Chapter 27: The Younger Sister Who Plays Piano

Page 1 of 3

Chapter 27: The Sister Who Played Piano

“Not too bad?” Li Jingkun said. “Maybe I know a little more than you do, but it isn’t as if I deliberately set out to make friends or expand my connections or anything like that. It’s just that we’re all classmates, and a friendship like this is hard to come by. Once these two or three years are over, we may find it difficult to see one another again. So if we get along, we should treat each other well.”

“Well said!” Mr. Huang exclaimed, nodding vigorously. “That’s exactly why I told A-Tian to invite you all over for tea whenever you had the time. Classmate relationships really are among the most precious things in life. Once you enter society, you’ll understand.

“Of all the people you meet in society, very few will truly remain your friends. But many friendships formed between classmates during their school days will last a lifetime.”

Mr. Huang was a businessman with considerable experience and insight. Li Jingkun and the others had also read a fair number of books and were beginning to form ideas of their own, so they became increasingly absorbed in the conversation. Before they knew it, quite some time had passed.

Suddenly, someone pushed open the door and interrupted their discussion. Everyone looked up, and the boys’ hearts gave a sudden leap.

A remarkably beautiful and graceful girl had entered from outside. She wore the blue-and-white uniform of City No. 1 High School, her long black hair falling down her back. Her figure was slender and straight.

“Sisi, you’re back? Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat first? I’m about to start making dinner,” Mrs. Huang said.

The moment she saw the girl, Mrs. Huang rose and went to greet her, reaching out to take her schoolbag.

Clearly, this was her daughter—the younger sister of Huang Haotian.

The Aurora Band had been together for more than a year, and everyone knew one another quite well. Yet they had rarely asked about each other’s families. They had seldom discussed what their parents did for a living or how many siblings they had.

But since they were visiting Huang Haotian’s home this time, they had naturally made a point of finding out beforehand, so they would be prepared and would not forget to greet anyone they met.

They had learned that, besides his parents, Huang Haotian also had a grandfather and a younger sister. His sister was a first-year student at their school.

Since the first-year students studied in a different building from the second-years, and since none of them knew her, it was perfectly normal that they had never met.

This, then, was their first time seeing Huang Haotian’s younger sister, Huang Sisi. None of them had expected the girl he had mentioned so casually to be so beautiful.

After seeing her, Li Jingkun, Gao Shun, and Wu Lei exchanged covert glances, their unspoken message clear: Why had Huang Haotian never said his sister was this beautiful?

Then again, if Huang Haotian had gone out of his way to tell them that his sister was beautiful, that would have been rather strange too.

“These are your brother’s classmates… No, I should say, the members of his band. They’ve come over to visit today,” Mrs. Huang introduced them.

“Oh, all right.”

Huang Sisi gave them a brief glance. As she answered her mother, she walked upstairs. Mrs. Huang followed beside her, continuing to talk to her—mostly asking what she wanted to eat later—and the two of them went up to the second floor together.

Not long afterward, Mrs. Huang came back down and told them to continue drinking tea while she measured out the rice and prepared dinner. She urged them to eat plenty when the meal was ready.

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

After a while, Huang Haotian’s grandfather came downstairs as well. He did not say much. At first, he simply kept looking at them and listening intently to their conversation.

Grandfather Huang was evidently quite old. Speaking seemed to require considerable effort, so he rarely opened his mouth.

Naturally, Mr. Huang was not able to sit and chat with them the entire time. He answered several phone calls, and during the last one, he spoke for quite a while before leaving the tea table, apparently to look for some documents in another room.

Gao Shun took over the task of making tea. They had barely had a few cups, however, before they decided to go upstairs and look at Huang Haotian’s room.

They went up to the second floor and wandered around Huang Haotian’s bedroom first. Then they visited his study. Apart from the many books, the most conspicuous thing inside was a drum set.

So, besides the one in their rehearsal room, he had another drum set at home. That certainly made practicing more convenient.

He then brought out two guitars. He had started learning music with the guitar, though he had hardly touched one in recent years.

Li Jingkun and Gao Shun tuned the two guitars and casually strummed a few chords.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of a piano.

It turned out that Huang Haotian’s younger sister, Huang Sisi, was practicing in her own room.

Unlike her brother, Huang Sisi was devoted to the piano.

The soundproofing in Huang Haotian’s home was excellent, and her room was on the other side of the house, so the piano could not be heard very clearly. They had probably caught the faint sound only because her window was open.

Before long, Mrs. Huang called from downstairs to tell them that dinner was ready.

The group went back downstairs, washed their hands, and took their places at the table.

To be honest, they were still somewhat reserved. It was, after all, their first time eating at the Huang family home. But Mr. and Mrs. Huang were warm and welcoming, and Mr. Huang was happy to chat with them, so the atmosphere soon became lively again.

Inevitably, the conversation turned to their performance at the New Year’s Day gala. For most of them, performing onstage was hardly a first. Huang Haotian in particular had been appearing before crowds since elementary school.

This time, however, was the Aurora Band’s first official performance, which gave it a different significance.

“You can write songs too? That’s impressive.”

When they learned that one of the two songs they would perform had been written by Li Jingkun, everyone was surprised. Mr. Huang offered his praise.

Even Huang Sisi looked at him with some surprise.

She knew more about such things than her father did. Although she was a little taken aback, she did not think much of their original song.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

She had watched many competitions in which contestants announced that their next performance would be an original song, only for the result to be disappointing in most cases. As a result, she did not believe the Aurora Band’s song could be particularly good.

“Writing songs isn’t actually that difficult,” Li Jingkun said. “If you know how to play the guitar and compose music, you can write one.”

“It’s just a matter of whether it sounds good or not, right?” Gao Shun added.

“Are you performing on New Year’s Day?” Mrs. Huang asked.

“Yes,” Li Jingkun replied.

“Can we go?” Mrs. Huang was asking Li Jingkun and the others, but she directed her gaze toward Mr. Huang.

“We haven’t found out yet,” Li Jingkun said.

“Don’t parents rarely go?” Huang Haotian said. He actually did not particularly want his family to attend. “There are already so many students. If every student brought their parents, there wouldn’t be enough room.”

“Do you think the school will record it?” Gao Shun asked.

“I haven’t paid attention,” Li Jingkun replied.

“There probably will be a recording, right?” Wu Lei said.

“Was there one last year?” Gao Shun asked Li Jingkun.

Li Jingkun truly had not noticed, but an idea suddenly occurred to him.

“Actually, we could hire someone to record it ourselves.”

“Hire someone ourselves?” Gao Shun asked.

“Right. We only need them to record the two songs we perform. There’s no need to film the entire event,” Li Jingkun said.

The suggestion made the eyes of every Aurora Band member light up.

Mr. Huang, however, asked, “How much would it cost to hire someone to record it?”

End of Chapter