The Mediocre Girl's Mother / Choices for the Future

When Si Ming played it for the fourth time, the piece's artistic conception actually reached another breakthrough. A solo recital by a single lark became a concert by a whole flock of them, chirping and twittering in a lively chorus. Their orderly, crisp calls were especially pleasing to the ear. If the composer had heard it, they would probably have been struck dumb and admitted defeat.

There was no fifth performance. Though Si Ming wanted to see whether he could make another breakthrough, whenever he thought about trying to deepen his understanding, a stabbing pain shot through his head. He could not think calmly, like a rusty machine jammed by a foreign object and unable to run.

If he played at the same level as the fourth performance, however, there was no serious problem.

"Is this the limit of my talent? Or am I being held back by my own abilities? Even though I can see the path above me, without enough strength, I still can't climb it."

Si Ming could not determine which was the cause, but for him, the level of his fourth performance was more than enough. There was no need to hope for a higher realm. More importantly, he had already thought of which piece to choose.

Chapter 7: The Mediocre Girl's Mother

"You did well yesterday. The contract for the art exhibition has been settled at three million per quarter. The price is a little low, but what matters is that we've opened a channel. Once you've done it the first time, it proves you've entered this circle. As your fame grows, we can always renegotiate the price with them. Of course, that's assuming the market recognizes your value."

Auntie Liu held a stack of agreements and contracts. After delivering her report with a perfectly serious expression, she had Hongdou sign them.

Hongdou, however, clearly did not care much about any of it. She pouted and said, "The food yesterday was awful. Not a single dish glowed, and they still had the nerve to serve it. I never want to see them again."

Auntie Liu did not criticize Hongdou for complaining. Instead, she stroked her fur the right way. "Only special-grade chefs can make dishes that glow, and there are fewer than thirty special-grade chefs in this country. You have to book them a month in advance. With your current fame, you're not yet worth the trouble of hiring a special-grade chef. If you want those businessmen to value you, you'll have to keep increasing your own value."

Hongdou pressed a finger to her chin and asked, "So all I have to do is keep painting better pictures?"

Auntie Liu nodded. "That's right, Miss Hongdou. You just need to concentrate on improving your painting. I'll take care of everything else."

Hongdou clapped her hands. "Then there's no problem. Painting is my favorite thing to do anyway. I had some new inspiration yesterday, too. I'll call it 'The Disappointed Taotie.'"

A foodie's grudge, is it?

Auntie Liu muttered to herself, but said nothing. She never interfered with Hongdou's creative work; that was part of her professional ethics as an agent. In her view, professional matters should be left to professionals. Anyone who casually pointed fingers and told their partners what to do was a fool without a shred of self-awareness.

"Then get on with your work. I'll be going now. I'll order dinner for you later, so remember to eat on time."

After her reminder, Auntie Liu left. Hongdou's studio was in the basement, so she had to go upstairs. Just as she reached the first floor, she ran into Si Ming coming down the stairs.

"Auntie Liu, great! I was just looking for you," Si Ming said, a harmonica in his hand.

Auntie Liu glanced at him, then looked away. "Qingqing is at home. Go find her yourself," she said coldly. With that, she started for the door, as though another word would be a waste of time.

Si Ming did not go over to stop her. Instead, he raised the harmonica and began to play. A faintly sorrowful melody floated out.

The tempo was not fast, yet it had a power that touched the heart. Its atmosphere was ethereal and dreamlike. Listening closely, one felt as though one stood on an endless grassland, gazing up at a bright, twinkling sky, perhaps longing for a distant hometown, or perhaps remembering a past lover. Within that faint sorrow lay a steadfast strength: hope for tomorrow and the firm belief that the future would be better.

This was "Whereabouts of Light," the theme song of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, a game Si Ming had played in his previous life. It had caused a strong reaction among players and received a flood of praise. Even setting aside the boost it received from the game's story, it was undeniably an excellent piece. More importantly, it was also a harmonica piece in the game.

Auntie Liu stopped the moment she heard the music. She turned around and listened quietly as Si Ming played the entire piece. Then she asked, "Did you compose that?"

Si Ming answered with a question of his own. "Have you ever heard anyone else play it?"

Auntie Liu thought back. She really had no recollection of it at all. Although she was not an agent in the music industry, she knew something of it. Besides, because of the Mohist School's belief in "opposition to music," its standard of music had always lagged behind that of other countries. If such a classic piece existed, she could not have gone without hearing it even once.

