Chapter 191
Grey clouds drifted from the southern sky and soon shrouded Viena, brewing a warm, spring rain. After a while, the lingering drizzle fell from the distant sky, and pedestrians on the streets below quickly sought cover.
The whole of Vienna was bathed in rain, and the TAAD Prison, north of the city, was no exception. A cold breeze pa.s.sed alongside the rain, sending the prisoners swearing as they returned to their cells.
A dark-haired man with a gloomy face walked the slowest. He looked back reluctantly at the free air behind him. Before he could take another look, a tall man behind him shoved him aside. “What are you looking at? Let’s go!”
Luo Yusen gritted his teeth and moved on.
Luo Yusen and Zaev were held in different prisons. The former was sent to TAAD prison to serve his sentence for committing international homicide.
Austria, like many European countries, was more tolerant of criminals. There was never a death penalty, and even though there were many rules, he wouldn’t be bullied and could even live a decent life.
——At least, that’s what he thought before he arrived at TAAD.
Until… he actually entered the prison.
The rules were made by the people. The prison held four-person cells. There were obviously still many empty cells, but the prison guards arranged him in a room full of people. As soon as Luo Yusen was placed there that afternoon, he was almost smoked out by the smell alone.
It stood to reason that there should be no poor sanitary conditions in such a prison, but that didn’t include something so intolerable as a large man exuding a “wonderful” body odor in the same cell. What about going to the guard and making a request to change his cell? Luo Yusen had tried, but before he could get out of the cell, the man sneered and walked over, “Think I stink?”
Luo Yusen consciously denied it.
He wound up being violently beaten in a place that avoided the security cameras.
Although the rules were made by people, the rules were also monitored by people.
Luo Yusen always thought that it was only because he was not discovered by the prison guards that the people dared to bully him so boldly. Until one day in the cafeteria, a short, dignified old man walked up to him. With a smile, he asked, “I heard… you’re a musician?”
By then, Luo Yusen had already been tortured and scarred by the prisoners. Everyone there was a murderer, and he probably bore the cleanest hands. So, he nodded again and again, and honestly explained his ident.i.ty.
A faint light flashed in the little old man’s eyes, and he chuckled twice. “Don’t look at me like that. Before I entered TAAD more than 20 years ago, I often went to Wei Ai’s concerts. I’ve listened to many concerts in Vienna.”
His gentle tone made Luo Yusen relax a little. “Do you also appreciate music?”
The little old man nodded happily, “Yes, I especially appreciate music. If you ask anyone here, who wouldn’t like music?”
A roar of laughter filled the cafeteria. Luo Yusen’s scalp was numb, and his stomach twisted in knots. He stopped talking and continued lowering his head to eat. He saw that the little old man picked up his fork, then seemed to speak to himself, “By the way, how did you say you played the violin? That’s it…”
“Ah, ah, ah…”
Before his fork fell, Luo Yusen opened his eyes wide in horror and quickly pulled back his hand. But, the little old man was fast! No matter how quickly he moved, a layer of flesh was sc.r.a.ped off his hand, dripping with blood! The plastic fork was more terrifying in the old man’s hands than a dagger!!!
A sound of disgust filled the cafeteria, and the prison guards swore. “What’s with all the noise?” Their eyes swept from Luo Yusen’s direction, as if they hadn’t seen his bloodied hand at all.
The little old man regretfully licked at the blood on the fork and said, “Oh, why didn’t you just chop off your right hand? It’s just, people like you… You mean to say you’re a musician?”
The two most abhorrent types of criminals in the world were rapists and traffickers.
But, in the TAAD Prison in Vienna, there was a third type of abhorrent prisoner——the one who looked gloomy and indifferent, but dared to blaspheme the great music of Vienna!
This was the most evil prison in Vienna. Most of the prisoners were criminals who had been sentenced to twenty years or more. This was the nightmare of Luo Yusen’s life. Half a year of prison life allowed him to only hold his injured hand and survive the disgusting glare from the guards.
Since he dared to do something disgusting and horrible, he had to be prepared to face the consequences!
No place was more h.e.l.l than TAAD, because… the prisoners were all Viennese people who loved music!
Regardless of their time in prison, the Viennese love of music would never change!
If an impartial justice could make an exception and be furious in court, then in the TAAD prison, all the guards and prisoners could equally abhor this villain who blasphemed music!
What’s more… a certain man was behind the push.
Luo Yusen gritted his teeth and trembled as he returned to his cell. Waiting for him… were more than 70 years of prison life.
——–
When Qi Mu stepped out of the subway station, rain was already pouring. He trotted away from the subway entrance. Luckily, the Friends of Music a.s.sociation building was closeby. He quickly arrived at Wei Ai, but his hair was damp.
