Chapter 45 Part 1: The Crossroad in the Maze
Yu Zhou Zhou never understood why Lin Yang always stood by her side. It was only later, when the three of them raised their heads to look at Teacher Yu together, did Yu Zhou Zhou realize Lin Yang’s importance.
Teacher Yu beamed as Lin Yang spoke eloquently about the whole process of how the mysterious, unfamiliar kid deceived the three of them. He also spoke in detail of the fierce mental struggle they had – Yu Zhou Zhou was convinced that it was a scam whereas Lin Yang and Zhan Yan Fei were only half convinced and decided to wait a little longer – hence they waited straight until school ended.
Zhan Yan Fei had her head lowered the entire time in fear while Yu Zhou Zhou’s mouth twitched for a long time.
Lin Yang, of the two of us, which one is the liar?
Actually, Yu Zhou Zhou knew that the success rate of lying wasn’t completely dependent on being a good speaker and being able to adapt on the spot – whether or not the lie was smart is completely dependent on who the person lying is.
Even if Lin Yang said that the three of them were actually captured by aliens then rescued by Sailor Moon, perhaps Teacher Yu would just say, “Ah, Sailor Moon is really a good person”, ignore their disorderly and wet jackets and pat Lin Yang’s head while praising him for being smart with a smile.
Yu Zhou Zhou turned her head slightly to look at Lin Yang who was perfectly calm and collected and smiled faintly.
He wasn’t as simple as she had thought. He always knew he had the natural ability to influence and become close with others and had been learning and and trying to figure out how to use it. It was just like when he was much smaller, how he pleaded with the sister on duty for Yu Zhou Zhou or at the current moment when he clearly saw their panic hence stayed and came forward to speak nonsense.
Lin Yang’s conversation with Teacher Yu had long passed the topic of skipping class and had entered into the topics of “entering middle school”, “the Maths Olympiad exam”, “you’ll definitely be able to get into Qinghua and Beida in the future” “Teacher Zhang is very proud whenever you are mentioned” and so on. Lin Yang smiled obediently while Yu Zhou Zhou and Zhan Yan Fei stood awkwardly on the side, becoming silent background colours.
“Look how smart and sensible you are, if my son was like you then I’d be burning incense! You’re nothing like our class, after the competition results came out, only Xu Di was able to enter the semi-finals alone. These kids are all dumb, they’ve all been eliminated.
Yu Zhou Zhou raised her head up suddenly.
The results had already come out, this fast?
She had long known that she did badly but no matter how gloomy she felt inside, at least she still carried a sliver of hope, just like a protagonist who was forced into a desperate situation and was expecting a miracle. But now, she wasn’t ill at ease nor uncomfortable from the anxiousness, everything had returned to a deathly silence.
Their unbridled wildness in the snow had been squeezed into power by the grey marble tiles and snow white walls of the school building, it floated into the snow and disappeared.
Last Sunday, Teacher Shen had formally mentioned the matter of going to Shanghai Music Affiliated Middle School to her.
“Teacher Gu had said to many times that although your finger conditions aren’t particularly unique, but they are very agile plus, you are willing to work hard. He hoped that you can prepare for the tenth grade exam this summer while preparing for the music school exam. This is also considered his last wish.”
Yu Zhou Zhou never talked about this matter with her mum, she didn’t know what she was avoiding.
She suddenly remembered the day with the sister who incessantly rubbed rosin onto her violin bow. Her appearance had become blurry but her voice lingered in her mind. “I’ve known for a long time that I’m not Mozart.”
“In this profession, how many can become masters?”
“Anyway, I’m not good at studying. If I don’t get into a good high school, I might as well go to an art school or music school. At the very worst, I can get into a music school, study for a few years then join an orchestra after graduating. The job is stable plus I can also be a teacher and recruit students – you may not know but being a music teacher is very profitable! My mum says that as long as I work hard, at least I won’t be doomed.”
Yu Zhou Zhou leaned on her cello and lightly asked, “That’s it?”
“What else do you want?” The girl sized her and her cello up, “This is already good enough, who do you think you are? How many Yo-Yo Ma’s* are there in the world?”
*[A famous cellist]
Yu Zhou Zhou shook her head and didn’t argue.
That pathway was good but she didn’t like it.
Teacher Gu wouldn’t lead her on the wrong path but there was more than one right path. At least she didn’t want this one.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like playing the cello, but she wasn’t passionate about it. It felt like the path that’ll follow after taking the exam for the music school could be clearly seen to the end at a glance. Her future had always been unclear but she had never panicked about it, instead, she was full of longing.
Even though she had once fantasized about entering the world of Slam Dunk, one day wearing the Sailor Moon costume that made one a little shy and holding Simic’s hand as they sat on the rainbow together to challenge the Demon Mountain… but actually, all of these couldn’t compare to Yu Zhou Zhou’s own world.
Her story had not yet begun. Ben Ben had said before, Zhou Zhou, you will definitely become the most amazing person.
She didn’t know what the most amazing person looked like.
But it definitely wasn’t this.Â
T/N: Sorry for the delay! There’s been a lot happening at the moment so I haven’t been able to keep to my regular schedule. The second part of this chapter will be posted in a few days and I’ll hopefully be able to resume posting weekly again soon.
If you’d like to treat me to a coffee, you can do so here: Ko-fi.com/tofubyu 🙂
Tofubyu 