Every time before a competition, Corrica would still more or less get somewhat anxious, because he was very aware, that only by placing, only by achieving success, would he have the value to continue to stay in the Mooney family.
This time's exam was arguably even more important than any other competition, and also made him even more anxious. He constantly comforted himself, he had practiced so much, from morning till night, and every day would practice so hard, he had already prepared extremely well, and he would be sure to succeed.
When he walked into the testing room and stood in front of the over 10 great master teachers, his palms could not help sweating and even trembling a bit. Especially when he saw Hai Weixiu sitting casually on the sofa, his breathing couldn't even stay smooth.
He sat down in front of the piano, stealthily wiping his hands on his trousers, and started his performance. He had practiced this piece for a very long time, and it was only because he had a complete grasp of it that he dared to use it for the exam. He could not fail, because he had no path of retreat.
The Mooney family had hosted a pre-exam encouragement dinner party, which had invisibly increased his pressure even more. Every single person felt that he would definitely be able to get accepted, so if he made a mistake and failed to get in, and lost face for the Mooney family, all of the effort that he had put in previously would have been drastically discounted.
There was not a single thing that had belonged to him at the start, so he could only rely on his own ability to go fight for them. His outstanding piano ability was precisely his capital for striving for everything. The care from the Mooney family, Faith's love for him, were all things that he had relied on himself to win over bit by bit. He knew that some of his behavior was very despicable, but he wanted to be happy, so he had to do it like this. Even if he harmed others to achieve this, he would also not care.
If he could become Hai Weixiu's student, that was equivalent to acquiring a means of advancement straight into the heavens. Who knows how many people longed for this, he was willing to exhaust his entire life's good fortune to try to obtain success this time.
While Corrica was performing, the more than 10 master teachers each sitting in their own separate armchairs would occasionally make a note on their papers. Only Hai Weixiu kept his head turned, looking outside the window at the garden. It was very obvious that his mind was already wandering and he was entirely not even listening to Corrica.
Faith was sitting in the big hall to wait when he saw Corrica come out, and he immediately stood up and walked over to him.
"How was it?" Faith saw that Corrica's face was somewhat ugly, so he supported him to sit down on a nearby chair.
"I made a mistake, I made two mistakes…" Corrica held his chest, his breathing somewhat difficult.
"It's not a big deal, exams allow mistakes. Two mistakes is very normal, and won't be considered too many." Faith rubbed his back and reassured.
"But, but…" Corrica's breathing became more and more difficult, and he was already unable to finish speaking.
As a child, Corrica had asthma, and after he was adopted, the Mooney family had spent quite a sum in order to give him treatment and piano lessons. His asthma had not been triggered for many years—perhaps it was because he had been progressing too smoothly and had suddenly become extremely stressed, and also was stimulated by his own mistakes, so he would have what seemed to be an asthma attack.
Faith hastened to support him up to walk out. "Don't worry, you will definitely not have a problem. Let's go, we'll first go home to rest."
Jing Yang saw them leave. It seemed like later he needed to go back by himself, but that was good, just to his liking.
After Jing Yang entered the exam room, he bowed to the great teachers, and before sitting down, he quickly glanced at Hai Weixiu. That person was just casually leaning back on the sofa, that languid kingly grandeur seemed almost palpable, truly worthy of being called the King of Music.
<
The great teachers could all feel the flourishing of life from Jing Yang's playing, and they closed their eyes to carefully experience it, as if they were being bathed in exuberance.
Music is the thing most able to express emotions—people's emotions, the emotions of all things, could all be conveyed. It all just depended on whether or not you had the ability.
The notes flowed out from under Jing Yang's fingers, his mouth was slightly smiling. It was very obvious that he himself could also feel the meaning of life from this song.
His clean and handsome appearance, well-proportioned and slender figure, steady yet pleasant poise while playing, elegant and graceful yet very imposing, without the slightest bit of confusion or discomfort. This was a teacher's favorite type of student, and when they brought him out they would have a lot of face.
