Chapter 672: In A City, That Year 6

In A City, That Year 6

Mu Youyu shook her head, her voice light and clear: "Drawing is too quiet."

Feng Cen guessed again, "How about dancing? You could do a duet with Wanwan!"

Mu Youyu curled her lips, "I play the piano."

Feng Cen's eyes lit up, "What piece? You still know how to do this?"

She loves music!

Mu Youyu spoke frankly, "I learned a bit when I was young, and I haven't forgotten."

"You probably aren't very practiced now, right?" Feng Cen laughed, "Isn't there Master Tan's son in the next class? He often goes to the music room; I can go with you to ask him."

"Exactly, exactly, we can all go with you."

Liu Wanwan exclaimed, "Right, that Tan Yuzhou had signed up before, but I don't know why he suddenly canceled; if we ask him, he should be able to help."

Mu Youyu pretty much guessed why he canceled, she smiled, "No need, I believe in myself."

The afternoon before the competition, the music room door was ajar, and Mu Youyu went in to do her final practice.

When she pushed the door open, someone was already inside.

Tan Yuzhou sat upright on the piano bench, his long fingers lightly resting on the closed lid, as if he were gathering his emotions.

Hearing the soft sound of the door opening, he turned his head, his warm voice tinged with surprise: "Ah Yu?"

Mu Youyu curled her lips, "Hello, Brother Tan."

"Good afternoon, good afternoon." Tan Yuzhou rose from the piano bench and asked, "By the way, I forgot to ask last time we met—how did you come to study here? Did Brother Xi agree to let you come?"

He is the sole son of renowned musician Tan Jingyan, while Mu Xi is his father's only closed-door disciple; they grew up together from childhood, often visiting the Mu family, and they knew Mu Youyu was the little princess cherished by both the Mu and Song families.

Moreover, he greatly admired Mu Xi, seeing him as his lifelong goal and sole rival, and had always treated Mu Youyu like a real younger sister.

When Tan Jingyan was mentioned, Mu Youyu replied, "Second Brother said as long as I'm happy, it doesn't matter where I study."

She said only that.

"That's true too." Tan Yuzhou smiled, stepped aside from the piano bench, and asked, "Tomorrow's competition—what are you planning to play? Is there anything you need my help with?"

He had originally signed up to perform a piece, but after hearing that Mu Youyu intended to compete and also play piano, he crossed out his own name.

Seeing his intention to yield, Mu Youyu did not decline, sat on the piano bench, placed her fingertips on the keys, and played "Tide Breath."

A flicker of surprise crossed Tan Yuzhou's eyes.

"Tide Breath" is Mu Xi's original piece from his first international competition, and also the work that made him famous in his youth.

Its technique is intricate, its emotional layers deep, and it is not easily mastered by non-professional pianists.

He raised his eyebrows, "This piece is difficult—are you sure you want to play it? Are you planning to arrange it, or use Brother Xi's original version?"

Mu Youyu did not answer; she simply lowered her gaze and let her fingers fall, a stream of notes pouring from the keys.

After playing a short passage, she stopped and turned her head.

"The original version—how does it feel, Senior Tan?"

"Impressive." Tan Yuzhou's expression softened, "If you're willing to go on stage, I suggest you let the teacher know early and dim the stage lights a bit."

"Why?"

"Because your expressiveness captures attention more than technique does; bright lights would instead distract, while dimmer lighting lets the audience immerse themselves in the notes."

Mu Youyu smiled sweetly, "Then thank you, Brother Tan."

She said no more, placed her hands back on the keys, and ran through the rest of the piece once more.

Tan Yuzhou listened quietly to the end, then left.

Only Mu Youyu and the piano remained in the music room.

She played it once more, closed the lid, gathered her belongings, and headed back.

As she passed the small path outside the music room, she happened to hear a lowered female voice from the corner: "They're going to perform Mu Xi's signature piece? This piece is technically very difficult—what if something small goes wrong..."

Another voice interjected, tinged with contempt: "Such a difficult piece—she definitely can't play it well."

"Exactly, does she really think she can do everything?"

Mu Youyu did not hesitate; she walked out from the corner.

Those girls clearly hadn't expected anyone to come over; their voices cut off abruptly, and upon seeing her, a flicker of panic crossed their faces.

As Mu Youyu brushed past them, the corners of her mouth lifted: "Thanks for the concern, but I won't have any accidents."

Those girls were stunned by her sudden thanks, staring at each other, and for a moment none of them spoke.

