14.10

As the event was broadcast live on the internet and TV in its entirety, Zhou Yunsheng’s performance could be heard by music lovers all over the world. They were completely uninterested in what the contestants in the back were performing, and they were posting their testimonials on social media platforms.

“I thought for sure Hannah was going to be the winner of this piano competition, and she came out and rocked the house, realizing that her performance of the Campanella was one of the five Supertechnical Etudes. I was like: okay Hannah, you’re so cruel, how do you let the following contestants live? You know the King of Piano’s sister hasn’t even made an appearance yet! But I was wrong, Hannah may be really talented, but she’s a far cry from Joy (Jingyi Xue’s English name). She was competing with a bunch of teenagers, but Joy was already competing with many of the top piano players who have been around for a long time. Her song ‘To Palochev’ can only be described in three words: perfect, shocking, and unrivaled, even her brother, the former King of Piano, Sean (Xue Zixuan), had to bow down in front of her.”

“I was there, and anyone who hasn’t heard Joy play up close will never realize the breathtakingly powerful infectious energy. My ears and heart were raw from her pressure, and when the playing was over, my whole body warbled for over a minute.”

“It’s long been known as the devil’s music, and I’ve found videos of Sean playing it and enjoyed them, but couldn’t appreciate it at all. At the time it was just hard to listen to, nauseating, and dizzying, but just now I heard Joy play it and I fell into tears, cried uncontrollably, and now just want to do something crazy to vent the despair that has somehow appeared.”

“My God, I never knew anyone could play the piano like that before this! See the front of her, twisted, grimy, slimy face full of sweat and tears, but why I just think she’s beautiful, and as she pressed heavily on the last note, I stared into her eyes, which shone extraordinarily brightly from desperation and pain, and just felt my heart burst!”

“I’ve always only listened to pop music, what the hell is classical music and can I eat it? Well, that’s what I said just an hour ago, but now I’m going to eat it up, and Joy’s playing has made me realize what music that really touches the soul is all about. Her virtuosity is such that she has been able to make players all over the world worship her, including her brother, of course. The emotion she puts into her melodies can never be duplicated! It’s a devastating power! I don’t think anyone will be able to perform ‘To Palochev’ so well after Joy, whose playing will be a classic that will never be surpassed.”

“Joy, Joy,Joy, she’s fantastic! To come out at this level in the preliminaries, my expectations for the next semis and finals are through the roof. I originally came for Hannah, but now I’m just looking forward to Joy’s performance alone.”

“I think the organizing committee should adjust Joy to the adult division, it’s too unfair to let her race against a bunch of teenagers. Of course, even in the adult group, she has crushing strength! Worthy of being the sister of the King of Piano, it turns out that genetics can really make all the difference.”

Praises such as these made this piano competition gain unprecedented attention. Zhou Yunsheng’s performance was so infectious that even people who never listened to classical music could not help but be enamored by him, thus becoming his loyal fans. After he finished playing, many listeners couldn’t help but post their testimonials on social networks and post the live videos they took. The teenager was already extraordinarily delicate looking, and when he distorted his face because of the too sad and painful music, it didn’t just detract from his beauty, but instead gave him the power to take people’s hearts and souls.

No one cared about the rest of the show anymore, and after they absentmindedly listened to a few piano songs, they all jammed into the aisle wanting to say a few words to the teenager. He was only sixteen years old, yet his thin and skinny body hid such a terrifying explosive power and a talent that even God was jealous of.

The media reporters arrived at the news and saw the teenager protected in Xue Zixuan’s arms, scrambling to pass the microphone to his mouth, “May I ask how many years Ms. Xue has been practicing the piano?”

“May I ask what piece you will be playing in the semi-finals?”

“May I ask why you decided to play this piece? How do you feel now that even Puffalo broke down because of it?”

