"Exactly."
The old woman nodded slowly.
If she saw someone suddenly shouting on the street, with no one in sight for them to shout at...
She would think there was something wrong with that person's head.
And keep her distance.
That was how most people would react.
If enough people saw the old man acting like that, rumors would spread, and who knew what people would say about him?
That would be a real mess.
"It really is quite nice."
The old woman couldn't help sighing.
At first, when she heard the old man say that the other party had stayed at their house just because he'd said its playing sounded awful, and had kept trying to change his mind, she'd thought it was a bit petty.
But now, she felt the other party probably just loved the pipa too much and had so much faith in its own playing that it couldn't accept the old man's rash criticism.
Speaking of rash...
Given how much the old man hated the pipa, would he have listened to the other party play the whole piece?
He must have stopped it right at the beginning.
And he'd still had the nerve to say it sounded awful...
Had the old man even listened to it play?
"Mm."
The old man nodded.
"Thank goodness. Thank goodness."
The old woman suddenly looked relieved.
"Huh?"
The old man looked puzzled.
What was she thankful for?
"Thank goodness it meant no harm."
The old woman glared at him.
"Otherwise..."
Wouldn't the old man have been in real trouble?
That thing was a monster.
The old man understood what his wife had left unsaid.
He paused, slightly taken aback.
He hadn't even thought of that.
"Right."
"'Right,' indeed."
The old woman