Just when the clarinetist finished his performance, Du Sheng returned from the preparation under cover of the loud applause. He leaned down and whispered to Tan Lao, “The second was Professor Karl’s student. He wanted to delay his performance.”
The loud applause almost drowned out Du Sheng’s voice, but Tan Lao frowned, “Delay his performance? Professor Karl didn’t mention this to me when he recommended them. His student? Which one?”
Du Sheng thought about it for a moment and said, “It seems to be. . . Sheng Yan Hui?”
Qi Mu, who sat beside them, was surprised.
Tan Zheng Hui’s eyes also widened in surprise. He automatically turned to look at Qi Mu. He frowned and, after a while, said, “He is Xiao Qi’s acquaintance too. Why don’t you go see what’s going on?”
Naturally, Qi Mu didn’t refuse. He nodded, stood up, and went in the direction of the preparation room. Tonight, he wore a light black suit. By then, the bright light was focused on the stage, so it was difficult to see his figure.
While walking, Qi Mu frowned slightly. Somehow, there was an unusual feeling in his heart.
Qi Mu looked back at the hall. There was a solemn atmosphere as everyone listened attentively. There was nothing strange.
After laughing at, and scolding, himself, Qi Mu turned and entered the preparation room.
He didn’t know that as he entered, a blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigner appeared where he had just studied. The man entered the hall under the guidance of a hostess and, after a while, he seemed to have remembered something. He quickly turned around and stretched his hand out behind the door.
A moment later, an unhappy gentleman was pulled into the hall.
The hostess nodded with a smile then turned and left them. Daniel approached him quietly and whispered, “Min, aren’t we late? We set off an hour early, who knew that the road here is always packed? Alas, there are too many people in Huaxia!”
Min Chen paid no attention to Daniel as he said this. He looked around the hall instead. There were not many people there. Including the person on stage, and the courteous ladies standing around the hall wearing polite smiles, there were only a few dozen people.
Min Chen quickly noticed that the person he was looking for wasn’t in the hall. He frowned and asked, “Where is he? Did he perform already?”
“He? You’re talking about. . . Qi Mu?” Daniel looked at the list in his hand and said, “The third soloist is playing now, so there should be another performance yet. Qi Mu is the fifth.” Pausing, he then grinned, revealing his white teeth, “We weren’t too late, Min.”
The walls were white marble and covered in artwork. Some of the most outstanding pieces were engraved with various exquisite carvings. The pillars were enveloped in red wallpaper with golden trim. The pale gold vines provided a cla.s.sical aesthetic, and this touch made everything shine with splendor.
The people who attended this type of event wore formal dress. Even Daniel, who had such a large personality, wore a white suit. Naturally, Min Chen wore dark formalwear.
His outfit was very low-key, with only silver threading at the chest to indicate it was a high-end brand. Hearing Daniel speak, Min Chen abruptly raised his right hand to look at his watch, and the blue sapphire on his cufflink glittered in the light.
“This is not considered late?” Min Chen asked plainly.
Daniel nodded with certainty, “Yeah. . . this is only the third performance?” As soon as he said it, his eyes met Min Chen’s, and he shivered all over. Raising his hands in surrender, he said, “I was wrong. Auston, I won’t dally anymore. Let’s take advantage of the moment to go sit down, okay. Let’s go, let’s go.”
With that, Daniel hurriedly found the two empty seats and didn’t dare look back.
The audience was just applauding the performance of a trumpet player, and the one or two who saw Daniel were speechless in their surprise. They couldn’t help but do a double take. Before they could recover their gazes, they saw a man walking over and were so surprised that they could not close their mouths.
Unexpectedly, the late one. . .
Was Min Chen?!
Just then, Qi Mu, who was in the prep room, had no idea that a minor uproar was happening in the hall.
Everyone who was performing tonight went to the prep room to prepare their instruments and to do some “warm up” exercises. There weren’t many people there, so Qi Mu quickly found Sheng Yan Hui in a corner, adjusting the strings of his violin.
Qi Mu walked forward and asked with a smile, “Sheng Yan Hui? Long time no see. It’s been two months, right? I didn’t expect to see you here. What a coincidence.”
Qi Mu’s words were very skillful and polite, with no mistakes. But just as his voice fell, Sheng Yan Hui raised his head and stared at him thoughtfully. When he could no longer hold the expression on his face, the man suddenly said, “Unfortunately, I came here for you specifically.”
“. . .”
Bad boy! Absolutely a !
Looking at Sheng Yan Hui’s expression that seems to be saying “Hmm, I’m looking for you,” Qi Mu somehow thought of that term.
Although he felt helpless in his heart, he still smiled, “Me?”
Sheng Yan Hui nodded, “I came to find you, and to compete again openly and honestly! The last compet.i.tion. . . doesn’t count. This time, I hope you can go all out. Rest a.s.sured. I have made a lot of progress under Professor Karl’s guidance. I am not the same as I was.”
The smile on Qi Mu’s face faded away.
His bright and handsome face showed a heavy expression. He looked at this stubborn bear child for awhile then suddenly bowed and said solemnly. “I apologize. Due to certain circ.u.mstances. . . I can’t go to Munich. Last time was my fault, please forgive me.”
