In a music class.
The students played their violins happily, showing their talents when pressing the notes on the ebony fingerboard. Their fingers skillfully alternated the strings to generate a beautiful orchestral symphony.
People passing through the hall couldn't help but glance over with smiles as soon as the music played.
The strains of notes sounded joyous, immersing the mood in joy. As if the wind also generated beautiful tunes followed by the singing of birds behind the window.
After completing the last scale, there was silence for a second, which was shortly replaced by loud applause.
In front of the students, Ai Zhiyi was sitting with a smile, staring at them with teary eyes. Contentment quietly filled his heart as if he were at a loss for words of praise.
Ai Zhiyi looked at all of them with pride and was on the verge of tears.
How come? Two months later would be held music performances at graduation day. The head asked Ai Zhiyi to play the song "Happiness" with the students as an offering, which had a difficult scale; even Ai Zhiyi barely mastered it.
Yet, with hard work for three weeks, Ai Zhiyi was able to perform the music perfectly at last.
But what made him proud was knowing his students could learn it in only a month, Ai Zhiyi had never been as touched as he was now.
From the age of sixteen to seventeen, Ai Zhiyi recognized his students' musical talent was great. He gleamed steadily while wiping his eye.
Ai Zhiyi had worked at this place for three years, and the students wildly adored him. Apart from being good-hearted and sociable, he was good at explanation.
He had a delicate and gentle stature and looked to be very manner and gracious, making people less likely to hate him.
He was handsome and had long eyelashes with thin eyebrows. People often thought of him as a beautiful man in music class, even students praised him with 'beautiful', 'dedicated', and 'bewitching'—words that sounded feminine for a grown man.
As soon as class was over, he put his violin in his bag, while talking, "Good job everyone. That's enough for today. Good to see you next week." His voice still sounded graceful in a loud tone, and people were amazed to see the smile at the end of his words.
"Thank you, Mr. Ai!" the students reacted enthusiastically while packing up their things.
At the doorway, a mature, tall, and gorgeous woman was patiently waiting with a smile and seemed to be enjoying the music as well.
The woman had delicate facial features, fair and gracious. Her eyes were round and bright but there was a firmness in them. Her lips were cute and flimsy, colored in glossy red lipstick. Her long black hair was shiny and wavy hanging over her shoulders. As soon as she saw Ai Zhiyi come over, she directly stood up.
In front of the graceful woman, Ai Zhiyi spoke, "Sister Nian (Nian = memory), sorry for making you wait too long." His tone was heard culpable.
That dedicated woman was called Chu Xinian. She shook her head, answering, "I'm good."
Ai Zhiyi grinned.
While the two of them walked down the stairs, Ai Zhiyi talked about his hardships in teaching. Yet, amid his words, something flashed to his mind.
At first, he wanted to ask a question but something kept stopping him, so only the stillness was in.
After almost five minutes, Chu Xinian was heard sighing languidly. She took a glance at Ai Zhiyi, and said, "How long haven't I come to visit you? Six months? Eight ... nine ... hm, I slipped my mind. But it's been so long, right?"
Ai Zhiyi smiled faintly. He lowered his aye slightly while guessing, and found that it had been quite a while indeed, about almost a year.
Ai Zhiyi wanted to raise a question again, but Chu Xinian first told the reason as if she could read Ai Zhiyi's mind.
"I'm swamped up. My dad asked me to take care of some businesses because my big brother has his own, so I have to contribute."
Listening to this, Ai Zhiyi suddenly felt nostalgic. Thinking that, if he didn't run away with his love, their fate might have been different, and he and his beloved wouldn't end up in this city. The man he loved would run the company like his siblings, while he would be in an agency like his mother.
But he was supposed not to regret anything besides reminiscing about his stories that needed to, then forgetting the things that were worth forgetting.
However, the reality he faced was completely different. He couldn't even forget a single thing in his past, stuck in his brain like paper with glue. If he forced himself to unwrap it, then it would tear up.
"Zhiyi, are you okay?" Chu Xinian asked in worry seeing Ai Zhiyi's demeanor. She stopped walking and looked deeply at Ai Zhiyi.
Ai Zhiyi was very fragile when he recalled his past. Just because he was good at manipulating his emotions, he could leisurely answer, "I'm a bit tired."
Chu Xinian frowned, doubtful at those words. Yet, Ai Zhiyi was kinda persistent, thus she gave up. Her suspicious face soothed down, and she spoke, "Then, let's take a rest first. There's a great restaurant nearby. I heard the food at that place is delicious, so let's give it a try."
Finishing his words, Chu Xinian grabbed Ai Zhiyi's arm and forced him to follow her.
Ai Zhiyi tried to refuse with words, "I can't. Weixu will get worried if I go home late."
Getting that reason, Chu Xinian unexpectedly halted. Her face looked grim, but when she turned to Ai Zhiyi, it abruptly brightened. She said sulkily, "You can call him, right? Tell him you'll be late. I came all the way to see you, and are you intending to leave me alone?"
---
Note: Xinian is written in the same character as "earlier years", but when Xiaoiyi calls her "Nian", he likes to change the tone.