《Liang Zhu》 wasdivided into three parts. The first was introductory, the middle unfolded, and the last part was reconstructive. Amongthem, people were most familiar with the tune throughout the song as it was theiconic cla.s.sical melody for any Huaxian.

Zhu Wen Jun stood at the podium of the majestic hall"s main stage. When he swung hisbaton, the orchestra followed his command, turning that music sometimes melodious and meaningful and other times fierceand intense.

He truly deserved his reputation of being one ofHuaxia"s most outstanding conductors. Under the wave of his hand, 《Liang Zhu》 became exquisite,delicate, and rich with emotion that even Westerners who had never heard itbefore couldn"t help but frown, immersed in the song and unable to extricatethemselves from it.

However, what surprised many musicians was theyouth that stood to the conductor"s left——

The orchestra didn"t outshine him for even amoment!

Qi Mu"s right hand leaped in a blur, and themovement of his bow gliding across the violin"s strings produced a fierce but enthusiastic sound.

This was an excellent replica of a Stradivariusviolin. Its exquisite, vigorous timbre could make any violinist obsessed withit. But right now, it laid obediently in the arms of this young man and madesuch a magnificent melody.

Liang accompanied his "sworn brother" for his18-mile journey. . .*

Ying Tai, who didn"t want to get married,arrived before the grave. . .*

*Events of the story Liang Zhu (b.u.t.terflyLovers in English).

The violin mournfully sighed, whispering thepain of these two lovers that could not be together.

Throughout the whole piece, Qi Mu"s violinappeared to have been drowned out by the cymbals, but in actuality, it echoed like a sob, and during the final part,it emerged once again with a hauntingly familiar melody.

Those in the audience that were particularly emotional already had tearsin their eyes. When this melody was first heard, Liang and Zhu had just met, and now they were a pair of b.u.t.terflies, flyingtogether in front of a grave.

On stage, the young man frowned a little. Whenthe last note floated from the tips of his fingers, the audience burst intoapplause in an instant.

Guidance was unnecessary. This piece, whichbelonged entirely to Huaxia, had conquered the audience thoroughly——to thepoint of shedding tears. Music was not divided by gender, age, or nationality.They couldn"t help but feel the love that stood against time and the secularworld depicted by this song, and they were moved by it.

This was ultimately an excellent performance!

The interpretation was so good, the audience was swallowed up by it.Because of its intensity, they hadforgotten they wanted to see what theyoung man on the stage could do. Instead, they were intoxicated with the youth"sperformance!

After his cooperation with New Ai, Qi Mu wasused to such a situation. He smiled and hugged Zhu Wen Jun then, under the leadof the other man, the whole orchestra bowed to the audience. Even more enthusiastic applause broke out anew.

The S City Symphony Orchestra"s CentennialCelebration was officially over.

There was no need to evaluate the event. Theapplause still hadn"t stopped five minutes after the concert ended, proofenough of its historic ending.

Qi Mu and the orchestra left the stage orderlyand below, the audience left with smiles on their faces. Some were still intheir seats, recalling the musical feastthey were treated to.

"Mr. Perez?" A middle-aged, blond male smiled atthe old man next to him. He asked gently, "Mr. Perez, are you going to sit herefor a long while? Tonight"s performance was fantastic! There really is a lot ofgreat music in Huaxia!"

The one speaking was the British "Times"correspondent in Huaxia, Evan Ritter. He had been in charge of the Times" musicsection for two years and naturally wouldn"t miss the Centennial Celebration.What he didn"t expect was for there to be a mastic sitting next to him at theevent.

Sitting next to Evanwas an old man with grey hair. Though his hair had all turned white, he wa.s.still in good spirits and had a kind, gentle smile in his eyes.——

This foreign old man made a good impression evenat first glance.

"Evan, you"re right. Let"s talk while we walk."The two men got up and walked in the direction of the exit together. "I alwaysknew Huaxia had good music. There are a few good Huaxian musicians in myorchestra, they are excellent."

A glint flashed in Evan"s eyes, sniffing outgood material for an article.

"Mr. Farrel, I really liked Dresden"sperformance in Edinburgh last year. It was truly unforgettable!" Evan was aperson who would lead the topic, he turned and said, "Mr. Farrel, who do youthink gave the best performance tonight?"

Farrel Louis was the chief conductor of theDresden Symphony Orchestra. The sixty-year-old man had been with Dresden forover a decade, allowing the world"s oldest symphony to become even moreoutstanding and had received praise across the globe.

Simultaneously, he was recognized as one of thefour greatest conductors alongside Min Chen and Dorenza.

Farrel wasn"t angry with Evan"s leading words.Instead, he smiled, "They were all excellent. Huaxia"s skill level ha.s.surprised me. But, Evan, you can write more on that person in your report. . . oh yes, that last violinist. I believe you willhear his name often in the future."

Evan was slightly surprised. "You mean. . . QiMu?" Having been in Huaxia for two years, Evan"s Chinese was quite good.

Farrel smiled and nodded, "Well, it should bethat child. His 《D major》 was great, but I care more about. . . his last 《Liang Zhu》. His feelings weredelicate, and his approach to music is very unique."

This straightforward comment made Evan"s eyesshimmer. He quickly engraved the pa.s.sive to his memory and planned to go backand start his ma.n.u.script that night.

