With the burden lifted from the heart, has new life begun?

Cheerfully returning home, Li An glanced at the food bowl—it was, as expected, empty. He hadn’t even taken off his shoes when Eight Thousand greeted him, wagging his tail and barking nonstop.

Fortunately, he was back. Li An had come home precisely to check whether Eight Thousand had any food left. Lately, the dog’s appetite had grown remarkably.

After filling up Eight Thousand’s bowl with cat food, Li An took a brief rest before heading to Blue Whale.

On the bus, he was listening to Bach’s First Piano Concerto in D minor through his headphones when suddenly a line of blue text floated before his eyes.

[Ji Yang’s Student-Teacher Index has risen to 80]

With a gentle smile, Li An felt reassured. It seemed Ji Yang’s mental block had been lifted.

Keep going, girl. As long as you’re willing to work hard, a beautiful life still awaits you.

...

The next day, when Li An rang the doorbell, Ji Yang opened the door for him.

“Teacher!”

Seeing the lively Ji Yang restored, Li An quietly gave her a thumbs-up.

Ji Yang grinned and welcomed him inside. In the living room, Ji Chenguang had already brewed tea.

The temperature was just right.

After taking a sip, Li An commenced the lesson.

Ji Yang first handed in her homework, performing Cramer’s Etude No. 24 on the Little Seven.

She played well; clearly, she had practiced earnestly, sounding like a completely different person from yesterday morning.

After giving his critique, Li An added a few words.

“The purpose of having you practice these etudes isn’t just to train finger independence and the clarity of sound.”

“At the same time, I hope you’ll focus on coordinating your arms, wrists, and fingers.”

“Shifting and transferring weight can give an etude a variety of sound changes and musical depth.”

“So as you play each exercise, approach the keys thoughtfully.”

“Think about the kind of sound you want, the effect you wish to achieve.”

“Do you understand?”

Ji Yang nodded earnestly: “I understand, Teacher—practicing piano requires brains.”

Li An’s face darkened: “I never said you don’t use your brains; I just want you to pay more attention to this aspect.”

Ji Yang bared her teeth: “Got it, got it.”

Li An asked, “How did yesterday afternoon’s lesson go?”

Ji Yang replied, “Pretty well. Teacher Yu said my fingers have improved a lot lately and suggested I play Moonlight Sonata No. 3.”

Li An pondered. “What about yourself?”

Talking about choosing pieces excited Ji Yang. “Teacher, I actually want to play Pathetique No. 3, and I practiced it when preparing for my exams.”

...

“Want to play Pathetique No. 3?”

Almost every piano exam student loves Pathetique No. 3.

Li An understood; he liked it too.

As a fast movement from a Classical-period piano sonata, Pathetique No. 3 has become famous even outside classical circles, being adapted with various elements, used as film soundtracks, background music, and even appearing in music games.

There’s a reason behind its popularity.

Simply put, the theme of Pathetique’s third movement is exceptionally beautiful.

But from an exam perspective, especially for piano performance candidates, choosing Pathetique is by no means wise.

First, despite being played everywhere, that doesn’t mean it’s an easy fast movement.

On the contrary, it demands solid technical skills.

Students capable of mastering this piece generally wouldn’t choose Pathetique No. 3 for their entrance exam repertoire.

Unless…

Unless the student’s time is truly limited.

Or the teacher isn’t thinking clearly.

Secondly, examiners tend to dock points for Pathetique No. 3—something the head of one of the top nine conservatories’ piano departments has said publicly.

Though it might be a bit of an overgeneralization, most examiners genuinely dislike hearing Pathetique No. 3.

Finally, even so, every year many people choose to play it, leading to severe repertoire homogenization and making it hard to distinguish students’ scores.

So.

“Still want to play Pathetique No. 3?”

Ji Yang faltered.

“Try practicing Moonlight No. 3 first and see how it goes.”

Li An made the decision for her.

“Okay, Teacher.”

With Li An’s guidance, Ji Yang felt more confident. The teacher and student began today’s lesson.

Two pedal techniques for the black keys.

“Come, let’s look at the first section. Which places need full pedal?”

Unconsciously, Li An’s tone became more and more like Ji Yang’s main subject teacher. Hu Rong watched for a while before quietly leaving the piano room.

...

On the way home after class, Li An reconsidered Ji Yang’s repertoire for the entrance exam.

There were things he’d chosen not to say earlier.

Pieces like Black Keys, Revolutionary, Winter Wind, Pathetique, Revolutionary, Moonlight—all were overplayed. But compared with Pathetique No. 3, Moonlight No. 3, if well practiced, offered more scoring opportunities.

He was only unsure whether Ji Yang’s left hand could handle Moonlight No. 3.

And given the current situation, it seemed Ji Yang had decided not to study abroad, so which conservatory she wanted to apply to became the family’s next concern.

Better to wait and see how her parents decided.

What he could help with was how to get Ji Yang, at her current level, through Moonlight No. 3.

This was a challenge for Ji Yang, and for him, another kind of challenge.

...

Friday passed quickly, and soon it was Saturday.

On Saturday morning, lessons for the three little ones went fairly smoothly.

Except for Xiao Bei, who was slightly restless.

It was pre-exam syndrome.

Li An provided some psychological counseling for Xiao Bei, then instructed Xiao Bei’s mother to reduce her child’s practice time each day leading up to the exam.

“More outdoor activities will greatly help your child adjust psychologically.”

Xiao Bei’s mother then asked if there were any dress requirements for the mock exam.

Li An smiled and said there was no need to be overly formal, as it would only add unnecessary pressure.

“Just normal attire is fine.”

In the afternoon, Li An had no classes. Alone in his office, he was drafting Song Muzi’s teaching plan when Lao Dong called him to a meeting room.

He’d never attended a Saturday afternoon meeting before. When he arrived, he found he was the only one there.

He casually found a seat and was about to ask in the group chat when Xu Nana walked in.

Li An put down his phone and asked, “What’s going on?”

Xu Nana was momentarily surprised by the question, then immediately realized Li An hadn’t experienced this before.

She smiled and explained, “We’ve got work to do—there’s a stipend.”

Upon hearing about the stipend, Li An was delighted. “A performance?”

Xu Nana shook her head. “Examiner duty.”

The annual mock exam at Blue Sky was staffed by teachers from the four campuses serving as examiners for each other.

Last year, Xu Nana went to the Guangyuan campus.

Soon, Zhang Youwei, Ni Hongjie, Han Zengliang, Jia Lu, Lin Pengfei, and several other young teachers arrived.

Finally, Chen Xuan hurried in.

A faint fragrance drifted through the room as Chen Xuan, out of breath, took a seat beside Li An.

“What’s up?”

“Why are you so out of breath?”

They spoke at the same time.

Just then, Qin Yong walked into the meeting room.

He briefly explained the situation for this year’s mock exam, reminding everyone to reschedule Monday and Tuesday’s lessons in advance.

“Now let’s talk about this year’s exam room assignments.”

His gaze landed on Xu Nana.

“This year, Teacher Xu and Teacher Han will be responsible for the Linyin campus.”