by Feng Yue
“Which Sebastian?” Sidney asked a silly question, but his bad feeling became even stronger.
The Principal sighed deeply, “I have already said, to let someone who’s not even a musician be a professor is not a very reliable decision.” He pointed to the painting on the wall, “Which Sebastian do you think? Who can be called ‘uncle’ by Her Highness? The Sebastian who sells vegetables? The doorman Sebastian? Or the Sebastian whose picture is now hanging on the wall?”
Sidney suddenly felt very uneasy. He looked up and felt as if his head had been smashed with a big hammer.
He understood, and it meant big trouble.
He sluggishly stared at the skinny guy in the oil painting above, and could not help but twitch a bit. He thought someone must be playing a joke on him.
“Yes, that’s him.” The Principal held his shoulder. He pleasantly clinked his glass, and saluted the painting, “King of Black, the uncrowned king, the most powerful musician, Guardian of Men, the greatest explorer and musician, and my old friend. The one who is credited with the title of Bach, Johann Sebastian!”
The Principal continued, “Haha, so this guy is kind of great, right? How about that, aren’t you glad or surprised? “
He winked at Sidney, “You did give me a surprise today. You do know who the last person recommended by Sebastian was, right?”
Who? Who else could it be? It was that genius boy whose reputation was known to the world overnight, who won the crown of the King of Yellow and mysteriously disappeared right after!”
After a long, long time, Sidney finally recovered from his shock. He stared at the Principal, “I, I…”
Sidney swallowed his saliva. Seeing the girl’s face turn sour, he felt like a fat penguin who had fallen into a pit of fire.
“Principal, Your Highness, I…I can explain.” He was about to cry, sweating like a pig, “You have to hear me out, I did not, no, I was, he is, no, I mean…please give me a chance to make it up.”
Maxwell shrugged indifferently and whistled, showing that there was nothing he could do.
“You cannot do that!” Sidney was on the verge of breaking down. He lost restraint and grabbed onto the Principal’s collar, “I have been awarded by the academy for exemplary service; I bled for the Kingdom of Anglo! You cannot do this! I was only protecting the academy! Is that wrong?!”
“It is a pity, but unfortunately every man here knows that…” Maxwell whispered in Sidney’s ear, “You love the academy, but the academy doesn’t love you.”
Sidney seemed to have lost all his strength. He stumbled back and muttered something incoherent, “I will find him immediately! I will go looking for him now…”
His face was twitching. He pulled the manager over, “Mike, now, get everyone together …and find me that white-haired Eastern boy!” Sidney tightly clutched his shoulder, “Go, run, understand?!”
His eyes were red, and he kept muttering, “I hope he has not gone far! I hope he has not gone far! I hope he has not gone far!”
Sidney was desperately praying, but saw the manager standing with a strange look on his face. “Why are you still standing here?” Sidney was furious, “Go and look!”
“White hair, Eastern.” The manager asked quietly, “Is he also with a dog?”
Sidney grabbed him before he could even finish his sentence, grasping for the last straw, he almost wanted to kiss him, “You saw?! You saw him? You have seen the guy?
“Yes.” The manager nodded uneasily, but with certainty, “I saw this man.”
“Thank God, the saints, Alibaba, Hallelujah!” Sidney was in ecstasy, almost cried out with excitement. He exclaimed, “Where!? Where!? Take me there now!”
“Uh.” The manager looked at the Principal and the girl standing beside them, and hesitated.
“What are you doing? Talk! Where is he?!” Sidney was about to cry.
The manager struggled to find the words and finally answered helplessly, “… in our kitchen.”
26 Where Joy Is 2
“He is in our kitchen.”
The manager’s answer felt like a machete had just cut Sidney’s face.
He continued, “Well, when I was there, it seemed that he was washing the pots and plates.” The manager hesitated and begged softly, “He worked very hard, sir. If he offended you in anyway, please do not blame him.”
Maxwell was stunned, Mary was shocked, and Sidney was astonished.
“The academy’s hospitality is a little bit special,” Mary said.
After a long time, Mary quietly sighed. “Fortunately, I never got a recommendation letter from my uncle, otherwise I would be sent to the kitchen as well. I am really quite curious to even think about it. After all, I have never done that kind of thing before…”
She clearly had a gentle tone but her words stabbed Sidney, making his face turn white.
“Life really always gives me an expected surprise,” Mary said.
“Oh, let’s take a look at our guest who was driven away. What is he doing in the kitchen?” Maxwell said with a grin.
Sidney froze a moment, then hastened to catch up. He kept wiping off his cold sweat all the way, praying no more embarrassing things would happen. But just as the approached the kitchen, they heard a strange sound.
It was a chaotic symphony.
