Chapter 69: The Violin Girl (Please Keep Reading)

Saturday.

Tonight at eight o’clock, the second half of episode six of "Tomorrow’s Star" would be available online.

After the first half aired yesterday, "The Wind Rises" quickly shot up the trending charts.

Adding fuel to the fire, the production team stirred things up by including, at the end of the episode’s preview, a clip showing Wu Junchen choosing to challenge Fang Xing during the PK segment.

Just those three seconds of footage left the audience thoroughly intrigued.

Even before the second half was released, discussions were already raging on Weibo.

"Wu Junchen isn’t content with dropping to the lower bracket—he’s challenging Fang Xing in the next episode."

"How is this not turning into a fight?"

"The Five Sons of Chaoyin have already lost one round; if they lose again, their fans will lose it!"

"Haven’t they already lost it?"

"All last night, their fans were constantly attacking the professional judges—what a show."

Last night, the fans of Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen stormed the official Weibo of "Tomorrow’s Star," demanding the production team change the competition rules and eliminate the professional judges.

As of now, the show’s official account still hadn’t responded.

...

The popularity of "Tomorrow’s Star" had been boosted by several breakout songs.

With the buzz continuing to rise, Penguin Video launched early reservations for tonight’s episode at noon.

Moreover, those who reserved in advance would receive a popularity vote ticket.

Fans of Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen spread the word, organizing their fellow fans to reserve spots and vote for their idols.

In just an hour, reservations for "Tomorrow’s Star" surpassed three million and continued climbing.

In the Tianlan Literary Villas of Wenxing District, Donghai.

A girl was lying in bed, headphones on, listening to music.

Her name was Lu Xiang’er, and she was chatting with a classmate via WeChat on her phone.

Ning Xiaoyun: Xiangxiang, have you listened to the song I sent you?

Lu Xiang’er: I did, it’s pretty good.

Ning Xiaoyun: Then let’s watch "Tomorrow’s Star" together tonight.

Lu Xiang’er: I’ll probably have to practice violin tonight (sigh).

Ning Xiaoyun: Practicing on the weekend? You don’t need to work so hard! Your grades are already great; give others a fighting chance.

Lu Xiang’er: My mother’s orders—I wouldn’t dare disobey.

Ning Xiaoyun: Poor little mama’s girl (disdain).

Lu Xiang’er: I am not! I’ll send our chat to my mom and you’ll be doomed.

Ning Xiaoyun: Please don’t!

The chat ended.

Lu Xiang’er continued listening to music for a while.

There was a knock at the door.

A woman’s voice followed from outside, "Xiaoxiang, Mom’s coming in."

The door opened.

A graceful, elegant lady entered and began tidying the desk. "As a young lady, you should keep things neat."

"I’m already very tidy! You should see my dorm; my desk and bed are models of cleanliness."

Lu Xiang’er sat up, crossing her legs and flexing her rosy toes.

"Sitting like that—have you practiced today?" her mother chided indulgently.

"I’m about to."

Lu Xiang’er climbed out of bed, opened the violin case on her desk, and prepared to practice.

Her mother glanced back and asked, "Why aren’t you using your old violin?"

"Um..."

Lu Xiang’er stiffened, her eyes darting to the window. "Yesterday... I sent it for maintenance. It needs a few days to air out."

She didn’t give her mother a chance to probe further, immediately starting pizzicato exercises with her index finger.

Plink, plink, plink, plink...

She was playing "Nocturne."

After plucking out a short section, she picked up the bow and began to play.

Hearing the melody, her mother frowned. "What are you playing?"

"‘Nocturne,’ it’s a lovely piece," Lu Xiang’er replied.

"Practice Paganini, and stop messing around with random songs," her mother said sternly.

"It’s good to switch things up sometimes to adjust my state. I’ll try this piece first, and then practice Paganini," Lu Xiang’er said with a touch of coquettishness, and continued playing "Nocturne."

Her mother, conceding that the piece sounded nice enough, commented, "This doesn’t really suit the violin, though."

"It was originally written for piano."

Lu Xiang’er stopped playing and asked, "Can I watch a bit of TV later?"

"What’s so good about TV? Practice your violin first. Whatever the instrument, if you want to achieve something, you must practice diligently," her mother began to lecture.

"All right, all right, I’ll practice, okay? Now please go. I need to focus."

Having heard these words since childhood, Lu Xiang’er was thoroughly tired of them and quickly ushered her mother out.

After a session of Paganini No. 16, finding herself in good form, she decided to up the difficulty.

At that moment, voices drifted up from downstairs.

"Auntie, don’t go to the trouble, I’m not hungry. I just came to play with Xiangxiang. We’ll practice together in a bit."

Ning Xiaoyun’s voice came from below, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps on the stairs.

Two seconds later, Ning Xiaoyun burst in, quickly closing the door behind her.

She grinned mischievously. "See how good I am to you? I came to rescue you from a boring weekend."

Lu Xiang’er rolled her eyes. "You didn’t even bring your cello, and you say you’re here to practice with me? My mom actually believes you."

"That’s not important," Ning Xiaoyun waved her hand, pulled up a chair, and opened the laptop on the desk. "It’s 7:45, the show hasn’t started yet. Why don’t we watch the ‘pure performance’ versions from earlier episodes first?"

Lu Xiang’er actually wanted to watch as well, but her mother was strict and rarely let her watch TV.

However, with Ning Xiaoyun visiting, her mother wouldn’t object to the two girls spending time together.

After all, her daughter needed friends too.

Lu Xiang’er and Ning Xiaoyun had grown up together and both got into the orchestral department at Dongyin.

One studied violin, the other cello.

Ning Xiaoyun clicked on the "Nocturne" pure performance version. "Let’s start with this one. It’s the song I sent you a few days ago, and it’s a live piano and vocal performance."

As the video started, Fang Xing appeared at the piano, playing the introduction to "Nocturne."

Chord after gentle chord echoed out.

Ning Xiaoyun commented as she watched, "From the looks of it, this part wasn’t rehearsed. I heard it was impromptu. But who knows, maybe it’s a scripted act by the producers."

Lu Xiang’er peered closer, frowning in puzzlement.

She found the person in the video oddly familiar, but couldn’t quite recall where she’d seen him before.

"I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere."

Ning Xiaoyun blurted, "What’s odd about that? He’s a Dongyin student too, majoring in vocal performance. There aren’t that many people at Dongyin—you’re bound to bump into each other on campus."

After "Nocturne" finished, Ning Xiaoyun clicked on the pure performance version of "The Wind Rises." "Let’s watch this one, then it’ll almost be time for the new episode."

As the lilting melody of "The Wind Rises" played, Lu Xiang’er broke into a smile.

"This song is beautiful."

She loved its melody, and started humming along:

"I once turned my youth into her, once played out a glorious summer at my fingertips..."