CSGM - Chapter 94
Chapter 94: Do You Know How to Play the Piano?
Chu Xi was the artist in Section F, pinching the bridge of her nose, speechless.
Sure enough, once a person had a bad premonition, it was bound to come true.
While she couldn't say she didn't know how to play the piano, she was reluctant to perform like this in front of such a large crowd.
Unfortunately, Li Xiling had already called her out.
More than half the audience was still looking around, wondering, who is Chu Xi? Where is she?
They'd never heard that name before.
Almost all the investors and bosses, aside from the representative from Honghua Special Drinks, had never heard of Chu Xi either.
Was she a new singer who had recently become popular? Or Li Xiling's prized assistant?
Some people looked toward Li Xiling's seat, but no one there seemed to be getting up.
It wasn't until a figure started walking from Section F that she appeared in everyone's line of sight.
Chu Xi was dressed in a suit, adorned with several accessories, her short hair pinned up at the back of her head. Her aura was refined and capable, making her look like a walking, professionally retouched photograph.
The first impression she left on the audience was her beauty. Her bone structure was flawless, and her features were impeccable. But the second impression was unfamiliarity.
They had never seen this artist before.
Countless scrutinizing gazes followed Chu Xi as she walked from Section F to Section A, and then onto the stage.
This woman possessed a rather unique kind of beauty.
Unlike most charming and gentle female stars, she was clean, dashing, and her cool side profile was just as pleasing to the eye under the brilliant lights.
Huh... some people were wondering, it seemed she hadn't walked the red carpet earlier?
But making an entrance like this, with the entire venue's attention on her, was even better than walking the red carpet.
Because she was walking from the very last row to the stage at the very front, Chu Xi's journey was exceptionally long.
So long that she was getting tired of all the gazes sizing her up.
Was she a peacock on display at the zoo? The sheer number of eyes on her made Chu Xi feel that way.
In truth, everyone was more curious about how much skill Chu Xi actually had.
For Li Xiling to praise her as someone who could compete with Nana, could she be a hidden gem of the music world, a master in disguise?
But to everyone's surprise, after Chu Xi got on stage, Li Xiling immediately grabbed her and asked:
"Do you know how to play the piano?"
After hearing the question, Chu Xi nodded calmly and answered her.
"I know a little."
Okay, okay, okay.
Li Xiling was relieved. As long as her "master" knew a "little" bit, that was more than enough.
But the audience below was dumbfounded, three black lines of disbelief descending over their heads!
What was this?
The Golden Melody Queen invited someone to help without even knowing if they could play the piano?
What happened to the promised power duo that was supposed to rival May and Nana?
How did it end up being a newcomer!
A newcomer who admitted to knowing only "a little" about the piano?!
Come on, their opponent was the Piano Princess, Nana!
The genius Nana, who had won a gold medal in an international piano competition!
The helper who was supposed to challenge Nana only knew a little about playing?
Unbelievable!
In an instant, many in the audience felt their anticipation had been for nothing.
Chu Xi looked like an actress who got by on her looks. How could she possibly compare to a professional pianist like Nana?
The gap between the two guest performers was plain to see, and the audience suddenly seemed to lose all excitement for the upcoming competition.
Below the stage, Ren Zhi applauded lightly, an elegant smile on her face.
The host asked Li Xiling, "This is...?"
He handed the microphone to Li Xiling. Seeing that Chu Xi was just an obscure little actress with no piano accolades to her name, he naturally skipped over her during the interview segment.
Even stage performances had a pecking order, and the host subconsciously treated Chu Xi as part of the background.
It just so happened that Chu Xi didn't want to speak anyway. She stood there, glancing at the piano out of the corner of her eye.
She had watched the previous performance. In essence, it wasn't very difficult; it was simply that the keys didn't correspond to the standard notes.
Playing a standard score would sound like random noise, whereas a technique that looked like random playing might actually produce the correct melody.
Ultimately, the special piano on stage was just a new instrument whose key tones differed from a modern classical piano.
For her, this wasn't a major challenge.
However... Chu Xi thought, this was actually much harder for Nana, who had already developed muscle memory for the standard keyboard.
Her expression unchanging, she waited for Li Xiling and the host to finish their chat, already ninety percent certain of the performance's outcome.
Li Xiling's big, sparkling eyes shone brightly as she said, "This is my good friend, the actress Chu Xi! When I play games with her, I never lose!"
She gestured toward Chu Xi, introducing her with delight.
The audience below didn't react much, but Li Xiling couldn't care less.
As long as she didn't get rained on later, she would be happy. She believed Chu Xi wouldn't let her become a drowned rat!
