ECG -Chapter 116 Xiao Xu

Lin Hao took out a harmonica from his pocket. He had found it that night in the cardboard box where the microphone was packed. He didn’t know whether Liu Ya had given it to him, or if one of the shop assistants had accidentally packed it in.

The tune of “Farewell” began to drift out from the harmonica…

The spring breeze was slightly chilly, the melody was mournful, and the person standing beside him already had tears covering his face.

As Lin Hao played the harmonica, he thought of Fourth Sister’s every smile and frown from the past.

“Did you write this song?”

“What proof do you have?”

“……”

He also remembered their last phone call during the New Year. Lin Hao could no longer hold back his tears.

When the song ended, he wiped away his tears, put the harmonica back into his pocket, and silently said in his heart:

Fourth Sister, if you’re still alive, then send me a dream…

“Lin Hao!”

The person beside him suddenly called his name.

Lin Hao froze for a moment, but then he understood. He sang on stage every night, so naturally the people around Fourth Sister would know him.

“Who are you?” Lin Hao asked.

The man looked up at the sky and muttered as if talking to himself:

“Xiao Xu.”

“Hello!” Lin Hao reached out his hand, but the man remained in the same position as before and didn’t notice him. Lin Hao could only withdraw his hand.

Lin Hao took out a cigarette and handed it to him. Then he took out his lighter and helped him light it. He lit one for himself as well.

He wanted to accompany Fourth Sister for a little longer.

Xiao Xu glanced at him.

“Sit with me for a while?”

Lin Hao nodded.

The two of them sat down on the ground in front of the gravestone. Behind them were flowers everywhere.

“The year I met Fourth Sister, I was only sixteen.” Xiao Xu’s voice was very soft, like he was mumbling to himself, yet also like he was telling Lin Hao his story.

Lin Hao understood that this person simply wanted to find someone to talk to, so he remained silent and listened.

“That day, I thought I was going to die. I was chased by a group of people led by Tu Jun for seven or eight streets. I took one stab to my stomach and six to my back.”

“Fourth Sister was only twenty that year. I don’t know what she said that scared Tu Jun and the others away. Before I lost consciousness, I saw her beautiful face.”

“She sent me to the hospital. Later, the nurse told me that if I had arrived a few minutes later, I would have bled out.”

“She paid my hospital fees and never appeared again! She thought I wouldn’t be able to find her, but I found her on the third day after I was discharged. Haha!”

A gentle expression appeared on Xiao Xu’s face.

“Do you know how I found her?” Xiao Xu looked at Lin Hao.

“You went looking for Tu Jun.” Lin Hao answered.

Xiao Xu was clearly stunned for a moment, then he laughed.

“That’s right. I exchanged two knife wounds for Fourth Sister’s name and address.”

“When I found her, I knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times. I called her ‘sister.’ From that moment on, she became my real sister.”

“After calling her sister, I passed out and ended up back in the hospital. Later, I heard that before I was even discharged, Tu Jun had his tendons cut by someone. Now he still sits in a wheelchair in front of the train station selling roasted melon seeds.”

“Fourth Sister treated me like her own little brother. Two years ago, she even bought me a house. It wasn’t big, but I finally had a home!”

“Before I was even born, my father ran away with another woman. When I was five, my mother took me and remarried. My stepfather was a drunk. Whenever he drank, he would beat me and my mother.”

“After Fourth Sister left, my home was gone!”

“A few days ago, I went back to that old home. My stepfather actually still tried to hit me. I sent him to the hospital.”

“I just don’t understand… my mother must have lost her mind. Why won’t she leave that family? I begged her to come with me, but she actually hit me, cursed at me, and told me to get lost…”

Xiao Xu choked up.

After a long while…

Lin Hao glanced at the few cigarette butts on the ground. He reached out and gently patted Xiao Xu’s shoulder, then casually took out the harmonica and said softly:

“Give this to you.”

“Thank you.”

He accepted the harmonica.

Lin Hao stood up, brushed the dirt off his backside, and didn’t say anything else. He followed the steps down the mountain.

After that, Xiao Xu didn’t say anything else either. Although Lin Hao didn’t turn around, he knew that he was still sitting there. Hopefully, time would heal the sadness in his heart.

……

The moment Lin Hao entered the school, he received a call from Fan Gang.

