Chapter 19

"Sure, since you're here, I'll play a piece. If it's good, remember to call me."

He made a phone gesture to Lushi Shi and added half-jokingly, "But I can't guarantee I'll have time to play at your place. I'm relatively free now, but I'll be very busy in the future."

Lushi Shi smiled gracefully, thinking to herself that there was no need to talk so much; it was time to see what he could do.

He asked the sound engineer to turn off the Chopin music, elegantly gestured, and invited Lin Zai Shan to play.

Lin Zai Shan led Sun Yuzhen back to their booth, "You said you have to work late tonight, so let Lushi Shi treat you to the best coffee in the shop. Consider it my payment for playing the piano."

"Sure, no problem," Lushi Shi agreed generously.

Hao Yuan was highly dismissive of Lin Zai Shan's "penny-pinching" attitude.

Sun Yuzhen was very excited about Lin Zai Shan's music. Her previously suppressed mood suddenly soared, and she asked Lushi Shi with a smile, "Can I take it to go?"

She wanted to take it back to drink while working.

"Sure," Lushi Shi recommended, "If you're taking it to go, I suggest you try our mocha."

"Okay, thank you, Lushi Shi. I'll have a mocha to go."

Hao Yuan was speechless, thinking to herself that this innocent girl really knew how to ask! She and this shameless uncle were really a pair of friends!

"What do you want to hear?" Lin Zai Shan asked Lushi Shi.

"Whatever you like," Lushi Shi had no particular request.

Hao Yuan was unhappy, "Don't just play anything; there are other customers in the shop. Uncle, can you play jazz? How about a soft jazz piece? Can you play Edith Piaf's 'Flower'? It's a simple piece."

Lin Zai Shan didn't know who Edith Piaf was, but she was probably a Western jazz master in this world.

"Jazz piano is about rich syncopation and free improvisation. I'll just improvise a piece."

Hao Yuan's face turned extremely sour. A college student from the East Art Institute had once improvised a jazz piece during an interview, and the performance was so disappointing that it drove away two customers from the shop.

Hao Yuan was worried that Lin Zai Shan would also scare away the few real customers they had.

She made a request, "Why don't you play a classic piece? Can you play Paul Hamel's 'On My Own'? If you can't, play something simpler, like Jose's 'Times'. That should be fine, right?"

The people and pieces Hao Yuan mentioned were unknown to Lin Zai Shan.

Lin Zai Shan smiled helplessly, "If you want to hear a classic, I'll play Chopin."

"Chopin is fine. If you can't play jazz, play classical. Just don't play something random."

Lin Zai Shan was a man of great tolerance, but Hao Yuan's last words annoyed him.

What does it mean to not be able to play jazz?

What does it mean to play something random?

This tomboy was really looking down on him! He had been tolerating her for a while!

Lushi Shi also thought Hao Yuan's words were impolite and gave her a gentle, reproachful look.

Holding the blue cat, she said to Lin Zai Shan, "Uncle Lin, just play freely. We're all ears."

"Good luck."

Sun Yuzhen clenched her gentle little fist to encourage Lin Zai Shan.

Lin Zai Shan originally intended to play casually, as it wasn't a formal interview.

But after Hao Yuan's comments, he felt he had to show his skills.

He wanted to show this tomboy what it meant to be a man of many talents!

Before going on stage, he gave Hao Yuan a mysterious look, not provocative but full of confident ease.

He walked onto the small stage and sat down at the piano with a gentlemanly demeanor.

Perhaps because of his natural and composed movements, Lushi Shi suddenly felt that this uncle had a presence that matched the piano.

Although his appearance and attire didn't quite fit the noble and high-end black classical piano, Lushi Shi felt that Lin Zai Shan could handle it.

What you see is a reflection of what you are.

Lushi Shi felt that this uncle should be quite skilled. His appearance was somewhat disheveled, but his eyes were steady and resolute, the eyes of a man who had seen much of the world.

In Sun Yuzhen's eyes, Lin Zai Shan was even more impressive!

However, in Hao Yuan's eyes, and those of the barista Li Nan and Du Yang, Lin Zai Shan and the piano were a mismatch.

They didn't believe this uncle could play beautiful and moving music.

He lifted the piano lid.

The familiar 88 black and white keys came into view.

In his previous life, if the guitar was his little lover in his musical romance, the piano was his big wife in his musical love.

He had played the piano for nearly 25 years in his previous life. Although he wasn't a top-tier pianist like Lang Lang, these 88 keys had long been integrated into his blood.

Sitting at the piano, he could hear the sound of the hammers hitting the strings even without touching the keys. It was an illusion, but also a habit.

His ten fingers on the piano felt like Ximen Cixue picking up a sword.

His entire presence changed.

Ding ding ding ding ding—

He swept the keys from right to left with his left hand.

Ding ding ding ding ding—

He swept the keys from left to right with his right hand.

Then, both hands pressed the keys, playing a few soft syncopated notes.

"What is this?"

Hao Yuan, who didn't want Lin Zai Shan to play, couldn't hold back when she saw him playing randomly with no discernible melody.

Lushi Shi gently held Hao Yuan's arm, telling her to calm down and listen further.

"This is his so-called improvisation? I could play like this too!"

Hao Yuan complained unhappily.

She tilted her head to watch Lin Zai Shan play, and Sun Yuzhen, hearing Hao Yuan's constant complaints, couldn't help but turn around, put her finger to her lips, and made a gesture for Hao Yuan to be quiet, reminding her to stop talking and listen properly!

On the small stage, Lin Zai Shan wasn't playing randomly but was finding the intimate connection between his new fingers and the piano keys.

