Chapter 14

Act III: Rachmaninoff (1)

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As soon as the blushing Xiang Cai hid his mobile phone, the teacher responsible for instructing the morning exercises stepped in the dance hall right on the bell of the class.

She looked around for a while, and then immediately called Xiang Cai, who was squatting in the corner.

"Xiang Cai," the teacher said pleasantly and kindly, "You come out and go with the girls."

The classroom itself was large, but there were not many students in the class. They had only 29 students in the Musical Theatre Department: 15 boys and 14 girls. They divided them for the morning exercises.

Xiang Cai got up in a daze and walked to the left side of the classroom. Qi Ji waved her hand at him and moved to the side, to make room for him.

Qi Ji looked at him suspiciously and asked, "Xiang Cai, who were you chatting with just now, why is your face so red?"

Xiang Cai said to her, "Is it red? The classroom is too hot."

He didn't know why he was lying. He selfishly wanted to secretly hide everything about Wang Qingyun. He couldn’t even bear to tell his best friend.

The Great God Wang Qingyun called him "my little swan"-- three words that were too tender, enough to make him blush and his heart throb for a whole day.

He stood with the ranks of the girls, and his mind had no idea where to fly.

The teacher shouted out an instruction, and told everyone to follow his actions.

‘Morning exercises’ was actually a warm-up class that did static and dynamic stretches, moving all muscles and joints. They will learn the dance movements afterwards.

Xiang Cai’s body was really flexible. Ballet required ‘upright, open stretching; beautiful lightness and stability’. Lightness and stability could be achieved through practice day after day, but upright, open stretching depended entirely on talent. In particular, the word "open" meant that the hip joint should be fully opened and the knees, ankles, and toes should be fully abducted.

All the teachers who had taught Xiang Cai said that he was a natural dancer: after the development of secondary sexual characteristics, many boys would have great changes in the pelvis under the influence of hormones, resulting in limited hip movements. The crosscutting that was once easy could become difficult.

However, Xiang Cai passed the "big hurdle" peacefully. After the second development, he still maintained a very good physical fitness. His shoulders were straight and his waist was flexible. He just relied on his physique, and didn’t know why he didn’t suffer as much as his peers.

In the morning exercises, after finishing the basic handlebar stretching, the teacher asked everyone to split into groups.

Until then, Xiang Cai did not understand why the teacher classified him into the girls’ group ...

... It was because the boys in their class were too stiff!!!

Of the 14 boys, half of them actually split their pelvis incorrectly, and the horizontal splits could not be expanded to 150 degrees.

They split with a “huh”, and then with another “huh” slammed their upper body with a slap onto the ground.

Xiang Cai: "..."

Qi Ji and he were in the same group. Although she was a girl, her flexibility was not yet as high as Xiang Cai’s. She was already very reluctant to try splitting, and even if she wanted to put her upper body on the ground, it was completely impossible.

Xiang Cai asked if she needed help.

Qi Ji blushed and said there was no need.

But Xiang Cai still got up and knelt behind her. He rubbed his hands first, and then put his warm palms on her back.

Qi Ji’s back tightened instantly.

"You relax." Xiang Cai said inwardly, "Why are you so nervous?"

Boys like him who danced since childhood didn’t have such fortified concepts between men and women. When practicing dance, girls were required to wear open-backed practice clothing, while boys were required to wear tight pants, and all the changes in their body lines were clearly visible. When dancing with a dance partner, their bodies would naturally stick together, and they couldn’t afford to be shy at all, just wanting to finish the dance seriously.

"I ..." Qi Ji’s earlobes were red, and she muttered, "... this is the first time a guy has helped me stretch."

"It's normal for the dancers to help each other stretch." Xiang Cai said, "I would help my previous partner stretch before I went on stage with her."

Qi Ji thought of the proud little princesses of the ballet department, and replied, "Your partner must be beautiful."

"You are also very beautiful." Xiang Cai’s words came from his heart. He gradually exerted his strength and pressed Qi Ji’s upper body down towards the floor a little bit: "You have big eyes, and you have a little dimple when you laugh. Your singing and violin playing is also very good ..."