Spring is not only the season for plants to sprout, but also the season for animals to romance and reproduce. The place where animals are different from humans is precisely that they never conceal their own desires, that kind of bold and confident roaring, anytime and anywhere, thirsting for expression, and wanting to be satisfied.
Jing Yang really had to admire Hai Weixiu. Being able to create something combining all of these different styles, being able to perfectly express all of the emotions and images, and being able to freely control everyone's state of mind, he was truly a born musician. Talent and creativity were really miraculous and admirable things.
The animals chasing and arguing with each other seemed to be attacking and fighting, but were actually playing and flirting. The sunlight threaded through the leaves. After the rain, the plant buds were still adorned with beads of water, and the animals trapped by the heavy rain could finally come out to move, running freely and playfully on the grass. Truly a wonderful piece of spring light!
Hai Weixiu seemed to finally have been awakened by Jing Yang's playing. He retracted his gaze from outside the window and transferred it onto Jing Yang. He squinted his eyes to size up the person in front of him, his clean and fresh appearance made him feel very comfortable, and that pair of hands quickly dancing around the keys seemed very beautiful.
Being able to appreciate the artistic concept of his works was a very easy matter, but wanting to be able to express it completely was actually not easy, it was not something that could be done just using skill. This was the first time that someone besides himself could perfectly present all of <
Hai Weixiu constantly stared at Jing Yang's profile, and his mouth could not resist smiling very slightly. Actually performing <
~
The process of waiting always torments people. The school's official website also temporarily did not provide any news about acceptances, reportedly saying that only after the acceptance notices had been completely sent out would the official website publish the list of students who had been accepted.
During this period Corrica had become a lot more haggard. He couldn't eat well or sleep well, and even had no mind to practice piano, every day wallowing in tension.
Jing Yang actually ate and slept like normal, his days were spent quite at ease. The exam was already over anyways, even if you were nervous it also wouldn't change the results. Even if he hadn't been accepted, there were still many different ways to become famous.
"Madam, the admission notices from the Cherty Conservatory of Music have arrived, there are two copies!" The housekeeper quickly ran in holding two envelopes.
"Two copies?" Susan stood up excitedly and took the two envelopes from the housekeeper. "Both of them tested in? That's really too great!"
Susan happily told the housekeeper, "Quickly go, call down both Corrica and Avi, as well as Faith and his father. Quickly, quickly!"
The entire family was seated at the big wooden table in the dining hall. Two envelopes were placed on the table in front of Susan, the decoration on them were exquisite, and the design was also very grand. One was pure gold, and the other was gold and red, both seals had not yet been opened. The golden red admission notice seemed to be more upscale, and the mark on the envelope signified that they had been accepted as a privileged student of a master teacher.
Susan pushed the golden red admission notice to Corrica and smiled at him. "Congratulations dear, your efforts have been rewarded. I still haven't opened it to see which master teacher has chosen you, I think that this surprise should be opened by yourself."
Susan also placed the pure gold admission notice in front of Jing Yang. "Also congrats to you Avi, in the future you will also be one of the Cherty Conservatory of Music students. Everyone there is an elite, so even though you are only an ordinary student, you will still need to work harder in the future."
Corrica looked at the admission notice in front of his eyes and couldn't resist clenching his fists in front of his chest. He could finally relax, but his excited mood was very difficult to contain. Which master teacher had chosen him, could it be Hai Weixiu? If it was, then he was really too lucky! Thank you, God!
Faith held Corrica's hand. "Open it ba."
"En." Corrica nodded and smiled.
Corrica carefully removed the seal and opened the admission notice to see which master teacher had chosen him.
Jing Yang also picked up the golden admission notice in front of him. He opened it very casually, reading the contents inside.
Corrica froze. He widened his eyes in disbelief, staring forcefully at the words on the page. He felt that it was definitely that he had read wrong, impossible! It's impossible! He must have read it wrong.
