Qiao Nian had already decided on her course a while back and did not hide it from him. “Chinese Medicine Faculty.”
Nie Mi had a huge reaction. He jumped up from his seat with a darkened expression. “You’re going to apply for the Chinese Medicine Faculty?”
He looked at Qiao Nian’s usual nonchalant expression and saw that she was not the least bothered about that fact. His brows were furrowed as he said anxiously, “Qing University’s Chinese Medicine Faculty is one of their worst faculties. Your results are fantastic, why choose this faculty?”
He actually did not know Qiao Nian’s results. He simply assumed that they were good, given how much he trusted in her capability.
After all, she had managed to learn to play the konghou in three months when he had taken decades to master it. Given the prodigy that she was, how badly could she be doing in her studies?
Nie Mi took a deep breath. He didn’t want her to go for an inferior alternative path. He sat back down while rubbing his temple and said, “You have never come to Beijing before and might not know the situation there. Qing University’s best faculties are the Medical Faculty and the Finance Faculty. Then comes their Music Faculty. The Chinese Medicine Faculty can be considered part of the Medical Faculty, but it is nothing compared to the Clinical Department. You know what the situation in society is like; everybody has some doubts about Chinese Medicine. Why don’t you choose the Music Faculty instead? I could be your mentor.”
Qing University had invited him to be an associate professor in their school time and again, but he was too used to having his freedom.
The school promised him that he would still have his freedom and that nothing would be lost even after he became a professor there.
They just wanted his name to boost the school’s reputation.
But he had never even attended a day there.
But if Qiao Nian joined the Music Faculty, he could actually go to teach there. The condition was that Qiao Nian had to be willing to enter the faculty.
Nie Mi looked at the calm girl sitting opposite him and smiled sadly.
Actually, he had only taught her how to play the konghou for a few months, so they were not really considered teacher and student either. However, he did wish on his own part that she could be his successor.
All these years, he had been looking around for someone to succeed him and to bring glory to the instrument, so more people could appreciate the konghou. He had found quite a number of them, and many had also recommended themselves to him. However, after auditioning them, he couldn’t pick a single one.
Until one day when he met Qiao Nian at Su Huaiyuan’s home.
Initially, he found it weird that a big boss like Su Huaiyuan would be so nice to a little girl. Su Huaiyuan even seemed to respect her.
But one day when he was tuning his konghou at Su Huaiyuan’s house, Qiao Nian had walked past and pointed out a problem with his tuning. Only then did he realize that the girl putting up at Su Huaiyuan’s home was actually a music prodigy.
Thereafter, he taught her to play the konghou without asking for any remuneration whatsoever.
Qiao Nian learned it.
And in just three months, she seemed to have absorbed all that he had taught like a sponge. Decades of his mastery were passed on to her, and the only thing missing was the effect that could only be brought about by years of experience.
Qiao Nian’s musical talent was so extraordinary, it was unprecedented for him.
Having seen such a prodigy, how could he have eyes on any other successor? As such, when Tang Wanru and Wei Ling wanted him to take in disciples, he had no interest at all.
Whether it was Jiang Xianrou or Wei Ling’s niece, he believed that none could be better than Qiao Nian.
Moreover, Qiao Nian had another identity that most people had no idea about. At least among the people he knew, he was the only person aware of it. Not even Su Huaiyuan had any idea. She was actually Zhui Guang!
“You have the ability to gel konghou and Western music together, having the electronic keyboard and drums to accentuate the melody of the konghou. Why won’t you consider going to the Music Faculty? Given your talent, you can do well in the rock and roll genre and also the elegant classical music genre. As long as you’re willing to try it out, you’ll only do better than me in the future…”
