Chapter 428: Chapter 427: I heard you got a few new songs.
Chapter 428: Chapter 427: I heard you got a few new songs.
Chu Kong waiting on this side of the main building did not have to wait long for the person he wanted to see.
Shen Yixin was the daughter of the first-tier Shen family, appearing as a gentle, modest girl with a good temperament, without much of an heiress’s airs.
Even when visiting the hotel again, she did not use her family’s driver nor troubled anyone, merely hailing a taxi.
She still dressed simply in a long down coat and jeans, her docile and polite features lightly made up, just right.
Stepping out of the taxi, upon seeing Chu Kong, she summoned a girlish smile and walked briskly towards him.
“Master,” she asked as she walked, “why are you standing here?
Chu Kong’s attitude was even more amiable than when he had spoken to Shao Yunxuan earlier, with admiration and kindness brimming in his eyes that he could not conceal.
“This old body of mine isn’t worth fussing over, sooner or later it’s all the same, I’ve come to terms with it.”
“Master, what are you saying?
Is it that you lack inspiration for your composition again?” Shen Yixin disagreed, directly Read the latest chapters on NovelHub - completely free!
Unable to exert force with her left hand, she used her right.
Chu Kong’s gaze fell on her left hand, clad in a lace glove, filled with nothing but heartrending pity!
Shen Yixin, however, had become accustomed to it.
Her left hand tendons had been injured and never healed properly, and over two years, she had adapted to not relying on her left hand, only performing simple tasks.
Yet, when she Read the latest chapters on NovelHub - completely free!
This did not resemble the hands and arms of a pianist at all.
She furrowed her brows but said nothing in the end, first helping Chu Kong into the lobby and finding a quiet corner to sit down.
The waiter automatically brought them two cups of warm lemon water.
The middle-aged man hid his hands under the table, looking out the window at the scenery, and sighed.
“Master, what’s wrong?”
Shen Yixin was a meticulous person.
In the few minutes of contact, she realized something was off with Chu Kong.
She just returned from the O Continent and was unaware of some internal matters.
Chu Kong had not informed her beforehand.
Now, looking at his disciple’s left hand and then at his own, he finally understood the pain Shen Yixin had endured.
He did not plan to elaborate.
But Shen Yixin pressed for an answer several times and Chu Kong, seeing he could not hide it, finally spoke with a sigh.
“When you hurt your hand, you cried, saying you’d never be able to play the piano again.
I consoled you, saying even if you couldn’t play, you could still compose,” Chu Kong’s eyes grew slightly moist, “I never imagined that when the day came for me to leave the stage, I would realize how much pressure you were under at that time.”
Shen Yixin furrowed her brow.
“Back then, you were so young, with plenty of time and future ahead of you.
And I’ve been active on the stage I love for many years—I had it much better than you.”
The girl across from him was becoming increasingly puzzled by the conversation.
“Now I finally understand, giving up the dream I’ve worked for since childhood is like slowly cutting away the flesh grown on my own body, agonizing to the core!”
His tone conveyed not only pity but also frustration.
Shen Yixin had never dared reminisce about the silent nights of the past two years.
She’d felt despair, given up on herself, tried everything, but her hand could never return to what it was.
She now kept herself busy traveling around the world, trying to appear less useless.
“Master, what exactly is wrong with you?”
Chu Kong, sighing, dampened his fingers with some lemon water and, with trembling fingertips, wrote three English letters on the little tea table.
Shen Yixin’s eyes abruptly contracted.
“How could this happen?!” Her expression was no longer mild, replaced by shock, bewilderment, and a crumbling conviction, “Master, even you can’t continue?”
Chu Kong gave her a difficult answer.
Shen Yixin suddenly stood up, “You should go to the hospital now, to get treated.
If it’s in the early stages, there must be a way to cure it.”
Chu Kong knew it was all in vain; he didn’t want to go to the hospital and didn’t want to waste his last moments on a sickbed when he still had so many wishes unfulfilled.
With trembling hands, he motioned for Shen Yixin to sit down, “Yixin, please listen to me first.”
Shen Yixin reluctantly sat down.
“My illness is incurable, and it’s terminal.
I don’t know how much time I have left, but I probably won’t be able to play the piano anymore.”
As he spoke, he even began to laugh, “We, master and disciple, really have tough lives.
If only we could combine our hands into one good pair.”
Shen Yixin glanced faintly at her own left hand, wishing it too would get better.
But the more she indulged in such beautiful dreams, the more painful it was when she awoke.
“However, it’s okay, I’m currently looking for a successor.
There is a girl who is suitable, it’s just…” Chu Kong began, but didn’t finish his sentence, smiling instead, “Anyway, I hope she can continue both your and my piano dreams.
And also enable the Starlight Symphony Orchestra to keep going!”
“You have already found a successor?”
Shen Yixin was Chu Kong’s only disciple, and even when her hand was injured, Chu Kong never mentioned taking on another student.
Only after this accident had he considered finding a new successor.
Shen Yixin understood very well; she had advised her master many times that she wasn’t the only person in the world who could play the piano.
Now that someone could carry on their wishes, nothing could be better.
Chu Kong, however, wasn’t as delighted as one might expect, hesitating, “I have found someone.”
Only, there was a feeling he couldn’t quite express.
“Then congratulations, Master, and congratulations to me for gaining a junior sister.
By the way, has the junior sister’s initiation ceremony taken place yet?”
I will observe a little more, this kind of thing must be handled cautiously.”
Shen Yixin nodded, genuinely happy for him, “Which school did the junior sister graduate from?
She must be really outstanding to have all your hopes placed on her.”
“She’s still in high school.”
“It’s actually quite a coincidence.” Chu Kong recounted his visit to Kunpeng High School to Shen Yixin and also described the music he had heard there.
Just from his description, Shen Yixin felt that the person was very talented, no wonder her master was interested.
Shen Yixin laughed, “Wucheng really is a nice place, with outstanding people and a remarkable environment, you all like going there.”
Shen Yixin didn’t speak.
After a while, she asked, “What about Uncle Chu Kuo?
“He has performances during the New Year period, and he’s been out of town and unable to return.”
“Right, didn’t you say you got several new pieces of music?
Chu Kong had not forgotten about this.
Shen Yixin immediately took out a neatly preserved score from her bag and handed it over.
“Master, take a look.
Could it be considered the work of a genius composer?”
Chu Kong curiously glanced over it and after a few pages, squinted his eyes.