CH 35.1

Chapter 35: I’m unconditionally biased towards you. (Part 1)

Wen Yibei walked back to his relatives from the stage, his face carried a gentle smile as always, “Grandpa, everyone, what do you think?”

Shi Yunnan met his gaze,

and was unable to contain his proud look, “That still needs to be questioned? Who would dare to have an opinion on cellist Wen’s performance?”

Wen Yibei let out a low laugh, and couldn’t help getting back at his brother, “You’re really… looking at me through a heavy filter. Try to be a little low-key.”

“What’s low-key? It’s not like you’ve been this excellent for only a day or two.” Shi Yunan replied.

Old man Wen, who was close to them, heard the conversation between the two brothers and said with a smile, “You two brothers are very excellent in Grandpa’s eyes. I’m not afraid that the guests present will laugh at us!”

Old man Wen knew that the two brothers had been supporting and encouraging each other over the years, they had never been at odds.

Even if Shi Yunnan eventually failed to take the road of ‘violinist’, it did not affect old man Wen’s attitude towards him in the slightest. He was indescribably satisfied and loving to both grandsons.

Some of the guests around echoed,”Yes, needless to say, young master Wen’s cello playing is topnotch!”

Another young voice sounded, “The older brother has already performed. The younger brother, second young master Shi, should also go up and perform right?”

When Shi Yunnan heard this, the smile on his face solidified slightly.

He looked towards the source of the sound to see an unfamiliar young man.

Wen Yibei also noticed that something was wrong. He was just about to politely decline for his brother, when a response rang out from the crowd first, “This is a must.”

Wen Chenglang appeared out of nowhere, and replied instead of Shi Yunnan, “My two cousins, one played the cello and the other played the violin since childhood, they were famous back then.”

When the two brothers were seven years old, they had signed up for the most prestigious “China Instrumental Music Competition”, one won the championship in the special category of cello, and the other won the championship in the special category of violin.

Even the ensemble project of the two won the championship from a mixed group of junior players.

Once the story got out, everyone learned that they were old man Wen grandsons, and they were praised to the skies by others.

But the good times didn’t last long. Less than two months after the competition, their mother, Wen Min, passed away unexpectedly. The Wen and Shi families had a big fight, and their relationship completely collapsed. In the end, each family took a child back.

Most of the guests in the venue were from the music circle, and they weren’t sensitive to gossip of the rich, therefore——

Wen Yibei lived in the Wen family, and they have heard about his outstanding achievements from childhood, but they didn’t know much about Shi Yunnan’s experience in the Shi family over the years.

A middle-aged guest recalled the image of the two brothers back then, and proposed with a smile, “Yes, it’s rare to have this opportunity, second young master Shi might as well play a song to liven things up.”

“…..”

Shi Yunnan didn’t answer, he just turned his eyes to Wen Chenglang.

Wen Chenglang met his gaze without fear, he slowly walked back to Song Zhiqiu’s side, and for an instant, he raised his wine glass and made a slight gesture, it was obviously a malicious provocation.

When Luo Lingsheng and Wen Yibei saw this scene, their expressions changed.

Luo Lingsheng’s previous calmness instantly turned cold and heavy, while Wen Yibei was silently protecting his younger brother.

Other people didn’t know the truth, but how could the Wen family not know what happened to Shi Yunnan over the years, and how could they not know that Shi Yunnan had long been ‘forced’ to give up the violin?

Wen Chenglang was deliberately taking advantage of other guests’ interest. To put it bluntly, he wanted Shi Yunnan to ride a tiger1To be in a difficult situation, a predicament. and make a fool of himself in front of all the guests!

Old man Wen realized that his grandson’s words were inappropriate, and frowned slightly, “Chenglang, today we’ve got the time, why don’t you play a song for everyone first? Let grandpa see if you’ve made any progress.”

Old man Wen didn’t want to make things difficult for Shi Yunnan, nor did he want to publicly reprimand Wen Chenglang, so he had to find a way to change the topic.

