Chapter 34 first quarter

Row upon row of small houses with the same shape are lined up on both sides of the narrow road that seems to be too narrow for traffic.The low doorposts made of the same material, the cramped parking lot, and the entrance door that is close to the path make people feel that the residents inside are all the same. A nameplate reading "Chestnut Grove" hangs in the second house from the corner.There was a bicycle parked outside the door, probably because it couldn't fit in the aisle inside.Looking around inadvertently, Fujii Miho found that there were bicycles parked in front of every house, and some even parked two.It's far from the station, and bicycles are definitely a must.Bicycles are placed on both sides, making the already narrow path more and more difficult to navigate, but since everyone is like this, it must be all right.

The building pattern here is so crowded, I wonder if the noise will disturb the neighbors?Thinking of the family she was about to visit, she couldn't help feeling a little worried. After ringing the doorbell, a woman's voice sounded like it was the housewife.Miho told the other party that Mr. Hashimoto introduced her to visit.Soon the entrance door opened, and a middle-aged woman appeared.She was dressed in an ordinary way, which matched this small single-family house, but judging from her appearance, she was far from the young Miho imagined.No matter how you look at it, her child will not be too young.But there is no rule that the piano must start from elementary school.

Miho bowed and took out a business card from his handbag: "My name is Fujii, nice to meet you." The other party glanced at the business card, looked at Misui unceremoniously, and finally said: "Please come in." "excuse me." Walking into the house, Miho felt something was wrong.She has been doing this job for several years, no matter which one, she will receive a warm reception when she visits for the first time, but the hostess of this house seems not very happy, and her expression clearly thinks she is an eyesore.Shiho couldn't help wondering secretly.

The hostess led Misui to a six-fold Japanese room.Maybe it's because of space constraints at home.This place is not as sparse as the general living room. The combined furniture placed against the wall is full of books and daily utensils, and the TV is directly connected to the video game console. Not long after the hostess left, Miho heard someone coming downstairs.It should be that the child came down, I don't know how old it is, whether it is a boy or a girl. However, when the paper door was opened, a middle-aged man with thinning hair came in.Miho guessed that this person was the husband of the hostess, the head of the family.

"Oh, hello." The man's expression seemed a bit reserved, and he sat down diagonally across from Misui, holding two business cards in his hand, one was handed to his wife by Misui just now, and the other he put on the field. On the low table in front of Sui. "Thank you for coming so far. My name is Lilin." That business card had the name of a certain home appliance manufacturer printed on it, and Kuribayashi was the chief of the lighting design section. The child's father actually handed over a business card. Miho felt a little embarrassed, but put the business card in the bag anyway.

"Are you from home?" Kuribayashi asked. "yes." "how long it takes?" "About thirty minutes." "Thirty minutes... that's it. Then it shouldn't be a problem to ask you to come to teach, right?" "No problem. I've been to families farther than this." "Really? That's good." Kuribayashi seemed relieved. "Excuse me..." Misui hesitated for a moment, then cut to the point, "Where is your child?" "My child? Where did you go...it should be in a cram school." Kuribayashi scratched his head and glanced at the sliding door.

"how old are you?" "Are you asking about your age? It's embarrassing to say, it's already fifty." "No, I'm not asking about your age, I'm asking about your child..." "Oh? The age of the child? She is in the third year of junior high school. How old is she...it should be fifteen years old, which is the most worrying time." He laughed, but his expression was still cautious. Are you studying in the third year of middle school, don't you want to prepare for the exam?Shiho thought in surprise. "Won't this conflict with learning?"

"Huh?" Kuribayashi asked in surprise. "I mean, will learning piano in the third year of junior high school affect the entrance examination for high school?" When Miho asked such a frank question, Kuribayashi couldn't help opening his mouth, and then looked embarrassed. "Uh, I wonder what Hashimoto-kun told you?" "How do you say it... He said that there is a child in the house who wants to learn piano and is looking for a teacher." Hashimoto is the father of a female student Miho is currently tutoring, and is Kuribayashi's subordinate in the company.

"I see..." Kuribayashi scratched his thinning hair and murmured, "Actually, I just told him that I want to find a piano teacher." "Could there be some misunderstanding?" "I don't know if that counts as a misunderstanding, but it's a little bit different." "Specifically?" "Well, it's not my daughter who wants to learn the piano, but uh..." Kuribayashi coughed dryly and looked at her straight up, "It's me." "what?" Seeing Miho's tongue-tied expression, Kuribayashi looked disappointed.After forced a few dry laughs, he asked, "Isn't this really weird?"

