CSGM - Chapter 96
Chapter 96: Impromptu Performance
The entire audience was listening to her response, waiting for her to speak properly.
That was Ren Zhi's intention.
Chu Xi understood and answered the host:
"I haven't played much piano, so it's easier to break old memories and rebuild hippocampal neurons to establish new ones."
Huh? What hippocampus? What old memories, new memories?
What Chu Xi actually meant was that since she was a novice, she wasn't influenced by any established memory of the keys, making it simple to remember the new ones.
Memorizing something after hearing it once wasn't difficult either.
But the host and the audience clearly focused on the first half of her sentence.
Chu Xi said: I haven't played much piano!
Ah, this.
The host's eyes widened in surprise. "You don't practice piano at home? Are you being serious, or is this a humblebrag?"
Chu Xi answered simply, "I don't practice."
Humblebrag? What was she humblebragging about?
It seemed more like she was being too indirect, and these people didn't understand.
After trying to process it, the host asked again, "So you mean, because you don't usually play the piano, you can actually pick up a new piano faster, is that right?"
Chu Xi remained a woman of few words. "Yes."
Ren Zhi had told her to speak properly and say less, and she was being very obedient.
With the host's interpretation, Nana was also given an out.
It seemed that Nana was too familiar with the piano, which made it difficult to correct the subconscious habits brought on by muscle memory.
Indeed, Nana had felt that way when she played the piano just now.
Forcing herself to touch the keys representing the new notes felt incredibly awkward.
The host grew curious again. "Do you have a deep foundation in any other instruments?"
Chu Xi asked him, "What do you consider deep?"
"Uh, you know, having won some awards, or achievements like grading certificates."
"No."
To Chu Xi, instruments were just something she'd dabbled in a few times out of boredom. She had practiced some basics during the Three Kingdoms training camp, but she wouldn't consider her foundation deep.
The host was astonished. If Chu Xi had no deep musical background but could still master the scrambled piano, did that mean…
"Do you have perfect pitch?"
Why so many questions?
Chu Xi remained composed, but inwardly she wished she could hurry back to her table for a drink. She hadn't eaten dinner yet, and the performance had taken a lot of her energy.
"No, I've only dabbled in instruments. I'm not a professional."
"Wow, you're so humble," the host praised. "But you just played a piano with scrambled keys so effortlessly. If you say you're not a professional, none of us would believe you."
After speaking, the host glanced at the audience, who nodded in their seats, agreeing with him.
How is that not professional?
To have the ability to adapt on the spot and deliver a flawless performance like Chu Xi's—could that be achieved without years of painstaking practice?
No way!
Chu Xi was being far too modest, not even mentioning her efforts, trying to give them the false impression that it was easy.
But everyone knew that there was no such thing as a genius who could succeed overnight without hard work.
Chu Xi scanned their expressions, completely baffled.
Why were they all looking at her like that?
Why didn't they believe her when she was telling the truth?
Chu Xi pointed at the piano and retorted to the host, "Does this game require a professional? The pieces you gave were very simple."
It wasn't Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, Piano Concerto No. 3, or Petrushka. It was just an ordinary pop song. Did that require a professional?
Weren't the basics enough?
If they were talking about those three hellishly difficult piano pieces, she would have to admit she couldn't compare to a professional in the piano world like Nana.
The host was momentarily choked up by her retort, his words clearly faltering.
—Does it require a professional?
—Very simple?
Somehow, what Chu Xi said seemed to make sense, yet it also seemed unreasonably easy!
Admittedly, the score for Silence wasn't particularly difficult, but… the performance couldn't have been as effortless as Chu Xi's tone suggested, right?
May and Nana, as well as the four singers in the previous round, had all struggled up there.
And now, seeing Chu Xi's matter-of-fact attitude, as if playing it well was only natural, the host instantly sensed the difference between her and everyone else.
Others saw playing it well as completing a challenge. She saw playing it well as a normal operation.
The host's next words were clearly hesitant.
"Yes, Xixi, the score for Silence can be considered simple, but the difficulty of this game lies in our prop piano, with all its keys scrambled. During your performance, did you memorize all the new notes on the keys?"
During the performance?
Chu Xi denied it. "No."
The host was surprised. "Then…?"
After a pause, Chu Xi continued with her next sentence.
"I memorized them when I pressed each key once before the intro started."
Hiss!
The host's sharp intake of breath was nearly amplified by the microphone.
Upon hearing this, the expressions of more than half the audience changed instantly.
