I am a Big Player
Chapter 198 - 196, Piano Melody in the Heat of Battle (Second Update)_1

Chapter 198: 196, Piano Melody in the Heat of Battle (Second Update)_1

At this time, Beijing No.4 High School would still be letting students out at 3:10 in the afternoon. Classes for the first and second year students would roughly start at 8 in the morning, recommence at 1:30 in the afternoon, and end at 3:10. During the afternoon classes, it was common for some to fall asleep. Most people would do their homework during class, or not do it all. Then some would leave, some would head to the field, some to the library, some to various informal activities, some would study in the classroom, some would chat—just that, nothing complicated.

Military training had also ended a while ago, and the new favorites of No.4 were eager to experience the atmosphere of this legendary super high school, all rushing towards the library. Nevermind whether they read books or not; at least they could join the crowd and prove they had been to the library...

Ren He casually and seemingly inadvertently asked Liu Bing for the layout of the various buildings, including the location of the piano room.

While everyone else was heading to the library, Ren He made his way to the piano room, expecting it to be locked only to find it wasn’t. He pushed open the old-fashioned, quaint door to find a spacious and brightly lit room. The afternoon sun filtered through the white muslin curtains onto the black upright piano, reminiscent of a scene from a movie as if the sunshine was resplendent and youth just right.

Ren He caressed the piano, which seemed to be well-maintained and clean. He first tested the three pedals: the sustain pedal, the soft pedal, and the sostenuto pedal, and then he tried the tone of several octaves.

By this time, Ren He was a bit excited. In his previous life, the piano was the one instrument he had always wanted to play, and now in this life, he could finally play it, and with master-level skills at that!

Outsiders would probably find it hard to appreciate the feeling of a dream coming true. Although the Divine Punishment System was always miserably tormenting Ren He, there was no doubt that it also helped him fulfill many dreams he had longed for since childhood.

When he knew he could make this piano produce crisp and pleasant sounds, he was genuinely moved.

What should he play? He’d play one of his two favorite piano pieces, "Croatian Rhapsody."

Actually, the difficulty of "Croatian Rhapsody" is not too high, falling somewhere between grades 6 and 8.

This song was composed by Tonci Huljic, and performed by Maksim Mrvica. Through lively rhythms, the music depicts the ruins and rubble amid Croatian ashes after suffering the trauma of war, creating painful images of dusk reflected on tears and dust.

Maksim was born in 1975.

In 1990, when the Croatian War broke out, in the small town where Maksim lived, thousands of grenades exploded every day, yet he and his mentor Maria Sekso remained convinced that they should continue their music studies. In such a perilous environment, his piano was Maksim’s support.

So it has been said that "Croatian Rhapsody" is truly a rhapsody reborn from bloodshed in wartime.

It represents the wars that Croatia has experienced, as well as the indomitable spirit of the Croatian people amid the conflict.

The moment Ren He’s fingers touched the piano keys, it was as if he became a different person, embodying the deep understanding gained from repeating "Croatian Rhapsody" for half a year.

It was as if he was placed in the midst of Croatian madness, surrounded by cries and screams to the point of hoarseness, children clutching dolls standing below ruins in bewilderment, tears of blood streaming from people’s eyes. Yet, beyond that darkness and bloodshed, lay the unquenchable brilliance of humanity.

The muslin curtains drifting in the piano room were like the transparent tears of Croatians after the war, floating in the air singing an elegy, while the sunlight represented faith!

And there was Ren He, as if in the midst of that pervasive artillery fire, with his piano before him! Grenades shrieked overhead, yet all he needed to do was to bring out the music in his mind.

Crisp piano sounds spread from the fingertips to the white sheer curtains by the window, where notes danced in the air, like quiet yet restless souls, paradoxically harmonious.

They were filled with beauty.

...

Liu Jiamin had a baby face that seemed to never age. Unlike others who aimed to attend No.4 High School for its elite open education, she was there because it had a piano she could practice on for free.

She wasn’t rich or noble like the other students; No.4 High School also had students from poor families, and Liu Jiamin was one of them.

Considering both her parents were doctors, one would expect her to lead a fairly comfortable life. However, her grandmother’s severe illness six years ago had left her family impoverished, and even now they needed over 30,000 yuan a month for medical expenses. Her parents’ salaries went almost entirely into covering these costs, to the extent that Liu Jiamin, despite her love for the piano, didn’t even have one of her own.

There are people in this world who pursue their dreams regardless of their circumstances, overcoming all obstacles to follow the compass of their hearts.

No.4 High School boasted a special program called the Tao Essence Class, designed for students with unique talents. They didn’t follow the usual route to college entrance exams and had no fixed academic divisions; each had their own specialty. Ren He had heard of prodigies who published books in high school, those who forged their own inventions and held patents even before graduation, and multimedia maestros with exceptional skills. And Liu Jiamin was a piano major in the Tao Essence Class!

Over the years, practicing daily on the display pianos at shopping malls, she had astonishingly become a piano major with those meager resources. During her high school interview at No.4 High School, she played a piece from a famous composer of the last century, leaving the audience utterly amazed.

The principal decided, impressed by her stunning skills, to admit her through special recruitment and even halved her tuition fees, considering her situation.

No.4 High School was such a magical place, welcoming any and all extraordinary talent.

Now, Liu Jiamin finally had a fixed piano to practice on. She had heard somewhere that No.4 High School had a donated piano in the music room that anyone could play, and that was what drew her to No.4 High School.

After enrolling, although the military training each day was exhausting, Liu Jiamin still insisted on practicing piano for six hours after training. She knew deeply that there were no real shortcuts in this world; to reach the summit, one must sweat.

And what’s most frightening is when some people not only possess talent but also work harder than you.

We often encounter artists who endured particular hardships in their youth, which forged an exceptional mentality in them. This mentality was not necessarily evident in their emotional intelligence but rather in their heightened sensitivity to emotions. Take the famous writer Kafka, for example; he lived his whole life under the shadow of a domineering father, in a strange world, developing a lonely and melancholic character, extremely sensitive to emotions.

It was this sensitivity that made his works historically significant, dazzling all who encountered them.

Liu Jiamin had received her share of cold stares; practicing on the pianos in shopping malls meant enduring contempt from sales staff. But she didn’t care; she just wanted to fight for a little more hope for her dream.

That dream was like a tender sprout, and Liu Jiamin was determined to protect it from the elements and nourish it with clear, sweet water.

And at that moment, standing beneath the music room, she listened to the piano sounds filtering down through the white curtains and was suddenly transfixed.