Time flies when immersed in practice.
By the time Qi Mu felt he had found the inspiration for theadaptation, it was already a week away from Akkad"s deadline. The Berlin PhilharmonicOrchestra"s concert in London was long over and another great success.
Bai Ai"s concert was held at the Royal Albert Hall, theoldest concert hall in England, and Bai Ai"s musicians performed enthusiastically,giving their audience a thrill.
When Qi Mu logged into the Danube Forum to check on thelatest news, he found that 17 of 20 posts on the front page were about theconcert!
People gave a technical review of the concert, from the songselection to the adaptation and the scores themselves. And at the end, they allremarked: "A lucky thing to be in London this month!"
Ain"t that the truth!
First, there was the European Tour premiere of the ViennaSymphony Orchestra, then the Berlin Philharmonic. It was good news forcla.s.sical music enthusiasts, especially the ones that got to listen to twohigh-level concerts in a week.
【I went to the show in Paris, and Mr. Charles is an excellentconductor. But, after listening to the London concert, it"s clear. Even thoughthe songs were the same, and the arrangement didn"t change, I felt they weretwo entirely different concerts. It was that wonderful!】
This post received hundreds of replies, and the originalmade it to the top comment.
Qi Mu scrolled down and saw many agreed with this post:
【Yes, Mr. Bertram"s style is not that different, but itchanges the entire concert. How to say it. . . G.o.d, I can"t even describe it!】
【Mr. Bertram and Mr. Littis are both Bai Ai conductors, andtheir styles lean towards cla.s.sical orthodoxy. But. . . Mr. Bertram feels solemnwhile Mr. Littis is romantic.】
【Exactly! You took the words right out of my mouth!】
. . .
【So. . . Mr. Bertram isn"t that amiable then?】
When someone said that as the hundredth reply, no one respondedfor a while. Then an unknown daringly ran up and said: 【Our conductor is gentleand kind. He. .. he never gets angry when he"s conducting our rehearsals! Really!He just. . . He just seems a bit cold! Hmph!】
Then, several people rushed to ask: 【Is this person from BaiAi?】
【G.o.d, you dare to reply. . . Let me guess who you are?!】
【Good thing this is an anonymous forum. Otherwise, I wouldbe worried about that buddy"s safety.】
. . .
Comments like this were not in the minority. Since there wa.s.such a fierce gentleman, countless people debated over the pa.s.sionate discussionon the anonymous poll question—— "Which conductor do you think has the worsttemper?"
Qi Mu just laughed and didn"t pay attention to it anymore.He turned to the second page and was surprised to see a familiar name—
【Violinist Sheng Yan Hui from Huaxia will hold a solorecital at the Munich Conservatory of Music!】
Qi Mu hadn"t seen Sheng Yan Hui for half a year, but heheard that Sheng Yan Hui followed Professor Karl and partic.i.p.ated in manycompet.i.tions to won awards. He gradually gained relative fame in Germany.
Qi Mu thought for a bit, then responded with "Lookingforward to it," and paid it no further mind.
It was a spring night. The moonlight was silent and dim,shining onto the empty streets. There was not a sound in a small apartment, itsbusy resident having already fallen into a peaceful sleep.
However, just across the strait in London, the members...o...b..i Ai held a celebration.
Some were doing something sneaky with their mobiles, andsome were toasting each other to celebrate. Of course. . . No one dared hold a gla.s.sto their silent conductor who sat alone in the corner.
Christole came over with a reluctant Daniel. He smiled andsaid, "Min, the performance tonight was great!"
Daniel was helplessly to add, "Cheers, Min!"
That day Daniel saw Min Chen stand in the rehearsal hall anda murmur a few words to himself, he thought: "This guy must have been possessed by a ghost."
Even though he handled the orchestra and rehearsals usually,Daniel had known Min Chen for over ten years——
There was something wrong with Auston!
He had no idea what had happened, but he knew this d.a.m.nfellow was not right.
Min Chen raised his gla.s.s and tapped it against Christole"sthen Daniel"s and took a sip. Christole was a gentle and amiable person so hecould laugh and chatter with Min Chen and Daniel easily. But before long, heleft.
