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Daniel waited at the Grand Theater’s entrance for over 30 minutes but a certain bloke was quite late. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked at the other party and smiled. His tone was somewhat humored when he asked, “Sleepy? Were you sleeping?”
Min Chen calmly lifted his gaze and walked into the theatre without a glance at the other man. He lightly replied, “I woke up,” and didn’t bother saying anything else to Daniel.
“Well! This is awesome! G.o.d, why did I stay this a.s.shole’s agent for more than ten years!” Daniel stomped his foot angrily and quickly followed when the concert was just about to begin.
The seats that the B City Symphony Orchestra gave to Daniel were located in the left side of the third row. It was close to the first violin group, and almost all of the string section. For a theatre hall with good acoustics, it was a good position.
The guests took their seats one after the other. There were a handful of people in the music circle who were surprised by Min Chen and Daniel’s presence and went up to talk to them. Min Chen calmly and courteously responded, but fortunately, the concert soon started and the hall fell silent.
The audience quietly waited while the backstage was a flurry of preparation.
After all, this was their last performance of the year and it was in their base——the B City where they worked the hardest. Everyone fine-tuned their skills and their instruments for this last rehearsal.
When they heard the standby signal, the percussion group in the back row entered the stage one by one, and they were followed by the other members. Lastly, Du Sheng also took his seat.
The red curtain slowly opened on both sides, and Tan Lao stepped up to the stage from the side. After leading the orchestra in a bow to the audience, he turned to his position.
“This old Mr. Tan Zheng Hui is a very famous conductor in Huaxia. The man who’s shaking hands with him is the concertmaster.” Daniel whispered into Min Chen’s ear, “His name is Du Sheng and he’s very skilled. His 《E-Minor》 is especially good.”
Min Chen looked at the two men shaking hands and gently hummed.
“This conductor Tan has a different style than yours but it’s somewhat similar to Mr. Dorenza’s. I think it could be useful for you to listen to it. If you could combine your style with Mr. Dorenza’s. . .”
“Daniel.”
Suddenly interrupted, Daniel turned in surprise. The man who was usually cold and indifferent was looking at him with eyelids drooped to half-mast. There was a little blue in those dark pupils, and his heart subconsciously jumped——he thought to himself, what was the Chinese saying again?——Dog mouth something. . .
“Why do you think you know more about the orchestra than me?”
Daniel: “. . .”
Ah, he remembered! It was: a dog’s mouth cannot produce ivory!!!*
*A Chinese proverb that states: no ivory comes from the mouth of dogs, and it means nothing good can be expected from the mouths of scoundrels.
Daniel was so angry that he refused to say a word to this awful and arrogant man. What he didn’t see was Min Chen’s eyes swept across the orchestra’s members and didn’t stop even when he saw a familiar face.
Even though the people on the stage looked calm, the audience didn’t know that some of them were very surprised.
Tan Lao and Du Sheng were the first to discover Min Chen and Daniel’s presence. The tickets were sent by them so naturally, they would know where the seats were and they only needed to glance toward them. Apart for them, probably only Qi Mu noticed these two people. . . who were supposed to be in Europe by now.
Qi Mu only saw Duke Daniel once in his previous life.
He was a well-known music agent in Europe and had wide connections in the circle. He served as an a.s.sistant agent at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra before becoming an exclusive agent more than a decade ago. Qi Mu heard that he had good communication skills and was particularly powerful when negotiating.
There was no need to say anything about the man next to him. That man just sat silently, his whole person exuding elegance and a n.o.ble temperament that was impossible to ignore.
Qi Mu could even count the several concerts that he had listened to lead by that man. Whether he was the conductor or for his piano solos, it was really hard to get this man’s concert tickets in Europe.
But these two people. . . were currently sitting in the hall waiting for their performance.
His breathing choked, but soon Qi Mu relaxed again. It happened that Tan Lao also took his baton and prepared to start the performance. Qi Mu picked up his violin and watched Tan Lao’s movement carefully.