Sheng Yan Hui was stunned and took a step back. His face turned red and white. After a while, he stammered, “You. . . You don’t have to do this. Teacher accidentally mentioned it, and I heard about it. Only then did I know that you intentionally let me win. Everyone has their own difficulties, I know. But actually, Qi Mu. . . after hearing Teacher’s words, I felt lucky.”
Qi Mu raised his head in surprise. There was a trace of confusion in his pale eyes.
“If you didn’t deliberately lose that compet.i.tion, then I. . . probably wouldn’t get to go to Munich in this lifetime. I’m not that young, and I don’t know when I would get another chance if I lost this opportunity. But even if I feel lucky, I don’t feel like I’ve won against you. So today, I deliberately delayed my performance, to perform before you and let the audience be the judge!”
By the end of his speech, Sheng Yan Hui had become more confident and no longer appeared to be shrinking back.
Qi Mu was utterly shocked, and he stared at him incredulously. After a long while, he asked, “Are you. . . sure?”
A lot of well-known people were attending this small concert, and their hearing was excellent. The organizer would almost always deliberately arrange the performances so the same instruments wouldn’t be played in a row. This was so the audience wouldn’t compare the two with each other.
Sheng Yan Hui solemnly nodded, “I know that this is a little threatening to you but, Qi Mu, I’m going to Munich with Teacher soon. I hope. . . we can compete straightforwardly! It’s a little risky but if you really don’t want to, I can perform now, and I will never mention anything about competing with you again.”
Sheng Yan Hui spoke gravely, and Qi Mu also understood what he meant.
Once someone lost, it was hard to outperform the other later unless they improved drastically. Otherwise, even many years later, someone might mention the two and someone else will remember this concert and say: “Oh, so-and-so. Well, he was worse than so-and-so.”
That was why Sheng Yan Hui said that even if Qi Mu refused, he wouldn’t complain.
Seeing such an earnest expression on his face, Qi Mu’s lips curled into a smile: “Alright, I agree.”
Sheng Yan Hui was surprised. “Really?” After thinking for a while, he quickly added, “There are a lot of important people here today. Are you really sure you want to compete with me? Once you lose, you. . .”
“You are so sure I will lose?” Qi Mu raised an eyebrow, and his beautiful face was like a sunset on the earth’s horizon. His smiling face stunned Sheng Yan Hui into silence, then he heard Qi Mu laugh. “Last time is still bothering you, and that was my fault. If we don’t do this, I think you will still be tangled up over the matter even if you go to Munich. Professor Karl perhaps suggested this solution?”
Startled, Sheng Yan Hui asked, “How did you know. . .”
Knowing his guess was right, Qi Mu’s smile deepened then he sighed, “Whatever the result is this time, Sheng Yan Hui, I hope you will leave this to rest. Real music is not about contending to see who is better. You are really good, and your future self should not be tied down by such trifle matters.”
As he spoke, Qi Mu suddenly stretched out his hand, and the corner of his eyes turned upward as he smiled, “Simply put, I’m glad to have the chance to formally compete with you. Let me introduce myself again.”
“h.e.l.lo, Sheng Yan Hui. I am your opponent tonight——Qi Mu.”
Under the background’s warm light, this youth’s handsome face wore a dazzling smile. With his eyes tilted in a smile and his lips curved so beautifully, those that saw it could hardly look away.
Sheng Yan Hui had played the violin for over twenty years, and this was the first time he felt that his right hand refused to listen to him. It took a long time for him to shake Qi Mu’s hand, to his dismay. It wasn’t until he left the preparation room with his violin that he returned to his senses. He reflexively turned to look back.
As if inspired, he took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
Then, a gentle, spring-like melody filled the hall with the idyllic atmosphere of the countryside. This was Beethoven’s 《Spring Sonata》 which was like a spring breeze blowing away the autumn wind, it swept through the hearts of everyone present.
Even Daniel couldn’t help but smile. At the end of the song, he leaned closer to Min Chen and whispered in his ear, “Huaxia a lot of talented people, Min. This Sheng guy too. . . d.a.m.n, what’s his name. . . Oh well, his 《Spring Sonata》 is very good. Hey Min, where are you looking?”
He followed the direction of Min Chen’s gaze but could only see Sheng Yan Hui’s figure in the background. He couldn’t see anything else. Daniel touched his head and frowned, “What’s wrong, Min. What are you doing. . .”
“He was blushing.”
Daniel asked, shocked, “Blushing? Who?”
His phoenix’s eyes slowly narrowed, then Min Chen said with a light tone, “Sheng Yan Hui.”
Daniel was utterly at a loss. He didn’t understand why Min Chen would pay that much attention to this young man. Of course, he didn’t know that just before Sheng Yan Hui entered the backstage, Min Chen saw another young man standing behind the curtain.
Before Sheng Yan Hui went up to the stage, he was talking. . . with Qi Mu?
Then what was this blushing about?
Having lived for nearly 30 years, Min Chen felt confused for the first time. But, he didn’t have the time to think about it. A figure exited the backstage holding a violin, and he startled. Suddenly things were becoming clear in his mind.
Daniel exclaimed, “How could it be Qi Mu?! The last one was a violinist, and now him?!”
Translator(s): Kuro
Editor(s): Bet