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The apartment Qi Mu rented was in a relatively high-end neighborhood, so he wasn’t nervous about security nor was he being too harsh on himself. Zheng Wei Qiao thought he was too economical and that apartment might be too small because the rent was so cheap.
One could not blame Xiao Qi for this. The owner of the apartment was a young woman in her 20’s. She couldn’t look away from Qi Mu once she saw him. So the rent that was agreed upon with the broker dropped from 5000 to 3500 yuan*.
*Betwixted: The currency type is not stated, but the Chinese currency can be called “yuan.”
There were a lot of high-end rentals in this area and quite a few were 50 m2 apartments like Qi Mu’s. They had a green environment, and the surrounding area was also excellent. The most important thing was the commute. The apartment was located only 1km away from B City’s Symphony Orchestra, so it was convenient for him. He could just walk there in the morning.
a.s.sistant concertmaster and deputy chief* were not the same position. Generally speaking, the a.s.sistant could replace the concertmaster as needed while the deputy could only remain as the deputy.
*Betwixted: There might be a bit of confusion here because in Chinese “Concertmaster” and “Chief” can be used interchangeably. See notes below for more.
At first, Qi Mu was worried that his qualifications were too shallow, and someone would be dissatisfied. But, surprisingly, after they learned of his “promotion,” they decided to hold a small celebration party for him.
“Xiao Qi, ah, this is great. You must treat us to a meal!”
“Yeah, Xiao Qi, a.s.sistant chief. You really have to invite us to a large feast, haha!”
“Hey, Xiao Qi. How about I bring my daughter tonight? She’s 20 years old this year, and she’s pretty good-looking!”
“Stop that now, Zhao Lao. . .”
. . .
Most of the orchestra members were over 30 years old. There were a few still in their 20’s, but all of them were older than Qi Mu, so they treated him like a little brother. He had to say, under the leadership of Tan Lao and Du Sheng, the B City Symphony Orchestra had the atmosphere of a large family. It was full of warmth.
On the night of the celebration, although Tan Lao didn’t come, Du Sheng was there. Everyone drank until they were buzzed, but Qi Mu used his age as an excuse to drink less. Afterward, Du Sheng wrapped his arm around Qi Mu’s shoulder and said, smiling, “Xiao Qi, ah, you have to do well. Tan Lao has high expectations of you, and your Du-Ge does too.”
Qi Mu saw his drunken flushed face and helplessly laughed, “I will try my best to live up to Tan Lao and Du-Ge’s expectations.” With that, Qi Mu helped Du Sheng walk down the side of the street and hail a taxi.
Du Sheng stumbled and said, “Well, you need to put in more effort. Haha. . . Right, the indoor concert will be in a few days. . . How’re your preparations?
Du Sheng’s words were somewhat inconsistent, but Qi Mu understood them. Seeing that there were no taxis in the endless stream of traffic, Qi Mu brought down his hand that was waving and said, “I’ve practiced more than one song, but Du-Ge. . . Do I really need to play on stage? I have no experience in chamber music.”
Being accosted by the night wind, Du Sheng’s mind had sobered a little. He slowly straightened up and said, “Un, you should prepare more. This concert is still significant as there are many people from all kind of circles who will attend. It’s hard to get a chance to perform.”
This, he naturally knew.
This indoor concert was co-organized by Tan Lao and Du Sheng. Both had quite large names in B City, so they invited a lot of people to partic.i.p.ate. It could be considered a small event for the end of the year. There were no tickets, one could only enter with an invitation.
Indoor concerts were naturally different from large orchestral symphony concerts. Generally, it was a small group of people playing, and there could also be solo performances. This time, Tan Lao gave him an extra opportunity to perform. This served as his official debut and introduction to the Huaxia music industry.
This was different from his orchestral performances thus far. It was entirely Qi Mu’s and had nothing to do with the B City Symphony Orchestra.
“You have to be prepared, ah. Don’t let me down. . .”
Du Sheng drunkenly laughed and, soon after, Qi Mu stopped a taxi. He put Du Sheng in the car and could, at last, walk home after finishing this final task of sending off Du Sheng.
Autumn in B City was quite cold, unlike Vienna. Although they were almost at the same lat.i.tude, autumn in Vienna was not as dry as it was in B City. Now, the cold and bleak autumn wind blew across Qi Mu’s face, forcing him to wrap up his scarf.
When in the north during October, it was common sense to wear a thin overcoat and a scarf.
The celebration party was held in a hotel near the orchestra to make it easier for them to eat and drink as much as they liked. It was only 2km away from Qi Mu"s new home and walking would help him digest. As he walked freely, he thought about his dilemma.
Tan Lao’s concert was. . . organized especially for him.
The old man was always doing something special for him. He was touched, but the pressure was intense at the same time.
