Offer

It had begun to rain by the time Chen An and Shen Li Xin made their way out of the shopping center. The sky was still bright, but a passing gray cloud, like a child throwing a tantrum, was weeping over everything in its path. The shopping center was in the busiest part of the city, and taxi cabs were already occupied with people trying to escape the storm.

"What should we do?" Shen Li Xin wondered aloud, worry creasing his brow.

Chen An reached a hand out beyond the roof covering the shopping center's entrance. Cold droplets met her palm, rolling down the bend of her wrist slowly.

Shen Li Xin turned to look at her with a newfound sense of determination. "How about this?" he began, and Chen An expected to hear some grand plan. "We run."

It seemed like that was the only plan they could come up with.

And so, the two ran through the rain, splashing up puddles that had already begun to form on the uneven sidewalk. The leaves that had fallen before clung to their wet legs, coming along for the ride. Shen Li Xin held his shirt up above their heads in a futile attempt to block the torrent of rain.

They both laughed the whole way to Chen An's home, quickly losing their breaths and poking fun at their unfortunate situation.

When they reached her apartment building, they looked at each other, both drenched from head to toe. Shen Li Xin tried unsuccessfully to calm his cascade of laughter. Chen An's hair had come loose from its hairpin and stuck to her face, and Shen Li Xin brushed it aside.

"It seems like your hair is a little wet," he teased her, and their joyful laughter returned once again until they clutched their stomachs, out of breath.

After Shen Li Xin finally caught his breath, he led Chen An to the entrance of her building. "You better go in now, An An, before you catch a cold," he said softly, looking up at her elevated on the stairs.

"Will you be okay getting home on your own?" Chen An asked him worriedly. "You can wait inside for the downpour to let up if you'd like. Or, I can call a car for you."

Shen Li Xin raised a hand to pat her head in reassurance. "Don't worry, An An. I'll be fine."

Through the glass door of her apartment building, Chen An watched as Shen Li Xin ran down the sidewalk the way they came and disappeared into the busy street.

The door to her apartment clicked open, and Chen An walked inside, dripping like a dog. She could hear her grandmother's nagging voice in her ear, despite the fact that she was still hundreds of kilometers away in Hangzhou.

Waddling to the bathroom, Chen An took a steaming shower, washing away the cold that had settled into her bones.

As she got out of the shower, her phone began to ring, and Chen An picked up and pressed it against her ear while drying her wet hair with a fuzzy towel.

"I'm surprised you saved my number, An An," Li Jun Jie's voice reached her ear.

Chen An held out her phone in front of her face, an unknown number displayed on the screen, before bringing it back to her ear. "I didn't, I just picked up," Chen An replied flatly. She drifted to her window and found Li Jun Jie already looking back at her from his own. "Is this going to be your new habit now?"

"Hmm... maybe." Even from across the building, Chen An could imagine Li Jun Jie's irritating smirk he seemed to always have on around her. "I like hearing your voice."

"Did you call me just to tell me that?" Chen An was quickly losing her patience, the pile of workbooks on her desk becoming more and more daunting with each wasted second.

"No, I wanted to ask you when you wanted to work on the literature project."

"Oh, right."

Mr. Wen had assigned the class a group project to write and present an essay about their hopes and dreams after their senior year of high school. Following the rules of her agreement, Chen An had no choice but to pair up with Li Jun Jie.

Chen An thought for a moment. "How about Tuesday after school? I have extended orchestra rehearsals on Monday evenings."

Li Jun Jie hummed, which Chen An took to be his agreement.

Having decided, Chen An was about to hang up the phone when Li Jun Jie spoke again, "Oh, and another thing."

"Hmm?" She looked up through her window to find Li Jun Jie still gazing at her, his head propped up with his arm on the windowsill.

"You look prettier with your hair down."

"That's new." Lu Xi Xi pointed to the pearl hairpin in Chen An's hair. "I like it, but it's so unlike you to wear something like that."

Chen An held a hand up to touch the cold metal self-consciously. "A friend gave it to me, so I thought I should wear it."

"You look nice," Lu Xi Xi reassured her, turning her attention to tuning her violin.

Ms. Yun strode into the room, and the students immediately went quiet. "I have just received notice that our orchestra has been chosen to perform at the winter concert this year."

Excitement began to spread through the crowd.

"Can you believe it? I feel like I'm dreaming," Lu Xi Xi whispered to Chen An blissfully.

Chen An nodded enthusiastically; it had been her dream too to perform in the winter concert.

The winter concert marked the beginning of the winter season every year and was the largest musical event in the province, with thousands of guests lining up for a seat.

Chen An's grandmother had only brought her once, the year she just started middle school. Chen An's favorite violinist, Zhang Ruan Mei, was among the notable musicians to play that night. Her posters filled the city center, and Chen An could remember staring at the large print of her headshot that hung outside of the concert hall: she was mid-performance, her bow lifted in the air like a graceful dancer.

Despite lining up for several hours, Chen An and her grandmother were denied entrance, the concert hall already filled to its maximum capacity. But, even from the outside of the building, Chen An could hear the beautiful music that could not be contained within the small concert hall. When it was Zhang Ruan Mei's turn to play, it fell silent under her command, and it seemed as if the whole city had gone quiet just to listen.

Chen An had longed to perform like Zhang Ruan Mei, where she seemed to control each note instead of letting the music control her. Chen An's love of performance began by watching old tapes of Zhang Ruan Mei's recitals as a music student. She had forbidden recording of her performances as a professional, and though videos still circulated across the internet, Chen An refused to watch them out of respect for her wishes.

Only the best musicians in the country, like Zhang Ruan Mei, were invited to perform at the winter concert. One high school's orchestra in the whole province was selected yearly as a way to inspire the budding musicians to continue in their studies.

"Now, it may seem like the winter concert is several months away, but do not slack off in your practicing," Ms. Yun warned the students. "The run through is scheduled for two months from now, and the senior musicians will be there to critique your work and determine if you are capable of performing in the concert."

With the imminence of being evaluated by the country's best musicians, there seemed to be a newfound motivation among the students, and they quickly focused their attention on their practice.

The other students had long left the school to go home, but Chen An stayed behind to stack up the chairs and arrange the music stands in the practice room. Ms. Yun approached her as she wheeled the last cart to the back of the room.

"Chen An, I have a special task for you," Ms. Yun addressed her seriously.

Chen An turned her attention to her teacher, listening intently.

"One soloist from our school orchestra will be selected to play in the winter concert," she explained. "You are objectively the most capable violinist among all of the students, so I believe it will be you."

A bashful smile crept onto Chen An's face, and she turned her eyes to the floor.

"I want you to write your own solo piece for the concert," Ms. Yun finished decisively.

Chen An's smile dropped, and she felt nervousness coursing through her veins. "Ms. Yun, I really thank you for this opportunity. But, I don't know if I'm capable of writing music from scratch."

Ms. Yun placed a gentle hand on Chen An's shoulder, and she relaxed automatically. "I know you can, Chen An. And you won't have to do it alone. The soloist will have help from the violinist chosen to perform in the concert this year, Zhang Ruan Mei. You only need to write a rough idea of the melody."

Chen An's heart beat rapidly in her chest at the name of her idol; her years of practicing violin seemed to culminate in this one chance. "Okay, I will make you proud, Ms. Yun."