Paris, France\u2019s\ncapital, was famous for being the world\u2019s most romantic capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This beautiful\nwestern city, like many of Europe\u2019s cities,\nhad tall skyscrapers. From above, the city\nwas built in rings, each carefully\nplanned building part of this circle of rose and thorns, surrounding the Arc de\nTriomphe at the center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After arriving\nat Charles de Gaulle Airport, Qi Mu took a taxi directly to the National\nConservatory of Music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before, when he\u2019d\ncome to France with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, he had visited Paris many\ntimes, but if he was left alone in the city, he would get lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A handsome young man with dark hair and eyes was\neye-catching at the Conservatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several\nstudents laying on the lawn saw an Asian youth carrying a violin case and\nluggage, and they were eager to come up and show him the way. Soon, he found\nthe university building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To call it a building\nwas too exaggerated. The three-story facility was made of creamy white marble\nand surrounded by a beautiful green lawn decorated sparsely with white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once he was\nthrough the doors, Qi Mu registered quickly. Due to the late hour, he went to\nan apartment arranged with the help of the school. The conservatory generally didn\u2019t\nprovide accommodations, but they would often help students in need find places to rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qi Mu\u2019s\napartment was a little smaller than the one in B City. Its kitchen could only accommodate\ntwo people, but it was overall quiet and clean. Most of the previous residents\nwere probably music students as a separate study had been opened in the\napartment and could be used as a music room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It took an hour\nto unpack the luggage he had brought with him and once everything was tidied up, went to stand by the quaint,\ndelicately-patterned window and pushed it open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spring breeze\noff the Pacific Ocean brushed aside the fine black hairs against his forehead. Paris\nhad a temperate climate, and while it was further north than B City, March was\nwarm, and a simple coat was more than enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo. . . I\nreally am back, ah. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He glanced down\nat the pedestrians coming and going on the street below, then the European\narchitecture around him, the flow of the crowd, and it felt like he had returned\nhome to Vienna\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All that it was\nmissing was the statues of master\nmusicians that were unique to the music capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qi Mu chuckled.\nHe shook his head and left the window open for ventilation then went back to\nwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once night fell\nand the stars were bright in the sky, moonlight\nshone down on the sleeping city and Qi Mu\u2019s first day in Paris was spent busy\nrunning around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next\nmorning, Qi Mu brushed his hair, grabbed his violin case and cellphone, then\nhurried off to the conservatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The staff that sent\nhim off to the apartment yesterday had said the violin department was holding a\nspecial admission exam for him at nine o\u2019clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Huaxia\u2019s\nterminology, this was called special treatment, or. . . entering through the back door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the university\ndidn\u2019t have a precedent for accepting a student months after the start of the\nyear, Professor Akkad had insisted, and\nthey naturally could not refute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, when\nQi Mu entered the building, after only a few steps, a teacher led him to an\nempty classroom. There should have been no tables or chairs, but literally in\nthe center of the room, on a smooth desk, there was a pen and piece of paper\nwaiting for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qi Mu walked\nover. . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t just a\npiece of paper, but words written in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s right,\nit was. . . an exam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cQi, we were worried\nthat you weren\u2019t good with French, so we prepared the exam in English. You\nshouldn\u2019t have any problems?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qi Mu set aside\nthe violin case and smiled at the assistant professor. \u201cIt isn\u2019t a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlright. Well,\nyou have an hour to complete the test, don\u2019t forget it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a crisp\nsound, the classroom door shut and he was\nleft alone in the classroom. Qi Mu looked down at the thin paper feeling\nhelpless. His heart squeezed with a long-lost sense of familiarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exam questions.\n. . he hadn\u2019t touched such a thing for\nmany years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The original\nhad never been good with theory, and he was admitted to the Geneva Academy with\nexcellent scores over ten years ago. It had been more than a decade, and he had\nfar more applied practical knowledge now. He had no idea what level he was at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However,\nnaturally, the boat would flow in direction with the current.