Chapter 11, Song 11...
Grandma Chen's 88th birthday banquet is coming soon. Qu Jiaying and the other three received a message from Chen Li that her grandmother had been in and out of the hospital a few days ago and finally decided to have a simple banquet at home.
Xiang Min forwarded the address to the group. Qu Jiaying glanced at the address; she wasn't very familiar with the area.
Yan Zheng was a little worried: "This place is quite far from the city center. Fortunately, it's in the same direction as our campus. When we book a ride, we should ask the driver if they can pick us up on the way back, otherwise we won't be able to get back."
Yan Zheng and Xiang Min were responsible for these trivial matters. Le Yi tried to get involved but was rejected. Qu Jiaying was happy to be a hands-off manager.
On the day of the old man's birthday banquet, Qu Jiaying and the other three gathered with their belongings. Xiang Min, carrying his heavy cello, said dejectedly, "I really envy Le Yi. He doesn't have to bring anything; there are ready-made instruments when he arrives."
Le Yi quickly pointed to the seven-seater minivan that had just pulled up to the side of the road and begged for forgiveness: "I specially ordered a large vehicle."
Xiang Min sighed. The last time he went to the bar, Le Yi called a car. He completely forgot the size of the cello and put it in the trunk of a regular car, with half of the case outside the car.
This time, Le Yi learned from their experience, and since they needed to go eat first, they chartered a car in advance.
Grandma Chen is in poor health, so even when she has a family meal together, it's usually at noon.
Chen Li gave Qu Jiaying and the other three people a buffet voucher for a restaurant at a nearby five-star hotel, telling them to come over after lunch.
After lunch, we soon arrived at Grandma Chen's house, a refined and elegant villa. Red roses climbed the fence, the courtyard was full of flowers, low-lying blue-purple hydrangeas, slightly taller osmanthus trees exuded fragrance, and taller bamboo groves rustled.
Once inside, the house was bustling with activity. Grandma Chen had a son and a daughter. Although her granddaughter Chen Li was not yet married, her cousin already had two children. Four generations lived together, and with Qu Jiaying and the others, there were fourteen people in the house.
Sitting in the middle of the sofa was Chen Li's grandmother, Chen Fang. Chen Li leaned against her grandmother and introduced Qu Jiaying and the other three.
Qu Jiaying watched as the frail and thin old woman, who could only sit upright with the help of others, tried her best to show her elegance. She remembered what her father had told her a few days ago: this Grandma Chen Fang's father was a musician, and she had followed in his footsteps. Because she could play the violin, she entered the art troupe. After leaving the military, she entered the music academy and was one of the earliest professional teachers.
More than a decade ago, the last concert was held at the music academy. Qu's father recalled what Grandma Chen Fang looked like back then. At seventy years old, she still shone brightly on the stage. She lasted for an hour and a half without showing any signs of fatigue, and her performance was absolutely perfect.
Mr. Qu remarked with emotion, "Even if you only received one piece of advice from Teacher Chen Fang, your trip wouldn't have been in vain."
Le Yi sat down at the piano, lifted the cloth that the old man often used, and played a scale. The pitch was in good condition. The piano was set up and the tone was beautiful. He smiled with delight.
Qu Jiaying and the other two took out their pianos and sat on the left side of the piano. They were on the round balcony of the living room, with gauze curtains swaying in the wind behind them. Outside the balcony was a rustling bamboo forest. The windows were open, and the fragrance of osmanthus flowers that bloom all year round would occasionally drift into the room.
With limited vocal ranges, the four instruments intertwine, with the high notes responsible for the main melody, the middle notes filling in the harmony, and the low notes providing support.
Xiang Min's arrangement was quite good, and with Yan Zheng's guidance on the interpretation of the piece, the grandeur of the original work was preserved as much as possible. The two of them practiced hard and did their best to play this "Symphony No. 5" well.
Le Yi performed very well. The piano enhanced the rhythm of the original wind instruments and timpani, made up for the impact of the cello, and could also take on multiple tasks such as melody, counterpoint and harmonic accompaniment. Its own tone quality naturally formed a confrontation with the strings.
But these did not overshadow Qu Jiaying's performance. She could use her low notes to cover up her viola and cello and compete with the piano, and she could also show her brilliance in the high notes.
It is thanks to Qu Jiaying that the strings and piano can be perfectly balanced, achieving the theme of fate and struggle.
Half an hour later, all four movements were played, and all nine members of the Chen family applauded, except for Grandma Chen Fang.
"The arrangement is somewhat original, the piano is excellent, the viola and cello have done what you were supposed to do, but violin, what are you doing?" Chen Fang asked bluntly.
Qu Jiaying was stunned.
"Although the viola and cello are technically lacking, they have brought out the theme of fighting against fate. The piano goes without saying, both the technique and musicality are excellent. Violin, you only have technique, so why should I listen to a live performance?" Grandma Chen Fang, who was particularly frail due to illness, spoke softly, but she pushed Qu Jiaying to the brink of a dead end.
"..." Qu Jiaying couldn't explain herself; she had clearly been practicing so diligently.
Her silence made Grandma Chen Fang even more unhappy: "What do you think of music? I can't hear anything in your playing. Don't think you can take my piano just because of this kind of performance! I'll donate it tomorrow!"
Qu Jiaying looked bewildered. What kind of zither?
Chen Li was extremely embarrassed and quickly saw Qu Jiaying and the other three out the door.
