First Time Performing on Stage Together

“Listen here, Yuan Yuan. You must look at the music score carefully and keep practicing; then you’ll be able to play well. Just follow the music score and your musician’s heart, and you should be able to play it perfectly…”

“You’re not playing correctly again! How many times do I have to repeat myself? No sleep for you until you get it right! It’s already written clearly on the music score, take a better look!”

Whenever Gu Yuan shuts his eyes, he would hear his late mother’s teachings, reminding him of his glorious, yet dark past.

“Gu Yuan got the first place again… After all, his mother is a famous musician; it must be in his genes!”

“His glasses were almost touching the music score, is he trying to cover up his wound?”

“How does he play if he has to practice seven to eight hours per day? Not everyone can take that kind of stress…”

“He looked a machine! A humanoid metronome!

…

Gu Yuan always hears those comments while he was young, but it never bothered him, because he took all that as nonsense. He had the perfect mother by his side, he was not afraid of anything, and he could keep playing the piano.

But at this moment, Gu Yuan was struggling with nervousness. As he read the music score, his fingers were shaking; he thought he should have spent more time practicing, so that he could play it by heart, because he was going to perform with a stranger, together!

What worried him the most was… he was performing with a reckless, improvising violinist!

After witnessing how Chu Luoxin performed during her last competition, he more or less knew what sort of musician she was. She never treated it as a competition in the first place, she would play the violin however she wanted to, as long as it pleased her!

Honestly, her style was completely different from Gu Yuan, because he had the nickname of the “Humanoid Metronome,” he was famous for being able to play note-by-note, precise, down to the last beat. He would never take any liberties with the piece, he would only get scolded by his mother if he does that.

As Gu Yuan was practicing nervously, “Chu Luoxun” appeared with her beautiful gown, “I’m ready! Let’s just dive in and see how it goes! Our rendition!” She beamed as she said those lines.

“This is madness… I can never perform in such a condition!” Gu Yuan was struggling with the music score, trying to practice as much as he could.

“Do I look good in this dress? It was tailor-made for me!” Chu Luoxun was excited, since Gu Yuan had agreed to be her partner, she had become even more lively and energetic, she was grinning all the time.

“We should just forfeit the competition; we will only embarrassing ourselves…” Gu Yuan still stared at the ground, mumbling to himself.

“Chu Luoxun” became angry when she realized that Gu Yuan was not paying attention to her, so she tugged at his necktie and gave him a good old headbutt. Of course, this was all written in a playful manner in the novel…

“How’s that? Have you calmed down?” Chu Luoxun said grumpily.

“What the heck are you doing!” Gu Yuan snapped, because he was still feeling nervous.

“Chu Luoxun” lowered her face down to Gu Yuan, foreheads almost touching, “Look at me! Lift your head up and look at me. Your head is always down, as if the musical notes have imprisoned you… Don’t worry, I know you can do it, you’ve been listening to that song for the whole afternoon, haven’t you? The music sheet is just right in front of you too… We can do this!”

After saying that, “Chu Luoxun” revealed her brilliant smile once again, “Mozart once told me from above the sky… Don’t worry and carry on with your journey, do not be afraid of embarrassing yourself! Even if we do embarrass ourselves, we’ll be in it together!”

Gu Yuan was staring at “Chu Luoxun’s” smiling face, and he felt his heart racing for no reason, as if he had just met this girl, the girl who had the blessing of a musical God.

At that moment, the competition staff came over, “No.14, Miss Chu Luoxun, please get ready!”

“Chu Luoxun” smiled and grabbed Guy Yuan’s hand naturally, and jogged towards the stage. Gu Yuan looked at her beautiful long hair that gave out a sweet fragrance, her bare shoulder courtesy of her single strapped dress, it was such beauty…

The strict teachings of his mother that had long taken thrall over him were replaced by a beautiful and shining sunlight, “Chu Luoxun.”

“Naive and whimsical, just like a roller coaster, she always spins me silly, she doesn’t even know where she was heading…” Gu Yuan muttered to himself.

“You’re… Freedom!”

“No, Music is freedom,” as if she had heard Gu Yuan’s inner voice, “Chu Luoxun” turned her head toward Gu Yuan just before she went on stage, and she still had that dazzling smile on her face.

It’s been awhile since Gu Yuan returned to the stage, and he had been dragged back to the stage by this girl, he had mixed emotion blossoming about

Everyone was waiting for their performance, because the theater was completely silent!

“Well, let’s carry on, shall we? Saint Saens’ waiting for us!” Chu Luoxun grabbed her violin and stepped forward on the stage elegantly.

Some of the audience members had noticed Gu Yuan, and some of them thought that he looked familiar, they were all guessing his identity…

A famous judge was talking to himself, “I’ve waited long enough, Chu Luoxun, eh? Hm, she changed her partner, a student? I feel like I’ve seen him from somewhere.”

Suddenly, someone said, “Isn’t that accompaniment Gu Yuan?”

“Oh, that’s Gu Yuan? I could barely recognize him after all these years. That genius pianist Gu Yuan, do both of them know each other? Why is he performing together with her?” The other judge seemed confused.

The famous judge who had high expectations on Chu Luoxun was thinking to himself, “An uncoordinated combination of a natural and an artificial musician, what kind of performance will they bring out?”

Before “Chu Luoxun” performed, she closed her eyes and took a breath, “Dieu de la musique, s’il vous plat coutez mon appel!”

Then, “Chu Luoxun” turned and nodded at Gu Yuan. After blinking at his face, she could not help herself but laughed at him, “Your expression is too stiff!”

“This is for the genius violinist, Pablo de Sarasate, Saint Saens’ Overture and Rotary Caprice…” Gu Yuan muttered to himself as he started performing.