Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
She had to say that Xia Ruya had indeed given her a tough one. For the past two days, she had been racking her brains for the performance item. Tomorrow would be the school’s anniversary celebrations and Xia Ruya and Chu Jingnan had already asked her multiple times about the content of her performance item, but she had brushed them off.
Wen Xinya massaged her exhausted head and decided to relook at the performance list. Previously, she had only browsed through the items briefly but had yet to look at the detailed contents of the performance items.
After looking around in her room, she actually did not see the performance list. Only then did she recall that after she came back the day before, she had no idea where she left it.
Wen Xinya had no choice but to search high and low. She opened the agarwood cupboard beside the dresser and, when she saw the things placed in the cupboard, her heartstrings vibrated as if a pair of invisible hands were playing the world’s most beautiful piece of music in her heart.
It was a rosewood phoenix box, a gift from Si Yiyan when they spent the Valentine’s Day on the trip to Nantong previously!
Zither represented feelings!
It was a zither handmade by Si Yiyan.
As she was avoiding Si Yiyan at that time, after coming back, she had hidden this seven-stringed zither in the deepest part of the cupboard.
She stretched and took out the seven-stringed zither. Running her fingers gently across the rosewood phoenix box, she muttered, “I actually forgot to ask him the previous time—what’s the name of this zither!”
Wen Xinya placed the box on the table, gently opened the seven-stringed zither inside, and only then had the chance to closely examine this ancient zither. The body of the ancient zither was a deep red, almost black color, with a flying phoenix engraved on it. It had a vintage and classy rusticity, quietly radiating a low-key gorgeousness—it was indeed such a beauty.
She couldn’t help but whip out her phone and give Si Yiyan a call.
The call was picked up very quickly. Only then did it dawn on Wen Xinya suddenly that every time, regardless of whether she called or sent Si Yiyan messages, he always answered or replied instantly, as if that phone never left his side nor ran out of battery—he seemed to be always waiting for her calls and messages.
“Xinya!” Si Yiyan called out her name in a low voice with a tinge of lingering softness.
“Oh! The zither that you gave me previously—does it have a name?” Wen Xinya’s voice was a little nervous. Inexplicably, she held her breath as her heart started thumping rapidly.
“Nope. I’ve been waiting for you to name it—you’re its real owner.” Si Yiyan’s voice became even deeper with a touch of joy and happiness.
“Then… how about Soaring Phoenix?” Wen Xinya asked with a slightly nervous voice. Something seemed to be swelling up quickly in her rapidly pounding chest as if it was about to break free.
The other end of the line suddenly went silent.
“Meaning reborn from the storm, the phoenix soars the celestial skies! What do you think?” Wen Xinya held onto the phone and pressed it against her ear tightly, not wanting to miss the slightest sound transmitted through the phone, even if it were just breathing sounds.
“Great!” Si Yiyan’s low voice seemed to be filled in with vibrant colors, with clarity and attractiveness in coexistence, like the most beautiful zither melody in the world. “I’ve been waiting for you, waiting for you to truly accept that zither.”
Wen Xinya felt a scorching heat in her heart. His tone was getting at something. It was as if Wen Xinya knew that he actually wanted to say, “I’ve been waiting for you, waiting for you to truly accept my zither (feelings) of which I’d poured all my sentiments into!”
“I’ll stop chatting with you. It’s our school’s anniversary celebrations tomorrow—I still gotta perform, and I haven’t even thought of the performance item up till now. I’ll hang up first.” Wen Xinya hurriedly took down the phone, pressed on the hang-up button, and, after the beep sound, she started regretting—she shouldn’t have hung up that quickly.
Thinking of which, her phone actually started ringing.
Wen Xinya pressed on the answer button almost instantly—such excited emotions almost made her die from embarrassment.
“I forgot to tell you that previously when I was constructing that zither, I also had thoughts of reborn from the ashes, the phoenix soars the celestial skies—does this count as telepathy?” Si Yiyan’s deep voice was slightly teasing and joking.
