It's Because You Love Me!

"Guess what happened today." A woman barge in her room and took a seat on her bed without asking for permission from the owner.

"What happened?" Chen Rumin who was sitting in front of her dressing table, while applying lotion on her arm asked.

"I told you to guess. You don't even try, Chen Rumin."

"Linqin, can't you just tell me what happened? How Ziyi today?"

"You are no fun."

"Since when I am the fun type?"

"I know right?" Upon Wen Linqin said that, she received a glare from her reflection.

Giggling, she continued, "Anyway, it's about Ziyi. I am supposed to bring her to Uncle Yen's studio today, right?" Uncle Yen's studio used to be a store that sell and repair string instruments, but after his only son came back from study abroad, the store did not only moved to a bigger place, but they turned it into studio that rent out rooms for those who wished to have a private space for their music class.

Those came for the rooms were usually the people who didn't have piano at their house or no soundproof wall, but they still need to practice. There were rooms with piano and there were empty rooms for those who have their own personal musical instruments.

"Okay, then?" Chen Rumin was aware that her friend would bring her daughter to that place as the place will be the new place where her daughter would have her piano class with her friend's supervision.

"You are aware that they still had the store area where they sell and accept request to repair the instruments, right?"

"Yeah. Then?" Chen Rumin raised her eyebrow at her friend, implying her to continue the story.

"I brought her to that place after we had a go with the piano. Ziyi got curious of violin. I asked her if she wanted to try and she had this eyes like silently implying 'shouldn't she try?'. So I asked them to give her a kid size for her. Guess what??"

"She can play the violin as good like piano?" Chen Rumin asked.

"Better. Chen. Ru. Min. I know I told you that your daughter was born to be pianist before, right? Well, I want to change my statement. She is a violinist."

"No-No-No. She has the talent for both piano and violin, BUT she-"

"Linqin, calm down. Take a breathe," Chen Rumin had already finished her night-prep as she reminded her friend to cool down.

"Sorry. I just-excited, surprised, amazed, all those feelings just came to me, Rumin. How can your daughter have those hand?" After took few deep breathe, Wen Linqin then said, calmer than before.

"Aren't you being too over--?" Chen Rumin was not sure the right word to use at that time, but her friend, as if she could understand what she was going to say, cut her.

"No."

"You did say about my daughter could play piano. But isn't just the same like other kids? There are so many others could play piano well too. And now violin? Linqin, I agreed to have her learn piano only to control her temperament. I don't have any intention to make my daughter enter into any competition. You aware of it, right? Unless Ziyi herself wanted for it to happen, I ain't mentioning it to her. Now, with violin, wouldn't it be too pressure for her?"

"Rumin. I know. But I never mention about her entering competition? I myself did not enter much competition like what my dad wanted, right?"

"I won't say anything the comparison of Ziyi with other kids, on how well she could play the piano. But the violin? Here, let me ask you a question. Do you remember the first time Ziyi played piano?" Wen Linqin asked, inviting Chen Rumin to try recall the first day she brought her daughter to play piano.

"The sound was all over the place. She took time to adjust her fingers to play the key. Plus with her emotional state at that time," Wen Linqin said, helping her friend to recap the exact situation.

"Compared to the piano, well- maybe it's because that she had slowly tried to control her emotional all this while during the piano lesson that she applied to violin-but the main point is that, Uncle Yen and I only taught her few things, Ziyi could catch on the spot."

"What are you trying to say here, Linqin? You are not saying my daughter is something like genius, right?" Frowned, Chen Rumin asked.

"Genius, huh? Hmmm, I don't think genius is the right word to use. But compared to piano which she took quite a time to play, she took shorter time to be able to play violin that well. Her sounds still all over the place sometimes, so I won't say she was genius, ha-ha. BUT there is this one thing. I don't know how to clearly express to you. Only I and Uncle Yen who listen to her play today could feel this. She got a blessed hand. and soul. I know you don't have big ambition for this, but with training and practice, I can say that Ziyi's play could attract a lot of ears in the future. Even my dad, I could imagine that one day, he would try to bring her to his side. Ha! With how your daughter are, I really want to see the scene where my dad got rejected by her."

