King of Classical Music 44

Only a few days after Qi Mu’s return to B City, he sent off the most solemn, western Christmas celebration ever and ushered in the new year. On the night of December 30th, a New Year’s concert was to be held at the Great Hall of the People, and the performer was Huaxia’s National Symphony Orchestra.

The B City Symphony Orchestra was in a similar situation to the Vienna Symphony. Moreso, Tan Zheng Hui didn’t actually want to perform a national concert this year. So, on the evening of the 30th, Qi Mu arrived early at the Great Hall of the People.

This year, Huaxia invited the world-class master, Ivan Kocher from the US National Symphony Orchestra. This maestro’s style was delicate and gentle, and he had conducted the Huaxia National Symphony before. Qi Mu looked forward to tonight’s performance very much.

Throughout the nearly three-hour-long performance, Ivan and the Huaxia Orchestra received a lot of praise and applause. Once it had ended, a large part of the audience was still immersed and would not forget the experience.

Qi Mu had attended the concert alone this evening. The Zheng couple went to their hometown to visit family for the holidays. When Qi Mu had gone next door with the two tickets he received from the B City Orchestra, he knocked for quite some time without a response.

Just as Qi Mu thought it was strange, he remembered——

Huaxia was holding a New Year’s concert, wasn’t Berlin the same?

Min Chen must have returned to rehearse with the orchestra a few days ago. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s New Year concert on the 31st was also a must-see.

Therefore, Qi Mu sat alone under the magnificent dome of the Great Hall while the seat beside him remained empty. But, as he was about to leave, he hadn’t taken even a few steps when he suddenly heard someone whisper his name.

Turning back, Qi Mu saw Tan Lao walking toward him with a smile.

Du Sheng looked Qi Mu up and down and smiled, “Xiao Qi, ah, why did you come alone? Didn’t the orchestra give two tickets per person? You don’t have a girlfriend?”

Qi Mu’s smile shrank, and he said helplessly, “Du-ge, you’re making fun of me again. I don’t have a girlfriend, ah.” I don’t even have a boyfriend!

Du Sheng just laughed and stopped teasing him. Instead, a graceful man in a suit beside him, who had been smiling at Qi Mu all the while, said, “Xiao Qi, I haven’t seen you for a long time. Why didn’t you come visit? Did you forget your Uncle Zhu?”

As a matter-of-fact, Qi Mu had noticed Zhu Wen Jun standing beside Tan Lao.

The handsome middle-aged man was the current conductor of S City’s Symphony Orchestra. Beside him, holding his hand and smiling, was the orchestra’s music director and also his wife, Cheng Ting Wen.

Qi Mu nodded and politely greeted them with a soft smile, “Uncle Zhu, Auntie Cheng, long time no see. I received that S City delicacy you sent last month. Thank you for the gift.”

Although Cheng Ting Wen was over forty, her body was well maintained, and she looked like she was in her thirties. She covered her mouth to hide her laugh and said, “Xiao Qi is really sweet. Oh right, we received that album you sent us from Hong Kong the other day. Your skill is getting better and better. Your Uncle Zhu and I listened to the Sibelius’ 《First Symphony》 you performed with New Ai, and we’ve decided to talk to you about something.”

Qi Mu asked, “What is it?”

Henpecked as always, Zhu Wen Jun would never oppose his wife. He only looked at her helplessly then said to Qi Mu, “This matter is still a secret. We intended to talk to Tan Lao first, then invite you. But since Ting Wen’s already mentioned it, I’ll tell you directly. Xiao Qi, do you know how many years ago our S City Orchestra was founded?”

This question was indeed a test. No matter how hard Qi Mu studied, it was impossible to remember the details of every single orchestra clearly. Even for the S City Orchestra, which was one of the most famous in all of Huaxia.

As for the original?

His head was full of car racing and playing games. There was no time to think of when an orchestra was established.

After thinking for a long time, Qi Mu gave a probable answer, “If I remember correctly, S City’s Symphony Orchestra was founded in or around 1920?”

