Chapter 15: Passing the Exam
Liu Man immediately stopped and turned to the three teachers. She looked respectful and reverent. The teachers felt quite warm.
“Do you play any other instruments?” The woman asked her.
Liu Man hadn’t realized that the teacher would’ve asked this question, so she hesitated and thought about it before speaking,
“I know how to play the GuQin.”
The woman was surprised with her response, “You mean, GuZheng?”
TL Note: In China, GuQin and GuZheng are very different. In terms of difficulty, a GuQin is way harder than a GuZheng and in terms of how old the instrument is, GuQin is also older than GuZheng. Meaning not many people play this instrument in modern-day.
“No, the GuZheng is the GuZheng, the GuQin is the GuQin.” Liu Man shook her head.
“Sorry, I don’t know that much about folk music,” The woman smiled, and her eyes shined with interest, “I hope that I’ll be able to get the chance to hear you play the GuQin in the near future.”
After Liu Man left, the associate professor asked the woman, “How did you know Liu Man can play other instruments?”
“Because of my intuition, of course. She’s such a hardworking and interesting girl, I wouldn’t have believed that she would be as boring as the piece she chose. She must’ve put her hard work somewhere else.”
“But we’ve never heard before that she played folk music.”
“Everyone has a joker card,” The woman suddenly thought of something and asked, “Doesn’t Tang Tu’s girlfriend study folk music?”
“Yes, she plays the GuZheng.”
The woman started to think deeply about something.
Liu Man, however, didn’t know about the conversation the teachers had about her. The moment she got out, she was grabbed by Li Xiaoru and Wang Nina to go and eat lunch. Playing the piano was a physical challenge, and so they were all starving.
Because the teachers graded them live, the scores came out in the afternoon. The grade was posted online and Liu Man opened her computer to check in the system.
86.
“I passed, I passed, I passed! How wonderful!” Liu Man’s lips widened. She was so glad that she wanted to jump, finally revealing the vividness of her age.
Li Xiaoru and Wang Nina laughed along with her. They hadn’t seen Liu Man show such a bright smile in such a long time. They were more used to this childish side of her.
“Let’s have a feast tonight to celebrate the passing of your exam,” Wang Nina suggested.
Liu Man remembered her rendezvous with Yu Zhan, that was to receive cat food, “I have to go home tonight. Raincheck? I will pay for the meal.”
“Raincheck, we will definitely remember. Adding onto your promise of a feast when you gain 100 fans, you owe us two feasts!” Li Xiaoru said with a huge grin.
The end of year exam for professions, was the most important one out of all of the exams. After that, there were only a few general knowledge exams and one music theory test. As long as she can memorize the textbook and the guidelines handed out by professors, she would be able to pass.
Liu Man suddenly felt a lot more relaxed than before.
After she finished her last class of the day, she realized that it was still early afternoon, so she rode the subway and headed straight for Yu Zhan’s pet hospital. As she pushed open the glass doors, she saw that all waiting chairs in front of the reception desk were taken, and that there were about seven to eight of them. They were all taken up by women, and if you looked closely, you would be able to see that they were all wearing makeup and attractive attire. It was winter, but even so, they were still wearing skirts and tight sweaters.
Each was holding their own pet in their arms. There were dogs, cats, and bunnies. The few dogs were running around wildly, and the scene seemed a bit crazy.
It was completely different compared to that night’s chillness.
Compared to them, Liu Man was wearing much simpler attire. The light makeup she had put on for the piano exam this morning was almost completely gone. Because she was afraid of the coldness, she had still worn that black long puffer jacket, and had wrapped herself up.
A nurse-like girl behind the front desk glanced at Liu Man and her student-like book bag, walked up to her and asked, “What kind of problem does your pet have? A dog or a cat?”
Liu Man replied, “I’m here for the cat food.”
But to Liu Man’s surprise, the girl said, “We are a pet hospital, not a pet shop. We don’t sell cat food.”
The confident look on the nurse’s face made Liu Man question for a second whether she was in the wrong place or remember the promise between Yu Zhan and her wrongly.
She took a step out of the store just to look at the sign to make sure she was in the right store, and sure enough, there was a big “Zhan” written up there. She walked in again and asked, “You seriously don’t sell cat food?”
TL Note: Zhan as in Yu Zhan, just a reminder~
The nurse looked annoyed and said, “Yes, we’re a hospital. We don’t sell pet food, we don’t give showers, and we don’t give trims.”
She had similar conversations about this everyday, and she was tired of it. Even though they had only opened for a month, the overall rating of their hospital had already been flooded with five stars and 40+ comments. Every single comment started with how great the doctor was, and how hot he was. Lots of female customers were jealous that she could work at his place, and that her boss was so hot. But what’s the use of the boss looking hot if you couldn’t date him anyway.
Seeing the nurse’s attitude, Liu Man left. On the way home, she’d pulled out her phone and texted Yu Zhan, “I just went to your store. Your nurse said that you don’t sell cat food.”
If she knew Yu Zhan had been so unreliable, she would’ve already gone out partying with Li Xiaoru and Nina.
Yu Zhan had just finished a poodle’s sterilization process. He had just taken off his gloves, when he heard his phone vibrate. It was WeChat. The dog owner, a young women also heard it, and she stared at Yu Zhan intensely and asked,
“Can I add your WeChat? If my dog has any problems in the future, then I can contact you.”
“Sorry, but my WeChat contact is private. If you have any problems, then you can call this number.” Yu Zhan said while he handed the woman a business card with his name and phone number on it.
The woman was very disappointed by the rejection of Yu Zhan.
Her house was miles away from this hospital. She had only come here because one of her friends had said that a new hospital opened, and that the shopkeeper was not only overly hot and super kind, but that he also had the skills of a true doctor. So, she then especially came all the way here to bring her baby poodle for its sterilization.
After seeing the doctor himself, she had thought that her friend was one hundred percent correct. The doctor was so hot that she could barely breathe, the surgery was a success, and the dog had no problem. He had a lot of patience with her and always carried a smile. Yet, even so, she still felt pushed away from and distanced from him.
The woman carried her dog out to the lobby. Seeing the other female customers, she wanted to laugh at herself. She was an idiot, a fantasizer. This man must have such high expectations for a woman.
A few minutes passed by, and Liu Man received Yu Zhan’s reply.
“Sorry, the nurse is new, so she doesn’t know how things work here. Wait until work is over, and I’ll deliver the cat food to you.”
Liu Man wasn’t angry anymore, so she replied with a “Alright.”
……
After passing the piano exam, Liu Man felt relaxed all over. She started streaming right after she ate dinner. She hadn’t streamed for two days in a row. So, when she checked the audience list, maybe because she had started early today, her normal fans weren’t online.
After a few minutes, Otaku Boy came online.
“Where did you go off to during these two days? I missed you quite a bit.” – Otaku Boy
“I was preparing for an exam. I finished this morning.”
“I’m a student too, and I just finished a professional course today, the principle of computer composition. Does our girl know it?” – Otaku Boy
“I have no idea, sounds hard though.”
“Haha, since right now, I’m the only viewer, show your face! Just tilt the camera up a little, please? Pleaseee?” – Otaku Boy
Credits: Dora & Kathrien