Hearing the jokes, a small smile curved up on Chen Rumin's lips. But, she still was not sure on whether to add another thing into her daughter's plate.

"Okay. So now, you want to teach Ziyi to pay violin too?" Chen Rumin asked.

"Rumin. Putting aside the talent and the future, I just want to let you know. Although Ziyi was fine with you sending her to piano lesson with me, it's you the one who want her to have the piano in her plates. But, the violin. Her eyes see the violin. There was this sparkles in her eyes. It's like she fell in love with the violin. She got curious first and she's the one who want to play it. She was the one who approach the violin and asked me what is that and how to hold it properly. And the most important part is- compared to piano, she seemed enjoy more and comfortable with violin."

"Wouldn't this be too much on her plates? Piano, violin, school. What do you think I should do?" Chen Rumin asked.

"Rumin. Wouldn't this be a good thing so Ziyi wouldn't have much time to think about the Zheng?"

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't go that way just to let you allowed me to add violin into her repertoire. But, you know-... "

"Please, Rumin, please.. " So, with the begging and the persuasion, Chen Ziyi had violin in her plate the next lesson she met Wen Linqin. Contradict to what her friend told her about her daughter seemed enjoy playing violin more to piano, Chen Rumin couldn't see any of that.

Narrowing her gaze at her friend, it was as if she was accusingly asked her friend, 'which part that you see my daughter loved violin?'

"You should know well how your daughter is. Do you think she will obviously showed her true expression to you? Your daughter is like an ice berg, shouldn't you already aware of that?"

"You. Wen Linqin. I am really amazed how you can be so noble like and graceful in front of my daughter, but so sharp-tongue with me?"

"It's because you love me!"

"Go away."

"No."

"Is this how you act around your husband too? I am really impressed that he let you to come here every week."

"It's because he loves me!"

"I should expect that answer already." Chen Rumin pinched the area between her eyes, while a soft chuckle left her lips. Then, she could hear a giggles came from her friend's mouth.

#####

'Linqin.'

Sitting on the couch, looking at the almost white scenery through the hotel room window, Chen Rumin was in daze, recalling old memories. To be exact, it was the day when Wen Linqin came to her to talk about her discovery on her daughter's talent in playing violin and proposed to her to add violin into her daughter's plate.

As she was in daze, recalled the reason why her daughter began to have violin in her repertoire, she couldn't help but to feel sad and a bit sorrowful as her memories prolonged to her friend itself. Her dear friend.

Wen Linqin. 'If I could feel like this, I wonder, how would Shen Jiang and your kids feel.'

"Mom."

"Mom." Chen Ziyi's touch woke Chen Rumin from her daze. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Chen Rumin fluttered her eyes few times as if she was trying to wake herself completely from a dream, and looked at her daughter who was already wore her sleep robe.

"Mom. I've washed myself." Chen Ziyi said, while brushing her hair using a small towel.

"It's cold. How can you washed yourself that long and you even washed your hair? AND why did you bring along your phone with you? It's dangerous." Chen Rumin commented while her eyes looking at the clock in her phone.

Chen Rumin did noticed that these few days, her daughter would bring her phone along with her every time she went to have a wash. Whenever she walked past the room, she could listen music played from outside of the bathroom, so she could already assumed for what purpose of the phone for.

She always forgot to mention about it when they were at home. But, now that her daughter literally doing it in front of her, she couldn't help but to bring it out.

'yada yada yada...' Chen Ziyi scratched her head before she gave a new unused towel to her mother.

"I used hot water, mom. and I just wet my hair a little bit. I did not wash them so thoroughly."

"And the phone??" Chen Rumin asked, with her interrogative tone, while her arms crossing over her body.

Hearing that, Chen Ziyi became silent.

She couldn't answer that.