Zhu Wen Jun and Cheng Ting Wen looked at each other and smiled. The former nodded and said, “Not too far off. It was officially established on January 8, 1916. The Yulin West Daily issued a statement on it that year. This year will be the 100th anniversary of the orchestra’s founding.”

Qi Mu was startled, but he continued to listen as Cheng Tin Wen said, “There were some accidents, and our preparations were hurried. We won’t make it for January 8th this year, but the grand celebration will be held in February. When your parents were alive ten years ago, we regretted that we invited famous violinists and conductors to perform for our 90th anniversary. This year, we plan to invite Chinese musicians and showcase a festival that belongs just to Huaxia.”

Qi Mu was beginning to guess what was coming, from Zhu Wen Jun and his wife’s words, but he didn’t dare speak it aloud as he felt it was unlikely.

Seeing his bewildered face, Tan Lao smiled, “For the S City Orchestra’s Centennial Celebration, other orchestras, including ours, will be lending a hand. For the piano, Wang Zheng, the second place winner of the Xiao Competition last year, has been invited to perform Prokofiev’s 《Piano Concerto No. 2》.”

Du Sheng also smiled and nodded, “For this celebration, many Chinese young talents are being invited. Besides Min Chen, several famous Chinese musicians under the age of thirty were invited, and many of them have already agreed to give a special performance.”

After Du Sheng mentioned Min Chen’s name, Zhu Wen Jun looked at Qi Mu and said, “Bai Ai seems to be busy at the beginning of the year. Otherwise, I would have liked to cede this baton to Min Chen.”

Zhu Wen Jun’s self-depreciation made everyone laugh. He looked at the confused Qi Mu and said, “Xiao Qi. At the end of last year, we had a lot of plans and issued some invitations. For the violinists, we considered many young talents like Sheng Yan Hui and Li Zhang, but now. . . I think there’s an even better candidate.”

Qi Mu was no longer confused. He understood what Zhu Wen Jun meant.

But he was still a little shocked. After a while, he frowned and asked tentatively, “Uncle Zhu, you want to. . . invite me?”

Zhu Wen Jun laughed and said, “Yes, Xiao Qi. S City’s Symphony Orchestra will send you an official invitation tomorrow. I hope you can take part in the celebration. Some people have some doubts and are a bit prejudiced against you, but your cooperation with New Ai was great, and it’s dispelled their concerns.”

He paused and his expression slowly changed. “Qi Mu, I sincerely hope you will accept this invitation. The past eight years. . . we’ve both made mistakes. We didn’t take good care of you for Qi Jun and Ru Yue. We left you alone on the wrong path.”

At the time, the death of Qi Mu’s parents was so sudden it jarred all of their friends. Qi Jun and Ru Yue left only Qi Mu, this one seedling. Several of the seniors had the idea to nurture Qi Mu until he had grown, but who would expect this to be counterproductive and make this stubborn kid even more rebellious?

As a matter-of-fact, every time they got together these past eight years, they would lament over this. If Qi Mu really didn’t want to stay on this path, then what they did was indeed selfish. So in private, they contacted Zheng Wei Qiao and sent money for Qi Mu, but also helped arrange jobs for him.

Even if Zheng Wei Qiao had a wide net of connections, it was impossible for him to find a new job for Qi Mu every week. It was also impossible for him to aid Qi Mu so frequently when he needed to provide for his own family. These thin-skinned elders were too embarrassed to apologize to the younger generation, and if the original had seen them, he would have gotten angry anyway. So they had no choice but to use this roundabout way.

But, when he proposed the idea this time, it was the first time he was actually serious.

Zhu Wen Jun sighed, “It’s been several months already, and I think. . . you really do want to get back into classical music. If that’s the case, Xiao Qi, this is also your parents’ unfulfilled desire. We hope you will accept this invitation and make the celebration a success.”

A chilling wind blew through the square. Even at the end of the year, Chang’an Street was still packed. The city’s neon lights shone down on the fair and the handsome youth’s face, making it appear silky and hazy.

After a long time, Qi Mu slowly nodded and showed a sincere smile:

“Alright, Uncle Zhu. I accept your invitation. I will try my best. . . not to let you down.”

Translator(s): Kuro
Editor(s): Bet