Chapter 1
unbeta’d.
Lu Ziwen got up reluctantly, leaning against the wall as he stumbled out of a bar.
He felt a blast of emptiness inside his body. His heart was in extreme pain, like it was going to burst from over-exertion. His head was dizzy; he did not know where he was exactly or what had happened.
The bar was full of noise, and when a door opened, a teasing tone suddenly interrupted Lu Ziwen’s thoughts: “Hey Qi Mu; you're not dying are you, kid? It's only 8 o' clock.”
Lu Ziwen abruptly turned to stare at him, horrified to see group of punks behind him.
Punks with red hair, blond youths that seemed to be sneering; they went back to the bar together, leaving a pale Lu Ziwen behind with wide eyes. What they're saying was-
In Chinese.
Horrified for a long time, Lu Ziwen slowly raised his hand to look at his own fingers.
The body part most familiar to a musician was not their face, but their hand.
Not all musicians have beautiful hands but no matter the quality, they are the most valuable part of the body, more so than the ears.
Even without ears, you can still compose and play, just like the master musician Beethoven. But if you do not have hands, you can only leave your instrument behind and say goodbye to music forever.
Lu Ziwen had a pair of beautiful slender hands, distinct joints, and slender knuckles; the contrast between these hands and his dark brown violin was particularly striking. They looked good, but they cannot compare to his current hands-
Full rounded pale-pink fingernails on slender looking fingers, pale like they were a white jade hidden away from the sun. A centimeter from the base of the left index finger was a small red cinnabar mole, burning as brightly as the city's luminous neon lights.
Lu Ziwen subconsciously turned his left hand over, looking at the pads his four fingers, seeing a very thin layer of calluses.
These calluses belong to a violinist! [1]
[1] Calluses are hardened patches of skin that most musicians get. If you look this up on Google images, you'll only scare yourself so don't. You can get really large calluses, but the one's he's describing look more like tiny patches of dry skin.
Lu Ziwen sobered up quickly; he was slow for a moment, but then quickly ran toward a nearby window. When he saw the blurred figure reflected in the glass, he froze.
The glass displayed a pale dark-haired youth, beautiful and elegant looking. Lu Ziwen had been in Europe for many years and had seen many model-like beauties. This youth was also quite pretty, but not in a feminine sort of way.
Lu Ziwen searched his memory for a long time, and then suddenly remembered a name.
“Qi … Mu?”
While thinking of the name, Lu Ziwen slowly frowned and began to recall.
Qi Mu, these two words in the current Europe may not cause a stir, perhaps only a few people could possibly be able to recall him. However, if he was named eight years ago, this black-haired dark-eyed boy would have set off a Chinese fever [2], leaving Vienna in a commotion for a long time.
[2] Fever, as in like a fad.
Qi Mu was a genius.
He had an excellent family background; his father is the chief conductor of the famous Chinese Symphony Orchestra S, his mother the concertmaster of the S City Symphony Orchestra. Under the influence of such a family, Qi Mu began to learn the violin at the age of 3, and was famous by the age of 6 in the Chinese music industry. At 13, he won the International Junior Violin Championship.
For the rest of the year, the name Qi Mu was famous throughout Europe.
He traveled all over the world with his parents, and at the age of 14, had even collaborated with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. During that time, even Lu Ziwen had been in contact with Qi Mu.
Under the influence of such fame and family, this young man had suddenly become quite conceited.
He became the sort of person who would look down upon others, who could not see the bigger picture, who arrived at practice like they were a godsend, who would leave immediately once it ended, and someone who even had their violin case be carried by others.
Honestly, Lu Ziwen does not like Qi Mu, it could be said that no one in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra likes this kid. Unfortunately, Qi Mu's talent was hatefully amazing, at such a superior level that Lu Ziwen was convinced of his skill time and time again.
Qi Mu's sudden change happened when he was 14.
Qi Mu's parents were in a car accident, and died on the spot. Although they both went so quickly, they also left a large amount of inheritance to Qi Mu; so even though the Qi Family had no relatives, Qi Mu could live well. Qi Mu's parents were prestigious in the Chinese music industry, and also quite popular, so many people were willing to take care of Qi Mu.
However, if Qi Mu really ended up being taken in…
What happened after that?
As soon as his parents passed away, this teen immediately became the epitome of arrogance. No one forced him to practice the violin, no one asked him to participate in competitions; Qi Mu had no qualms about tramping his own talents into the ground. Seeing him with a violin became rarer and rarer every day.
Although the Qi parents left a lot of money behind, it could not stand up to Qi Mu's appalling expenses. By the time Qi Mu was 18 years old, he had no other choice but to pick up the violin again, using music to "sell himself". There were old friends and relatives that wanted to help, but Qi Mu drowned in those good intentions, swindling money every time, his real self unchanged.
Lu Ziwen heard rumors of Qi Mu saying something once: “Fortunately, those two old geezers died early, otherwise I would have killed them sooner or later! Forcing me to learn the violin all day, what do you mean I'm talented? Fuck talent! You'd have to beg me not to destroy that instrument!"