Zhou Yunsheng did not say a word, covering half of his face with his huge sunglasses. Xue Zixuan wrapped one hand around his thin shoulders and one hand covered the side of his face, wrinkling his brows, “Please make way, my sister suffers from congenital heart disease and can’t withstand an environment that is too noisy. If anything happens to her, I will sue you.”

“So Mr. Xue, may I ask if you were satisfied with your sister’s performance today? What do you think was the difference between her playing of ‘To Palochev’ and yours? Who was better?”

Xue Zixuan, who had already been escorted by his bodyguards to the side of the nanny car, turned back and spoke frankly, “I am very satisfied with his performance, in fact, I am immensely proud of him. His performance of ‘To Palochev’ has far surpassed mine, and if Karans were alive right now, I think he would be very pleased as well.” He nodded briefly and closed the car door and drove off quickly.

Xue Yan sat in his wheelchair, watching from a distance of fifty to sixty meters. He also wanted to hold the teenager in his arms and escort him through the noisy crowd to save him from any harm, but because of his crippled legs, he couldn’t do anything for him.

“When is the surgery? I want it as soon as possible.” He gestured for Xue Lao Si to push himself away.

“I’ll give Dr. Brook a call and ask, back then I advised you to have an operation and you didn’t listen, now you can’t protect your daughter-in-law, regret it, right?” Xue Laoshi flirted while taking out his cell phone to dial the number. It wasn’t that Xue Yan’s leg couldn’t be cured, but he hadn’t cured it for fear of trouble. He seemed to care nothing about anything, including family and friendship, power and status, and even himself, but suddenly, Xue Jinyi appeared just like that, letting his body, which was an empty skin, grow a heart and lungs, bubbling with hot blood, and turning into a living, breathing person.

That’s a big thank you.

————

Zhou Yunsheng still felt very uncomfortable when he returned to the hotel, his veins felt like they were clogged with something thick, making him extraordinarily sluggish as well as depressing. ‘To Palochev’ was worthy of the vengeance piece that Karans had spent seven years writing; he not only took revenge on the listener, but also on the player, who needed extremely strong self-regulation to return to normal after the performance was over.

Zhou Yunsheng is in great need of time to quietly settle down right now, but Xue Li Danni arrived at the hotel after hearing the news, and at this time, she is constantly reprimanding.

“You can’t act so good! You tighten up for the next semifinals and finals.” She ordered decisively. She had never paid attention to the teenager, only knowing that the other party was learning the zither from her son, and that his talent was not bad at all, but she had never expected that his talent was more than ‘good’? It would not be an exaggeration to say ‘amazingly talented’. In the gap between rehearsals, Xue Li Dani also watched the live broadcast of the piano competition, and for five or six minutes after the teenager’s performance ended, her mind went blank, and even her soul couldn’t stop trembling. Not to mention that Xue Jing Yi couldn’t reach his level, even Xue Li Dani who had been immersed in music for decades didn’t dare to compare with him at all.

He had performed so well and attracted so much attention, how would his daughter explain to the outside world if she was unable to surpass him in the future? This honor was too large and heavy, and had completely exceeded Xue Jingyi’s ability to withstand it.

Zhou Yunsheng ruffled her expressionlessly and spoke faintly, “I can’t do it.”

“How come you can’t do it? Could it be that these hands aren’t yours?” Xue Li Danni questioned furiously.

“When I sit down at the piano, they don’t belong to me, but to the melodies. If you want me to ruin those wonderful melodies with these hands, I’m sorry, I can’t do it.” Zhou Yunsheng said word for word in a firm tone.

Xue Li Danni was a violinist, and such a mood was shared by her; as soon as she picked up the bowstring, all the thoughts in her mind were to interpret the melody in the most perfect way. For her to intentionally destroy a piece of music would be like asking the most devout believers to smash with their own hands the temple that held their faith; it would be an unforgivable offense.

