At the end of the day, Qi Mu and Min Chen left together, and on their way out, Min Chen received several text messages and phone calls. Some were sulking: “Okay, I won’t see you again.” Others were complaining: “If I knew you were there, I wouldn’t have left so early.”
The large number of messages had his mobile peeping constantly as if it were going to explode. Those sulking messages were from musicians who had come to perform at the festival. For them to be able to contact Min Chen directly, naturally they had to be world famous.
Among them, there were people Qi Mu knew of but was only able to listen to their concerts. All of them were difficult people to meet.
Some were not as good-tempered as Boswell. Qi Mu heard a voice yelling in English over the phone line, “Helen, why can’t you play the etude decently? The break is over soon. If you can’t play this piece by then, you can eat the d.a.m.n score!!! . . . Hey, Min, you are not a good friend. I’ve already returned to Canada, so you have to treat me to a meal, a meal, okay!?”
Min Chen nodded calmly and answered flatly, “Okay, I will treat you.”
“Helen! The third note on your fifth bar is wrong! Again! Did you leave your fingers at home. . .”
The cold man directly hung up the phone without hesitation, cutting off the voice coming from the speaker.
Qi Mu: ". . ."
The call came from Nagano, the current conductor of Montreal’s Symphony Orchestra. This master was said to have returned to Canada today, just after attending the festival. He was quite angry when he learned from Boswell that Min Chen had actually attended his concert without letting him know.
Yet Min Chen hung up on such a world-cla.s.s master without a second thought. . . if the younger generation that wished to make connections with this maestro knew about this, they would surely vomit three liters of blood in anger.
Compared to Qi Mu’s helplessness, Min Chen seemed to be nonchalant. He waved his hand and hailed a taxi. Once they were inside, Qi Mu softly sighed, “Today. . . was really troublesome for you. I didn’t expect it would cause such an inconvenience. Now I understand how Daniel feels.”
Min Chen was a bit surprised. A trace of confusion flashed through his Phoenix’s eyes, and he asked, “Trouble?”
Qi Mu nodded: “Well, there’s a lot of maestros calling you and sending you messages. And Mr. Nagano just now. It sounds like he wants you to treat him to a meal now.”
Min Chen finally removed his hat after they were settled in the taxi, and he leaned back in his seat. He said leisurely, “It’s no trouble. They were just contacting me. If not today, they would have gotten around to it tomorrow.” After a slight pause, as if he just remembered, Min Chen added, “And I said that carelessly. I won’t actually treat him.”
Qi Mu: ". . ."
As if he didn’t notice the young man’s blank expression, he tapped his finger to his thin lips and whispered, “His appet.i.te is too big, I can’t afford it.”
Qi Mu: ". . ."
It’s just a single person’s portion, not an elephant’s!
Besides, even if you invited an elephant to eat, you! Could! Still! Afford! It!
Only just noticing Qi Mu’s prolonged silence, Min Chen turned slightly to look at him. Seeing his unclear expression, Min Chen stared for a while then said, “Today. . . I troubled you quite a bit. If you don’t mind, I’ll treat you to dinner.”
Qi Mu: “. . .I have a large appet.i.te.”
“. . .”
Apparently, this “savage” refusal hurt this maestro’s fragile heart. On their way back, he didn’t utter another word, and that made Qi Mu uncomfortable.
He tentatively turned to look at the man beside him only to find Min Chen looking out the window with indifference. The brilliant sunset reflected off his face, making his cool expression soften a little.
After a long while, Qi Mu said carefully, “. . . Actually, I can control my appet.i.te?”
There was no reply for a long while, and Qi Mu did not wait for one. He was both amused and helpless. This was the first time he saw someone begging for a meal, but when he loosened his tongue a little, the man wasn’t happy at all. Really. . .
“There’s a good beef steak place near the hotel.”
“. . .”
For such a large orchestra, three days of rehearsal was tense. Even the New York Philharmonic Orchestra b.u.mped their attention up 120,000 points. They had to play Sibelius’ 《Symphony No. 1》 perfectly.
In fact, when Boswell chose Qi Mu as the temporary concertmaster, the members had some objections. They had already rehea.r.s.ed with the subst.i.tute for two days, so it was easier to perform with him.
