Chapter 571: Chapter 379: No Victors (7K) (Requesting Monthly Tickets)_4
"That sort of thing, it’s no big deal."
Lin Tian said, stretching his limbs, as he came in.
Seeing Lin Tian look so relaxed, Mao Weiang was a bit surprised,
"Mr. Lin Tian, don’t you care?"
"Even if I care, it’s useless. What we need to do now is solve this issue, isn’t it?"
Lin Tian replied.
At this point, the public opinion outside was already like this.
The only thing they could do was make this ensemble a success!
Give all the audience a punch right in the face!
Anyway, Lin Tian was already used to it.
Every time he did something big, there would always be a stir online.
As if he had to be that kind of person who was always proven wrong.
"I’m sorry, Mr. Lin Tian."
Mao Weiang faced Lin Tian seriously, bowing,
"No matter what, this issue started because of me. It was because you agreed to my plan that you got hurt like this..."
"Didn’t you get hurt yourself?"
Lin Tian didn’t want to waste time on this kind of thing, going forward to pat Mao Weiang on the shoulder,
"If you really feel sorry, let’s solve all the problems in today’s ensemble!"
Lin Tian found it somewhat amusing.
This counts as being ’slandered’?
Lin Tian, a writer of classical music, usually received more attacks than Mao Weiang, who was in the Chinese Music Industry.
In this aspect, Lin Tian could be considered Mao Weiang’s senior.
"..."
"Hmm."
Mao Weiang nodded,
"Since it has already been leaked, we must speed up our training. It’s best if we could perform publicly by this weekend."
There were four days left until the weekend.
This time frame was reasonable.
After all, they also needed to prepare for the finals, and overworking on the ensemble wouldn’t be worthwhile.
"More or less."
Lin Tian calculated in his mind.
During yesterday’s full day of practice,
Actually, the compatibility between Mao Weiang and Bai Junze had already been honed quite well.
Aside from the issues they still had to address...
At least, being on stage now was definitely not a problem.
After they finished discussing this topic,
Mao Weiang looked up and gave Bai Junze a glance.
His eyes were filled with doubt, mixed with a trace of anger.
In these days of training,
though they had not faced any direct conflict with each other,
the animosity Mao Weiang felt toward Bai Junze had been growing day by day, it just hadn’t erupted due to his long-time education and upbringing.
Now,
an "unexpected leak" suddenly appeared.
Mao Weiang couldn’t help but raise his gaze to this cellist who seemed to have never taken the ensemble seriously.
"..."
Lin Tian patted Mao Weiang on the shoulder once more, and Mao Weiang turned to see Lin Tian’s serious expression.
It was only then that he finally turned around and picked up his cello.
...
Before the training was about to begin,
Lin Tian came up to Bai Junze:
"Can you still manage?"
Lin Tian asked.
Two days had passed.
Still, up until now, Lin Tian hadn’t figured out where Bai Junze’s music’s sense of insecurity stemmed from.
Just like Gan Yanyu said, every cellist has something they want to convey.
At first, he always thought that Bai Junze’s feelings for his father leaned more toward Lin Tian’s kind of "hatred."
But after getting to know him better, he felt it wasn’t quite like that.
Because he really did seem quite carefree.
Such composure was not something a person filled with hatred would normally show.
There was not much time left,
Lin Tian could no longer afford to linger.
"Let’s do it."
Bai Junze shrugged, with an expression of indifference.
"....."
Lin Tian was used to Bai Junze’s attitude.
Without speaking, he returned to the piano.
The ensemble began!
As always,
the piece "Zhao Zilong," which they had rehearsed no less than 20 times in the past few days, was already ingrained in their minds.
When to press which key, what notes to play.
It was almost muscle memory by now.
However,
when the music began to play this time,
Lin Tian suddenly froze.
It was so rushed.
The source of the music was Mao Weiang.
Today, the cello was being played noticeably faster than usual.
Lin Tian turned his head to look at Mao Weiang.
His eyes were closed tightly, his brows knitted, seemingly unaware of his current state.
Was he affected?
Lin Tian mumbled.
Clearly, the past two days and the online public opinion had affected him greatly.
Wanting to break through the bottleneck now because of the early performance?
"....."
Lin Tian didn’t think this mindset was necessarily a bad thing.
But....
Lin Tian had just thought this, when the ensemble section began.
As Bai Junze began to play the cello as well.
As expected, when this force rushed towards Bai Junze...he couldn’t help but be influenced.
Then, a powerful performance was returned!
And under this pressure, Mao Weiang increased the intensity of the cello as well!
"Wait a minute!"
Lin Tian wanted to pause them.
Isn’t this... just like during their first ensemble?
Were the past few days of practice in vain?!
However, soon, he realized....
Bai Junze’s expression was unusual.
"..."
Bai Junze, who throughout all of this had participated in the ensemble with an indifferent attitude.
When he felt the deep and angry tone from Mao Weiang.....
At this moment, he showed... an incredibly serious expression.
The hands gripping the bow... were trembling violently.
In a daze,
scenes of familiar memories started to replay repeatedly in his sight.
His father’s angry face.
That shattered cello.
The burning pain of the handprint on his face.
The runaway Bai Junze, who started to use social media, and every place he traveled, he shared it on social platforms, a habit kept up until five years ago...
In an instant——
Bai Junze slapped the body of the cello,
the LED lights of the entire cello... began to flicker!
For a moment, colors flashed brilliantly in the practice room.....
Just like when he performed on the competition stage!
Every strike, full of sorrow and anger, appeared in the timbre of his cello.
Bai Junze suddenly burst into frantic laughter!
That laughter was so eerie.
In his confusion, Lin Tian noticed the scars on his wrists.
At that moment,
Lin Tian’s pupils widened suddenly.
He understood!
He understood what differentiated Bai Junze’s hatred from Lin Tian’s!
If Lin Tian’s was pure, without a trace of impurity of hate.
Then, in Bai Junze’s music.....
There was also... love for his father.
Eight years ago, this 17-year-old boy knew nothing, still carrying the rebelliousness of youth.
He didn’t really understand what love was... what hate was...
Everything he did... was just a way to continually hurt himself, to punish his father... to punish him for his past actions.
In fact, wasn’t this behavior... also a way to capture his father’s attention?
Right at that moment,
The music came to an abrupt halt.
Suddenly, Bai Junze put down the cello,
and strode toward the door.
"Where to?"
"Home!"
Bai Junze gritted his teeth and said, "To clear this mess up!"
"Huh??"
Mao Weiang was stunned.
And just as Bai Junze walked out the door, he ran into a young girl.
Gan Yanyu looked up, staring at him blankly.
In her hand, she held a worn-out cello.