Xue Li Danyi froze and opened her mouth several times but could not form words. On one hand, she was deeply touched, but on the other hand, she was worried about her daughter’s future. If her daughter’s skills didn’t reach the same level as the teenager’s, all these praises now would become abuse and sarcasm in the future. The teenager’s excellence would not fulfill her, but would destroy her!

Xue Li Dani walked over to the bar and poured a glass of red wine, she needed to think about what to do next. Xue Zixuan had been standing by the window looking out over the neon city nightscape, when the teenager said ‘sitting at the piano they don’t belong to me’, his heart shook hard and he jerked back towards him.

How could he tempt his mind again and again to think of nothing else but music and him. In fact, the last few days he’d given little thought to anything else, his mind filled with the serious look on the teenager’s face as he played the piano.

“Mother, go away.” He pulled the door to his room open, his tone icy.

“What?” Xue Li Dani was a bit dumbfounded.

“Go away, don’t disturb us, and wait until the game is over if you have anything to say.” He frowned impatiently.

Xue Li Dani loves her son more than her daughter, and seeing his unprecedentedly ugly face, she couldn’t help but be a little balked, putting down her wine glass and hesitantly walking to the door.

“Bye.” Xue Zixuan pushed her out of the room and threw the door shut with a bang.

“Don’t worry about what people say, just be yourself.” He walked over to the teenager and stared condescendingly at the top of his dark hair. He wanted to say something amusing to comfort the teenager like a normal person would, but he desperately searched his memory banks and failed to find anything of value other than the sheet music of tens of thousands of piano songs.

Perhaps an upbeat tune should be played. He stared at the white grand piano placed by the balcony and pondered, but then he heard the teenager say in a hushed voice, “Can you leave? I’d like to be alone for a while.”

“Tell me, are you unable to get rid of the influence of To Palochev?” Xue Zixuan’s face instantly became grave.

“I can get rid of it, but I need independent space now.” Zhou Yunsheng raised his head, revealing a pair of crimson eyes.

Xue Zixuan was startled and unconsciously reached out his hand towards his eyelid.

“Don’t touch me.” Zhou Yunsheng inclined his head to avoid it, no longer able to suppress what was hidden in the bottom of his heart, his disgust for Xue’s family.

Xue Zixuan couldn’t understand other people’s feelings, the only person in the world who could move him was the teenager, his knitted brows and smile, his joy and anger were all like movie film stored in his mind, and would be played over and over and over again just by being quiet. Perhaps because he had recalled it too many times, he was able to keenly perceive the changes in his emotions.

He was loathing him, even to the point of hatred, and it gave him his first taste of what it meant to have his heart torn out of his chest and his heart aching like a twist. He desperately tried to remember if he had done anything wrong, and then his face grew pale. No, Yee wouldn’t know the reason he’d brought him back in the first place. There was no way for him to know. He consoled himself as he did, thinking that this must be the aftermath of playing To Palochev, which brought the frantic heartbeat back to normal.

“I’m leaving, get some rest.” He stood at a loss for words for a moment before leaving in three steps.

The room was finally quiet, and Zhou Yunsheng threw the glass of red wine that Xue Li Dani had drunk into the trash can, found a new glass to pour it full, and drank it all in one go. Only after drinking three cups in a row did he feel the congealed blood begin to flow again, and the painful and depressing feeling began to dissipate little by little, so he couldn’t help but let out a long breath. At this exact moment, the doorbell rang, he felt something in his heart and quickly walked over to pull open the door to the room.

Xue Yan and Xue Lao Si were indeed standing outside.

“What a great smell of alcohol.” Xue Laoshi sniffed around.

“Are you alright?” Xue Yan was filled with worry.

“I’m fine when you’re here.” Zhou Yunsheng smiled lazily and leaned over to pick up the 193-centimeter hunk by the waist, throwing him on the bed and sitting on his waist with his butt.

