Chapter 32, Song 32...
At first, Qu Jiaying and the other three couldn't figure out where they had gone wrong.
"Stop, stop, stop, that part just now won't work." Qu Jiaying put down her violin.
Le Yi couldn't explain it either: "It seems like something's wrong, but I've practiced for a long time and my pitch is basically fine now."
Yan Zheng was confused: "The rhythm is right."
Xiang Min suggested, "We can't find the reason, but they all sound a bit off. Since no one's standing outside, let's record it."
The four musicians reprise their role in the Wedding March.
Xiang Min retrieved the phone that had been recording and opened the audio file.
The chosen "Wedding March" is a choral arrangement of Wagner's opera "Lohengrin," which is also the most frequently used wedding entrance music.
It was supposed to be beautiful, solemn, and lyrical, but the performance by Qu Jiaying and the other three was a hodgepodge.
"Everyone should go their own way," Qu Jiaying commented after listening.
"But there were no problems with the band's coordination," Yan Zheng said.
"Then the four of us are pretty good," Le Yi said with a smile.
Xiang Min thought for a moment: "How about we each do it once individually?"
The four of them have been spending all their time in the rehearsal room lately, and none of them have noticed the leaves outside the window that are gradually turning yellow. They are all immersed in their own troubles.
Qu Jiaying was the first to perform.
After listening to her performance, Le Yi, Yan Zheng, and Xiang Min all looked like they wanted to say something but couldn't.
“I know something’s not right, I feel very awkward, but I can’t quite put my finger on what’s wrong. Can you guys point out the problem to me?” Qu Jiaying was even stricter with herself.
Qu Jiaying's technique is already very good, and she has mastered the knack of musical expression, but her recent performances all sound a bit off.
It is precisely this subtlety that makes it difficult to pinpoint the problem, and even more difficult to find a solution.
Therefore, Le Yi, Yan Zheng, and Xiang Min were all unable to answer.
"Haven't you been practicing Russian style lately? Maybe you're not proficient enough yet?" Xiang Min tried to find a problem.
"I only made some minor changes; I've mastered all the techniques," Qu Jiaying said. She had put in a lot of effort to practice, and technically speaking, she could now use them with ease.
"Is it because you're not familiar enough with it yet? Is your body still more used to the French and Belgian style?" Yan Zheng guessed.
Qu Jiaying looked at Le Yi: "What's your opinion?"
Le Yi didn't answer, but instead asked, "What is your understanding of what a wedding feels like?"
“I’ve been very careful with my performance,” Qu Jiaying said. “And recently, many pieces have had problems, not just this ‘Wedding March’.”
“Tell me about this one first,” Le Yi said.
Qu Jiaying sighed: "Okay, let me think. I've played this piece many times. When I was a child, I played it when my parents' relatives got married. Over the years, I've also performed it at some friends' weddings. I wish them well, but at the same time, I feel very sad."
"Sadness?" Yan Zheng asked, puzzled.
“Because my parents would tell me gossip about every couple they had with their husbands,” Qu Jiaying sighed. “It always started with, ‘Do you remember who they were with? In which year did they perform at their wedding? They had a fight, got divorced, and then made up.’”
"Isn't there a relationship that's always been good?" Xiang Min asked.
"Yes, there are some, but very few," Qu Jiaying said.
Le Yi said, "Then you should express your feelings in it. You couldn't hear those feelings in the 'Wedding March' just now."
"You can't interpret it like that, can you?" Qu Jiaying exclaimed in surprise.
“We’re going there to perform,” Yan Zheng reminded him.
Le Yi sighed: "I didn't mean to cause trouble, well, maybe a little, but the main thing is that I hope Qu Jiaying can break through her current bottleneck. You two think so too, right?"
Yan Zheng and Xiang Min nodded silently, but they also agreed that the best thing to do was to sincerely wish the bride and groom well.
"So is that zither more important?" Le Yi asked, suppressing his anger.
"If any piano is fine, why do you want to experience the pipe organ?" Qu Jiaying asked rhetorically.
Le Yi took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and picked up his violin: "I'm next."
This little argument has come to an end.
Le Yi has the right to argue with Qu Jiaying; his talent in musical performance is undeniable.
His performance was flawless, both in terms of technique and musical expression.
Although his skills were not superb, his performance was so affectionate and moving that it made up for all his shortcomings.
The remaining three did not offer any suggestions, and the decision was unanimously approved.
Next up is Yan Zheng. He didn't make any technical mistakes, but his acting, which he usually excels at, was terrible.
Xiang Min and Yan Zheng made the same mistake.
Qu Jiaying, Yan Zheng, and Xiang Min all looked very grim. Their performances were not without merit, but they were extremely shallow compared to Le Yi's. What was even more frightening was that their performances were also quite different.
Qu Jiaying offered a light, casual blessing, while Yan Zheng applauded calmly. It was as if they were awkwardly celebrating for complete strangers. Xiang Min's indifferent observation was even worse, as if he were advising someone to get a divorce. Only Le Yi was genuinely happy for the newlyweds, which was the root cause of their seemingly estranged relationship.
Xiang Min shook his head: "I don't like weddings, so it's somewhat reasonable that I didn't do a good job. Yan Zheng, what's wrong with you? Didn't you interpret Chopin very well before?"
