After the strenuous lunch, Old Zhang’s House was visited by a middle-aged couple.
"Laoer, you are quite early today, have you eaten?" Grandma Zhang asked while holding the middle-aged man’s hand.
The middle-aged man smiled, "Mom, Yinyin and I have already eaten. It’s the weekend, so we came over a bit earlier."
"Mom, these are the lilies I saw at the flower shop just now. They looked fresh, so I bought some," the woman in the white dress, holding hands with the middle-aged man, shyly handed the flowers to Grandma Zhang.
"Look at you, coming all this way and still buying things..."
"Quick, put them in water. I always feel like there’s a burnt smell at home. Did you smell it?" Elder Zhang took the flowers. "Wife, where’s the vase?"
"It’s on the dining table," Grandma Zhang said, covering her mouth and giggling.
"I’ve been wanting to ask, why is there a burnt smell in the house?" the middle-aged man asked while changing his shoes.
"This..." Grandma Zhang glanced at the study, saw a few little heads shrinking back, and suppressed a smile before saying, "It’s inevitable to make mistakes the first time one cooks. Come on in."
The middle-aged man followed Grandma Zhang’s gaze and didn’t miss the fuzzy little heads: "Pfft—well, when Xiao Ye first cooked, he also burnt through the bottom of the pot—that’s normal."
"The scent of flowers is really nice, otherwise I always feel like there are eggs on the paper and in the fruit," Elder Zhang said deeply inhaling, after arranging the flowers.
Grandma Zhang watched her husband’s unyouthful behavior and gently shook her head, laughing, "It’s all the burnt smell; you can’t smell eggs. Always talking nonsense, come on and take Laoer and Yinyin to meet the children."
Elder Zhang, unconvinced, glared as he led the two to the study: "This is my second son, the one teaching you English, and this is my daughter-in-law, a music teacher with eighth-level piano skills."
"..." She just mentioned it casually, and out came a piano teacher?
"My name is Zhang Aijun, this is my wife Zhou Yinyin, nice to meet you," Zhang Aijun paused, then asked in English, "How old are you all?"
"Ten years old." Luo Shufan stuttered in English, barely understanding what Zhang Aijun had asked—clearly, as his sister said, listening skills are indeed very important.
"..." He Wenyu may be glad to meet you, but could you please speak something she can understand?
"Woof woof." Luo Qianqian understood the question but was really not interested in English.
"......." Luo Shufan and He Wenyu declared they didn’t know this person.
"Hahaha, this child is interesting, much more fun than Xiao Ye when he was little," Zhang Aijun pointed at Luo Qianqian and laughed heartily.
"Yinyin, this ’woof woof’ is the one who wants to learn piano; the other little girl is interested in the Guzheng," Elder Zhang quietly interjected.
"Then I’ll start from the beginning with her, Dad, have you taught these little ones the Hanyu Pinyin yet?" Zhang Aijun glanced at the whiteboard quietly placed in the study, assuming it was a new device his dad had bought.
"Not yet, we just did a test today. The Little One should be fine; the older one probably has no basis," Elder Zhang thought about the scene of writing essays and said.
"Now we can only learn the 26 letters first, then I might as well teach the Hanyu Pinyin initials and finals together," Zhang Aijun said.
What do you mean by Little One??? Educating them jointly, aren’t you afraid it will all get mixed up??? Aren’t you scared of the pronunciation issues like ’ABCD’?
"Alphabet? I know it; I’ll just practice writing then..." Luo Qianqian declared she would avoid learning if possible—she was, after all, a dignified descendant of Huaxia.
"You know it, then you go talk about the piano issues with Yinyin in the living room," Elder Zhang waved them off, letting them pass.
"I’m tone-deaf, and I sing off-key..." Luo Qianqian protested as Zhou Yinyin gently led her out of the study, not to disturb Zhang Aijun’s teaching anymore.
"How do you know you’re tone-deaf? Can you sing a song for Auntie?" Zhou Yinyin asked gently, Luo Qianqian, unable to show her stubbornness, obediently stood in front of Zhou Yinyin.
"Singing I can do... But Auntie, isn’t being tone-deaf something one would know for themselves? As soon as I start singing, it’s obvious..." Luo Qianqian faced Zhou Yinyin and seriously stated.
"Auntie wants to hear how you go off-key, just sing a couple of lines," Zhou Yinyin sat on the sofa but still kept her back straight, her artistic temperament captivating.
"Well, Auntie, don’t ask me for compensation for your mental distress after listening..."
"English and all that can just die."
"I want to go home to my mom."
"Even if the wind and waves get big,"
"I still have my mom."
"People of black and white races don’t understand how beautiful Chinese is."
"They even say Huaxia needs to internationalize."
"I can’t deal with it anymore, going home to find mom."
"My triangle was occupied."
"sheep sleep get to sleep quickly."
"Holding my head up, watching the clouds, enjoying the breeze, humming music,"
"I’m enjoying myself."
"Besides, it’s not easy for me."
"Having studied Chinese and math, now I have to study English."
"Sorry, next life I’m definitely being born a foreigner."
"Let’s stop here, today I want to be happy" (melody reference "Go to hell with all that exam stuff"). Luo Qianqian in her past life also frequented KTV and remembered most of the pop songs, although they might not be in the original tune.
"....." Four heads popped out from the study and one from the kitchen, Zhou Yinyin herself also widened her eyes.
It wasn’t because of the peculiar lyrics, but because they had never heard the melody before.
"What song is this?" Zhou Yinyin asked the question everyone wanted to ask.
"It’s just..." Luo Qianqian suddenly stopped, clamped her mouth shut; where could this tune possibly be from now, it was a pop song from a past life: "It’s just from a dream,, heard it in a dream."
"Having a lot of ideas has something to do with dreaming?" Luo Shufan asked, touching his head. He often dreamed too, but once awake, he could not remember anything from the dreams. Not to mention remembering an image or a song . Could his sister really be a genius? Is that why she could remember things from her dreams?
"Brother Jun, Dad, Mom,, I’ll go home first to record the melody, then ask my classmates about this piece," Zhou Yinyin said as she held Luo Qianqian’s hand, her face flushed with excitement.
"Yeah, okay, make sure to bring the kid back after you’re done recording," Zhang Aijun knew his wife was obsessed with music and liberal in letting her go.
"No way, wherever sister goes, I have to go,, I can’t explain it to Mom if something happens to her again," Luo Shufan quickly grabbed his sister’s hand, his face full of vigilance as he saw Zhou Yinyin trying to take his sister away.
"..." Zhou Yinyin looked helplessly at Elder Zhang and Zhang Aijun.
"Junzi, it’s not right to take any one of these kids away alone, they must be together. Something just happened, so they are not going to be separated... Why don’t you go home and bring Yinyin’s music score book back?"
"...Alright." Thinking it wasn’t far up and down the stairs, Zhang Aijun put on his shoes and prepared to leave.
"Then bring the piano down too," Zhou Yinyin added.
Zhang Aijun’s steps faltered in an instant: "What the heck?"
"The piano. How will I know if the melody is right or how to handle the chords if I don’t play it?" Zhou Yinyin held onto Luo Qianqian’s hand and didn’t let go.
"I feel like it would be easier to just bring the three kids upstairs," Zhang Aijun said with a pained expression, looking at his serious-faced wife.