Of course, Qi Mu had not been reduced to poverty, but his former glamorous life to his current ordinary one has dealt a huge blow to him, leaving him depressed. Lu Ziwen remembered that Qi Mu seemed to have left Europe at the age of 19 and returned to Huaxia. From then, he did not know became of Qi Mu.
But…
“He's doing… drugs…?"
Lu Ziwen leaning against the roadside window, gradually straightened as his pain slowly disappeared, until it was almost gone.
Lu Ziwen remembered when he opened his eyes, there was a heap of white powder on a small table and an empty bong.
The people in the bar seemed to be inhaling that thing, crazed expressions full of obsession. He seemed to have been lying on the ground for ages, and even when he helped himself against the wall, no one paid him any attention.
Standing on a cold slab of bricks, Lu Ziwen's face was livid.
His mind was stuck in that scene in the lounge, where the rug's fibers buried his face, his whole being stopped by his throat, him struggling to move with great difficulty.
The feeling of trying to breathe without air coming into his lungs.
His windpipe was completely blocked, he could only feel less and less oxygen in his chest, the pain all over making it hard for him to try and save himself. In his dying moments, Lu Ziwen had been hellishly desperate.
He hates!
He hates Luo Yu Sen's heartlessness, who watched him impassively to the end as he died!
He hates!
He hates himself for being ignorant, actually believing in such an animal!
Most cases of asthma were caused by allergies, but Lu Ziwen never found out what he was allergic to in the end. He didn't think he died merely because Luo Yu Sen sent two blows to his chest.
Maybe there was a speck of dust on Luo Yu Sen's hands, or some pollen on his arm. The combination of violence and an allergic reaction gave Lu Ziwen no possibility of resisting death.
Lu Ziwen stretched out his hand to cover his face, as he lingered at the window. Occasionally, passers-by looked curiously at the fair young man, while Lu Ziwen had a face of contemplation. Suddenly, he slammed his hand against a wall, suddenly becoming alert.
“Luo Yu Sen… …”
“Luo Yu Sen!!!”
Thinking of Sen's cold smile, Lu Ziwen, gnashed his teeth [3] and spat out the name of that slag man.
[3] "Gnashing one's teeth" is an idiom meaning displaying extreme anger or fuming with rage with gritted teeth. I changed the grammar a little though.
This moment was absolutely absurd. Lu Ziwen understood what happened in the end; he wasn't sure if he was really dead or not, but the realistic feeling of breathing, made him think- Lu Ziwen should have died.
But now he was reborn in the body of Qi Mu.
“Luo Yu Sen, you said … you'd wait for me?”
“Then… be sure to wait.”
As if to see that shameless scum's face, Lu Ziwen dangerously narrowed his eyes and looked up, taking in his first sight of the city's wide red sky. His ears clearly heard all sorts of sounds, from car whistles, to pedestrian conversations, even the sound of walking…
Suddenly, Lu Ziwen slowly smiled: “So it turns out… you had such a skill. This is… perfect pitch?"
As if to respond to Lu Ziwen's words, the road's busy traffic seemed to compose a beautiful harmonic melody, the whole city thrumming with sound. All the sound seemed to break down neatly, organizing itself into Lu Ziwen's ears. From different directions, with different pitches, Lu Ziwen could hear its exact pitch, even if the sound was metal pounding.
Lu Ziwen was shocked for a long time, feeling like his soul had left his body and then come back: “This is beyond just perfect pitch… … Qi Mu, you were really this talented?"
Like Lu Ziwen said, if he hadn't just experienced it, he would have never believed such a talent existed.
All of the noise seemed to possess a mind of its own, automatically classifying themselves, striving to be the first and fearing to be the last [4] to let him know the pitch and frequency.
[4] "Striving to be first and fearing to be last" is an idiom for outdoing one another.
Perfect pitch is already very rare; even in history there are very few people, such as the music prodigy Mozart.
Although Lu Ziwen did not know the level of skill these masters had, he believed that Qi Mu's perfect pitch certainly be at the same level… possibly being even higher. The ability to distinguish all the sounds in the world so clearly is something Lu Ziwen dare not imagine being able to do.
He finally understood why Qi Mu's parents had such strict demands on him, making sure he did not waste his talent.
“If you hadn't wasted time in these years… Perhaps instead of dying in that bar you would have become one of the few people on top in Vienna.”
Lu Ziwen did not know what caused Qi Mu's death.
In fact, after Qi Mu left Europe his life had a bit of turbulence, so he began to take advantage of the good intentions from his parent's friends. But Qi Mu could only live life the way he wanted.
He took money from his elders, picked up girls, even started drag racing, and did drugs. This made those elders' hearts turn cold, no longer wanting to look after that rebellious musical prodigy.
Qi Mu hadn't touched marijuana in several days, drinking more instead. He was easily dizzy after smoking a bit too much marijuana, feeling like he slipped into a dream of his former glorious years. However, the fiercely pounding heart, the feverish blood of that once in a century genius died in a dark dingy bar, his buddies still smoking marijuana, not one noticing his death.
