Chapter 7

Cheng Xiaoyu's bedroom was on the second floor of the villa, near the entrance, directly above the billiard room that Aunt Zhou had promised to convert into a music room. As soon as he entered his bedroom, Cheng Xiaoyu took off his clothes, planning to take a good shower. The simple bathroom in the intensive care unit was clearly not satisfactory for him, who had a slight obsession with cleanliness. The bathroom was quite luxurious, equipped with all the necessary facilities. Cheng Xiaoyu lay in the bathtub with a massage system, feeling so comfortable that he soaked for half an hour until his skin turned red and his fingertips wrinkled before he got up.

Directly opposite the bathroom was the walk-in closet. The spacious closet was almost empty, with not many clothes. As a homebody, he wasn't very particular about his attire. Apart from pajamas and school uniforms, he only had a few sets of sportswear and some black T-shirts.

Cheng Xiaoyu dried his hair, looked at himself in the mirror, and sighed. He wondered when he would be able to lose this excess weight. He casually put on a pair of blue sportswear pants and a black T-shirt, then went downstairs to Su Yuxi's music room.

As a music director, Cheng Xiaoyu was skilled in guitar, bass, and drums, and had once been the lead singer and lead guitarist of a band. His band was called Roaring Plastic Bottles, with a music style similar to the band Xintuan, which could be categorized as pop rock, or勉强算作power metal (power metal).

His vocal range was high and clear, making it easy for him to sing songs like "Love You to Death" and "Farewell." However, he personally favored R&B songs. He had once studied the singing techniques of black artists and achieved some success.

Since the 1930s, black singing techniques have continuously influenced and merged with white music, eventually forming two main styles by the 1990s. One style, which still retains most of the traditional black singing characteristics, is represented by artists like Brian McKnight, Boyz II Men, and R. Kelly. Their voices are sweet, concentrated, and finely detailed, with excellent alternation between open and closed sounds. They avoid using vibrato and strive for a straight, flat sound, avoiding the grand and powerful emotions often found in white opera.

The second style is a modified black singing technique heavily influenced by white music. Representative figures include the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who was influenced by white hard rock, and Hao Ge, a talent show singer influenced by white opera. They maintain some black vocal techniques while absorbing white techniques for resonance and vocal projection. This style is characterized by a powerful sound, suitable for large-scale stage performances and opening ceremonies. It has also influenced a number of white singers, such as David Phelps.

Cheng Xiaoyu's vocal conditions made him suitable for the second style. At the moment, he didn't want to try out his current voice. Instead, he was eager to see how his homebody's piano skills had developed. In his previous life, Cheng Xiaoyu had not delved much into piano, being a classical music novice who only listened to popular piano music. For him, classical piano, which could only be appreciated in concert halls, was out of reach.

Cheng Xiaoyu entered the music room and found his heart beating a bit faster. He looked around; although the music room was mostly made of glass, it was clearly not ordinary glass. It was thick and had three layers, with two vacuum layers, ensuring excellent soundproofing.

Cheng Xiaoyu closed the door and saw a bookshelf on the right side filled with sheet music. He glanced over it and saw works by Czerny, Bach, Burgmüller, Clementi, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Liszt, Beethoven, and Chopin. Cheng Xiaoyu walked to the white Steinway grand piano in the center, where Debussy's "Clair de Lune" was placed, indicating that Su Yuxi had recently practiced it.

He opened the piano lid, sat on one-third of the leather sofa stool, straightened his upper body, and placed his feet near the pedals. Cheng Xiaoyu took a deep breath and lightly swept his right hand over the black and white keys. The clear, cold sound of steel beads falling on ice echoed in his ears. These familiar, leaping notes made Cheng Xiaoyu feel incredibly warm.

The piano is called the king of instruments not only because it is the largest and most complex instrument in terms of internal structure. A high-quality modern piano is not only a beautiful and elegant work of art but also has a vast range of notes, a pure and beautiful acoustic quality, and a precise and stable tuning.

The modern piano has the widest range of any instrument from ancient to modern times, with 88 black and white keys, like 88 playful and unique elves. Its wide range covers the entire musical scale used in music. It can not only play classical music (which is complex in terms of form and harmony, and other instruments, especially ethnic instruments, have a limited range, such as the guzheng, which only has five notes: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and a narrow range) but also folk songs, popular songs, and alternative jazz and blues.

Not only can it play, but it can also harmonize well with other instruments, whether in symphonies, ethnic music, or even rock and Peking Opera. This is why it is called the "king of instruments," as it can play almost all types of music in the world.

If this alone were not enough to make it the king, there is another crucial point: the piano is the easiest instrument to express musical emotions, such as joy, liveliness, happiness, excitement, sadness, and anger. This is more difficult for other instruments to achieve.

