I'm a sophomore in college, what the heck is this "male god cultivation system"?

Chapter 161 Wen Ning's Puzzle

Upon returning to their hometown in Jiangnan, the two didn't linger and immediately began practicing calligraphy.

With the help of the [Career Calendar], Chen Yan's calligraphy skills have also improved by leaps and bounds. If before it was just Lin Zhixi teaching him, now it is the two of them learning from each other.

Although there is still a slight difference, it is so small that laymen cannot even see it.

However, the atmosphere of mutual discussion and learning from each other's strengths was quite good. Soon, the two practiced for three hours, and it was already four o'clock in the afternoon.

"Let's stop practicing here for today." Chen Yan put down his brush and gently flicked his wrist.

However, to his surprise, Lin Zhixi did not get up and walk to the bookshelf as usual, but sat in the chair and quietly watched him.

'Could she have been hurt?' Chen Yan felt that Lin Zhixi shouldn't be that fragile, but seeing her like this, he wasn't sure for a moment, so he asked, 'What's wrong? Aren't you going to read today?'

"Hmm...I watched it." Lin Zhixi nodded, then added with a hint of anticipation, "But I have one more small wish?"

Chen Yan: (⊙o⊙)?

"You go first?" Chen Yan didn't immediately agree, but let Lin Zhixi speak first.

"Um, could you play the piano once?" Lin Zhixi blinked, looking at Chen Yan with anticipation. "I came across your piano competition video again last night when I was scrolling through my phone.

Chen Yan paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, then come with me to the music room."

Anyway, he practices every day or two to maintain his touch, and since Lin Zhixi wanted to hear him play the piano today, he might as well use it as practice.

but……

"I haven't been practicing much lately, so don't have too high expectations of me."

"I believe in you, and you should have some confidence in yourself too." Seeing that her little request had been fulfilled, Lin Zhixi smiled, teased Chen Yan with a laugh, and then happily followed him out of the study.

The music room is not far away, just a few steps away from the study.

Chen Yan sat down on the piano bench, looked at Lin Zhixi not far away, and asked, "What do you want to hear?"

"How about Liang Zhu? I saw a video of it last night and it looks really good."

Chen Yan's lips twitched, and he complained irritably, "You really know how to pick things, picking the most difficult one for me right away."

Chen Yan was not exaggerating; the difficulty of "The Butterfly Lovers" is indeed top-notch. Putting aside everything else, the fact that it requires 16 notes per second is almost at the physiological limit of ordinary people.

Lin Zhixi immediately chose such a difficult piece, and Chen Yan couldn't tell whether it was because she had no knowledge of piano music, or because she was overconfident, or both.

Of course, despite saying that, Chen Yan took a deep breath and decided to play "The Butterfly Lovers" once more.

It's not like it's a competition. I'm just practicing at home for fun. It's no big deal if I make a few mistakes.

The next second, his fingers danced across the black and white keys, and a lively piano melody slowly began to play.

……

Lin Zhixi's idea was purely on a whim.

When Kang Le forwarded Chen Yan's competition video to her before, she casually clicked to save it. So last night, when she was reviewing her saved videos, she watched the whole video again.

But when she saw Chen Yan today, another question arose in her mind.

Chen Yan's piano skills are clearly the result of years of practice; they cannot be acquired in a short period of time.

But this guy basically spends every afternoon with me, and the rest of the time he's busy starting his business and hanging out with women, so he doesn't have time to practice the piano.

That's why Lin Zhixi made this wish today. On the one hand, she really wanted to hear Chen Yan play the piano live, and on the other hand, she wanted to see if his piano skills had declined.

If there is a decline, she can use that as a reason to "mock" Chen Yan.

Unfortunately, her little idea was completely thwarted after Chen Yan played the instrument.

But Lin Zhixi had no time to be disappointed; she was completely immersed in the music.

……

The playing time of the entire piece "Butterfly Lovers" varies depending on the individual's playing style, but most can be completed within 22 to 26 minutes.

Chen Yan didn't deliberately calculate the time; he simply let himself play. When the last note fell, he lifted his hands off the keys and let out a long sigh of relief.

After all, I had only been maintaining my basic skills for a while, and suddenly being faced with such a challenging piece of music was bound to put some pressure on me.

