Chapter 4: The Young Miss of the Xu Family is a Little Strange (4)
When Tian Meng finished playing, she bowed. to the stunned faces of the audience. Only when she. was stepping. down from the stage did they erupt into thunderous applause. As expected of the Yan young master, even though the person was unknown, they were still bursting with talent and skill.
This one song allowed such an image to well up in their hearts, it could be said to definitely be unbelievably skillful playing. It was like listening to a master!
Yan Mo also snapped out of his daze, going up onto the stage to thank Xu Mingyue for her performance, before kindly saying that she would be performing in this year's Ferenc Liszt Competition and letting the people present to go check her out.
Tian Meng's lips thinned, feeling mildly amused. This guy, although nicely put he was giving her good publicity, but wasn't his true goal to pressure her and keep her from withdrawing from the competition?
She thought it was cute, but didn't like this sort of manipulation. She narrowed her eyes as Yan Mo approached her, keeping her expression indifferent.
For Yan Mo who saw this, he couldn't help but relate Tian Meng to a cat even more.
The system floating nearby felt that Yan Mo's expression was a little weird but didn't say anything, only silently recording the scene. Tian Meng liked to record her scenes in order to go over them later to see how she could improve, but the system still didn't like being used as some personal camera, no matter how good of a cause it was for.
"Young miss Xu has really improved since I've last heard you!" Yan Mo exclaimed, piling on all sorts of praise as Tian Meng only had on a polite smile.
"Young master Yan is over exaggerating. I simply received a little bit of inspiration, that's all." She replied with a calm voice, and Yan Mo could see that she was not just acting but sincerely not letting his praise get to her head. He nodded, feeling that this girl's personality was pretty good.
Most artist's would be getting arrogant, but look at the way Xu Mingyue was conducting herself.
He felt that in comparison, a single Qin Yu was not nearly as good. He even began to consider whether he should pull out his sponsoring of the girl in order to not offend Xu Mingyue. In the end, he thought that even though Xu Mingyue's talent and music was much to his tastes, he shouldn't make such an impulsive decision just yet only to please her.
He decided to first wait and see how things go.
Although the real Xu Mingyue would have surely been disgruntled by Yan Mo's train of thought, if Tian Meng could read minds she would definitely be sighing in relief, thinking that she had just been saved by a hair's breadth - after all, she was the villain! She couldn't have the male lead dumping the female lead just to please her. That would be absolutely blasphemous.
When the party was over, Yan Mo graciously sent Tisn Meng to her car. The girl was happy the day was over and eagerly looked forward to relaxing.
A month soon passed peacefully, without Tian Meng having to act.
It was one day when she was planning to go visit her good sister that Tian Meng received a letter, feeling very puzzled. She stood in her room, staring at it with an odd expression.
It was an invitation from Yan Mo to go see a concert with him. Included was a VIP ticket to a famous pianist's concert in one week. Tian Meng wanted to ask - why are you not going to cultivate feelings with my good sister, instead running around and inviting me (the villain) on a date?
Tian Meng was facing a dilemma here. Should she go or should she not? Rejecting the invitation would be rude, but to accept the invitations...
In the end, she set it aside on her desk, deciding to think about it later. Right now, she still needed to go visit that good sister of hers, Qin Yu. Of course, as a conscientious little sister, Tian Meng needed to check on how Qin Yu was doing, right?
The location of the school was an hour or so drive from the city, located on a private mountain owned by the Yan family. It was isolated and in a beautiful location, great for artistic inspiration (or so it was claimed).
Tian Meng hadn't told Xu father that she was going here, but there was no need to. She was too lazy to come up with an excuse for now. She would say something only if he mentioned it later.
The young girl sat peacefully at the school office, reading until Qin Yu entered. She coldly shut her book, looking at the girl who was only a little bit older than Xu Mingyue with a calm gaze. Qin Yu felt a little unnerved, unsure why this half-sister of hers had come calling.
"Let's go," Tian Meng said in a cold voice, and the two walked to a cafe that was on the school campus. Qin Yu remained very confused as Tian Meng calmly ordered an iced tea.
She looked to her older sister, but seeing her not react, said with slight exasperation. "Your order?"