Hearing praise from Xiang Min was truly unpleasant, and Yan Zheng frowned: "...I don't understand either."
With a whole host of problems to solve, and it getting late, the four parted ways and went home.
"Wait a minute!" Le Yi caught up with Qu Jiaying.
Qu Jiaying turned around, the autumn wind brushing against her long hair, the night sky, unobstructed by clouds, was extremely vast.
"Is there anything else?" Qu Jiaying asked.
Le Yi looked at the night sky, then looked down at Qu Jiaying: "I have a telescope. The weather is great today, and the moon is very round."
Qu Jiaying roughly understood that he wanted to ease the atmosphere and perhaps have a deeper conversation, so she did not refuse and followed Le Yi forward with her violin case on her back.
Le Yi carried the telescope down from his dorm room: "Where are we going to look?"
The rooftops of the teaching building are locked, so there's no way to go there; Le Yi has already explored them.
"Over there on the playground," Qu Jiaying said.
There were still students exercising on the playground. Le Yi moved the astronomical telescope to the highest point of the stands and bent down to adjust the lens.
"The effect might be so-so. The one I bought is very ordinary, not a high-end product," Le Yi explained.
"I can tell," Qu Jiaying said casually. She sat on the bleachers, looking down at the playground, lost in thought.
"It's adjusted," Le Yi said.
Qu Jiaying leaned closer and immediately saw the craters on the moon's surface. She exclaimed "Wow!" and moved away from the telescope.
"What's wrong?" Le Yi was startled.
"The moon is too close, it feels a little scary," Qu Jiaying said.
Le Yi laughed out loud: "Do you have megalophobia?"
"I think so?" Qu Jiaying recalled, "When I was a child, I was afraid of the Buddha statues in the grottoes."
Le Yi said with frustration, "It seems my operation has failed. I was hoping to create some atmosphere."
"Hey! Saying it out loud will ruin the atmosphere even more," Qu Jiaying said with a helpless smile.
"I'm sorry," Le Yi said directly.
"What are you doing? I already told you that," Qu Jiaying said awkwardly.
“But I still hope you stick to your own style,” Le Yi said earnestly.
Insisting on one's own way is a paradox, Qu Jiaying couldn't help but sigh. It and stubbornness are two sides of the same coin. It's not a math problem. Most things don't have a right answer. Listening to others' opinions and blindly following the crowd are also two sides of the same coin.
Qu Jiaying was silent for a few seconds, then picked up her violin case and said, "It's getting late, and I've seen the moon. I'm going back now."
Le Yi grabbed her wrist, then let go, and whispered, "Don't run away."
Qu Jiaying's anger surged instantly, stuck in her chest. She took a deep breath: "You've always been amazing. I've always admired you, or rather, I'm jealous of you. Even though you hate performing at President Liu's wedding, your performance is still so good. Watching your performance makes me hate myself more and more."
As she finished speaking, Qu Jiaying's eyes welled up with tears. She looked up at the night sky, thankful that there weren't many streetlights on the playground, so Le Yi couldn't see her disheveled appearance, but her voice still gave her away.
"I'm not as capable as you, nor as brave!"
"No, I'm the coward. My symptoms are much more severe than yours. You only compromised for a commercial performance, but I withdrew from the competition completely." Le Yi took half a step forward and gently hugged Qu Jiaying.
Qu Jiaying grabbed his shirt tightly, trying to calm herself down.
After hearing Le Yi's confession, Qu Jiaying no longer felt embarrassed.
But she began to feel that the hug between the two was a bit too ambiguous, and just as she was about to subtly pull away, Le Yi let go of her hand first.
Qu Jiaying secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She still didn't want to complicate the relationship. Although Yan Zheng seemed to have taken a step back, things were still very chaotic with Xiang Min. As for Le Yi, she was often confused. Sometimes she felt that he had a good impression of her, but other times she felt that he wasn't very proactive and didn't seem to have many thoughts about her.
Qu Jiaying said casually, "My problem is solved, but what about the other two?"
Le Yi said, "Xiang Min might be difficult to deal with."
"I don't understand what's going on with Yan Zheng either," Qu Jiaying said, puzzled.
"Didn't you guys perform at bars during the summer vacation? How was he doing back then?" Le Yi asked.
“He’s doing well.” Qu Jiaying recalled carefully, “but it seems there was one performance of a classic movie theme song, ‘My Heart Will Go On,’ where he didn’t perform very well.”
"It's love again, a theme he's not good at. But wasn't it great when he conducted Chopin's piece before?" Le Yi asked.
"He was also driven to the brink at the time, and in the end he came to terms with some things," Qu Jiaying said.
Le Yi understood what had happened between Yan Zheng and Qu Jiaying, but judging from their current interactions, it wasn't progress.
He had to admire Yan Zheng; by using a more intimate term of address, he often felt excluded by Yan Zheng, yet he was willing to let go.
"If all else fails, I'll talk to him again later." Qu Jiaying slung her violin case over her shoulder again, turned her head to urge Le Yi, "This time it's really time to go home."
Le Yi looked at Qu Jiaying, who was carrying a black violin case on her back. Bathed in the moonlight, she seemed to blend into the moonlight.
So, his timidity also stems from this: how could he, who was content to be a piano teacher rather than a performer, be qualified to stand beside Qu Jiaying, whose beauty shone like moonlight under the night sky?
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