He had never performed in an indoor concert before, whether in his past life or in this one. It was different from an orchestra concert, and the environment was also different. Fortunately, he was performing solo this time. Otherwise, it would take too much time to prepare if he had to work with others because that would mean they needed to have rehearsals.
“Chamber music. . . chamber music. . . 《Sicily》* or 《Tzigane》. . .”
*We do not know which, if any, music score is being referenced here, but it translates literally to Sicily.
Qi Mu kept his gaze on the ground, murmuring quietly, as he walked. Although there were lights on both sides of the street, the foliage of the Chinese parasol trees blocked most of it, making the area dim. If one did not look carefully, they can’t even see the faces of the people walking around them.
Qi Mu’s eyes drooped a little, his long eyelashes casting a faint shadow. He walked with his hands in his coat pockets, and the scarf covered half of his face, leaving only his pair of beautiful eyes visible.
“Well, 《Tzigane》 is more appropriate. . .”
Qi Mu walked up the path, unconcerned with his surroundings. Naturally, he didn’t notice that the moment he walked by, a man suddenly stopped and turned around, looking after him blankly.
The moment they pa.s.sed each other, Qi Mu was still looking down and was in deep thought. While, behind him, another man stood rooted in place. His narrow eyes suddenly widened, staring at Qi Mu’s figure as he slowly walked away.
In his left hand was his mobile phone, a voice chattering away in his ear, “Min, why did you suddenly stop speaking? Hey, dude, say something! I’m telling you, I’m going back to Berlin next week. Don’t try to stop me! My sweetheart calls me every day saying they* miss me!”
*Asian languages do not gender-distinguish in p.r.o.nouns, so we are going with a gender-neutral until confirmed.
Fluent German was heard over the phone, but what surprised Min Chen wasn’t the foreign language over the phone. But. . .
The language that rang in his ear as the youth pa.s.sed by.
It was not Chinese. . .
But German instead.
In that moment of surprise, he saw the young man who was looking at the ground and talking to himself. Black hair fell over his white forehead, his eyes were a light amber, his lashes were long, and his scarf was pulled up so high it covered most his face. A name came to mind immediately——
“Qi. . . Mu?”
On the other end of the phone, Daniel heard Min Chen’s whisper to himself and asked in surprise, “Qi Mu? That Qi Mu? Isn’t that the beautiful person we met at the concert before? Why are you still thinking about him? I brought you his alb.u.ms and videos from Europe the other day.”
In the cold darkness, Min Chen slowly narrowed his eyes. He studied the person who was steadily walking farther away from him and didn’t move.
In his ear, Daniel’s loud voice continued, “You did want to listen to his solo, right? Okay, a few days ago someone sent us an invitation letter. I saw his name on the performers’ list. I’ll give the invitation to you tomorrow if you want to go. It’s a small indoor concert. . .”
Daniel talked for a long while and didn’t wait for the other party to answer. Just as he thought Min Chen was not going to pay any attention to him, he heard a low reply, “Okay, give it to me tomorrow.”
The autumn wind that evening gradually drowned Min Chen’s voice. And Qi Mu remained ignorant of who he just pa.s.sed by. Nor did he know that his casual utterance was heard by others.
Although he was Chinese in his past life, he was born in Austria, so his Chinese was rather bad. After being reborn, because the original was born Chinese, he had become fluent overnight.
Even so, a language that had been spoken for over 20 years would not be quickly forgotten. When alone, he would speak German from time to time instead of Chinese.
Austria’s official language was German.
And his German was very fluent and smooth, unlike someone who had studied for only a day or two.
“Uhm. . . Then 《Tzigane》 it is. I’ll talk to Tan Lao tomorrow. It’ll be this one!”
After making his final decision, Qi Mu smiled and looked up at the sky lit by the city lights as he finally reached home.
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Translated by Kuroshinji, edited by Betwixted.
Kuroshinji: Some readers might be familiar with Your Lie In April, and I would like to recommend Nodame Cantabile. It’s about two geniuses, a pianist and a conductor. Although it’s comedic, it also covers many important topics like anxiety. It’s one of the most relaxing anime I’ve seen. Your Lie In April is great, but Nodame Cantabile was one of the first Josei anime I watched, and it has stayed with me since. If anyone has recommendations for anime that are similar or just as relaxing, please let me know. :)
Betwixted: This is the last update of 2018, guys! Happy New Year! As a final celebration, I would also like to welcome AyN as our new editor and proofreader! She has done fantastic work with prologue and I hope to see more along those lines as 2019 rolls around! (Also, Min Chen and Qi Mu live close enough to pa.s.s each other by on the street! Talk about a prediction come true!)
Notes:
Deputy Chief and a.s.sistant Concertmaster: Chief and Concertmaster use the same character in this instance. However, the deputy chief is in charge of the second violin group and is not directly related to the concertmaster position otherwise. (At least to our current understanding, if someone is more versed in orchestral positioning, please let me know!) We will use Concertmaster for the a.s.sistant position because they can fill in for the concertmaster.