Qin Yu snapped out of it. "A-ah, just water is fine," she said, a slightly embarrassed expression on her face as she felt like she had made a fool of herself in front of this elegant person.
Tian Meng didn't react, ordering Qin Yu her water. They sat in silence after, even when the waitress delivered them their orders. Tian Meng caressed the edge of the glass with a perfectly manicured nail, the sound of ice clinking as the pieces moved, droplets of water forming on the glass's surface.
"As your... younger sister," Tian Meng's lips curled slightly at these words, "I've come to check on you. After all, we can't have our family being blamed for not taking care of their daughters," she said.
Qin Yu paled a little at Tian Meng's slightly harsh tone, firmly pressing her lips together.
When Tian Meng saw that Qin Yu refused to say anything, she continued. "I've heard that young master Yan has decided to sponsor you, transferring you to the music program."
Qin Yu froze. Where did Tian Meng hear this? She was afraid that this younger sister of hers would force her to reject Yan Mo, to transfer back to the general program. In her eyes, this younger sister of hers didn't like her and certainly would not be resigned for her to live a good life.
Actually, Tian Meng hadn't really done anything at all to portray this, other than treating Qin Yu a little bit coldly. But Qin Yu had already decided that the legitimate daughter would obviously hate the illegitimate daughter, so no matter what Tian Meng did, it obviously took on another color in Qin Yu's eyes.
"If you wanted to go to the music program so much you should have just said so, instead of embarrassing us in from the young master Yan. What would he think, that the Xu family can't even afford to take care of a little girl?" Tian Meng said, taking her glass of iced tea and sipping a little of it. "Simply disgraceful. Do you know how embarrassing it was for the young master to tell me all this?"
Tian Meng seemed to calm down slightly after a moment, feeling that her words were a little bit too much like a cannon fodders. She carefully readjusted her expression.
"When you see young master Yan later, let him know that you wish to reject the funding."
Qin Yu was clearly very upset by these words, but she could only hold it in, having an expression of being bullied but not daring to speak out. Tian Meng felt that she was endlessly amused by this white lotus expression, but looking up, her eyes. widened and she quickly stood.
"Young master Yan," she exclaimed. Who knew since when this guy had entered the cafe?
Yan Mo had heard that Xu Mingyue had come to visit his school and since he had been free, had decided to come over to see her. As expected, she had come to visit that illegitimate sister of hers. Yan Mo nodded to Tian Meng. "Xu young miss. If you told me that you were coming, I would have taken you on a tour of the school," he said leisurely.
"This young miss doesn't dare to trouble you so much," Tian Meng answered as she shook her head.
Yan Mo's lips perked up slightly in an amused smile. Qin Yu, who was seeing all this while be completely ignored, felt a dark feeling swirling in her heart. It was jealousy. The man who had treated her so well before was now ignoring her, instead treating this younger half-sister of hers with such a gentle attitude and smile.
"Have you received the invitation I sent you?" Yan Mo asked, his eyes seeming to sparkle a little.
Tian Meng nodded. "I just received it and was planning on replying to young master Yan later today."
He looked at her in anticipation.
Tian Meng wanted to smile wryly, but restrained herself. Such an expression, are you sure you are still the mighty male lead and not some eager dog waiting for pets? "I would be honored to accompany the young master," she said. Actually, she really didn't want to, but she couldn't do something like reject Yan Mo right in front of his face. She was dissatisfied, being forced to make her decision like this, but could only resolve to torture him a little more later on.
Yan Mo felt very satisfied, and offered to sent her back home. Tian Meng politely refused, and he could only negotiate to instead walk her to her car. The two of them chatted amicably, while a forgotten Qin Yu could only trail behind, looking very wronged. Actually, her heart had already been moved by Yan Mo long ago - with such a handsome and rich man treating her well, whose heart wouldn't be? So being ignored like this, while the man she liked treated another girl so well, obviously she would nurse some grievances in her heart but could only stifle them, restraining herself.