And Lu Ziwen woke up when Qi Mu's body was about to go into rigor mortis.
“Beep-”
A loud whistle suddenly sounded in the side of Lu Ziwen head, making him shake all over, fragmented memories suddenly poured into his brain. Only a few seconds later, Lu Ziwen awakened from the sudden state, hastily browsing through Qi Mu's life.
“So… you wanted to go back to that place too?”
Qi Mu had already fallen. He did not have the determination to give up marijuana, nor did he have the confidence work hard enough to return to the limelight of the music world. He wanted to be the focus of attention in the world, but did not put in effort, as a result now lingers around the bars instead, becoming Qi Mu of the underground streets.
In the end, he was a flower that grew up in the greenhouse. Although Qi Mu had been frustrated for eight years, he had never suffered. Therefore, he did not have the courage to climb up from the bottom.
Lu Ziwen sighed. “So…we’ll go back to that place together, Qi Mu.”
As soon as his voice fell, Lu Ziwen felt lighter, as if the obsessions of Qi Mu had completely disappeared.
These eight years of such a miserable life left Qi Mu tired. His money was already running out. His parents’ friends were unwilling to help him anymore. Qi Mu had been depressed for a long time, hopeless for any chance of changing his future.
“From now on, I will be you, Qi Mu. I want to make Huaxia hear the ringing sound of Qi Mu's violin. I want everyone in Europe to know who Qi Mu is. I want to let the two words of Qi Mu spread all over the world! Your last wish…”
"Will be my dream!”
“Qi Mu, we will go back to that place together!”
"Lu Ziwen has died and but now this era belongs to Qi Mu…”
“It’s about to begin!”
……
Vienna, 2 p.m.
Half a globe away in music's capital, B City, a grand funeral was taking place.
Most of the people who came to mourn were members of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, who, with their white bouquets, lined up to express their sadness for the wreath-surrounded man. At the end of everything, when the group was about to pass another, they heard occasional whispers from a departing guest group.
"I heard that… Luo was taken away by the police?”
“Well, it seems that before Lu died, he had a fight with him, so the police are investigating."
“Ai, it's a pity that Lu died because of the asthma attack!”
“My God, yes, Lu was an excellent violinist. What a shame!”
“Ah, how could Lu not bring medicine? God really makes such cruel jokes…”
The guests continued to leave more or less, and as the last person left the mourning hall, a black Bentley slowly stopped at the door of the venue. A pair of bright leather shoes appeared on the cement floor, followed by a handsome man's pale face.
He stepped into the mourning hall, holding a large bouquet of white lilies, and did not speak. He only looked at the man in the black-and-white photograph for a long time, as if he were a statue.
No one knew how long it took him to place the white lilies in front the photo before he finally turned away.
Without a word, the man who has been hailed as the modern era's king of classical music simply disappeared from the mourning hall, as if he had never come. Only the white lilies swaying in the mourning hall would know the truth.
“Min, I didn’t think that you'd just… find him like that.” A blond-haired man waited for a long time at the door of the conference room to get out of the sentence. Then he followed Min Chen back to the car and sat down. Again, he could not help but turn and say: “This accident is really regrettable. In the words of the Huaxia… Min, it's important that you mourn.”
Looking at the trees that flashed past the window, his eyes were deep with unknown emotions.
After a while, he whispered: “Was it really… an accident?”
The blond man inquired: “Min, did you just say anything?”
The cool and elegant man shook his head gently, lowering his eyes to conceal his mood.
The blonde man glanced at him with a puzzled look but turned away without asking any more.
Min Chen's expression was flat, as he hung his eyes down. His beautiful face showed a trace of sadness, but it was very well hidden.
Was it an accident…?
Sooner or later, there will be a way to know.
TL notes:
- This chapter started pretty abruptly lmao.
- Uh, I looked for it, but I don't think there's a title for the prologue & chapter 1? (i.e., Chapter 1 – Rebirth. Stuff like that.)
- I'll be using the term "perfect pitch" instead of absolute pitch.
- There's probably a few sentences I changed from the original to make it sound a bit smoother, but it should still hold its original meaning. I'm trying to keep all the idioms tho, cus they're cute to learn.
—
I remember uploading the prologue and seeing it on the front page of novelupdates after a few minutes… It made me feel a bit shy haha…
I powered through this chapter because I thought it’d be boring to just leave it at the prologue. Chapter 2 won’t come as quickly tho (^・ω・^ ), maybe in another week. This chapter’s a teeeeensy bit rushed, so I might change some things over the next few days. Mostly just grammar and sentence structure, so it won’t really affect much. why was the prologue so much easier than this hot mess tho.
The chapters are split up kinda weird. The link to the prologue had a bit of chapter 1 in it, and the link to chapter 1 had a bit of chapter 2. I'm going to split it chapter by chapter, instead of the way they did it on danmeila.
Thank you to everyone who commented! I was surprised to see readers so soon. I’ll keep doing my best o7 o7