In fact, the piano is not an instrument that requires exceptional talent. As long as one has sufficient intelligence and persists in practice, they can reach a certain level. However, the size and length of one's hands, which are important physical conditions, have a significant impact on performing high-difficulty classical piano pieces. If one wants to become a master, effort alone is not enough; they also need strong musical appreciation, analytical skills, and a keen sense of music to advance to the master level. Cheng Xiaoyu did not have the ambition to become a master. His short-term goal was to use the piano to get into the Shanghai Theatre Academy, and his long-term goal was to play high-difficulty pieces like "Rondo Capriccioso" to show off.

"Clair de Lune" by Debussy is roughly a level 9 piece in terms of piano difficulty. The technical requirements are not very high, but to play it with a soft touch, subtle control of sound and dynamics, and to convey a serene and ethereal atmosphere, it requires at least a performance-level B. Cheng Xiaoyu's natural conditions were excellent, with large hands and long fingers, which were truly beautiful to look at. His arms, white and plump, were also quite appealing.

The current Cheng Xiaoyu could play "Clair de Lune" without looking at the sheet music, which the original Cheng Xiaoyu could not do. The homebody who started practicing the piano at four and the music director who started playing the guitar at twelve had a deeper understanding of music, which was not just a simple addition but a chemical reaction. This enhanced not only his musical perception and memory but also upgraded his ears to a monitoring level, which was crucial for a musician.

Due to a long break from practice, Cheng Xiaoyu felt his hands were a bit stiff and could not fluidly express the tranquil and moonlit scene. To play "Clair de Lune" well, one needs to practice repeatedly and pay attention to the different dynamics. The key to playing "Clair de Lune" is to keep the fingers close to the keys, sometimes only lifting the keys halfway, creating a continuous and smooth feeling, even in a quiet background, to highlight the delicate and subtle melody.

The current Cheng Xiaoyu's strength was that he knew where he was not playing well and what needed improvement. This was undoubtedly a golden finger-like skill, an incredibly powerful R skill. This made him even more excited than smoothly playing "Clair de Lune."

After finishing "Clair de Lune," he felt like he was playing a beloved game, constantly increasing the difficulty. He moved from Chopin's "Revolutionary Etude" to Beethoven's "Pathétique Sonata" and then to Liszt's "Transcendental Etude No. 10, Mazeppa," testing the limits of his fingers.

Completely absorbed, Cheng Xiaoyu did not notice the passage of time. He was fully immersed in his own world. After struggling through "Harmonies of the Night," which was not the most difficult piece in Liszt's Transcendental Etudes but the most physically demanding, Cheng Xiaoyu felt as if he had transcended the void and ascended to the moon. Sweating, he felt the two versions of himself merge, no longer doubting whether he had a split personality. He felt a sense of joy, like playing League of Legends and advancing from gold to platinum and then directly to diamond. He did not notice that his sister, Su Yuxi, had opened the door to the music room after he finished the last note of "Harmonies of the Night."

Cheng Xiaoyu was still unaware that the person he dared not offend in the house was standing behind him. He twisted his plump waist and began to play "Moonlight Cloud Sea" from "Laputa: Castle in the Sky." He had already tested his homebody's classical piano skills and now wanted to see if the music director's skills could be applied to the piano. As a music director, Cheng Xiaoyu had only played the guitar version of "Moonlight Cloud Sea." The guitar and piano scores were different, but he had heard the piano version, so he decided to play it with his own improvisation. "Moonlight Cloud Sea" is a classic by Joe Hisaishi, one of the most beautiful pieces in popular piano. However, in terms of difficulty, it is not particularly challenging. Cheng Xiaoyu wanted to use this piece to relax his tense nerves, so he played it with great ease.

He closed his eyes, and his hands moved smoothly over the black and white keys. The gentle melody that slowly emerged from the piano seemed to carry his thoughts to a sky of light blue velvet. A melancholic girl played a wind chime in the gentle breeze, while a lost child in the distance gazed at the bright moon but could not find the way home. This slow, profound sadness was both deeply moving and captivating. The four-minute piece flawlessly led the listener into a journey of loneliness, feeling the vastness of the starry sea. Cheng Xiaoyu exhaled, very satisfied with the effect of the piece.

Before he could fully savor the experience, he suddenly heard clapping.

Cheng Xiaoyu was startled and immediately stood up, causing the sofa stool to jump and scrape against the wooden floor, making a rustling sound.

When he turned around, the setting sun had just fallen into the range of the glass bay window, and the orange glow suddenly filled most of the music room, blinding Cheng Xiaoyu. He saw the long shadow of Su Yuxi and the white lace curtains gently swaying, as if a breeze had blown through the room, lifting her dark blue hair.

"What is this piece called?" This was the first thing she said to him.

"Castle in the Sky, a piece about dreams and destruction." This was the first thing he said to her.

The flowing sunlight paused. In the cold glow of the setting sun, he saw a pair of captivating eyes.

He suddenly remembered a phrase: "The wind is so noisy today!"

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