Outside the large window, London"s beautiful night view scrawledacross the horizon. The Thames River flowed gently in the dim light, and thebridge was illuminated by many lights, making it look inlaid with gold. It wasmagnificent from afar.
Min Chen held his slender gla.s.s" stem, looking out thewindow. He frowned, pondering something.
Daniel couldn"t help himself. "Min. . . What"s the matterwith you lately? You"re not like yourself. You"ve never been so quiet. . . Okay,no. You"re usually quiet but not to this extent."
Min Chen didn"t reply.
For a while, Daniel was rooted in the same place, not surewhat to say.
A few minutes later, Min Chen slowly turned his head andasked, "Daniel. We"ve known each other for over a decade. In your opinion. . .what kind of person am I?"
Daniel gawked. Then he said, "Very talented, very strong,also very——"
"Be frank."
Daniel: ". . ."
Daniel snorted. "You"re a stingy, poisonous fellow and youalways say things with a deadly expression. If I hated you, I"m sure I would bedisinclined to manage you for my whole life."
After venting a little, Daniel smiled as he said, "But. . . Youare good this way. At least, you always do things face-to-face and are neversneaky. Of course, it would be better if you were a little more like Mr. Dorenza,gentler to the younger generation."
Min Chen"s eyebrows furrowed slightly. He thought of his andanother person"s opinion about himself and asked in a whisper, "I"m not. . .kind to the younger generation?"
Daniel stared at him with wide eyes. "Not only that! You don"tbother to give young people a glance if they didn"t grow to your expectations.They are obviously talented, but you still ignore them. When Christole wa.s.still in Munich College, I wanted to recruit him in advance, and what did yousay?"
Daniel frowned and thought for a moment. Then he clapped hishands in recollection and said, "You said——"He"s gifted but not strong enough,not interested." If I hadn"t insisted on cultivating Christole, when Mr. Devalaleft, where would you find a new concertmaster?"
Faced with these words, Min Chen didn"t reply.
Daniel thought his words caused some kind of damage so he scratchedthe back of his head and said, "But. . . You"re not that bad. Min, you can beconsiderate, at least, for the most part. . ."
"Help me book a ticket to Paris tomorrow."
"Also understanding and. . . Wait, what? What did you say?!Right now?!!!"
Min Chen nodded: "Yes, now."
Daniel: ". . ."
"d.a.m.n it! Who said that you"re understanding? You"re thedevil! Do you know how many people go from London to Paris every day? Where doyou want me to find a ticket? You"re a demon, a demon!!!"
. . .
Daniel"s roar resounded over the western restaurant near theThames River. His curses melted into the running water and vanished into thedark night along with the never-ending current.
The night in London was quiet and beautiful, and soon after,it was already the start of another beautiful day.
Qi Mu took his violin and entered the practice room again. Thistime around, he had some inspiration, so the satisfied Akkad praised him throughoutthe day and encouraged him to continue.
To seize this hard-won inspiration, Qi Mu practiced untilthe sun set and only then packed up. The full moon climbed lazily into thenight sky, and Qi Mu turned to lock the door.
As Qi Mu was to remove the key from the look, he heardsteady footsteps behind him.
The college had been closed for quite a while, and even thesky was dark. He was the only person left in the entire violin department. Thesound of footsteps made his heart go tight, as the scenes of horror movies hehad seen over the past few decades flashed through his mind one by one.
Qi Mu clenched his fist and looked around, "Who"s there?"
After he spoke, he saw the other figure and Qi Mu blanked insurprise.
Under the sound-activated light in the hallway, the tall,handsome man stared at Qi Mu in confusion, wondering why the youth was so nervousnow.
After a while, he tentatively asked: "Is it. . . me?"
Qi Mu: ". . ."
Min Chen: ". . ."
Translator
(s): Kuro
Editor
(s): BetKuro:
I"m
baaaaaaaaaacck. It feels good to translate again, though the laziness kicked in again 2 pages in. Happy Ramadhan guys.