Offstage, Shen Mozhen’s parents and Professor Wei realized the problem since they had an astute hearing.

Shen Heng and Yun Sa instantly looked upset. If Shen Mozhen stood in front of them at this moment, she would’ve gotten scolded sternly.

Seeing they both looked reproachful, Professor Wei, who had always been very strict to Shen Mozhen, said leniently, which she rarely did,

“Mozhen is still too young and hasn’t been in too many concerts like this. It’s great that she managed until now already. Xiao Yun, you were worse than her when you were young.”

Yun Feng, who got called on, said awkwardly, “We are her parents, and we still wish she has a perfect concert.”

Professor Wei gently shook her head, “How can there be any perfect things in this world?”

Just as she said it, Liu Man’s Guqin playing suddenly started, combining with Shen Mozhen’s Guzheng playing.

Professor Wei and Shen Mozhen’s parents froze at the same time.

They were all professional musicians. They could tell how Shen Mozhen and Liu Man divided their parts just by listening to the start. They had worked with music for decades and were familiar with all the versions, notes, bars, and variations of “Mountain stream”. Their insightful ears could catch every mistake the performers make.

They thought Liu Man’s part shouldn’t have started at this note. She shifted to an earlier bar.

Shen Mozhen, on the stage, was stunned, too. Her fingers almost played another wrong note. She looked towards Liu Man, and Liu Man gave her a slight nod, smiling.

At first, Shen Mozhen didn’t understand what Liu Man meant. She thought Liu Man wanted to steal the spotlight away like some actors when they grabbed attention away from the main characters in some scenes.

But soon, she discovered Liu Man’s real intention.

Liu Man was not playing the main melody, and she wasn’t playing a variation as they arranged in rehearsals. She was only playing the consonants, like the chords on the piano. The notes on the Guqin were deeper-sounding than the Guzheng and sounded softer than Guzheng’s notes. For the audience, it still seemed like Shen Mozheng’s Guzheng was playing the main part.

However, whenever Shen Mozhen’s fingers were feeling fatigued, and her brain was feeling numb and drowsy, Liu Man’s Guqin notes would suddenly become louder to cover up Shen Mozhen’s wrong notes. This way, the piece’s overall sounding would seem perfect.

Shen Mozhen felt very grateful inside.

Amateurs might think this duet was a failure. The Guqin part did not make any real effects on the piece, and its volume was also very soft as if the Guqin player was lazy.

But the Guqin player was extremely attentive and focusing a lot; it was a strange scene.

Only people who are professionals could understand how much music education foundation and astute hearing one needed to predict what kind of mistakes their partner would make in an ongoing performance, fix them right in time while not affecting the main direction the melody was going, and silently polish the piece. Even some master-tiered performers might not be able to achieve that.

Besides, Liu Man was in a great mental status — On the glowing stage, and under a thousand people’s watch, she wasn’t playing any main melody and was willing to become an extra. Not every performer was willing to do that.

They would start protesting. Everyone was a performer, so why were they extras?

Shen Mozhen’s parents finally understood why Wei Wanru liked this girl so much. They thought that this girl was more talented than their daughter, and even more importantly, this girl’s morality was very rare.

With the assistance of Liu Man, Shen Mozhen finally successfully played the entire “Mountain Stream”. The audiences, who didn’t know the truth, all stood up, applauding and cheering.

Shen Mozhen and Liu Man both stood up from their respective chairs, staring at each other and smiling. Shen Mozhen’s eyes, which were initially indifferent and full of courtesy, now had something else. She was very clear that this “something else” was friendship.

In the past, she had played “Mountain Stream” hundreds of times; however, it was only until now did she understand why Yu Boya smashed his instrument and broke all the strings after Zhong Ziqi died, swearing that he wouldn’t touch any instrument ever again in his life.

In this world, it was simply too hard to find a person who could understand one’s playing, understand it, and help them.

Shen Mozhen’s parents couldn’t do it. Her teacher couldn’t. Tang Tu couldn’t. But Liu Man could.

Shen Mozhen’s eyes were a bit sour.

In her entire life, she had always gotten restrained by all kinds of rules. She had to obey her parents and her teacher, proceeding forward while having to imitate others. She was like a puppet, having to do everything so flawlessly. Take this concert, for example. Wasn’t it hosted only to satisfy her parents and her teacher?

Did she have to have such a regulated and fixed life?

Why couldn’t she be like Liu Man, elegantly, and freely doing what she wanted to do?

Shen Mozhen lifted her head to cover up the sourness in her eyes. In just a moment, she returned to her appearance of a confident folk song goddess. She circled the Guzheng and reached out a hand towards Liu Man.

Liu Man froze for a moment before holding her hand. Then, the two girls walked to the front of the stage, hand in hand, and bowed at the audience.

Li Xiaoru was right. Liu Man held hands with Shen Mozhen, becoming good friends.

The two girls, both wearing luxurious Hanfu, stood under the spotlight, smiling brilliantly.

Wei Wanru watched the two of them and suddenly turned her head to ask Shen Heng and Yun Sa: “Do you two know what is the most ridiculous thing out of all?”

The two hadn’t even reacted before she continued to say,

“This girl is a piano major!” Wei Wanru’s expression was extraordinarily heartbroken.

Shen Heng and Yun Sa were both astounded, “How is it possible that she’s a piano major?”

Wei Wanru used a “The longer you live, the more you’ll see” tone: “When I just saw her, I thought God was fooling me around.”

At this time, the other students who took part in Shen Mozhen’s performance all came back on stage, including Wen Fangfei and other students from the folk song department.

Wen Fangfei stood on the other side of Shen Mozhen, not making eye contact with Liu Man. Liu Man was around the same height as Shen Mozhen, and Wen Fangfei was a head shorter. The three beauties were like three blooming flowers, and the other students surrounded them. They all bowed at the audience, causing even louder applause.

Among the applauding, nobody noticed the handsome man at the corner of the stage, walking slowly towards them with a bouquet of white lilies.

When everyone realized the man’s presence, he had already walked up to Shen Mozhen with a smile.

“Ah, ah, ah! That’s Tang Tu!!!”

“Such a huge surprise!”

“Oh, God. It’s him. Didn’t he break up with Shen Mozhen?”

“The main point is that Liu Man is here, too!”

Under the skeptical, strange watch of the audience, Tang Tu handed the bouquet to Shen Mozhen. He smiled as he looked at her, “Congratulations on your successful graduation and performance.”

Shen Mozhen took over the bouquet, her smile as beautiful as the flowers, “Thank you.”

If everyone didn’t know about the random rumors and scandals before, this scene seemed very beautiful and intriguing. A handsome boy and an elegant girl, holding a bouquet of lily; it was a pristine and flawless scene.

But the weirdest thing was, the two had already broken up.

Even more unexpected was that, in the next moment, Shen Mozhen suddenly turned around and faced Liu Man, handing the bouquet to her. Liu Man did not anticipate this scene as well, and she froze numbly on the spot.

Translated by: Sydney

Edited by: Puppxteer/Yutong