Third Movement - Chapter 5

Claire Désert, piano

Serenade (Ständchen) is from the collection Schwanengesang (“Swan song”), D.957. The song was written by Franz Schubert at the end of his life and published posthumously.

This Standchen or “Serenade” is a Lied(song) that was published a few months after Schubert’s death. It was one of the last things he ever wrote. It’s a short story of a person wishing to be loved by another. You can feel two different things: melancholy yearning and hope. They shift back and forth, back and forth.

Yuanxiao felt ashamed in an instant. He had thought before that he would never be called gege again, or even be recognised. After all, he was too embarrassed to meet in this situation. Bai Wenlin was taller, stronger and older than him, but what’s with calling him little prince…

He got up quickly, stepped out of the bathtub, put on his bathrobe and said, “I’m almost done. Do you want to continue?”

Bai Wenlin said he couldn’t say more, so he got up: “I’ll go and rinse off.”

Before Yuanxiao went out, he saw Bai Wenlin take off his swimming trunks and walk into the shower with slender and strong legs. His back muscles were beautiful and would not lose to an athlete’s inverted triangle figure.

He didn’t look much and turned away, but he couldn’t help sighing the bias of God in his heart. God gave Bai Wenlin all the best. This is a man with flawless beauty.

Removing the hearing aid, Yuanxiao lies in bed. After a while, Bai Wenlin came out and got into bed from the other side. He left a lamp lit, as he knew Yuanxiao was afraid of the dark.

Yuanxiao still felt it was improper and moved to the edge. He mentioned two days ago that he would sleep on the sofa, but Bai Wenlin would not allow it. Looking at Yuanxiao with a somewhat downcast look: “I want to see you when I open my eyes, okay?”

These words moved Yuanxiao instantly, and he fed the awkward insistence in his heart to the dogs. After being dead for so many years, Bai Wenlin still remembers his kindness. It can be seen that he didn’t care for him in vain!

Fortunately, the bed is big enough for them not to touch each other.

It’s not that they haven’t slept together before. Bai Wenlin lost his last relative when he was 14 and Yuanxiao took him home.

But… the one who likes to drill into his quilt, hug him and rely on him like a child, is not Bai Wenlin. To be exact, it’s not his personality, but another personality. As for Bai Wenlin… He was an independent child who never took the initiative to cling to him. He is gentle, polite and extremely smart. Everyone likes such a child.

In the morning, Yuanxiao got up, put on his hearing aid and heard Bai Wenlin talking on the treadmill.

“Turn down the White House. I won’t go next month.”

He wore a Bluetooth headset and gasped slightly: “No, I won’t perform in public this year.”

“It’s not a hand problem. I’m not hurt.”

“There is no need to refuse the Vienna New Year’s Concert for the time being.”

His top was wet with sweat and outlined his muscles: “Those in London also have to be postponed… I know they made an appointment the year before last. Let’s push it to next year.”

He has received too many invitations, but he has held few public performances. Because he is not only an excellent pianist in the world, he can indeed be called the best, youngest and most popular today – most notably he has the face of a Hollywood superstar.

The reason why he performed so rarely was that too many commercial performances would interfere with the purity of his performance. Many pianists know this truth, but the difference between them and Bai Wenlin is that most of them have signed with record companies and brokerage companies, so their company will arrange various performances for them, which can’t be refused at all. Although, cooperation and confrontation with different orchestras and conductors is also a good training method, when done in moderation.

Yuanxiao listened to his talk in a trance.

Bai Wenlin noticed him and paused the treadmill: “I’ll call you back.”

He hung up and said, “why don’t you get some more sleep?”

“I heard you and woke up.” Probably because he was going back to China soon, he wanted to cherish the time he had left with Bai Wenlin.

He felt like he hadn’t woken up yet: “Did you just… reject the White House? Or did I hear it wrong?”

Bai Wenlin came over and said, “I don’t like Trump.”

