Novel Bin Chapter 189: Low Presence
“Then, I will be waiting for your flowers in the future.”
Liu Man took over Yu Zhan’s roses and held them up in front of her chest. The scent of the roses covered up the scent of lily that got left on her clothes. She carefully examined each rose, showing all her joyfulness and fondness on her face. Yu Zhan could see all of her expressions.
“Have you ever received flowers from boys before?” Yu Zhan inquired, pretending to be unintentional, “This bouquet of lily doesn’t count,” the lilies were given to Liu Man by Shen Mozhen! Tang Tu had nothing to do with it.
Liu Man searched through the body’s memories and shook her head, “No.”
The past Liu Man was way too aloof. Excluding Tang Tu, she didn’t take any boy seriously. None of the boys even wanted to talk to her, not to mention give her flowers?
Besides, she used to live in the cold palace, and she rarely even saw wildflowers.
Yu Zhan was satisfied with this answer. He hoped he could take up all the place in Liu Man’s heart, “My car is parked right outside. Let’s go.”
The two went out of the concert hall together. It wasn’t nine o’clock yet, so there were still many students walking around on campus. When those people subconsciously looked towards the concert hall, they would see this very astonishing scene.
A perfectly matching couple was meandering under the hundred-year-old banyan tree. The girl was dressed like an ancient girl, wearing a fairy-like white Hanfu. Every step she took would cause the dress hem to fly up, looking very demure and elegant. She was holding a huge bouquet of champagne-colored roses, but she looked prettier than those flowers. It was a rare, pretty picture.
The man standing beside her was wearing a dark-colored t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and casual shoes. People rarely dressed up this austerely in this schoolyard, but he was teaching people a lesson. If one looked handsome enough and had a good stature, he would seem elegant even if he wore just jeans and a t-shirt. No, this was not about being elegant. This man also seemed to have a western and carefree temperament. What was even more interesting was, this man was also holding a bouquet. It was a bouquet of lily.
If Tang Tu learned the flowers he gave Shen Mozhen ended up in Yu Zhan’s hands, he would probably be so angry that he would spit out blood.
Yu Zhan watched the girl beside him, and his face was full of smiles. He seemed very gentle and doting, making even outsiders feel blessed. An ancient beauty walking with a modern, handsome man seemed extraordinarily peaceful and natural without looking indecent at all.
At last, the two of them walked up to a car. The man put both bouquets into the trunk, and the girl pulled open the passenger seat’s door directly and sat into the car. She seemed to be very familiar with him already.
“Are they shooting a movie?” Someone asked.
“What do you mean, ‘shooting a movie’? You need to get glasses, buddy. She’s Hanfu Goddess, and she participated in Shen Mozhen’s graduation concert tonight. There is already a video on the internet showing their performance.”
“She performed with Shen Mozhen!!!???”
“Mhm. Everyone had the same reaction as you. I don’t understand their relationship. Let’s just be good onlookers and enjoy the farce.”
“Then, is that handsome boy her boyfriend in the rumors??” Everyone also had this question in mind.
…
Shen Mozhen’s solo concert hadn’t even ended for a long time before a video containing the complete version of her concert went on the internet. People were spreading it around on Wei Bo and Tik Tok. The netizens, through this event, started to pay more attention to music with ancient styles.
“Let me fill up some background knowledge for people who don’t know what’s going on. Shen Mozhen performed seven pieces in total. Her six solos contained three ancient pieces: ‘Wind into Pine’, ‘Fishing and Singing during the Evening’, and ‘Spring Night at the River’, along with three modern pieces: ‘At one side of the water’, ‘A plum’, and ‘Jasmine.’ She had a group piece named ‘Clouds Chasing the Moon’, a duet with Wen Fangfei, ‘Everlasting Longing’, and a duet with Hanfu Goddess, ‘Mountain Stream’.”
“Shen Mozhen performed too well. She is a high-tiered player. She looks so pretty and gentle, but when her hands get onto the Guzheng, her toughness instantly leaks out and impresses the entire audience.”
“It’s a gift to be able to watch her play the Guzheng. To be honest, when you don’t feel calm, listen to a Guzheng piece, and you will feel completely different.”
“I don’t understand why nobody likes listening to ancient pieces. When you compare ancient pieces with trending songs, it’s like comparing the moon with fireworks. The moon still exists after thousands of years while fireworks bloom and disappear within a second, leaving no trace behind.”
“Now, there are always activities to revive the Hanfu tradition. Hanfu is particularly popular among young people. Everyone even wears Hanfu as casual clothes and walks on the streets. However, folk songs are much less popular. Folk music is also part of our Chinese culture, but few people pay special attention to it.”
“That’s because ancient pieces are too high-tiered. Normal people wouldn’t be able to understand them.”
“Hehe, this reason is too weak. Isn’t western classical music also high-tiered? Do you all understand them? You’re just pretending that you understand them.”
“We, the Chinese, have emphasized self-cultivation since ancient times. Our national music conforms to the character of ancient literati. It is truly elegant music. Nowadays, how many people like self-cultivation? How many people have real connotations? Even some scholars and folk song students only study and practice hard because they want a job. They only increase their competitive bargaining chips to find a job in society. They do not love the folk music culture.”
“I think a big reason is that it’s easy to start learning to play the western instruments. Chinese instruments are a bit harder; for instance, the flute tests your patience while the Guqin exercises your mindfulness. These are all mysterious and ambiguous things.”
“To be honest, no instrument is inferior to the other. No matter if you are from a foreign country or not, your techniques and foundation are the most useful things to test whether your music is good or not.”
“I don’t understand those deep theories you guys are talking about. As an onlooker, I only think Shen Mozhen’s playing sounds great, and she’s wearing a pretty Hanfu.”
“Speaking of Hanfu, I think Hanfu Goddess’s white Hanfu looks prettier.”
“Is it only me, or does Hanfu Goddess seem to be in a bad status today?”
“Hanfu Goddess had such a low presence… If it wasn’t for the magical scene at the end, where Tang Tu gifted flowers to Shen Mozhen, I almost forgot she was also on the stage…”
Mhm, most netizens who commented were focusing on Shen Mozhen. Firstly, this was Shen Mozhen’s graduation concert and the most audience who chose to buy tickets and watch it were her fans and friends. When everyone shot videos, naturally, they would be mainly filming her. What was more exaggerated was that some videographers, when shooting Shen Mozhen’s duet with Liu Man, didn’t even include Liu Man in any scenes.
It wasn’t that they held any grudges against Liu Man. Liu Man’s performance on the stage seemed way suckier than usual, and she was being very lazy. Excluding her pretty clothes, her pretty face, and her pretty posture when she caressed the instrument, there was nothing else eminent about her that was worth wasting their phones’ storage and editing out to show the netizens.
In quite a sharp contrast, Shen Mozhen had a pretty costume, a pretty face, a pretty posture, and she played well! Everyone, of course, chose to use the time wisely to shoot her mostly.
Translated by: Sydney