Chapter 47, Song 47...

Qu Jiaying and Xiaoxing went to see the fashion designer first. She never expected that the designer was Liu Ru's wife, the owner of the cosmetics company.

Ms. Pei was also surprised: "I didn't expect to meet you here again."

Xiao Xing looked at the two of them in confusion. Qu Jiaying glanced at Ms. Pei's slightly protruding belly and explained simply, "I played for their wedding before."

Xiao Xing nodded in realization and asked a few questions about Ms. Pei's health: "Are you alright?"

Ms. Pei said gently, "There's no reaction at all. This child is very easy to manage and hasn't affected my work. Didn't you approve the design drafts last time?"

Ms. Pei's assistant brought over the nearly finished white dress for Xiaoxing to see. She touched the material, got up, and changed out of her T-shirt and casual pants.

This long dress doesn't seem particularly special at first glance; the hem reaches the ankles. But after Xiaoxing put it on, it instantly transformed. It became sweet, a little sexy, and full of energy. The upper body features a V-neck and a fishtail-style cinched waist, while the lower body has a ruffled trim.

Xiao Xing spun around and made some large movements, but it didn't affect her activity. She nodded in satisfaction and urged Ms. Pei to help Qu Jiaying put together a outfit.

Ms. Pei pulled over a mobile clothes rack, picked up a garment, and held it up against Qu Jiaying: "Try this one on."

Qu Jiaying couldn't change clothes in front of all the women like Xiaoxing did. She still went to the dressing room and changed into this white, form-fitting long dress with a slight slit at the hem, so it wouldn't affect her movements too much.

"This outfit really suits you and complements your style. It would look even better if you styled your hair a little," Xiaoxing commented.

Qu Jiaying was also very satisfied. She had admired Ms. Pei's design last time, and she admired it even more this time. It captured her essence without much decoration.

"Don't bother changing it, you can have this one. Wear it." Ms. Pei said quickly, seeing that she liked it.

"Isn't this inappropriate?" Qu Jiaying had heard that these kinds of things are usually rented.

"Of course it's not a free gift; you'll have to do me and Lao Liu a favor," Ms. Pei said with a smile.

Qu Jiaying knew that Ms. Pei, who was gentle in appearance and outstanding in ability, must also have high emotional intelligence.

“Didn’t Lao Liu join a charitable foundation? The current chairman is getting old and is preparing to retire. He’s going to have a retirement party. We originally planned for Hanhan to perform her harp, but she’s busy with her studies in France and can’t make it back. Could you please fill in for her?” Ms. Pei said, then paused and added, “Or your quartet could come along.”

"I'll go back and discuss it with them," Qu Jiaying said.

Ms. Pei smiled and nodded gently, then talked about Liu Han's recent situation: "She is very busy now. She has been practicing the harp well recently. Her teacher in France values ​​her highly. She can only come back during winter and summer vacations, but she still cares about her acting career. She has to go to the film set to film when she comes back from vacation. She can't stay with us for long. Fortunately, the Internet is very developed now, and Lao Liu and I video chat with her every week."

She was a pretty good stepmother, Qu Jiaying listened to her story with a polite smile.

Ms. Pei opened the video she had saved on her phone and showed it to Qu Jiaying: "I don't understand either. This is Hanhan's performance at their school last time."

Qu Jiaying's eyes lit up; Liu Han had indeed realized that she was to perform for her, elevating the performance to a new level.

On the way back, Xiaoxing also mentioned Liu Han.

It turns out that Xiaoxing came to Ms. Pei's shop to have clothes made because of Liu Han. She had previously posted photos on social media wearing clothes from her shop, and Liu Han contacted her after seeing them online.

“Back then, I wasn’t very well-known, and I couldn’t find any designers to customize clothes for me. I also couldn’t borrow any high-end brands’ designs. This company’s style suited me very well, so I started working here. They designed the clothes for me almost for free, and Liu Ru’s cosmetics company even signed an endorsement contract with me for a lipstick,” Xiao Xing said.

Qu Jiaying exclaimed, "This family really knows how to do business!"

Xiao Xing nodded and continued, "She played a harp part in one of the singles on my album. She even suggested it herself. I really acknowledge her skill level. She's more famous than me and has been helping me promote my work. She's even younger than me."

Qu Jiaying thinks Xiaoxing is also very talented. She herself was not interested in this aspect before. It's not that focusing on piano skills in the past was bad, but now she feels that a broad perspective is equally important and she will have a better understanding of performance. She feels more personally involved in the principles that Teacher Xia Xiaolei taught her in the past.

Qu Jiaying and Xiaoxing chatted about the gossip surrounding Liu Ru's family, and she mentioned that Liu Han's mother had passed away.

Xiao Xing remarked with emotion, "No wonder she was able to portray the theme of parting so well."

Qu Jiaying was curious, and Xiao Xing happened to have that demo saved on her phone.

Indeed, it was very good. Qu Jiaying asked herself honestly, she could only imitate the feeling of pain in terms of technique, but she could not express it freely from the heart. After all, she had never experienced life and death, had never raised a pet since childhood, and had never been separated from small animals.