But, just because Boswell’s temper was good, didn’t mean that he had no prestige. Since he had made the decision, no one dared object. The day after the recruitment, Qi Mu went to the rehearsal hall to rehea.r.s.e with the world famous——New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
Qi Mu had never spent time practicing just Sibelius’ works before, and he had only practiced 《Symphony No. 1》 a few times. Though he had made some adjustments the night before, he still encountered problems on the first day of rehearsal.
Boswell just smiled and told him to rest first. After New Ai finished rehearsing the other songs that afternoon, Qi Mu returned to the position of concertmaster and continued the rehearsal.
At the end of the day, this issue caused several of the orchestra members to have concerns. However, what they didn’t expect, is that the next day, the Chinese violinist magically integrated into their sound, blending his violin in perfectly.
At the end of the next day’s 《Symphony No. 1》, Qi Mu was able to lead the whole orchestra in a decent formal performance. If they practiced a few more times the following day, there would be no problems.
Even Boswell praised him, “Qi, you are very talented. I’m looking forward to working with you the day after tomorrow.”
Once the conductor left, these New Ai members, like unrestrained bear children, enthusiastically went to Qi Mu and asked questions one after the next.
“Qi, it’s only been a day. How did you change so much? Did you get a supplementary lesson yesterday evening?”
“Yeah, your 《Symphony No. 1》 was good, but it didn’t blend well. How did you change it to fit so well today?”
“I heard you know Mr. Bertram. Did he give you guidance?”
. . .
The problem with so many successive questions was that Qi Mu didn’t know which to answer first. In the end, he lifted a hand in a “pause” gesture and laughed helplessly, “When I returned to the hotel last night, I carefully recalled the rehearsals and played according to simulation. That’s why I can cooperate better today.”
“Huh? Played by simulation? What’s that?”
“Recalled the rehearsals. . . oh my G.o.d, Qi, for real?”
“You remembered each of our sounds? My G.o.d, I thought only Mr. Bertram had such amazing hearing and memory.”
. . .
Most of the New Ai members were American. There were tanned Asians, African Americans, and of course, several blonde and white-skinned Caucasians. But, maybe because of their conductor’s temperament, the members were generally amiable. Although they had some complaints regarding the mistakes Qi Mu made at the beginning, they could now laugh and talk happily together after getting more familiar with him. This helped ease Qi Mu’s worries a lot.
Perhaps because the country was so large, it was not as compet.i.tive in America as it was in Europe despite having so many orchestras.
Of course, Qi Mu believed that a few insidious people like that Luo Yu Sen could be found everywhere.
A truly strong musician would use their own strength to prove everything, and they wouldn’t bother making dirty schemes in the dark. Although Qi Mu still did not understand whose way he was “blocking,”* he was not in a hurry. Because things were going according to expectation, and he thought——
*Revisit for clarification.
It wouldn’t be long before he returned to that continent where cla.s.sical music was born.
. . .
The three-day rehearsal period was soon over, and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance had already been promoted by the festival committee. New Ai’s unexpected audition caused a small surge in the number of people attending the festival. Especially when people heard that Min Chen was also present, the number of tickets sold for the Hong Kong Sea Music Festival broke through the roof in only a few hours.
As for the New Ai concert tickets?
Please, those were already priceless!
By this time, Qi Mu, who won the change to perform with New Ai, was quickly identified by enthusiastic fans.
Sure enough, how could someone approved by Boswell be an average person?
He won the junior championship of the Men’s International Violin Compet.i.tion* at age 13, then at 14, he performed with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. While he wasn’t seen in the limelight for the next eight years, those achievements were still enough for the majority of musicians to look up to.
*Previously translated as Choplin’s International Violin Compet.i.tion.
And now, this genius was actually the a.s.sistant conductor for B City’s Symphony Orchestra!
After learning this, some musicians were finally willing to admit defeat. “That guy is talented to this degree, comparing us to him is making me mad, ah!”
All in all, the combination of New Ai, Qi Mu, and Min Chen’s names led to the seventh day of the music festival being so hot that it raised the port city’s temperature even more.
Numerous cars trickled into town from all directions, causing a traffic jam.
And when the concert officially began, the audience’s expectations were written on their faces. They were just waiting. . . for New Ai’s interpretation of Sibelius’ 《Symphony No. 1》!
Translator(s): Kuro
Editor(s): Bet