The Blue and White Porcelain captured Han Sha, who still was steeped in the sad and beautiful love story after the music stopped.
She regained her composure after a long time and turned to Song Yan. "You are really good at playing piano. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, that's because I always keep a low profile," he answered as he tossed back his hair, looking rather proud.
"You always keep a low profile?" she snorted. "Everyone at Shengye Middle School knows you. You helped the policemen catch two wanted men. You kicked Mr. Yan to the junior middle school. If I offend you one day, will you kick me to the primary school?"
"Come on, Miss Han," he got anxious at her words and tried to explain. "I won't…"
She couldn't help a suppressed giggle, and then he realized that she was making fun of him. He sighed with faked sadness.
"Okay, well, you're allowed to take a day off. Since you're so killed in playing piano, you must win the competition, otherwise I'll punish you to clean the toilet," she said in a serious tone.
"Come on, Miss Han, why are you being so mean?"
…
9 AM, the next day
Song Yan appeared in front of the teaching building of Xiangcheng Academy of Music, the place for the initial audition of Xiangcheng Piano Competition.
A red banner was hanging on the wall, and there were two desks in front of the building. Four staff were distributing number plates.
Zheng Yun told him yesterday that about 800 people had signed up for the competition. Ten classrooms were arranged for initial audition and there were three judges in each classroom. Players with three votes could pass the initial audition, while those with two would be yet to be determined.
Song Yan went up to a staff, told him his name and ID number and got a number of 768. "7" stands for Classroom No. 7 and "68" stands for the sequence of performance.
The audition would be begun at 9:30 AM. Song Yan learned the address of Classroom No. 7 from the staff and walked right there.
The door of Classroom Number 7 was shut. Apparently, the judges hadn't come yet. Most players were waiting outside the classroom. As a result, the corridor was very crowded.
"Hey, bro, what's your name? You came here alone, huh?" An ugly young man with long hair greeted Song Yan warmly. He was at his mid-20's, standing 180 cm tall.
He is at his mid-20's, standing 180 cm tall. His face has well-defined angles — his forehead, cheeks and jawline. He's not the type that you would notice in a crowd, but he's not bad-looking either.
"Yeah, I came here alone. My name is Song Yan, and you go by?" Song Yan answered politely.
"I'm Xia Xiang, a musician. Here's my name card." He handed Song Yan a fine name card with both hands.
"Thank you," Song Yan took it over and said, "I'm a student, and I have no name card."
Xia Xiang was quite a chatty person. Before Song Yan could say something, Xia began to talk about his stories. He has fallen in love with music since a senior high school student. While he was in university, he started a band with several friends of like mind.
The band had been dismissed after graduation because the members drifted apart to make a living. Xia Xiang, however, hadn't given up on his dream of music. He had taken part in several talent shows in recent two years, and once entered the semi-finals. Without handsome face and a good voice, he had gone no further.