The King's Avatar

”How was I?” Ye Xiu stopped paying attention to Young Master Lu, who was arguing incessantly, and returned to his little clique.

”Your hand position is too ugly.” Tang Rou sighed.

”My left hand’s okay, but my right hand always feels a bit twisted.” Ye Xiu said.

”Why?” Chen Guo asked.

”My right hand is used to holding a mouse.” Ye Xiu said.

”...”

”You probably only know how to play that piece, don’t you!” Chen Guo said.　　

”Of course not!” Ye Xiu said proudly.

”Oh?” Chen Guo was surprised.

”I know one other song.” Ye XIu said.

”...” Chen Guo was once again rendered speechless. Knowing one piece or two was practically the same thing, no? It seemed like he only played the piano to practice his hand speed.

”Which other one?” Tang Rou was quite interested.

”Pathetique third movement.” Ye Xiu said.

”Oh.” Tang Rou nodded her head.

”What’s that?” Chen Guo didn’t feel ashamed to ask.

”Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique. It consists of three movements. The third movement has a fast tempo.” Tang Rou said.

”Uh...” Chen Guo stared at Ye Xiu. Her expression was complicated. It was hard to connect the guy in front of her and a famous musician like Beethoven, even in this situation.

Young Master Lu felt even more unhappy, when he saw them chatting pleasantly together. He completely ignored the club staff, who had tried to give him a way out of this embarrassing situation, and walked over: ”I’m not done! Don’t run!”

”Do you need another show of talent? Would you like me to show everyone some boxing?” Steamed Bun heard his words and jumped out excitedly.

”Box….. boxing?” Young Master Lu stared blankly. From his hesitation, that didn’t seem to be something he was good at.

”Are you threatening me?” Young Master Lu looked at the guy, who was waving his fists around eagerly.

Steamed Bun looked puzzled: ”Threaten? Isn’t this a talent show? I do it once, then you do it. If you can’t do it, then you lose.”

Young Master Lu was furious.This guy must be trying to humiliate me! I haven’t even finished settling that previous grudge and now this guy wants to take the initiative to strike at me.

”If you want to play this game, then I should be allowed to go first. The rest is the same. How about it?” Young Master Lu said.

”That’s reasonable!” Steamed Bun nodded his head, ”What are you going to be performing!”

”I’m going to play a piece too. If....”

”What? I thought you didn’t know how to?” Steamed Bun interrupted and questioned him.

”Who says I don’t!” Young Master Lu roared.

”You just said that you couldn’t.” Steamed Bun said.

”How does that count? I’m going to be playing real music!” Young Master Lu shouted.

”Real music? What’s that?” Steamed Bun didn’t understand.

”You’ll know soon.” Young Master Lu smiled with confidence and strode over to the piano. He knew very well that it was astonishing how the way that guy played the piece with purely speed and without rhythm nor musicality, it didn’t mean anything. That guy had actually played a clever trick. However, speed alone couldn’t capture an audience. Young Master Lu believed in his piece. Just based on the types of people here, his audience had superior taste. That guy’s way of playing was only good for scaring plebeians who didn’t understand music!

As if he was scared of being blocked, Young Master Lu quickly dashed over to the piano.

The party had gone down to a standstill. Everyone was watching the ongoing drama, but when Young Master Lu began playing his piece, everyone was gradually enamored by the music. Even for someone like Chen Guo, who couldn’t appreciate the complexities of music, could recognize that Young Master Lu was on a higher level than Ye Xiu through just the simple reasoning that it sounded good.

”He really is quite good.” Tang Rou nodded her head.

”Should we give him a round of applause?” Ye Xiu didn’t really care.

”You’re planning on bringing things to a conclusion?” Chen Guo asked.

”Do you think ignoring him would be a good idea?” Ye Xiu said.

”Despicable!” Chen Guo wasn’t happy. Putting it plainly, this time, Ye Xiu had left too big of an opening. He gave the other side an opportunity to counterattack. Even Chen Guo could tell that Young Master Lu was a superior piano player, let alone the others at the party. By the time that guy finished, he would arrogantly follow up with a provocation and push Ye Xiu into doing something beyond his ability. ”Ignoring him” was too shameful of a solution.

”Have Little Tang go up against him.” Ye Xiu said.

”Oh?” Chen Guo looked at Tang Rou.

”Look at how clear she is on this subject and you’ll know that she’s an expert.” Ye Xiu said.

”Really?” Chen Guo had always felt like Tang Rou wasn’t an ordinary person.

”Mm... if you compare me to Ye Xiu, then I’d dare to call myself a God.” Tang Rou smiled.

”Then what about compared to him?” Chen Guo said.

Tang Rou smiled, but didn’t reply.

During their conversation, Young Master Lu had finished his performance. The audience gave a sincere round of applause. Young Master Lu seemed very satisfied with his performance and politely bowed to express his gratitude, thanking the audience for knowing what was what; the audience recognized true gold and wouldn’t get swindled by that guy’s little trick.

”I say....” Young Master Lu looked over to their side smugly.　　

”Now it’s my turn to fight a round of boxing, right!” Steamed Bun jumped out excitedly.

”...”

”I’ll go!” Tang Rou smiled and stepped forward.　　

