Zhou Zhou's eyes widened. Thinking that he had made a mistake, he rubbed his eyes and turned to look again...
The girl was dressed in a light blue sports attire. Her familiar hazy eyes also turned in his direction following his voice. Their gazes locked. Zhou Zhou sucked in a deep breath in shock.
With Sister Xi here, why did the Xue family use all sorts of methods and even pulled strings to seek me out?
The servant standing beside him explained, "Mr. Zhou heard the piano music when he arrived and so he came over..."
Zhou Zhou was the Xue family's most important guest today. Hence, Liu Yiqiu had ordered the servant to definitely treat him with courtesy.
Therefore, the servant could not stop him when he said that he wanted to come up, resulting in the current scenario.
Since he was already here, Liu Yiqiu could do nothing—not that she minded, anyway. Still, why does Mr. Zhou keep staring at Xue Xi? Don't tell me he fancies and is lusting over her because this lass is very pretty?
She frowned and glanced surreptitiously at Xue Yao. As expected of her biological daughter, the latter immediately understood what she meant and promptly took a side-step, using herself to block Xue Xi from Zhou Zhou's view!
Liu Yiqiu quickly moved toward him with a huge smile. "Mr. Zhou, it is such an honor for you to grace our humble abode with your presence! Shall we have some tea downstairs while we let the children prepare themselves before we proceed with the assessments?"
She had already informed Zhou Zhou beforehand about the addition of a few more people for the assessment.
But, to assess Sister Xi?
Zhou Zhou gulped. "No. No need."
Liu Yiqiu paused. "No need for tea? Then, shall we start the assessment now?"
She had already heard before that Zhou Zhou was the type to cut to the chase without wasting time, but she did not expect him to be this hasty.
Since that was the case, she decided to go straight to introductions. "Alright, then, let me introduce to you the four people taking the assessment today."
She pointed at Xue Yao and said, "This is my daughter, Xue Yao. She has already passed Grade 10 in Piano and she is looking to further her studies under your tutelage. She is a hardworking person and she is good in her studies. You can take your time to test her on her skills! Yaoyao, go play a piece first."
Xue Yao promptly stepped forward and said in an obedient and humble manner, "Mr. Zhou, I hope you will give me a chance!"
She then moved over to the piano and took a deep breath before playing the music piece she had practiced fluently.
The music resounded in the air smoothly.
Zhou Zhou finally regained his senses too. While listening, he occasionally sneaked glances at Xue Xi.
Meanwhile, after Liu Yiqiu had finished introducing Xue Yao, she turned to look at Madam Xia. When she saw the latter giving her an ingratiating gaze, her lips curled into a smile.
Madam Xia was a well-known socialite in Bin City. She was prideful and difficult to get along with. Both the Xue and Liu families were considered the mid-upper range in terms of wealth, but they were still a far step away from being considered part of the real high society.
There was a charity ball happening in a few days. If Madam Xia invited her to attend it, it could be said that she had successfully entered high society.
This would prove to be extremely advantageous when her husband tries to inherit the Xue family and fight for the inheritance!
When she thought of this, she took a glance at Ye Li.
Ye Li was akin to an invisible person in an event like today's. Madam Xia had not deigned to even glance at her since she stepped into the house, not to mention speak to her.
As she was thinking this, Xue Yao finished playing. She stood up and looked at Zhou Zhou.
Liu Yiqiu also asked, "Mr. Zhou, what do you think?"
Not much, he criticized silently. But this person is Sister Xi's sister, right?
On Sister Xi's account, he coughed and said, "Decent."
Xue Yao promptly lifted her chin at this.
Zhou Zhou was famous for being strict among pianists. To be able to attain a "decent" from him meant that she would definitely be accepted as his disciple!
Liu Yiqiu repressed her joy inside, then pointed at Xia Yiyi, saying, "This is the Xia family's little miss. Her talent at the piano is unparalleled. Ms. Xia had already obtained a Grade 10 at the age of ten. However, it is with huge regret that she became deaf and mute after becoming gravely ill at the age of ten."
So what if she had to admit that Xue Yao was inferior?
This was a deaf and mute person. Other than relatives, who else would be willing to waste the time and effort to teach her?
Madam Xia's face dimmed when she heard the last sentence. Still, she did not blame Liu Yiqiu as this was something that had to be made known beforehand.
Madam Xia spoke in sign language to Xia Yiyi and the girl instantly understood. She then played the music piece according to Xue Xi's instruction.
After listening, Zhou Zhou gave a two-word evaluation: "A pity."
There was only one Beethoven in this world!
Teaching a deaf and mute person was exceedingly difficult. The young lady was indeed very talented, but Zhou Zhou had no intention to do charity.
These two words sealed her fate of not being accepted.
Madam Xia and Xia Yiyi both revealed looks of disappointment.
Liu Yiqiu also heaved a huge sigh of relief. Now that her greatest threat was no more, she pointed at Sun Ruoruo and said, "This is Ms. Sun. We are relatives and she is rather good at piano."
Sun Ruoruo's playing was even more average.
If it were under usual circumstances, he would have already spat on it so much that the other party would be doubting their own existence. Alas, with Sister Xi around, he only shook his head and did not dare comment.
After the three of them were done, Liu Yiqiu then said, "This is Xue Xi. She has never learned the piano before."
She'd intended to dismiss Xue Xi with just this once sentence to speak more on behalf of Xue Yao. However, Ye Li quickly took a step forward and said, "Our Xixi is very talented in learning. She learns everything very quickly, so can you please give her a chance, Mr. Zhou?"
Liu Yiqiu sighed. "Elder Sister-in-law, I know that you are anxious, but Xixi is too far behind."
Just as Ye Li wanted to say something more to catch a sliver of a chance, Zhou Zhou's shocked voice reverberated. "Never learned the piano before?"
How can that be?!
Sister Xi's attainments at the piano have definitely surpassed mine.
At his huge reaction, Liu Yiqiu quickly added oil to the fire. "Yes, Mr. Zhou. Xixi actually grew up in an orphanage, and it is impossible for there to be piano teachers there. Also, this child is a little slow when it comes to emotions, so it will be a tall task for her to resonate with music. Sigh!"
Zhou Zhou was dumbstruck. "Orphanage? It is impossible for there to be piano teachers there..."
Liu Yiqiu found his tone to be a little queer.
Seeing the situation, Xue Yao spoke up in hypocrisy. "Mr. Zhou, I understand that it is an insult to you to let a person who has never touched the piano attend your assessment~"
She then turned to look at Xue Xi. "Sister, if you are really interested, shall I teach you instead?"
No matter what, being a kind person will never go wrong, right?
Just as she thought this, she saw the world-renowned pianist, Mr. Zhou Zhou, push aside everyone before him and rush to Xue Xi, shouting, "Sister Xi, you have really never learned the piano before?"
"..."
Everyone in the living room on the second floor was stupefied. They all turned to look at Zhou Zhou and Xue Xi in disbelief.
Did they hear wrongly?
What did Zhou Zhou call Xue Xi?
Details? West Street? It can't possibly be... Sister Xi, right? [1]
[1] This is a play on the intonation of Chinese characters. In Chinese, the phonetic notations are:
'Sister Xi' = 'xī jiě';
'Details' = 'xì jié'; and
'West Street' = 'xī jiē'.