Chapter 442: Let Us Just Book a Room
Zhang Xinya’s reasoning was common sense and Vice President Li knew it. After hesitating for a moment, he forced a smile and said, “There’s nothing we can do, Xinya! As of now, there are only two choices, either you change the song and download the musical accompaniment from the internet, or let that student Tang Xiu perform the accompaniment for you.”
“That…” The expression worn by Zhang Xinya before was said in an indifferent manner, yet when she heard these words, she quickly turned around to take the stage playlist. Her eyes quickly glanced at the familiar name.
Tang Xiu? Could it be him?
Heaving a deep breath, Zhang Xinya then said seriously, “I want to meet with this student named Tang Xiu first.”
“I’ll send someone to fetch him,” Vice President Li nodded and replied.
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In the History Department rest lounge...
While Tang Xiu was browsing websites, he heard someone calling his name outside the door. He slowly turned around to look at the person, then got up and walked over to ask, “I’m Tang Xiu, and you are…?”
A smile appeared on the woman’s face as she said quickly, “Hello student Tang Xiu, I’m a teacher from the Academic Affairs office in our campus. You can call me Teacher Wang. Anyways, we are in need of your assistance, can you come with me?”
“What is it?” Tang Xiu asked, confused.
The woman said, “Please follow me if you want to know the details. Shanghai University’s Vice Principal Li is waiting for you in another lounge.”
“All right then!” Tang Xiu nodded as he turned around to pick up his zither, and then left the classroom with the female teacher.
Shortly after, right when Tang Xiu appeared in the doorway to the room Zhang Xinya was in, the star’s gaze suddenly lit up, and there was a vaguely excited expression in her eyes. Her look made Vice Principal Li and her manager confused, especially when she rushed toward Tang Xiu and called out excitedly, “Tang Xiu, I never expected I would see you here. Great!”
After glancing around inside the room, Tang Xiu replied with a smile, “I was told by my classmates before that you would be a mysterious guest for our Shanghai University, as well as do the opening ceremony for our freshmen welcoming party. Anyways, I heard you are also preparing a concert in Shanghai, right?”
“Yea! It’s just that I happened to get acquainted with Vice Principal Li before, so I got invited to your campus’ sister school.” Zhang Xinya said, all smiles. “Great, let’s hang around after the freshmen welcoming party! Accompany me to a dinner tonight.”
“Ah, let’s forget it!” Tang Xiu said with a smile, “The dorm is closed very early in the evening. It will be kinda troublesome if I come back too late.”
“It will be okay!” Zhang Xinya said without hesitation, “Let us just go book a room at the hotel if your dorm is closed early.”
Booking a room?
At present, inside the room, the Associate Professor Li, the middle-aged woman manager and the female teacher who had just brought Tang Xiu, as well as several makeup artists, were all dumbfounded, looking at Zhang Xinya incredulously.
Never had they dreamed that Zhang Xinya actually knew Tang Xiu! It was far beyond their imagination that she would actually say to go to a hotel and book a room with Tang Xiu.
Who was Zhang Xinya? She was the most popular superstar in China! Not only was she popular in the country, she was also well-known in all parts of Asia, she even had a big influence all over the world.
“Xinya, please be more prudent with your words and phrases,” the manager hastily reminded her.
Looking back at her, Zhang Xinya said with a sincere smile, “It’s all right, Sister Chen! Tang Xiu and I are very good friends. He has also helped me a lot.”
The manager produced a forced smile upon hearing her words.
Immediately after, Zhang Xinya looked back at Tang Xiu, and said with a serious smile, “Anyhow, Tang Xiu, I’m afraid I’m going to trouble you tonight. The song I’m going to sing now needs the accompaniment of a zither.”
Unconvinced, Tang Xiu said doubtfully, “You need musical accompaniment from me? Isn’t there…”
“The accompanying music on my song was recorded on a CD, and we forgot to bring it,” Zhang Xinya said helplessly, “So you gotta help me! I’ll treat you to a meal tonight.”
Tang Xiu hesitated before he nodded and said, “It’s fine with me, but to be honest, I don’t understand modern musical scores. You should be able to play your song’s musical accompaniment, right?”
“Yeah, I can!” Zhang Xinya nodded quickly.
“Then play it twice for me. I need to listen to it,” Tang Xiu told her. “Afterward, we’ll try to cooperate with the play. If there’s no problem, I’ll play the zither musical part to accompany you singing.”
“Got it!” Zhang Xinya’s smile was exceptionally bright. She then turned to see Vice President Li and said, “Could you wait outside first?”
Vice President Li hesitated and was somewhat feeling unrelieved inwardly. Although he didn’t know about music, he hardly believed that Tang Xiu could learn the scores after hearing Zhang Xinya play it twice. What’s more, Tang Xiu himself admitted that he didn’t know musical scores, yet he actually signed up to play the zither and sing with it. That was simply a joke!
“Xinya, we’ll stay on the side and listen. We promise we won’t disturb you.”
After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Xinya proceeded to ignore them. Instead, she reached out to receive the zither handed over by Tang Xiu. After placing it on the table, she let out a smile and said, “Tang Xiu, are you really able to learn it after I play it for you twice?”
