King of Classical Music 138

For the rest of his life, Zayev would never forget… Dorenza’s expression that day.

Albert Dorenza, the chief conductor of Wei Ai, was one of the four most successful conductors in the world. As famous as he was for his strength, he was just as famous for his kind and gentle heart. Even when the orchestra made a mistake during a formal performance, he wouldn’t get angry. Instead, he would pause the performance and encourage the orchestra to restart.

Zayev was in his fifties. He had been a member of Wei Ai for 20 years and served as the concertmaster for a decade.

In the orchestra, although the members knew Dorenza held the most power, they also knew that Zayev was the secret leader.

“It’s not enough to use a soft heart to deal with others,” Zayev once evaluated himself, “How can an orchestra function without someone harsh, to get things done? Since Dorenza doesn’t have the spirit to do it, I must. So, as Wei Ai’s… What’s the name again? Ah, right! As Wei Ai’s Bismarck, I will be the one to manage everyone!”

Whether or not the famous figure would vomit in his grave when he heard such praise was unknown.

Zayev never paid any attention to Dorenza’s views. After all, excluding the rehearsals and the performances, the man held relaxed management over the orchestra. He hoped that they could develop freely. Provided the secret was well-kept, Dorenza would never be suspicious.

“Dorenza is really a good man.” Zayev said this with a little meaningful smile.

However, the good man had his lips tightly pursed when he called Zayev to his lounge.

Zayev’s heart beat harshly in his chest as he asked, “What’s the matter, Dorenza? Are you in a bad mood today? Maybe you should take a rest tomorrow and let me handle the rehearsal. You have a bad expression on your face…”

Dorenza raised his head slowly after hearing Zayev’s voice.

His eyes were bitter cold, like a knife cutting straight into Zayev’s heart. His gaze was without a trace of vitality, as if… he was looking at a dead man!

Taking a step back in horror, Zayev fell to his knees. He began to doubt whether this man was the same Dorenza that he knew!

Before Zayev could think any further, Dorenza raised his hand and lifted a golden pen from his desk.

Zayev’s eyes followed the movement of the pen, watching as Dorenza held it in his hand, before——

With a sharp flick, the pen shot down and broke against the desk’s surface with a loud thump!!!

That was his birthday gift to Dorenza last year!!!

“Zayev, I really don’t want to see you right now.” After a slight pause, Dorenza continued, “No… I don’t want to see you ever again!”

The voice was as if it came from the South Pole, an icy wind across a dense, eerie forest. Zayev trembled in fear. After a few moments, he asked, “Dorenza, what’s the matter with you?! What did I do? You should…”

“Zayev, I always thought that people who loved classical music could never be so vile.” Dorenza’s always smiling face was expressionless. “More than 30 years ago, I made a mistake. Moss drugged someone before a performance and he fell. I was the one who recommended him to the New York Philharmonic, and that regret will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

More than 30 years ago, the deputy concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic drugged the concertmaster before a performance and got away with it… Until he was exposed by an informant, an insider.

The brilliant deputy concertmaster never made it to the stage again, but what no one knew was…

It was Dorenza who recommended him to the New York Philharmonic.

“Zayev, because I rarely doubt people, I helped the child when he asked me. I was enthralled by his beautiful violin. I didn’t expect him to have such a terrible mind. But now, I didn’t even see…”

“You, Leon Zayev, are far more terrible than Moss ever was!”

From the moment he saw Dorenza’s dark expression, Zayev already knew what was happening, but he still tried to dodge it. “Dorenza, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What have I done…”

“Why did you want to kill Lu Zi Wen?”

Stunned, Zayev said, “Kill Lu Zi Wen? Dorenza, who told you that?! I haven’t done anything like that. How could I? In the two months that we rehearsed with him, me and the orchestra all liked him. You know that, Dorenza! I liked Lu a lot, how could I harm him?”

Dorenza stared coldly at Zayev, keeping his silence.

Zayev continued, with agitation, “I liked that kid, Dorenza and you know that! He was a very gifted child, and polite, at that. I think he’s a malleable talent, I never even got the chance to train him, how could I kill such a gifted child…”

“How dare you say that?!”

Dorenza slammed his palm against the desk and rose to his feet. Before Zayev could respond, he picked up a thick stack of letters and threw them on the man’s face.

Shocked, Zayev wasn’t able to react for a beat. Once he returned to his senses, he heard Dorenza say, “See for yourself! Did you really think you’d never get found out?!”

“Zayev, God is always watching! If you didn’t want anyone to know, then you shouldn’t have done it to begin with!”

In the deadly silence of the lounge, Zayev picked up the letters scattered on the floor.

As he read… His expression grew dark, before finally turning red. He stood up and said, “Dorenza! Do you believe me or them?! Do you really think I’m that kind of a person…”

“Shut up!”

Dorenza completely subverted Zayev’s cognition. He was still a gentle person, but the man’s anger made Zayev’s heart tremble as if he was experiencing an earthquake. He felt that… If he said another word, the man would break him to pieces!

“Now you can get the hell out of here. You’d better not let me find evidence of you murdering Lu Zi Wen. If I do… Your end won’t be so kind as being kicked out of Wei Ai and the classical music world.”

“Evra can completely destroy Luo Yu Sen’s future, but you’re different from him. I can’t do the same to you… But mark my words, Zayev! No matter what orchestra  might accept you even after knowing about you drugging another member, then that orchestra——”

“Will never be able to step foot in Vienna!”

“You, get out of Vienna and never come back!!!”

After a long while, Zayev grabbed the corners of the desk and said, “Dorenza, what are you talking about? Kicking me out of Wei Ai? How could you drive me out? We’ve known each other for more than a decade, and I’ve been here for more than two! Dorenza…”

“I don’t want to see you anymore.”

Dorenza’s voice was flat. After he spoke, he no longer paid any attention to Zayev. A few minutes later, security personnel came to collect him from the room. 

In just a few moments, only Dorenza was left in the empty lounge.

The enraged old man slowly collapsed. After a long while, he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, a completely different man than he had been only moments earlier.

“Lu… I’m really sorry…”

“I hope your spirit in heaven will be more at ease…”

“But I have no evidence. I couldn’t find anything… If I had known how ugly he was, I wouldn’t have…”

A harsh Dorenza with sharp edges was still the same, gentle and kind Dorenza.

Even if it wasn’t his fault, he blamed himself. He drove himself to the edge to get justice for the poor child.

While there were truly despicable people in the world, some were kind enough to shine light amidst the darkness.

The members of Wei Ai shared the same thought. When they all saw Zayev being driven out from the orchestra by the security personnels and his belongings being thrown out, every member of the staff received a small envelope.

The envelope was very thin and it concealed something which was made of plastic. Judging from the size…

It might be a USB stick.

Evra had just hung up a phone call when he received the envelope. From his phone call, he heard that Dorenza had driven Zayev out of Wei Ai and let out a heavy sigh.

When he received the envelope with a USB stick in it, Evra was surprised for a moment, before he finally…

Plugged the USB stick into the computer.

Once he did, he hesitated.

A pop-out window with only one audio file sprang up.

Dorenza and Evra were dumbfounded before…

Clicking on the file.