Mu Youyu didn't wait for their reaction and continued forward.

After walking a few steps, one of them turned her head, watching her receding back, and muttered softly, "Why is she so polite? I thought she'd yell at us..."

Another came to her senses, her voice dropping: "Never mind whether she's polite or not—you'll find out tonight."

"What if she really can play it?"

"So what? It's just like that."

The curly-haired girl covered her chest, "But I think she's not bad—she even thanked us."

"Big sis, you just said you wanted her to look good!"

"That was me a minute ago."

Her companions were left speechless.

On the day of the competition, with half an hour left before the official start, backstage was already bustling.

Mu Youyu sat before the makeup mirror, while Liu Wanwan was fixing her hair.

Liu Wanwan whispered, "Are you nervous?"

Mu Youyu gazed at her reflection in the mirror, "No."

"All right then." Liu Wanwan secured the last hairpin, stepped back half a pace to take a look, and said, "If you want to slip away, you still can."

"Not bad." Mu Youyu stood up, smoothed her skirt, very confident, "I'll get a prize first."

How ambitious!

The venue was already full, the backstage passageway narrow; Mu Youyu and Liu Wanwan were about to walk to the front-stage waiting area when several staff members were lifting a backdrop toward backstage.

Mu Youyu was turning her head to say something to Liu Wanwan, not paying attention ahead, and as she turned, her shoulder slammed into someone.

She instinctively stepped back half a step, "Sorry, classmate, I didn't mean to, did I hurt you?"

The person she bumped into was a girl with curly hair, whom Mu Youyu had seen yesterday.

The girl staggered back two steps from the impact, but when she could clearly see the person's face, her brow relaxed slightly, swallowing the words she'd been about to scold, "It's fine, are you okay?"

How could she still be asking her? Clearly it was her who bumped into someone, Mu Youyu shook her head, "No."

The girl quickly said, "Then that's good, be careful, there are a lot of people backstage."

Okay, thanks, classmate.

You're welcome.

After saying that, the girl glanced at her several more times, then hurried away.

Mu Youyu didn't have time to think further, she walked up onto the stage at a leisurely pace.

The auditorium lights were dimmed a few degrees.

The curtain opened, a girl sat poised before a pure white piano, her posture tall and elegant, wearing a light blue ankle-length gown that was simple and gentle.

The outfit was specially prepared by Mu Xi, relatively low-key.

The piano was a model Mu Xi had discarded, but Mu Youyu liked its tone.

Mu Xi actually had prepared a better piano, but his younger sister especially liked this one, so he felt helpless and had someone bring it over.

There was a sound from the audience:

Wow, this angle is great for photos, but would using a flash be too abrupt?

It's so dark, I can't see clearly.

That outfit looks kinda familiar, isn't it a new haute couture from someone's brand?

You guys can see all that clearly?

Liu Wanwan also has one, probably she borrowed it.

Actually, Liu Wanwan and Feng Cen each have an identical one; when they saw Mu Youyu also wearing it, they were quite shocked.

Afterwards they thought it was borrowed from the other party, so they didn't ask further.

……

Under the gaze of the multitude, Mu Youyu calmed her mind.

She had practiced it several more times at home, and by the time she arrived at the venue, she had played it extremely fluently.

The prelude fell, the piano sound filled the hall, and everyone fell silent.

"Tide Breath" is a famous piece that requires maintaining clarity at extremely high speed; any blurring will cause it to lose momentum.

After all, it was personally taught by Mu Xi, and had been paired with Lu Yuchu's song as a phone ringtone for several years; Mu Youyu perfectly replicated Mu Xi's playing style.

She didn't lose momentum; each note was crisp, like droplets splashing when waves hit the shore, clear and forceful.

In the middle section, the force lessened, the rhythm suddenly slowed, the gaps in the melody line widened, and the breath became prolonged.

Mu Youyu controlled the force at her fingertips, pressing each note just right.

At that moment, all external distractions vanished; she immersed her whole being in her own world, making those few minutes of performance extraordinarily beautiful.

Liu Wanwan sat in the first row below the stage, never shifting her gaze; beside her was Feng Cen, and both flickered with astonishment in their eyes.

The final note fell, Mu Youyu paused for a moment, and the lingering sound reverberated in the auditorium for a long time.

Feeling the resonance fade in the air, she then slowly lifted both hands.

The piano teacher below brightened again and again, thinking, "This student must be at a child prodigy level?"