"Where, I don't think it's weird, but, um, it's different from what I heard before." Misui also tried to force a smile, but she knew that her expression was very stiff. "Are you puzzled?" Li Lin rubbed his hands together, "I'm already old enough to learn the piano." "Have you played it before?" Misui thought to himself, it would be understandable if this was the case, but he shook his head. "I'm a complete blank slate. Let alone the piano, I haven't even played the harmonica." "Then why suddenly..." "Well, that's how it is anyway. I suddenly made up my mind to learn piano."

"That's it..." "Can you keep this matter a secret from Hashimoto-kun? Just let him think that my daughter is learning piano." "Okay, I know." "Then," Li Lin looked up at her, "Is it possible that I can't learn the piano anymore at my age?" Shiho hurriedly shook his head. "Why not? I think this is a good thing. Even when you are old, you can still challenge new things." "So, are you willing to accept me?" "Of course." Shizuo nodded.She once heard a friend from the Music University say that once older people make up their minds to study, they will be more motivated, which is a bit easier than teaching children.Besides, they didn't expect to become pianists, so they wouldn't feel too much pressure. "Oh, you're willing to accept it, that's great, I'm finally relieved." Kuribayashi's uncomfortable expression disappeared, obviously he had been worried about being rejected before. "I don't know where the class is?" "Oh, I'll take you there, on the second floor." Walking up the narrow stairs, two doors come into view, one is an ordinary door and the other is a Japanese-style sliding door. It seems that there are two rooms on the second floor.Kuribayashi opened the sliding door. "It's here." Kuribayashi said shyly. This is a four-and-a-half stacked Japanese room, with two wardrobes juxtaposed against the wall, and an upright piano opposite. In this small room, it looks like a huge rock.Miho looked around the room and couldn't help thinking, is the piano so huge? "The little girl's room is already crowded, so I can only put it here. I got in through the window over there, and it took a lot of effort." Kuribayashi said, stroking the shining piano. "Did you buy this recently?" Miho asked. "Yes, I bought it last week." Kuribayashi replied without thinking.According to the tone, he bought it specially for learning the piano.Whether it was out of firm determination or just a moment of hotheadedness, Miho couldn't judge at this moment. "When will I start teaching the piano? If it's convenient, I want to learn now." Kuribayashi rubbed his hands and said. Miho was a little overwhelmed by his positivity. "I have scheduled classes today, how about starting next week? I heard that you are free on Mondays, so let's go from eight to nine every Monday night." "Is that so..." For some reason, Kuribayashi seemed unhappy.He scratched his head, changed his name early and called Misui "Teacher", and then asked, "Can you increase the number of times?" "Increased reps? Twice a week?" "I want a little more." "three times per week?" "No, I'm thinking... well, once a day, okay?" "Every day?" Misui was dumbfounded, and couldn't help sitting up straight, "You mean, class every day?" "Yes, classes are held every day from one week to Sunday, and the time from eight to nine o'clock is too short, can it be longer? For example, from six o'clock to nine o'clock, or from seven o'clock to ten o'clock, of course it depends on the teacher convenient." "Wait, wait, wait a minute," Misui stretched out his hand to signal him to pause, and said, "I understand your urgency, but the more times you attend classes, the better. The important thing is how much you practice after class." "I will definitely practice enough." Kuribayashi's voice was full of enthusiasm. "I believe that. But the real problem is that if there is only one day to practice, it is impossible to learn the course smoothly. Even if you can, it doesn't make much sense if you don't really master it." "That's it." Kuribayashi looked frustrated. "In my opinion, you don't have to be too impatient. It's better to study steadily and patiently. It may not be appropriate to say this, but you didn't want to be a pianist in the first place." Kuribayashi's eyes were inexplicably displeased, as if he didn't expect her to say such a thing.But he still nodded slightly and whispered, "Got it." After discussing with each other, the two decided to have an hour of class every Monday and Thursday.Miho felt that twice was too much, but Kuribayashi refused to give in. When Miho said goodbye and went out, she met a girl running up the stairs.She should be Lilin's daughter in the third year of junior high school, with a round face exactly like her mother's.Seeing Misui, she stopped, looking a little surprised. "This lady is a piano teacher." Kuribayashi introduced to his daughter, and then said to Miho: "She is the little girl Yuka." "Hello." Miho smiled at Yuka, but she only nodded symbolically, and then slipped into her room. "Why didn't you even say hello? I'm sorry, teacher, even though she's grown up so much, she's still very childish inside." Kuribayashi said apologetically. Yuka's mother also didn't say hello.When Miho put on her shoes at the entrance and was about to leave, she didn't come out of the kitchen to see off the guests.Judging by the sound of running water in the kitchen, she was indeed inside. For some reason, Miho is a little uneasy about the prospect of this tutoring.With such a feeling, she left Kuribayashi's house.