The last sheet of music
"My mother and I should pursue our own dreams."
Tang Xi looked at his two friends and gave the answer he had thought of long ago.
The moment Qiao Tian heard the answer, the heavy stone in her chest was completely relieved: "It's okay, it's okay. I almost thought you followed Teacher Yu to the piano competition - and in the audience."
"If I really do this, will you stop me?" Tang Xi looked at his friend curiously.
Qiao Tian held her chin with one hand, thought carefully for a moment, and then gave the most honest answer: "I don't know."
Song Xingchui also looked a little surprised: "I thought you would yell at her."
"Will Sister Xingchui scold Xixi?" Qiao Tian asked curiously.
"Of course, I think that since she has given up the pop music competition now, it would be better for her not to waste her efforts in the first place." Song Xingzhi said in white.
Far from being angry, Tang Xi looked at Qiao Tian with even more confusion: "To be honest, Tiantian, I think you would scold me without hesitation."
Qiao Tian spread her hands and said, "I thought about my mom. My dad always talks about his academic qualifications. Now that my mom is really planning to apply to adult college, he either criticizes her or thinks it's unnecessary. I think her determination to pursue her dreams in her old age is very precious. Suppose, and I mean suppose, her exam and my competition are on the same day, I might really put down the competition to accompany her."
Song Xingchui raised an eyebrow. "And your mother was under tremendous pressure in the exam room, thinking, 'Oh, my daughter gave up her own competition for me, I must do well in the exam,' right?"
Qiao Tian stuck out her tongue. "And I'm not necessarily willing to give up my dream either. So, I really don't know whether I should scold you or not, because I don't know what I would do either. Ahhh, so confusing."
Tang Xi chuckled: "Whether it's confusing or not, as long as I understand it."
Qiao Tian snorted, "Anyway, I think the ending is perfect. You and Teacher Yu each chose to participate in your own competition."
Song Xingchui poured cold water on the two of them again. She raised her chin towards Tang Xi and asked, "We all know how many songs Teacher Yu has secretly written over the years. If you pick any one of them, there's a 99% chance that it will shock everyone. Xixi, have you decided what to sing?"
Although what Song Xingchui said was exaggerated, it was also an objective fact.
The piano competition is divided into three groups. The reason why the youth group is placed last is not because it is strictly sorted by age, but purely because based on previous competitions, the youth group has no "surprises".
First, the youth group, whose members are all adults over 22 years old, or just starting out in their twenties.
Otherwise, famous people will not participate in the piano competition unless they sit in the commentary box or the audience. Pianists with some skills but no fame will not bother to compete with ordinary people.
Yu Ji suddenly appeared in her forties, and with the Tang Guangyao incident as her backing, the public still only sees her as a pianist who is good at writing music but not very skilled in playing. If it weren't for her poor level - how could someone in her forties not be famous at all?
Song Xingchui bet that she didn't even need to perform exceptionally well to easily amaze everyone.
Of course, Song Xingchui and her mother did not think that she had to get any ranking to prove herself. She and her mother agreed that as long as Yu Ji took a step towards the stage, she had already won.
Tang Xi's situation is completely different from her mother's. First of all, her participation in the competition is completely contrary to her previous habits. The attention brought by the Tang Guangyao incident will only bring her tremendous pressure.
She couldn't just deal with it casually, so it was more important to be prepared.
If she really postponed the competition due to pressure, Song Xingchui could understand.
She even offered, “I’m always available to give you a reference if you need it.”
"No need." Tang Xi's refusal was a thousand times quicker than she had imagined.
Qiao Tian was also a little worried about her friend: "Xixi, don't be so stubborn."
Tang Xi blinked his left eye twice: "How can you conclude that I am just showing off? Although I have doubted myself before."
As far as she can remember, she wrote many songs by herself.
She gave it to her father with great expectations, hoping that he would give her a positive answer, but every time he just glanced at her quickly and then showed a helpless smile.
"Alice, Dad knows you desperately want to be like me, but it's still too early for you to start writing music. Don't worry, it won't be too late in a few years."
She thought back then, how could someone who could write Question not understand music?
Could it be that she didn't inherit any of her father's talents?
Young Tang Xi only thought that the reason why the world called her a genius girl was entirely because of her father.
Tang Xi didn't want to be narcissistic now, but when her father was proven to be the mediocre one, she couldn't help but feel -
Or maybe her father just didn't understand her music.
Or maybe all of the father's denials came from his jealousy towards her and her daughter.
