"Professor Fei?" Xu Nianhua said uncertainly.
Su Xi shook her head and said, "Guess again."
Xu Nianhua: "Then, it must be your dad?"
Although her dad always dealt with foreigners, that didn’t mean he had a high talent for languages. She’d better not let her keep guessing. Clearing her throat, Su Xi said, "The first one is my aunt."
This was the first time Su Xi had brought up her aunt. She spoke with admiration, "My aunt learns languages really quickly. She can speak four languages now, and that’s just the ones she’s learned. She picks up each language incredibly fast."
"According to my mom, she’s exceptionally gifted with languages," Su Xi added. There are lots of people who speak English and French, but they all worked hard to get there.
But just the same, someone with a strong language talent like Xu Nianhua learned much faster than others.
"So your aunt is a diplomat?" Xu Nianhua asked.
Su Xi shook her head and said, "My aunt has poor health, so she’s resting at home."
"Oh," Xu Nianhua didn’t ask further.
Su Xi didn’t continue on that topic either, she asked, "By the way, Jiayi told me that your parents came to visit. Why are you still at school? Didn’t you go out and about with them?"
"They’ve gone back," Xu Nianhua felt uncomfortable at the thought of the Gu Family people.
"So soon? It’s rare for them to visit, why not stay a few more days?" As soon as Su Xi asked, she felt she shouldn’t have. Xu Nianhua’s parents came hurriedly and left just as quickly, there must be something going on.
"Yeah, there was something at home."
Xu Nianhua changed the subject, "Why are you practicing piano alone in the classroom?"
"There’s a competition coming up soon, which is why I’ve been practicing alone here." Su Xi explained, "It’s next month. Do you want to come watch?"
Xu Nianhua agreed readily.
"I’ll play the piece I’m performing for the competition," Su Xi said excitedly. Practicing piano alone before had bored her immensely. Now that Xu Nianhua had come, Su Xi wanted to hear her opinion.
Xu Nianhua didn’t understand music, but she thought that the piano piece Su Xi played sounded very moving.
Outside the window, the warm sunlight streamed into the classroom. In front of the piano, two long shadows stretched out by the sunlight, very long...
Xu Nianhua walked back to the dormitory with a light step and first explained to everyone that her parents had some issues to take care of when they came to visit her. Now that things were resolved, they had gone back.
Fei Jiayi said regretfully, "Nianhua, next time you must have your uncle and aunt stay a few more days. We were looking forward to having a meal with them."
"Indeed," Liao Jinling rarely agreed with Fei Jiayi.
"No worries, there will be other chances." Xu Nianhua distributed the items merrily and said, "These are local specialties my parents brought specially, chili sauce."
She had taken a leave of absence a couple of days earlier and hadn’t distributed the items.
"And this ginger vinegar, it’s made by my mom herself. It’s sour, sweet, and a little spicy—really delicious." Xu Nianhua introduced.
Chili sauce and ginger vinegar were given to each person in a small bottle.
"Wow, Nianhua, I love this stuff," Fei Jiayi hugged the chili sauce, saying happily, "This is made by your mom herself. It’s so fragrant."
"Exactly, it’s particularly tasty with noodles," Liao Jinling carefully placed the chili sauce aside. At the start of the school year, everyone had exchanged local specialties; Liao Jinling’s favorite was this bottle of chili sauce. She felt that with it, she didn’t need any other dishes and could enjoy two bowls of rice every day.