The third year student Harvey Gorman who was unwilling to play the piano was silent, his eyebrows knitted tightly in a deep frown.
His teacher next to him was also staring coldly at Jordan Lin.
It was part of human nature.
Some people just couldn't accept missing out on a pie and then seeing another person gobble it up with great relish.
"Thank you everyone. Thank you, I am happy to help." Jordan Lin immediately said.
"Alright. Everyone has worked hard tonight, pack up and go on home. Well done." Kamala Hellen dismissed her team.
"Hurrah! Let's go home!" After a long day at work, everybody couldn't wait to go home.
They quickly put Jordan Lin's incredible performance to the back of their minds and bustled to pack up the room.
Kamala Hellen smiled in satisfaction at yet another job well done.
Looking at Jordan Lin, she said, "What are you doing tomorrow night? Do you want to come back here and play another song for us?"
"Ah? Wow! That sounds great!" Jordan Lin's eyes sparkled with joy.
"Jackpot!!" He screamed in his heart.
[Ding]
"Eh. I wasn't calling you. I was truly shouting Jackpot because I hit the jackpot." Jordan Lin laughed.
"That's great. But why did you come here in the first place? What are you doing on this floor?" Kamala Hellen asked in a puzzled voice.
"Oh, I am actually here to sit for the National Institute of Music's entrance test. I was looking for the toilet before I got lost… Hehehe." Jordan Lin scratched his head sheepishly.
"NIM's entrance test? Oh so you're that prodigy Old Walza recommended?" Kamala Hellen's eyes lit up as she finally figured out the whole situation perfectly.
"Yes, Mayor Walza recommended me." Jordan Lin nodded.
"Perfect. I am Kamala Hellen. Program Director for Heartbreak FM, and…Strings Director for the National Institute of Music." She smiled enigmatically at Jordan Lin. "Let me lead you to your examination room."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The examination room was actually just an audition's room of sorts.
There were a bunch of instruments on the side of the room, stringed, brass, woodwinds and percussion. There was even a small piano there as well.
Apparently the National Institute of Music held the piano in high regard even though it was an "obscure" instrument.
They even had one in an audition room!
The front of the room was an area for performance, facing a long table that could seat 5 judges.
The rest of the room was filled with seats for a small audience.
When Jordan Lin entered the examination room, Principal Chang was already sitting in the audience area with a worried look on his face.
There were several other people sitting there quietly, probably other examinees and their guardians.
Surprisingly it was an open audition where people could sit in and watch.
In front of them were three judges seated on the long table, drinking tea and exchanging their views on the previous examinees openly.
An old man with thick eyebrows that gave him a perpetual fierce look on his face said with a tinge of disappointment, "Today's batch is rather mediocre."
An even older bugger who was so wrinkly and whose hair was so stringy that he looked as though he had one and a half foot into his grave nodded his head in agreement, "I much prefer yesterday's batch. Queenie and Waylon were pretty solid. They would be great additions to our Percussions Department."
A young caucasian woman smiled and said in a patient voice, "We still have one last examinee. Mayor Walza recommended him last minute earlier this morning. He should be pretty good."
"Walza? Hmph. He is a politician through and through. What does he know about music? He is just wasting our time. I have half a mind to skip this final examinee and just go home! Afterall, it is already late." The old bugger snorted in slight displeasure.
"Ah, Professor Ian. Please do that. Let me take over your job as Examiner for this last student." Strings Director Kamala Hellen walked into the room and managed to hear Professor Ian's final comment.
"Director Kamala. What brings you here to the entrance test? It's really good to see you!" The caucasian woman smiled gently and stood up to give Kamala Hellen a hug.
"Professor Jennifer, good to see you too." Kamala Hellen hugged her back warmly.
"Director Kamala, out of her radio cave and actually here in the flesh. How rare!" The first old man with the thick eyebrows smiled and stood up to shake her hand.
"Professor Davin, you look healthy." Kamala Hellen smiled at him and shook his hand.
And then she turned to look at Professor Ian who remained seated and was merely glaring at her without saying anything.
"Professor Ian, not dead yet? What a pity." Kamala Hellen dropped a bombshell with a gentle smile on her face. "Why don't you just die already? Don't worry, I will fulfill my role as your junior and bury you properly…"
Unexpectedly, there were no exclamations of shock at her words.
The other two Professors merely chuckled and shook their heads lightly.
"Aren't you leaving? Go ahead and leave. I especially like this Jordan Lin and I have very high hopes for him. I'll handle the entrance test for you. You better go back now and sleep as soon as possible lest your body break down and die out of physical exhaustion." Kamala Hellen even made a shooing motion with her right hand.
"Hmph. Stay out of my business." Professor Ian snapped at her and looked away, his face completely black with anger.
"Where is this Jordan Lin? If he does not appear in front of me within ten seconds, I will disqualify him!"
"Ah! I am here!" Jordan Lin, who entered after Kamala Hellen, shouted in surprise. He immediately dashed forward to stand in front of the Professors.
"You're late and you will have fifteen points deducted from my total score. If you score less than an 85 point average out of our three scores, you will fail. You may begin." Professor Ian said bad naturedly.
He purposely did not explain what Jordan Lin had to do, and he even deducted fifteen points just like that! If averaged 3 ways, that was a full 5 points from his average score!
What a spiteful and grumpy old man!
Behind him, Mr Chang was already sweating buckets.
"Damn it old man! My school budget's 10% increase is at stake here! Be nice! God please make him nice!" He screamed internally.
But next to Mr Chang, Kamala Hellen was smiling.
In her mind, Jordan Lin merely had to play the "Moonlight Sonata" he played earlier, and the issue of his entrance test would be completely settled.
Not even that old undying zombie Professor Ian could give anything less than a distinction for such a performance!
There was no doubt in her mind that Jordan Lin would definitely be accepted by the National Institute of Music.
She could even already see him wearing their High School uniform.
"Bias much, old man? Ha, but it won't matter. Jordan Lin will still pass the exam even with your unethical methods." Kamala Hellen smirked and said loudly.
"Just keep talking you old hag. The more you talk, the more I am determined to fail him! Within the scope of the scoring rubric, of course." Professor Ian sneered and stated his intentions openly.
"You won't be able to fail him, not if you stick to the rubric." Kamala Hellen said confidently.
"Yeah? What if I do?" Professor Ian taunted her.
"If you do manage to fail him fairly, I will give your department 20% of my annual budget." Kamala Hellen replied serenely.
"What? 20%?!" Professor Ian was actually taken aback by Kamala Hellen's confidence and generosity.
But he was the examiner, and he was able to completely push the limits of the scoring rubric to deduct points from Jordan Lin, so he too was confident of being able to fail him!
"20%." Kamala Hellen nodded. "In exchange, I want 25% of yours if Jordan Lin passes."
"Deal." Professor Ian immediately agreed. The Strings Department was massive - much bigger than his Percussions Department.
They had more than double of the Percussion Department's budget.
The term Kamala Hellen put forward was generous indeed!
"Jordan Lin, don't worry about those two. Our scoring will definitely be fair. You may begin by demonstrating to us your skill in the various instruments. Feel free to pick one." The caucasian woman said gently.
"I see. In that case I will play the guitar." Jordan Lin nodded and proceeded to take one guitar from the side of the room.
Mr Chang's jaw dropped.
Kamala Hellen's jaw dropped.
Wa-wait a minute! Bro, aren't you proficient in playing the piano? Why the hell are you picking guitar?!