ECG -Chapter 30 The Flight of the Bumblebee

“Buzz—”

A few flies caught up with Fan Gang again, and he hurriedly waved his hands several times to shoo them away.

“What’s going on here? Give Old Li from logistics a call and have them come over to mop the floor properly. Also bring some insecticide!” Fan Gang said unhappily to Teacher Chen.

Teacher Chen hurriedly took out his phone and made a call.

A few flies kept chasing Lin Hao all the way onto the stage before they finally disappeared somewhere.

Lin Hao smiled and nodded toward the students in the band. Several girls holding violins whispered to each other:

“He’s so handsome!”

On the right side of the stage was a black grand piano. No one was sitting there, so Lin Hao walked over. However, instead of sitting down immediately, he stood beside the piano.

This was a YAMAHA C7X series 9-foot concert grand piano.

YAMAHA pianos have very balanced and harmonious tones, and the keyboard response is also quite good. They are very suitable for polyphonic pieces and Baroque works. The only slight drawback was that their overall coordination and musical expression were not as moving as a Steinway.

Ironically, it was only after sitting here that Lin Hao remembered that he actually had not prepared anything at all. He had been focused on figuring out how to let Wu Xiaozhou make a stunning impression, and because he knew too many pieces himself, he had not deliberately thought about what he should perform.

In his previous life, his introduction to piano began when he was six years old, in the second orphanage he had moved to.

He still remembered that female teacher named Ai Qing. She had a cute baby face and was very beautiful.

There were many things from his childhood that he could no longer remember clearly, but he remembered that day very vividly. Teacher Ai had been extremely shocked by the talent he showed when he first touched a piano.

It was the piano that had accompanied him through his lonely childhood.

The concert hall was completely silent. Everyone, both on and below the stage, was looking at him.

One of Lin Hao’s hands gently rested on the piano. He looked at the audience with a smile and said loudly:

“For a moment, I can’t even think of what to play!”

The students on stage burst into friendly laughter.

“The buzzing sound of those flies just now gave me some inspiration, so I’ll improvise a piece!”

After saying that, Lin Hao bowed deeply toward the audience, then sat down in front of the piano.

The students and Teacher Chen below the stage did not know who Lin Hao was, nor did they understand why he wanted to perform. But hearing that it was the flies that had inspired him, and that he was going to improvise on the spot, they couldn’t help becoming curious.

Was he serious?

What kind of inspiration could flies possibly provide?

When Fan Gang heard that Lin Hao was not going to perform a prepared piece but instead wanted to improvise, he immediately felt a little displeased. He thought this kid was just trying to act mysterious.

How old was he?

A first-year college student was only eighteen or nineteen years old. If he could play a Level 10 piece—even with a few mistakes—Fan Gang might still have considered taking him in because of his talent.

But now he actually wanted to improvise?

He truly did not know the vastness of heaven and earth!

Flies?

Heh. Was he going to improvise a piece called The Fly Waltz or something?

Fan Gang crossed his arms, said nothing, and casually sat down on the chair behind him.

Most of the students on stage looked at Lin Hao curiously. Some, however, absentmindedly fiddled with the instruments in their hands. After all, classes had just started, and they probably had not recovered from the laziness of summer vacation yet.

At this moment, Wu Xiaozhou’s palms were covered in sweat. He felt his breathing becoming hurried.

Although Lin Hao was wearing a cheap casual outfit, his back was straight, his expression serious, and when his hands gently rested on the piano keys, his entire presence suddenly changed.

The piano suddenly rang out.

First, a rapid chromatic scale descended two octaves from the high register. The sound was like a wild bee flapping its wings and flying at full speed, accompanied by a sharp buzzing roar cutting through the air!

How was this a fly?

“Whoosh!”

Fan Gang stood up.

As an experienced pianist, he naturally understood the difficulty of that opening phrase. He understood now—it turned out the buzzing of those flies had given him inspiration!

This sudden, extremely dense and rapid chromatic movement, this surprise, this sense of urgency, instantly captured everyone’s attention.

Immediately afterward, Lin Hao’s slender hands began rolling up and down the keyboard in chromatic scales within a range of four degrees. His ten fingers seemed to have created afterimages.