Corrica refolded the admission notice and rubbed his eyes forcefully. Taking a deep breath, opening it again, rigidly staring at the name of the person who had been accepted, his expression completely changed.
"What happened, Corrica?" Faith and his parents saw that Corrica's behavior and expression were strange, and looked at him in confusion. Could it be that he had been chosen by a teacher he didn't like? But those were all the Cherty Conservatory of Music's master teachers ah, no matter who you had been accepted by, it would be something glorious and worthy of pride.
"This is yours, it says your name on it." Jing Yang pushed the admission notice in his hands in front of Corrica, and then reached out his hand. "The one in your hands should be mine, please return it to me."
"No, no it's not…" Corrica shook his head in a panic, his fingers tightly gripping the admission notice and refusing to let go.
"What's going on?" Kurt exchanged doubtful glances with his wife and son, then took over the admission notice tightly held in Corrica's hand. Seeing Avi's name written on top, he also froze, his eyes filled with shock. "The one who had been accepted as a famous teacher's privileged student was Avi?"
"Impossible!" Faith snatched over the admission notice from his father's hand, saw that it was really Avi's name who had been written on top, and said disbelievingly, "This is impossible, something must have gone wrong!"
Susan took both admission notices and repeatedly read them multiple times, and then checked the names and admission notice colors multiple times, before finally determining that she had not seen wrong. "The one who was accepted as an ordinary student was Corrica, and the one who became a privileged student of a master teacher was Avi, this, how is this possible? Should we call the school to ask to see whether or not there's a mistake?"
"Of course!" Faith shouted. "Call right now, at this moment! Quickly, Mom!"
Susan hurriedly said, "Good good good! I'll call right here, don't be anxious."
Jing Yang sat there expressionlessly. Seeing this family's frantic and shocked appearance, it was as if they had suffered from some massive psychological blow.
Corrica's breathing had become difficult again. He pressed on his chest, breathing heavily.
Faith frantically ordered the housekeeper to get the medicine and hugged him, comforting, "Don't be anxious, Mom is calling right now. Both of your addresses are the same, there was definitely some sort of accident in the middle, and they got your names mixed up. We will definitely clarify everything."
"Wei, hello, is this the Cherty Conservatory of Music admissions office?" Susan asked the person on the other end of the phone.
"It's like this, there were two candidates in my family who had been accepted, but the names on the admission notices seemed to have been mistaken. I wanted to ask if you could help me check it out?"
"The names are Corrica Mooney and Avi Deere, the candidate numbers? Please wait a bit, I'll check, the numbers are…"
"Did you find it? All right, please say."
After listening to them, Susan froze for a moment and asked again, "You are sure that Avi Deere was accepted as a privileged student of a master teacher, and Corrica Mooney was only accepted as an ordinary student? You're sure there's no mistake? Oh, that…, okay, thank you."
After Susan hung up the phone, she was still somewhat unable to process the information, speaking dazedly, "They said that there was no mistake. Corrica was accepted normally, and Avi was personally accepted by Hai Weixiu."
Once Corrica heard everything, his eyes rolled and he fainted.
"Corrica!" Faith hugged Corrica and yelled. "Quickly call the doctor!"
"Corrica, is there anything wrong?" Susan and Kurt also gathered around to see Corrica's situation.
Jing Yang took his own admission notice and went upstairs, not paying attention to that mess of a family.
Lying on the bed, Jing Yang opened the admission notice and carefully read it. On it it was written that the teacher who had accepted him was Hai Weixiu. Even though he had only seen him once, during this period of time Jing Yang had listened to all of his composed works, and becoming his student should be very good for his music learning. It's just that he heard that this person's personality was eccentric, his temper was not great, icily arrogant and with a malicious tongue. He was not good at interacting with this kind of person ah. Whatever, he would just take it a step at a time.
