After a round of applause, melodious music carried through\nthe concert hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the box Qi Mu was in, the acoustics rang clear in his ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whether it was the tambourine, the timber drum, the triangle, the trumpet, or the oboe, the British tube, or even Before, Qi Mu had guessed this box to have the best location,\nbut when he heard the vibrant echo of the multi-layered symphony, he affirmed\nhis previous conjecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No. . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps he had confirmed it when that man entered the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wherever Min Chen went, it would naturally be the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schumann\u2019s \u300aVienna Carnival\u300b played on stage, and its magnificent\nperformance was so powerful it intoxicated the audience and drew them into the\ncarnival experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the music played, no one spoke. Although Qi Mu was surprised\nto see Min Chen, he did not talk to the man beside him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were six seats in the box. Three in the first row and\nthree in the second. Akkad had chosen the leftmost position when he entered,\nand Qi Mu sat beside his teacher. He hadn\u2019t thought there would be someone else\nin the box with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Min Chen sat beside him, the concert had already begun,\nand Qi Mu could only smile at him for there was no time for words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the thunderous applause after the first song, Qi Mu whispered\nas he clapped, \u201cI didn\u2019t expect Bai Ai\u2019s first show of the season. . . to be in\nParis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The young man\u2019s voice was deliberately low, almost masked under\nthe roar of the audience\u2019s applause. The box\u2019s lighting was dim, Akkad reminisced\nabout the exhilarating rendition of \u300aVienna Carnival\u300b, so\nhe didn\u2019t notice the other two beside him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Min Chen\u2019s gaze flitted to the side, and he answered just as\nquietly, \u201cDaniel said the orchestra shouldn\u2019t do the same thing all the time. He\ndecided we\u2019d do something different this year. The second show will still be in\nLondon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qi Mu nodded and asked, \u201cDidn\u2019t you. . . could it be on the\nphone the other day, when you asked if I needed a ticket, it was for this?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A smile flashed in Min Chen\u2019s dark eyes, and he hummed an affirmative\n\u201cEn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qi Mu: \u201c. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, even though he refused the invitation before, he still ended\nup at the scene with the other man?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Min Chen didn\u2019t seem to notice Qi Mu\u2019s tangled expression\nand clapped his hands. The family emblem engraved on his left hand\u2019s ring caught\nin a ray of light, but he frowned as he pondered. After a while, Min Chen\nnarrowed his eyes and asked, \u201cLittle Seven?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes?\u201d Qi Mu subconsciously answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Min Chen: \u201c. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn\u2019t until after his reflexive reply that Qi Mu noticed\nit wasn\u2019t his teacher calling him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qi Mu covered his mouth with his hand and coughed twice. He\nwhispered, \u201cTeacher Akkad calls me that. He doesn\u2019t know Chinese and my name is\na bit of a mouthful. Did he tell you my name? I don\u2019t care if you use it, you\ncan call me Qi Mu.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Min Chen: \u201c. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a long time, a low-pitched noise came from Min Chen\u2019s\nthroat in reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The applause had subsided and the second song began. Qi Mu\nturned his attention back to the state and did not see the indifferent man beside\nhim lick his lips and swallow unpleasantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately. . . he doesn\u2019t\nknow what I did.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014\u2014Min Chen secretly thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the dim lighting, no one realized the man who had\nalways been cheeky now had red ears. He coughed. No strange behavior here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A two-hour concert was impossible to play through from start\nto finish without rest, so there was a fifteen-minute break in the middle. Qi\nMu wanted to exchange greetings, but Akkad unexpectedly argued with Min Chen about\nthe orchestra\u2019s personnel configuration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Akkad had never been a conductor, he was once the\nconcertmaster for the Dresden Symphony Orchestra before he moved to the\nNational Conservatory of Music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He worked as a concertmaster of three world-class symphonies\nfor decades of his musical career. Even if he had never commanded an orchestra,\nhe could comment professionally on the positioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Akkad believed the second violin group was a bit large for\nthis concert. Once he learned Min Chen decided the staffing, the two argued with\neach other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, Akkad was convinced by Min Chen\u2019s three reasons,\nbut by then, the break was over and Schumann\u2019s \u300aAbegg Variations\u300b had begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, Qi Mu had to sit back and continue listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert Schumann was a famous German pianist and composer of\nthe 19th<\/sup> century. His works were almost exclusively piano pieces.\nThe entire world thought only the piano could display these musical pieces\nperfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a time where no adaptation of Schumann\u2019s songs\ninto orchestral form could be found without a piano ensemble. To find a concert\nof five of his songs without even the hint of a piano like Bai Ai did tonight,\nthis was a first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the concert had officially ended, Akkad stood and\napplauded enthusiastically without being stingy about his praise. \u201cMin, I thought\nyou would perform as a pianist this time, but I didn\u2019t think. . . you wouldn\u2019t\nbe on stage at all!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Min Chen nodded and replied bluntly, \u201cI might go up during\nlater performances, but for the first show, Daniel said. . . to be innovative\nand creative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That provoked Akkad\u2019s eyebrow into rising. \u201cThe adaptation\nof these songs don\u2019t tell me that Daniel Duke kid did it. He wants to let all\nhis hair fall out, it\u2019s impossible.\u201d After a pause, he added, \u201cWell, if he hasn\u2019t\nlost it all already, his blond head should be bald by now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPffft. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Min Chen looked over when Qi Mu laughed, and his own lips curled into a smile. \u201cIt\u2019s my and Charles\u2019 adaptation. Min Chen met his gaze and said, \u201cHe brewed coffee, hm. . . it didn\u2019t taste all that good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qi Mu almost choked on his laughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Akkad didn\u2019t seem to own a humorous cell in his body. He\nnodded then, as if recalling something, asked, \u201cWait a minute. If you\u2019re\nneither conductor nor pianist. . . why is your name on the poster at the\nentrance? Yours was the biggest?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At this sudden accusation, Min Chen blinked a little and\nfrowned in contemplation. \u201cBecause. . . I am the music director?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Akkad snorted. \u201cYou don\u2019t introduce the orchestra, what kind\nof director are you?\u201d His tone was disgusted, and his lazy glare at Min Chen\nwas more than enough to express his disdain for \u201cthis man that had his named\nprinted on the poster and pinned up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Min Chen did not care about Akkad\u2019s contempt and nodded, his\nresponse bland, \u201cOh, then it\u2019s probably because. . . I am handsome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qi Mu: \u201c. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Akkad: \u201c. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAuston! I didn\u2019t know you were such a narcissist!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The corners of Min Chen\u2019s lips curled, and he raised his\nhead, \u201cYou only just found out?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Akkad: \u201c. . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wanting to get angry at this poisonous man, Master Akkad needed\nto practice some more. . . come back after another 500 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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