Besides, Si Ming had no reason to pass someone else's piece off as his own to deceive her. There would be no point. If he only wanted to demonstrate his skill, choosing a familiar piece would have made more sense.

"I really had no idea you had this kind of talent. Leaving the piece aside, your harmonica technique alone is enough to earn you a place in a professional band."

Auntie Liu studied Si Ming curiously, as though meeting him for the first time.

"Talent can be cultivated after birth. Even an innate gift will forever remain a rough gem covered in dirt if it isn't polished. Auntie Liu, have you ever paid attention to how I've grown over the years?"

Si Ming was not worried that she would grow suspicious. Although he and Liu Qingqing were childhood sweethearts, his relationship with Auntie Liu was only a little better than that of strangers. They exchanged no more than ten sentences a year.

Sure enough, Auntie Liu accepted his explanation. She really had not paid attention to Si Ming in recent years. Or rather, when she first met him, she had decided that the boy had no talent to speak of and was destined to be mediocre, so there was no need to get to know him better. When she later heard that he could not cultivate internal skills, she became even more certain. Now, it seemed she had misjudged him.

"Every child is a treasure, because they have infinite possibilities. It seems the hardships of these past years didn't leave you dispirited. Instead, they polished you into shape. Go on, what did you want to see me about?"

Si Ming did not hide it and got straight to the point. "I urgently need money lately, so I want to sell this piece for a price, but I don't have a channel for that."

As an agent, Auntie Liu had no objection to talking about money. She nodded. "I do know some people at a music company, and this piece is outstanding. I'm sure any musician who knows quality would be willing to buy it. But harmonica music is a niche, after all, and you're an unknown newcomer. On top of that, there's only one piece, so they won't offer a very high price. I'd say five thousand is the limit."

Si Ming said, "What if I have six harmonica pieces? The melodies are similar in style, although the other five might be a little below this one."

Trails in the Sky was the sixth installment in The Legend of Heroes series. In fact, the earlier games also had some good pieces. The third installment, The White Witch, and the fifth, A Cagesong of the Ocean, were especially outstanding. Only, because not many people had played them, they were far less well-known than "Whereabouts of Light." Even so, the quality of their melodies was assured. They might not be classics, but they were still excellent.

He had no choice but to use game music to make up the numbers. Although Si Ming had used his talent to master superb harmonica skills, he had no musical talent of his own. Composing an original piece was a joke. Moreover, with the limitations of the instrument, even if he tried adapting songs he had heard, he could probably only manage children's songs like "Two Tigers," "The Newspaper Seller's Song," and "Little Schoolboy."

"If you have six, that's just enough to put together a small album. If we bundle them, we can raise the price of each piece by another two thousand."

Auntie Liu quickly gave him an estimate without beating around the bush, then promptly offered a plan. "I happen to be free this afternoon. We'll go to a recording studio together and record the pieces. The rental fee will come out of your contract income, and I'll also charge a ten percent commission."

Another minor might have quibbled over the commission, perhaps feeling that Auntie Liu was being unaccommodating. But Si Ming naturally understood that even brothers should keep their accounts clear, and readily agreed. "Let's do that!"

Hearing this, Auntie Liu gave Si Ming a slightly surprised look. After a moment's silence, she said, "I didn't mind you and Qingqing being together before, but now I have to object. When a person without talent is with a person who has it, it's very painful, for both of them."

Si Ming stared at her and asked, "Is there really not a single thing about Qingqing that appeals to you?"

"Of course. I'm her mother, so I know perfectly well that she has no talent to speak of. She's destined to be an ordinary person all her life," Auntie Liu said with complete certainty.

She's your daughter. That's the greatest thing about her.

Si Ming swallowed the words, because he knew neither Liu Qingqing nor Auntie Liu wanted to hear them.

Besides, as he was now, he had no right to say them.

Chapter 8: Choices for the Future

Auntie Liu was more efficient than he could have imagined. In just one day, she helped Si Ming finalize a contract with the music company. The buyout price for the six pieces was fifty thousand. After deducting the commission and the cost of renting the recording studio, Si Ming netted nearly forty-four thousand. Just like that, he had escaped poverty and become comfortably well-off.

He asked, somewhat puzzled, "The price seems quite a bit higher than expected?"

"I miscalculated. Precisely because harmonica music is a niche field, they don't mind that you're a newcomer and only care about the quality of the pieces. With mainstream songs, fame is the deciding factor. In a sense, it's more important than the quality of the song."