Inspirationis a mysterious thing.
For the past seven or so days, QiMu wandered all over Paris hoping to find even a shred of inspiration from itsromantic atmosphere. Of course, he found it but controlling it was anothermatter.
With the piano accompaniment justnow, he grasped the elusive thing he had been searching for——that endlessinspiration, dancing freely in the air.
The brisk but elegant piano wasclearly just an accompaniment, but it used an objective perspective to guidethe violin in another direction. Whenever Qi Mu"s violin was about to stall,the piano would pick it up and guide him to the next big tide.
Qi Mu stared at the man behind thepiano. After a long while, he frowned, but the corners of his lips curledslightly upward. "I really. . . I don"t know how to describe it but, Min Chen.. . I think I"ve caught it, a little."
Min Chen"s eyebrow raised, "Can yougrasp it?"
He thought about it carefully for amoment and shook his head helplessly: "It feels like. . . there is still someunclear points. Like the finger technique or something. I didn"t change any ofthe technique, but I always there are still some changes to be made. I really.. . don"t know how to describe it."
Qi Mu"s left hand pressed thestrings, but he didn"t pick up his bow. He wanted to feel that strange feelingagain. But unfortunately, after a few more attempts, it remained at a fancy,still elusive, and he failed to capture it.
"I think. . . this still won"t do."
Min Chen was already quitesurprised to see him make such significant progress with just this one session.He naturally didn"t think Qi Mu"s violin would make this much of a qualitativeleap in only one ensemble.
At least, Qi Mu"s performance of 《No. 24》 just now was on par withChristole"s.
If once wasn"t enough, then theycould play it twice, even thrice.
Min Chen calmly said, "Then we"llcontinue."
Qi Mu: ". . . ?"
"You continue, I will follow."
The words surprised Qi Mu, and hesaid, "Min Chen, I don"t know how long will it take for me to fully grasp thefeeling. If you really continue to help me, won"t it. . . take too much of yourtime?"
Min Chen lifted his gaze and lookedat Qi Mu with a smile. "You think. . . it will take a long time?"
Qi Mu froze. A second later, heresponded to the other man"s question, "I think it won"t take all that long."
"A week?"
Qi Mu smiled and shook his head,"That exceeds the deadline teacher gave me. Five days, at most."
Min Chen"s slender fingers caressedthe black and white piano keys. He scrutinized the grand piano then looked upat Qi Mu and said, "Three days. . . perhaps."
Though he was surprised, Qi Mu didnot refute.
Again, the sound of a violin andpiano emerged from within the quiet music room.
By the door, Dylan watched the twodark-haired men work in sync with each other. He didn"t quite understand. . .What were these two men talking about just now? What one week, five days, threedays?
Could it be. . . a secret code?
But then again, it turned out his 《Fazioli》 could play such a beautifulNo. 24! Why did he feel like he was playing cotton before. . .
The owner of the music room——Dylanfelt the malice of the vast universe today.
. . .
On the first day of their practicesession, Qi Mu a.s.signed a five-day time limit which Min Chen reduced to three.When Min Chen said that, he was slightly joking, but he didn"t expect——
The youth really did it, and itwas. . . even better than he thought it would be!
On the second day of their practicesession, the captivating sunset dyed the western skies, and the sun shiftedtoward the horizon moment by moment. Min Chen pressed the piano keys rapidlybut suddenly noticed. . . he could no longer control Qi Mu"s rhythm!
The sweet sound of the violinresounded in the room, broken free from all shackles and dancing freely.
Originally, Min Chen intended toonly play the role of accompaniment and guide Qi Mu. But by the end of thefirst practice, Min Chen felt that his piano already lost its grip on Qi Mu.
In fact, as the lead, Qi Mu shouldhave guided Min Chen"s piano and made it a foil to his violin. However, therewere very few masters in the world who were capable of that feat (making Min Chen"s piano a foil), and Mr. Akkad was one of them. But this washis student, not the man himself.
During another fast pace pizzicato,Qi Mu"s violin was so full of impact and overflowing with intense emotion that.i.t startled Min Chen, and he inevitably missed a beat. Qi Mu, immersed in hisplaying, didn"t even notice it.
When Qi Mu played this time, he hadfully grasped that mischievous inspiration. After only two days of continuouspractice, Qi Mu finally took the final step and let his bow bounce freelyacross the strings.
He already mastered the necessaryskills, but only now would he dare to say: "This is my 《No. 24》."
The sound of the violin was like aPhoenix of Nirvana, that which was born anew only once every five hundredyears, bursting with infinite glory. The violin had a growing momentum, but itmissed the mark a little.
Suddenly, the piano that was onlyaccompanying the violin since the beginning joined the main melody. Itsmagnificence increased sharply and refused to lose to the violin.
Through years of practice, theman"s fingers slid on the keys and soon joined the violin. The melody blendedseamlessly without conflict or abruptness, perfect in harmony.
The moment Akkad returned to Paris,he went to the college. He believed that his lovely student wouldn"t slack off.Even if he wasn"t in Paris, Qi Mu would continue to practice hard to achievethe desired results.
Therefore, as soon as he arrived atthe college, Akkad went straight to his music room.
