Chapter 13, Song 13...

The exams started quickly. Senior students had already held their graduation performances in April and May, so the exams started directly with the juniors.

Le Yi and Qu Jiaying had only chatted for a few minutes when senior Ruan Qi came looking for them.

"You are Qu Jiaying?" Ruan Qi had obviously heard of her before, and stopped to have a brief conversation with her.

Qu Jiaying nodded and greeted her politely.

"Do you want to come in and listen?" Ruan Qi asked.

Qu Jiaying hadn't decided yet; she cared a lot about Ruan Qi's performance, but was also worried about being affected.

Ruan Qi was a little embarrassed: "I haven't been feeling well lately, so you might be disappointed."

Qu Jiaying was surprised by her humility, without a trace of the arrogance that comes with being called a child prodigy since childhood.

Ruan Qi smiled faintly: "That was all in the past. Now, they can't compare to the new generation of prodigies in piano."

Le Yi retorted, "Your performance was so outstanding, who's talking nonsense?"

Ruan Qi sighed helplessly. It was almost her turn, and she didn't have time to chat for long before taking Le Yi to the stage.

Qu Jiaying walked back from backstage to the audience. There were quite a few people here today, both from inside and outside the school. Classical music lovers always come here on this day, and there may also be industry professionals. Everyone is hoping to be noticed for their performance and maybe get more performance opportunities.

Senior Ruan Qi is very low-key. She wore a simple black dress without too many patterns or decorations, unlike Qu Jiaying who always dresses herself up to be the most eye-catching one on stage.

However, contrary to her appearance, Ruan Qi's performance was extremely gorgeous and dazzling. She was also a virtuoso, but the difference was that her body movements were larger, as if she was interacting with the audience, guiding them into her musical world and letting them feel her sadness, her pain, and her sorrow.

Qu Jiaying slowly exhaled from her lungs. How could she still be in poor condition after such an exquisite performance?

She was very unwilling to accept it; why couldn't she play it to the same effect?

Even Yue Yi's performance was better than when she accompanied her, which really annoyed her. Could it be that she couldn't do it?

Holding her breath, Qu Jiaying carried her violin and went on stage with Gao Ying.

Today, she wore a red tulle dress and stood in the center of the wooden stage, exuding an aura of power. Her first move was her signature "short-short-short-long" fate motive.

The exam only required one movement, and Qu Jiaying chose the first movement of the Symphony No. 5 (Fate).

Teacher Xia Xiaolei made an adaptation for her, changing the symphony to a violin solo, and the chorus at the beginning of the original piece to chords. Qu Jiaying pressed the notes with extreme flexibility in her left hand, and ensured explosive power with her right hand bowing. Without the slightest hesitation, she brought a tense sense of pressure with precision.

Qu Jiaying performed very steadily. She was not affected by Ruan Qi's performance, and the teachers in the audience nodded in approval.

But her heart was burning, her stomach was churning, and that wasn't enough!

Why is it impossible to become a soloist?

Was it because she didn't practice hard enough?

No, she practices the piano from morning till night.

Is it because of a lack of talent?

Chen Li, who comes from a musical family, studied piano for several years but found that she was not as quick to learn as Gao Ying, a beginner, so she chose to give up.

Despite her long, slender fingers, Gao Ying, after puberty, couldn't appreciate the joy of music as much as someone with larger hands.

Is it really that difficult to overcome what is called talent?

Should she just admit defeat?

No, no, no!

She refused to believe in fate!

As the music reached its climax, Qu Jiaying became increasingly engrossed, completely immersed in her performance.

Before she even realized it, Chen Li remembered her invitation and briefly left the hospital to relax in the music academy's auditorium.

Chen Li arrived a little late. When she came in, Qu Jiaying had already started playing. She kept sighing inwardly. Qu Jiaying's skills were impeccable. Her high-difficulty rapid shifts, spiccato, and pitch were all flawless. Such a good level should not be overlooked, which is why she wanted to help Qu Jiaying.

As the music progressed, Chen Li's attention shifted away from the technical aspects. She was drawn into a world of raging storms, as if she were standing on a wooden boat caught in a tempest, about to sink, yet with a glimmer of hope.

She couldn't help but think of the days she had spent taking care of her grandmother. Her mood had been on a rollercoaster, fluctuating along with her grandmother's health indicators. One day she would feel better, the next day she would have a fever again, and the day after that her fever would finally come down, but the next day the chemotherapy would be less effective.

Although her grandmother forced her to learn the piano in order to create a musical family, she was the only one who allowed her to give it up. She didn't want to see her grandmother suffer from illness, nor did she want her grandmother to leave her.

