A spring breeze blew in from the Atlantic at the end of March, waking Paris from the slumber of winter.
The French were born with romance in their bones. Couples walked the street hand-in-hand and would sometimes kiss intimately without care.
Qi Mu had long since learned to ignore them and could now ignore these sweet lovers as he walked by them. He grew up in Austria, and though people were open there, it was not so open as to kiss publicly in the streets.
His apartment was a couple blocks from the college. The handsome, sophisticated Chinese carrying a violin case through the streets was still eye-catching. Less than ten days after his arrival, Qi Mu's popularity continued to rise.
When he passed the bakery, the chubby owner would smile and gift him bread, wish him a good morning. The blonde woman cutting flowers at the flower shop around the corner would send out a flowering branch to send him on his way.
A polite, good-looking child was the most liked.
Of course. . . this favoritism did not include Professor Akkad.
Akkad was fond of his lovely student, but once it came to music, Qi Mu's master would become serious and would not tolerate even a defect the size of a sesame seed.
On the eve of Qi Mu's third day of practicing the 24th Capriccio, Akkad had him play his adaptation.
The result was disappointing. Akkad said, "Small Seven, you've tried to adapt some of the music, but what I want isn't to completely change the song. Rather. . . in your performance, there needs to be some chemical changes."
With an evaluation like that, Qi Mu got serious. Aside from practicing and adjusting to college life, he spent most of his time outside, hoping to gain some spark of inspiration from the spring season in this romantic capital.
Across the strait, in London, England, the first performance of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra's European tour officially began.
They held the grand concert in the Royal Albert Hall, London's most prestigious concert hall.
In this centuries-old hall, the Vienna musicians underwent their final commissioning, and the audience waited in anticipation for the start of the show.
In fact, this concert almost conflicted with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's concert. To avoid the problem, Daniel had them performing four nights later.
When Evra learned the "Golden Retriever" Agent had made a point of splitting their performances by three days, he snorted with disdain. "Daniel, you know how Christi's body hasn't been well these past few days. I thought you would delay the performance indefinitely."
Min Chen and Evra still had a good relationship. When Min Chen was studying at the Leipzig Academy, the master once directed the academy's orchestra, and Min Chen was the pianist.
So, Evra had invited Min Chen and Daniel backstage before the show, and they walked together toward the exclusive second-floor box to enjoy the music.
In the past, whenever Evra invited him, Min Chen would politely refuse. The man never enjoyed being treated as one of the privileged class, and he would sit in the audience. But this time, even Evra did not understand why his invitation was accepted.
Daniel thought about it and whispered, "Do you want to see for yourself. . . what happened to Luo Yu Sen?"
After a moment of silence, Min Chen lowered his gaze, "You think too much."
That said, when Evra did a last check on all the members of the orchestra, Min Chen did not enter the box. Instead, he stood behind the curtain and watched the handsome but haggard Chinese violinist.
That, Luo Yu Sen. . .
Luo Yu Sen who was busy testing his violin, felt a chill in his chest. He glanced around for a while but saw nothing strange. He shook his head and fixed his violin's pitch, then snuck a glance at the fat, black man standing at the front of the orchestra, eyes. . . dark and fierce.
Soon after, just as the percussion group was about to go onstage, there was a scream, "Oh my god! Pieces of my score are missing?!"
Everyone looked at Jasper in shook, the man in question staring, horrified, at his score. "The pages I'm least familiar with! I don't know if I can finish it!"
Some people didn't have a good memory, and Jasper. . . was one.
If it was Qi Mu, he could recite a ten-sheet music score in an hour. If it was Min Chen, he only had to listen to it once, and he could play it perfectly. While Jasper's skill was high, his memory. . . was not so good.
Evra, noticing the situation, turned a with a severe expression, "Jasper, where did your score go? Prepare to go on stage, take someone else's."
Jasper shook his head, an anxious sweat pooling on his forehead, "No, no, no, Evra! It's the part that's different from everyone else's. The background score is already difficult, but this section was harder. I. . . I have it memorized, but I can't guarantee I'll play it perfectly."
Evra was so angry he could barely speak, "Jasper! How can you be so careless with your score? You can't even keep the score safe, and you still want to perform?!!!"
The relationship between Jasper and Evra was inherently good, but it was only natural for Evra to be furious that something like this happened when he was about to go on stage——
After all, he was the runner-up winner of the world's worst-tempered conductor.
The backstage became a mess, but even Daniel frowned. "Jasper's not usually so bad? How did he lose only a piece of his score, and it's a piece of resplendence? That's weird. . ."
By his side, the elegant man narrowed his gaze to a squint, watching the Chinese in the back, not saying a word.
Although Luo Yu Sen chattered anxiously with the others, the corners of his mouth were tilted upward. . . looking rather pleased.
His heart ached with realization, and Min Chen pursed his lips. He walked over to Evra's side and whispered, "Which song?"
Min Chen's sudden appearance dazed the orchestra members: they didn't expect the man to be backstage!
Among them, most appalled was Luo Yu Sen against the back wall! His eyes widened and the rising corners of his mouth sunk, because. . . He recalled what someone said about Min Chen when he was at school: "Mr. Bertram? The score machine! Whatever the song, one look is all it takes for him to recreate it, ah!"
Sure enough, when Evra heard his question, he froze for a minute then said, "My god, Min! I forgot you were here! It's Farrell's 《Sonata in F major》, damn. . . have you ever heard it? It's the song he wrote a few years ago, I haven't performed it in public often."
Min Chen's eyebrow raised then he whispered, "It's one of Farrell's?"
The question made Evra despair, "Oh god, you haven't?! Oh my god! This is a nightmare! Jasper, don't make me. . ."
"A difficult piece. . . should be at the end of the third movement." Min Chen's voice silenced Evra, and Evra turned to see him face the nervous violinist. "Is there any lines you can't understand?"
Jasper nodded, "No, I can understand them! I'm just not sure if I can remember it all. The score's just a hint."
Min Chen nodded and took the pen and paper Daniel offered. His fingers scrawled five neat lines over the paper. With just a few additional notes, he marked the places for the fade away and reinsertion!
No one dared to make a sound. When the scratch of pen on paper finished, it was time for the first violin group to go on stage. Jasper didn't even glance at it before he took the handwritten score and filed on stage.
Evra also breathed a sigh of relief, "Ah. . . Min, I'm glad you remember this song. That's great."
Min Chen looked at him, tone even, "I listened to Farrell perform it, hm. . . a year ago."
Evra: ". . ."
Daniel: ". . ."
With a belly full of anger, Evra stalked to the other side of the stage.
Behind him, Daniel wept. "Evra will hate you, Min! His temper is no better than yours. He's commanded the song many times, and there's no way he could write it out in so little time. You can't hurt him!"
Min Chen hummed but did not take it to heart.
Instead, his gaze fell on the brunette in the second violin group, his eyes narrowed dangerously.
"This is. . . Luo Yu Sen?"
Translator(s): Bet
Editor(s): Bet