Overall, Chen Yan was quite satisfied with his performance. There were no mistakes in the entire piece, and both the artistic and emotional expression were perfect, making it a piece worthy of an award in a competition.

But for some reason, Chen Yan always felt that something was missing...

It wasn't until he turned around and saw Lin Zhixi, whose expression was slightly blank, that he realized what was missing.

Where's the applause?
I played so well, where's the applause?

Of course, after seeing Lin Zhixi's expression, Chen Yan felt that he had received praise that was more valuable than applause.

After all, clapping can be faked, but this kind of reaction of being completely immersed in the music cannot be faked.

About twenty seconds later, Lin Zhixi woke up as if from a dream. The first thing she did was to clap her hands instinctively, and then look at Chen Yan in amazement.

Chen Yan felt a little pleased with the girl's performance, and since he also felt that his performance was perfect, he accepted her applause without hesitation.

Lin Zhixi stopped clapping until her hands were red, then looked at Chen Yan with a mixture of disbelief and admiration.

"How many years have you been practicing piano?" she couldn't help but ask.

To avoid having too much of a shock to her worldview, Chen Yan decided not to tell the truth directly and vaguely said, "I've been training for a few years, but I have good talent and I learn quickly."

"Yes, I can see that." Lin Zhixi said with some envy, "I also have friends who have practiced piano since elementary school, but I feel that they play much worse than you."

After a pause, she continued, "When I was little, I wanted to learn piano, so I signed up for classes, but after two lessons I didn't want to practice anymore, so I went to learn painting instead..."

Noticing the fleeting envy in Lin Zhixi's tone, Chen Yan pondered for a moment and then suddenly asked, "Do you want to give it a try?"

"Me? Now?" Lin Zhixi hesitated for a moment, a clear look of excitement flashing in her eyes, but after thinking about it, she still refused, "Forget it, I have no foundation in this area at all, I can only recognize the staff notation."

Although she was refusing, Chen Yan could sense that Lin Zhixi wasn't telling the truth... Rather than refusing because she lacked piano skills, it was more like...

"Don't worry, I won't laugh at you," Chen Yan said, suppressing a laugh. "I promise I won't."

"You're already laughing now, and you promise you won't laugh? Do you even believe that yourself?" Lin Zhixi rolled her eyes and said irritably, but she did get up and walk towards the piano, clearly persuaded by Chen Yan.

Chen Yan stood up and made way for Lin Zhixi, who was sitting upright on the piano bench. "Don't be so nervous. I won't laugh at you even if you play terribly," Chen Yan said with a smile, gently patting Lin Zhixi's back.

"You won't scold me, but you'll definitely laugh at me." Lin Zhixi turned to look at Chen Yan, pouting slightly, and said irritably.

However, despite saying that, her body subconsciously relaxed.

"Let's familiarize ourselves with the piano keys next." Chen Yan walked behind Lin Zhixi and pointed to each key, explaining them one by one.

However, Lin Zhixi was unusually distracted for a moment.

For some reason, the moment Chen Yan walked behind her, she felt a very unique aura... Not only that, when Chen Yan spoke, Lin Zhixi could even feel a warm breath brushing against the top of her head.

This feeling made Lin Zhixi feel a little strange, but she quickly calmed down and threw herself into practicing the piano.

……

Chen Yan had satisfied his craving to be a piano teacher today, so after sending Lin Zhixi home, he decided to find a real piano teacher.

After parking his car in the community parking lot, Chen Yan quickly ran towards the building where Wen Ya lived, and then pressed his fingerprint lock on his door after reaching the front door.

After opening the door, Chen Yan couldn't wait to go inside, only to find that although the living room lights were on, it was empty.

"Sister Wenya!" Chen Yan called out loudly.

"Xiao Yan?" A gentle voice rang out from the bathroom, mixed with the sound of the shower water falling on her body.

For some reason, Chen Yan felt a sudden itch in his heart and a surge of excitement throughout his body, so he quickly walked towards the bathroom.

"Bang." The bathroom door was pulled open and then closed, followed by Wen Ya's panicked voice, which rose several octaves.

"No, not here, wait until I finish showering..."