All of them were waiting for Tan Lao’s command.
Tan Lao turned his head to look at Du Sheng, and the latter immediately understood. The next second, the soft sound of a violin like a cascading spring was heard. The music was like the blooming of flowers in spring and they fell gently on the audience, making them feel as though they’re witnessing the renewing vitality and vigor of life.
The first song was Mendelssohn’s 《Concerto in E Minor》.
This was a worldly acclaimed violin concerto and also Du Sheng’s specialty. It began with a violin solo and when the melody was finished, the whole orchestra would join in.
Qi Mu gently pulled his bow, and the whole orchestra’s sound echoed in his ears. The lightness of the wind section, the melodiousness of the stringed section, altogether formed the complete and bright 《Concerto in E Minor》.
Currently, on the stage, apart from Tan Zheng Hui who was standing on the podium, only Qi Mu could completely hear the whole orchestra. Off the stage, however, there was a man who had been said to have the best hearing in the world. He listened with a calm face and quietly cast his gaze to the side of the stage.
The second violin group was separated from the audience by the conductor’s podium so Min Chen’s view was blocked. He could hear the seemingly inconspicuous sound, but he couldn’t see the person who made it.
The second violin group in the orchestra played the role of harmony. So for the general audience, they were definitely not important enough. However. . . this was just the case for an ordinary audience.
Suddenly the ensemble was entering a high tide, and Min Chen listened. His furrowed eyebrows growing tighter and tighter.
He took another deep look in the same direction, and when he confirmed that he couldn’t see the owner of that sound, he sighed softly and withdrew his gaze. What he didn’t see was that just as he withdrew his gaze, Tan Zheng Hui leaned back in his excitement and completely exposed the second violin group.
There, a beautiful young man was looking intently at the conductor’s movement and adjusting his play accordingly to help the second violin group and the wind section be in more complete harmony.
In N City, a senior once jokingly asked Tan Lao if he was still biased against Qi Mu and, because of that, he put Qi Mu in the second violin group. Knowing Qi Mu’s current level, that was simply a waste, ah.
But what did Tan Lao say at that time?
——”I placed him there because, at this moment, that position suits him the best.”
Yes, except for the position of concertmaster which belonged to Du Sheng, the next best position for Qi Mu was the deputy chief of the second violin group.
This position was not the same as the chief, who had to follow the command strictly. The position that Qi Mu held took the conductor’s advice but they could also integrate their own sound to lead the other members in the second violin group. From their days of rehearsals, Tan Lao found that currently, only Qi Mu could do such a great job——even Du Sheng would not be as good.
And it was precisely for this reason that Min Chen paid special attention to this person——they led the orchestra to the right part and it was at the absolute limit from a position that wasn’t the conductor.
This could only make clear one thing: this person had the talent to become a conductor.
The high tide in 《Concerto in E Minor》 was at the ending of the piece, causing everyone to experience the fullness of the beautiful, moving song alongside its fierce sound. This piece was really one of B City Symphony Orchestra’s best work. One second after the sudden silence, Daniel took the lead and shouted “Bravo,” leading the whole hall to give warm applause.
Tan Lao turned and solemnly bowed to the audience.
Following his movement, the second violin group was once again exposed to the people on the left side of the auditorium.
Min Chen looked up and saw a beautiful but also handsome young man.
The moment seemed to have been stretched into a hundred years. Min Chen’s cold, Phoenix"s eyes slightly widened. But before he could react, Tan Zheng Hui straightened his body, blocking his view yet again.
Under the stage, the handsome man who was sitting elegantly in his seat still hadn’t recovered.
And on the stage, Qi Mu was surprised then stunned for a while. He was a little confused, because just now. . .
Was Min Chen looking at him?
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Translated by Kuroshinji, edited by Betwixted.
Betwixted: I wanted to make a shoutout to Kuroshinji and let everyone know just how much I appreciate the work she"s put into this! I also wanted to thank you, readers, for all your comments and for supporting us this far!