Wen Xinya remained silent. Although it was indeed telepathic chemistry, the rebirth from the ashes meant a true rebirth. However, she would never tell him that.
As if knowing that her silence meant admittance, Si Yiyan said, “What I also had in mind was two phoenixes flying in tandem, enjoying conjugal bliss in the celestial skies!”
A series of beeps were heard from the phone before Wen Xinya realized that Si Yiyan had actually already hung up. Keeping the phone, she looked at the Soaring Phoenix zither before her and gently plucked its strings. Instantly, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop feelings from gushing out of her heart, and a “Phoenixes in Tandem Flight” piece flowed from between her plucking fingers as they flew rapidly across the zither!
Wishing to be two phoenixes joining tails in flight!
A piece of “Phoenixes in Tandem Flight”—unrestrained and effortlessly gorgeous, with highs like the two phoenixes singing with stretched necks, lows them chirping with entwined necks, flowing smoothly like the two phoenixes flying in tandem, and twirling like them lingering with joint tails!
Old Mr. Mo stood under the viburnum tree in the courtyard, listening intently with his eyes closed.
After a long while, with a long, simple, yet elegant ending, the music reverberated and trailed off into nothingness. Clapping, Old Mr. Mo walked into the house. “The zither melody was dynamic yet refined with an unrestrained tone that’s also unique. Xinya, congratulations on your minor accomplishment at learning the art of the ancient zither.”
Wen Xinya widened her eyes. “Grampy, didn’t you say that I still need at least half a year’s time before attaining a minor accomplishment?”
Old Mr. Mo looked towards the seven-stringed zither beneath her hands. “The credit goes to this zither in your hands, then. The nature and heart of this zither fit you perfectly, as if made especially for you; its sound quality is down to earth yet rich, resounding yet clear; and its nature pure, mild, plain, and distant. Such a good zither naturally greatly reinforces your learning, making you achieve more with less effort. You’ve got to treasure such a good zither.”
Wen Xinya’s fingers swiped across the strings of the zither which gave off a vibrating hum. “So it’s the credit of the zither!”
Even with his extensive knowledge, Grampy had nothing but praises for this zither—she could imagine just how much effort did Si Yiyan spend on this zither. She said silently in her heart, “Si Yiyan, I’ll treasure this zither of yours well!”
Whether it was zither or feelings, she never gave it a deeper thought—perhaps it was a bit of both.
Old Mr. Mo looked at that seven-stringed zither which was extremely exquisite whether in terms of appearance or workmanship and asked, “The material used for this zither is at least a five hundred-years-old rosewood and the strings are also made from the extremely rare soft quartzose jade. Regardless in terms of materials or workmanship, it doesn’t pale in comparison to some of the zithers that have been famous through the ages and passed down till this day. However, from the marks on the zither, it can be seen that it was made recently. Wonder from which luthier was this zither made?”
As he was well-versed in the zither, he knew all the famous luthiers of this generation personally. The zither was connective and spiritual—previously, he had wanted to get a familiar luthier to build a zither that belonged to her but had been delaying it due to the lack of good material. What he did not expect was that Xinya actually already managed to get her hands on an even better zither. However, looking at such workmanship, it seemed to be of a rather different genre than what he was familiar with.
The material used to make the zither really shocked him greatly. Currently, a hundred-years-old rosewood was already hard to come by, and that person actually managed to obtain a five hundred-years-old rosewood and soft quartzose jade. Although soft quartzose jade was rare, it wasn’t extinct. It was just that the technique of making zither strings from quartzose jade had only appeared in the Jin dynasty and was already a lost art. To be able to grasp such a technique was extremely impressive.
“Not any famous luthier, only who refines character through zither-crafting—that’s why he made me this zither.” Wen Xinya did not reveal Si Yiyan.
Old Mr. Mo couldn’t help but sigh and said, “Refine character through zither-crafting—translucence, sleekness, serenity, richness, openness, balance, clarity, and fragrance aren’t merely ideal characteristics of zithers but also humans. That friend of yours is an extraordinary person whom you can develop a deeper relationship with.”