But what he didn’t expect was that Wen Chenglang deliberately refused to take this hint.

He replied in a good-natured way, “Grandpa, now everyone is waiting for cousin to come on stage to cheer him up. How can I take away his limelight?”

“When he finishes playing, if everyone still wants to watch me play, it’s not too late.”

Wen Chenglang changed his usual vicious look to a good-tempered look, as if every word he said was for Shi Yunnan’s sake.

As the saying goes, don’t reach out and hit a smiling person, even if people perceive something, they won’t say anything against him on such occasions.

Wen Chenglang was two years younger than the two brothers, and he had also chosen a violin as an entry-level musical instrument when he was a child.

When he was seven years old, he participated in another Instrumental Music Competition, but he was eliminated in the preliminary round because he played the wrong score.

Because Shi Yunnan was such an excellent example, others always used him for comparison intentionally or unintentionally, and Wen Chenglang always felt very humiliated.

Later, when Shi Yunnan lost his fame in the field of ‘violin’, Wen Chenglang regained some of his pride.

But the bad thing was that Wen Yibei, who played a similar instrument, had done better than him.

Over time, the unwillingness in Wen Chenglang’s heart turned into jealousy, and then from jealousy to disgust and aggression, step by step to present days.

Just because outsiders can’t see it doesn’t mean the Wen family can’t see it.

Seeing his son’s intention, Wen Yanfeng immediately frowned, “Wen Chenglang, have you forgotten what I said?”

He deliberately lowered his voice, but the warning in his words was still particularly obvious.

As soon as Song Zhiqiu saw his attitude, she immediately started to defend her son, “Why are you being mean to him? Xiao Lang is perfectly fine today. Besides, everyone wants to see Yunnan play violin.”

She looked past her husband and turned to Shi Yunnan with a smile as she moved the topic back, “Yunnan, don’t spoil the fun.”

This time the audience at the scene finally perceived something——Shi Yunnan is not going to go on stage? Did he give up the violin?

But soon, someone in the crowd took over and replied, “I think, second young master Shi probably hasn’t touched any musical instrument during the years he spent abroad, so we shouldn’t embarrass him.”

“Third young master, why don’t you just go on your own! I heard that you’ve been shortlisted as a new member of the Chinese Violin Association?”

It was the unfamiliar young man who suggested Shi Yunnan to play the violin before.

Shi Yunnan sensed his and Wen Chenglang’s cooperation and smiled without saying anything.

“A new member of the association?” Song Zhiqiu was suddenly overjoyed, “Xiao Lang, why didn’t you tell your family about this kind of good news earlier?”

Old man Wen and Wen Yanfeng’s expressions also changed, as if they couldn’t believe the sudden news.

After all, being a new member of the Chinese Violin Association was different from being shortlisted.

Compared with Song Zhiqiu’s blind recognition of Wen Chenglang’s performance ability, Wen Yanfeng and old man Wen clearly understood the upper limit of Wen Chenglang’s ability.

The surrounding guests finally understood—

Shi Yunnan had such a good talent when he was a child, but now he has given up the violin?

On the contrary, Wen Chenglang, who has been used as a comparison since childhood and has a mediocre talent, will soon become a new member of the Chinese Violin Association through his own efforts?

Is this what they called thirty years east river, thirty years west river2Basically mean things are always changing and unpredictable.?

In front of many guests, Wen Chenglang responded with some smugness, “Being shortlisted doesn’t mean that I passed, after all, there are so many outstanding people competing with me.”

“However, the result is almost the same…”

Compared to those young violinists who were only eighteen or nineteen years old, he had obviously played for a longer period of time and had more experience. Of the five spots, why can’t he occupy one?

Hearing Wen Chenglang’s answer, all eyes were on Shi Yunnan for a while, some expressing pity, some expressing regret, and some secretly belittling and watching the fun.

Shi Yunnan did not feel ashamed for such remarks.

