Chapter 177
Qi Mu and Ms. Julie left the Wei Ai building together that evening and took the subway home. Stepping out of the subway station, the warm and humid March breeze off the Danube river brushed by them, the air fresh off the running river.
There were few pedestrians on the clean, s.p.a.cious street. Qi Mu walked through a familiar intersection and spotted the top floor of his apartment in the distance.
Dozens of cargo ships moved slowly along the Danube River, either coming or going into the distance, almost symbolizing a cycle. Carrying his violin case, Qi Mu recalled Min Chen’s phone call that afternoon.
He’s coming tomorrow…
Qi Mu thought to himself.
Before he could think of it any further, Ms. Julie’s smiling voice rang out, “Today’s weather is perfect, Xiao Qi. I didn’t expect the temperature to rise so much. Does the weather here always change this quickly?”
As April approached, the cold winter no longer cloaked Vienna. Even with the collar of her coat unb.u.t.toned, Julie didn’t feel a hint of cold.
Qi Mu nodded, “Yes, Julie. Vienna has its four distinctive seasons. The winters aren’t as cold as Berlin’s, and spring comes quicker as well. You’ve already noticed it, I think?”
Julie opened her coat a little. She was over 50, but when she wore such young and foreign-styled clothing, it didn’t seem abrupt at all and was rather harmonious, as if that was how she should have been.
“Speaking of Berlin, I remember from over a month ago when you and Tuckerman invited me. Oh, that seems to be such a long time ago. I’ve been in Vienna for over a month now!”
After a pause, Julie pretended to look at the young man next to her casually. Her eyes were deep, and she spoke with a serious tone, “I remember when you came to my house with Auston, Little Seven. You and Auston. Remember?”
Without noticing the solemnity in Julie’s voice, Qi Mu remembered the man he hadn’t seen since.
If Min Chen wanted to visit Vienna from time to time, it wouldn’t be a problem, but Qi Mu had no time to spare to spend with him.
Qi Mu had already compressed his sleep to six hours to maintain his mental state, and he was even more unlikely to ask for leave to visit Berlin. He needed to get familiar with Wei Ai’s affairs faster and better to take the burden off Anthony’s hands as soon as possible.
At the thought of the man coming to Vienna, Qi Mu couldn’t help feeling softer and less defensive. The young man’s delicate, white face showed a trace of sentimentality as his lips curled upwards. He whispered, “Min Chen and I met the year before last. We’re quite familiar.”
The young man’s tender expression made Julie’s eyes open wide. Quickly, she covered her surprise, and in the next second, she spoke with a smile, “Bai Ai will start touring in a few days. I remember the first stop is Vienna. We should get together.”
Qi Mu realized Julie didn’t know he lived in Min Chen’s house.
He soon understood it was Min Chen’s mother who forgot to mention it when she borrowed the house. But this was a good thing. He didn’t have to explain why he lived in Min Chen’s house… No wonder it had been so long, and she hadn’t asked.
Qi Mu paid little attention to it and didn’t reveal anything else. However, Julie, who had plenty of experience, had already seen something. She just pretended to speak to Qi Mu with a smile, biding away his suspicion.
Once they reached Julie’s door, Qi Mu smiled and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Julie.”
The dignified lady slowly dropped the smile from her face and looked at the youth before her. Her gaze was complex and helpless; then she smiled again. “Little Seven, did I tell you… You’re actually very good at lying.”
Qi Mu was startled by her words and could not answer.
“Little Seven, since I joined the women’s rights movement when I was 17, and my career with organization became too busy, I had no time to spend on love. I never got married. For me, the piano is my love, and Austin is my child. I watched him grow up, but I can’t see through him. However, Little Seven… I can see through you.”
“You look very capable and prudent, but in fact, you are a pure child. I once said a month ago that you were a lovely child, that besides Austin, you are the most lovely child in the world. But now, I’m starting to feel that you are more lovely than he is.”
Qi Mu’s fingers trembled slightly. He already understood something.
The elegant lady nodded to him with a smile, then softly said, “Little Seven, I’m glad that the person you chose is Austin. A child like you either completely distrusts or completely believes in others. I know Austin very well, and he is a good boy. Although he looks a little cold and distant, he will treat you very well.”
“I don’t have children. Auston is like my child, and now I’m happy to have a child such as you around!”
“Little Seven, from the bottom of my heart… bless you!”
As her voice dropped, Julie stretched out her arms and gave him a big hug.
Facing this great woman’s embrace, Qi Mu was slightly stunned, but overwhelming warmth surged into his heart.
“Julie… Thank you.”
Gently comforting the youth in her arms, even if he was taller than she was, Julie seemed to be a gentle, kind elder, holding her child.
After a while, she leaned forward to Qi Mu’s ear and whispered, “Since you don’t want to make it public for now, naturally, you have your own ideas, but don’t worry. I won’t tell Anna about this, although I think she will like you very much…”
Stunned, Qi Mu slowly nodded.
Anna Bertram, Min Chen’s mother, also had a Chinese name, Min Sijing.
Although this world-renowned photographer had the word “jing (quiet)” in her name, she was happy to run around the world and take magnificent, meaningful pictures. She couldn’t be quiet for even a moment.
Qi Mu had never met her before. Even Min Chen said that his mother was only sure to be in Berlin at Christmas and in China during the Spring Festival. Otherwise, even if someone said, “Now the Bertrams are tracking and photographing a group of maned dogs on the African savanna,” Min Chen wouldn’t doubt it.
Thinking of his mother-in-law… Cough, thinking of his future mother-in-law, Qi Mu felt a deep sense of powerlessness. It was said the lady had inexhaustible energy. Even Austin Bertram was afraid of her. It was conceivable that…
This was a lady to be afraid of.
After saying goodbye to Julie, Qi Mu told Min Chen about it. Min Chen didn’t worry too much about her and even asked, “Are you afraid to meet my family?”
Giving a dry cough, Qi Mu answered stiffly, “Isn’t there a rumor… Cough, that your mother is very courageous?”
“…Courageous?”
“Uh, very imposing?”
“Imposing?”
“……”
With a long sigh, Min Chen asked helplessly, “Where did you hear this rumor?”
“…Everyone in the world has heard the name Min Sijing.”
Solemnly, Min Chen said, “Three men talking makes a tiger.”
Qi Mu was surprised. “You use idioms!”
“…I’m good at Chinese.”
“Is there anyone else like you, who can just speak German and switch to Chinese?”
The voice on the other end of the line was silent for a moment, then rang out with a smile, “Qi Mu, I like Chinese words very much. I like them more than the words of any other language in the world. When I first learned it, I thought, how can there be such a beautiful language in the world?”
Qi Mu was stunned for a moment, then chuckled and asked, “Do you have a favorite sentence? What is it?”
“That sentence is…”
“I love you.”
Qi Mu’s pale eyes gradually widened. In the end, he didn’t know how to describe the soft and greasy feeling in his heart. He could only use one sentence to express it.
“Min Chen, has anyone ever told you… you’re good at talking?”
The man on the other end of the line showed his answer directly by action. “No. I only speak to the people I love.”
“I was going to wait for you to spend a few nights in the study after you arrived in Vienna tomorrow. Now, I think… Well, you’re allowed to go back to your bedroom and kneel.”
On the other end of the phone, the man suddenly chuckled. Even if he couldn’t see his appearance, Qi Mu could imagine that his deep, dark eyes must reflect Berlin’s rare few stars. They were so bright that he missed them deeply.
Min Chen’s voice came out like a sigh, “Yes, my Little w.a.n.g.”