I can’t let you give me more things.” Shen Xian said, then patted his forehead, “I almost forgot about business. I came to give you something today.”

Chen Xian opened the brown leather suitcase at his feet. There were some music textbooks neatly arranged inside, some in Chinese and some in English.

She took out a book and handed it to Lan Yuan, “This book is a history of Western music. The translation is pretty good and easy to understand. You can read it if you are bored on weekdays. There are other things related to music. The music theory I taught in class that day is all mentioned in this book.” Shen Xian picked up another book and handed it to Lan Yuan.

“Does Teacher Shen know foreign languages?” Lan Yuan noticed that the covers of some books were in foreign languages ​​that she did not recognize.

“I studied music in England, and my foreign language is pretty good.” Shen Xian took another sip of tea and said slowly.

“That’s it.” Lan Yuan nodded. She was curious about what it felt like for Shen Xian’s clear and clean voice to speak in other languages. “Students have never been exposed to Western literature, so I’m afraid they won’t be able to understand some of the books.” Lan Yuan told the truth.

“It’s okay. These books are meant for you to read for leisure. If you don’t understand, you can put them aside for now or you can ask me. My uncle probably took them all when he sent them to me.” Shen Xian smiled.

Lan Yuan was curious about Hunter in Shen Xian’s words, but was embarrassed to ask directly.

“By the way, I have something else for you.” Shen Xian took out a slender box from his coat pocket and handed it to Lan Yuan.

Lan Yuan took it and said, “What is this?”

“You’ll find out when you open it.” Shen Xian looked forward to it. This was a meeting gift she specially prepared for her first student.

Lan Yuan obeyed and opened the box. Inside was a pen. It was beautifully made and felt to be valuable.

“This gift is too expensive. I can’t accept it. Teacher Shen is too expensive.” Lan Yuan returned the box directly to Shen Xian.

“There is an old saying, etiquette is less important than affection, but more affection is more important than etiquette. You are my first student. This is a special treatment only for you. Don’t worry, take it. If you don’t accept it, I will treat it as if you don’t really treat me as your teacher.”

Chen Xian grabbed Lan Yuan’s hand without permission and put the box directly into her hand.

Lan Yuan wanted to return it to Shen Xian, but was stopped by Shen Xian’s eyes.

Shen Xian made an angry and aggrieved expression, as if Lan Yuan would not accept the gift and she would cry the next second.

“There’s nothing wrong, so I’ll leave first.” Shen Xian stood up and planned to leave. The books and gifts were delivered, and her mission was completed.

“Teacher Shen——” Lan Yuan suddenly stopped her, “How old are you?”

Although she knew this question was presumptuous, Lan Yuan still asked because she was too curious.

Chen Xian smiled and said in a brisk tone, “I am 20 years old.” Then he left the room.

Lan Yuan smiled behind Shen Xian and rolled her eyes. She felt that Shen Xian didn’t look like a twenty-year-old adult at all. His expression just now was like that of a lively and cute little girl.

There was still the residual warmth of the heavy string on the back of her hand, and Lan Yuan couldn’t help but touch it carefully with her other hand.Compared to the last time she was surprised when Shen Xian touched her hand, she had slowly adapted to it this time.

Then he took out the pen as if he was holding a treasure. Thinking back to the exclusive treatment Shen Xian said, his heart seemed to be filled with something.

Jasmine had never seen her young lady look like she was pregnant, and she couldn’t express her unique happiness. Teacher Shen was obviously here to teach her how to play the piano, but why did she feel that she regarded him as her lover.

At night, Shen Xian was about to go to bed when someone knocked on the door. She grabbed a coat and put it on over her pajamas and opened the door.

“It’s me, Jasmine, the lady’s maid.” Jasmine was very polite.

“What are you doing?” Shen Xian opened the door.

“The lady asked me to return Teacher Shen’s gift and ask me to give you a box of tea.” Jasmine handed the iron box to Shen Xian. Inside was valuable melon slices, but Lan Yuan specifically asked Jasmine not to mention the value of the tea.

Chen Xian took the tea and said, “Thank you, Miss Lan, for me.”

“Okay, I will definitely bring you a message.” Jasmine made a gesture of assurance, and then went on to talk about the second thing the lady asked her to do, “There is also your coat yesterday. The lady said that the cuffs were torn, and she wanted to help you mend them.”

Although she didn’t understand why the young lady with a rich body and rich body was busy doing things as a maid in the house, Jasmine still brought the words over, and she felt that the young lady was observing too carefully, which required sharp eyes to see, so she didn’t pay any attention to Teacher Shen’s sleeves.

“No need to bother, it won’t affect my usual clothes.” Shen Xian was wearing a daytime coat.

Since she was a child, Jasmine has never seen someone so ignorant of blessings, and she was anxious for a moment: “Teacher Shen, Miss Shen has never helped anyone mend clothes. This is all done by servants. If you refuse again and again, then you are really hurting our Miss’s desire to be kind to you.”

Jasmine spoke hurriedly and quickly, and Shen Xian didn’t quite understand it, but it probably meant that Lan Yuan would be sad. Thinking of Lan Yuan’s cold beauty, she couldn’t stop crying. Shen Xian suddenly felt heartbroken and immediately took off his clothes and gave them to Jasmine.

Jasmine took the clothes and left happily, feeling deeply that Teacher Shen was really careless.

The lights were turned off, but Shen Xian couldn’t sleep at night.I thought about the clothes that were taken away and the tea leaves that were placed on the table.

Shen Xian could barely understand the gift of tea, but Miss Lan sewed clothes for her, and even asked her maid to make a special trip to sew clothes for herself. She couldn’t do that!It’s not necessary. Aunt Li, who was cooking the fire, said that there are servants in the house who specialize in mending clothes!

