The clear, blue sky was divided into two hues by the sun gradually setting in the west. One side was still the beautiful blue, as if it was filled with more than a burst of vitality, while the other was old, rendering the faint golden yellow in the brilliant clouds. The top of the Eiffel Tower stood right between the boundaries, symbolizing the two sides of the choice.
The pigeons in Ares Square still flapped their wings tirelessly, one by one, flying up and down. After catching sight of them, the grey-haired Akkad shook the pigeon food in his hands and watched as they descended.
After his question remained unanswered for a long time, Qi Mu said, "Professor, Paris is a good place, but… You are so lonely here. Your life has ten, twenty, or more years, yet. I can accompany you and provide for you."
Akkad"s wife died early, leaving him without a child. When Qi Mu was in college, Akkad went back to Turin to take care of his nephew"s funeral arrangements. The old man"s last relatives were also dead.
In Qi Mu"s heart, since his teacher didn"t want to accept any other students, then he would treat him as his father. He accompanied him well, spent what was left of the old man"s time with him, and let him enjoy the Spring Festival.
But, in Akkad"s mind, it was obviously not like that. He shook out all the pigeon food in his hand and calmly said, "Paris… It"s a good place. It"s very romantic and beautiful. I"m afraid it"s a heaven in every girl"s heart."
Qi Mu didn"t return to his mind for quite a while. "Professor, what did you say?"
"Little Seven, do you know where I like best in my life?"
Thinking of the words he just said, Qi Mu tentatively replied, "Is it Paris?"
But, Akkad shook his head and said, "No, it"s not Paris. Nor Turin, not even New York where I lived for more than twenty years of my life, or Vienna." After a pause, he softly said, "My favorite place is where Alice is."
Qi Mu shuddered, unable to speak for a while.
Alice Akkad, the name of his professor"s wife. Qi Mu had never met her, since she died of illness when Akkad was young. Since then… Akkad had never married anyone else.
"47 years ago, when we were first married, we came to Paris for our honeymoon. Alice said she liked it very much, that it was beautiful and quiet here. This is her favorite Fontainebleaupalace." Akkad"s voice was very calm. "Every girl has a princess dream. Alice said that when she saw Fontainebleau palace for the first time, she felt that…"
"This is her castle."
"I grew up with Alice, and when I was very young in the slums, I built a palace in the sand with her. She said it wasn"t her castle. She wanted Fontainebleau, but… where could I pile up a Fontainebleau palace?"
The old man"s hoa.r.s.e voice sounded in the open square, and Qi Mu"s fingers slightly tightened. He whispered, "Professor…"
"Forty years ago, when she died, I was performing with NHK Symphony Orchestra at the Boston concert hall. At the time, it was a cold winter, right? She told me a month earlier in a telegram that she had a small cold, but not a serious illness."
Akkad"s voice was a little choked, and Qi Mu lowered his eyes. He couldn"t bear to look at his expression.
"In fact, it"s not a serious disease. Tuberculosis was treatable at the time, but Alice didn"t want to disturb me and let me finish my first global tour safely…"
Akkad"s voice abruptly stopped, and Qi Mu reached for him.
Unlike his great musical achievements, Akkad was a small, thin, old man. He patted his student"s shoulder, but his body was straight. He said, "Little Seven, your professor likes Paris very much. Here, I can walk on the street quietly by myself. It"s as if I see myself and Alice when I see young people hugging and kissing."
Qi Mu still didn"t want to give up. "Professor, but you are alone…"
"Little Seven." Akkad"s eyes were slightly red, but his tears didn"t fall. He looked at his student carefully and said, "One can have many pursuits in life. You think your professor is very lonely, but I don"t think so. Here, I feel like Alice is right beside me. She is a beautiful princess, waiting for me in the Fontainebleau palace."
"Little Seven, no one in the world will be waiting for you forever. I asked you to cherish your feelings for Austin because… you have this opportunity to be together and have happiness."
"If someone asks me now if I regret not going back to Turin to see Alice because of the tour, then I would say that I have never regretted it. This is the choice Alice made for me, and I will never question her."
"But, Little Seven, if someone asked me… Whether I wanted to be a world-famous violin master Reed Akkad or a Reed Akkad belonging to Alice, I would want to belong only to Alice."
"Everyone"s choices are different. Alice made a choice for me 40 years ago. Now… Let me make a choice for her. You still have a long way to go, and a lot of time. When you reach the Golden Hall"s stage, remember to send an invitation to your professor, and I will be very happy as your professor."
