Chapter 169 (1/2)

When Min Chen just started speaking, there was noise in the background of the call, and Qi Mu could faintly hear Daniel’s laughter. After a while, Min Chen seemed to have gone away to find a secluded place. Only the man’s soft breaths and the hiss of electrical current could be heard from the phone’s speaker.

Qi Mu stopped playing the piano. With a soft smile, he asked, “Is the celebration over?”

Min Chen gently nodded. “Well, I’m going to send the others home with Daniel and Christole. Today is New Year’s Eve, and they are going home for dinner and reunion.”

After hearing this, Qi Mu leaned on the edge of the piano and curiously asked, “The rest of Bai Ai’s members have gone back… What about you? I remember hearing Daniel say that your parents lived in Berlin, do you want to go back?”

Only a dim wall lamp was lit in the music room, but the moonlight filtering in from the French windows was even brighter than it was. Qi Mu only listened to Min Chen’s gentle “Um,” and waited for him to continue, “After sending the others back, I will also go home.” After a pause, he added, “Did you not spend the New Year Countdown with Lance?”

“Mr. Lance never goes to bed after 11 o’clock, so I didn’t want to disturb him. By the way, guess what I was doing just now? Well… I will allow you to ask for a hint.”

Min Chen raised his eyebrows and took the opportunity to prompt him. “Where are you?”

A smile flashing in his light-colored eyes, Qi Mu calmly said, “I am in the music room.”

Min Chen thought for a moment and said, “You’re not practicing the violin.”

Hearing this, Qi Mu was stunned. Subconsciously, he asked, “Why do you say I’m not practicing the violin?”

“You answered the phone in only a second. I think… You’re not practicing the violin.”

Qi Mu shrugged helplessly when the man discovered his trap and avoided the topic. “Well, guess what I’m doing?”

After a lengthy silence across the line, Qi Mu thought that he wouldn’t answer. He only heard the man’s voice affirmatively analyzing, “The phone is very close to you. There are only two possibilities: first, you are holding it in your hand; second, you had it at your fingertips.”

Hearing this, a surprised smile lit Qi Mu’s face. “Continue, Min Chen-Holmes.”

“There’s nothing else in the music room, and you don’t like playing with your cell phone. So…”

Min Chen trailed off, and Qi Mu’s curiosity was suspended. He couldn’t believe it. The man could guess that he was playing the piano just then.

But, the next second, Min Chen chopped the nail and sliced the iron on his path. “Just now, you were standing in front of the window, holding your mobile phone, just about to call me.” After a pause, he calmly added, “You miss me.”

Qi Mu: “…Shameless?”

Min Chen: “…”

Calling Min Chen always made Qi Mu feel like he met a whole new person. For example, someone who was really arrogant, and someone who was narcissistic to a point.

Considering that the thick faced, narcissistic man was the conductor who had just produced a brilliant symphony onstage, Qi Mu really felt that God had made a mistake. He’d thrown some talents that shouldn’t belong to the man at the wrong target.

Qi Mu took his cell phone and continued to chat with the shameless man. When Min Chen needed to send the Bai Ai members away, he hung up the phone.

Within minutes, Qi Mu received a text message.

Min Chen: 【Go to bed early, don’t wait for the countdown. Happy New Year ahead of time… Next year.]

With a smile, Qi Mu said: 【Happy new year, our next year together.]

Despite that, what happened all day made Qi Mu excited. How could he sleep so easily? When he heard the big clock in the center of Vienna ring 12 times, there was a burst of cheering throughout the city, even on the 27th floor.

He couldn’t help sending another text message before midnight. 【I can’t sleep. Why didn’t you ask me whether I passed the recruitment meeting for Wei Ai today?]Then, Qi Mu put down his cell phone.

Just as he was anticipating the man to reply the next morning, his cell phone suddenly hummed and started to vibrate. Qi Mu picked it up in surprise.

Min Chen: 【I believe in you. Go to sleep quickly, and I’ll go to Wei Ai tomorrow. ]The simple sentence, “I believe in you,” calmed Qi Mu’s restless mood. Looking at the short text on his cell phone, he could practically see the man in the dark, solemnly replying to the text message.

The young man’s lips curled upwards. He said, “Good night,” and soon fell into a deep sleep.

In the dark, quiet bedroom, on the wide, 2-meter bed, only a thin young man lay on one side. Alone, he slowly slipped into his sleep. Although he was the only person, he didn’t feel lonely. Still, he tightly hugged the pillows on either side of him, sleeping sweetly.

The next day, Qi Mu took Dorenza’s invitation letter and immediately listened to Wei Ai’s New Year’s concert. Instead of leaving through the gate like other audiences, Qi Mu went backstage of the Friends of Music Association building under the leadership of the staff. He entered a preparation room that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

He was familiar with it because it was the last place he saw before he died, and unfamiliar because of the people in there who had faces lit with welcoming smiles. Everyone hid behind Dorenza to smile at him, but did not dare to cross the “terrifying moat (of Dorenza)” by even half a step.

Just after a grand concert, Dorenza didn’t even wear his tuxedo, so he stood directly backstage to welcome Qi Mu.

As soon as they met, he gave Qi Mu a big hug and smiled as he said, “Little Seven, it’s great to see you here! From today on, we are a family. When we met with the orchestra members yesterday afternoon, everyone in Wei Ai saw your video from the recruitment meeting. We almost all passed your recruitment decision. On behalf of everyone, I want to welcome you!”