“I don’t know. But I’ll try my best, though!” Tang Xiu shook his head as he answered.
Vice President Li pursed his lips, while the manager rolled her eyes. They didn’t understand. Why would Zhang Xinya agree with such a ridiculous proposal from Tang Xiu?
Yet, those makeup artists standing at the side had an interested look when they saw Tang Xiu. The charming and handsome Tang Xiu gave them a very good impression.
Ding…
The zither play was full of classical styles. It was melodious and wafted throughout the room.
As for Tang Xiu’s eyes, they were fixated on Zhang Xinya’s fingering play on the zither, as well as the strings she plucked, while his ears jittered from time to time, memorizing the zither play by heart.
In the end, Zhang Xinya looked up and asked, “How is it?”
“I only got 70-80%, play it once again,” Tang Xiu replied with a nod.
“All right!”
A sliver of admiration flashed in Zhang Xinya’s eyes as she complied, and played it again. Afterward, she got up and asked with a smile, “How about now?”
Closing his eyes, Tang Xiu silently recalled the scores for half a minute and then nodded, “It’s pretty close.”
After saying that, he sat down right at the spot Zhang Xinya had vacated. His eyes closed again while his fingers rested on the strings. After stopping for a few seconds, his fingers began to slide.
The beautiful zither tunes were melodious, mild, and flexible. The transition points between the musical notes were done well. It was akin to the flowing of water and feeling of floating clouds, as he quickly finished playing.
“Great! You’re amazing!” Zhang Xinya’s eyes sparkled brightly and the admiration within them was even richer. She had met many talented musicians, yet never once had she seen one as skillful as Tang Xiu. He could play it nearly perfectly just by listening to the notes twice.
Despite there being some flaws in the song he played, being able to play like that for the first time was simply godlike.
At the side, Vice President Li could only feel that Tang Xiu’s play was very pleasant to hear, and his level was nearly at the same level as Zhang Xinya. However, the manager was different. She understood music, and she was once a professional musician. Hence, she could tell how good Tang Xiu’s play was.
At this time, if she didn’t know that Tang Xiu had never heard this song beforehand, she would have suspected that he had learned it secretly. This song was a masterpiece composed by a very famous musician, and it took him several months to compose it for Zhang Xinya.
A musical genius? Or was he a freakishly talented one?
The manager couldn’t describe her feelings at the moment.
“I can feel there are still some notes that are not handled well,” Tang Xiu faintly smiled and said, “Could you play it for me once again? I need to pay attention to the technique you’re using.”
“No problem,” Zhang Xinya said with a smile.
Having said that, she began to play the scores again.
However, Tang Xiu straightly released his spiritual sense this time and listened to her play with full concentration. He constantly paid attention to some issues in playing this music, as well as the method and technique in which Zhang Xinya handled several transition points in the musical scores.
Eventually, when Zhang Xinya finished playing, Tang Xiu smiled and said, “That’s nearly perfect. Now I’ll play the zither while you sing. Let’s do a rehearsal.”
“Got it!” Giving a gesture to give the seat to Tang Xiu, Zhang Xinya then listened to Tang Xiu playing the zither and began to sing softly.
The sound of the zither music was beautiful, and the singing was moving and touching.
Despite it being the first time they cooperated, it seemed like they had worked together for many years. Their performance was seamless and simply flawless. By the end of the last musical note, the manager clapped her applause. There was a shocked expression in her eyes, yet they were also burning with eagerness, as she said quickly, “Student Tang Xiu, can we discuss something?”
“What issue?” Tang Xiu asked.
“Sign a contract to be a singer under my agency!” the manager quickly offered. “I assure you that the contract that will be given to you won’t be much worse than Xinya’s.”
“Pfft… hahaha!” Zhang Xinya couldn’t help laughing after hearing this.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have much interest in music.” Tang Xiu said, “Besides, our campus’ Vice President Li is still here, as well. Are you not afraid of him being angry with you poaching me?”
Vice Principal Li was confused, “What’s the situation exactly? Isn’t Tang Xiu playing well, or not?”
“Vice President Li, student Tang’s play is more than just than that! His play is simply skillful to the extreme. The immersion in the zither’s tunes, the melodies; all of them are exactly the same as the original. After listening to his play, even I felt like it’s much more spiritual than the original. I dare say that he’s definitely a musical genius, and it’s unlikely that anyone can be much better than him.”
Being praised made somewhat Tang Xiu embarrassed. He lifted his hand to touch the bridge of his nose and secretly forced a smile inwardly.
“So, he’s really that good?” Vice Principal Li asked in astonishment.
“If he’s not, would I even poach him right in front of your face? Mind if we discuss it, Vice President Li? You can open any conditions as long as you expel him from your campus,” the manager said.
Shaken and surprised as he was, Vice President Li gazed at Tang Xiu before he turned his vision toward the manager again. He then forced a wry smile and said, “Well, Tang Xiu is our Shanghai University’s student. There’s no way I can expel him arbitrarily whatsoever. Besides, for you to pay attention to him that much, I can’t bear to lose such an outstanding student, either! Hahaha…!”
“Bah, you’re no fun!” The manager rolled her eyes at Vice President Li.