Chapter 130 (1/2)

Let alone Qi Mu, even Caroline and Jacques were shocked with the sudden refusal.

Caroline frowned. “What’s the matter, Evra? Since you admit that Qi Mu is the most skilled, why do you say it’s impossible for our orchestra to hire him as our deputy concertmaster?”

In the whole orchestra, only Caroline would dare to speak to Evra in such a manner. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her blue eyes were full of reprimands.

Every symphony orchestra would have their own music director and chief conductor. Usually, both positions will be held by the same person. Min Chen, for example, was both the music director and the chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

But with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the chief conductor was Evra, while the music director was Caroline. That being the case, only Caroline had the right to question Evra’s decision. And when the two most influential people in the orchestra started arguing, Jacques couldn’t say anything.

Evra asked seriously, “Caroline, do you really want to bring Seven into our orchestra?”

Caroline replied with an affirmative, “Of course! Since he’s the most skilled, why can’t we hire him? Evra, do you think Qi Mu is too young? Don’t you like young people most? The average age within our members is 32 years old. You don’t have to worry about Qi Mu being too young.”

At this, Evra shook his head. “No, Caroline. Of course I wouldn’t reject Qi Mu because of his age. However, it is absolutely impossible for me to hire him as our deputy concertmaster.” After a pause, Evra added, “Reed wanted me to be fair and just so I honestly admitted that his student is the best. But, if you hire Little Seven as the deputy concertmaster, then…”

“It’s unfair to the orchestra!”

Qi Mu was shocked, Caroline even more so. She forgot what to say for a while.

Evra sighed, then turned to Qi Mu onstage. “Seven, I admit that you have excellent skills. But, it is because you’re so skilled that I can’t hire you. In your opinion… Does an orchestra needs a deputy concertmaster who can surpass the actual concertmaster?”

As soon as he finished, Jacques coughed.

Evra narrowed his eyes at this, “What’s with the coughing? Do you think you can surpass Qi Mu’s 《Chaconne》? Do you think you can play 《Dance of the Goblins》 as wonderfully?”

The video on Youtube had spread all over the classical music circle in Europe. Evra wasn’t so rigid that he couldn’t accept new things, so he had heard Qi Mu’s performance of 《Dance of the Goblins》 at the Heldenplatz.

Of course, even if he hadn’t seen it, Akkad never failed to show off his student’s superb skills so Evra never had the chance to miss it.

Under Evra’s questioning, Jacques’s dark skin turned red. Sheepishly, he said, “Okay, Mr. Evra, that hurts me.” With that, he gave Qi Mu a bad glare.

Jacques wasn’t a saint. Evra praised Qi Mu, so of course he was jealous. Moreover, he was never an open-minded person. And Qi Mu knew another thing just by looking——

Even if he did get to enter the orchestra, Jacques would ignore him.

Evra sighed. “All in all, I don’t want a deputy concertmaster who can suppress the concertmaster, Little Seven. And, although Jacques isn’t a nice guy, he is skilled. I have no plans to replace him…”

“Hey, Evra, I’ve known you for more than a decade, can you not hurt my feelings like this!”

Evra ignored the plump, dark-skinned man and went on, “So Little Seven, it is as your teacher thought. You’re not suitable as a deputy concertmaster… Being the concertmaster for a small orchestra is better for you than being the deputy concertmaster of a big orchestra.”

Qi Mu couldn’t get angry at such a solid reason. He accepted Evra’s apology politely, receiving countless blades from Jacques’ glare and an apologetic hug from Caroline.

However, Qi Mu slowed down before leaving the stage. A curious smile appeared on his fair and handsome face. He asked softly, “By the way, Mr. Evra… You said that someone performed 《Chaconne》 before me today. If I may ask, who shared the same luck as me?”

Before Evra could speak, Jacques sneered. “His name is Luo Yu Sen, the deputy chief of our second violin group. He’s very generic and his skills are acceptable. I didn’t expect him to play a pure emotional piece, yet make such a mess out of it.”