The concert hall was magnificent. Evenly spaced marble columns lined its walls of warm gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the religious-themed murals on the ceiling, there were 518\nseats on the first floor and 235 on the second. Musical media arrived from all\nover the world, and there was a professional team to report on the school\u2019s\ninternal assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The French media was most heavily represented. Due to the behemoth\nof talent that were the judges in attendance, reporters from more and more\ncountries filtered inside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of them, Zhou Kang Sheng was one of the most inconspicuous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zhou Kang Sheng was a journalist of Huaxia\u2019s top music magazine \u300aMusic Hall\u300b. His journey from\nHuaxia was lengthy, given its distance from Europe on the east side of Asia.\nSecuring his participation from the Paris branch was difficult, even though it\nwas valued by the headquarters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Getting him to record a video was even more unlikely. Zheng Kang\nSheng only brought a single SLR camera with him. He was not interested in\nwasting his memory card on recording a college exam. It would last more than\nthree hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As far as Zhou Kang Sheng was concerned, the Paris\u2019 National\nConservatory of Music was just a school. This so-called assessment was that of\na college student\u2019s level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How skilled could a student be? They were in their twenties, at\nmost. Could they really be another Min Chen? Christole?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zhou Kang Sheng didn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If he guessed correctly, the reason headquarters asked him to make\na report was due to Min Chen serving as a judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a worthy leader in Huaxia\u2019s classical music scene, Min Chen\nconfused Zhou Kang Sheng. He was born and raised in Germany and had hardly\nvisited Huaxia. Why did he still hold Huaxia so firmly as his nationality from\nbirth?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though Min Chen was in attendance, he still encountered racists\nwho despised classical musicians from Huaxia. He would only smirk and reply,\n\u201cThere are no good musicians from Huaxia? Do you know the name of Bai Ai\u2019s\nchief conductor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before Zhou Kang Sheng could consider things any further, the\nassessments began. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lovely girl took to the stage with a cello, and a thought\ncrossed his mind. Whispering to himself, he said, “Yes. . . Headquarters\ntold me to pay special attention to a particular student. What was his name\nagain? Li Mu?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zhou Kang Sheng shook his head, deciding not to think about it. He\nfocused on the current performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
. . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The University had a lot of good students. All who participated in\nthe assessment were coached by professor-level instructors. But. . . This did\nnot stop the masters in the judging panel from baring their fangs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When facing excellent music, the judges were gentle, giving\ncomments and suggestions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the first player with music intolerable to human ears\nappeared, Min Chen listened politely to the final note. However, he gave 4\npoints without hesitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where there are good performances, there are also bad ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year’s assessment maintained the high standards of the\ncollege. Of course, it also made the lazy students too embarrassed to lift\ntheir heads in front of these masters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The performances\u2019 order was decided before the assessment began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When a piano student finished his performance, he directly shouted\nfrom the stage, \u201cMr. Bertram, I\u2019m a big fan of yours! Thank you for listening\nto my \u300aPiano Concerto in A Major\u300b!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even with such a lovely fan, Min Chen could hardly be kind to the\nstudent. Offering advice and encouragement were the furthest things from his\nmind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No, this man judged his own violin as \u201cgod awful.\u201d How was he\nexpected to listen to music so bad ]it echoed to the center of the Earth? Min\nChen, who had so far listened patiently, was the one who deserved high marks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was truly useless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The piano student who got the first failing mark of 59, Lewis, ran\noff the stage. In all his excitement, he shouted, \u201cHooke! Hooke! Mr. Bertram\nspoke to me, you hear me?! I\u2019m so excited!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hooke sighed. “. . . But he only gave you 4 points. . .”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On stage, students with various musical instruments continued\ntheir performances. When an excellent student from the clarinet department\nappeared, the deputy music director of the British BBC Orchestra immediately\ninvited him to join the orchestra. This became the beginning of the invitation\nwave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clarinet, trombone, saxophone…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lot of students received invitations from various orchestras.\nOnce the assessment was concluded, they would consult with the head of the\norchestra with the help of the college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the first violin student showed up, Bella Kim gave a high\nscore of 8 points with a smile. The lovely girl excitedly nodded and got\ninvitations from several orchestras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Qi Mu was the second student of the violin department. His number was\nclose to the one Jenny drew, but they were separated by Langston from the piano\ndepartment. When she learned that her turn was before Langston, Jenny was\nrelieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Little Seven, you don’t know. . . That Langston guy is\nreally amazing! He received an invitation from the Salt Lake City Symphony\nOrchestra at the last assessment, but he refused. I think. . . he wants to be a\nsolo pianist. He might have even bigger ambition. It\u2019s good to play before\nhim!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking like she just escaped disaster, Qi Mu wasn\u2019t nearly as\nworried as Jenny. When Langston finally went on the stage, his piano was like a\nrunning river. Qi Mu was astonished. In an instant, he realized that Jenny was\nright to be concerned\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Langston was, indeed, a solid competitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n