My Youth Began With Him

“This is my first time hearing her play.” Qin Chu’s gaze was soft as he looked at Huo Mian.

She challenged Song Yishi to a piano deal with such seriousness, just like a little girl; and when she won, she smiled so proudly, as if she were the same competitive Huo Mian from high school.

“I’m not sure I understood what just happened, but I can see that Mian won, yay!” Zhu Lingling held up a peace sign with her fingers.

“Do you think we’re being a little unethical, bullying her like that?” Wei Liao felt bad that everyone in the room was being mean to Song Yishi, but Jiang Xiaowei sneered, “She brought that onto herself, okay? If she didn’t try to embarrass Mian in the first place, she wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

Su Yu, on the other hand, was completely dumbstruck… Growing up, he had learned countless musical instruments, including the piano, violin, and saxophone.

Last time, during GK’s thirty-year-anniversary, Su Yu showed off his singing and piano skills, immediately gaining countless fans. Yet, he never thought that Huo Mian, who was always so low-profile and old-fashioned, would have such musical talent.

She may be tone-deaf, but she certainly had mad piano skills…

“Had she taken classes before?” Gao Ran was flabbergasted.

“Nope, if memory serves me right, back in high school the music teacher taught her how to play the piano a few times, and then she learned the rest on her own…” Zhu Lingling answered.

“Reminiscences de Don Juan isn’t something that one could learn on their own though, right?” Gao Ran was unconvinced.

“I learned this song during university. I was going to play it during the school’s new year’s celebration, so I took a few days to learn it. I didn’t end up performing, but I memorized the melody.” Huo Mian smiled.

“Um… so how long ago was that?” Gao Ran was still dumbstruck

“Not too long ago, sophomore year I think, during the winter.”

Huo Mian was 19 years old in her sophomore year and was 24 years old now. It had been 5 years; although she only learned this song for a couple of days all those years ago, she still remembered every single note. Her memory skills were indeed impressive.

After Song Yishi finished playing, she stood up and retorted, “That’s impossible, this piece takes at least 5 years to learn and memorize.”

“Oh, yeah? I’m sorry, but it only took me less than 5 days of practice,” Huo Mian replied confidently. She wasn’t lying, it really did only take her a couple of days…

Su Yu was thrown back into shock upon hearing this… he was a skilled pianist and knew how demanding this piece was. He also knew that even if someone practiced it for five years, they still might not be able to play it as fluidly and quickly as Huo Mian did just now. This just proves that she was just extremely talented.

“Miss Song, don’t tell me you’re going to be a sore loser?” Zhu Lingling snickered, and Song Yishi’s expression immediately became grim…

“To be fair, let’s ask someone who knows music to comment on your performances. Miss Mo, you’ve been a singer for years and are extremely experienced. Why don’t you comment objectively, so we won’t be accused of being biased?” Jiang Xiaowei suggested.

Mo Xue’er turned around to look at Huo Mian and then at Song Yishi. Then, she stood up and smiled, “Truth be told, I can’t play this piece, but I’ve listened to it many times in the past. Miss Song’s skills aren’t bad, I can immediately tell that she learned piano for years. Huo Mian, on the other hand, played extremely fast and didn’t miss a single note. Some details are left a little rough, but since she never took piano lessons and only learned this piece for five days, it’s shocking that she was able to play it to such perfection. At least I’ve never met a genius like her. Those are my comments, thanks.” After she finished speaking, Mo Xue’er sat back down, while Song Yishi, unsatisfied by her remarks, walked back to her seat.

Then, she looked over at Qin Chu and said, “Qin Chu, you’ve been learning the piano since you were three years old, you’re more of a professional than anyone else here. What do you think?”