They all remembered that before the performance began, Chu Xi had pressed all the keys in sequence, like a child playing with a piano for the first time.
They thought she was just doing it for the novelty!
At the time, they had looked down on this behavior with disdain, mistaking Chu Xi for an amateur.
But now Chu Xi was saying that was when she had memorized all the keys?
Although they knew that abilities like photographic memory were real, they never expected to find such a skill in an entertainer in the entertainment industry, someone who was supposed to make a living with their looks.
Wasn't that a skill reserved for academic geniuses and the like?
If that was true, then no wonder Chu Xi said this game didn't require a professional pianist!
Because she could memorize all the keys after hearing them just once!
And that wasn't perfect pitch?
Even if it wasn't, her sense of pitch had to be incredibly strong.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to reach that level.
Nana instantly knew where she had lost. It wasn't that she was less professional than Chu Xi, but that Chu Xi possessed certain skills that she simply didn't.
Like that enviable memory.
That's why Chu Xi's tone suggested that playing this prop piano wasn't difficult at all.
She was truly a talent!
Some of the investors in the audience expressed interest in Chu Xi's remarks. Since she was so capable, and they happened to have some say at this gala, a major investor picked up the microphone on his table to speak.
They hoped Chu Xi could perform an impromptu piece on the scrambled piano on stage.
Chu Xi's inner thoughts: @#¥!¥%!#%……!
Is this never going to end? So many demands!
Then, an investor who seemed a bit more cultured had a flash of inspiration and took the microphone to make a suggestion.
"When I saw Teacher Ren Zhi on the red carpet tonight, she had such an incredible aura. Her blue-green gown made her look like a fairy stepping out of a painting. Chu Xi, I'll test you. Can you create an impromptu piano piece on the spot to be the soundtrack for Teacher Ren Zhi's dress?"
Although she heard the annoying phrase "I'll test you," Chu Xi's impatience clearly vanished.
A soundtrack for Ren Zhi? Well, she would have to think about that.
Chu Xi considered it for about three seconds before taking the microphone. "No problem."
The investor leaned back like a client in a business deal and stated his requirement, "Your piece must match Teacher Ren Zhi's aura tonight."
Chu Xi responded, "Okay."
Her eyes were thoughtful as she slowly walked back to the piano and sat down.
Behind her, the host asked with interest, "Chu Xi, do you still remember the sounds of the keys?"
Chu Xi had no time for him now, her mind filled with countless fragments of Chinese music from a certain parallel world.
So her reply was blunt. "I won't forget something I memorized after hearing it once."
The host was speechless. Okay, my apologies for interrupting!
Hearing her confident reply, the audience and the big shots who had challenged her to improvise became even more interested in her upcoming performance.
Since Chu Xi had such a clear grasp of every key, what could she play on her own?
But in reality, even many professional musicians couldn't compose an impromptu piece, let alone a layman like Chu Xi who only knew the basics.
These big shots were just thinking out loud, without any consideration for the practical situation.
In the audience, the musicians who understood this were complaining internally.
They were also thankful it wasn't them on stage, getting requests from this group of foolish rich people.
How was this any different from wanting to build a castle in the air without considering reality?
And it was a themed composition, which was clearly meant to make things difficult!
Being able to distinguish which key represented which note and being able to compose were two completely different things.
Wealthy clients in this world all had a common problem: they said whatever they wanted, without the slightest consideration for the provider's actual situation or survival.
Yes, that was right. Chu Xi knew nothing about music composition.
But thankfully—
Many songs from the parallel world she had transmigrated from were still in her head. She would just play one that didn't exist in this world.
She searched through the songs she had previously considered and discarded for Ren Zhi, because those were the only ones whose scores she had studied carefully.
Countless fragments flashed through her mind in a brainstorm, and suddenly, she caught her inspiration.
Since Ren Zhi's look tonight was elegant and beautiful, her entrance ethereal like a fairy, with a graceful aura, and the color of her dress complemented by the sheer fabric was like a waterside scene in a misty rain…
Then…
Alright, choice confirmed. Chu Xi decided to present a Buddha with borrowed flowers.
Her gaze rested on Ren Zhi's face for a moment before moving away. She spoke into the microphone by the piano:
"Then I'll dedicate the following piece to the Miss Ren in my heart tonight."
The wind here is sticky, clinging to the thoughts of passersby.
Love has but a ten-thousandth of sweetness, yet I would rather be buried in that single point.
Chu Xi silently found the tune in her mind, her fingertips dancing between the black and white keys as she began to play the intoxicating and lingering—
South of the Yangtze.
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