Her childhood spent practicing piano was gloomy, but looking back, she doesn't regret learning piano.

Chen Li looked at Qu Jiaying at the end of the performance on stage and thought, "You think so too, don't you?"

The cheers and applause from the audience rushed towards Qu Jiaying like a tsunami. She bowed and, just as she and Gao Ying returned backstage, before she could even wipe her sweat, she was hugged by Le Yi, whose eyes were red.

"You played so well! I finally know what it means to have absolute control over technique and a complete release of emotion in perfect harmony. I'm so jealous of Gao Ying, why wasn't I the one accompanying you?" Le Yi exclaimed.

“You played better when you accompanied Senior Ruan Qi than you did with me last time.” Qu Jiaying rolled her eyes at him.

"That's because Pathétique is a sonata, with the piano and violin playing roughly the same amount of music. I wasn't the accompanist, so I was able to fully enjoy it," Yue Yi laughed. "You experienced that this time too, didn't you?"

"I was venting my emotions." Qu Jiaying did feel that the performance was very good, but not every piece is about fighting against fate. She would not put her emotions into the others for the time being. Moreover, the performance was really tiring. She was so hungry that her stomach was growling.

"Well, you're starting to get on track. Let's go, let's celebrate," Le Yi said.

Gao Ying considerately withdrew, saying, "You two go have a big meal. My boyfriend already invited me."

Qu Jiaying loosened the bow with pity; many of the bow hairs had broken off today.

"Let's go eat meat! I found a really good steakhouse, they even have tomahawk steaks!" Le Yi said.

Qu Jiaying put away her zither, slung the case over her shoulder, and nodded. She needed to replenish her energy, and venting her emotions was also physically demanding.

She casually messaged Yan Zheng and Xiang Min, inviting them to dinner together, as they both had theory exams today and couldn't come to her live performance.

Le Yi complained bluntly, "Why did you call them?"

"They were the ones who helped me with all the practice before." Qu Jiaying insisted on calling them over.

Le Yi didn't say anything more, his eyes, clear as if washed, were fixed on her. Everything was in the music; he understood it.

Qu Jiaying felt flustered. Le Yi cried while listening to her performance, and she was indeed moved as well. It seemed that she could understand Le Yi's heart just by listening to her music. However, she didn't want to ruin the atmosphere of the quartet. The relationship was already very complicated, and she couldn't make it worse. She decided to pretend that she didn't see it and that she didn't know about it.

Fortunately, Yan Zheng and Xiang Min soon reunited with them, which was also the last "three missing one" quartet dinner of the semester.

Neither Xiang Min nor Le Yi were locals. Xiang Min had left school early on, and Le Yi would take the high-speed train home a few days later, which just happened to give him the opportunity to accompany Qu Jiaying.

It turns out that after Chen Li heard the performance that day, her grandmother, who was in a coma, heard it and asked Xu Yuewen, a recording engineer who was a regular customer at the bar, to help record Qu Jiaying.

Chen Li didn't specifically name Le Yi as her steelworker partner, mainly because Gao Ying had also gone home.

Gao Ying is not a local either; her family is from a neighboring province. In order to get into this top music academy in the country, it would be best to start from its affiliated middle school. She started studying in other places when she was twelve years old, and only went home during winter and summer vacations. So naturally, she would rush back as soon as the vacation started.

Qu Jiaying then hurriedly asked Le Yi, who hadn't left yet, but had immediately changed his ticket and postponed his return home after receiving the news.

The two went to Xu Yuewen's recording studio together.

Xu Yuewen had heard her play before, and he didn't think her playing was so good that it needed to be recorded for an unconscious old man. Chen Li's effusive praise was useless; it was impossible for her to suddenly become enlightened so quickly.

But she really changed. After having a successful experience, she only played better. This time, unlike the exam, she played all four movements from beginning to end.

From the irresistible arrival of fate in the first movement, to the awakening of rational spirit in the second movement through thought and action, to the scherzo in the third movement hinting at impending victory, and finally to the fourth movement symbolizing the explosion of light over darkness, the theme of resisting fate is sublimated.

Judging from Xu Yuewen's discerning ear, it wouldn't require multiple reworks; there weren't many adjustments to be made, and it would be finished soon.

Qu Jiaying was so tired that she felt like she was about to have low blood sugar. Le Yi gave her some chocolate candies, and she gulped down several mouthfuls of sports drink before she slowly recovered.

Xu Yuewen copied an unprocessed recording for her and said gently, "Go back and rest. Maybe we'll officially start working together soon."

Qu Jiaying paused for a few seconds, then smiled sincerely and thanked her.

A note from the author:

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