Chapter 78

The first song Qi Mu selected was 《Summer Night》, an authentic Chinese piece. Only four minutes long, it was short and required no special skills. An amateur song around level eight.

While the piece played, more and more people gathered around.

Every spring, visitors from all over the world flocked to Vienna and to its famous attractions like Heroes Square. It was filled with people of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

The more people that gathered, the noisier it became. In such a loud, spacious area, playing the generous and passionate 《Turkish March》 seemed like the best choice. However, when something exactly the opposite began to play, Akkad was surprised by the melodious violin.

After pondering for a while, the experienced Akkad finally recognized it as a Chinese piece!

Even Akkad had to think for a while to know the piece was. Others would not know the name or origin of this mysterious song. However, they knew it sounded gentle and made them feel warm. Even their irritability faded.

While most passers-by hadn’t been exposed to musical instruments, that didn’t prevent them from enjoying the wondrous music. The beautiful violin was like a thin veil before their eyes, isolating the outside noise.

Even the noisy children chewed their little fingers and stared at the musician standing amidst the crowd.

More people continued to gather. When Qi Mu set down his bow, four or five layers of people surrounded him.

Qi Mu was a little surprised. He placed his right hand on his chest and bent in a unique gentleman’s bow.

The passers-by woke from their stupor, and thunderous applause broke out.

“Great music!”

“Vienna really has great musicians everywhere!”

“This kid is really good. Oh, what’s the name of this piece?!”

……

Many languages filled the air around Qi Mu. Among them, he only understood English, German, and a bit of French. As for the others, Qi Mu couldn’t understand a single word. However, he knew they were praises from the smiles and applause.

The applause lasted for three minutes without pause.

When Qi Mu placed his bow on the strings again, the crowd was silent, then someone exclaimed, “Is there another?” The applause halted.

Qi Mu smiled and looked at a little blonde baby in her mother’s arms toward the center of the crowd. He touched his lips with his index finger, and miraculously, the babbling little girl went silent. She stared blankly at the handsome young man before her.

After that, Qi Mu raised his bow again. This time around, his performance just began, and the crowd already started whispering——

“This is 《Zigeurnerweisen》!”

Under the statue in the square, the desolate violin slowly resounded. Qi Mu’s brow tightened, and his expression grew solemn.

His slender fingers danced along the black fingerboard. The melody was not as light-hearted as the one before. Instead, it was tactful and quiet. The audience was stunned, their heartbeats rising with the sudden high pitch of the opening note.

《Zigeurnerweisen》 had another name, 《The Wanderer’s Song》which was one of the representative works of Spanish composer, Pablo de Sarasate. As a professional-level piece, it required so high a level of skill that many performers were hindered. It was both unique and profound.

A wandering Gypsy shivered in the cold autumn wind, the sorrow vividly demonstrated by Qi Mu’s violin. Expressing the wanderer’s terrible condition and lamentation over and over again, this piece aroused deep sympathy.

By the time Akkad heard the third note, he had guessed the piece.

What he didn’t understand was why Qi Mu chose such a delicate piece as his second song.

《The Wanderer’s Song》 was a regular visitor. Performers from all over the world performed this long-standing classic on the stage.

Of course, Akkad never doubted Qi Mu’s skills. While 《Zigeurnerweisen》 was difficult, it was easier than Paganini’s 《La Campanella》. The former paid more attention to artistic emotion while the latter paid more attention to skill. There was nothing much to compare between the two.

But. . .

“Since you’ve played 《Zigeurnerweisen》. . . What are you going to play next. . . Little Seven?”

Of course, Qi Mu couldn’t hear Akkad. His eyebrows were furrowed, the violin climbing to a high pitched treble. The wanderer once again cried out his lament.

Such a miserable melody made the audience melancholic. Some people’s eyes reddened. It seemed like they had met poor wanderers not accepted by the world, by the people, by everything.

The youth’s skillfully emotional performance silenced the whole square.

The sad melody steadily grew to its highest tide and sharply change from sadness to joy. As if relieved from thousands of ordeals, it delighted them but left behind that underlying sorrow.

The contrast was too strong, the infinite grief turned instantly to incomparable joy. Such a transition seemed to have been deliberately made to force people to smile and in doing so, those who resisted now let their tears flow.

The scene was amusing. They resisted their tears when the melody was sad, but when it reached the joyful allegro in the fourth movement, they couldn’t help but cry.

Only those who have experienced ordeals in life could understand the pain behind laughter.

Of course, many also noticed the young man’s brilliant skill.

To be able to perform 《Zigeurnerweisen》 at such a level, people with an understanding of music realized——

This young man playing in front of them was. . . an outstanding violinist!

His left hand gently plucked the strings, the other held the bow. Despite displaying these difficult skills, he was elegant and calm. The music he performed was more beautiful and moving than anything they had ever heard!

This was a musician!

Vienna was truly full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons!

——This the audience thought.

When 《Zigeurnerweisen》 ended, the applause was even more enthusiastic than before. Even the blonde little baby nestled in her mother’s arms clapped and babbled at Qi Mu.

Qi Mu smiled and nodded at her. A middle-aged man came from the crowd and took a brand new €50 from his wallet, intending to place it in his violin case.

Qi Mu reached out and stopped the kind-hearted man. He smiled and said in fluent German, “Thank you for your kindness, sir. Please give this money to those who need it more, instead.”

The sun bathed the youth’s delicate face win a golden light, stupefying everyone.

The middle-aged man understood his meaning and apologized. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were an artist. Thank you for the music you played for us. It’s a beautiful melody!”

Many tourists and passers-by approached Qi Mu and expressed the same sentiment.

In places like Vienna, many musicians wanted to dedicate their music to the enjoyment of the music city rather than for money. Obviously, these people regarded Qi Mu as a musician devoted to the art.

Qi Mu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so he just nodded. He had yet to recover when, a tender, childish voice called out, “En. . . Encore. . . Encore!”

When Qi Mu turned to the source of the voice, he saw the toddler clapping. She repeatedly shouted, “Encore!”. It seemed like her mother told her to say it. She kept chanting. Soon, everyone else joined her.

“Encore!”

“Encore!”

“Encore. . .”

Qi Mu smiled. He performed the gentleman’s bow again then. . . placed his bow on the strings once more.

The voices went silent. The crowd gathered around the statue in eight or nine layers——each drawn in by the sad and moving 《Zigeurnerweisen》. At the time, they were angry at themselves for not coming to see what the performer looked like.

At the back of the crowd, Akkad’s lips twitched. He whispered, “Well, of course, my student is very excellent. His violin is superb, and he’s also cute. If you guys knew, I’m sure you’d be jealous of me, haha. . .”

Akkad frowned and thought, “But. . . What if there is another like Auston with bad intentions? Oh no, I will protect my student. . . I won’t let him. . .”

Before Akkad could finish his broken thought, he heard a rapid, fast-paced allegro ring out in the square.

Akkad’s words died in his throat. After a while, he realized what he was hearing. He opened his eyes in amazement, looked towards his student violinist, and exclaimed, “It’s this song!”