Chen Li pulled Qu Jiaying aside and whispered, "Old people tend to be suspicious as they get older. She has a fine piano worth over a million yuan, and over the years, there have always been people who want it."
The benefits of a good violin are very obvious. A good tone is one aspect, but more importantly, every violinist who aspires to become a soloist wants to own a valuable violin. This is an essential step for all soloists.
The most valuable violins in the world are the hundreds made by Stradivarius in the 17th century. They have been coveted by countless people for three hundred years and now cost hundreds of millions of dollars. They are mostly scattered among various collectors and foundations and are occasionally lent to soloists.
A good violin is typically an antique or one that has been used by a renowned soloist.
Grandma Chen Fang's violin may not be comparable to a Stradivarius violin, but it's certainly not bad either, otherwise it wouldn't be priced like that.
After Qu Jiaying stopped growing taller, she got her current zither, a nice one from the collection of luthier Xia Xiaolei. It has a long history, and Qu's parents spent 200,000 yuan to buy it.
Qu Jiaying cherished the zither very much. She didn't know that Grandma Chen Fang had a fine zither, nor did she intend to want it.
Chen Li took Qu Jiaying's arm, preventing her from leaving in anger: "I'm really sorry. I meant well, wanting my grandma to hear your performance. She's been feeling unwell a lot since she got sick."
Qu Jiaying sighed. She felt Chen Li's kindness; otherwise, she wouldn't have wanted to celebrate the birthday of someone so strict that they would beat and scold children, even if it was a sick elderly person.
"Didn't you say your family is musically inclined? Doesn't anyone play the violin?" Qu Jiaying asked.
“Yes, my dad and my aunt both play the violin, but their skill level is just average. My cousin plays the guitar, and his two children have also started learning; one plays the drums and the other plays the guzheng,” Chen Li explained.
“My grandma isn’t what you think. She comes from a respectable family. My great-grandfather studied abroad and played the violin very well. My grandfather learned the violin from my great-grandfather, but his skill level is only average. However, he can still teach children. My grandma is more capable and often performs at home and abroad. My dad and my aunt learned the violin under my grandfather’s tutelage,” Chen Li recounted. “Unfortunately, they didn’t inherit the talent of my grandma and great-grandfather. But they both followed my grandparents’ idea of building a musical family and each found a musical partner. Unfortunately, my cousin doesn’t have much talent either. Under pressure, he can only play the guitar.”
Chen Li smiled wryly: "But I do possess a bit of this unfortunate talent."
“I was never a good girl growing up. I would throw a tantrum when they scolded me for not practicing the violin well. My grandma learned from her experience that her family’s upbringing had failed, so she finally agreed to let me learn the piano,” Chen Li recalled. “I was a bit more talented than my cousin, my aunt and my dad, but I wasn’t that good. Gao Ying had only been learning for a short time, but she was making rapid progress. I practiced until I had calluses on my butt before I learned the difficult techniques. I knew I had no chance. At that time, my family was preparing to let me take the entrance exam for the affiliated middle school of the music academy. I threw another tantrum and almost smashed the piano, the one that Le Yi just played.”
“It was my grandma who finally gave in and let me go to a regular middle school, but I couldn’t give up the piano. Later, when I took the college entrance exam, she also agreed to let me choose a major that had nothing to do with music.” Chen Li smiled slightly. “When I was little, I couldn’t believe it at all. After I went to college, I was freed and I truly fell in love with playing the piano and felt the beauty of music. After meeting Yang Jingyi, we actually opened a bar together where there is music every day. We didn’t do a job in the field of the major I chose back then.”
"Jiaying, what about you? Why do you keep playing the violin?"
On her way back, Qu Jiaying kept thinking about this question. No one forced her or scolded her. She had just started learning from a young age. She was talented and never got tired of practicing the piano. She just kept practicing like that. Besides, she didn't know anything else. Wasn't this okay?
Le Yi, Yan Zheng, and Xiang Min remained quiet and did not disturb her, but their eyes were all on her, looking at her with concern.
The van pulled up at the school gate, and Yan Zheng was the first to carry Qu Jiaying's violin case on his back: "I'll take her home."
Perhaps because they were from the same school and could be considered childhood sweethearts who grew up together, Yan Zheng had the upper hand for the time being, and Le Yi and Xiang Min had no choice but to retreat after giving them a few words of advice.
Qu Jiaying didn't want to go home yet; she wanted to sort out her thoughts.
Yan Zheng led Qu Jiaying for a walk in a nearby park. The campus was already quite remote, and the park was even less crowded as it was almost dinner time. The endless twilight stretched across the horizon, making the sky appear a clear blue.
Qu Jiaying couldn't understand it, but she knew one thing: she had to continue practicing "Symphony No. 5" because she didn't want to be told that it "lacked musicality and was poorly performed" anymore.
Yan Zheng watched as she called Gao Ying, full of energy and gritted teeth, to say she wanted to change the piece for the final exam.
Gao Ying shouted on the other end of the phone, "Again?"
"Do you think it's too late? Chen Li told me today that you were very capable when you were a child. Should I go find Le Yi?" Qu Jiaying provoked her.
"Don't go to anyone else!"
Qu Jiaying hung up the phone triumphantly.
Yan Zheng chuckled as he looked at Qu Jiaying, who had shaken off all her worries: "Don't worry, I'll help you too."
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