432: Chapter 432 The Person Who Illuminates the Present - Bonus Chapter of <Zhang Anheng>

As these words fell, the atmosphere in the room tensed up once again.

Yan Zhenming glanced at Old Mrs. Shen.

This question had already gone beyond musical evaluation.

It was asking about an artist's bottom line.

Lin Que did not rush to answer.

This question wasn't just being asked of Ye Xi; it was also one he was asking himself.

He thought of those words from another world.

He knew better than anyone how heavy the word "borrowed" was.

If he merely moved works from a past life to this world to exchange for applause, then sooner or later, he would be swallowed by that applause.

But as he had walked his path to this day, those words no longer contained only things from another world.

The dust of the old alleys in Jiang City, the wrinkles on a white shirt in Sarajevo, the rain in a Vienna bookstore, the sluggishness in Ye Xi's piano music...

They were all filled into the words, inch by inch.

The fire is borrowed, but it lights up the people of the present.

Lin Que looked up.

"It would."

The several people in the room did not make a sound.

Lin Que continued:

"So borrowed suffering cannot be used to show off skills; it can only be used to illuminate oneself."

Old Mrs. Shen's fingers stopped at the edge of her teacup.

"If a person merely uses the pain of others to decorate themselves, those notes will make a sound when played, but they won't have an echo."

"But if she, through the fate of others, illuminates what once trapped her, and illuminates that breath of air she wanted to struggle out with, then those stories will resonate within her body."

The sound played will then be deeper than the strings themselves."

He looked at Ye Xi.

"What she played tonight is her finally admitting one thing.

That those stories she read into her very bones have already become a part of her."

Ye Xi's eyes grew slightly warm.

She lowered her head, watching her clenched fingers loosen bit by bit.

She finally understood that what Lin Que heard was more than just that piece of music.

He understood that breath of air she had kept suppressed all these years by the practice rooms, the rules, and the family expectations.

He also understood the stiffness in her fingers and the tightness in her chest when she read those stories.

Those things were never fake.

It was just that she had never been sure if they counted as her own.

Now, she was sure.

Old Mrs. Shen remained silent for a long time.

Her hand rested on the teacup, her thumb gently stroking the rim.

Those eyes, which had watched pianos for a lifetime, now revealed a very soft light.

"Brother Ye."

She smiled and patted the back of her hand, her tone wrapped in a layer of heartfelt approval.

"This young man is truly not bad. He knows propriety, he understands people, and he understands reverence."

She looked at Ye Xi, her tone naturally taking on the teasing of an elder.

"Xiao Xi's eye for people is much more accurate than her eye for picking sheet music when she was little."

The several people in the room all laughed.

Ye Xi's cheeks flushed completely red.

Her ten fingers unconsciously tapped out the fingering for two chords on her knees.

—That was a habit she only had when she was nervous.

Old Mrs. Shen took the opportunity to half-joke:

"It seems Brother Ye will have to manage both the literary world and the music world from now on."

Elder Ye smiled and waved his hand, but the smile lines at the corners of his eyes were deeper than anyone's.

Yan Zhenming chimed in, his tone sincere:

"Since Student Lin has such a perception of music, you can drop by the Conservatory of Music anytime in the future.

Literature and art are one family; it's good to have some exchange."

Lin Que bowed slightly.

"Dean Yan is too kind. I am still in training for the Qinglan Project, and as for music, how would I dare claim to understand it before you seniors? At most, I'm just standing outside the door listening to a few sounds."

Yan Zhenming and Liang Qiu exchanged a glance, both seeing the same judgment in each other's eyes.

The tea gathering continued for about another twenty minutes.

The elders chatted about new trends in the music and literary worlds this year. Lin Que responded occasionally, but mostly listened quietly,

only speaking when Elder Ye or Old Mrs. Shen addressed him, each time joining in at exactly the right moment.

He didn't interrupt, didn't let the conversation lag, and didn't overstep.

Sitting nearby, the emotions that had been churning in Ye Xi's heart all evening finally began to settle down.

She peeked at Lin Que several times, withdrawing her gaze each time before he turned his head.

When it was time to leave, Yan Zhenming and Liang Qiu were the first to take their leave.

Zhao Xingzhou and Meng Linchuan followed closely behind.

When Old Mrs. Shen stood up, she patted the back of Ye Xi's hand, whispered "Play the piano well," and nodded to Lin Que.

In the end, only three people remained in the room.

Elder Ye stood by the tea table, his finger tapping on the tabletop.

"Xiao Xi, go help Grandpa get the reading glasses case I left in the lounge. I forgot it there."

Ye Xi stood up and glanced at Lin Que.

Lin Que gave her a slight smile.

Ye Xi turned and left the room, the sound of her footsteps gradually fading away in the corridor.

The door closed.

Elder Ye did not speak immediately.

He walked to the window. Outside was the circular driveway surrounding the concert hall, with several streetlights glowing in the night.

With his back to Lin Que, he leaned his hands on the windowsill, his back still held very straight.

"Little Lin, I have to thank you."

Lin Que stood where he was, unmoving.

"Elder Ye is being too polite." He paused. "This junior hasn't done anything."

Elder Ye did not turn around.

"When Xiao Xi was three and a half, I took her to a concert.

After it ended, she sat on my shoulders and suddenly pointed into the air, saying, 'Grandpa, in the third piece just now, the 'do' in the second section was played too low.'"