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qi Mu did not\nhesitate to pick up the pen. He looked at the first question and quickly wrote the\nanswer. He initially thought it would be\ndifficult, but he found himself writing faster and faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Twenty minutes\nlater, the test paper was covered in beautiful\nfont and returned to four of the professors. One of the female assistant\nprofessors gasped in surprise and swallowed back the words \u201cThat\u2019s a brilliant\nanswer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Qi Mu\nnoticed the questions were all about field application, he felt a bit skeptical\nas to who was leaving through the back door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, he\ndid not know Professor Akkad intended to\ntest his understanding of the other instruments and how to apply that basic\nknowledge on the spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if Professor\nAkkad was resourceful, he couldn\u2019t possibly know that this young man may seem\nlike he was only in his early twenties, but had actually played with the world\u2019s\ntop symphony orchestra for over ten years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All in all, the\nprofessor passed the questions back and forth and looked them over three times\nthen handed it to Professor Akkad for the final decision. This eccentric master\nwas surprised to find\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was only\none grammatical error?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not\nscientific!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it came\ntime for the violin test, Qi Mu was helpless to find none of the professors\nwere Akkad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe piece we\nhave selected is \u300aSong of the Gypsy\u300b. Just play it directly.\u201d The\nprofessor wore glasses, and she sat in\nthe middle. \u201cWe\u2019ll tell you when to stop, you don\u2019t have to think too much about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qi Mu really\ndidn\u2019t expect this kind of special recruitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He thought he\nwould merely see the professor and wait\nfor classes. Who knew there were still so many tests? Of course, the test was\nnothing more than a formality. Since Professor Akkad wanted him to pass, he was\nnaturally not afraid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a moment,\nthe low-pitch of his violin filled the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This room was\nspecially designed for class use. The material and shape of the walls enhanced\nthe sound of the music. The National Conservatory of Music had hundreds of such\nclassrooms, and many world-class musicians\nhad played in them during their studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The top-notch acoustics\nmade the young man\u2019s melodious violin all the more attractive. From a\nprofessional perspective, this song easily pulled eighty points. Even the\nstrictest and pickiest of the professors were speechless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not halting the\nperformance meant it was excellent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The professors\nfinally understood why Akkad didn\u2019t come out in person and let them examine his\nstudent: Professor Akkad wanted to\nconvince them to recognize his student\u2019s strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Generally, special recruitment was fixed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some people earned\nspecial opportunities after entering\nthrough the back door but didn\u2019t actually have the strength. The National Conservatory\nwasn\u2019t interested in recruiting those kinds of people. Even if the other person\nwere the son of the French president,\nthey would be too lazy to take a look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there were\nsome that walked the special route to make\nway for other students. Assuming it was the same test environment, these people\nthat would take second place can shake off the hope of surpassing someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past,\nthe Leipzig Conservatory had special\nrecruited Min Chen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, the Munich Conservatory did the same for Today, they set\neyes on one such extraordinary talent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before, the college\u2019s\nrepresentative hesitated about recruiting\nQi Mu. He was already twenty-two this\nyear, and the previous candidates for special\nrecruitment were all prodigies in their teen years, all were famous in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a child, Qi\nMu was also considered a musical genius. However, he was older now. His\nachievements could be regarded as\nremarkable, but not dazzling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, Qi Mu\u2019s\nstrength had them completely breathless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once \u300aSong\nof the Gypsy\u300b\nhad come to an end, they stared blankly at the smiling, courteous Huaxian and\nfor a while, didn\u2019t know what to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It could only\nbe said that Professor Akkad had better eyes than them. It was no wonder there were rumors that Professor Karl wanted\nto recruit this student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No one spoke.\nQi Mu politely bowed in thanks and patiently waited for the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, this time,\nQi Mu didn\u2019t get a comment from these professors. The closed door pushed open, and\nhe turned to look at it. He saw a short old man enter the room with pride on\nhis face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qi Mu\u2019s eyes widened then, after a while, he smiled, and the two nodded at each other. \u201cHello, Teacher Akkad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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