The host teased, "But Chu Xi said she only knows a little about the piano. Aren't you worried, Sister Ling?"
Li Xiling replied, "A little is enough. What's that idiom again... a small lever can move a great weight!"
After answering the host, Li Xiling didn't forget to call out to Chu Xi:
"Xixi, don't let your big sis get rained on!"
Chu Xi gave her a calm nod, showing no sign of worry about the upcoming performance.
The second performance piece was "Silence." Its melody was simple and clean, not posing much difficulty for the player.
The greatest difficulty in the performance itself lay in the modified piano.
Chu Xi and Nana sat down at their respective pianos, while the divas Li Xiling and May stood before the microphones. Taking a deep breath, both wore expressions of intense concentration.
The two women in front were clearly a bit wary and worried about the water-spraying props hanging above their heads.
The song's intro began to play. Nana placed her hands lightly on the piano, her finger positions revealing absolute professionalism.
From the moment she sat at the piano, it was as if she had entered her own domain of authority, her entire aura changing.
Nana hadn't even moved a finger yet, still observing the keys and building momentum, when Chu Xi began to press every single key, one after another.
A series of piano notes without melody, tune, or rhythm flowed across the stage, like a curious child playing with a piano for the first time, just pressing the keys to hear the sounds.
Seeing Chu Xi's technique, testing the keys one by one, she instantly seemed even more amateurish compared to Nana's professional posture.
How could this ordinary celebrity compare to the Piano Princess? It was truly unthinkable.
Some audience members revealed disdainful smiles, all their expectations for Chu Xi completely vanishing. They turned their attention back to Nana instead.
They looked forward to Nana's spectacular performance to come.
Although the piano on stage had been modified, a professional like Nana should be able to handle it, right?
Just how well could Nana perform?
Chu Xi didn't know how her opponent would play; in any case, she had already memorized the pitch corresponding to each key on her side.
Memorizing pitches was different from memorizing words and images, but luckily, her hearing was quite sensitive.
Even though she wasn't an expert on musical instruments, she had been able to distinguish the difference between each key just now by relying on her hearing to capture the fine details of the notes.
Now, all she had to do was play the correct pitches according to the musical score.
The song's intro ended, and the vocal part began.
The two divas started singing at the same time, and the accompaniment flowed from the two pianos.
The first line!
"Can't help but..." The moment those three words left her lips, May's expression changed!
On this stage, the roles of lead singer and accompanist were reversed!
It was now lead instrumentalist and backup singer!
The singer had to follow the instrumentalist's tune. So, after singing just three standard notes, May's face fell, and she scrambled to follow Nana's off-key melody!
Because, unexpectedly, even the notes Nana was playing weren't the standard melody!
So now, May's face truly wore a "can't help but" expression.
Nana nervously bit her lip, trying hard to find the piano's new tuning, while May struggled to sing along with the accompaniment she was playing.
Nana's expression was focused, not daring to slack off. She discovered that although the keys' sounds were all mixed up, they were consistently mixed up!
So... which key was C? And which one was G-sharp?
Having to both play the melody and find the corresponding keys for the notes left even Nana feeling a bit helpless with the new piano.
The difficulty lay in the fact that she was too familiar with the standard keyboard! When she thought of a C note, she couldn't help but instinctively press the familiar key!
Once a person develops muscle memory, the body sometimes moves faster than the brain.
And it was very difficult for her to memorize the new key-to-note correspondences on the spot.
She could only rely on her powerful sense of pitch to find a few notes she had managed to memorize after making several mistakes, trying her best to play the song's original melody accurately!
The piece Nana played was half-baked, like a toddler just learning to walk, able to take a few steady steps but mostly stumbling and crawling.
May's expression changed again and again. Whenever she encountered a line or two played correctly, she would breathe a sigh of relief, only for the accompaniment to go off-key again the next second.
She sang the song stumblingly, her expression a mixture of wanting to laugh and cry.
Nana's performance was already a step up from the two singers in the previous round.
Even though May's singing was hit-or-miss, the audience below still wore expressions of shock and captivation.
However, this wasn't because of May's singing, but Li Xiling's!
It was Li Xiling's melody, sung exactly like the original, that was so immersive and reassuring. Her soft, crooning voice sang the emotionally rich "Silence" straight from the heart!
The listeners' emotions were drawn into her voice.
Li Xiling truly deserved her title as a Golden Melody Queen! Her live performance with a fully open mic was so stable!
Then everyone suddenly realized something. Compared to May's "car crash" of a performance, what was the key to Li Xiling's rock-solid stability-?
It was that the accompaniment played by Chu Xi was completely in tune!
Comments
Post a Comment