She didn't want to think too badly of people, but her father was indeed a scumbag who liked to belittle others in order to gain a sense of superiority.
So, she put the opinions of the copycats aside and asked the true geniuses instead.
She handed the music score to her mother with both hands and looked at her mother expectantly.
The mother read over and over this short page for thirty minutes. The longer she remained silent, the more anxious she became.
The room was so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard clearly. Tang Xi couldn't help but speak up: "Mom, are you not speaking because you're afraid of hurting my pride?"
"Do you think I'm the kind of person who keeps things to myself?"
"no."
Yu Ji smiled and shook his head twice. "Music is inherently subjective. I hate Tang Guangyao's music purely because his songs don't contain any of his own unique ideas. They're either cluttered with methods or deliberately pandering to the crowd. He even calls himself a musician at the forefront of his time. It's ridiculous."
She was full of disdain when she mentioned Tang Guangyao, but her attitude towards Tang Xi was particularly gentle: "Of course I don't oppose marketization. As long as you admit it frankly, I am willing to offer suggestions on how to marketize it. But if you want to ask me whether it's okay, after thinking it over, I think I should ask you what you think of the song you wrote."
She ran her fingers over the title.
She twisted her trouser legs with her hands and said seriously, "I like it very much."
Her long eyebrows rose again, and the smile on her lips deepened: "You like it, it is the best work in your world, you don't have to care whether others like it or not. If you still want to know my opinion, I can boldly tell you-"
She paused for a moment, and actually placed the music score on the piano. Her fingertips easily reproduced the tune that appeared over and over again in Tang Xi's mind.
The waves are blue because she wishes she were blue.
The sky is blue because she likes the color blue.
The ground is yellow because it is convenient for the earth to vent its dissatisfaction, and the raised dust is its loud protest.
As Yu Ji closed the piano lid, she took a deep breath.
What she received was not the final verdict from a genius, but
"Tang Xi, I really regret that you didn't let me see your music earlier. Otherwise, there wouldn't be those inexplicable conflicts between us. It would be enough for me to understand that we are exactly the same."
*
Saturday, game day.
The three of them got up early.
Lu Yao stood at the door and looked at the two of them eagerly.
Yu Ji on the left is wearing a light blue cheongsam with a wooden hairpin on her head, and looks more like she is going to participate in a guqin competition.
Tang Xi on the right is dressed as a good girl as always, but she is carrying a not-so-small guitar on her back.
The old lady's face was full of displeasure: "I was struggling all night yesterday, wondering whether to follow Xiaoji or Xiaoxi today, and you guys just didn't let me go!"
The mother and daughter looked at each other and chuckled at the same time.
Yu Ji once again transformed into a cold-blooded devil: "I think you're really overthinking it. There are so many people on both sides of the scene. How can I let you go?"
Tang Xi was a curious baby: "Grandma, whose game did you decide to watch?"
Lu Yao ignored his daughter and pinched her granddaughter's cheek, snorting, "Are you trying to trick me? Luckily, I'm smart and came up with a perfect plan yesterday. First, I'll go to Xiaoji's competition venue and stay there for an hour, then go to Xiaoxi's competition venue and stay there for an hour. Anyway, I don't know your exact time to go on stage, so even if I don't see you, I'll still be there. And it's absolutely fair and impartial."
Yu Ji was so angry at his mother that he laughed: "If you really want to see someone, we can still discuss it. Your idea makes me more determined not to let you go."
The old lady made a face at her daughter and said, "I knew you would say that, so I called Xingchui last night. She helped me come up with a brilliant idea."
Yu Ji said, "Are you planning to watch the live broadcast?"
"I guessed half right." The old lady held up two fingers and made a two. "I can watch one live match on each TV. If I had two TVs in the living room, I could definitely watch your game at the same time."
Yu Ji's face was filled with suspicion. "Both sides are arguing so much. What if Tang Xi and I were to perform at the same time? You wouldn't be able to hear either of our songs clearly."
The old lady patted her chest with pride, "You guys are playing highbrow music, and I'm a lowbrow. I can't understand it anyway, so I might as well look at your faces carefully. Oh, and I'll ask Aunt Mo to record everything on both TVs, exactly. That way, even if Shumo borrows your high school videotape, I'll have something else to watch."
Yu Ji and Tang Xi's eyes met again. This time, they felt helpless, yet wanted to laugh.
*
Although the mother and daughter cannot hold hands and cheer each other up, there is no need to worry about whether they will feel lonely.