“Lin Hao, come to the small theater of the Drama Department!”

“Alright!”

After returning to school, Lin Hao had gone to visit Fan Gang at his house, and Fan Gang had told him that the teacher he wanted to introduce to him had gone out for a meeting and training and had not returned yet. Now that he was calling him, it meant that this teacher must have come back.

The Drama Department and the Music Department faced each other diagonally, located in the northwest corner of the Art Academy.

It took Lin Hao twenty minutes to walk there. When he entered the small theater of the Drama Department, a stage play was being rehearsed onstage.

From his angle, he could only see the back of Fan Gang’s head. There were also several people sitting beside him, but he couldn’t see their faces clearly.

On the stage, a male student was pretending to be a beggar, kneeling on the ground and begging, while a female student had her arm linked with a male student’s, acting like they were a couple.

Lin Hao quickly walked over to Fan Gang’s side.

Fan Gang patted the empty seat on his right, indicating that Lin Hao should sit down first.

Lin Hao glanced at the person sitting on Fan Gang’s left and felt that he looked somewhat familiar. This man was about the same age as Fan Gang. His thin face had two thick eyebrows tightly furrowed, and his nose bridge was high, giving him a somewhat stern appearance.

“Stop!”

A female teacher shouted. There was a hint of helplessness in her voice. These students were really hopeless—knowing that the department head was here, they still managed to perform this badly!

The three students onstage all looked toward her.

“Xiang Yang, let me ask you, what kind of character is a beggar?”

The male student playing the beggar hesitated and didn’t dare answer.

“A beggar is a character who has abandoned his self-respect. Your eyes need to become dim, but this dimness is not despair toward life. Within that dimness, you need to reveal a kind of pitifulness and greed!”

“Also, are you playing a young master? Look at your posture. Can you curl yourself up? You’re standing there with your chest out and head held high. Are you begging for food or robbing someone?”

Lin Hao almost laughed out loud. He tilted his head slightly and saw that the person beside Fan Gang was still expressionless.

“Continue!”

The female teacher waved her hand.

“Yuchi.” Fan Gang turned to the person beside him. “This is my student, Lin Hao.”

When Lin Hao heard Fan Gang call this person’s name, he suddenly remembered. This man was called Guan Yuchi, a national first-class actor who had played many classic roles. He never expected that he would be a teacher at the Art Academy, and even more unexpectedly, the teacher Fan Gang said he wanted to introduce to him was actually him.

Lin Hao hurriedly stood up and respectfully bowed, lowering his voice.

“Hello, Teacher Guan!”

“Mm.”

Guan Yuchi glanced at Lin Hao, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

“Let’s go. Come to my office.”

After saying that, he stood up and left.

The other teachers hurriedly stood up as well, but Guan Yuchi didn’t say anything to them.

Fan Gang and Lin Hao followed behind him. Guan Yuchi slowed his pace, walking side by side with Fan Gang, and the three of them left the small theater together.

After they went up to the top floor of the Drama Department’s administrative building, Lin Hao finally understood that Guan Yuchi was actually the head of the Drama Department. He realized he had paid too little attention to this field and only found out today.

The three of them sat on the sofa. Guan Yuchi was about to make tea, but Lin Hao couldn’t possibly let him do that, so he quickly went to boil water.

“How is it? Yuchi, are you satisfied with my student?”

Fan Gang asked him proudly.

Guan Yuchi gave Fan Gang an annoyed look. Lin Hao pretended he hadn’t heard anything and focused on rinsing the teacups.

Guan Yuchi looked at Lin Hao and said, “I heard you also like acting, and you’ve read many books about this field?”

Lin Hao smiled and nodded.

“Then let me ask you a question.”

Guan Yuchi’s expression turned serious. Lin Hao also put down the teacup in his hand. The only sound in the office was the noise of the kettle boiling water.

Fan Gang knew Guan Yuchi well. He was famous for being obsessed with acting. If Lin Hao couldn’t pass today’s test, then no matter how good their relationship was, it would be useless.

Lin Hao was different from the children who had been performing on stage and the graduate students Guan Yuchi taught. Although those students also called him teacher, they were not the same as disciples.

If Lin Hao passed this test today, he would become his disciple, and there was a huge difference between that and ordinary students.

“Teacher Guan, please ask.”

Lin Hao replied respectfully.