Chapter 193
Chapter 193
As night grew darker, only two lights illuminated the spacious coffee shop.
Almost all of Bai Ai’s staff had left the building, but Qi Mu and Min Chen were not in a hurry. After they ate, the two ordered a simple coffee and sat together by the shop’s large window. Just beyond it, a gorgeous night view of Berlin unfolded before them.
From the coffee shop’s window, they could see the beautiful Brandenburg Gate in the distance. The goddess of victory, holding her bronze scepter high, drove her four-horse chariot into the distance with grandeur. Countless lights brightened the magnificent building, so that even in the darkness, it shone brightly.
Qi Mu stirred his spoon in his coffee cup and withdrew his gaze. He smiled and looked at the man opposite him and said, “I remember when I came to Berlin last summer, someone said something under the Brandenburg Gate… Yes, Daniel didn’t get a room? You always do Daniel wrong. You don’t dare bully someone else?”
After nearly a year, Qi Mu exposed his lie. However, Min Chen didn’t feel the slightest guilt. Instead, he raised his eyebrows and asked, “Who should I replace him with?”
Qi Mu said, “… Looks like there is only one Daniel?”
Min Chen curled his lips into a smile. “Well, it’s always Daniel’s fault.”
Already defeated by this man’s cheek, Qi Mu said, “I bought pendants in Brussels and Manchester for this tour.” As he spoke, he raised his hand and shook the silver chain on his wrist. “I’ll put it on for you later. Oh, you should have bought them too, right?”
“Well, I left it at home. I’ll put it on for you when I get there.”
Setting down the porcelain coffee cup, Min Chen fixed his gaze on the young man before him. His gaze was deep and distant, and, probably due to his mixed race, when one looked closer, there revealed a trace of blue. He looked at Qi Mu but didn’t speak.
The long stare made Qi Mu swallow uncomfortably. “You aren’t curious… why I came so early?”
Min Chen’s handsome face was calm. “I’m not curious.”
“Why?” Qi Mu asked in surprise.
“Because…” Min Chen deliberately let his voice trail off. Smiling, he added, “I’m so happy, I don’t want to be curious.”
Qi Mu felt the tips of his ears grow hot. He reached up to cover his mouth and coughed, then raised his voice, “Okay, okay, did you know Julie came back this morning? Last night, she told me that after Mr. Tucker and I left, you asked her to take care of me.”
A light flashed in his eyes as Min Chen said, “ You were touched and missed me very much, so you came here.” His tone was firm.
Qi Mu said, “…Actually, you only need to say the first part.”
Min Chen’s lips curled as his brows rose gracefully. “So, you’re touched?”
How could he handle a cheeky person? Of course, by being more cheeky than him!
Qi Mu snorted. “I wasn’t touched by this little thing. I was just thinking… When you went to Julie, did she train you up? Let me see, was she sitting on the sofa with you, recalling the way you blew your nose and hugged her thighs to ask for candy when you were a little kid?”
Min Chen: “…”
With a burst of laughter, Qi Mu said, “To be honest, I can’t really imagine what you were like as a child, so let me take a look at the pictures from your childhood? Hm… just one? Just open up one?”
“You want to see little Auston?”
Qi Mu: “…”
“Then, come back with me and see it tonight.”
Under the coffee shop’s warm light, the handsome young man was flirted with to the extreme. He drew his lips into a smile and spoke calmly, “Yes, I’ll go back and see it tonight, but… Little Auston is too small to coerce any candy from hugging my thighs.” With a disgusted look on his face, he repeated, “It’s simply too small.”
Min Chen, whose dignity suffered a severe hit, instantly turned black. Standing up, he pulled the young man away. He gnashed his teeth as he walked out, “Small? Come and see just how small it is!”
Qi Mu: “…”
Although he couldn’t complain at all, he thought, “This guy is too easily irritated.” Qi Mu went downstairs with Min Chen and drove away from Bai Ai’s building.
