The teacher admired the courtyard for a while.
What a pity.
It was raining.
Otherwise, the courtyard would have looked even more beautiful up close.
Xue Jiamin followed the teacher back to the practice room that had been specially set up at the hotel for the contestants.
But when he sat down on the piano bench again, his mind was elsewhere.
His attention was still on the leopard he had finally remembered.
And on the leopard's strange behavior...
It bothered him a lot.
He felt he could figure out why the leopard had acted that way.
Yet he was always just a little short of breaking through that thin layer of paper.
It was unbearable to feel that the answer was right on the tip of his tongue, yet still just out of reach.
Without realizing it, Xue Jiamin pressed harder on the keys.
The keys were struck with force.
A rather grating sound rang out.
The teacher quickly noticed that something was wrong with Xue Jiamin.
She hurried over to ask him about it.
Xue Jiamin opened his mouth.
The next second, he shut it again.
He didn't know how to tell the teacher what he was thinking about.
She would surely think he was making a big deal out of nothing.
How long ago had it happened...? What was there to dwell on?
"Xue Jiamin?"
The teacher asked, puzzled.
"Are you having trouble with your practice?"
Xue Jiamin shook his head.
If he nodded, he couldn't think of anything he could use as an excuse.
"Teacher Gao..."
A memory, dusty and tucked away in a corner, suddenly surfaced in Xue Jiamin's mind.
Xue Jiamin froze.
What was going on today?
Why did it feel as though so many memories had suddenly come