"Nianhua?" After Su Xi finished playing a piece, feeling relaxed, she happened to look back and saw Xu Nianhua standing at the classroom door. She stood up happily and asked, "Nianhua, are you looking for me?"
Xu Nianhua came back to her senses and explained, "I was passing by, heard the piano sound beautiful, so I followed the sound here. What you played was really nice to listen to."
"Really?" Su Xi had been complimented by many people who said she had a talent for piano, but, being complimented by Xu Nianhua gave her an extra sense of achievement. She said cheerfully, "What song do you like? I’ll play it for you again."
"Of course it’s true. Listening to your piano music makes me feel peaceful at heart, very comfortable." Xu Nianhua replied earnestly.
The smile in Su Xi’s eyes deepened as she pulled Xu Nianhua to sit in front of the piano and asked, "What song would you like to hear?"
"I don’t know much, anything you play is fine." It was the first time Xu Nianhua had been so close to a piano.
After some thought, Su Xi played "Canon." It was a piece she really liked. Whenever she felt vexed, she would play this song over and over, until her mind settled and calmed.
As the music played, the music classroom was incredibly quiet, so quiet that only the piano notes could be heard.
Xu Nianhua said nothing, just sat quietly by the side, watching Su Xi’s slender fingers dance over the black and white keys, as the music echoed in her mind.
When one piece ended, another followed.
After listening several times, Xu Nianhua suddenly understood that Su Xi was comforting her with the music.
As the last note of the song fell, Xu Nianhua reached out, held her hand, and said, "You don’t need to play anymore, thank you for the comfort."
"Oops, you saw through me." Su Xi stuck out her tongue playfully, and sidelong she asked, "So, did my playing comfort you?"
"Yes." Xu Nianhua felt a warm feeling in her heart at that moment.
With her eyes smiling, Su Xi said, "When I’m feeling down, I like to keep playing this song on repeat until I’m tired. Often I end up forgetting what made me angry in the first place."
"I envy those of you who can play the piano," Xu Nianhua said with a sigh. She and Su Xi actually had a similar way of venting, but while Su Xi liked to play a piece by herself on repeat, she preferred to listen to a single song on loop.
"I also envy how well you speak English," Su Xi said earnestly, taking a long sigh, "You have no idea, my parents have always wanted me to learn English, but I just can’t seem to get it. Aside from everyday conversation, anything deeper and I just can’t learn it."
Su Xi helplessly spread her hands and said, "Maybe I’m just not gifted, as the legend goes?"
"Everyone has their own strengths; for instance, I probably couldn’t play a piano piece like you do for the rest of my life." Xu Nianhua looked at the black and white keys, feeling like her fingers didn’t belong to her as soon as she placed them on the piano.
That thought seemed to balance Su Xi in an instant; it turned out that Xu Nianhua also had her weak points. Su Xi suddenly said, "By the way, speaking of which, my mom has been praising you for being good at French too, saying your language skills are exceptionally high."
"Professor Fei is exaggerating. I’ve only just started learning, and there’s still a lot I don’t understand." Xu Nianhua said modestly.
"No exaggeration, I’m not flattering you at all. My mom says you’re the second person she’s met with such a high linguistic aptitude. Guess who the first one is?" Su Xi looks mysteriously smug.