chapter 43

Chapter 43

Early the next morning, Ning Qiuyan ate the bread he had bought at the convenience store the night before in his hotel room and drank a bottle of milk, not waiting for the robot to deliver breakfast.

When he walked out of the hotel with his guitar on his back, he realized it had rained in Sujing.

In addition to being rush hour, Sujing at seven or eight in the morning felt even busier and noisier than Wutong. The people living in this city seemed like tightly wound springs, compelled to strive even harder.

The rain appeared to have only just stopped; the streets were still wet, some cyclists were wearing raincoats, pedestrians had just put away their umbrellas, and everything was still beaded with droplets.

Ning Qiuyan walked more than ten minutes to reach the school.

Sujing Conservatory of Music covers a vast area and boasts a long history. Its buildings are steeped in antiquity, now standing serenely amid the city’s skyscrapers-a pocket of tranquility in the midst of chaos.

Although Ning Qiuyan had visited the school’s official website many times, standing in person at the front gate still felt somewhat out of reach.

Following the instructions from his interview email, Ning Qiuyan found his way to Classroom 13, where the written exam would be held. Quite a few people were already waiting outside.

Besides other examinees like himself, there were even more parents.

Some carried water bottles for their children, some brought breakfast early, some carried instruments on their backs. Most were middle-aged, in their forties or fifties. As parents, they regarded this exam as extremely important and gave their children unwavering support before the test.

Yet the seventeen- or eighteen-year-old examinees didn’t necessarily feel the same. Some nestled close to their parents, some looked impatient, some whispered to each other. The damp corridor bore countless family portraits of those on the road to the arts.

Only Ning Qiuyan had come alone.

He quietly stood at the end of the line, waiting to enter the exam room, and handed over his ID as he went in: “Ning Qiuyan.”

In the exam room, only Ning Qiuyan had a guitar placed beside his desk, because there was no one outside to help him carry his instrument or wait for him.

The proctor, a bespectacled female teacher, walked over and gently said to Ning Qiuyan, “Let me keep this for you, all right?”

That eased his sense of being out of place among the other students. Ning Qiuyan nodded gratefully. “Thank you.”

The written questions were different from what he had expected. There was nothing about academic subjects, nor any tests on music theory. Instead, there were wide-ranging questions on world music-almost all artistic reflection, so abstract that there were no standard answers.

Ning Qiuyan felt that, more than an exam, it was a test of a candidate’s understanding and sensitivity to music, relying entirely on personal accumulation.

When he finished the last question, there were still twenty minutes left before the exam ended.

The classroom was on the third floor. Outside the window stood several giant redwoods, their trunks thick and rising more than thirty meters high. They were planted when the school was founded, and with a century’s history, are quite famous.

The sight made Ning Qiuyan think of Du Island.

There are no redwoods on Du Island; its forests are mostly cedars and firs, rarely taller than twenty meters. They weren’t as awe-inspiring as these redwoods before him, but as Ning Qiuyan looked at them, his thoughts drifted to Du Island.

After last night’s video call with Guan Heng, they hadn’t contacted each other again. Ning Qiuyan felt a bit embarrassed that Guan Heng had realized he bought the wrong things; he didn’t want Guan Heng to think he really was just a clueless child.

The candidates came from all over the country, and for this round of the Composition and Music Production Department, there were only twenty candidates.

The written test ended at eleven o’clock. Before three in the afternoon, candidates would receive notifications announcing who qualified for the interview, so everyone was still waiting around.

Some candidates went out to eat with their parents, while others decided to stroll around the campus. Ning Qiuyan chose the latter.

Walking along a small path, he passed by a candidate’s father questioning the results. Judging by his tone, the candidate felt unsure about the exam, so the father sounded rather exasperated, saying the family’s sacrifices weren’t matched by the candidate’s effort.

Ning Qiuyan had no wish to overhear other people’s private affairs. He passed beneath the massive redwoods and walked by the school’s artificial lake.

Standing on the far bank, he could take in the campus scenery from the same angle as the homepage photo.

“You’ll play and sing here.”

His mother’s gentle voice echoed from the depths of his memory.