Xue Laoshi hurriedly pushed the wheelchair in and closed the door of the room and ran away, thinking: no wonder the boss wants to have an operation, and if he doesn’t have an operation, he will have to be hugged by his daughter-in-law, which is indeed a little bit of hurt to his self-esteem.

Xue Yan rolled over and pinned the teenager down, his tone very tense, “What’s wrong with you? Is it because you still haven’t gotten over that piece of music?” Having heard that someone had suffered a mental breakdown due to playing To Palochev, he had to think about it more.

“Yes, I’m scared.” Zhou Yunsheng came a little closer, forcing his eyes to look at his lover with crimson eyes and spoke through clenched teeth, “Promise me that no matter what happens, you won’t leave me behind and disappear alone. Can you do that? If you can’t I’ll jump out the window with you in my arms right now and we’ll be done with it.” It wasn’t that he wasn’t worried or resentful when his lover threw him back to reality and chose to die with the Lord God, he just hid that emotion because he was sure he would be able to get him back again.

It wasn’t until the performance of “To Palochev” that the hatred and heartbreaking love that had nowhere to be expressed was channeled. When accepting the assignment from the military department, he had thought that if he couldn’t find his lover, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to just die in the virtual world, because this world at least had him in it, whereas the real world only had empty rooms and indifferent people, not worth staying.

He now both want to love him properly, but also want to simply strangle him to save the future to worry about, the mood of contradictory beyond words.

“I can do it, trust me again.” Xue Yan didn’t know why he had to use the word ‘again’, as if he had once made the same promise to the teenager but failed to fulfill it. He was nearly cut off by the teenager’s chokehold and had to reach up and stroke his earlobe, which was wearing a black stud.

A string of source codes broke into the database without warning, causing Zhou Yunsheng to quickly find his senses. Knowing that he had angered himself he used the source code to please? Even if this person had lost his memory, his bones were still so cunning! With a slight low hum, he hung his head and kissed his chipped lips.

Xue Yan’s large hand covered the back of his head, continuously deepening the kiss, his eyes filled with starry laughter.

———

Zhou Yunsheng’s performance was completely on fire, many mainstream media at home and abroad reported on it for a few days, and the video of the performance was even broadcasted again and again on TV and the internet, each listener would have different feelings, but none of them were shocked by his superb technique and strong emotions. There were also people who compared Xue Zixuan’s version with his, and even the least sensitive to music could easily distinguish the difference between the two. Xue Zixuan only played with his hands, while Zhou Yunsheng was shouting with his soul.

Many critics have asserted that there is no doubt that Joy has surpassed her elder brother and that she will become the greatest pianist of the century, bar none. Such high praise at the tender age of sixteen is obviously very rare.

A major international director contacted the organizing committee by phone immediately after hearing “To Palochev” and requested to work with Zhou Yunsheng. His current disaster movie about the end of the world was in great need of a soundtrack that would make people feel desperate at first listen. He even felt that if he couldn’t use the teenager’s zither in this movie it would become crippling and thus become his lifelong regret.

Because of the Xue family’s restriction of personal freedom, not to mention going out alone, even such necessities as a cell phone Zhou Yunsheng had never seen. Those who tried to contact him bounced around and found Xue Zixuan, making Xue Zixuan annoyed, however Xue Jingyi, who was far away in China, was countless times more annoyed than him.

On the one hand, she rejoiced at the achievements of the teenager, but on the other hand, she was afraid that her future self would not be able to surpass the monument he had set up. Xue Li Dani told her that it would be best to have Huang Yi withdraw from the competition in a hurry, as her talent would never be able to catch up with his, and regressing too much in her level later on might invite a great deal of trouble. She flatly refused, but her heart was in a terrible panic.

As long as I get Huang Yi’s heart, I can play the same tune he can play. She needed to keep reassuring herself to ward off the apprehension that was growing more and more disturbing by the day. Huang Yi had excelled to the point that she was terrified, and to this day, she was unable to play the piano, especially after hearing his rendition of “To Parochev”. She thought, not without malice, that Huang Yi might be the devil, for only the devil could interpret such compelling music, and mortals could not be compared to him.