He had played electronic keyboards and MIDI keyboards with his new fingers, but the feel of the keys was different, so he needed to familiarize himself.

Soon, Lin Zai Shan found the familiar playing sensation.

At this point, everyone in the coffee shop was focused on the small stage.

A gentle and beautiful melody flowed from Lin Zai Shan's fingers like a thread being drawn.

Hao Yuan was skilled in jazz singing, so when she heard the rich swing in Lin Zai Shan's piano melody, she immediately perked up and stopped complaining, as he was playing a jazz piece!

She hadn't heard this piece before, and Lin Zai Shan's style was somewhat unique, different from the established jazz piano masters. It felt like one master, then another, vague and ambiguous, but very flavorful. Within a minute, Hao Yuan was captivated.

She had never heard this type of jazz piano performance.

But she had to admit that the unromantic, disheveled uncle on the small stage was playing in a very romantic jazz style.

The elegant piano notes were misty and yet touching, and the keys under his hands constantly shimmered with a clear and swinging beauty, very unique.

Lushi Shi had a certain foundation in jazz and could tell that Lin Zai Shan was playing an improvised jazz piece, but it was different from typical jazz piano pieces. The melody was so beautiful, like rippling water, flowing into the heart drop by drop, string by string.

Even though it was the first time she heard this piece, Lushi Shi experienced a sense of extreme enjoyment.

Sun Yuzhen and the other customers in the shop were also immersed in the beautiful melody Lin Zai Shan created, as if in a dream.

Li Nan and Du Yang were stunned.

Especially Du Yang, who never expected Lin Zai Shan to play such moving music.

She whispered to Li Nan, "This uncle is really strong!"

"Yeah, I never thought he was a genuine pianist."

"Not just a pianist, I think calling him a pianist is an understatement. He plays so beautifully!" Du Yang was an emotional girl and was instantly captivated by the beautiful melody flowing from Lin Zai Shan's fingers. In her eyes, Lin Zai Shan suddenly became impressive.

Li Nan smiled and said, "Pianist might be a bit of an exaggeration, but this uncle is really skilled. The Huaxin community is full of hidden talents. A random uncle in flip-flops can play such beautiful music. Have you heard this piece before? Is it Chopin's?"

"I don't know, I just know it sounds great!" Du Yang clasped her hands to her chest, closed her eyes, and swayed gently with the melody, completely immersed.

The blue cat in Lushi Shi's arms woke up and looked intently at Lin Zai Shan playing the piano with its emerald eyes.

It was also moved by the soft and beautiful melody!

Lushi Shi smiled and stroked the blue cat's head, enjoying Lin Zai Shan's performance with the cat.

The more Lin Zai Shan played, the more he enjoyed it, and the more moving it became. The more Hao Yuan listened, the more she was afraid.

She was afraid that this beautiful piece was Lin Zai Shan's improvisation.

Improvised pieces often start strong but weaken as they go on.

She was really worried that Lin Zai Shan would ruin this beautiful melody.

But the more she listened, the more she was captivated, almost feeling like the music was igniting her!

This couldn't be the uncle's improvisation, could it? It was simply heavenly!

It must be a master's work!

But which master?

Hao Yuan racked her brain but couldn't figure it out.

Of course, she couldn't figure it out!

Because Lin Zai Shan was playing a classic of jazz piano from another world—

Erroll Garner's "Misty"!

This piece, to a large extent, is like Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World," a benchmark of jazz in another world!

Perhaps many people haven't heard of "Misty," but once the melody starts, most people will say, "Oh, it's this song."

Lin Zai Shan chose to play "Misty" because its gentle and beautiful melody was suitable for the quiet atmosphere of the coffee shop at that moment.

At the same time, "Misty" was the jazz piano piece he played the most and was most familiar with in his previous life.

Also, because the composer of "Misty," Erroll Garner, like Armstrong, was a natural jazz master who couldn't read sheet music.

Garner was a man born for the piano, holding a significant place in the history of jazz in his previous life.

He composed many textbook pieces and had a 46-year career in just 55 years of life.

He loved music and, from the age of ten, prepared meticulously for every performance, known for his dedication and professionalism.

He was one of the most important performers of the Bop era but lacked the intensity of other Bop players, always filled with a gentle passion, letting it flow with the rise and fall of the keys.

This musician, born for the piano, couldn't read or write sheet music. For him, the piano was his mouth, and he could naturally speak beautiful language when he sat down.

Because he couldn't read sheet music, Garner's music was unique and distinctive.

He played and composed entirely by his natural talent and intuition.

His music was a personal and unique jazz style that others couldn't imitate.

Hao Yuan couldn't identify which school of jazz piano Lin Zai Shan was following because this world had no Erroll Garner, and thus no such gentle, unique jazz style.

Perfectly performing "Misty" from memory, Lin Zai Shan felt like he was back in his previous world, playing for his girlfriend in the practice room.

His body swayed gently with the jazz melody, a smile of enjoyment on his lips, and he became more and more engrossed.

He glanced at the booth closest to the small stage, where the three girls were all entranced, Hao Yuan even a bit shocked, but this didn't distract him.

The first thing he saw when he turned his head was the blue cat in Lushi Shi's arms.

The blue cat was tilting its head, listening intently to his playing.

Its emerald eyes, glowing in the dim light, seemed to be captivated by the music, staring at him and the piano, with a slightly human-like daze.

Amused by the blue cat and captivated by the music, Lin Zai Shan's interest soared. He cleared his throat lightly, and the melody changed, indicating he was about to sing.