She worked as a quality inspector in a factory, and because she often worked the night shift, her eyesight wasn’t very good. Like the female teacher just now, she usually wore framed glasses. Lying in bed, her face was sunken, but when she pointed at the website picture, her eyes shone with light.
“Ningning, promise me, try one more time,” his mother said. “Someday in the future, you’ll play and sing here, and I’ll be watching you from above.”

Ning Qiuyan stood by the lakeside for a while.

He silently calculated tuition, living expenses, and other costs in his mind, compared the wage differences between Sujing and Wutong, then lifted his foot and continued walking forward.

At 2:40 p.m., Ning Qiuyan received an interview notification.

Only then did he send his first message of the day to Guan Heng: [Mr. Guan, I passed the written test. My interview is at 4:15.]

The interview ended quickly.

In front of three interviewers, Ning Qiuyan played his prepared piece on the guitar Guan Heng had given him. After listening, the three examiners whispered among themselves, and the one in the middle told Ning Qiuyan that he would be given an additional test piece.

Ning Qiuyan was well-prepared and composed.

After the additional test, another examiner announced the result to him.

Stepping out of the exam room, the wind made Ning Qiuyan feel chilly; he realized he had been so nervous that he’d broken out in a sweat.

He sent his second message to Guan Heng: [Mr. Guan, I was accepted.]

Guan Heng kept a schedule completely opposite to his own, so Ning Qiuyan didn’t expect a reply. After sending the message, he put his phone away.

His flight was at night. Ning Qiuyan returned to the hotel, packed up, checked out, and left.

The driver, who had been missing all day and night, appeared at just the right time, helped him with his luggage to the airport, and then disappeared again. Ning Qiuyan wanted to tell him there was no need to be so formal, that they could travel together, but the driver was so well-trained he never gave him the chance.

Bored and alone while waiting for his flight, Ning Qiuyan finally saw that Guan Heng had replied long ago.

Guan Heng: [What reward do you want?]

The message had come just a minute after Ning Qiuyan reported his result.

It was only a minute apart-Guan Heng seemed to have been waiting for the outcome the whole time.

Now, it was already an hour or two later.

Staring at the message bubble, Ning Qiuyan instantly pictured Guan Heng’s phoenix eyes smiling, and a wave of warmth surged in his heart.

So he wasn’t truly alone after all. This trip to Sujing was made possible because of Guan Heng, and Guan Heng was accompanying him, too.

The airport was brightly lit.

Ning Qiuyan replied: [You want to give me a reward?]

Night was Guan Heng’s domain. He replied again: [Bad children get punished, so of course good children get rewarded.]

Ning Qiuyan was a little confused.

Was Guan Heng telling him he’d done well?

Clearly, his future and dreams were his own, whether he succeeded or not was his own business, but when Guan Heng said it like that, it felt as if he’d completed an order from Guan Heng, and that was what made Guan Heng happy.

In fact, Ning Qiuyan didn’t really want anything. At this moment, just a word of praise from Guan Heng would be enough.

He was too embarrassed to ask for praise, so he asked Guan Heng: [Then, can I ask for anything?]

Guan Heng: [You say.]

Those two words were filled with Guan Heng’s unique indulgence, making Ning Qiuyan, in a foreign place, suddenly feel a rush of impulse.

He typed on his phone, entering, “I want to visit Du Island to see you often,” then deleted it. He typed, “I don’t want this to end after next time,” then deleted that, too. Because no matter what kind of “reward” he thought of, it didn’t seem appropriate.

In the end, all he could send to Guan Heng was: [I-I haven’t decided yet.]

This time, Guan Heng didn’t ask what he’d been typing for so long, only replied: [Then tell me next time you come to the island.]

*

The weekend after the trip to Sujing, Ning Qiuyan received the official admission letter. He would report to school in September, and until then, he’d have plenty of time to work part-time.

Su Jianzhou was very happy to hear the good news. After discussing it, the two decided that after Ning Qiuyan’s last blood donation, Su Jianzhou would introduce him to a half-month hospital caregiver training, helping him secure a well-paid companion job.

