Chapter 75 (1/2)

When Zhou Kang Sheng saw the handsome young man take the stage, he froze. After his name was announced, he slapped his thigh. “Yes! That’s him!”

The French director had told him to pay special attention to the student named Qi Mu at this assessment. Now that he had appeared, Zhou Kang Sheng had to diligently take notes and more photos.

Zhou Kang Sheng had been in France for three years, and he didn’t know much news from the mainland. This was his first time seeing the young man named “Qi Mu.” Zhou Kang Sheng couldn’t help but point 100% of his attention to Qi Mu. He looked to the bright stage, not blinking.

“Qi Mu will be performing Paganini’s 《Bell》. This is a difficult piece. I don’t know how well this Qi Mu can. . . play?”

After taking two photos with his SLR, Zhou Kang Sheng set it down. He intended to dutifully listen to the performance. Even if it wasn’t good, he had to listen with patience. Who told the headquarters to pay so much attention to Qi Mu?

Once Qi Mu’s bow touched the strings, Zhou Kang Sheng was frozen in his seat.

《Bell》 was one of Paganini’s signature works. The violin devil had magical hands, and it was said his left hand could bend into an unbelievable arc. It allowed him to press the strings in unbridled ways.

《Bell》 began with a short and intense staccato, a signature trait of Paganini’s. Zhou Kang Sheng had been in the classical music industry for 6 years. He’d listened to three versions of 《Bell》 but. . . he had never seen anyone with an accuracy of such unprecedented level!

Once the bow touched the strings, it would inevitably create a sound. Amateurs often slipped and made it even louder. Even professionals could only minimize it.

The entire concert hall was shrouded in the bell-like melody. Light and warm, every time the bow glided across the strings, a bronze bell gently chimed. The youth’s slender left hand kept sliding along the strings with broad range but somehow made it look relaxed.

His right hand controlled the bow with such precision the tremor was reduced to the minimum!

In the pale golden music hall, everyone held their breath and listened to the magnificent and flawless 《Bell》. The violin was like a brook in the mountains, rushing over broken stone and tree branches, creating an ethereal echo.

By the time the song progressed into the second half, the youth’s white fingers had stretched from the forefront octave to the end of the black fingerboard. The cluster of sound emerging from the strings was like streams converging into a small river, and from a small river. . . to a great flood.

The song eventually reached its final high tide, and the melody once again surged forth with momentum. If Langston’s 《Dante Symphony》 was a river running, then this student’s 《Bell》 had a real soul, rolling with the will of the ocean.

The difference was never the song, but the person who played it.

Liszt and Paganini were both representative figures of the “dazzling technique” genre, but as students who play these two masterpieces separately, it was obvious. . . the black-haired Chinese youth in front of them was better!

The performance ended.

Zhou Kang Sheng stared blankly at the young man under the spotlight. His lips moved, but he had yet to recover from the music. A second, low “Bravo” rang out, and he turned in the direction the voice came from. He saw. . .

Zhou Kang Sheng was even more shocked!

Min Chen actually took the initiative to get up and gave this student a “Bravo”?!

Zhou Kang Sheng picked up his SLR and took a photo on pure reflex. The angle he was standing at was unique. He could capture the image of both Min Chen’s left profile and the smiling young man on the stage.

Then Zhou Kang Sheng clapped, still in utter shock. He whispered to himself, “This is really. . . Can a student have such strength? Could Qi Mu be. . . the next Min Chen?!”

Onstage, sweat glistened from Qi Mu’s forehead. The piece was complicated and had taken its toll on him.

When the first “Bravo” rang out, roaring applause resounded in the concert hall. It was as shocking as the mountains.

Qi Mu politely bowed and waited for the judges to rate and comment on his performance. Most judges gave him nine points, though some offered 10. All gave praise as if the former performers were air.

When it was Master Leonid’s turn, he looked at Qi Mu and said solemnly, “Your 《Bell》 made me return to a performance from over a decade ago. . . Someone played Liszt’s 《Bell》 in Xiaosai and was the only person to get a full score.”

Surprised, Qi Mu turned to look at the man sitting at Leonid’s side.

Leonid didn’t say Min Chen’s name directly, but many in the audience were already whispering, “I didn’t expect Leonid to give this student such a high evaluation,” “He even compared him to Mr. Bertram from that competition,” or, “Leonid’s judgment has always been accurate.”