Yan looked at Soujin with a dark face. "When exactly did Jun Min tell you about his sister?"
"When we were fighting," Soujin answered. "Besides, these arts are not that important once you're married."
Ming Hui nodded. "Only a few of them will continue to use it to please their husbands."
"Ming Hui, you're not allowed to participate in this conversation."
"Why?"
Soujin let the two people banter as he looked at the stage calmly. The test was about to begin.
The first test was for the girls. They all lined up to get their draw before returning to their seat. Jun Hua stared at the word on her paper.
Music
"Jun Hua, what did you get? I got music," Fan Lanying asked excitedly.
Jun Hua shows her paper. "I got the same as you."
"Then when is your turn?"
"I got... the first."
Jun Hua sighed. It seems that she will have to stand first and become the laughingstock of the people in the capital. After the girls had finished their draw, those who got drawing will start first as the one who got music play their pieces.
"Jun Hua."
Jun Hua went up the stage. As she walked, many people's gazes are pointed towards her. They could see a petite girl walking. Although Jun Hua kept wearing her veil, people know that she was a really pretty girl. Most of the men were lamenting why she didn't open up her veil and let them see her face? They wanted to!
Jun Hua headed towards the zither and took a seat before it. Although she knows that she cannot play well, she has to at least play her best. She never liked the string musical instrument, but the girls needed to learn them so she had no choice.
Jun Hua placed her hand on top of the zither and her fingers started to move. Her movements were still stiff and rough, but she could remember the notes clearly. She picked one of the songs she had used to play for her practice. The song was not long, but it still consists of a lot of notes.
Her fingers moved across the zither, but she could not play it smoothly as there were still some tempo messed up and a few notes wrong. Her play cannot be considered good, but it's not too bad either. Compared to when she first learnt the musical instrument, she had improved a lot. But for the people in the hall, she played really bad.
"Is this the standard of the academy?"
"It's really bad."
"Can she play properly?"
Fan Lanying didn't bother with the whispering around her as she clapped earnestly after the song was finished. The others look at her with derision and didn't follow suit. Surprisingly, there were a few people who clapped, Ming Hui, Yan, Soujin, and Lin San.
"Why did you clap too?" Yan asked his best friend.
"She's not as bad as the rumors said," Soujin answered.
Lin San clapped because she knew about the work Jun Hua had put in. The little girl who once didn't know how to play at all can now play an entire song with little mistakes. For her, it was an amazing feat. Although she had to paint a picture, she still spared some time to listen to her performances. After the setbacks she had experienced, she no longer chased after Jun Min and went against Jun Hua anymore.
Jun Hua didn't mind it and bowed towards the audience after she was done. She walked back to her chair and Fan Lanying gave her thumbs up.
"Thank you."
"You're not that bad," Fan Lanying said. "There is still a lot you can improve."
After Jun Hua, another girl came up and played another song. The girl was far more skilled than Jun Hua and completely captured the audience attention. With their skills as comparison, the people's view of Jun Hua kept on decreasing. Other than her beautiful face, what did she have?
Fan Lanying's turn came after that. She went up to the stage and sat before the zither. Her eyes looked at Ming Hui and she smiled. After that, she started playing.
"She just looked at you, didn't she?"
"Shut up and listen," Ming Hui clearly saw the look Fan Lanying threw her. She knows that Fan Lanying wanted to say something, but she doesn't know what.
Fan Lanying started to play the music. She had been practicing and the song she picked was a song telling a story about two people falling in love. In a sense, it's the same song as the one Ming Hui chose to play.
Hearing the song, Ming Hui remembered her birthday party. She now understands that Fan Lanying had wanted to give her a present of playing a song. Since the party had been interrupted before, she hadn't gotten the chance to. Now that she can play on the test naturally, she would show her present to her.
Fan Lanying's playng has improved by leaps and bounds. Similar with Jun Hua who kept on practicing her embroidery, Fan Lanying also kept on practicing her music aside from her training. The way she plays can be considered as one of the best. Of course, it would only apply for this one song since Fan Lanying only practiced this song these past few weeks.
When the song ended, there were more people clapping since the playing was really good. Jun Hua included, she was happy for her friend for getting such a good result.
Fan Lanying bowed and hurriedly returned to her seat.
"Do you think she heard it? Will she like it?"
Jun Hua nodded. "I'm sure she will. You play really well."
"That's a relief," Fan Lanying smiled happily. She hopes that Ming Hui will love her present.