Additionally, Su Jianzhou suggested, “You’ll be going to Sujing for school in the second half of the year. If you plan to work during the holidays too, you basically won’t be living at home much. I think you could rent out your place, and that would be another source of income.”

Ning Qiuyan definitely wouldn’t sell the house, but as for renting it out, he had actually thought it over carefully.
This apartment was left by his mother, and it was also where he grew up. Unless it was an absolute emergency, he didn’t want to rent it out to others, especially since all his instruments and belongings were still inside.

“It’s fine, you can leave everything at my place. I’ll keep it safe for you,” Su Jianzhou said. “Don’t you still owe your Aunt some money? If you can pay her back, you should do it sooner rather than later, so she won’t keep coming after you.”

Ning Qiuyan hadn’t told Su Jianzhou yet that all the money he owed had already been paid off by Guan Heng. After all, in Su Jianzhou’s eyes, his relationship with Guan Heng was just a simple “blood donation” arrangement and shouldn’t come with so many returns.

But after Su Jianzhou’s reminder, Ning Qiuyan also felt that renting out the apartment was a feasible idea. In life, you have to give up something to gain something; he couldn’t have it all.

After completing the caregiver training, Ning Qiuyan wouldn’t be staying at home much anymore.

After meeting with Su Jianzhou and returning home, he posted the apartment online, gave a brief description, and started looking for tenants.

That same night at nine o’clock, he received a call from Lu Qianque.

“Xiao Ning, congratulations on being admitted,” Lu Qianque said with a smile in his voice. “But you just got back-are you in some kind of trouble? Why are you renting out your home?”

Ning Qiuyan was surprised. “How did you know?”

“Let’s put it this way,” Lu Qianque replied. “There’s nothing about you that we don’t know.”

Even though Ning Qiuyan already knew he was being “monitored,” Lu Qianque’s words still startled him.

He stood up and paced around the apartment, almost suspecting there were cameras installed. After dismissing that absurd idea, he looked at his computer’s internet cable.

Could Lu Qianque have hacked into his network?

Lu Qianque returned to a serious tone. “Tell me about your difficulties, and we’ll solve them.”

Knowing that he was concerned, Ning Qiuyan felt grateful.

Still, he explained the situation he was facing and the plans he had made to Lu Qianque.

“So this is what’s troubling our Xiao Ning,” Lu Qianque said with relief after listening. “I don’t think I’ve told you yet, but your living expenses and tuition from now on are not things you need to worry about. You’re a student; all you need to think about is how to complete your studies. Everything you’re worried about has already been arranged by Mr. Guan. There’s no need for you to sacrifice your little nest.”

Ning Qiuyan was startled.

The material help Guan Heng had given him already far exceeded the scope of their agreement. How could he possibly accept more money from Guan Heng?

Besides, even if all this was some kind of compensation for him, their agreement was about to end soon.

Next time would be Ning Qiuyan’s last trip to the island.

“That’s not how you should look at it,”

Lu Qianque said.

“Alright, even if you insist on your current thinking, your plan to study in Sujing still falls within the term of the agreement. I believe Mr. Guan has made it clear to you that he will meet all your needs, no matter what you want. During this period, you don’t have the right to make decisions for yourself, because both your mind and body belong to Mr. Guan.”

Ning Qiuyan: “…”

Before going to Sujing, the driver had said something similar to remind him.

He really couldn’t find any grounds to argue.

Lu Qianque advised, “Be good and take down the rental ad. Mr. Guan is still happy about your admission. I promise you, I won’t report you this time.”

Ning Qiuyan still wanted to insist; he didn’t want to make himself look like an ungrateful idol drama heroine.

He had only donated a bit of blood, and Guan Heng didn’t need anything else from him. These were clearly two separate matters.

“But I don’t want to take any more money from Mr. Guan. I’m already very grateful to him.”

“Material things and money don’t have much real meaning to us.”

As a Vampire, Lu Qianque spoke bluntly.

“You still don’t understand Mr. Guan well enough,”

he said.

“Do you know? If you’re truly grateful to Mr. Guan, then accept every arrangement he makes for you, and wholeheartedly obey his every request. That, to Mr. Guan, is what truly counts as pleasing him.”