Only when Tian Meng had left, giving Qin Yu one last warning glance, did Yan Mo finally pay attention to this girl again. His gaze was significantly cooler compared to the last time that they had met, and Qin Yu's face paled. Who knew what Xu Mingyue had said to him that made him like this. In her heart, Xu Mingyue had already become the villain.
She lowered her eyes, not wanting him to see the emotions going through them. "What did you two talk about?" Yan Mo asked, and Qin Yu nibbled her lip, reluctant to answer.
"... She told me to... ask that you not sponsor me anymore." She finally dragged out, her hands balled up into fists. The Xu family, was, after all, the family that was supporting her and sending her money. If she offended Xu Mingyue, she knew that she would no longer have any good days. Because of this, she felt driven into a corner, only able to accept this sort of bullying and having to reject Yan Mo like this, forcing herself to only. have this Xu family to rely on.
"Is that so? Then that's fine too. The Xu family is a good family and has the capability to support you. It was my fault for interfering where I didn't belong." Yan Mo answered, nodding his head and sealing the deal.
Qin Yu initially had a little bit of hope that Yan Mo would continue to sponsor her despite that, but this hope was soon dashed by his cool and indifferent words. She couldn't help the tears that began to well up in her eyes, but she quickly restrained them from falling.
After all, Yan Mo had his own pride. If they didn't want his sponsorship, then why should he discard his pride to continue insisting? In the end, Qin Yu's piano ability hadn't matured enough for him to desire her enough to abandon his pride - on the other hand, he valued Xu Mingyue much more.
When Tian Meng returned to her room, she felt a little stressed. "Why is the male lead constantly running over to me? Did you see how he treated the female lead today? This is not how it's supposed to go!" She lamented to her family's system, who was bobbing up and down in a worried manner.
"Don't worry, I'm sure things will get better. The circumstances should change once you are revealed as the villain!" He said.
But Tian Meng did not feel comforted. She felt that the way Yan Mo was treating her and Qin Yu was just too wrong, completely outside of her expectations. Yan Mo should be the type of male lead that was over protective of his female lead, but it didn't seem like that at all today. Because of this, Tian Meng felt that she would need to work even harder than before in order to repair the relationship between the male and female leads. But there was only so much she could do. If she was too obvious in acting as a matchmaker, than what sort of villain would she even be??
In the end, Tian Meng could only be frustrated. As the weeks passed until the concert Yan Mo invited her for, Tian Meng began practicing the piece that she had chosen for the Franz Liszt competition.
(A/N: previously Ferenc Liszt, but after a little more research, I think it's actually Franz Liszt - but unsure)
The piece she had chosen was Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, which was considered a very difficult piece. Tian Meng had even attended many Swan Lake ballet performances for inspiration.
The reason she had chosen this in the first place was because she felt that the image felt similar to the image that Tian Meng wanted for this performance - the beginning was elegant and beautiful, but nearing the end, it became more passionate. It was a song that evoked feelings of sadness. And in addition to that, the piece required a great amount of technical skill.
(A/N: Actually, I don't think that Swan Lake is considered difficult, but because I just really like the song, this is what I'm going with and we will pretend that it is in fact a super difficult to play piece)
Although Tian Meng wished she was at a level where she didn't have to practice, she wasn't that sort of surpassing human limits type of genius. Of course, if she wanted to dazzle the world with her playing, she needed to practice the piece she wanted to play. In addition, a famous piece like this would require for her to add her own creativity and twist to it. She had already submitted the sheet music though, and now just needed to refine her playing.
That being said, lately Tian Meng had been having her doubts and wondering if she should show such an amazing performance. Originally, she had wanted to do so to leave a lasting image in the male and female leads hearts even after her death, but lately her interactions with the male lead and the relationship between him and the female lead had been worrying her.
She was distressed that if her performance was too dazzling, she may mislead the male lead.
But after more thought, in the end, she decided to keep to her initial plan. But what she needed to change was not her own skill level, but Qin Yu's skill level! After all, compared to Xu Mingyue's style, Yan Mo should obviously prefer Qin Yu's, right? That sort of warm feeling that it invoked was key!
Qin Yu needed to up her game in order to win Yan Mo back over, who had accidentally been seduced to Xu Mingyue's side.
