King of Classical Music 153

The winter sun painted S City in a golden shimmer. S City’s Concert Hall sat at the intersection of two streets in the shape of an L. It was Huaxia’s first seated concert hall, which still boasted of the original European design. It even bore the same navy blue and light beige exterior as 80 years ago.

The building was divided into a performance hall, a concert hall, a multi-functional hall, and many other rooms. The multi-functional hall was often used to hold large and small competitions, medium-sized performances, and even product presentations.

Qi Mu and Zhu Wen Jun arrived at the multi-functional hall an hour before the Huaqing Cup was due to begin.

The Huaqing Cup was the grandest classical music competition in Huaxia, and the Huaxia authorities established the cup to stimulate the domestic development of classical music. The sphere of this competition covered the piano, violin, cello, etc. Among them, the piano and violin sections garnered the most attention.

As a temporary judge, Qi Mu did not interact with the other judges much before arriving. After taking his place, though, he spotted a familiar face. They stared at each other, stunned.

Qi Mu politely held out the other man’s chair and spoke with a smile, “Wu Lao, long time no see.”

Although he was old, Wu Lao was still hale and hearty. He sat and nodded. “En, it’s been a long time, Qi Mu.” Then, he asked, “You went to Vienna… how was it?”

At that, Qi Mu couldn’t help laughing and explained his affairs in Europe.

There was a total of five judges for the semi-final round of the Huaqing Cup. As Zhu Wen Jun had said, they were composed of three older and two younger musicians.

The other young musician——Wang Zheng spotted Qi Mu as he entered and waved happily, but when he sat down, Wang Zheng didn’t dare act imposingly.

The judges were arranged in the form of “3 + 2”, with the three older musicians distributed with the two younger ones between them. Sitting at Wang Zheng’s left was the chief judge——Wu Sheng Tao.

While Qi Mu and Wu Lao continued to chat, Wang Zheng slowly relaxed. He looked at the youth at his side with a warrior’s gaze and thought in his heart: Little Seven! You can conquer even Wu Lao; you are a god amongst men!!!

As this “godly man” had calmed Wu Lao, who had the worst temper, the jury’s atmosphere was naturally harmonious. When the first player stepped onstage, several people listened earnestly, and even Qi Mu was shocked.

The fourteen-year-old boy played a section of Kreisler’s 《Praeludium and Allegro》. As an eighth-level piece, the song’s difficulty was average, but it showed the skill of the musician. Without a doubt, the competitor performed it very well.

Qi Mu generously gave a high score of 8.5 and a fair evaluation.

Throughout the morning, several contestants met the fate of elimination, while other performances really impressed Qi Mu.

These young powers of Huaxia that Zhu Wen Jun wanted him to see——

They were quite strong.

The Huaqing Cup was supported by Huaxia officials, so both Huaxia MTV and S City TV stations were broadcasting live. Luo Zheng Jie was S City TV’s gold producer who is responsible for the live broadcast.

Before taking the task, Luo Zheng Jie had not expected the ratings of this competition to be too high. Of course, not that they were expected to be too low, but somewhere in the lower middle. Nevertheless, out of professionalism, Luo Zheng Jie tried his best to publicize the event and spent real money on it.

The money was spent, but it had. No. Effect.

The previous live broadcast, on the preliminary rounds, had ratings so low, Luo Zheng Jie began to doubt life. He did not expect…

This semi-final round!

Ah, you said reality shows were the hottest thing, Director, you said we should make a reality show…

This time, at the semi-final broadcast, Luo Zheng Jie went to the broadcast room as always to direct the live show. The usual host opened, the leader’s speed was, as usual, they introduced the judges as usual, as usual…

Wait a minute!

This was not as usual at all!!!

Staring at the handsome young man on the judge’s panel, Luo Zheng Jie’s eyes were round, and it took a minute for him to snag the staff member next to him. “Xiao Chen, this young man… who is he? How can he sit as a judge? He wasn’t a judge in Hong Kong City… Where’s David?”

The female staff member followed Luo Zheng Jie’s direction, and her eyes widened. She exclaimed, “Eh?!!! How can that be Little Seven?! Wasn’t that David who refused to lower his head?! When did it become Little Seven? Ah ah ah, ah!!!”

The S City TV station crew: “……”

Sister Chen, pay attention to image, to your image, ah!

Seeing his own right-hand becoming so excited, Luo Zheng Jie felt his heart thump loudly in his chest, and a row of gold ingots drifted across his eyes. He waved his hand and commanded, “Xiao Zheng, get the Weibo group to write up a topic and put out… Little Seven’s participation in our competition.”

“Xiao Li, what are you waiting for?! Adjust the stand. Alongside the contestants and Wu Lao, save that third position for Little Seven!”

“Xiao Wang, go inform the publicity team. Have them create a topic, create a topic! Got it?!”