The Young Girl's Chronicles of Demon-Slaying

Chapter 19: The Mysterious

A stick of incense was placed in the incense burner, and he said, “If we adopt Hengheng, will we have to change her name?” “Of course!” Lin Yuqin said. “She’ll be added to the household register, so we’ll definitely have to change her name.” “Have you talked to Hengheng about this yet?” Song Wencheng asked. “Well… not yet. I’ll talk it over with her tomorrow!” After saying this, Lin Yuqin suddenly burst into laughter without warning, laughing so hard she doubled over, eventually collapsing onto Song Wencheng, leaving him completely baffled. “What’s wrong with you? You’re not so happy that you’ve lost your mind, are you?” Song Wencheng teased. “Get lost! You’re the one who’s lost your mind!” Lin Yuqin sat back up, gave Song Wencheng a light shove on the shoulder, and only then stopped laughing. “There’s something I forgot to tell you.” “What is it? Good news or bad news?” Song Wencheng asked. “Good news!” Lin Yuqin said. “You don’t know! We’ve found a real treasure!” “What treasure? How come I don’t know about this?” Song Wencheng raised an eyebrow. “What do you think of Hengheng?” Having piqued Song Wencheng’s curiosity, Lin Yuqin decided to keep him in suspense. Song Wencheng thought about it seriously. “It’s hard to say, really. I haven’t had much contact with Hengheng! She’s only been here for two or three days… To be honest, I even feel like your decision to adopt her was a bit too impulsive and reckless.” “If I hadn’t been impulsive and reckless, how could I have found you a genius daughter?” Lin Yuqin said. “A genius daughter? You mean Hengheng?” Song Wencheng looked completely skeptical. “Don’t doubt it! The proof is right in front of you!” Lin Yuqin said, recounting how, in less than two hours today, she’d taken Fang Heng from knowing absolutely nothing to mastering the basics of the piano—and she was even more skilled than a typical beginner. “…Let me tell you something! I’ve seen plenty of geniuses at school. Just recently, there was a student named Lin Dian who was incredibly talented—when you taught him something, he grasped it instantly and mastered it right away. When teaching a student like that, you don’t even have to worry about whether they can absorb the material; he’s like a sponge—no matter how much water you pour on him, he soaks it all up.” “I thought geniuses like that were one in a million! But I never expected to meet another one this afternoon—and now she’s my own daughter! How could I not be thrilled?” Lin Yuqin said excitedly. “It’s just like a gift from heaven!” “Is she really that amazing?” Song Wencheng, having never seen her in person, was still a bit skeptical. “Could it be that she’s actually studied this before and is just pretending not to know to trick you?” “Why are you so suspicious?” Lin Yuqin patted Song Wencheng on the shoulder and said, “Even if you have your doubts, you can’t possibly dismiss my ten years of teaching experience, can you? Whether someone has studied a musical instrument or played the piano before might not be obvious if they’re just standing still, but as soon as they sit down at the piano and start playing, I can tell at a glance whether they’ve had any training or a foundation.” “There’s no doubt about it—Hengheng has never taken piano lessons before; she doesn’t even have the slightest foundation. When I let her play the piano, she was worried that if she moved around too much, she might make the piano go out of tune…” After saying this, Lin Yuqin laughed again for a moment before continuing, “... I originally just wanted to teach her a simple children’s song or something like that, but once I started teaching her, there was no stopping it. She was just like Lin Dian—whatever I said, she grasped it instantly, picked it up right away, and could even apply what she learned to new situations, integrating her own understanding and improvising on her own.” “If that’s not a genius, then what is?” Lin Yuqin looked absolutely delighted. “So what are your plans for her going forward?” Song Wencheng asked. “A genius is easy to teach, but when it comes to nurturing her, we can’t let her go down the wrong path.” “I plan to nurture her gradually. I don’t intend to make her incredibly skilled or knowledgeable all at once—just a bit faster than an average student is enough,” Lin Yuqin said, her face full of anticipation. “In the future, our son can play the drums, you can play the violin, Hengheng can play the piano, and I’ll take on the other instruments. A family band will officially be born!” Hearing this, Song Wencheng smiled too. In truth, he’d always known that his wife had long wanted everyone in the family to learn an instrument so they could form a band just for fun. Although their son had been part of the family before, there had always been one person missing. Now that Fang Heng had joined, this amateur band was finally complete. Seeing the look of anticipation on Lin Yuqin’s face, Song Wencheng couldn’t help but remind her, “You haven’t told our son about this yet, have you?” “Why the rush? I’m sure I can convince him!” Lin Yuqin said confidently. “All right, then! I’m not in a rush!” Seeing this, Song Wencheng changed the subject: “Let’s get back to what we were talking about earlier. Since Hengheng is going to change his last name to mine, have you thought of a name yet?” “Not yet!” Lin Yuqin replied. “Then let’s figure it out now! Don’t wait until it’s time to register her household registration and then scramble at the last minute with no preparation at all.” Song Wencheng set the book he was holding on the nightstand, then pulled open a drawer and took out another book: “Talk it over with Hengheng tomorrow. After all, she’s a teenager now, and since it’s her name, we need to respect her decision… Then, let’s come up with a few options and let her pick one she likes.” “Okay!” Seeing that Song Wencheng had started flipping through the book, Lin Yuqin put down her phone, leaned against his shoulder, and the two of them began brainstorming new names for Fang Heng together. It was clear that no matter what kind of nice-sounding name Song Wencheng and Lin Yuqin came up with, Fang Heng would eventually take the surname Song. By the time night had fallen deeply, the couple had narrowed it down to seven or eight names to present to Fang Heng the next day, and both were already feeling a bit sleepy. Lin Yuqin yawned and said, “That’s strange—I keep feeling like I’ve forgotten something.” “Is it important?” Song Wencheng reached out to turn off the bedside lamp. “It probably isn’t important—otherwise I wouldn’t have forgotten it.” Lin Yuqin finished speaking while lying down, and immediately recalled what Lin Dian had told her earlier that day. The scripture! She thought for a moment—it seemed she’d left it on the coffee table downstairs. Oh well, she’d worry about it tomorrow! As the light went out, the room was plunged into darkness. (End of Chapter)