He was playing “The Red Leaves of Xianfeng Temple.”
A piano has eighty-eight keys, while a violin has only four strings. Yet, these four strings can produce the same range of notes as a piano. The challenge with the violin lies in pitch accuracy—slight variations in finger pressure can alter the tone, whereas on a piano, pressing one key cannot accidentally produce the sound of another key.
Fortunately, Xia Yu still possessed nimble skills.
His left hand controlled the pitch on the strings, while his right hand manipulated the bow to control the rhythm.
“It’s ‘The Red Leaves of Xianfeng Temple!'” A girl recognized the piece and excitedly blurted out.
However, instead of receiving praise, she was met with disapproving glances filled with criticism.
The girl immediately quieted down and continued listening to the performance.
Xianfeng Temple is a famous tourist attraction located on Xianfeng Mountain.
The mountain is covered with giant maple trees. Every late autumn, red leaves fall, densely carpeting the ground, and the entire mountain is painted in brilliant red.
Walking along the paths of Xianfeng Mountain, stepping on the rustling red leaves, and listening to the deep chanting of wandering monks brings a sense of peace and serenity, making one forget both honor and disgrace.
The class monitor had originally hoped that Xia Yu’s violin skills could at least reach half the level of his piano skills. He never expected such a pleasant surprise from Xia Yu.
As the final note faded and Xia Yu lowered his bow, the monitor began clapping. Soon after, applause erupted throughout the venue.
Even Xia Yu, facing such a scene, felt somewhat embarrassed.
“Yu Ge, no, Yu Shen! With you, we might actually win the best program award for our class!” The monitor reached Xia Yu, took the violin from his hands, and said, “But first, we need to change clothes. Don’t worry, I’ve already prepared everything for you.”
He led Xia Yu to an empty classroom nearby and handed him a paper bag.
Inside the paper bag was a lightweight suit.
“I’ve turned on the air conditioning, so you won’t get hot. Hurry up and change!” the monitor urged.
After changing into the suit, Xia Yu returned to the classroom and was greeted with a round of excited screams.
The monitor grinned and said, “The violinist is ready. How about our maids and butlers? We’re officially open for business!”
At nine o’clock, the Culture Festival officially began. This event was not only open to students on campus but also to outside tourists.
The novelty of the violin, combined with Xia Yu’s handsome appearance, attracted many female customers.
Female students from neighboring classes, middle-aged women from across the street, and cafeteria aunties all came to sit and enjoy.
Xia Yu didn’t play the violin the entire time. In between, he and Guizixiao went to visit performances from other classes. Among them, two classes had set up maid cafes, and two had butler tea houses—these were popular themes.
The remaining attractions were things like haunted houses.
Although the Culture Festival appeared lively and fun, in reality, it offered the same things every year, and Xia Yu had long since grown indifferent.
At three in the afternoon, he went to the café where he worked and played the piano.
During a break, the young shop manager excitedly sat down beside him.
“What are you planning to do?” Xia Yu keenly sensed the young man’s ill intentions.
The young man didn’t hide it. He directly asked, “Xia Yu, you also play the violin?”
“Did you come to our school too?” Xia Yu had only played the violin at the Culture Festival, so the young man must have found out from there.
“No, but Xiaorong came, and she sent me this!” The young man showed his phone screen to Xia Yu.
Xiaorong was a waitress at the café, a female college student who had first welcomed Xia Yu when he visited the café.
Displayed on the shop manager’s phone screen was a video clip of Xia Yu playing the violin.
“So what do you want?” Xia Yu asked.
“We can add another performance featuring the violin,” the young shop manager said excitedly.
Violinists are rarer than pianists but equally refined, and could attract more affluent customers.
“How much will the salary increase?” Xia Yu asked directly.
If the money was right, Xia Yu wouldn’t mind learning a few more violin pieces.
“I’ll raise it to ten thousand, with the same working hours!” The shop manager gritted his teeth. Ten thousand yuan was already on par with the salary of a pianist at a large café.
“Does this count for this month too?” Xia Yu asked again.
“Yes!”
The two reached a pleasant agreement. However, the young shop manager hadn’t yet obtained a violin, so Xia Yu continued playing the piano for now.
After finishing work, he bought some snacks and other treats, and went home to celebrate with Youxue.
His bank account still had a balance of one thousand seven hundred yuan.
In the evening, when everything was quiet and still, Xia Yu began thinking about something.
—It seemed he had stood An Siyao up for two days.
The situation with Xu Youxiang had come up too suddenly, so he had to deal with her first.
With some apprehension, at midnight, Xia Yu logged into An Siyao’s body.
Opening his eyes, he saw complete darkness. The girl was already lying in bed, asleep.
“You’re back!” The familiar voice of the girl sounded.
“Mm.” Xia Yu waited for the girl’s questioning.
“Do you want to play the piano? Your clothes are on the hanger over there,” An Siyao didn’t mention being stood up at all.
Turning on the light, Xia Yu took off his pajamas, changed into casual clothes, and sat on the edge of the bed. Although the girl didn’t ask, he still felt the need to explain.
He wasn’t the kind of man who would shirk responsibility.
“The woman I mentioned before had some issues, so I’ve been dealing with her these past two days.”
An Siyao didn’t answer right away. After three seconds, her voice tinged with grievance came through: “You didn’t want to come see me anymore, did you?”
Why do you always feel like I would abandon you?
“Don’t worry, I really like you,” Xia Yu teased playfully, hoping to fluster her and make her forget her grievances.
However, An Siyao didn’t react as he expected—blushing and getting angry—but instead replied happily: “Okay.”
“…”
This girl was indeed easy to please.
After settling this matter, Xia Yu moved on to the next question: “Can you play the violin?”
“A little bit,” An Siyao replied.
Upon hearing this, Xia Yu’s eyes lit up. A little meant that An Siyao also had a violin.
The shop manager had increased his salary by two thousand, but he still didn’t know any violin pieces yet. Learning was necessary, and to learn, he needed a violin.
It was great that the girl had one.
Following An Siyao’s instructions, Xia Yu went to the cabinet on the balcony, pulled out the violin.
Then he opened An Siyao’s laptop, searched for the famous violin piece “White Wolf,” watched the video, and glanced at the sheet music.
He was self-teaching. An Siyao only knew a little, and his current level was likely already higher than the girl’s.
He converted his saved gaming points into three double-experience cards and added them to the fivefold experience card he already had left.
Each double-experience card added one fold, so three added three folds. The fivefold experience card added four folds, so altogether, he now gained eight times the experience for each hour of study!
After studying the video for ten minutes, he confidently picked up the violin and began playing.
“You should slow down here.”
“Your pitch is wrong here.”
“If your hand isn’t steady, you can’t play steadily.”
After listening to An Siyao’s feedback, Xia Yu put down the violin. The girl’s comments pointed out real issues, and her accuracy surprised him.
“You said you only knew a little,” he asked.
“Mm, I’m still a bit worse than my teacher.”
“…”
Mathematical reasoning formed in Xia Yu’s mind:
Because: An Siyao’s painting teacher = a painter whose paintings sell for five million
Therefore: An Siyao’s violin teacher = a world-famous violinist
And: World-famous violinist – An Siyao = some gap
Therefore, An Siyao’s violin skills were at least ranked in the top tier.
This is called knowing a little?
Xia Yu’s previously inflated ego, fueled by the admiration of his classmates and the shop manager, quickly deflated.
“Please teach me,” he humbly requested.
Under An Siyao’s guidance, he progressed rapidly.
“By the way, since you play the violin so well, why did you stop playing?” he asked again.
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