Chapter 48: The Hua School of Guzheng

In this world, the most popular musical instruments are the guitar, followed by the piano and flute, while the guzheng ranks lower.

However, the guzheng isn’t unpopular; it’s just too difficult to learn.

To begin with, keeping both hands suspended steadily above the instrument is something not everyone can do. Unlike the violin, which uses a bow to draw the strings, the guzheng requires fingers to pluck the strings. After a performance, it’s common for people to experience finger soreness.

Those with weaker finger strength may struggle to produce the desired sound due to insufficient force.

Sitting beside a tea table, Xia Yu carefully watched Kong Hanyue perform.

The guzheng practice piece was truly basic, much simpler than the Czerny etudes used in piano training, and didn’t require complex finger techniques.

This exercise also had a name: “Iron Pipe.”

A modern guzheng master created this piece. Regarding the name, the master’s original words were: “Once you master this piece, your guzheng playing will sound as good as striking iron pipes.”

This piece had no aesthetic appeal, merely hollow sounds.

After finishing the exercise, Kong Hanyue looked at Xia Yu: “It seems pretty simple, right? Why don’t you give it a try?”

Xia Yu then approached the guzheng. He closed his eyes and first recalled the techniques in his mind.

Five seconds later, he took out his phone, placed the score of the “Iron Pipe” exercise in front of him, and picked up the artificial fingerpicks on the table, carefully taping each one onto his fingers.

The guzheng’s strings were thin, and playing directly with bare fingers could easily cause injury, so musicians typically wore fingerpicks while performing.

There were eight fingerpicks in total; the two little fingers weren’t used during performance, so they didn’t need fingerpicks.

Once everything was ready, Xia Yu suspended his hands above the strings.

Looking at the score displayed on his phone, he played the first note.

A mischievous grin appeared on Kong Hanyue’s face as she waited for Xia Yu to embarrass himself.

She knew Xia Yu’s situation well. She was sure he didn’t actually own a guzheng, probably just watched some online videos and assumed that with his piano and violin background, he could easily pick it up.

Reality would show him just how difficult the guzheng really was!

Confidently, Kong Hanyue was already thinking about how to tease Xia Yu first when he failed and then comfort him, letting him feel a mother’s warmth, and then persuading him to obediently follow her arrangement to study in Yaoguang City.

However, her slightly smug expression gradually disappeared as Xia Yu’s fingers danced across the strings.

The “Iron Pipe” exercise was too simple, so Xia Yu was able to play it after just one glance.

By the time Xia Yu reached the middle section, Kong Hanyue realized this piece posed no difficulty for him at all.

Before he even finished playing, Kong Hanyue grabbed Xia Yu’s hand.

“You must have secretly learned from someone else!” Kong Hanyue refused to believe Xia Yu could master it at first sight.

“You can teach me a slightly more difficult piece,” Xia Yu said.

“I’d like to see what you’re really up to.” Pushing Xia Yu aside, Kong Hanyue sat in front of the guzheng and began playing another piece.

This piece was called “White Covenant,” an elegant composition.

This was a true guzheng piece, while the “Iron Pipe” exercise was merely filler.

This piece was beyond Xia Yu’s immediate ability. After Kong Hanyue finished playing, Xia Yu stepped forward and struggled through the initial slow section. When it quickened, he couldn’t keep up.

“Your technique is still immature. At this level, you wouldn’t even pass the preliminary round if you participated in the district-wide competition,” Kong Hanyue began to mock him.

Xia Yu ignored her and started playing again.

On the second attempt, he successfully connected the section where he had faltered before, though he stumbled again during the fast section.

On the third try, he managed half of the fast section before failing again.

On the fourth attempt, despite some rhythm issues, he completed the entire piece.

Kong Hanyue had fallen silent by the second attempt. When Xia Yu successfully played from beginning to end, she buried her head in her hands: “My teacher once called me a prodigy, but I never expected there could be someone even more exceptional.”

Coming up behind Xia Yu, she patted his back: “No wonder you’re my son. When it comes to learning guzheng, I have to admit you’re the best.”

Xia Yu showed no sign of happiness at Kong Hanyue’s praise. He knew his quick learning was due to his already attained level 3 proficiency.

In reality, he had no natural talent for music at all.

But there was no need to tell Kong Hanyue that.

“There are still some issues. Teach me more,” Xia Yu said to Kong Hanyue.

“Alright,” Kong Hanyue agreed. “At this rate, you might actually win a place in the competition. Maybe even place in the top thirty. Then local newspapers will come to interview me, discovering that I, the legendary prodigy Kong Hanyue from twenty years ago, have a son…”

Kong Hanyue paused mid-sentence.

Xia Yu knew what she was thinking and said, “You can just say I was taught by you when I was little.”

If reporters came for interviews, they would inevitably be discovered by his ex-wife’s children.

“Zeze is a good kid, but Xinxin might be a bit problematic,” Kong Hanyue looked apologetically at Xia Yu.

“It’s okay,” Xia Yu wasn’t bothered.

There was no such thing as an unbreakable relationship in this world. If someone else were in Kong Hanyue’s position, they might not even bother with him at all.

For her to do this much was already quite good. One must learn to be content to find happiness.

However, while being strategically content, tactically one should still be a bit greedy.

Youzuki had always liked Kong Hanyue very much. It would be wonderful if their relationship could be repaired.

But that could wait for another day.

Lifting his hands, Xia Yu began playing the guzheng again.

Kong Hanyue reminded him from the side: “Use your fingers to apply force, not your wrists or arms.”

“You don’t need to keep practicing the parts you’ve already mastered. Focus directly on the difficult sections.”

“Don’t lean forward too much at the waist. When playing the guzheng, appearance is most important.”

An hour later, Xia Yu had become very proficient at playing “White Covenant.”

“You’re truly a genius!” Kong Hanyue excitedly hugged Xia Yu. “The Kong family’s guzheng tradition will have a successor!”

“Snap out of it. Only you in the Kong family learned guzheng.”

Xia Yu sighed. This was typical of Kong Hanyue’s somewhat strange personality, and she hadn’t changed at all after all these years.

“Adding you makes two generations. In modern times, that’s already quite impressive,” Kong Hanyue pulled the guzheng closer again. “Alright, let’s move on to the next piece. But before I teach you, let me first introduce our family’s school of guzheng. Currently, guzheng is mainly divided into the Southern School and the Northern School.”

“Are we part of the Southern or Northern School? What’s the difference?” Xia Yu asked curiously.

“We belong to neither the Southern nor the Northern School. We are the Huajian School.”

“???”