Besides, he had gained fame in jewelry design, a field where he could continue to shine, as for violin—

Right now he is inferior in skills. At first, he regretted having given up the violin, but he also understood that the past couldn’t be traced back.

The most important thing was that even if he was no longer as good as he used to be, Luo Lingsheng still liked the sound of his violin, which was enough.

As for this deliberate provocation of Wen Chenglang, he temporarily didn’t want to bother about it because today was his grandpa’s 80th birthday, but once again, he couldn’t guarantee where his fist would land.

In contrast to Shi Yunnan’s calmness, Wen Yibei saw his own brother being baptized by such a gaze, and a nameless anger rose up towards the initiator.

Just as he was about to speak, there was another commotion outside the crowd—

“Teacher Mo Qin is here!”

“Hello, Mr. Mo.”

The crowd automatically parted the way, revealing the figure of the visitor.

The man was wearing an iron-gray suit, his beard and hair were gray, but he was in good spirits.

Shi Yunnan recognized the other party and murmured, “…Teacher.”

Luo Lingsheng whispered, “Teacher?”

Shi Yunnan bent down and took the initiative to explain, “Mo Qin, the most outstanding violinist in China.”

When Mo Qin was young, he was the first Chinese violinist to win important international awards, and his status was thus evident.

“When I won first place in the competition back then, Mr. Mo took the initiative to include in his training for a while, but unfortunately…”

Unfortunately Wen Min suddenly passed away, and the relationship between teacher and student, which lasted only two months,

was also forced to end.

Mo Qin walked straight to old man Wen’s side with a scroll of ink paper, and congratulated him in a vigorous manner, “Old birthday boy, may the sun and moon prosper, may your life be as long as the pines and the cranes!”

“I have to go to another province to attend a seminar. I drove past this area and came to congratulate you along the way.”

“Enough enough, it’s good that you’re here.” old man Wen said.

Seeing this, Wen Yanfeng accepted the ink scroll in place of his father.

Mo Qin looked around, his piercing eyes suddenly fixed on Shi Yunnan, “Who is this?”

“Tea…” The word ‘teacher’ got stuck in his throat. Shi Yunnan changed to calling him in a regular way, “Mr. Mo, I’m Shi Yunnan.”

Mo Qin recognized his appearance and immediately put on a surprised look, “Yunnan? Let teacher take a look. It’s been almost twenty years since I last saw you, right? You’ve grown up to be so handsome!”

Mo Qin patted Shi Yunnan on the shoulder, he seemed to be saying this to old man Wen as well as the crowd, “Yunnan is one of the most outstanding students I have ever met in this industry.”

“This kid’s talent back then, even I have to give a thumbs up.”

“…..”

Mo Qin was a notoriously straightforward person in the circle, and he’s taken this to the extreme when he’s older.

In his words, good is good, bad is bad, and he never tells a lie.

At this moment, not only did he have an impression of Shi Yunnan back then, but he could also praise him in public right after meeting him, so he obviously liked and remembered this student from the bottom of his heart.

When Wen Chenglang heard this, a trace of displeasure flashed across the bottom of his eyes.

It wasn’t easy to make Shi Yunnan lose face in front of everyone, but as soon as this old man came, he lifted Shi Yunnan to the sky in a few words.

Bullsh*t!

What if his talent was outstanding back then? Right now can he even pick up the bow?

Some guests noticed Wen Chenglang’s subtle reaction, and asked with a slight attitude of watching the fun and not taking it too seriously, “Mr. Mo, if I remember correctly, third young master Wen also stayed under your tutelage for a while, no?”

Wen Chenglang took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a little uneasy.

Compared with Shi Yunnan who made Mo Qin reach out to him due to his excellent performance, he was able to learn under Mo Qin because Song Zhiqiu used old man Wen’s name, and the other party had to accept it.

And in less than three months, Wen Chenglang was persuaded to quit by Mo Qin.

Actually I don’t want to cut the chapter into two halves but each chapter is LONG (around 5k words). I know no one said anything about me cutting the chapter but I just want to explain for no reason. ⚆_⚆