Qi Mu once walked the road to Min Chen’s apartment. Tall cypress trees lined the road on both sides, their shade enough to cover half the road. Dim, yellow street lights filtered through the windows into the car.
Qi Mu looked over at the sulking man with an amused grin, only to find that the dull light made his features all-the-more well-defined.
After pondering for a while, Qi Mu tentatively said, “Actually… isn’t it very small?”
Min Chen gave a cold snort.
“Okay, okay, it’s just so small.”
Min Chen: “…!!!!”
Qi Mu felt the car speed up, but he was rarely in a good mood and didn’t want to comfort the man who suddenly became petty. His gaze swept across Min Chen’s high eyebrows, his narrow phoenix eyes, and his pursed lips. When he stared at the silver chain he wore around his wrist, Qi Mu fixed his gaze and didn’t look away for a long time.
The smile on his lips gradually faded. Qi Mu looked at the bracelet and its collection of charms with a complicated expression.
After a long time, when a traffic light switched to green and Min Chen had just started pulling away, Qi Mu asked quietly, “Min Chen, what was… your first impression of me?”
Min Chen didn’t notice the young man’s expression and didn’t hear his soft words clearly. He asked, “What?”
Qi Mu smiled and repeated, “I said, when you first saw me back then, what was your impression of me?”
Without hesitation, Min Chen replied, “I knew you were very talented, very skilled, with a strong sense of sound, and I knew you had the potential to become a first-class conductor.” After a pause, he added, “I wanted to accept you as a student.”
Qi Mu didn’t expect this answer. “Accept me as a student?”
Min Chin affirmed it. “Yes, I wanted to accept you as a student. You have gifted hearing. There are many people who became conductors from their work with the violin, and Farrell is one of them. Although I’m not skilled in playing the violin, I could still teach you to conduct.” However, you don’t want to be a conductor.
Min Chen didn’t speak the second half of his sentence. A traffic light switched to red, and he stepped on the break just as the young man’s pleasant voice said, “Then, did you know, Min Chen… I first met you more than ten years ago. At that time, you were still a free pianist before entering Bai Ai. At that time, you held your own solo concert in the Golden Hall. Do you know what my first impression of you was?”
Min Chen could not remember what happened more than ten years ago. He turned his head to look at the young man beside him with interest and asked in a low voice, “You thought… I was handsome?”
Qi Mu: “… I really want to hit you.”
Taking advantage of the long stop time at the red light, Min Chen smiled and took the young man’s hand. Gently brushing his cheek with it, he said, “Well, I’ll take it.”
His action was too soft and ambiguous. The heat from the man’s palm spread to Qi Mu’s fingers and, soon, his whole body. Qi Mu looked at the man with a faint smile and a complex look in his eyes. He didn’t know how to describe his mood at that moment, but he knew…
If he couldn’t trust this person, then who could he trust?
After closing his eyes, Qi Mu finally released the last trace of grievance in his heart. While still holding Qi Mu’s hand, Min Chen stepped on the accelerator and started driving. He didn’t notice the abnormality.
The light outside shone into the car and illuminated the young man’s face.
He sighed deeply and felt the scorching heat of Min Chen’s hand. Qi Mu summoned all his courage and said, “Min Chen, when we participated in the Ocean City Music Festival in Hong Kong, you once said that you had a favorite violinist. He… he passed away.”
The man stiffened. Qi Mu could feel his fingers tighten, but he recovered quickly.
Slowly sliding his fingers between the man’s, Qi Mu gripped his hand and clasped it tightly, so that there was almost no gap between them.
He stared at Min Chen with a very serious expression and asked word by word, “May I… know his name, Min Chen?”
A long silence filled the car. Even the wind roaring past fell quiet. Qi Mu listened to his pounding heartbeat and looked at the man beside him without blinking.
Time passed so slowly, it was like a century had passed. Just when Qi Mu thought he wouldn’t answer, he heard a low sigh come from Min Chen. His eyes still stared straight ahead, but he parted his lips and said, “His name was——”
“Lu Ziwen.”