Chapter 377: All the Arrangements Have a Purpose
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After she got off the plane, she saw that all the compet.i.tors were a.s.signed private cars. She couldn’t help feeling envious.
She was only slightly behind the third place winner. She could have enjoyed such treatment. Now, she could only take a taxi to the hotel.
Yu Xiuhua saw her disappointment and persuaded her in a low voice, “It’s alright. Five years later, we can still partic.i.p.ate in the Chopin piano compet.i.tion.”
Five years later? How long is that?
s.h.i.+ Xuexin forced a smile. Then, she saw s.h.i.+ Jin being escorted by a tall man towards a car.
s.h.i.+ Jin was here too? Could she be here to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion?
After some thought, s.h.i.+ Xuexin dismissed the idea. s.h.i.+ Jin partic.i.p.ating in the compet.i.tion? What was she going to play, her folk song?
s.h.i.+ Xuexin was even more certain after she saw that s.h.i.+ Jin was not getting in a car that the organizing committee prepared. However, when she saw s.h.i.+ Jin getting inside a rare luxury car, s.h.i.+ Xuexin felt a little jealous. What was her purpose in coming to Warsaw?
“Xuexin, get in the car,” Hu Lai reminded s.h.i.+ Xuexin.
s.h.i.+ Xuexin got into the taxi and headed to the hotel that Hu Lai had booked.
Fu Xiuyuan’s villa in Warsaw was located not far from the Philharmonic Music Hall.
The Philharmonic Music Hall was the venue for this compet.i.tion.
The location of his villa was exceptionally good.
When the car stopped in front of the villa and he saw that the villa had been renovated, even someone as meticulous as Yao Jiahong had to sigh at how considerate Fu Xiuyuan was.
The villa wasn’t very big. It was a three-story building, and there were already servants coming to pick up the luggage.
Fu Xiuyuan and s.h.i.+ Jin stayed on the third floor while Yao Jiahong and Xiao Li stayed in the guest rooms on the second floor.
The environment and situation here were much better than the hotel where the contestants were staying.
After settling down, it was lunchtime. Fu Xiuyuan accompanied s.h.i.+ Jin to the dining table, followed by Xiao Li and Yao Jiahong.
Yao Jiahong was still checking the flight information on his phone.
“You’re already booking return tickets?” Fu Xiuyuan asked.
“Otherwise, I won’t be able to get VIP tickets.” Yao Jiahong paused and thought about the meaning behind Fu Xiuyuan’s words. “If you guys want to take a break, I can book the flight for a later time.”
“I remember that the time between the semi-finals and the finals is not long?”
“Two days. The finals will be held two days after the results for the semi-finals are out,” Yao Jiahong explained. “I’ll book tickets later then?”
“Mm.” Fu Xiuyuan nodded.
Yao Jiahong wrote down the date of the flight in his memo.
After dinner, Fu Xiuyuan accompanied s.h.i.+ Jin for a walk in the garden.
In the garden, one could see the Philharmonic Music Hall just by looking up. The visual effects were excellent.
Fu Xiuyuan pointed into the distance and said, “We’ll walk from here tomorrow. It’ll only take about 15 minutes. If we take the car, it’ll take two to three minutes.”
s.h.i.+ Jin calculated that compared to other contestants, she could save about half an hour. This meant that she could sleep for another half an hour.
“You seem very familiar with this place.” s.h.i.+ Jin followed his finger and looked over.
With that, she recalled that Fu Heyan had also partic.i.p.ated in a compet.i.tion here. It was normal for Fu Xiuyuan to be familiar with this place.
“Thankfully, I kept this villa.” Fu Xiuyuan lowered his eyes to look at her. “I always thought that keeping it would be useful, and it turns out I was right.”
s.h.i.+ Jin faced him. “All the arrangements have their purpose.”
“I want to give you the best,” Fu Xiuyuan said in a low voice.
s.h.i.+ Jin nodded gently. Just like this moment.