How much power does the devil’s heart hide? She was fearful and at the same time doubly expectant.

————-

The semi-finals had begun, and a large portion of the rest room was emptied, leaving only twenty-six players. They sat around in twos and threes chatting, and from the corner of their eyes, they couldn’t help but look toward the young man sitting in the corner who looked particularly quiet and calm. This time, no one said he was being arrogant, geniuses should be arrogant, no need for mortals to understand.

Hannah was surrounded by a group of people and had a very difficult expression when asked about the repertoire she played this time. Because of Zhou Yunsheng’s unauthorized change of repertoire, she had to take out the piece she was going to play in the finals, and after the semi-finals, she didn’t even know what to do next, she didn’t have a more difficult and skilled piece anymore.

“My God, I can’t believe you’re playing Petrushka, which is recognized by piano players as the seventh most difficult piece. Is this still the semifinals? I’m desperate!” Hearing her answer, one of the contestants broke down and covered his forehead.

“I don’t think it’s too late for you to hang on for a while and listen to Joy’s answer before you pass out.” The other player pointed at the teenager in the corner.

“I’ll ask him.” A Chinese player volunteered. He ran over and was unsurprisingly stopped by the bodyguard, only to stretch his neck and shout, “Xue Jingyi, what’s the piece you’re going to play later? Do you mind telling us?”

Hannah couldn’t understand Chinese, but still watched with rapt attention. She sincerely hoped that the other party picked a tune that was not more difficult than her own.

“Dazzle.” Zhou Yunsheng spoke faintly.

“What did you say?” The Chinese player pulled out his ears.

“Sears’ ‘Dazzle’.” Yoon Sung Cho completes the list.

The Chinese player huffed backward, ran back, and said to the woman who had just been there, “Well, you can pass out now, he’s going to play Sears’ “Showoff.”

“Jesus! There’s no way to live!” The lounge was a mess as some people were devastated and others were excited with anticipation.

There is always a shortage of talented people in the music industry, but because of their amazing talent and over-abundance of emotions, many musicians are often eccentric and difficult to get along with. The last century saw the emergence of many piano virtuosos, and their incomparable radiance made the new century’s piano players particularly mediocre, and if it weren’t for the emergence of Xue Zixuan, many music critics would have said that the new century was the century of the decline of the piano performance. In the last century, Sills was undoubtedly one of the most highly regarded piano virtuosos. But he himself did not accept the suffix ‘one’.

From the age of three, he showed an amazing musical talent, composed and performed a ballade at the age of six, and became world famous at the age of eleven. He was extremely arrogant and claimed to be the best, above all his contemporaries, an act that brought him much criticism. To counter these criticisms, he improvised “The Show-Off” and stated that no one else could play it in its entirety but himself.

Showoff is the complete opposite of To Pachelov, and contains no intense emotional ups and downs; in fact, the composer wrote it with no emotion at all, but simply to show off his skill. Its name is strikingly consistent with its content, which in modern parlance is purely about showing off.

The piece is divided into four measures, each measure requires a different playing technique for each note, and it encompasses all styles and all schools of fingering, so without the skill of Sears, the first measure of the first paragraph will be a mess and the player will make a fool of himself. For this reason, it is known as one of the most difficult piano pieces in the world to play, and ranked high on the list, and it was originally called ‘Sears Rhapsody’, then many piano players had enough of this piece, so they changed it to the slightly derogatory word ‘show-off’, which was accepted by the majority of musicians.

If “To Pachelov” is the devil’s music, then “Flaunt” is the music of arrogant ghosts, and both are not for the faint of heart!

Sean, do you know your sister is so capricious? Take her home quickly! This was a sentiment shared by all the contestants, including the arrogant and unbeatable Hannah.