Chapter 19, Song 19...
"Why do you think Yan Zheng won't quit?" Xiang Min asked.
Le Yi stopped flipping through the sheet music and looked at him: "His playing told me that."
"You always talk about these mystical things," Xiang Min said, dissatisfied.
“Many people give up music and completely change careers, but you two didn’t,” Le Yi explained.
Xiang Min pursed her lips: "I still don't really like him."
"I'm so glad we found Qu Jiaying to be our first violinist," Le Yi said with a smile.
"What are you saying?" Yan Zheng followed Qu Jiaying in through the door.
“We’re discussing the repertoire for the volunteer activity that Gao Ying mentioned last time,” Xiang Min said with a slight smile.
"What volunteer activity?" Yan Zheng asked blankly.
Qu Jiaying explained.
There were more musical instruments in the rehearsal room. After hearing this, Yan Zheng had already expected it and sighed, "Xiang Min, you've got a bunch of ideas again, haven't you?"
"Are you going to object again?" Xiang Min asked.
"Will it work?" Yan Zheng laughed self-deprecatingly.
“Of course, we’ve always cooperated and been considerate of each other,” Le Yi quickly said, then nudged Qu Jiaying, “Right?”
“It’s a good thing for everyone to learn from each other,” Qu Jiaying said.
She and Yan Zheng had just talked about Cai Rui, and why he returned to China to teach at a university. Usually, even if a conductor like him has teaching duties, he still collaborates with well-known symphony orchestras and has many performance activities.
Cai Rui's interpretations are always too bold. Although they were once recognized by the industry, they are not the conservative and traditional mainstream of classical music.
Yan Zheng was right; only composers can be bold in innovation, while performers and conductors cannot.
However, Qu Jiaying also pointed out Yan Zheng's problem. He has no problem in deeply interpreting the composer's creation, but it is not good if there is no originality at all. He should learn more from Xiang Min in this regard.
Yan Zheng reluctantly accepted it, but he couldn't bring himself to admit it verbally.
"I've selected a few pieces, all of which are classic tracks. They'll be different from what Gao Ying and the others have played. I plan to make some simple arrangements," Xiang Min explained.
The other three had no objections. Xiang Min tried the timpani, played the trumpet, and even tapped on the cello, making many attempts. However, they had not yet decided on the piece for the performance, nor did they have any good ideas for the arrangement. No matter how loud the quartet's sound was, it was not easy to keep the audience's bodies moving.
"Do you know how to play all kinds of musical instruments?" Qu Jiaying asked privately.
"I can't compare to professional players, but I can handle most of them," Xiang Min said modestly.
“But most people can’t even master one thing.” Qu Jiaying asked curiously while lying on the bed, “Did you learn many instruments before you thought of switching to composition, or was it the other way around, learning different instruments beforehand because you wanted to learn composition?”
"Didn't I say that?" Xiang Min gently covered her with the blanket. "I started by learning the cello, and later I wanted to try more new things, but I never gave up the cello."
"Was composing also one of your attempts?" Qu Jiaying asked.
"Yeah, but after learning it, I feel it suits me very well," Xiang Min said.
"I didn't realize you were so arrogant," Qu Jiaying laughed. "But it makes sense; most capable people are like that."
Xiang Min protested his innocence: "I didn't, did I?"
Anyway, she had this self-awareness, Qu Jiaying smiled, and she got up to change her clothes.
"Leaving so early today?"
"A new friend I met at Le Tuan invited me to a bar, so I'm going a little earlier today." Because Xiang Min lives not far from Qu Jiaying's house, they usually meet up in the evening and part ways a little later.
"Are we going to Chen Li's place?" Xiang Min asked.
Qu Jiaying nodded, combing her hair as she did so.
"I'll go too, I forgot something last time." Xiang Min didn't dare to ask directly if he could go together.
Chen Li has basically returned to her piano, and the four of them have recently reduced their frequency of performances at bars.
Qu Jiaying casually said, "What did you forget? I'll get it for you."
"It's okay, you're hard to find, I don't even know where I dropped it." Xiang Min said casually.
Qu Jiaying put on some makeup and called him to set off together.
As soon as I entered the bar, before I could even hear what song was playing, I saw Qiu Xue dancing with her head spinning, pulling the strangers around her to dance with her. She wasn't embarrassed when she was rejected, and after turning around, she saw Qu Jiaying.
"You've arrived!" Qiu Xue cheered, making an exaggerated gesture of welcoming the distinguished guest. "Our chief has arrived!"
Qu Jiaying heard Chen Li playing Debussy's "Clair de Lune," a melodious yet poignant piece. She didn't quite understand why Qiu Xue was in such high spirits, but she still smiled at Lü Yueming and Ruan Qi to give them face and introduced them to Xiang Min.
Qiu Xue's round face was very approachable, and her request was not unreasonable: "Xiang Min, write me a clarinet piece. I don't want to be their foil anymore."
She was referring to Qu Jiaying and Ruan Qi, who played the violin, and Chen Li, who played the piano.
Xiang Min originally wanted to stay with Qu Jiaying a little longer, but when he turned around, he found that she had taken Ruan Qi to chat with Yang Jingyi. So he had no choice but to stay in his seat and talk with Qiu Xue and Lü Yueming. Unexpectedly, after chatting for a while, he found that the three of them had similar interests and had many new ideas about the adaptation.
Qu Jiaying, sitting at the bar, tried to persuade Ruan Qi: "No matter what, don't give up. Even if you can't be a soloist or a collaborator, you can still make a lot of money as a violin teacher with your skill level. Besides, you can try for a few more years. With your playing, it's not impossible for you to become a soloist."
Yang Jingyi poured the wine, and Qu Jiaying introduced her, "This is Yang Jingyi. She also learned the violin when she was a child, but gave it up. Now she wants to pick it up again."
Ruan Qi then spoke up, "Picking it up again won't be easy."
While mixing drinks, Yang Jingyi replied, "I know my situation; I don't have that much patience to practice the piano, but I still quite like classical music."
“My dad teaches Western music history, and he also supervises graduate students,” Qu Jiaying explained.
"I didn't expect the theory to be so difficult. I haven't read many books since graduating from university," Yang Jingyi said with a smile.
Qu Jiaying slowly sipped her whiskey. Her tongue was sensitive to both heat and cold, and there was a large block of ice in her glass.
"Senior, you've been practicing the piano since you were little, right? You've persisted for so many years, why are you saying such discouraging things now?" Qu Jiaying still didn't give up.
Ruan Qi stirred the wine casually with the straw in her glass, sighed, and looked at Qu Jiaying: "Why do you play the violin?"
"I can't say I have no ambition at all. I feel my skill level is quite good, so naturally I want to become a soloist. But the main reason is because I love it and want to keep honing my skills so I can play even better," Qu Jiaying said frankly.
“The classical music world has survived because of its unwavering belief,” Ruan Qi sighed. “But I no longer have that.”
Qu Jiaying shook her head; she didn't believe that was Ruan Qi's true thought.
“If that’s the case, how could you play such a beautiful ‘Pathétique’? I was able to perform ‘Fate’ only after listening to it,” Qu Jiaying quickly said. “And ‘The Butterfly Lovers’ is also so moving.”
"These are two different things. If it were any other piece, I wouldn't be able to play it well now," Ruan Qi said dejectedly.
Qu Jiaying stubbornly insisted, "It's the same thing!"
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