“Xiao Yang! How many times have I told you to mind your image at school! You are a teacher now! You should set an example!” Principal Han exploded the moment he saw the person entering.
There was no trace left of his earlier amiable demeanor.
Qin Qing wondered, could this be the “Teacher Xiao” they mentioned?
Hah, he looked even more exaggerated than the students from the neighboring art college.
“Principal Han, times have changed! We’re the new generation of the eighties!” Xiao Yang shook his hairstyle as he walked in. “Is this the new music teacher?”
He looked curiously at Qin Qing.
Principal Han wore an expression of utter embarrassment and introduced them briefly: “Qin Qing, Xiao Yang.”
“You two can get acquainted on your own!”
Xiao Yang didn’t mind. He mysteriously wiped his hands on his shirt a couple of times. “Teacher Qin, nice to meet you.”
He extended his hand to shake hers.
Qin Qing resisted the urge to twitch her mouth. “Hello, Teacher Xiao. I look forward to your guidance.”
Why did this person seem a bit… mentally unstable?
“Guidance is naturally a must,” Xiao Yang said without a hint of modesty. “Don’t worry, I’ll hold nothing back and teach you everything I know.”
Qin Qing couldn’t hold back this time—her mouth twitched.
“Go on, go on, go talk in the music classroom. I only have two requirements: first, teach your classes seriously; second, don’t mess up the performance for the cultural festival.”
After assigning the tasks, Principal Han was ready to shoo them away.
“Don’t worry, Principal! They say when men and women work together, the job feels lighter! We’ll definitely complete the mission!”
Xiao Yang gave Principal Han a sloppy salute, then turned to Qin Qing and bowed in a gentlemanly manner. “Teacher Qin, after you!”
Principal Han was both amused and exasperated, his face full of disdain.
Qin Qing awkwardly twitched her mouth and followed him out.
The music classroom was located on the westernmost end of the second floor of this building.
They went down one flight of stairs and arrived.
The classroom was large, about the size of two regular classrooms combined.
As soon as she entered, Qin Qing spotted an upright piano placed by the window in the corner.
Her eyes instantly lit up.
“Teacher Xiao, may I try it?”
“You can play the piano?” Xiao Yang didn’t hide his surprise. “This isn’t a foot-pumped organ.”
Qin Qing didn’t answer. In a few quick steps, she was already at the piano, sitting on the bench and lifting the lid.
Not to show off, she casually played a melody.
An interlude from the movie The Sound of Music.
“Holy crap! You really can!” Xiao Yang hurried over. “Alright, let’s up the difficulty!”
Without ceremony, he flipped open a music folder resting on the piano.
He randomly pointed to a piece.
Flying Grains.
A very lively piece.
Qin Qing raised an eyebrow.
She had practiced this one before, though it had been a while.
Fortunately, with the sheet music in front of her and her finger speed still intact, she could keep up.
Xiao Yang watched as the new young teacher’s fingers danced swiftly across the keys.
His expression shifted from testing to shock, and he silently took off his sunglasses.
“A little help, please! Turn the page!” Qin Qing reminded him to help flip the sheet music.
Xiao Yang snapped out of his daze, hung his sunglasses on his collar, and turned to the next page.
The piece was quite long.
Qin Qing played with great concentration.
Xiao Yang dutifully flipped the pages beside her.
Neither of them noticed that the music classroom had already attracted quite a few curious teachers.
When the piece ended, Qin Qing lifted her wrists and withdrew her hands.
The onlooking teachers couldn’t help but applaud.
“Hahaha! This piano won’t have to keep collecting dust anymore.” Principal Han clapped the loudest; he too had been drawn in by the music.
“Let me introduce you, this is our school’s new substitute music teacher, Qin Qing, Teacher Qin.”
“Hello, everyone.” Qin Qing greeted politely.
“Teacher Xiao, who can’t play the piano, feeling a sense of crisis yet?” a teacher teased Xiao Yang.
Xiao Yang can’t play the piano?