”Mm?” Young Master Lu saw that it wasn’t Ye Xiu and was surprised. He stood still, not moving.

”I can’t?” Tang Rou said.

”You’re also a pro player?” Young Master Lu said.

”I’m still a bit lacking compared to a pro player, but becoming a pro player is my goal.” Tang Rou said.

Young Master Lu had been confident with his performance, so he displayed some grace in front of this beauty. He didn’t say anything more and moved aside, inviting her to use the piano.

Tang Rou nodded her head as if to give a greeting to everyone and sat down.

Her two hands stroked the keyboard. In an instant, piano sounds danced about.

Fast!

Tang Rou played very fast, but it wasn’t like Ye Xiu who only pursued speed. All of his notes had been squeezed together with practically no pauses. Tang Rou also played fast, but her playing had purpose and followed a certain tempo. Despite the fast tempo, every note was solid and steady, displaying her extremely deep fundamentals.

”Ah, it sounds familiar.” Chen Guo heard Tang Rou’s piece and felt pleasantly surprised.

”Uh, that’s the other piece that I know how to play.” Ye Xiu said.

Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique Third Movement.

”I’ve heard of it before?” Chen Guo was surprised.

”There are a lot of famous pieces that are recognized by everyone. Many just don’t know the name of the piece, that’s all.” Ye Xiu said.

”Then the piece you played wasn’t famous!” Chen Guo said.　

”Maybe someone else would have recognized the tune....” Ye Xiu said.

”Little Tang is playing better than that guy, right!” Chen Guo said.

”Can’t you tell just from everyone’s reactions?” Ye Xiu smiled.

Ye Xiu had shocked everyone, but that was because they didn’t think the piece could be played at such speed. On the other hand, Young Master Lu’s serenade had been quite good, and everyone expressed their appreciation towards it. However, Tang Rou’s performance was both shocking and appreciative. It was beyond their expectations.

As for Young Master Lu, the look on his face was even more brilliant. Even though he had been shocked by Ye Xiu’s performance, he didn’t feel embarrassed because he understood that even if he could repeat that same performance, it would just be a joke. Who played the piano like that? However, Tang Rou’s performance gave him a feeling of powerlessness. When it was obvious who played better than the other, the disparity between the two sides wasn’t small. Young Master Lu could not be blamed. Only those at a professional level could give rise to such a feeling of powerlessness in him.

The audience erupted into an applause after the final note. Tang Rou politely expressed her thanks to everyone and smiled towards Young Master Lu.

”I feel sorry that a pianist at your level wants to become a pro player.” Young Master Lu said.

”Then I’ll have to trouble you.” Tang Rou said.　　

”Aren’t you letting down your family with that choice?” Young Master Lu said.

”I’ll also have to trouble you with her family.” A voice drifted over from the main entrance to the party. Everyone turned their heads to see who it was. When they saw the speaker, the expressions of many in the audience changed. There were clearly many who recognized this person, and in this type of club, someone who was recognized by the vast majority of the people here clearly wasn’t someone simple. Even Young Master Lu’s expression couldn’t help but change when he turned his head to see the speaker. His expression was filled with disbelief.

This person had come over with a glass of wine. He clearly wasn’t here for Lou Guanning’s party. He walked over to the piano and everyone in his path moved out of his way.

”When I heard those piano notes, I thought it was you.” The newcomer walked directly towards the piano. He didn’t even glance at Young Master Lu and started talking directly to Tang Rou.

”Hee hee.” Tang Rou didn’t say anything. She simply chuckled naughtily.　　

”Why are you here?” The newcomer asked.

”I dropped by with some of my friends.” Tang Rou said.

”Oh?” The newcomer came with Tang Rou over to Ye Xiu’s little circle.

”This is my father.” Tang Rou introduced.

Ye Xiu and the others looked at each other. They felt that Tang Rou wasn’t simple. Ye Xiu had been wondering if she had run away from home like he had, but from how the father and daughter spoke to each other, their relationship seemed very normal. If she had ran away from home, it would have been surprising if she wasn’t beat to death!

”These three are your friends?” Father Tang looked at Ye Xiu’s group and smiled.

”Yeah! Ye Xiu, Chen Guo, Steamed Bun.” Tang Rou introduced one after the other.

”It’s Bao Rongxing. Hi, uncle.” Steamed Bun replied rather enthusiastically.

”Hi everyone.” Father Tang greeted. His next few words were ordinary words, expressing how he was indebted to everyone for taking care of his daughter. As for the other guests, they had gathered over almost like they were lining up. They were clearly trying to get an opportunity to say a few words to him. However, after Father Tang said a few normal words to Ye Xiu and the others, he gave a toast to everyone and then pulled Tang Rou to the side to talk.

Ye Xiu and the others didn’t know what exactly Father Tang’s identity was, but judging from how eighty percent of the searches for the surname resulted in him, Tang Rou was at the very least the daughter of a very influential family.

”Keeping one’s own counsel.” Chen Guo sighed.

”Hey, that what’s his name isn’t done yet! Don’t run!” At this moment, Lou Guanning suddenly leaped out. Everyone looked over and saw Young Master Lu getting ready to slip away.

”After having enough fun watching the show, now you come out to say something?” Chen Guo said.

”I was having so much fun that I almost forgot that this was my party!” Lou Guanning said.