Elder Ye paused.

"At the time, I thought the child was talking nonsense. I went back and checked the recording; the pianist in the second movement had indeed played a quarter-tone too low."

"Perfect pitch."

When he uttered these two words, there was something very complex in his voice.

"You might not find one in a million children."

"From that day on, everyone told me that this child was a great talent and shouldn't be wasted."

Lin Que listened quietly.

"She started practicing piano at four, entered her first competition at five, and won the national junior gold medal at seven."

Elder Ye's voice was flat, as if he were reading a resume.

"She entered the professional conservatory's middle school at nine, attended master classes at twelve, and got her entry ticket to international competitions at fourteen."

"She was pushed along the whole way."

He finally turned around.

The light from the corridor lamp filtered in from outside, shining on his wrinkled face.

Lin Que saw a deep sense of apology in those eyes.

"But I was never sure if she actually wanted to play herself."

Elder Ye's hand rested on the windowsill, his knuckles tightening slightly.

"All these years she's been practicing, competing, and winning awards; to outsiders, it looked glorious.

But as her grandfather, I knew she wasn't happy.

Her brow was furrowed when she practiced, and there wasn't much of a smile on her face when she won a competition.

Until she reached high school and secretly changed her social media avatar to a hammer smashing a piano."

Elder Ye gave a small smile.

The corners of his mouth turned up, but his eyes didn't follow; the light in his eyes was heavy, as if suppressed by something.

"I saw it all."

Lin Que's fingers tightened slightly against his trouser seams.

"But today was different."

Elder Ye's voice suddenly changed.

Beneath that layer of guilt, something very bright surfaced.

"Today, during the award ceremony, the things she said on stage.

About hating the piano, about the hammer emoji, about the keys no longer being cold."

"I've lived for nearly seventy years, and it's the first time I've heard her say these things herself."

The old man's voice trembled slightly.

"Before, she refused to say anything.

When asked if she was tired, she said no.

When asked if she was happy, she said she was fine.

You could never guess what was on that child's mind."

Elder Ye looked at Lin Que, his gaze very calm.

"But today she stood on stage, in front of over two thousand people, and poured out all those words in her heart."

"She said, 'Until I met a person and read a book.'"

The sound of Old Mrs. Shen closing the door as she left echoed from far down the corridor, and Elder Ye's voice dropped an octave.

"That person is you."

Lin Que did not deny it, nor was he modest.

He knew that before this old man, any deliberate refusal would be a betrayal of his sincerity.

"Elder Ye, she always had that breath of air in her."

Lin Que said.

"I only let her know that she didn't have to hold it in."

Elder Ye looked at him for a long time.

So long that the sound of Ye Xi's returning footsteps came from the end of the corridor.

The old man withdrew his gaze, put his hands behind his back, and straightened his spine once more.

The collar of his zhongshan suit was neat and tidy, with every button done up.

"Little Lin."

"Elder Ye."

"Take good care of her."

These four words were spoken very softly.

So softly that when Ye Xi pushed the door open and entered, she heard nothing.

Ye Xi walked in with the reading glasses case and saw Lin Que and her grandfather standing a step apart from each other, both their expressions very calm.

"Grandpa, I brought the glasses case."

Elder Ye took the case and slipped it into his pocket.

"Let's go. It's getting late; let's head out together."

The three of them walked along the corridor toward the main entrance of the concert hall.

Ye Xi walked in the middle, with Lin Que on her right and Elder Ye on her left.

As they stepped out of the main doors, the night wind hit them with the chill of early October.

In the plaza outside the concert hall, the departing crowd had mostly dispersed.

A few landscape lights glowed lonelily, casting long shadows of the steps.

Elder Ye stood on the top step, watching the two young people walk down side by side.

After a few steps, Ye Xi turned back.

"Grandpa, I'll come pick you up for morning tea tomorrow."

Elder Ye waved his hand.

"No need to pick me up, just have the driver send me. You go about your business."

Ye Xi opened her mouth to say something more, but was cut off by a look from Elder Ye.

"Go on, go on."

Ye Xi had no choice but to turn back and continue down the steps with Lin Que.

When they were a dozen or so steps away, she tilted her head and asked in a low voice.

"What did Grandpa say to you while I was getting the glasses case?"

Lin Que glanced at her.

"He told me to let you eat less spicy food."

Ye Xi stared at his profile for three seconds, confirmed he was talking nonsense, huffed, and didn't press further.

The two of them walked side by side into the night.

Ye Xi's hand hung naturally at her side, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the air.

Behind them on the steps, Elder Ye stood for a long time.

Until the two young figures disappeared around the corner of a streetlight at the end of the plaza, only then did the old man withdraw his hand from the step railing.

He felt the glasses case in his pocket and chuckled to himself.

A member of the concert hall management leaned halfway out the main door.

"Elder Ye, the car is ready."

"Mm."

Elder Ye turned and walked a few steps, then pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

It rang three times before connecting.

"Hello, Old Su, are you asleep yet?"

A muffled voice came from the other end: "Just lay down, what is it?"

Elder Ye stood in the light of the concert hall entrance and looked up at the night sky.

"That young man you mentioned, I met him today."

There was a two-second silence on the other end, followed by the rustling sound of someone sitting up.

"Tell me about him."

...