Spring has arrived.

Sweet as it was, even though everyone knew that Ji Yang was now following him to learn piano, he couldn’t bring himself to say it outright. That was something you had to let others say for you.

Li An swallowed the orange in his mouth and asked, “You want me to be your main teacher?”

Ji Yang nodded vigorously.

Li An narrowed his eyes and pondered for a while. He still couldn’t lay his cards on the table. Although he wanted to take Ji Yang under his wing, he couldn’t encourage Ji Yang to go talk to his parents—what if something slipped, and it looked like he was scheming?

“We’ll see. Your parents haven’t told you anything about changing teachers, have they? Maybe they haven’t decided yet, so don’t worry about anything else. Just focus on practicing the piano—that’s what matters.”

After a pause, Li An added, “Aren’t you in my class right now, anyway?”

Ji Yang pouted. “But you’re only my practice coach in name. What if you leave one day? Or if I get a new main teacher, and they assign me a new coach—what then?”

So that’s what’s on her mind.

Understanding Ji Yang’s thoughts, Li An soothed her, “Just practice your piano with peace of mind—don’t worry about anything else. I promise I’ll see you through this entire art exam stage.”

Li An was confident Ji Yang’s parents wouldn’t replace him at this critical time; that would just be making things difficult for themselves.

Ji Yang’s heart was just about to settle, when she suddenly realized something. “What about after the art exam?”

“Silly girl, after the art exam you’ll need to start preparing for your academic courses.”

[Ji Yang’s student-teacher index has risen to 83]

...

After sending Li An off, Ji Chenguang asked his daughter, “How was today’s lesson?”

Ji Yang gave a brief answer and then, in a serious tone, asked, “Dad, where do you and Mom want me to apply?”

Taking advantage of her mother’s absence, she decided to take the initiative and discuss it with her father first.

Seeing his daughter broach the subject, Ji Chenguang didn’t hold back. “Yangyang, we don’t plan to have you continue learning from Professor Yu.”

Ji Yang had already guessed as much. “And then?”

Ji Chenguang replied, “Your mother and I want to ask Teacher Li to help us get in touch with Teacher Wei.”

Ji Yang hesitated. If she applied to the Rongcheng Conservatory of Music, it meant she could keep learning piano from Li An during college. Plus, since Li An was Teacher Wei’s student, her practice coach wouldn’t change.

But then... wouldn’t that make her Li An’s junior? That would put them in different generations…

...

Li An had no idea what kind of secret storm was brewing around him.

Stepping out of Ji Yang’s home, he pulled out his phone and texted Chen Xuan: “I’m done here.”

Half an hour earlier, Chen Xuan had messaged him that she’d finished arranging the sheet music for Kiki’s Delivery Service, and as a thank you wanted to treat him to dinner.

That evening, guided by Chen Xuan, they went to a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant behind Harmony Plaza.

Mapo tofu was their mutual favorite, a must-order dish.

“Let’s get a spicy hotpot too.”

“And stir-fried cured pork with garlic sprouts.”

Chen Xuan hesitated over what else to order, but Li An quickly said that was enough.

“No more—let’s not waste food.”

The woman taking their order chimed in, saying their portions were large. Seeing this, Chen Xuan closed the menu and ordered three bowls of rice.

“Wait a second,” Li An called after the woman, “no cilantro in our dishes, please. Thank you.”

Hearing Li An’s reminder, Chen Xuan felt a sweet warmth in her heart.

While waiting for the food, she took out a staff notebook from her bag and handed it to Li An.

Li An flipped through it. Though he didn’t know much about flute orchestration, just reading the score he could imagine the aural effect of the flute. Looking it over, he found that Chen Xuan had essentially reproduced the harmonic effects he’d conceived two nights before.

“Let’s try rehearsing it.”

“We can always adjust things later based on how it goes in practice.”

Li An closed the notebook and set it aside.

Chen Xuan nodded. “Do you have any thoughts about our joint performance?”

Li An tapped his fingers on the wooden table for a while, then mused, “I’ve been thinking about it on the way here—seven minutes is really only enough for a short piece.”

Chen Xuan, after finishing her work that evening, had been pondering the same question, reaching the same conclusion as Li An.

When Qin Yong first told them to prepare a joint program, a flood of ideas had come to mind. But then Qin Yong added that they should pay attention to time limits.

Given the concert’s theme, it made sense—they both understood.

Usually, when piano and flute share a stage, the piano serves as accompaniment and the flute as the soloist.

“Let’s pick a flute miniature.”

Li An thought it might be best to keep it simple—let Chen Xuan choose a flute piece she liked, and he’d accompany her.

“Is that our only option?” Chen Xuan sighed.

Li An replied, “What’s wrong with that? As long as we pick the right piece, what matters is how we present it together.”

“Then—” Chen Xuan drew out her words, “You pick the piece.”

Li An laughed. “So whatever I tell you to play, you’ll play?”

Chen Xuan nodded.

“Spring Has Come.”

Li An had already made up his mind. He’d always loved this flute piece: its melody was graceful and expansive, and its stage presence rich.

And to be honest, he wanted to hear Chen Xuan play it.

“You like that one?” Chen Xuan was surprised. She had played Spring Has Come back in high school, and hearing Li An mention it brought a flood of memories. Back then, she’d been moved by the piece’s sense of awakening life, and was obsessed with it for a long time. But as she prepared for her college entrance exams, with more and more pieces to learn, she gradually forgot about it.

“Yeah, I want to hear you play it,” Li An said earnestly, nodding.

Chen Xuan reminisced, “I really loved that piece in high school. I used to wonder who’d be my piano accompanist someday.”

Li An smiled and moved aside as the waiter set a steaming spicy hotpot in the center of the table.

They dug in.

“Tastes great. Have you been here before?”

“No, I found this place on an app last time. The reviews were all positive.”

Before long, Li An had already finished two bowls of rice.

After an ample meal, both felt a bit stuffed. Leaving the restaurant, they didn’t rush home.

“Shall we take a walk to digest?”

“Sure.”

Under the faint evening breeze and the soft streetlights, they chatted about everything from classical to jazz, from jazz to Piazzolla, and then back to Spring Has Come.

They circled Yudong several times before returning to the entrance of their apartment complex.

After the elevator ride, they wished each other good night and entered their own apartments.

Back home, Li An opened his computer and started searching for the piano accompaniment to Spring Has Come.

Chen Xuan, upon entering, picked up her flute from the sofa and quietly tried out a few bars.

Both were filled with a certain anticipation.

Just like the title of the piece.

The next morning, as soon as Li An arrived at Yudong, he asked Wang Meili to make him a copy of the score, then buried himself in the classroom.

Chen Xuan clocked in but didn’t even return to the office; she went straight to the classroom as well.

Around nine, Qin Yong stepped out of the elevator. Hearing music coming from the west side of the teaching building, he thought to himself, “What a great choice of piece.”

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out for a look.

Taozi: I’m on the plane.

—

Spring has come.