Is it true that the Eastern tradition of respecting teachers and teachings is true?Chen Xian could only find this reason for Lan Yuan.

The next day, Chen Xian came to class with dark circles under her eyes. Lan Yuan noticed it at a glance. Except for being late for the first time, she came to the piano room early to wait for Chen Xian every time after class.

“Teacher Shen, didn’t you sleep well last night?” Lan Yuan stood up and greeted Shen Xian.

“I have a little insomnia, but it doesn’t affect class. Let’s start playing music today.” Shen Xian came to the piano.

“Here are your clothes. The cuffs have been mended.” Lan Yuan said, taking the clothes from Jasmine and handing them to Shen Xian.

Last night, Jasmine brought Chen Xian’s clothes, and Lan Yuan stayed up all night to mend them before going to bed. She even folded the clothes neatly before going to bed.

“You can’t see the stitches. It’s no different from the original. Your skills are so good.” Shen Xian picked up the clothes and looked at the place where the stitches were cut. After sewing, it was no different from the one he just bought. He looked at Lan Yuan with admiration.

“It’s not that difficult, but Teacher Shen was so complimentary.” Lan Yuan felt shy and secretly happy that she was suddenly praised.

“It’s difficult. It’s as difficult as climbing to the sky. My uncle is a tailor. I have been learning from him for more than half a year and I still can’t learn it. Everything is still crooked.”

Shen Xian looked at Lan Yuan with admiration. She didn’t expect that this young lady who seemed weak and had no fingers in the water was so capable.

“Teacher Shen’s hand can play divine music with lingering sounds, which is a whole step better than my skill that can barely mend a piece of clothing.” Lan Yuan comforted Shen Xian.

“There is no distinction between high and low. We all rely on our abilities. Don’t be humble. I will learn from you another day.” Shen Xian couldn’t see that Lan Yuan always looked down on herself, and hoped that she could be more confident.

“Okay, Teacher Shen can come to my yard whenever you want to learn.” Lan Yuan’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she didn’t expect that Shen Xian would take the initiative to ask her for advice.

I have been learning stitching skills for more than ten years. This is the first time that someone is so happy just because they can mend clothes. I used to learn this from my mother, and I would be scolded if my eyes were not clever enough to embroider rabbits.

“Let’s not discuss this anymore, let’s go to class first.”

Chen Xian remembered that he was here to be a piano teacher, and everything should be focused on business, but he was too off-topic just now.She put the score on the piano and gave Lan Yuan a brief analysis of the piece, emphasizing the more difficult parts. Then Shen Xian played it again as a demonstration.

After the song ends, “You try to play the first section first. There are few notes and it’s simpler. Let’s go step by step and take our time.”

Lan Yuan was nervous. It was only half a month old. Before, Shen Xian vividly talked about piano music theory and musical notation in front of the small blackboard, but he had not actually played the music yet. Although he had played randomly while Shen Xian was away, that didn’t count.

Lan Yuan put her hands on the keys, and when she actually played, she found that she couldn’t achieve the silky smoothness of the heavy string.

A few simple syllables are forgotten in an instant. I often have to look at the music score to find the next note. Moreover, several similar notes are connected together and it is difficult to distinguish. Pressing the wrong keys has become a common occurrence.

After playing this section, Lan Yuan felt extremely ashamed. She had never felt such a sense of defeat since she was a child. She lowered her head and remained silent.

“It’s okay.” Shen Xian immediately noticed Lan Yuan’s abnormality and patted her shoulder gently to encourage her to cheer up. “The first time I played this piece, I was worse than you. Practice makes perfect. I guarantee that you will play better than anyone else in the future.”

“Do I have no talent at all?” Lan Yuan fell into self-doubt and felt that she was not suitable for piano at all.

“No one is born a piano genius. Years of practice experience and perseverance are the keys to becoming an excellent pianist. More important than talent is hard work and practice. I have never seen a pianist who relies solely on talent.”

Chen Xian comforted Lan Yuan. Although she herself believed that top pianists needed talent, ordinary people who wanted to play well just had to work hard.

“What about you? How many years have you been practicing?” Lan Yuan raised her head and looked at Shen Xian. At this moment, she regarded her as a peer and did not call her teacher.

Chen Xian gestured at the piano with his hand and smiled, “I started practicing when the piano was about half as high as this one. I started learning when I was three years old. At that time, my feet couldn’t even touch the ground when I was sitting on a chair.”

“So early? Hasn’t it been hard since childhood?” Lan Yuan suddenly felt that Shen Xian’s excellence was heartbreaking. He had to learn such difficult things at the age of three. At that time, he was still playing grasshopper with his elder brother.

“There were indeed some difficult times in childhood.” Shen Xian shrugged, with sad eyes. Because of her racial attributes, she was often discriminated against and suppressed when she was a child. Shen Xian never felt that she had suffered from playing the piano. It was her favorite thing.

When Lan Yuan heard this, a dim light flashed in her eyes, thinking that Shen Xian had been suffering because of practicing the piano. She seemed to have the same problem as Shen Xian, and her childhood was confiscated by her family when she was about five years old.

“It’s okay, don’t you think we have grown up well?” She comforted Shen Xian with a smile, looking young and mature.

Chen Xian laughed suddenly. Lan Yuan was obviously younger than him, but now she was pretending to be her sister to comfort herself, “Okay, keep practicing, I’ll be fine.” His tone was very doting, treating her as the sister next door.

Shen Xian is the only daughter in the family. When she meets Lan Yuan, who is younger than herself, she always feels close to her, as if she suddenly has a clever sister.

Lan Yuan wanted to continue talking, but there was no chance, so she could only continue playing the piano, but she felt more motivated than before.