Yuanxiao: …

He was tall and had to look down when in front of Yuanxiao: “The President obviously doesn’t appreciate me very much..” The White House’s invitation to him was just a routine. Trump yawned when he listened to him play Bach last year, and he kept a grudge.

Yuanxiao took a cup of hot water and looked up in shock saying, “You’re not going now?”

He subconsciously drank the water. Bai Wenlin had no time to stop: “Be careful, it’s hot!”

Yuanxiao was so scalded that he bowed his head and spit the water back into the cup. He immediately turned and rushed to the bathroom to rinse with cold water.

“Let me see if there is blistering. Does it hurt?”

“A little hot…”

Bai Wenlin pinched his chin and said, “stick out your tongue.”

Yuanxiao felt a little embarrassed: “It’s fine, I’ll juust take some vitamin B.”

“That’s for ulcers.” He said seriously, “show me.”

Yuanxiao had to stick out a small section of his tongue, blushed a little and said vaguely: “if you refuse the White House, will trump scold you on twitter…”

“Maybe, um…” he bent his head slightly and looked attentively with deep eyes. “Fortunately, there are no blisters. Don’t drink water so quickly next time. It’s not the first time you’ve burned your tongue, fool.”

Yuanxiao: …

Bai Wenlin practised the piano for a while and asked him to come over: “let’s play as a double.”

Yuanxiao was terrified: “but my ears…”

“Yuanxiao, come here.”

Yuanxiao had to sit next to him. The piano stool is not very long and two grown men are sitting together. Bai Wenlin said, “you just can’t hear in one ear for the time being. It doesn’t mean you ‘ll always be like this. You’ll get better.”

Yuanxiao nodded: “what do you want to play?”

Bai Wenlin said like a gentleman, “You choose.”

He doesn’t know the music here very well. Yuanxiao is skilled enough to recite music and count.1 After thinking for a moment, he raised his hands.

Yuanxiao spent his childhood on the grassland. When he had first left to study, he had felt a little out of place. His classmates called him a savage. After a fight at school, the teacher called his parents and thought he had ADHD.

In order to make him calm down, they sent him to learn the piano.

At that time, he was eight years old. The teacher was very strict and taught Clementi’s set2 the old-fashioned way, by putting coins on the back of the students’ hands. He was not allowed to let the coins fall when he played the piano. If he did, he would have to start again. Because he liked it, he practised hard. Later, he was admitted to a good music college, which is enough to prove that he still has some talent. Moreover, after being influenced by Bai Wenlin for so many years, he also made good substantive progress

As soon as he dropped the first tone3 , Bai Wenlin immediately recognized it and quickly followed up.

Schubert’s Serenade.

This is the most familiar song for Yuanxiao. He played it when he saw a beautiful child with brown hair and blue eyes lying outside a piano shop. Bai Wenlin likes to change the rhythm, but in order to accommodate Yuanxiao, he is happy to follow his tune.

However, Yuanxiao seems to have lost his sense of dexterity because of his hearing loss. He also realised the problem and stopped after playing a few phrases: “I seem… I can’t do it.”

The biggest problem is not his hearing loss. No, the biggest problem is that it affects his psychology. In his heart, he feels that he can’t play as well as before. Because he cares overly much, he finds his music more and more harsh.

“Yuanxiao, you taught me to be gentle.” Bai Wenlin put his hand on the back of Yuanxiao’s hand. “Shall I guide you to play like this? Like before, you don’t have to be afraid. You play right hand and I play my left hand.” Holding Yuanxiao’s right hand, he couldn’t help saying, “we’ll play like this. Can you step on the pedal?”

Yuanxiao didn’t know how to refuse. He felt bitter at the bottom of his heart and could only follow Bai Wenlin.

The gentle sound of the piano flowed out the windows, like running water, melodiously across Times square.

This way of playing the piano, although half not his credit, made Yuanxiao very happy, and Bai Wenlin obviously enjoyed it too. On this day, the time seemed to go back to an afternoon many years ago. At that time, Yuanxiao was blind, and Bai Wenlin’s musical attainments had already reached the point where he had to look up to him.