The doctor rushed over to give Corrica some emergency treatment and then left. During dinner time, Corrica stayed in his room to rest and did not appear at the dinner table.
"Congrats ah, Avi, you were actually accepted by Hai Weixiu. That is really too terrific, Aunt is truly so proud of you." Susan smiled at Jing Yang.
"Yes, this is a great occasion for our family, Avi is really amazing." Kurt looked at Jing Yang, full of satisfaction.
"Just a fluke." Faith snorted disdainfully. "Corrica wasn't able to perform well due to his physical condition, but he was actually lucky enough to become a privileged student of a master teacher. What is there to brag about."
"In any case, at least he has been accepted, Corrica being able to become an ordinary student is also quite great. If he performs well in school, he could still have the opportunity to be a privileged student of a master teacher. You just comfort him a bit more and let him not be worried. In the future there are still so many competitions, he still has many opportunities." Susan had always gone with whatever her son wanted. Whatever he said was right, and since Faith liked Corrica, she would also be more inclined toward Corrica.
"Two people in our family have been accepted into Cherty, this is something worth celebrating. Let's host a dinner party and invite some more people over, we can all celebrate together." Kurt felt that no matter whether it was Corrica or Avi who had been accepted, either way it would be the pride of their family. Right now both of them had been admitted, of course they needed to properly celebrate.
"What is there to celebrate. Corrica's health isn't good and can't participate, so I will also not attend. If you want to celebrate you all can do it, but I will first remind you that if someone does not last long before having his master teacher's privileged student qualifications revoked, it would be our family's face that is lost." Faith hadn't even finished eating when he threw down his knife and went upstairs.
"Then, then let's just not host the dinner party." Susan looked at her son's back and said to Kurt. "Corrica's body isn't well, and Faith also isn't in the mood to participate. Let's just forget about the dinner party."
Jing Yang didn't say a single word, letting them make a decision by themselves.
Kurt saw that his son and wife both said not to hold the party, so he also didn't insist on it. Plus what Faith said was also not wrong, it was not like there had not been privileged students of master teachers who had gotten their qualifications revoked. And Hai Weixiu was known for being harsh and difficult to get along with, who knew how long Avi could last with his kind of skill. If he got his qualifications revoked just two days into classes, at that time it would truly be their home being humiliated.
Being able to become an ordinary student at the Cherty Conservatory of Music was actually also an extremely glorious matter, who knows how many people wanted to get in but weren't able to.
If today Jing Yang had not been accepted and only Corrica had been accepted as an ordinary student, the Mooney family would still have celebrated, and Corrica would also not have suffered such a great stimulation.
But Jing Yang had become the privileged student of a master teacher, yet Corrica had only been accepted as an ordinary student. This kind of abnormal situation made the Mooney family somewhat unable to react. Corrica was even more unable to accept this fact. He could not be surpassed by Avi, he could not be inferior to Avi, if he couldn't even compare to Avi in piano, then he really did not have any capital to compete with him with.
Translator Notes:
[1] means of advancement – 阶梯, fig language that literally means flight of steps/stepping stone
[2] longed for – 梦寐以求, idiom, to yearn for something even in their dreams
[3] exuberance – 生机盎然, means full of life or exuberance but a little weird in this context
[4] bold and confident – 理直气壮, idiom, usually used in humans as self-confident
[5] freely – 随心所欲, idiom, means to follow your heart's desires
Random Notes:
Almost two hours again: 4:45 pm – 5 pm, 6:30 pm – 8 pm, for 4.8k characters to 3.3k words. There weren't as many T/Ns here, but there were just so many random phrases and idioms. You're killing me, author. Hopefully things get better as we settle in a bit and I don't have to read through too much musical jargon. I know it's not going to happen though. Also, I do use famous teacher/great teacher/master teacher interchangeably, I've been attempting to go through and change them all to master teachers when I remember, but I've definitely missed some. Just keep that in mind 🙂