Looking at such an artistic person, it doesn’t seem likely!
Qin Qing was skeptical.
“Old Wang, can you give me some face in front of the new teacher?” Xiao Yang wasn’t angry either. “Besides, I’m into folk music, so Teacher Qin and I can perfectly blend Chinese and Western styles!”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Qin Qing could tell that this Teacher Xiao couldn’t stay serious for more than three sentences.
Without his glasses, he looked somewhat familiar.
As if she had seen him before.
“Alright, alright, we won’t disturb you anymore. Let’s disperse!” Principal Han’s smile almost reached the back of his ears.
He had struck gold.
The teachers who had come to watch the excitement left, and Xiao Yang also became a bit more serious for a moment.
“Our school has a total of eighteen classes. Each class has two music lessons per week.”
“Previously, when I taught alone, I combined two classes for each lesson. Would you prefer to split the classes between us or teach together?”
Xiao Yang was quite indifferent.
“Teacher Xiao, I’ll follow your arrangement.” After all, Qin Qing wasn’t a professional teacher, and since others were being polite to her, she didn’t want to overstep.
“Then how about we still combine two classes for each lesson? I’ll take the lead, and you can assist, maybe even accompany me on the piano.” Xiao Yang decisively laid out the plan.
He searched for a while, pulled out a handwritten class schedule, and handed it to Qin Qing.
“The kids will come to the music classroom on their own when it’s time,” he continued explaining. “There are basically no classes in the morning; they’re all concentrated in the afternoon.”
“As a senior, let me give you a piece of advice: stay calm and protect your voice.”
After saying this, Xiao Yang seemed like a completely different person. “Alright! Mission accomplished! See you in the afternoon~”
“Time to go back to sleep! Haven’t woken up this early in eight hundred years!” He stretched as he spoke.
“Oh, right, the textbooks are all in the cabinet under the podium. Feel free to look through them.”
“Bye~” With that, he was already out the door.
Qin Qing watched the “senior” who had vanished in an instant, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
No matter how she looked at him, he seemed like the kind of person she had encountered in nightclubs in her past life.
In her past life, she had almost ended up singing in nightclubs.
Fortunately, a senior had saved her.
Wait!
Xiao Yang!
Brother Yang!
Qin Qing broke out in a cold sweat!
In her past life, the man who saved her was called Brother Yang.
He didn’t talk much.
He was the lead singer of the band performing at the venue at the time.
He had helped her out of a tough spot, saying that girls shouldn’t come to such places often.
He also said he had seen her at school.
The junior sister who played the piano.
Later, although they didn’t meet often, he introduced her to a job at a piano store. Even if it was just as a receptionist, cleaning pianos and tidying up every day.
It was still better than the smoky, chaotic dance halls.
Based on the timeline, that would happen two years later.
How could he go from being an elementary school teacher to a band’s lead singer?
From long curly hair to a bald rocker tough guy?
Just as Qin Qing was feeling horrified, Xiao Yang returned.
“Are you from Beijing Music Academy?” he asked abruptly, without any context.
Qin Qing’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
He had recognized her.
She nodded stiffly.
“Hahaha! No wonder you looked so familiar. I’m your senior! I graduated three years ago!” Xiao Yang seemed to be reminiscing. “I think I’ve seen you at school. Let me think!”
“That’s right! You performed a solo of ‘Butterfly Lovers’ at the cultural performance! It left a deep impression on me!”
Xiao Yang chattered on excitedly.
Completely unaware that the girl in front of her had already turned pale.
“Hello, senior,” she forced a greeting. “I need to use the restroom.”
With that, she hurriedly ran off.
In her previous life, she hadn’t encountered many good people in her final days.
But Brother Yang was one of them.
At the time, she didn’t even know his full name.
Yet he made her feel like a human being again.
She was genuinely grateful to him.
Qin Qing took a deep breath in front of the mirror.
Her memories of her past life were a secret belonging to her alone.
She couldn’t be nervous, couldn’t get emotional.
Stay calm.