Yuanxiao sat in front of the piano with a very textbook posture. But he couldn’t see it at all, felt discouraged and didn’t dare to touch the piano, because every sound came out messy. Bai Wenlin was very gentle and patient. He will hold him from behind, put his hands on the back of his hands, tell him which sound is where, and to play it like this. Under the control of Bai Wenlin, his fingers made an incredible sound.

Yuanxiao spent a long time like this. Although he was blind, his progress was much greater than when he could see.

He could not see, but could hear. He fully mobilised his auditory senses to touch the keys. The sound of his touch keys was obviously approaching Bai Wenlin’s standard, and the sense of sound was greatly improved, but now…

He touched his ear involuntarily.

In the evening, Yuanxiao took off his hearing aid and got into bed. Lying on his side, he said into the pillow: “Wenlin, I’m going home tomorrow.

He was afraid of the dark, so he never completely turned off the lights in the room. In that year of blindness, his claustrophobia reached the peak. He didn’t dare to sleep alone at night, otherwise he would be afraid.

In the dim light, he saw Bai Wenlin also turning his face. His face was getting colder and his thick eyelashes were hanging slightly. Bai Wenlin didn’t speak for a long time and just looked at himself.

Yuanxiao was inexplicably afraid. His voice rang softly, “I had a plane crash. My parents are very worried about me, and I have to go to school next month.”

After a long time, Bai Wenlin said in a low voice, “Can you stay with me once?”

“You have grown up. You are so successful and have everything. Do you know how many people worship you?” Bai Wenlin doesn’t need him.

“You worship me too, but you don’t want to stay for me.” He dropped his eyes.

Yuanxiao and his brain circuits don’t seem to be on the same channel: “If you miss me, you can call. I can come to see your performance during vacation. Maybe I can ask you to reserve a seat in the front row for me.” He smiled.

“It’s different!” His hand suddenly came out and grabbed Yuanxiao’s wrist. There seemed to be deep pain contained in his eyes and his tone became strong, “Yuanxiao, I only became a pianist because I listened to you.”

Yuanxiao’s eyes opened wide: “where did you listen to me? I told you not to touch cigars in the future. Yet, haven’t you touched it?”

Bai Wenlin: …

According to ‘Time magazine’, sir Albert Royce was inspired by doughnuts and hot chocolate. At the same time, he also said that he smoked a lot of cigars. This “a lot” must be an exaggerated number. At that time, Yuanxiao worried that he would not live long and repeatedly warned: “You can’t touch cigars, cigarettes and those messy and unclean things in the future.”

Bai Wenlin promised well at that time.

“Enough.” He raised another topic, his eyes were heavy, “You don’t want to stay for me, what about him?”

Yuanxiao slowed down for half a beat before he realised that the “he” in his mouth meant another personality – Albert.**

**not a typo

“…You…Aren’t you both the same?”

“We are different.” He said irritably. His fingers tightened on Yuanxiao’s wrist and his tone became dangerous. “If you like him better, I’ll call the rabies out.”

Yuanxiao: “…” his heart jumped. It is undeniable that he really misses Al, but now this situation… No matter how long his reflection arc is, he should realise that the two people are at odds. Otherwise, Bai Wenlin had called Al rabies

“Wenlin, don’t say that. That’s your other personality. Qualitatively speaking, he is you. I don’t prefer one over the other. You are important and ra… Al is also important.” He spoke incoherently.

Bai Wenlin stared at him, checking whether he was lying. Even deception stemming from good intentions was difficult, with his helpless character.

Yuanxiao lowered his head and asked, “can you really call him out?”

“No.” After a while, he loosened his grip on Yuanxiao, “Good night.”

1 Counting is a system of regularly occurring sounds that serve to assist with the performance or audition of music by allowing the easy identification of the beat.

2 Muzio Clementi’s chief claims to fame are his long series of piano sonatas and was often called the father of piano

3 A steady sound can be referred to as a musical tone. The tone is characterized most frequently by its pitch, such as “A” or “C”