King of Classical Music

The concert hall was magnificent. Evenly spaced marble columns lined its walls of warm gold.

Under the religious-themed murals on the ceiling, there were 518seats on the first floor and 235 on the second. Musical media arrived from allover the world, and there was a professional team to report on the school'sinternal assessment.

The French media was most heavily represented. Due to the behemothof talent that were the judges in attendance, reporters from more and morecountries filtered inside.

Of them, Zhou Kang Sheng was one of the most inconspicuous.

Zhou Kang Sheng was a journalist of Huaxia's top music magazine 《Music Hall》. His journey fromHuaxia was lengthy, given its distance from Europe on the east side of Asia.Securing his participation from the Paris branch was difficult, even though itwas valued by the headquarters.

Getting him to record a video was even more unlikely. Zheng KangSheng only brought a single SLR camera with him. He was not interested inwasting his memory card on recording a college exam. It would last more thanthree hours.

As far as Zhou Kang Sheng was concerned, the Paris' NationalConservatory of Music was just a school. This so-called assessment was that ofa college student's level.

How skilled could a student be? They were in their twenties, atmost. Could they really be another Min Chen? Christole?

Zhou Kang Sheng didn't think so.

If he guessed correctly, the reason headquarters asked him to makea report was due to Min Chen serving as a judge.

As a worthy leader in Huaxia's classical music scene, Min Chenconfused Zhou Kang Sheng. He was born and raised in Germany and had hardlyvisited Huaxia. Why did he still hold Huaxia so firmly as his nationality frombirth?

Though Min Chen was in attendance, he still encountered racistswho despised classical musicians from Huaxia. He would only smirk and reply,"There are no good musicians from Huaxia? Do you know the name of Bai Ai'schief conductor?"

Before Zhou Kang Sheng could consider things any further, theassessments began.

A lovely girl took to the stage with a cello, and a thoughtcrossed his mind. Whispering to himself, he said, “Yes. . . Headquarterstold me to pay special attention to a particular student. What was his nameagain? Li Mu?"

Zhou Kang Sheng shook his head, deciding not to think about it. Hefocused on the current performance.

. . .

The University had a lot of good students. All who participated inthe assessment were coached by professor-level instructors. But. . . This didnot stop the masters in the judging panel from baring their fangs.

When facing excellent music, the judges were gentle, givingcomments and suggestions.

When the first player with music intolerable to human earsappeared, Min Chen listened politely to the final note. However, he gave 4points without hesitation.

Where there are good performances, there are also bad ones.

This year’s assessment maintained the high standards of thecollege. Of course, it also made the lazy students too embarrassed to lifttheir heads in front of these masters.

The performances' order was decided before the assessment began.

When a piano student finished his performance, he directly shoutedfrom the stage, "Mr. Bertram, I'm a big fan of yours! Thank you for listeningto my 《Piano Concerto in A Major》!"

Even with such a lovely fan, Min Chen could hardly be kind to thestudent. Offering advice and encouragement were the furthest things from hismind.

No, this man judged his own violin as "god awful." How was heexpected to listen to music so bad ]it echoed to the center of the Earth? MinChen, who had so far listened patiently, was the one who deserved high marks.

It was truly useless.

The piano student who got the first failing mark of 59, Lewis, ranoff the stage. In all his excitement, he shouted, "Hooke! Hooke! Mr. Bertramspoke to me, you hear me?! I'm so excited!!"

Hooke sighed. “. . . But he only gave you 4 points. . .”

On stage, students with various musical instruments continuedtheir performances. When an excellent student from the clarinet departmentappeared, the deputy music director of the British BBC Orchestra immediatelyinvited him to join the orchestra. This became the beginning of the invitationwave.

Clarinet, trombone, saxophone…

A lot of students received invitations from various orchestras.Once the assessment was concluded, they would consult with the head of theorchestra with the help of the college.

When the first violin student showed up, Bella Kim gave a highscore of 8 points with a smile. The lovely girl excitedly nodded and gotinvitations from several orchestras.

