Chapter 166: Do You All Know What the Youth Olympic Examination Is?

After a single rehearsal, everyone was still somewhat dazed, while in Fang Che's mind, the sentence Gu Ci had just uttered kept echoing.

-- My teacher is Qin Jing... Qin Jing...

Could this really not be the very Qin Jing he had in mind?

Fang Che was tormented by the agonizing dilemma of whether or not to just ask Gu Ci directly!

Seeing Gu Ci pick up her backpack, Fang Che froze, and the title "Conductor Gu" slipped out before he could stop it. "Where are you heading?"

Gu Ci raised her phone. "It's almost noon, I have to leave."

In fact, she was already an hour behind her original schedule.

She still needed to rush to another location to participate in the city's Youth Olympic Mathematics Competition.

Hearing the phrase "almost noon," Fang Che was stunned and instinctively glanced at his own phone.

During formal rehearsals, they usually set their phones to Do Not Disturb mode.

The reason they hadn't set it to Do Not Disturb earlier was because they were waiting for news from the conductor and that pianist. Of course, people like Kevin who had left earlier were waiting for news from their respective teachers.

Now that it was confirmed the conductor who arrived today was Gu Ci, and that the pianist would not be coming, Fang Che had switched his phone back to Do Not Disturb mode and thus hadn't noticed the passage of time.

It was only upon checking that he realized it was already 12:00 PM.

Fang Che couldn't help but extend an invitation to Gu Ci. "Conductor Gu, do you have plans for the afternoon? Would you care to join us for lunch, and if you aren't busy this afternoon... could you stay and continue helping us with the rehearsal?"

As he said this, Fang Che felt a bit embarrassed himself.

When Gu Ci first arrived, he had been wishing she would leave immediately. But now, all he wanted was for Gu Ci to stay in their orchestra longer, and even longer.

He had no idea why. Even though Gu Ci's facial expressions and hand gestures didn't change drastically while conducting, he was somehow able to react with the utmost precision to every single gesture and the information conveyed in her eyes!

It was as if all it took was a single gesture or a glance from Gu Ci for him to instantly and clearly understand what she wanted to convey to him!

Perhaps putting it that way wasn't entirely accurate. If he had to describe the feeling, it was as if Gu Ci was directly transmitting her thoughts straight into his brain!

This was something Fang Che had never experienced under Conductor Song's baton.

Gu Ci replied, "There's no way today. I have an exam this afternoon and have to leave right now."

Hearing the word "exam," Fang Che was taken aback once again. After all, he was already a senior in college, and the word "exam" felt somewhat distant to him.

Furthermore, their music department was always relatively laid-back, and given that Gu Ci was here to participate in the Musicians Association's grading evaluation, which was why she was practicing here, logically they should have given her the green light...

With this thought in mind, as Fang Che walked Gu Ci out, he couldn't help but ask.

"Which university do you go to, Gu Ci? Are you a freshman? Having midterms at a time like this?"

In Fang Che's view, the music department probably only had strictness during the freshman year.

Gu Ci paused for a moment. "I'm in high school."

Fang Che was completely dumbfounded on the spot.

From his perspective, Gu Ci looked about the age of a high schooler, but he assumed that was just her appearance!

How could a little sister still in high school possibly come to participate in the Musicians Association's conducting evaluation?

Therefore, by Fang Che's lowest estimate, Gu Ci had to be a college student!

In fact, Fang Che had originally guessed that Gu Ci might be a junior or senior, but upon hearing the word "exam"—and knowing that girls liked to have their ages underestimated—he had deliberately suggested she was a freshman!

Yet what did Gu Ci tell him just now?

She's in high school???

High school?!

Fang Che felt as though his entire worldview was being overturned!

It took him a great deal of effort to compose himself, and after forcing himself to calm down, he tried to persuade her again, "High school exams? That's even less urgent! If you get into the Musicians Association during this period, you can get 20 extra points for the college entrance examination arts exams."

Hearing Fang Che's words, a trace of confusion flickered in Gu Ci's eyes. "I'm in the science track, not an arts examinee."

The trace of confusion in her eyes seemed to ask why on earth he thought she was an arts examinee.

Fang Che: "???"

Utterly dumbfounded.

Completely and utterly dumbfounded.

So... not only was Gu Ci not the college student he imagined, nor was she the arts examinee he pictured, but she was actually a student in the science track?

With conducting talent as extraordinary as hers, wouldn't choosing not to take the arts exams be a total waste???

Seeing Fang Che's somewhat dazed expression, Gu Ci raised an eyebrow slightly.

She had a sneaking suspicion that her orchestra concertmaster... didn't seem all that bright.

She turned and walked toward the main entrance. "I'll be here tomorrow morning around this same time, and I should have the whole day free. See you today."

Fang Che stood there in a daze, waving goodbye to Gu Ci. Then, snapping back to reality, he couldn't help asking, "Then what kind of exam are you going to take right now?"

He remembered that high schools nowadays supposedly weren't allowed to hold remedial classes on Saturdays and Sundays, let alone exams.

So, was this an exam for some other program Gu Ci was participating in?

Then he heard Gu Ci's voice drift back faintly from ahead, "Youth Olympics."

Fang Che racked his brain, but he couldn't recall the name of any musical instrument examination called the Youth Olympics.

Yet, strangely enough, the name sounded terribly familiar.

Still somewhat dazed, he walked back to Concert Hall Number 3.

"Brother Che, did you send Conductor Gu off?"

Fang Che nodded blankly, then instinctively asked, "Do you guys know what the Youth Olympics exam is?"

"The Youth Olympics? That's the Youth Olympic Knowledge Contest, Brother Che. Why on earth did you suddenly bring that up?"

Room slapped his forehead, finally realizing why those two words sounded so familiar to him.

So it was the Youth Olympic Knowledge Contest...

Wait a second... a contest, and in Gu Ci's eyes, that counted as an exam?

Fang Che pondered it. It seemed there was nothing technically wrong with that, but something still felt a bit off.

He looked at the person who had just answered him. "Does the Youth Olympics have a knowledge contest related to music?"

That person became even more baffled. "No way. But my younger brother is in high school right now, and this afternoon is their Youth Olympic Mathematics Competition!"

With that, the person said with a hint of complacency, "Though my brother doesn't have much musical talent, he's great at studying! Right now, he's probably on his way to the math competition. You see, nobody can be 10th-level perfect at everything, right? Once the heavens open the door of academic genius for someone, they surely can't hand over musical talent as well!"

"That's a fair point!"

"Right? Right?"

Fang Che took a deep breath, looked at the person gloomily, and said, "Conductor Gu just went to participate in the Youth Olympics."

Everyone fell silent.

Fang Che let out a gloomy sigh and dropped another blockbuster that had been building up in his chest all morning.

"I also asked Conductor Gu... her teacher is Qin Jing..."