Compared to Xue Liang, the eldest apprentice, Feng Shuo, the second apprentice, noticeably learned faster and was much more efficient.
Even though his composition skills were nearing the gold level, he could still make minor progress every day after classâ¦
This satisfied Lin Yuan greatly.
By mid-October, the teaching task unfolded.
The film crew was finally ready, and the official shooting of âThe Tunerâ began!
As before, during the filming process, Lin Yuan was present on set but rarely spoke.
There was not much need for Lin Yuanâs involvement in the early shooting stages as the initial few days served for the actors and crew to get their bearings.
However, Lin Yuanâs lessons did not stop.
He kept teaching Feng Shuo for two hours each day, only shifting the location from the company to the film set.
As filming got underway, Lin Yuan contacted Gu Xi.
This took place on the third morning of the âThe Tunerâ shoot.
Gu Xi, in a car, set off for the address Lin Yuan had provided.
Behind the wheel was a woman wearing sunglasses.
The woman, likely in her forties, asked, âDid you transfer to Qi Art because of the person we are meeting today?â
Gu Xi replied, âYes, Aunt Zhou. His name is Lin Yuan.â
The woman named Aunt Zhou seemed helpless: âSo youâve been following him around just because Lin Yuan wrote a good piece of music?â
Gu Xi nodded.
Aunt Zhou sighed, âHeâs about your age. Even if heâs a prodigy, heâs no Maestro. Has he played any other impressive pieces?â
Gu Xi thought for a moment and gently shook her head.
She had only heard one original piece from Lin Yuan, but that piece alone was enough to leave her in complete awe.
âSoâ¦â
Aunt Zhou glanced at Gu Xi, âHave you considered that Lin Yuanâs piece could be a one-hit wonder? Why else would he have been to the music room so many times yet played only that one original piece?â
âOne-hit wonderâ¦â
Gu Xi paused, then said, âEven if it was, that doesnât diminish the excellence of the piece.â
Aunt Zhou nodded, âI certainly believe in your judgment. His piece must be amazing if youâre still dwelling on it, but you donât have to treat Lin Yuan like a musical god.â
âNo, Iâm not mistaken.â
Gu Xi insisted.
Aunt Zhou stopped arguing and just smiled, âWell, I suppose weâll see how great he is later. If there really is such a young Maestro in this world, you are allowed to idolize him all you want.â
Gu Xi blushed slightly, âAunt Zhou, thatâs a crude way of putting it. Iâm notâ¦
Aunt Zhou teased, âOh, come on. Donât young people today use expressions like bootlicker, Ocean King, or gold digger? I do hang out on the internet⦠Oh, weâre here. Letâs meet the young man youâve been talking about. Iâm a composer too, so I can definitely help you judge.â
Having said that, Aunt Zhou parked the car and the two got out.
The crew was filming ahead.
Aunt Zhou curiously asked, âDid this Lin Yuan tell you he was going to shoot a movie? Whatâs his role in the crew? If heâs doing the soundtrack, he really doesnât need to be with the crew, right?â
Gu Xi replied, âIâm not sureâ¦â
Aunt Zhou, helpless, asked, âThen what do you know?â
Gu Xi thought for a moment, âHis name is Lin Yuan, heâs a student in our schoolâs music composition department.â
Aunt Zhou:
At this point, an assistant director stopped the two of them who were trying to enter the set, âExcuse me, weâre shooting right now. May I ask why youâre here?â
Aunt Zhou replied, âWe have an appointment with Lin Yuan.â
Upon hearing this, the assistant directorâs serious face quickly turned enthusiastic, âSo, youâre friends of Mr. Lin. Please wait a moment, and Iâll notify him immediately.â
âThank you.â
Looking at the assistant directorâs retreating figure, Aunt Zhou raised an eyebrow and remarked, âYour Lin Yuan seems to have quite a status on the set?â
Gu Xi rolled her eyes, âHeâs not mine.â
Aunt Zhou smirked, âIndeed, heâs not yours, otherwise, he would be here personally to greet us. Youâve been lingering around him for so long, yet thereâs been no progress.â
Gu Xi:ââ¦â
Not long after, the assistant director returned, his enthusiasm seemed even more pronounced, âPlease come in, Mr. Lin is waiting for you inside!â
âThank you.â
The two were led into a room.
Inside, Lin Yuan was tuning a piano. Hearing a noise, he turned his head and greeted, âHello.â
âLin Yuan, this is my aunt, Mrs. Zhou,â Gu Xi introduced the woman beside her to Lin Yuan.
âNice to meet you, Aunt Zhou.â
Lin Yuan greeted, showing his manners towards the elder woman.
With a gentle smile, Aunt Zhou said, âHello, is it Lin Yuan? I happened to be free today, so I came with Gu Xi. Donât mind me, you two can just have your chat.â
Lin Yuan nodded, âPlease, make yourself comfortable.â
Gu Xi, curiously, asked, âWhy did you ask me here, Lin Yuan?â
Lin Yuan replied, âI want you to play a few pieces.â
There are numerous scenes in âThe Pianistâ where the male lead plays the piano.
Although the male lead, Liu Zhengwen, has a foundation in piano, the final presentation of the piano performance will be completed by Gu Xi. Liu Zhengwen simply has to mimic the action of playing piano-
Of course, the melody cannot be wrong, or the keys would not match.
