Spring 2022.
Manchester International Cello Competition, UK, Youth Category.
16-year-old Nanali sat alone in the corner of the lounge, her little fists clenched secretly.
"Here it comes. It's Gan Yanyu."
There were whispers of discussion around her, and Nunnally quickly raised her head.
On the big screen.
A girl wearing a snow-white dress and with her hair tied up high walked onto the stage.
"Is she Gan Yanyu?"
Nunnally stared at the girl on the screen with her eyes wide open.
"What a nice view."
Nanali didn't expect that the rumored Gan Yanyu was actually a girl of the same age as her.
Moreover, with such an incredibly beautiful face, is she Gan Hua’s granddaughter?
Nanali carefully compared the appearance of the girl in front of her with that of the old man in the videotape in her memory, and indeed could vaguely see some similarities.
As long as I defeat her, as long as I defeat her here, I won’t have to learn the cello anymore.
Nunnally's throat was a little hoarse, and she swallowed her saliva. She kept telling herself this in her heart.
However, when the camera on the big screen focused on the girl's face.
Nanali saw Gan Yanyu's eyes and was stunned for a moment.
——A pool of stagnant water.
Those were very beautiful, blue eyes as crystal as sapphires.
But at this moment, there is no trace of emotion in it.
The whole person exudes an extreme coldness, which makes it difficult for people to approach him. Just staring at him from a distance is enough to make one feel cold all over.
Sixteen-year-old Nunnally shuddered.
As an opponent,
Gan Yanyu's aura is really too terrifying.
As expected, she is that man’s granddaughter.
Am I really qualified to be a rival to such a person?
Nunnally thought so.
Soon, Gan Yanyu on the stage raised the bow.
Just when everyone thought that the performance was about to begin.
The girl's bow suddenly froze in the air.
There was silence for several seconds.
There were sounds of discussion all around, the audience were whispering and talking, and on the judges' panel, a group of judges frowned and looked at Gan Yanyu with impatient eyes.
Nunnally also widened her eyes and looked at the girl nervously.
As the camera gradually zoomed in, Nanali suddenly discovered.
The "Ice Beauty" showed an extremely struggling expression on her face at this moment.
Her eyes looked painful.
What's going on? Nunnally doesn't understand.
Is he feeling unwell? If he is unwell, he should ask for leave, Nanali kept guessing in her mind.
This situation lasted for about eight seconds.
Gan Yanyu's expression returned to calm, and his eyes gradually returned to their previous dead look.
She brought down her bow—
The performance began.
The piano played rapidly, and the girl's bow kept accelerating towards the phantom.
The feeling of oppression and speed makes it a little breathless.
An overwhelming chill came over us, as if sweeping across the entire stage.
Just like the Snow Queen, she only needs to wave her index finger slightly and the huge special effects will surround the entire stage.
Nunnally was completely stunned.
Good. Awesome!!
Nunnally's little hands moved restlessly back and forth on her knees.
On the big screen, Gan Yanyu's eyes still showed no expression, but her fingers seemed to be wound up, operating like a precise machine.
She played the music easily and without any error.
Nanali couldn't imagine it.
How many times did one need to practice the music score to reach this level? Hundreds? Thousands? Or countless?
Looking at Gan Yanyu's figure, Nanali's heartbeat accelerated. This was the fear from the bottom of her heart brought about by the great sense of oppression.
A chilling temperament like a glacier.
Reproduce the contents of the music score without error.
She was so calm, with a look of disdain, as if she didn't take anyone seriously.
This... This is simply the Queen of Cello!! Gan Yanyu walked off the stage with her cello and returned to the lounge.
After entering the lounge, there was only a blonde British girl left in the huge room.
The moment I saw Gan Yanyu,
The little British girl seemed to be touched by something all of a sudden, "Wow!!!"
Started crying loudly.
Gan Yanyu was stunned.