The sound of the piano gathered into a dense stream of notes, as if a swarm of bees had truly flown right before their eyes, buzzing and circling around everyone’s ears, sometimes high, sometimes low, sometimes near, sometimes far away…

Everyone wore a look of astonishment. Even the few students who had been acting carelessly lifted their heads and opened their mouths wide in surprise… Only Wu Xiaozhou was nodding along, muttering, “Damn, it really sounds like flies!”

Immediately afterward, Lin Hao’s fingers shifted four degrees to the right, and the same melody appeared again in a lower key.

Teacher Chen turned her head and quietly asked Fan Gang, “Director, is this the new teacher? Th-this is way too young!”

Fan Gang raised his hand, signaling her to be quiet.

Fan Gang’s heart was already like a stampede of ten thousand horses.

He simply couldn’t believe that music like this had actually come from the hands of the young man in front of him—and it was improvised!

When the music began, anyone could feel the speed at which his fingers moved and the passion bursting out from his body and mind. Whether performer or listener, it seemed that everyone’s heartbeat had begun following this rhythm.

Then, some unisons and dissonant notes began appearing repeatedly.

The middle section continued through the resting passages, while the lower register introduced a new theme. This melodic theme, built on small leaps of thirds, formed a sharp contrast with the previous half-step ascending melody, making it sound extremely lively and powerful.

On the stage, all the students from the orchestra stood up. One girl’s violin bow even fell to the floor without her noticing.

The piano suddenly shifted octaves and brought back the main theme. After a section of variations and a long ascending scale of accompanying notes, the piece ended cleanly and decisively on the tonic.

Exactly one minute later, the piece ended.

Lin Hao maintained his hand position for a full five seconds.

Then he stood up, slowly walked to the front of the piano, smiled, placed his right hand flat against his chest, and bowed toward Fan Gang and Teacher Chen below the stage.

Afterward, he turned around and bowed to the senior students on the stage.

The orchestra students on stage began applauding, and the applause grew louder and more enthusiastic.

Below the stage, Fan Gang also raised his hands and clapped together with Teacher Chen.

Wu Xiaozhou clearly saw the excited expressions on Fan Gang and Teacher Chen’s faces, and he knew this matter was probably settled. He was so excited he almost jumped up and shouted, “Yeah!”

A long-haired girl playing the flute called out to Lin Hao, “Handsome guy, what’s this piece called?”

Lin Hao pretended to think for a moment. “Let’s call it The Flight of the Bumblebee!”

Wu Xiaozhou was stunned. Weren’t they just saying the inspiration came from flies? Those buzzing sounds were obviously flies, weren’t they? Where did bees come from?

Thinking about it, he scratched his head again. Well… calling it The Flight of the Flies really didn’t sound very nice…

Whatever! As long as it sounded awesome!

Speaking of which, when did this guy get struck by lightning and become like this? Why hadn’t he dragged him along for such a good thing? If he got struck too, would he not have to suffer through practicing so hard anymore…

The applause rang out again. Everyone felt that the name matched the piece perfectly, and all the orchestra students looked at him with admiration and envy.

Fan Gang also kept nodding. The Flight of the Bumblebee—that was a good name. He wondered whether Lin Hao could write the piece down. If he could, this piece would definitely become famous throughout the world!

Lin Hao continued, “Director Fan, next I’d like to invite my friend Wu Xiaozhou up to perform a section on bass.”

Fan Gang nodded and looked toward Wu Xiaozhou.

Wu Xiaozhou gave an honest, goofy grin. He first bowed to Fan Gang and Teacher Chen, then ran toward the stage, almost tripping while going up the steps.

Fan Gang couldn’t help but smile. This thick-eyebrowed young man was much more in line with someone his age—reckless and a little clumsy. Unlike Lin Hao on stage, who looked so composed that he didn’t seem like a young man of his age at all.

A male student who played cello brought over a cable. Wu Xiaozhou took it and said, “Thank you.”

“Next, next up, I’ll perform a bass guitar technique solo for all the teachers and, uh, students. Thank you!”

Wu Xiaozhou spoke haltingly. These words had all been taught to him by Lin Hao beforehand.

Standing beside the piano, Lin Hao suddenly felt even more nervous than when he himself was playing.