Common people may not discern the discrepancy, but those who know the piano would instantly detect it.
Just as some actors require post-production dubbing, Lin Yuanâs purpose in seeking Gu Xi was to have her dub the piano performance for Liu Zhengwen- This is a post-production task.
By contacting Gu Xi now, Lin Yuan hoped she could get familiar with the pieces that would appear in the movie.
Gu Xi said somewhat expectantly, âArc these original pieces by you, Lin Yuan?â
Aunt Zhou, who had found a place to sit, looked curiously at Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan nodded, âThe score is here. Shall I play it first?â
Gu Xi nodded excitedly, âYes, could you tell me the name of the piece?â
Lin Yuan replied, âManage dâAmour.â
Gu Xi asked, âIs it the one I heard last time?â
Lin Yuan nodded.
Gu Xi didnât press further.
As Lin Yuan sat down at the piano, he adjusted his posture slightly.
The next moment, musical notes began to flow from his fingertips.
A few chord groups under his right hand were like a gentle breeze and rain, then like a spring breeze brushing across his face.
In silence, the black and white piano keys danced in harmony.
The round and natural sound filled the entire room and space.
The score was not that complicated, but this piece of music seemed to have a kind of enchanting power that could easily arouse emotions.
Gu Xi softly closed her eyes.
She was not hearing this piece for the first time, but each time, she only caught bits and pieces.
This was the first time she was appreciating this piece fully, the amazement in her heart was the same as when she heard this piece for the first time.
In the corner of the room.
Aunt Zhou, who was originally a bit careless, her expression changed slightly.
At this moment, she understood why Gu Xi valued Lin Yuan so much!
Based on the quality of this piece alone, Lin Yuan really seemed to have the aura of a maestro, plus he was still so youngâ¦
If he wasnât a maestro now, what about in the future?
At least he had the potential.
At this moment, Aunt Zhouâs evaluation of Lin Yuan had risen quite a bit.
Just then.
Aunt Zhou suddenly saw Gu Xi looking at her with a smug expression, her lips moved:
âDo you believe me now? He is the maestro!â
Aunt Zhou understood what Gu Xi meant and couldnât help laughing.
This girlâ¦
Only after one song.
Mariage dâAmour is indeed a very outstanding piece, but to judge Lin Yuan as having the level of a maestro based on this alone was too childish.
It was the same old saying.
Everyone has moments of inspiration.
This breathtaking piece was likely the result of a lucky burst of inspiration from Lin Yuan.
The judgment was simple.
Lin Yuan was simply too young.
Furthermore, as Gu Xi mentioned earlier, other than this piece, Lin Yuan had not played any other pieces.
Doesnât this explain everything?
Of course, Aunt Zhou didnât voice this out. Lin Yuanâs performance wasnât over, it would be disrespectful to speak now.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Finally.
Lin Yuan finished playing.
He looked at Gu Xi, âThis is the original version of the song, but I want to make some adjustments in order to incorporate it into the film scenario. Could you give it a listen and give me your feedback?â
Gu Xi was surprised, âYou want to adapt it?â
Lin Yuan nodded and further explained, he needed some suggestions from Gu Xi as a pianist, âBecause the intention of the piece needs to fit with the style of the movie, the original style doesnât fully match the movie.â
Piano adaptation is a normal practice.
Any classic piano piece would have countless versions, just slight tweaks can lead to an infinite number of wonderful variations in the piece.
âAlright.â
Gu Xi nodded in agreement.
Upon hearing that Lin Yuan intended to rearrange the song, Aunt Zhou couldnât help but sit upright. This provided a good opportunity to assess Lin Yuanâs actual skill level.
Lin Yuan was oblivious to Aunt Zhouâs attention.
He directly activated the character card of Yang Zhongming. The system didnât allow Lin Yuan to use Yang Zhongmingâs character card to do any original work, but it allowed Lin Yuan to use Yang Zhongmingâs ability to modify existing piano pieces.
For the sake of the adaptation, Lin Yuan specifically did not invite Feng Shuo for lessons today.
He wanted to use todayâs character card time for this important matter.
Sitting back in position.
Lin Yuan began his adaptation.
Lin Yuan had previously tried to adapt Mariage dâAmour himself, but the result was just average. The moment he activated Yang Zhongmingâs character card, Lin Yuanâs thoughts became clear. With the dancing of his fingers, the left-hand chords suddenly improved, occasional variations in the climax part, subtle adjustments in the phrasing, emphasized melody of small motives and etc., allowed Mariage dâAmour to exhibit a rich variety of changes.
âIs thisâ¦â
Aunt Zhou listened to the constantly transforming music, and was a bit taken aback.
If the original Mariage dâAmour was sweetness accompanied by sadness, then now with Lin Yuanâs continuous adjustments, the piece was being endowed with countless new emotions.
Each variation was no worse than the original!
Even more, this seemingly impromptu continual adaptation seemed to add different flavors to the piece!
An expert in action is instantly recognizable.
The general public may be puzzled by Lin Yuanâs adaptation, but Aunt Zhou was getting more and more shocked as she listened!
The adaptation was done impeccably!
This young man, of the same age as Gu Xi, had a level of piano composition talent far moreâ¦
Terrifying than Aunt Zhou had initially imagined!