Chapter 24 (1/2)

Once Qi Mu entered the backstage, he saw Sheng Yan Hui who had waited there for a while. With just a glance, he noticed that the fire in his eyes had faded. Despite the audience applause in the hall behind him having ended long ago, Sheng Yan Hui was still clapping.

Qi Mu didn’t know whether to cry or laugh, “I don’t want to play another Encore. You don’t have to keep applauding.”

Who would expect that just as he finished speaking, the other man’s applause warmed, touched with a quality of “I just don’t want to stop.”

Qi Mu: “. . .”

Sheng Yan Hui was sincere in his applause. The moment he heard《E Minor》 instead of 《Tzigane》, he understood Qi Mu’s intention——

Qi Mu was trying to ease the tangle in his heart.

Sheng Yan Hui was supposed to depart for Munich with Professor Karl a few days ago, but the day before their departure, the professor went to him and said, “Victor, you shouldn’t go with me now. Ever since I told you that Qi Mu deliberately let you win, your violin has been timid and weak. You need to be confident!”

Professor Karl’s words had given him the stupid idea to “wreck the event.”

Truthfully, Sheng Yan Hui still held rejection in his heart. After all, Qi Mu did not have to comply. If he had refused to compete with him, it was not inexcusable and there was nothing he could say about it. But, Qi Mu had actually agreed, and. . . he especially played 《E Minor》.

He was untying the knot in Sheng Yan Hui’s heart for him!

Before, the worst possible situation Sheng Yan Hui could come up with was that everyone would think that Qi Mu was better than him, and he would thoroughly lose to Qi Mu. But, to his great surprise, the repeated Encore applause left him feeling as though there was nothing to compare with this youth.

He was no longer an opponent, so it was useless to mention who won or lost.

Sheng Yan Hui wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not.

Although Qi Mu felt that Sheng Yan Hui was somewhat silly and cute, the matter in his heart was still important. He slowly smiled and looked at the other seriously.

Obviously, Sheng Yan Hui was a few years older than Qi Mu, but when he spoke, Sheng Yan Hui inexplicably felt as if he was “being educated by an elder.”

“Sheng Yan Hui, now. . . do you think you can put the matter to rest?”

The next musician exited the backstage, and Sheng Yan Hui lowered his hands that had kept clapping for some time. He solemnly nodded, “I was not convinced before. Why on earth did you let me win? It made me feel that I was not strong enough. The one who should go to Munich is you, not me, and that kept me from working hard enough. I only managed to find Professor Karl to accept me at 24 years old, and this is my, Sheng Yan Hui’s, road. And you, Qi Mu, I don’t know what kind of mentor you will find, or what kind of future you will have. But that is your choice, and that is also where our paths differ.”

Qi Mu nodded, wearing a smile, and signaled for him to continue.

“Regardless of how it will go now, I will not abandon my goal or my dream. I want to be the best violinist in the world. I want to be the only king of classical music. I will never lose my way again. And for that. . . I really want to thank you.”

Qi Mu felt that his words were a bit wrong. He frowned and pointed sideways at a man sitting in the middle of the audience, then whispered, “You mean. . . you want to beat him?”

Originally, Qi Mu thought Sheng Yan Hui was joking. Who would expect that this bear child would nod seriously, “Yes, I want to beat him. Even if I can’t defeat him now, I will defeat him in the future!”

“. . .”

Qi Mu was silent for a long while then he asked, “Are you looking to switch to the piano or to conducting? Ah, right, composing too. Do you intend to focus on song composition in the future?”

Sheng Yan Hui, who was holding a violin case: “. . .”

Qi Mu burst into laughter. He looked at this bear child whose eyes had swirled into mosquito coils and smiled, “Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. I heard that Min Chen studied the violin for several years as a child. If you want to beat him on the violin. . . well, I think it won’t take too long. Maybe you could even go to battle now.” Youth were always getting angry and never letting it go.

Sheng Yan Hui: “. . .”

Seeing that Sheng Yan Hui was depressed and not responding, Qi Mu no longer teased him. He gently set his violin in its case and placed it in a temporary safe. Qi Mu swung the key around his finger and looked at Sheng Yan Hui, “Let’s go to the hall together?”

Sheng Yan Hui nodded slightly. In front of this younger man, he didn’t even have the advantage of being older.

They walked towards the hall side by side. Qi Mu’s seat was on the east side while Sheng Yan Hui’s in the south. When they were about to separate, Qi Mu hadn’t turned away yet when he heard Sheng Yan Hui whisper, “Then Qi Mu. . . my goal will be to beat you.”

“. . .”