"Then you are very talented too." Qu Jiaying felt that Xiaoxing's compositions and performances on the theme of death were very moving.

Xiaoxing sighed: "My grandma passed away a few years ago. She raised me. Dawei was also raised by his grandma for a few years when he was little. His parents were busy with work and sent him back to China. He didn't go back until he was in elementary school. I was just born then. We rarely saw each other before. He would occasionally come back to China with his parents to visit relatives. We became acquainted at the funeral. We talked about our memories of our grandma. Our grandma was an elementary school music teacher, so we talked about music and then we started working together."

Xiaoxing said with emotion, "I am very lucky. Dawei is my producer. Otherwise, back then, as a minor girl, my parents did not understand these things and I don't know how I would have been treated. I would probably have signed an unfair contract and encountered male musicians who looked down on me. But because of him, I was able to sign directly with a large company that has business both at home and abroad. I did not encounter many troubles at work. Our ideas are very similar and our work has been very smooth."

Qu Jiaying knows that many classical musicians also have agents, but first and foremost, the agent must be a "master," not just any musician.

So before becoming famous, you have to promote yourself. However, classical musicians are very reserved and look down on their peers who are of average skill but get a lot of performance opportunities through social connections.

In this respect, Qu Jiaying is very envious of Xiaoxing.

Xiao Xing laughed and said, "Can't those three help you?"

"Well, the quartet activities are fine, but we all have our own things to do. They can help me now, but it's unlikely after graduation."

Yan Zheng, in particular, helped her find many performance opportunities during winter and summer vacations. However, he was a reserved classical musician and could only contact the bar that Xiang Min had initially contacted, which was Chen Li's. Even if they both went to the United States to study music, they would not be in the same city. Even though Qu Jiaying was very clear about this, she still did not want to separate.

Xiaoxing had heard Dawei tell some heartbreaking stories about classical musicians, so she comforted her for a couple of minutes, then glanced down at the map and reminded her, "We're almost there."

Qu Jiaying quickly informed the three of them that she had something to discuss and that they should meet at the school gate later.

Xiang Mingang brought a bunch of unresolved questions to Cai Rui's place. It was their first meeting, and although they didn't have a full discussion, Cai Rui did his best to answer his questions.

After just one meeting, Xiang Min made a lot of progress.

Previously, he was stuck on having too many ideas and not knowing how to combine them. Cai Rui helped him sort them out and summarize a main theme, and then add other parts on top of that.

The first and second movements, which were almost finished, had been organized and were roughly in shape, but Xiang Min still had no ideas for the third movement.

"Was this poem, 'Green Night,' written for Qu Jiaying?" Cai Rui asked.

Xiang Min wasn't quite used to it. He couldn't stand the bluntness of these people who had grown up abroad, but at the same time, they were very clear about boundaries, so he could only nod vaguely.

But it’s not hard to see that Xiang Min wrote a violin concerto with only three movements, while some of his classmates would write symphonies with at least four movements in order to get better grades.

Xiang Min said, "The allegro of the first movement is about the joy, pleasure and trepidation of the first encounter; the adagio of the second movement is about the distance between us, the confusion and misunderstanding between us. But the finale of the third movement, which is now, I don't know how to define it, it's still very vague, and I can't describe it with musical notes."

Previously, when Qu Jiaying was willing to learn about his story, Xiang Min was very happy, but he also wanted to keep a certain distance. He was worried that if the distance was too close, he wouldn't be able to see clearly enough and wouldn't be able to detach his emotions into his creation. However, this sense of distance made him very uncomfortable, and he could only watch as Le Yi, Yan Zheng, and even other men approached her.

What frustrated him even more was that Qu Jiaying also kept her distance, standing neither too close nor too far.

He knew he couldn't blame anyone, as he had made the same choice, but he was still annoyed and dissatisfied. However, he couldn't express these emotions to Qu Jiaying, so in the end, they all turned into musical notes.

However, upon seeing the message from Qu Jiaying, Xiang Min immediately said goodbye to Cai Rui.

"Don't rush, take your time writing. There's still a year left. You can retake the classes you missed last semester next semester. The final exam this semester will be the first movement," Cai Rui advised.

Xiang Min nodded, put away the sheet music, and walked towards the school gate.

He had just reached the gate when he saw a black sedan stop, and Qu Jiaying, dressed in a white dress, stepped out of the car.

Xiang Min's heartbeat quickened slightly.

Just as he was about to step forward, Le Yi and Yan Zheng appeared beside Qu Jiaying.

Yan Zheng complimented with restraint and politeness, "This outfit suits you very well; it gives you a sophisticated and intellectual beauty."

"What is intellectual beauty?" Qu Jiaying said with a helpless smile.

Le Yi was even more excited, praising her incessantly and even using metaphors, saying, "Like a crane!"

Qu Jiaying rolled her eyes at him: "Next time you compliment me, you can just say I look like a female celebrity."

She waved to Xiang Min, who was not far away, indicating that they should go to the restaurant together.

Xiang Min followed in her footsteps.

He probably really has no way to resist; he's always tempted, and maybe that's just his fate.

Looking at Qu Jiaying's figure, he knew how to compose the third movement.