The silence lasted nearly ten seconds, then applause broke out, more enthusiastic than any previous performance.

Mu Youyu rose, bowed slightly toward the audience, lifted her skirt and walked off the stage, feeling quite satisfied.

No wonder it's her!

She didn't hear the discussion below about her, waited in the backstage lounge for over two hours, the competition ended, and the results were announced.

Mu Youyu's name was posted in first place.

On the way from the auditorium to the teaching building, she ran into those two girls from yesterday in the audience again and again.

One of them bit her lip, "Can't she give us some face? She took first place, we prepared for half a day for nothing."

But she really plays beautifully...

What good is sounding nice? She stole our first place!

But she's really pretty.

You!

That girl continued muttering, "Besides, her surname is Mu... same as Mu Xi, she even looks a bit like him; do you think she might be a relative of Mu Xi?"

Ah, this must be fate!

I'm not sure, but Mu Xi doesn't seem to have such a young sister.

……

Mu Youyu changed into her outfit, collected her certificate, and quickly returned to the classroom.

In this small event, only first place gets a trophy; the rest receive certificates.

Liu Wanwan ran over, put an arm around her shoulders, took out her phone, "Come on, come on, let's take a commemorative photo! Our genius pianist has won her first battle."

Feng Cen also put an arm around her, "Come on, little treasure, smile!"

Mu Youyu was photographed several times holding the trophy.

Duan Nuo at the back watched the liveliness over there, pursing their lips.

That day, someone posted a thread on the campus forum, titled 'The one who got first place in Grade 10 Class 1'.

Not a single comment was posted underneath, and the thread already showed as nonexistent.

Duan Nuo had just wanted to comment when the page was replaced by a '404', as if it had never existed.

She then realized that any news about Mu Youyu would leave no trace in the school.

Is the school protecting her like this? Not even a single piece of information allowed? Even the previous specially admitted students didn't get this treatment!

Duan Nuo opened their saved drafts, stared at those few blurry photos for a while, and finally pressed the delete key.

In December, the temperature difference grew large—cold in the mornings and evenings, yet the midday sun was big.

Mu Youyu put on a jacket, head down scrolling on her phone, walking toward the sports field.

Feng Cen was in an exam; she had arranged to go to the cafeteria together with Liu Wanwan, but the latter was suddenly called to the office by a teacher, so she had to head there alone.

Just after turning onto the small path behind the gym, head down replying to Mu Xi's message, she looked up and found two people blocking her way.

They were two unfamiliar upperclassman girls, their posture lax.

The leading girl lifted her chin, tone arrogant and rude: 'Hey, you're that Mu Youyu from Grade 10, right? Go buy us two drinks, or you'll regret it!'

The other immediately echoed, following suit: 'Exactly, hurry up!'

Mu Youyu slipped her phone into her pocket, expression serious: 'Are you disabled?'

They were stunned, probably not expecting her to respond like that.

Girl 1 furrowed her brows: 'What did you say? It's just asking you to run an errand, what are you putting on airs for?'

Girl 2 also stepped forward: 'We're giving you face; don't be ungrateful. As a newly admitted special recruit, you must follow the rules—this is Sheng Luo's tradition.'

'Tradition?' Mu Youyu tilted her head slightly, moved her neck, 'I'm not a maid, and I have no habit of running errands for strangers.'

By now, she had been in A City for half a year; in her first week there, she began training with the coach Mu Xi had found, going to the martial arts hall to practice judo five times a week, never missing a session.

At first she just wanted to strengthen her body; later she discovered this sport had excellent stress-relief effects, so she persisted.

As soon as her words fell, Mu Youyu's hand had already landed on her wrist.

Girl 1 felt a force pulling her sideways, her balance lost, and she staggered forward half a step.

By the time she steadied herself, Girl 2 had already retreated two steps away, slipping off silently.

'...' Wise to know the times, Girl 1 also retreated.

Mu Youyu hadn't expected this person to be so weak, and moreover, the other girl didn't even come to help?

She walked ten or so meters away, then bumped head-on into a young woman in a black coat.

The woman rested a hand on her chin, eyes appreciative, tone admiring: 'No wonder you're a Sheng Luo student—even fighting, you're so skilled.'

Mu Youyu defended: '... I didn't fight; I just gave a light pull.'

'Wow, and you're still so humble!' admiration deepened in the young woman's eyes.

Sending her younger sister to Sheng Luo was indeed no mistake; the students of this school not only excel in virtue and academics, have good Family Background, but also possess strength!