The mother-daughter relationship is extremely stable, but that doesn't mean friends are not important.
Song Xingchui rarely rode a motorcycle, so he drove to pick up Tang Xi and Qiao Tian respectively, and the three of them went to the scene together.
She is also a pop musician. Because she owns Yueyong Bar as a platform, she has long been a well-known figure in the circle.
She never told Qiao Tian and Tang Xi that the pop music competition existed because of her suggestion.
So today she is not a contestant, but a judge.
Although Tang Xi and Qiao Tian are competitors, it doesn't mean they can't encourage each other.
Win or lose?
Who cares.
All each of them wants is to do what they want to do, nothing more.
Yu Ji is naturally not alone. She has a long-time friend Song Duzhou, a friend Lin Shuangxue who cannot be recognized by the world, and Huang Cuifang who was hesitant and was finally forced by her to attend the pop music competition.
Huang Cuifang had just bought a smart phone, but she didn't know how to use it and was extremely slow at typing. However, this did not prevent her from sending Yu Ji a text message of over a thousand words, which she was forced to split into several messages.
Yu Ji put her phone aside and looked at Lin Shuangxue and Song Duzhou standing in front of her. It would be a lie to say that she was not moved, but this was not the fundamental reason why she chose this path.
In the past, she made the choice without hesitation to shoulder the responsibilities of a mother, and now, she wants to continue on the path of music.
She never regretted it because it was what she wanted to do.
This includes, but is not limited to, the pieces she plans to play on stage.
Whether it was Song Duzhou or Lin Shuangxue, both of them showed shock on their faces, as if to say "Are you crazy?"
But strangely, none of them expressed their doubts, but chose to believe her decision.
It’s not that she can’t come up with a song that the judges like more. Ultimately, it all comes down to her liking it.
Things must have a beginning and an end. If the fifteen-year-old Yu Ji failed to play Question at the piano competition, then let the forty-year-old Yu Ji do it.
To gain popularity? Failure?
She doesn't care.
*
Tang Xi sat in the preparation room, watching her mother walk onto the stage. She snorted softly, "It's a good thing grandma didn't come, otherwise I wouldn't be able to watch anyone's competition."
She held the guitar in her hands and raised her chin towards Qiao Tian: "I'm leaving."
Qiao Tian clenched his fists and waved them in front of her twice: "Come on, you are the best."
Tang Xi narrowed his left eye and smiled: "No, we are all the best."
She strode onto the stage that belonged to her. The judges and the audience below the stage were completely different from those in a piano competition.
They don't wear suits, they don't have set rules, and they show their emotions.
The only similarity is probably that they are all curious about what the person on the stage is going to do.
She stood in the center of the stage, without deliberately thinking about what style would be more suitable for "popularity".
She is who she is. She may continue to play the piano in the future, but at the moment, all she wants to do is let everyone see the repertoire she has carefully prepared.
She is singer Tang Xi and pianist Tang Xi. She always pursues the dream she most wants to accomplish at the moment. This is her answer.
"Hello everyone, I'm Tang Xi, and the song I've prepared is Answer."
*
Jiang Shumo already knew the performance time of Yu Ji and Tang Xi.
She had a computer at home, so she naturally thought of running two videos at the same time, with Yu Ji and Tang Xi each half, squeezed into the 27-inch screen.
Question was played first, followed by Answer.
She didn't consider herself proficient in music, but she was certainly not completely ignorant. She could never imagine that there would be two such songs in the world.
A strange idea popped into her mind.
Eighteen-year-old Tang Xi answered the confusions of fifteen-year-old Yu Ji one by one.
Jiang Shumo had never felt this way before. The two songs made her heart beat fast.
She was just getting excited, but she sighed that the song was too short.
They are far apart, but they seem to be on the same stage at this moment.
Not long after Yu Ji stopped, Tang Xi also stopped.
What they said to the camera was even more "similar in meaning".
"I'm Yu Ji."
"I'm Tang Xi."
"The piece I played was Question."
"The song I played is Answer."
“I hope you can understand my music, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t appreciate it, because I know there is someone in this world who definitely understands it.”
As soon as she stepped down from the stage, she began to follow.
Jiang Shumo gently pressed his fingers under his eyes, which were inexplicably filled with warm tears.
She felt that this might not be the end, but it was definitely a good beginning.
She exhaled heavily, turned off both screens at the same time, and quickly opened the document she had not yet finished writing.
She wrote the first sentence, which also ended the book,
'She said, my mother is a genius'
(End of full text)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