The next day, the semi-finals of the Chopin International Piano Compet.i.tion officially began.
When s.h.i.+ Jin woke up in the morning, Fu Xiuyuan accompanied her as she ate her breakfast slowly. In the end, she didn’t take the car and chose to walk to the Philharmonic Music Hall.
It was still early when they arrived.
s.h.i.+ Jin entered the concert hall. She did not expect there to be so many people inside so early in the morning.
The moment she and Fu Xiuyuan entered, Fu Heyan waved at her.
s.h.i.+ Jin walked towards her. “Sister.”
“Come sit with me.” Fu Heyan cleared a few seats and asked, “Did you rest well?”
“Pretty well. Sis, you’re not living in the villa with us?”
“I live in another villa with your brother-in-law.” Fu Heyan smiled as she continued, “It’s not too far away from your villa.”
Yao Jiahong and Xiao Li were speechless.
“I wanted to introduce you to the judges today… but I don’t want people to gossip, so forget it.” Fu Heyan was a judge for the finals. She didn’t have to come to the semi-finals today, but she was here to see s.h.i.+ Jin.
She said, “Moreover, these judges are inferior to President Song and me. It doesn’t matter if you meet them or not.”
Only the higher-ups of the Piano a.s.sociation would dare to say such words.
Xiao Li originally thought that s.h.i.+ Jin was just here as a formality. When he saw Fu Heyan, he realized that he had misunderstood.
Although he didn’t know Fu Heyan, he had done some research and found out that she was the champion of the Chopin compet.i.tion 15 years ago. She had a great reputation and was a G.o.d-like existence.
“When is President Song coming over?” s.h.i.+ Jin asked.
“Soon.” Fu Heyan glanced at the time. “He didn’t intend to come, but you’re partic.i.p.ating in the compet.i.tion. He said he would come to witness the birth of a miracle.”
s.h.i.+ Jin smiled.
***
Outside the Philharmonic Music Hall.
s.h.i.+ Xuexin had arrived early as well.
Warsaw had been full of people for the past few days, and the hotel they stayed in was very far away, so it took them some time to get there in the morning.
Because they were not invited and did not manage to get tickets, they could not enter. However, Hu Lai did not necessarily have to go in. She had asked s.h.i.+ Xuexin to come over just to set up a persona for her. At the same time, she wanted to help her get a good ranking in the upcoming Ivy League compet.i.tion to familiarize herself with the venue.
It was Yu Xiuhua’s first time standing at the entrance of such a grand and dignified concert hall, and a sense of pride rose in her heart. She patted s.h.i.+ Xuexin on the shoulder and said excitedly, “You can definitely enter the venue when you partic.i.p.ate in the next Ivy League compet.i.tion.”
s.h.i.+ Xuexin nodded.
Hu Lai asked, “Do you want to go to the washroom?”
“There’s no need. I’ll take a look here,” said s.h.i.+ Xuexin with a nod.
“Then I’ll go myself. Wait for me here.” Hu Lai threw the bag to s.h.i.+ Xuexin.
In comparison, s.h.i.+ Xuexin was more like a manager than her. She did all the ch.o.r.es, but whenever she thought of Chu Ling, she would gladly endure it.
As s.h.i.+ Xuexin was speaking to Yuxiu Hua, a man walked over from the front. He was tall and thin and looked rather charismatic.
He walked straight towards them.
This made s.h.i.+ Xuexin feel slightly surprised. Seeing that the person was approaching, she had no choice but to greet him, “h.e.l.lo, Teacher Song.”
It was Song Huaixian. He came specially to watch s.h.i.+ Jin’s compet.i.tion today.
Suddenly, he heard someone calling him. He stopped in his tracks and glanced at the person. He nodded as a greeting.
s.h.i.+ Xuexin was in no mood to talk to him. Song Huaixian was in a hurry as well, so he walked straight in.
Yu Xiuhua asked, “Do you know him, Xuexin?”