Nunnally's face was covered with tears. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her skirt, but the tears and snot were still flowing more and more. She choked and said to herself, "It's impossible to defeat such a person!!!"
Thinking of the agreement with her mother, Nunnally cried even louder.
Tonic! Tonic, a lifelong cello player! ! Nunnally cried bitterly in her heart.
This Chinese girl in front of me is not a human being at all! She should be called a human metronome! ! How can anyone play like this? ! This kind of music is not something I can beat! And Nanali glanced at Gan Yanyu in front of her again.
After she found that Gan Yanyu was looking at her, she was so scared that she didn't dare to cry anymore.
It's so scary! There's no expression on this person's face. Her eyes are completely empty! She's the queen, you know?!
This kind of emotionless, cold-blooded animal made Nanali lose the courage to become her opponent. She would never dare to associate with such a person! But if so, she would have to learn the cello for the rest of her life.
As Nanali was thinking about it, her nose felt sore and she felt like something was about to fall off again.
She quickly turned around and faced Gan Yanyu, expecting the queen to leave the lounge as soon as she got her luggage. However, just as Nanali was looking at the floor nervously.
A figure suddenly stood in front of her.
Nanali's heart skipped a beat and she slowly raised her head.
Gan Yanyu tilted her head and looked at her curiously.
It's the Queen!!!
Nanali was shocked and quickly turned her head away, closing her eyes tightly, as if nothing existed as long as she couldn't see.
Just then,
There was a soft touch on my head.
Nanali was confused, and then she opened her eyes carefully.
The "Glacier Queen" in front of her was stroking her head gently at this moment, and said softly: "I heard you can speak Chinese, so I will speak Chinese to you too. This is your first time on stage, right?"
"It's normal to feel scared when you go on stage for the first time. Don't worry. Everything will be fine the moment you draw the bow."
Gan Yanyu smiled sweetly.
“.”
Nunnally was stunned.
The glacier queen actually laughed. She could actually laugh.
Moreover, her smile was so gentle and beautiful. Nanali looked into Gan Yanyu's eyes and found that the original stagnant look in them had disappeared, replaced by a pair of eyes full of spirit.
How did he do that? Just now on the stage, he was... Nanali stared at Gan Yanyu curiously, and a blush suddenly appeared on her delicate mixed-race face.
"I'm not nervous."
Nunnally looked away feeling a little guilty.
Gan Yanyu covered his chest, breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled, "That's good."
"However, no matter what kind of difficulties we encounter, as long as we are on stage, everything will be fine." Gan Yanyu said, "For example, I am actually afraid of the stage. I am really scared to death. But every time I play the cello, I forget everything. Actually, when I think about it carefully after I get off the stage, it seems that it is just like that, right?"
Although she had clearly "believed" what Nanali said, Gan Yanyu still had a bright smile on her face and patiently guided Nanali, telling her all about her feelings about performing on the stage.
As she was talking, Gan Yanyu's expression suddenly changed slightly. She asked Nanali to wait a moment, then turned around, opened the cello bag, and took out a white bottle from it.
Because she couldn't see the label clearly, Nanali couldn't guess what it was. Gan Yanyu then walked out a few steps, took out a capsule from the white bottle, put it in her mouth, and drank some water.
Nunnally watched with wide eyes.
She found that at this moment, the girl's eyes seemed to have returned to the same look she had on the stage.
Nanali suddenly thought of the "painful" and "struggling" expression on Gan Yanyu's face before she started playing on the stage just now, which seemed to be exactly the same as the look in front of her.
Nunnally's pupils suddenly widened.
She suddenly thought: the gentle Gan Yanyu now is the real her. And the Gan Yanyu on the stage is also her.
However, the girl in front of him seemed to have always been suffering from the torture on the stage. "Glacier" seemed to have become her tool to protect herself.
Only in rare cases will she reveal her true self. When Gan Yanyu returned to Nanali again, the blonde girl suddenly spoke:
"Why?"
