ECG -Chapter 37 How Did You Get In?

Wu Xiaozhou looked toward Wang Leping. The thing that had shattered on the floor was the large glass jar from the peach preserves that had been in his hand. Broken glass shards and tea had spilled all over the ground.

Wu Xiaozhou quickly took off his electric bass and placed it on the stand nearby. As he did so, he said, “Don’t move, don’t move, Teacher. I’ll clean it up!”

Then he ran to the corner, grabbed a broom, and came back.

After cleaning everything up in just a few quick movements, Wu Xiaozhou returned to stand in front of Wang Leping.

Wang Leping asked, “How long have you been learning?”

Wu Xiaozhou scratched his head awkwardly. “Three months!”

“Pfft!”

Wang Leping almost spat a mouthful of blood all over his face.

He himself couldn’t even fucking play those few measures just now, and you actually dare to say you’ve only learned for three months?

Grinding his teeth, he asked again, “Tell me, how long have you been learning?”

“It really, really is three months!”

With trembling hands, Wang Leping pointed at a section of music on the stand. It even had chord markings written on it.

“Play this!”

Wu Xiaozhou shook his head like a rattle drum. “I can’t.”

“What?” Wang Leping was completely dumbfounded. You played that previous part so amazingly just now, and now you’re saying you can’t?

“I really can’t!” Wu Xiaozhou was an honest kid.

“Then what was that you just played?” Wang Leping asked.

“I only know how to play that one!”

“Fine!” Wang Leping gritted his teeth. “Then play it again!”

Wu Xiaozhou picked up the bass and started playing. There was no way around it—those 22 measures were simply too familiar. During that period, he even slept while hugging his electric bass, and he could play it in his dreams.

This time he learned his lesson. He didn’t repeat it; after finishing the 22 measures, he looked toward Wang Leping.

Wang Leping opened his mouth wide. “You’re finished?”

“Yep!”

After a long while, Wang Leping asked again, “You only know this?”

Wu Xiaozhou nodded.

“You don’t know anything else?”

Wu Xiaozhou nodded again.

“Damn!”

Wang Leping cursed out loud. This was truly too bizarre. He was so frustrated that he scratched his head.

He finally understood. This kid must have specially practiced this technique just to take the entrance exam for an arts college!

No, wait.

Their entrance exam wasn’t only the professional performance test. There were also sight-singing, ear training, music theory…

So how did this kid manage to pass?

“How did you get in?” he asked directly.

“I didn’t take the exam! I transferred here from another department!” Wu Xiaozhou answered honestly.

“Transferred?” Wang Leping suddenly slapped his thigh. “The Fine Arts Department?”

Wu Xiaozhou continued nodding.

Damn!

Wang Leping understood.

This was the legendary pair of geniuses from the Fine Arts Department—the two students that Old Tiger Fan had personally tested. The news had already spread privately long ago.

According to Teacher Chen from the orchestral department, she had been there during the assessment and said those two kids had extremely high professional skills.

Could it be that the piano major kid was the same as him? Had he also specially practiced just one piece in order to transfer departments?

If that was true, Old Tiger Fan had made a mistake. What a slap in the face!

“Who did you learn this section from?” Wang Leping asked.

Wu Xiaozhou knew he couldn’t hide this. Even if he tried, he wouldn’t be able to keep it secret. Just like Lin Hao had said, once you tell one lie, you need countless more lies to cover it up later.

“My buddy. The one who transferred departments with me—Lin Hao. He’s Teacher Fan’s student now!”

Wu Xiaozhou might be rough around the edges, but he wasn’t stupid. He immediately brought out the biggest name he had—Fan Gang.

Wang Leping asked in surprise, “He can play bass too?”

Wu Xiaozhou grinned widely. “Not only can he play it, he’s freaking good at it!”

Wang Leping was almost sweating. Lin Hao’s piano skills were already incredible, and he could also play bass? If that was really the case, then this kid was a genius!

“Introduce me to this Lin Hao when you get the chance.”

“No problem!” Wu Xiaozhou patted his chest confidently, then asked a little nervously, “Teacher, can we start class now?”

Wang Leping slapped his forehead. He had forgotten the main business. This kid was basically starting from zero; he really was a strange one. They had to begin with the very basics.

