Chapter 583: Chapter 384 The Echo of Sound
days ago.
"Ding dong——"
Gan Yanyu pressed the doorbell.
The door opened,
and a middle-aged woman appeared. The moment she saw Gan Yanyu, a look of surprise flashed across her face.
"Gan Yanyu?"
"You know me?"
Gan Yanyu was a bit surprised.
"Of course."
The woman’s face looked somewhat haggard, she squeezed out a smile and said,
"I’ve been following that person all along, this year’s cello competition, of course, I watched it....."
Both of them knew who "that person" referred to and didn’t say more.
...
After entering the house, the woman went to pour tea for Gan Yanyu.
After asking if she could sit on the sofa, Gan Yanyu sat down, placing her hands on her lap awkwardly.
She took this time to look around her surroundings.
The house was clean and tidy, likely cleaned often. The living room furniture was simple, with just a sofa and a TV as the main pieces. From both the neighborhood and the interior decor, it seemed to be an ordinary household, and judging by the shoes at the door, it appeared that she lived alone.
And what was most conspicuous in the living room,
was probably that cello on the wall.
Gan Yanyu raised her head and looked at it for a long time.
It wasn’t until the woman handed over a cup of hot water that she hurriedly took the cup and softly said, "Thank you."
Gan Yanyu took a sip and then placed the cup on the table with both hands.
"How... is he doing?"
Unexpectedly, the woman asked.
Gan Yanyu raised her head, and on that weathered face before her, those eyes were filled with eagerness and intensity.....
"He’s doing well."
When Gan Yanyu realized it, she had already blurted out the words.
In truth, what did she really know?
A story of a Beijing Drifter.
Out of pity for the woman in front of her, she instantly responded.
"He’s playing with me and my partner." Gan Yanyu relaxed.
"Thank you for taking care of him."
"Taking care... it’s nothing..."
Gan Yanyu paused.
Taking a gentle breath, she asked,
"Has he ever come back?"
"No."
The woman said,
"Not even once."
...
As Gan Yanyu’s expression froze.
The woman raised her head, looking at a spot in the living room,
"Old Bai and I, we spent a lifetime doing business in this county, but in the end, we ended up with almost nothing."
"Old Bai didn’t want Junze to follow our path. His biggest wish back then was for him to stay in this small county and be a teacher, leading a stable life."
"Perhaps we didn’t communicate well with him... Old Bai’s methods were too extreme, and in the end, he drove him away..."
Hearing these words, Gan Yanyu frowned more deeply.
She turned to look in the direction the woman was gazing.
...
In a daze,
ten years ago feels so vivid.
In that place,
father and son had a fierce argument.
The young Bai Junze loudly declared his dream of music to his father, painting a beautiful dream of becoming a cellist.....
But Bai Junze’s father, instead, hurled abuse at him.
He raised Bai Junze’s cello high and smashed it down.
"Bang!"
The cello shattered into pieces.
Bai Junze’s eyes turned vacant, and without a care, he pushed his father aside and rushed out the door.
Then,
he began his wandering journey.
During this time, he suffered greatly, enduring countless instances of loneliness and mental torment.
Even until the past couple of years, finally, he won the provincial championship and progressed to the national finals.
Even so,
he still hasn’t returned home, not even once.
...
"I understand, Junze hates us, hates his father... If staying home only causes him pain, letting him experience the world might be for the best..."
The old woman said, while Gan Yanyu, with pursed lips, thought back to her own family.
In comparison,
it seems, her own family had once faced similar situations.
"After all, that vile man, even I couldn’t stand his temper, he truly was an infuriating fellow, always ready to hurl insults....."
As the woman spoke, her gaze slowly shifted upwards,
Then, she said,
"You see, that’s why he got what he deserved....."
....
Gan Yanyu raised her head.
On the wall, she saw a photo of a middle-aged man.
"Old Bai, after Junze left, he never recovered."
"He painstakingly glued that shattered cello back together with glue and tape... He sat on this sofa every day, muttering about when Junze would come back, wanting to apologize properly, promising never to force him to become a teacher again. As long as he would come back, he could do whatever he wanted..."
At this,
the woman who had been cursing the man for getting what he deserved suddenly couldn’t hold back her tears in her heavily wrinkled eyes,
"In the end, he just kept muttering and muttering, and died in his regret."
"He never saw Junze again, not even once."
...
...
Gan Yanyu said nothing, and stood up.
As she was about to leave, the woman handed Gan Yanyu the cello wrapped in tape,
"There’s no point for us to keep this, do you think it can still be played? If you don’t mind, take it with you....."
Gan Yanyu solemnly accepted the cello.
She looked at it and gently plucked a string —
It was sturdier than imagined, whoever had restored it had certainly put a lot of effort into it.