Qi Ji blushed, and just wanted to refute saying she was just so-so.

She couldn’t think of anything to say when he finished the second half of the sentence he was saying: "The only drawback is that your muscles are too hard and your person is too fat." While talking, he made a sudden force with his hands, and Qi Ji was crushed; like a frog, her upper body snapped on the ground.

"... Oh!" Qi Ji cried out with a sore throat, tears bursting out of her eyes. The blue tendons on both sides of her temples replaced her young girl's heart that was just moved.

Xiang Cai didn't know about Qi Ji’s ups and downs, and praised her: "Wow, soprano, soprano!"

Qi Ji laid on the ground while shedding tears, breathing in pain, thinking: ‘Xiang Cai, today's hatred for the stretching, I will share it with you!’.

After her splits were over, Qi Ji got up from the ground and limped back to help Xiang Cai, but she was rejected with a hum.

There were two hours of morning exercises. The first hour was static stretching, and the second hour was dynamic activities such as jumping and kicking.

The four corners of the classroom were equipped with speakers. The teacher chose a piano piece with clear rhythm and instructed everyone to kick and exercise according to the beat.

It was a piece of music that Xiang Cai had never heard before. The piano keys were like storms; setting off an extraordinary brilliance. The piano and other orchestral instruments cooperated with excitement and glory, beating on the tip of his heart.

Xiang Cai was fascinated by this piano piece. He remembered his stumbling hands that couldn't even play scales smoothly, and then listened to the sound of the continuous piano from the speakers, admiring it extremely.

But he seemed to be the only one in the class who was seriously appreciating the song, the others were quietly exchanging gazes. He wondered what they were thinking. The teacher turned a blind eye to it and was full of smiles, as if to encourage such whispering behavior.

Xiang Cai couldn't help it anymore, and asked the startled Qi Ji who was next to him: "What are they talking about?"

Qi Ji said, "Do you know that our Musical Theatre Department rehearses a musical every semester as the content of the final exam?"

A nod came from Xiang Cai.

Qi Ji also said, "Well, this piano song played by the teacher is just a reminder for us."

Xiang Cai: "?????"

‘Reminder? What is this suggesting?’

Qi Ji sighed anxiously: "Can’t you hear it, this is “Pull Two”! The musical we are going to rehearse this time, it must be Rachmaninoff!"

"Pull Two?" Shang Xiaorui repeated these two words blankly in the recording studio. "What is “Pull Two”?"

Yao Yin smiled, and stroked the black and white keys underneath his fingers: "It is the Piano Concerto No. 2 by the famous Russian pianist Rachmaninoff. Because the name is long, we usually call it 'Pull Two'. "

Yao Yin picked up a pen and underlined a few lines on the tablature: "From here to here, I used the high-tide section of the second movement of 'The Second Pull' to express the protagonist's contemplation and fantasy. It better fits the plot of our animated short film, expressing the hero's nostalgia for his hometown and old friends. "

"Oh, oh." Shang Xiaorui seemed to understand, and she called up the animation demo from the computer, watching while listening.

There were two adjacent seats in the back of the studio. George frowned and sat there, with a pair of eyes watching Yao Yin and Shang Xiaorui’s side.

"Old Tan, I really think this ‘Brother Yao’ is weird!" George poked Tan Yiming’s side with his elbow and continued, "If you've said he is recording the song, then please just record the song. The old man is far from just recording with Xiaorui. What is the picture!"

Shang Xiaorui's animated short "Slowlytune" had entered the post-rendering stage. She entrusted Yao Yin with the accompaniment part of the animation. Yesterday, Yao Yin called to tell her that he had finished arranging the score and asked her to come to the recording studio to listen.

How could George rest assured with such a handsome guy in the same room as his girlfriend? Naturally, he followed them. Moreover, he specifically called Tan Yiming, saying that he was required for himself to give a "strong appearance."

So these people, like sweet potato on a vine, followed one after another in succession.

In the face of Tan Yiming and George, the two "uninvited guests", Yao Yin showed little surprise, as if he had expected them to come, and even moved chairs for them, asking them to sit down.