Once the tour ended, all of Wei Ai’s members were given a week-long vacation. However, now that Qi Mu was the concertmaster, he hadn’t had a chance to relax.
He came to Wei Ai’s headquarters that morning to discuss future performances with Dorenza. After all, in addition to next year’s global tour, Wei Ai often accepted invitations to additional performances.
When Dorenza saw Qi Mu, he immediately said in surprise, “G.o.d, Little Seven, why are you so wet? The rain just started falling, so hurry and take an umbrella when you leave!” As he spoke, Dorenza handed Qi Mu a dry towel he had in the lounge.
“Thank you, Mr. Dorenza.”
After Qi Mu towel-dried his hair, the two discussed plans for Wei Ai in the coming months. Generally speaking, the orchestra members set the general direction of development in their general meeting. All they needed to discuss were details of some performances, such as which members were required to take the stage for certain performances and which order of performances would be most appropriate.
Dorenza smiled once the meeting had finished and said, “You’ve taken to the role very quickly, Little Seven. I believe that if you continue in your current state, Wei Ai will also make flying progress.”
Qi Mu packed up the folders he prepared. He smiled and said, “Mr. Anthony has explained some of this to me before. I also read up on Wei Ai’s performance materials over the years to prepare even more.”
“I think you are well prepared.”
Qi Mu smiled, no longer being humble.
Dorenza looked up at the clock on the wall and said, “Oh, Little Seven, it’s beautiful tea time again. Would you like to take afternoon tea with me?”
Qi Mu readily agreed, and the two went to the coffee shop inside the Friends of Music a.s.sociation building. Qi Mu stirred his brown coffee with a small spoon, and the light aroma diffused from the cup, rendering a warm, leisurely atmosphere.
“By the way, Little Seven, have you seen Reed’s record from the concert the other night?”
“Well, I sent it out yesterday morning.” After a pause, Qi Mu asked in surprise, “I sent out the record that Mr. Anthony specifically asked the staff for. How did you know about this, Mr. Dorenza?”
The mild-tempered old man spread his hands helplessly and said, “Reed secretly called this morning. In the beginning, he criticized my conducting for not making any progress after so many years. Although our overall performance was good, it lacked bold innovation, so our concerts failed to achieve unprecedented results.”
Qi Mu: “…”
It was unprecedented… Even his teacher could pick it up from the concert the other night? How harsh was that!
Dorenza shifted his words, “I wonder, although Reed has always had a venomous tongue, when did his demands become so high? Who knows? The next thing he said was, ‘Your concert performance was average, but the encore was good. Oh, by the way, who played the violin? It sounded good.’”
Qi Mu couldn’t stop laughing.
He just watched Dorenza laugh, “The whole world knows you played the encore at the concert, and Reed wanted to play stupid with me. He said all that just to praise his student. Well… Little Seven, your teacher is really getting younger and younger.”
To say that he was young was really naive!
Helplessly, Qi Mu said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Dorenza, that my teacher is so… young. Please forgive me.”
“Haha, of course I know Reed has such a temperament. Otherwise, would everyone still call him a ‘music geek’?”
The two laughed for a while, then Dorenza said solemnly, “In fact, I made up my mind to make you the concertmaster largely due to Reed and Auston’s recommendations. You were Reed’s student, and I can understand his thoughts. And, Auston’s always had a good eye. His recommendation makes me believe that you’re powerful, because he has no special relationship with you and wouldn’t show favoritism.”
Qi Mu smiled and said nothing. So that guy really didn’t play favorites, huh…
“Auston also recommended a person to me before… Oh, yes, that kid I told you about last year.”
Qi Mu was taken aback. He asked, “You mean… the violinist who pa.s.sed away?”
“Yes.” With a sigh, a sad look appeared on Dorenza’s handsome face. “Fortunately, I have avenged him, otherwise I would feel sorry for him. I wanted to give the talented young man a chance, but I didn’t expect… for him to lose his precious life.”
His light eyes widened suddenly, and Qi Mu stared at Doenza’s sad face. He twisted his fingers, and after a long time, finally asked in a trembling voice, “You said… who did Min Chen recommend to you?”
Dorenza sighed and said, “That was the year before last. I was looking for an excellent violinist and orchestra to perform a unique 《Blue Danube》. It happened that Auston was in Vienna. After hearing my idea, he recommended an excellent violinist to me.”
After a pause, Dorenza looked at Qi Mu. “You may have heard his name, Little Seven. He used to be Wei Jiao’s deputy concertmaster. His name was Lu Ziwen.”