……
After returning from Ares Square that night, Akkad personally cooked a rich dinner for Qi Mu, with only the flavor of Italian Turin chocolate.
Qi Mu smiled and played several pieces for his professor and asked for his praise, receiving several warm remarks from him. "Very good, not bad! You didn"t forget any of your homework in Vienna. Remember to work hard, understand!"
Their time to meet was always short. Qi Mu spent a whole day helping his lazy, awkward professor clean the house. On the morning of his fifth day since arriving in Paris, he stepped on the plane to China alone, due to Akkad"s reluctance, and left the beautiful city.
The plane took off, and both the Eiffel Tower and the Fontainebleau Palace shrunk into tiny dots. When Qi Mu pulled up the window cover, he looked at the long, jade belt, The Seine River, and couldn"t help but curve his eyes into crescents.
He had said that he wasn"t lonely. Didn"t he delay his final departure at the airport as long as he could??
The professor was so difficult!
Along the way, Qi Mu spent the long journey lingering over the taste of dark chocolate as the blue sky and white clouds pa.s.sed outside the window.
When he got off the plane and arrived at the China Capital Airport, B City was still in its early morning hours. In such a quiet, unmanned night, the traffic on the streets was spa.r.s.e. Qi Mu quickly reached the apartment building by taxi and opened the door.
This time he didn"t go into his original apartment, because his house was up for rent in B City, he had no choice but to walk to the neighbor"s house next door and live there. As for the rent… he could help Min Chen clean the house?
Because of the Jet lag, Zheng Wei Qiao didn"t carry the steamed bun soymilk to Qi Mu, when he returned to B City, until the next morning.
As soon as he stepped inside the door, Zheng Wei Qiao stayed on the s.p.a.cious porch. He had no idea that it was just the next room over and a place of charm and beauty.
Qi Mu took the breakfast from Zheng Weiqian"s hands, then looked at his face of "Am I in the wrong room?", he reached out his hand and shook them in front of Zheng Wei Qiao with a small smile. He said, "Brother Zheng, Min Chen seems to have bought the other two single apartments on this floor and the upper floor, then asked the designer to make a connection between them. So, this house is a little bigger than the one I used to rent."
Zheng Wei Qiao: "…. ah, oh, is that so…."
This is not a little bigger!
If he had a different perspective, the layout of the two apartments would be like, "Min Chen squeezed his Little Seven into living in a corner," okay!
Qi Mu didn"t understand Zheng Wei Qiao"s expression. While drinking soy milk, he smiled and asked, "Yes, Brother Zheng, why don"t I see sister-in-law?"
Zheng Wei Qiao pulled up a stool and sat beside Qi Mu saying, "Your sister-in-law is taking care of her health during pregnancy recently, and I made her go out. But, Little Seven, although you just returned to China, I may not be able to accompany you anymore for now. You also know your sister-in-law is about to give birth, and I will always be with her."
Qi Mu nodded understandingly. "Okay, Brother Zheng, you should accompany your wife more. I brought you specialty gifts from Vienna, Berlin, and Paris. There shouldn"t be any contraindications for pregnant women, you can take them back to try with your wife."
Zheng Wei Qiao took the gift bag that Qi Mu rested on the coffee table. Looking at the other bags, he asked, "Little Seven, do you still want to give gifts to Lao Tan and the others?"
"Yeah, I"m going to the B City Symphonic Orchestra this afternoon. I haven"t seen them for a long time, and I brought them gifts, too."
"Oh, that"s how it is…."
Zheng Wei Qiao urged him for a few more words, then went back before lunch. According to his words, "I have to cook for my wife."
Although Qi Mu didn"t think Zheng Wei Qiao could cook a "meal", he had no choice but to cook a little millet porridge and let Zheng Wei Qiao take it home. So even if… they had nothing to eat, they still had the porridge, right?
It was only 3 pm when Qi Mu finished unpacking his luggage, so he went to the symphonic orchestra in B City carrying various sizes of gifts. Just after he reached the building, he saw a few young, beautiful girls standing by the door. They were chirping on an unknown topic.
Qi Mu took a step back. After a moment of hesitation, he continued to move forward.
Due to the cold north wind of B City, only a few leaves were left hanging from the withered branches of the Chinese parasol trees. A beautiful young man moved up the steps to the gate of the B City Symphonic Orchestra.
At that moment, he slightly raised his head and spotted a young girl on the side. The next second, he heard a crying exclamation–
“Eh? !!! Little Seven? !!!”