Akkad"s music room was in theinnermost part of the violin department"s first floor. It had the bestlighting, a large gla.s.s window, and also occupied the largest area. Thesoundproofing was so fantastic that it was almost impossible for sound insideto leak.
Of course, these were Akkad"spersonal benefits, other rooms did not have such luxury. For example, as hestepped into the corridor, the sound of a violin and piano echoed with excitingmelody.
Akkad"s footsteps halted, and hemurmured to himself, "This violin. . . is it Little Seven?"
His heart was overjoyed, but hedidn"t stay happy for long as he suddenly realized, "Wait a minute, where didhe get a piano? This is definitely not a CD, someone is playing live?"
This was the violin department,there were almost no piano students here. But after thinking for a moment,Akkad remembered, "Oh, that Dylan boy next door plays the piano. It must bethat fellow playing with Little Seven."
Touching his chin, Akkad walked toDylan"s room and murmured, "Geez, this Dylan is really good. To have someone atthis level, what is the piano department doing? Why didn"t the piano departmenthold onto him?"
He crept towards the door andcarefully pushed the door open, making little to no noise. In the room, Qi Mustood facing the piano with his eyes closed, so he didn"t notice Akkad"s arrival.
Professor Akkad smiled and enjoyedthe melody for a while. He then turned to look at the person playing the piano.Unfortunately, from his spot, the pianist"s figure was mostly obscured by thepiano panel, but he could still see the person"s handsome jaw.
This Dylan guy could really playthe piano, or. . . he could recommend this person to Farrell later? This shouldbe more than enough for Dresden.
——Was Professor Akkad"s thoughts.
Qi Mu had yet to notice someone hadopened the door and was secretly peeping.
It was hard to grasp this rareinspiration, so Qi Mu didn"t want to be distracted even a little. His fingersslid across the strings, and the bow in his right hand was pulled fast, tappinguniformly from time to time.
Paganini"s works were reallysuitable for showing off dazzling skills. For a handsome and refined young manto play with such beautiful and gorgeous skills, even Akkad felt refreshed andhappy watching him.
Of course, while Dylan"s facewasn"t visible, Akkad had to admit that the skills the pianist showed off weregood enough. He changed to Liszt"s version of 《No. 24》 to suppress his student"s violin with even more dazzling ability.
But, how could Dylan easilysuppress Little Seven as he desired?
In the duration of the roughlysix-minutes-long song, the sound of violin and piano were compatible and, inthe end, there was nothing that could indicate which was the lead and which onewas suppressed.
When the finale came to an end,Professor Akkad clapped and shouted, "Bravo!"
Qi Mu suddenly come back to hissenses. He looked at Akkad who stood at the door and asked, "Teacher, why areyou back today? Weren"t you supposed to be back tomorrow?!"
Akkad stepped forward and said, "Icame back a day in advance to see if you were slacking off. Little Seven, ah,do you want to eat chocolate? Teacher brought some back from Italy for you,haha!" He lifted the chocolate bag in his hand.
Qi Mu took the bag, not knowingwhether to laugh or cry, and said, "Thank you, teacher."
Professor Akkad nodded, satisfied,and said, "I didn"t expect your skills to rise to this level in just a fewdays. Very good, Little Seven. You completed the task I gave you three days inadvance. Your performance on No. 24 just now was great! I think you nowunderstand what you lacked."
This high praise from his teacherstunned Qi Mu, but then he smiled, "Teacher, I think. . . I get it now."
Akkad said with relief, "That"sgreat, that"s great. As long as you understand this point, let alone a year, Ithink in half a year, you could surpa.s.s that guy Auston. Let him know. . ."
"Teacher. . ."
"Let him see, how much better thanhim you are. . ."
"Teacher. . ." Qi Mu weakly said.
"Don"t worry, Little Seven. ThatAuston guy has too many things, he"s so greedy. . ."
Qi Mu knew that nothing could besalvaged this time. He covered his face, sighed, and said, "Teacher, you. . ."
"I don"t know if he"s had the timeto practice these years. Maybe he"s regressed that even Dylan could match himnow. Oh right, speaking of Dylan, I didn"t expect that big silly piano couldplay so well, not bad. Little Seven, you"re. . ."
"Hey! Professor Akkad, Seven!You"re both here?!"
A high-pitched voice came from thedirection of the door. Akkad and Qi Mu turned, following the sound, and sawDylan scratching the back of his head. "I went out to buy some burgers. Ididn"t expect to see you"re already back, Professor Akkad."
Akkad nodded and said, "Oh, Dylan,I just mentioned you. You play the piano well, why did you suddenly switch tothe violin? With your skill level, you"re good enough for Dresden. . . eh. . ."
Akkad stopped abruptly. He turnedto look at Qi Mu in horror. The young man smiled helplessly and gently shookhis head, motioning towards the piano.
Suddenly having an ominouspremonition, the little old man gulped but before he could make a sound, he sawa slender hand stretching out from behind the piano, and it waved at him twice.
Immediately after, a handsome,familiar face appeared in front of him.
Min Chen waved again, "Hi, Reed.Long time no see."
Akkad: ". . ."
Qi Mu: ". . ."
Min Chen solemnly said, "I practicethe piano daily, don"t slander me."
Akkad: ". . ."
Translator
(s): Kuro
Editor
(s): Bet