"Xiao Ning is still here..."

"snore……"

……

Wen Ning, who was lying in her bedroom playing on her phone, instinctively wanted to come out of the room to say hello after hearing Chen Yan's voice.

However, she was still a step too late. When she came out of the room, she only saw Chen Yan's back as he rushed into the bathroom.

"No, is it so urgent?"

Wen Ning stood there, stunned, looking at the bathroom with some confusion.

I'm still at home. At least these two used to go back to the bedroom, but now they don't even bother to pretend anymore?

Wen Ning was about to make a few complaints when she suddenly heard her sister scream, followed by a deep roar...

It was as if there weren't two people in the bathroom, but two ferocious beasts tearing each other apart.

Wen Ning looked at the bathroom in disbelief.
……

Forty-five minutes later.

Wenya, wrapped in a bath towel, staggered out of the bathroom, her face as radiant and beautiful as a blooming peach blossom.

As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, she saw Wen Ning sitting on the sofa and subconsciously bit her lip.

"Sister, the battle is fierce." Wen Ning's gaze fell on Wen Ya's slightly trembling legs, then she looked at her watch and teased, "You're already very popular, I'm afraid you can become even more popular now."

"Sis, forty-five minutes! You two are really at the most energetic age when you meet the most energetic him."

Wenya was already embarrassed, but her sister's teasing only made her more defensive.

"I'm your older sister..." After assuming the authority of an older sister with little confidence, Wen Ya didn't even dare to look at her younger sister's expression and walked towards the bedroom with her head down.

She didn't even dare to quicken her pace, for fear that she might lose her balance and fall to the ground.

A moment later, Wenya came out of the bedroom with a bath towel and a set of pajamas.

……

One minute later.

Chen Yan had just finished dressing and came out of the bathroom when he saw Wen Ning looking at him with a "strange" expression.

Chen Yan: (⊙o⊙)?

"Oh, Xiao Ning is here too."

"What Xiao Ning!" Wen Ning suddenly exploded, her original expression completely gone, and she said angrily, "I'm twenty-seven years old, you should call me Sister Ning."

“Okay, Xiao Ning.” Chen Yan readily agreed.

Wen Ning remained silent, only staring at Chen Yan with a murderous look on his face.

Chen Yan ignored him, turned around and walked towards the refrigerator, opened the door, took out a large bottle of milk, and asked, "Would you like some milk?"

"Give me a glass, my mouth is a bit dry." Wen Ning had been eavesdropping for an hour and felt seriously dehydrated, so she definitely needed a glass of milk to replenish her fluids.

While speaking, Wen Ning couldn't help but look at Wen Ya... After all, her older sister had been working hard for an hour, and her current dehydration was probably even more severe than hers, so she probably needed a cup too.

as predicted……

"Hmm, give me one too." Wenya's throat was a little dry, so she asked for a glass of milk without hesitation.

Chen Yan poured three glasses of milk, then closed the refrigerator door, handed the glasses to the other two people, and plopped down on the sofa.

The next second, he saw Wen Ning looking at him with a gaze so full of shame and indignation that it was almost murderous.

Chen Yan's expression went through a series of changes within five seconds, from "doubt" to "sudden realization" and then to "mockery," with a naturalness comparable to that of a veteran actor.

As for Wen Ning, after realizing that his eye contact was ineffective, he turned his head somewhat dejectedly and gulped down the milk in his glass.

Wenya looked at the two's silent performance with some confusion, but she didn't think much of it, assuming that the two were still bickering over the "Xiao Ning" they had just mentioned.

'Why are they all acting like children?' Wenya shook her head, thinking helplessly.

(I've been suffering from a cold and acid reflux these past two days, so I'm in really bad shape. I've been busy revising the previous chapter all day and just can't find the time. I'll probably only be able to update 4 words a day for the next two days, so I'm really sorry.)
(Of course, I've kept track of all the missed updates. I've updated 214000 words so far this month. If I update 4000 words each for the next two days, that'll be 222000 words this month. Assuming 8,000 words per day, I'm 18000 words behind. Let's round it up to 20,000 words. I'll update five more chapters next month.)
(I'm so sorry, I'll bow to all my dear readers.)

(End of this chapter)