Black Lotus

“Hi, nice to meet you,” Phil said with an obvious accent, and his words were a little unclear.

Wen Niannan was a little hesitant upon hearing this reply, and his hand was trembling from nervousness, “I… I like how you played the piano. It’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.”

“Haha, thank you very much. Can you play the piano too?”

“Yeah, a little. I used to play every day, and I also learned some of your pieces too.”

“Used to? Do you not play anymore?” asked Phil, confused.

“No… not anymore. I don’t want to because of some reasons.” A flash of sadness went across Wen Niannan’s eyes.

Phil didn’t continue to ask him questions and talked to a staff member beside him in a low voice. Then, he turned to Wen Niannan and said, “Do you want to try out my piano? It’s brilliant.”

Wen Niannan was surprised and turned to Gu Yansheng. Gu Yansheng crossed his hands in front of his chest and didn’t seem to have cared much about their conversation. 

“What’s wrong?” asked Phil.

Gu Yansheng suddenly got up and walked over, standing next to Wen Niannan, and said indifferently, “Go play if you want to.”

——

Phil brought Wen Niannan to the piano, telling him to sit down. Wen Niannan saw down carefully while turning to look at Gu Yansheng

Gu Yansheng walked over to the rest area in front of the piano and sat down, glancing blankly at the nervous person on the opposite side. 

“Go ahead, try it out. Let me hear you play.” Phil backed away as he smiled, waving his hand to let the staff open the spotlight on top of the piano.

The light was opened, and the piano was instantly brightened under the golden light, as if it got covered in a golden layer of light, making it especially beautiful. 

Wen Niannan clutched his hands and gently touched the keys on the piano, then slowly exhaled while pressing down on the key.

His long, thin fingers danced on the black and white keyboard, creating a luring sound. Even the staff at the backstage, who thought it was Mr. Phil that was playing, were shocked, seeing that it was a young man playing the piano.

The joyful tune made him fully immerse into the music. Slowly, the tune became aroused.

Realizing that this was one of the most difficult pieces in Phil’s works, everyone was surprised. This person was playing with such quality and ease.

Who is this person? How come I’ve never heard of this person before, and yet he has such talents?

Gu Yansheng’s brain felt a huge boom as he heard the music. He looked at the young pianist in shock.

He knew this piece, an extremely difficult piece, yet how can Wen Niannan just pull that out?

In high school, he heard Wen Niannan play several times, but Wen Niannan’s playing had been ordinary and even a little messy. How come he became so good now?

Gu Yansheng heard a sudden pause in the soothing music. This was W.E.’s unique style when W.E played this piece two years ago. He also heard that version before.

His eyes squinted to look at the person under the spotlight. Wen Niannan learned it too…

Phil, who was also enjoying the music not far away from then, was pumped with excitement. 

Feng, how come you never told me that this young man’s so talented. This cannot be wasted…

As the piece approached the end, it got even harder, and all the audience looked at him nervously, hoping to see if he could pass this most difficult section spotlessly. 

Fully submerged in the mood of the music, Wen Niannan smiled when he got to his favorite part of the piece. His eyes flashed under the light, and a bright smile appeared on the stage.

His fingers smoothly flew across the keyboard, finishing the final section of the piece.

When he perfected the last note, Wen Niannan let out a sigh of satisfaction. Again he smiled from the deepest part of his heart.

When he turned around to ask Mr. Phil how he played, he found that everyone under the stage was looking at him in shock, making him feel like he had done something odd.

Phil came back to his senses and started clapping, and soon, people around him all clapped. Hearing the applause, Wen Niannan was a little lost, turning to Gu Yansheng to see what he was doing.

Gu Yansheng was staring at the piano and suddenly looked at him with a pair of mysterious eyes. 

“Young man, please tell me what’s your name,” Phil said to Wen Niannan excitedly. 

“I… am Wen Niannan”

“Wen, do you want to be my student?”

With this offer, the others all took a deep breath. The piano grandmaster Phil once told the public that he would never have any students because he said he was not willing to teach the untalented young people nowadays.

Wen Niannan was shocked to hear that Niannan wanted to accept him as a student. Despite the excitement, he could not accept.

When Wen Niannan was just about to reject the offer himself, Gu Yansheng walked up from behind and held his hand. Looking straight into Phil, he said, “No thank you. He doesn’t like to play the piano, so sorry Mr. Phil, please choose another person.”

Then, he held onto Wen Niannan’s hand and was about to drag him away. Looking down at his hand, Wen Niannan’s eyes flickered. 

Behind him came Phil’s loud yell, “Wen! Wen! Come back again if you ever changed your mind. I’ll welcome you at any time!”

Wen Niannan turned to look back at Phil, but a hand forcefully twisted his head around. Gu Yansheng said coldly, “What are you looking at?! Don’t turn back, we are going home!”

Translated by: Summit

Edited by: UnderTheMoon