"Um?"
"Why couldn't the performance just now be as gentle as it is now?"
Hearing this, Gan Yanyu was stunned.
Then, Nanali stood up from her chair and shouted to Gan Yanyu:
"You're obviously not that kind of person, so why do you use that kind of mechanical performance? It's amazing, but that's not the real you!!"
Nanali stared at Gan Yanyu closely.
This is the woman whose parents have told her to defeat the family feud.
She didn't understand why Gan Yanyu became like this.
She is really beautiful when she smiles.
“.”
After a long silence, Gan Yanyu lowered his eyes, then raised them again:
"Thank you for your advice."
"I'll pay attention next time."
Thank you - what does that mean? Do I have to play like a queen like I do now?
"My name is Nanali, Nanali from the Nanali family."
Nunnally clenched her fists and said seriously, "I am your opponent! If you don't take it seriously and just keep playing like this, sooner or later, I will defeat you!"
Gan Yanyu looked at Nanali and leaned down.
"good!"
The girl placed her hand on Nanali's head again - although she was one year younger, Gan Yanyu was a whole head taller than Nanali, so she was able to place her hand there easily.
"Then I'll wait for you."
"But if you cry in the arena again, you can still find me and I will comfort you!"
Gan Yanyu smiled brightly, then straightened her back, turned around and left.
Nanali opened her mouth slightly, but when the words came to her lips, she couldn't say them.
Gan Yanyu in front of him only left a back view.
She carried the cello on her back and walked with graceful steps. She was still that tall figure, but gave people a warm and reassuring feeling. Since then.
Nunnally started running.
She continued to hone her piano skills and competed with Gan Yanyu in various competitions, following in Gan Yanyu's footsteps, but was defeated every time.
Many times, she spoke harsh words to Gan Yanyu, but all she got was a smiling reply from Gan Yanyu.
No matter how aloof Gan Yanyu is in front of other people, she always remains gentle towards Nanali.
Just keep chasing and chasing.
Chased to the Celestial Empire, chased to Qingzhou.
Chased to Baijing, chased to Vienna.
Until later,
Nanali was also a little dazed.
She also began to lose track.
What I am pursuing after all is the love I gain after defeating Gan Yanyu.
Or was it that what she was chasing after was just the gentleness of Gan Yanyu hidden in her music? That day, they met for the first time at a game in Manchester.
It has become the gentleness that makes Nunnally play the cello all the time, just for,
Take one more look. Before leaving this cello competition arena, take one more look at the girl's gentle smile.
The cello played with extreme emotion.
Nanali was playing seriously on the stage.
Gan Yanyu recognized it at a glance.
This piece of music is the one I once played at the Manchester International Cello Competition.
However, that song was originally played by Gan Yanyu on the mechanically precise cello.
It was adapted by Nanali into the "Back View" that she performs now.
Gan Yanyu was not able to show the gentleness that she had shown on the stage back then.
All of this was revealed in Nunnally's performance.
What she is playing now in this Cole Cup arena is not "her own" or anyone else's gentleness.
But it belongs exclusively to Gan Yanyu, to the tenderness that came from Gan Yanyu in the concert hall in Manchester that day - was it conveyed?
Nunnally opened her eyes and looked towards the camera.
At this moment, tears flowed from Nanali's eyes.
I have been catching up with you until now, and I finally understand.
I never cared about music or the cello.
What I have been chasing is just your back. In the lounge.
The more Lin Tian listened to the piano, the more he felt something was wrong.
This doesn't seem like Nunnally's style! ! Even from an emotional point of view, the inner world of "purity", "kindness" and "hopeful tenderness" displayed in this music does not seem like Nunnally's own characteristics.
It's more like... Lin Tian turned his head and suddenly discovered.
At this time, Gan Yanyu was completely lost in thought as she stared at the big screen.
A relieved smile appeared on his face involuntarily.
(End of this chapter)
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