The first time George fell in love, he was always suspicious and worried that his dear girlfriend would be pried into the corner.

He suddenly held Tan Yiming's arm: "Look! Yao Yin is looking at me again! He must be thinking: ‘Hmph, this bald man is not a treat!’"

"You have too much heart." Tan Yiming was helpless and amused. "Didn’t Xiaorui say that Brother Yao is gay?"

"Old Tan, you are a man yourself, don't you know men yet?" George said anxiously, "Regardless of whether he is gay or not, how straight are so many straight men?! Not that everyone is bisexual, but what if they just haven’t met that person yet? If straight can be changed to gay, then of course gay can be changed to straight!”

Tan Yiming laughed the more he thought. He was about to continue enlightening him, but when he raised his eyes, he unexpectedly bumped into Yao Yin's gaze-- just as George spoke, Yao Yin's sight had indeed drifted in their direction.

The two looked up and Yao Yin smiled slightly, generous and natural.

Tan Yiming subconsciously returned a smile to him.

Shang Xiaorui was very slow, and did not notice the strange atmosphere between the three men present. Holding a pen and paper, she took work notes, while asking Yao Yin: "Then Senior Brother Yao, since there is a 'Pull Two', is there a 'Pull One', or 'Pull Three'?"

Yao Yin replied: "There is a ‘Pull One’ and a ‘Pull Three’. The difficulty factor of ‘Pull Three’ is very high. Many famous pianists have challenged this devil song. However, the birth of the second is quite legendary, so it is more famous than the other two. "

His introduction aroused Tan Yiming's interest. He got up and walked over, asking curiously, "What do you say?"

Yao Yin looked up at him: "The pianist Rachmaninoff was exceptionally talented. At the age of 12, he was admitted to Moscow's most famous music school. He was a child prodigy and was favored by countless piano masters."

With such an intro, Tan Yiming guessed what he would say later: "Is there a turning point next ...?"

Yao Yin nodded: "That's right. He brought his confident work Symphony No. 1 in D Minor to the audience, but after the premiere, the reviews were criticizing. He had been on a smooth ride since he was a child and had never encountered such a big setback. Such frustration crushed his pride and broke his wings, causing him to fall to the bottom."

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on Yao Yin, George was inevitably sour: "This master is too fragile, isn't he? If a song is not received well, then change to another song."

"You can't say that." Tan Yiming interrupted his friend. "Piano was the thing he was most proud of in his life. This was not just a job, but also a dream, a pursuit. At his proudest moment, it was broken by others' criticism and so he was indeed injured. It wasn't his fault that he failed to recover from that."

While he was talking, Yao Yin kept listening, subconsciously tapping on the keys with his fingertips, as if echoing his words.

Shang Xiaorui urged: "Then Senior Brother Yao, what then? He must have been out of the predicament, afterward, right?"

“Yes." Yao Yin nodded. "He was confused for such a long time that he wasn't able to get out of this predicament until he met his most important friend, Nikolai Dahl, and wrote the great Piano Concerto No. 2. On the title page of the piano score, he wrote: Dedicated to Nikolai Dahl."

Yao Yin said softly: “Many music critics say that for the prodigal pianist who had lived smoothly, it was only due to the setback that he could prosper and usher in glory. However, I don’t think it is important to go smoothly when you are young, nor is it important to encounter frustration after you become famous. ——What was important was the person who led him out of his darkest hours.”

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The author has something to say:

The musical introduced today is Rachmaninoff!

This great piano master, when he was young, went smoothly. As a result, his confident work Symphony No. 1 in D minor received countless bad reviews.

He fell into discomfort until he met a psychologist and his friend Dahl, a postdoctoral fellow, that he regained his creative vision, wrote ‘Pull Two’, and continued to write brilliantly throughout his life.

...This smart little friend must have seen it!

This musical actually overlaps with the experience of Cai Cai, Cai Cai will stand up again!

[T/N: This musical is a domestic work, meaning it is Chinese and generally meant for a Chinese audience as well. Good luck to me translating any possible future lyrics, I guess.]

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