Qi Mu was the second student of the violin department. His number wasclose to the one Jenny drew, but they were separated by Langston from the pianodepartment. When she learned that her turn was before Langston, Jenny wasrelieved.

“Little Seven, you don’t know. . . That Langston guy isreally amazing! He received an invitation from the Salt Lake City SymphonyOrchestra at the last assessment, but he refused. I think. . . he wants to be asolo pianist. He might have even bigger ambition. It's good to play beforehim!”

Looking like she just escaped disaster, Qi Mu wasn't nearly asworried as Jenny. When Langston finally went on the stage, his piano was like arunning river. Qi Mu was astonished. In an instant, he realized that Jenny wasright to be concerned——

Langston was, indeed, a solid competitor.

In terms of piano alone, he believed Langston could serve as apianist in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. He played Liszt’s famous piano piece,《Dante Symphony》. Like the roar of the devil, it depicted the torment and painfulsorrow of hell. It was an eerie piece that evoked strange feelings of anunknown world.

Langston’s piano was able to show enough depression, constraint,and sadness. Even the audience did not realize that they were all brought to a beautifulrealm by Langston’s piano. As if they could see Liszt's Dante's Purgatory, theywere full of intense emotion.

Even at the end of the song, Qi Mu couldn't return to his senses.It was the shout of "Bravo" from the audience that woke him up.

The world never lacked genius. He stared at the tall young manstanding in the middle of the stage. His long-lost hot-blooded spirit revivedin his heart.

Only when he met a worthy opponent would his ambition skyrocketand become violent——

He must defeat this person!

Faced with such high-level skill, even the picky Min Chen gave ahigh score of 8 points. After 10 judges gave their evaluation, Langston scoreda total of 89 points. Among them, he received a perfect score from the Frenchconnoisseur Leonid.

“Auston, I think. . . this Langston kid will probably end upwith the highest score.” Sitting at Min Chen's side, Leonid applauded andcontinued, “It's amazing that this incredible 《Dante》 came from a man of only24-years!"

On the other side, Ms. Bella Kim reminded, "Leonid, you have tosee clearly, in front of whom are you praising a 24-year-old as a pianogenius?”

Leonid suddenly realized his position. “Oh! I shouldn't saythis in front of Auston, but Bella, this 《Dante》 is really outstanding. . .

Waiting for the next student to come to the stage, the two masterson either side of Min Chen began to exchange opinions. Min Chen, however,looked ahead without any expression. When he heard Leonid say, “I betLangston will be the one with the highest score,” Min Chen curled his lipsinto a smile and turned to the other man.

“Leonid, what do you want to bet on?”

He hadn't expected the indifferent man to say something like this,so Leonid was stunned to silence. He paused for a moment then said, “I'mgoing to bet. . . if Langston doesn't get the highest score, I will write amusic review for you myself, Auston! If you win, Auston, you will write a songfor me. How does that sound?!”

Bella laughed and said, “Leon, don't you think this bet ischeap?”

Without giving Leonid the chance to respond, Min Chen raised aneyebrow and asked, "You will write a review for me?"

Startled, Leonid said, “Oh. . . yes. Who do you want me towrite about?”

He saw a man in the dark just offstage, and his dark eyes flashedwith light. Min Chen pointed at the stage. With a quiet laugh, he spoke——

"Him."

Leonid and Bella followed the direction of his finger and spotteda handsome, delicate young man walking towards the stage with his violin. Hemoved elegantly, his expression calm. Coupled with his beautiful eyes andexquisite face, it was difficult to tear their gazes away.

Min Chen's thin lips curled. He whispered, “Him. Give him amusic review. How does that sound?”

Stunned for a long time, Leonid woke up as if he were in a tranceand said, "Deal! If you really think you'll win, I can write about anyone!"

Translator

(s): Kuro

Editor

The Author:

Just stepping on stage, Qi Mu didn't know that he had already become the subject of a gamble between judges.

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