After teaching him for a while, he discovered that Wu Xiaozhou’s basic finger techniques were actually fine, which made him feel greatly relieved.

But after a while, he nearly vomited blood again. This kid’s ability to read sheet music and chord symbols was even worse than an elementary school student’s.

He tested his music theory knowledge as well. Wu Xiaozhou could correctly name most of the notes contained in chords, and he could even answer some harmony theory questions fluently.

Wang Leping had no idea that this was all thanks to the book Music Theory and Harmony Lin Hao had given Wu Xiaozhou, which had contributed enormously.

Wang Leping scratched his head, almost going crazy. He had never seen such a bizarre student before!

Fine, he would still have to start teaching from the most basic level!

……

Lin Hao stood in front of the piano at Fang Gang’s house. Some stuffed toys were placed on top of the piano.

Inside a photo frame, Fang Gang looked very young. He was holding a bright-eyed, beautiful little girl in his arms, and the two of them were smiling brightly.

Fang Gang’s cooking skills were indeed quite good. Four dishes and one soup, with a good balance of meat and vegetables, looked very appetizing.

Lin Hao did not ask about Fang Gang’s family situation. The master and disciple drank several bottles of beer, and most of their conversation was about professional topics.

After returning from Fang Gang’s home, they all threw themselves into intense study.

Every day, Wu Xiaozhou slept while hugging his KS; Fatty Meng was even more inseparable from his drumsticks, his chubby little hands practicing all kinds of flashy drumstick-spinning techniques every day.

Aside from eating, sleeping, and talking, Cui Gang basically never took the trumpet mouthpiece away from his lips.

Lin Hao was the strangest student in the piano department. He never fought with others for practice rooms. Every day, he walked around holding a thick book in his hands.

Later, some students discovered that Lin Hao wasn’t avoiding practice. Instead, he had received special lessons from Director Fan. He went to Director Fan’s private piano room to practice.

Naturally, this behavior attracted countless criticisms, but he continued doing things his own way.

In reality, Lin Hao went to that piano room every day simply because it was quiet. He played the piano for at most one hour a day; most of the time, he was lying on the sofa reading those books.

Because Wu Xiaozhou and Fatty Meng were two guys who loved bragging, more and more students came to hang out in their dorm.

Gradually, Lin Hao also got to know some students from other classes. After carefully choosing, he deliberately made friends with a few of them.

The first: electric guitar major, Yan Bin.

He ranked seventh among their group of dorm friends, so everyone called him Little Seven. This guy was tall and thin, with long hair that he often went off-campus to straighten with a hair iron.

The second: electric guitar major, Chu Xixi.

She was one of the few beauties in the electric guitar major. Her nickname was Little Sister, so everyone called her Chu Little Sister.

Chu Little Sister looked just like her name suggested—delicate and graceful, like a refined young lady from Jiangnan. But in reality, she was a tomboy. She spent every day hanging around Wu Xiaozhou and the others, shoulder to shoulder, getting along with them like brothers.

Both of these two had quite impressive electric guitar skills, especially Chu Little Sister. Her explosive power and ability to move an audience were extremely strong. The moment she picked up a guitar, she seemed like a completely different person.

Her voice was also exceptionally good—high, rich, and powerful, with strong penetrating ability.

The third: piano major, Gao Ling.

He was Lin Hao’s classmate. Because he was bald, he attracted attention wherever he went.

This guy had repeated his studies for two years because his cultural subjects were too poor before finally getting admitted, so he was two years older than Lin Hao and the others. Therefore, everyone called him Big Brother Gao.

Big Brother Gao had learned accordion since childhood. One sentence he often kept saying was:

“An 8-bass accordion—who among you has played one before?”

An accordion with only eight bass buttons on the left hand was the smallest children’s model. What he meant was simply to show off that he had started learning music earlier than everyone else.

He only switched to piano during his first year of high school. His fundamentals, music theory, and improvisation skills were all excellent; he was just a little weaker in the foundation of classical music.

Lin Hao had always had an idea in his mind. He just felt that the time was not right yet, so he had not told Wu Xiaozhou.

This idea had basically taken shape on the train to the provincial capital, which was why he had deliberately made friends with these few people. He was only waiting for the right moment to put it into action.