After all, if the level of the protagonist was high, then naturally the level of the villain could be considered high as well, right?
Anyways, she should have trust in the ability of Qin Yu. She was, in the end, supposed to be a genius pianist who becomes the world's greatest musician, right?
Tian Meng told Xu father about Qin Yu's interest in music. Xu father was surprised but happy that his daughter, though she didn't like Qin Yu, still took care of this older half-sister of hers. He was also happy that this illegitimate daughter of his was showing interest in music and sent over some more money so that she would have no problems in pursuing her passion for the piano. Tian Meng inwardly sneered at this, but was happy that things were so easy.
The night for her and Yan Mo's "date" came quickly. Xu father had already given his permission happily, thinking it was a good thing for his daughter to be on good terms with this tall, handsome, and rich man.
Tian Meng wore a dark blue dress this time, with smaller silver sparkles, like it was imitating the night sky. When Yan Mo came to pick her up, he thought this outfit truly suited her. With her long inky black hair falling down to her waist, her lips painted a bright red, and her face almost seemed to glow from the inside. She was stunning, to say the least.
Yan Mo's eyes seemed to glow slightly, but he quickly lowered his eyes to hide the emotions flickering through them.
Reaching his hand out for Tian Meng, she took it politely, letting him help her into the car. "Young miss Xu is very beautiful tonight," he said as he slid into the car next to her, motioning for the driver to start driving.
Tian Meng kept her expression still, nodding at Yan Mo. "Thank you. Young master Yan also looks..." She swept a glance over him. Yan Mo was wearing a deep black-blue suit that shone in the light of the city, a silver handkerchief poking out from his chest pocket. Unexpectedly, the two matched, looking more like a couple than Tian Meng liked. "Good as well." She finally said, and Yan Mo gave a satisfied smile, as if agreeing with her.
The two of them politely talked about music, the only thing that they knew they shared in common, and discussed the concert that they were about to go see.
The person playing would be Cheng Xing, one of C Country's best pianists. Although now older, she was still considered a legend.
Yan Mo had thought that it would be good for Xu Mingyue to experience Cheng Xing's playing, as the woman was older and more experienced - compared to Xu Mingyue, who was still young.
It didn't take long for the two to arrive at the concert venue, where they were quickly guided to a private room with a balcony that overlooked the stage. Tian Meng ran a hand along the balcony's edge, before walking back inside to where a table was set up.
Yan Mo was already pouring her a cup of tea, which she accepted with a soft word of thanks.
"How are preparations for the competition going?" Yan Mo couldn't help but ask. He thought that Xu Mingyue was really talented, and if she truly withdrew from the Franz Liszt competition, it would be an extreme pity. Thus was the reason why he wanted to pressure her a little, so that she could continue.
Even so, he knew he couldn't push too far. After all, these sorts of these couldn't be pushed. If she truly was in a bad state due to her mother's health, there would be no point in attending the competition anyways. But from what he had seen at his mother's birthday party, Xu Mingyue was in a good state, and her skill had even increased when compared to before.
Tian Meng smiled as she replied. "It's going alright," she said. In reality, she thought it was going quite well, feeling that she was able to achieve the image she wanted.
Yan Mo nodded, feeling happy. He was greatly looking forward to her performance at the competition.
The two of them fell silent, taking their seats by the balcony as the concert began, lights dimming.
There was a speech, before the sound of music began to flow. Cheng Jing played several solo pieces, as well as pieces being accompanied by a violinist and then a symphony.
Tian Meng closed her eyes.
This was considered one of the greatest pianists in the country?
She thought that it was only average.
(A/N: My favorite Tchaikovsky songs - Swan Lake, Swan Lake Waltz, Dance of the Little Swans, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Russian Dance, the March)
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
littlemist
littlemist Okay, so. I don't have any music knowledge. so keep that in mind when reading :)
Also damn. the amount. of research that I went into trying to choose a nice song... I almost fell asleep. honestly, even though I do like some classic songs, a bunch. of them are. so sleep inducing for me... My. favorite composer is probably Tchaikovsky, because the Nutcracker and Swan Lake. Does any more need to be said? In the end all that research and I just chose a Tchaikovsky song lol
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