But when Evan was about to seize the opportunityand talk a little more with him, Farrel waved a little and called out, "Hey,Auston!"

When Evan turned to look, he saw a man with astraight posture turn to look at them.

The moment he saw him, Evan was stunnedspeechless, and there was a burst ofecstasy in his mind: Good G.o.d, it"s Auston Bertram! I didn"t expect to runinto him! If he could talk to him, he would definitely get. . . headlines. . . tomorrow.. .

"Hey, this buddy seems familiar. Are you areporter for the Times?" A blue-eyed blond walked over, and he grinned, revealing a white tooth. "Is it hard to catch newsevery day in Huaxia? We have a performance next month, I don"t know if you"reinterested. . ."

Daniel looked at the little reporter and tookhim aside, not giving Evan a chance to react. When Evan returned to his senses,he discovered that he had listened to this long-winded Bai Ai agent for overtwenty minutes. . . such a waste!

Who wants to know what Bai Ai"s playing nextmonth!

Wasn"t it announced early?!

In Paris!

Conducted by the guest Charles Littis!

Who didn"t know!!!

Besides, he was a reporter on Huaxia, notforeign reporting!

What"s did Bai Ai have to do with it!!!

After Daniel pulled aside the reporter, Min Chenwalked alongside Farrel, and thegentleman said politely, "It"s been a long time, Farrel. The last time I sawyou was in Munich?"

Farrel nodded with a smile, "Indeed. I rememberthat I couldn"t attend your New Year"s concert this year. You didn"t listen to Dorenza"s either. It was fantastic."

Min Chen nodded a little, "I"ve been busyrecently."

Farrel did not ask further. He looked at the manstanding beside him, smiling but not speaking. "Christi, I didn"t expect to seeyou in Huaxia. How do you feel about the concert tonight? It was pretty good,don"t you think?"

The brown-haired man standing next to Min Chenwas Bai Ai"s concertmaster, Christi Mensa, and the gentle violinist smiled atFarrel"s words. "Mr. Farrel, the cla.s.sical music in Huaxia has always beenstrong. Daniel told us a few months ago that Huaxia had some talents with greatpotential. Oh yes, you heard the performance of the violinist Daniel wa.s.speaking about today. His 《Dmajor》 was really good."

As he was speaking, Daniel returned to them, and the four went in the direction of theconcert hall"s exit.

Farrel said, "Christi,I disagree with you there. I think. . . his last song, 《Liang Zhu》, was best. Ah, Auston,I just remembered it was your song. Pay it no mind."

In the face of old friends, Min Chen had nochoice but to look away, acting as if he had heard nothing.

Of course, the conversation did not stay on 《Liang Zhu》 for long. They quicklychanged from Qi Mu, and they said a fewwords on the orchestra. Then they started talking about the next year"s MenuhinViolin Compet.i.tion. Overall, the topicturnover was pretty quick.

Min Chen wasn"t a talkative person by nature.Especially in the face of Daniel and Farrel, he occasionally spoke a sentence ortwo but said little in the end.

In the dark night, Min Chen walked on theperiphery of the four with his hands in the pockets of his black coat.

Many people were chatting about the concert in the lobby outside the concert hall. Some saythe small circle and naturally came over to greet them.

Of course, aside from the world-cla.s.s musicianswho came over, there were a few young ones that came just to express theirreverence to Farrel, Min Chen, or Christi, then left.

Watching the dramatic pair, the more theytalked, the more Min Chen felt like sighing. He eventually sighed softly andtook two steps tot he side, giving the pa.s.sionate talkers a chance to chat witheach other.

However, not long after, Canada"s nationaltreasure composer, Spencer Rice, clapped his shoulder and started chattingabout compositional inspiration.

Min Chen"s patience for music had always beengood. He listened carefully to Spencer and exchanged some ideas. While he was listening, he caught sight of something in thecorner of his eye, and he subconsciouslyturned.

Qi Mu and Zheng Wei Qiao were exiting thebackstage.

There were a lot of people gathered in thelobby, but the largest circle was simply too eye-catching. Qi Mu spotted it in aglance. He also noticed the man standing just to the side of it.

The two looked at each other in surprise. But QiMu noticed he was talking with Spencer, so he smiled but did not go over tobother them. Min Chen hesitated for a moment but immediately understood theyouth"s intention.

He thought for a while then extended his righthand with the thumb pointed up.

Looking at the young man"s stunned expression,Min Chen"s lips curled upward, and heturned to look at his conversational partner. "Spencer, it sounds like youreally want to use the Canadian maple leaf for inspiration, but if I remembercorrectly, isn"t it winter in Canada, right now? How about changing the theme.. ."

Not far off, it took a while for Qi Mu to gatherhis wits.

He stared, dumbfounded, at the man who hadturned away and was no longer looking at him, feeling a little helpless.

That just now. . .

Was he praising his performance?

Well, it seemed a little childish.

Translator(s): Kuro, Bet

Bet:

Oh no! Kuro’s most available to translate during the weekend, but her laptop broke! So let’s see if I can hang onto this for a little more.

As repayment, she is doing us (Read: Me, because I’m a sucker) an art piece.

We have some ideas already, but if you have an opinion on what the KOCM cast (Qi Mu, Lu Zi Wen, Min Chen, Zheng Wei Kiao, Christi, and Daniel) look like, drop a hint in the comments! She’ll take all of them into consideration.