Memories, like a faded old film with frayed edges and warm yellow halos, quietly replayed…
The year she was twelve.
She first met Zhou Yansheng in the side hall of the Zhou family villa.
Summer sunlight streamed through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long, slanting patches of light on the floor.
Tiny specks of dust floated in the air.
And he, backlit, sat before the ancient piano.
A sixteen-year-old boy, his figure already possessing a refined outline.
She couldn’t clearly see his face, only the soft tips of his hair outlined by the sunlight, and those hands… dancing and fluttering across the black and white keys.
Slender, fair, with distinct knuckles, his fingertips rising and falling as if carrying an elegant magic.
It was a piece she had never heard before, its melody filled with comfort and tranquility.
Those hands, gilded with a halo of light, imprinted themselves into her eyes and heart without warning.
Becoming an obsession she couldn’t shake off for years to come.
Later, she learned that the piece he played that day was called “Träumerei.”
How dreamlike, and how… unattainable.
Relying on years of childhood training, Zhou Yansheng actually managed to play the entire piece from start to finish.
Perhaps influenced by the filter of childhood memories, Qin Qing stared at the man’s hands, unable to look away for a long time…
“Brother, keep playing, please…” Qin Qing gently rested her head against his shoulder, clinging to this fleeting moment of warmth.
Zhou Yansheng neither agreed nor disagreed, only continued to let his fingertips dance across the keys.
The soothing notes of the piano flowed gently.
Only when he felt the girl’s even breathing against his shoulder did Zhou Yansheng press the final note.
He gently carried the girl back to the bedroom…
The happy days Qin Qing imagined were purely… wishful thinking.
Almost every day that followed was spent in utter chaos.
The children were on winter break, rehearsing from morning till night every day.
Qin Qing’s voice was so hoarse she could barely speak.
Drinking pangdahai every day did nothing to help.
To make matters worse, it was the end of the year, and Zhou Yansheng’s unit was particularly busy. Recently, he had been dispatched to the company and hadn’t returned for two weeks.
During rehearsal breaks, the music classroom was as noisy as a boiling pot.
Qin Qing had a headache from the noise.
“Children! Quiet!” Xiao Yang took control of the situation. “If you keep making noise, we’ll add extra practice!”
Looking at his junior sister curled up in her chair, he felt helpless.
This musical was a series of choral pieces strung together.
The long stretches of improvised accompaniment in between required Qin Qing to keep the rhythm.
Without her, they couldn’t even rehearse.
From “Song of the Guerrillas” to “Nanniwan” and then “My Motherland.”
Performed vividly by a group of children playing the “Little Cooks Squad.”
The rehearsal difficulty was indeed not small.
Qin Qing had high standards for the children. Just the low-pitched “bengbengbeng” in “Nanniwan” took her an entire afternoon.
No wonder her voice was in such bad shape.
“When your Captain Zhou returns, he’ll be heartbroken,” he said, refilling Qin Qing’s water cup.
“Thank you,” Qin Qing whispered her gratitude.
Thinking of Zhou Yansheng, she suddenly felt a lump in her throat. It wasn’t from exhaustion—she just missed him.
“From now on, don’t speak. Just sit at the piano and play. Leave the little rascals to me.”
Just as the brief rest ended and Xiao Yang was about to organize the rehearsal again,
a sharp voice shouted from outside the door.
“Which one of you is Teacher Qin! Come out here!” It was aggressive.
Xiao Yang hurried to open the door.
A fashionable woman in her thirties, leading a student around ten years old, barged in.
“Wang Bing?” Xiao Yang recognized this child. He had participated in the earlier rehearsals but never met Qin Qing’s standards, so he was advised to leave yesterday.
Qin Qing also stepped forward.
“I’m Qin Qing,” she said, forcing the words through her throat, which felt as if it were being torn apart, her voice hoarse.
“So you’re the one who kicked my Xiao Bing out of the choir? What gives you the right? What qualifications do you have? After training for so long, you just send him back like that?”
Wang Bing’s mother was clearly agitated, leaving no room for anyone else to speak.
“Mrs. Wang, please calm down! Let’s talk outside, the children are watching!” Xiao Yang frowned but still wore a polite smile.
“What’s wrong with talking in front of the children?! I want her to apologize to my Xiao Bing right here in front of everyone! Where’s her professional ethics?! Hurting a child’s self-esteem like this!” Wang Bing’s mother refused to back down.
“And what’s more! Where did my Xiao Bing sing poorly? You’re just a substitute teacher who got in through connections. Who gave you the authority?”
Wang Bing’s mother continued to press aggressively.
The teacher on duty, hearing the commotion, hurried over but couldn’t find a chance to intervene.
Qin Qing stood to the side, utterly exasperated. Given her nature, she would have argued her case long ago, but she was in terrible shape at the moment and could barely speak.
“Please let me explain. Wang Bing is very talented, but this is a group performance that requires coordination—” Xiao Yang tried to explain.
But he was cut off directly. “I don’t need you to explain. I want her to apologize! She’s hurt my child’s self-esteem so much!”
Qin Qing felt like her head was about to explode.
Apologize! Apologize!
“The fact is, he didn’t sing well. If he can’t handle that, he’s too fragile!” Ignoring the pain in her throat, Qin Qing couldn’t help but retort.
She had never been one to swallow her anger.
“Yesterday, when we finalized the performance list, we made it very clear to the children. They sang one by one, and everyone evaluated themselves. It was obvious who was good and who wasn’t. You can ask Wang Bing yourself.” Qin Qing took a big gulp of water, her throat feeling like it was on fire.
“You’re just twisting words, teacher!”
Beside them, little Wang Bing was on the verge of tears, tugging at his mother’s clothes.
“Mom, stop…” he whispered, trying to calm her down.
“You useless child! Can’t you see I’m standing up for you?” Wang Bing’s mother angrily turned her frustration on the child, pushing him away impatiently as he clung to her.
Wang Bing never expected his mother to push him.
Losing his balance, he stumbled toward the piano.
From the angle, his head was headed straight for the corner of the piano.
Qin Qing, who was closest to him, was the first to notice something was wrong. Without a second thought, she threw herself down to shield the child.
Thud!
A dull thud echoed as Qin Qing, holding the child, slammed her entire back against the sharp corner of the piano’s leg.
The piano was pushed back several centimeters, scraping against the floor with a piercing sound.
Excruciating pain erupted from a sharp point on her back, instantly spreading through half her body.
Damn, that hurts!
Qin Qing gasped, unable to even cry out.
The large music classroom fell into dead silence.
Xiao Yang rushed over in a flash.
“Are… are you okay?” His voice trembled.
Qin Qing nodded.
The teacher on duty, terrified, hurried to call an ambulance, and Principal Han was also summoned immediately.
Qin Qing couldn’t worry about what happened next.
She just prayed nothing was broken and counted her blessings.
Finally, the ambulance arrived.
Qin Qing was carried away lying face down.
“Senior Brother, is it really ugly?” She still had the mood to joke with Xiao Yang.
“Shut up, it sounds awful.” Xiao Yang didn’t give her a pleasant expression, but he accompanied her the entire way onto the ambulance and to the hospital.