The sound of the utensils colliding, iron pots scraping, things dropping on the floor, and the overlap of the dozens of sounds formed…the march that had just been played?
Maxwell stopped, staring at the crowd gathered in front of the kitchen. They twisted, swayed, sang, immersed in the music.
“What does this mean?” He laughed softly, amazed and surprised.
－
The first was a knife being beat on a bowl. The crisp sound was like a bell ringing, like the reverberation of the wind at nighttime. Although it had a familiar rhythm and beat, it was unique, full of a strange feeling of speculation.
With the melody rising, the sound of the bowls fell into the rhythm like an invisible handyman making his effort to push the roundabout music notes to a higher level. The dog barked along with the noises which initially would have made people frown, but blended nicely with the rhythm of the tunes and drums.
It was not a soft sound like drizzling rain, but more rough like lively events. It sounded like a carnival ground, like dense stomping sounds, and like heavy raindrops.
On the streets of the carnival, cheers emerged, and people threw their hats into the sky. Hats of all colors started to come down, flying in the wind. Suddenly cheers burst into tears, like a flood had swept through the audience.
The emotional high-pitched sounds resonated in the air. The shadows also shook with the rhythm, as if the shadow of a flame had also been hijacked by the carnival tune!
But just at the most critical moment, the cheers paused, revealing a fatal flaw in the music which made Maxwell frown. It should not pause here but it should continue, continue rather than exposing the fatal emptiness!
Then in the next moment, the silence was shattered by an extremely sharp sound.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
It was breaking the barriers, breaking the rules!
Someone was beating the wok strongly, but the sound roared like thunder, echoing in everybody’s ears.
This was the beginning of the celebrations!
The night wind suddenly became hot and dense, making it hard to breathe. It felt like a rock had sunk to the bottom of the chest. People’s blood started heating up, and the cheers roared.
Senses and emotions were sucked into the frenzy like a flame burning in the wind.
Breaking the inherent pattern, this strange music was pushed to a higher level. The method was rough enough to make people frown, but the effect was still incredibly good!
Maxwell sped up and pushed through the crowd, only to see the juvenile’s back in front of the sink.
His hands held a knife and a fork and his foot was stepping on the bottom of a dark pot. He was absorbed in the rh
ythm like nobody was around.
To his side was a big golden dog barking excitedly, dangling a sausage in its mouth. A fork was tied to its tail, so that as the dog wagged its tail, the fork would hit the lid of a pot, making a crisp and sharp sound.
In the kitchen, the waiters and the cooks applauded, dancing for him, singing with the melody. It was not like a dignified school, but a carnival pub.
Everyone was drunk, so that in the candlelight, their faces were red and drunk, and smiling.
“Did I hear it wrong?” Maxwell sighed softly, and he felt that he had an illusion as if he had seen his political opponent wearing a tutu and throwing kisses along the King’s Avenue.
“I am afraid Bach, that bastard, would regret his letter of recommendation if he saw him play his piece like this?”
Although he was incredibly stunned by this absurdity, he could not help but want to applaud, and then did so without hesitation! The girl was shocked. But in her gaze, the old man was excited, getting ready to cheer.
“Oh, no way! I like this rhythm too much!”
Amid the cheers, the high-pitched tunes continued as if they were never-ending. In the rippling air, all the dishes shook from the resonance. An unparalleled sense of power and indulgence filled the air. There was also a sense of joy from the breaking jars and plates.
In the end, the wok underneath the boy’s foot finally could not bear it anymore. After issuing one last high-pitched note, the wok cracked.
The music ended.
Suddenly the carnival came to an end, and the crowd cheered and applauded so loudly that they almost awakened the entire sleeping college.
Maxwell gently clapped his hand, looking at the surprised girl.
“Every day there are new surprises.” He smiled and said, “This is where the joy of life comes from, Your Royal Highness.”
—
Ye Qingxuan was surrounded by the excited cook and the servants.
“Where did you learn this? You’re almost at the same level with other musicians.” The cook excitedly squeezed Ye Qingxuan’s face.
“Uh, my father taught me in a place called Hawaii.”
The white-haired teenager wiped the sweat off his head, and put down the rolling pin in his hand, panting. Then he heard a crisp sound. The wok under his foot cracked even more, and then completely into two pieces…
“Uh, sorry, I ruined your pot.” He suddenly felt embarrassed and picked it up. “I don’t have to pay for this, right?
“It was shipped from Manchester. It seems like it was made with special material. It looks very valuable.” The person next to him shook his head. “This pot usually costs about five thousand.”
“Are you guys a corrupted shop? A pot is more expensive than a carriage?” Ye Qingxuan was in shock.
He began to hate himself for using too much force.
However, the crowd went quiet. All the people stared at the old man behind him. The old man bent over to pick up the broken pot, and tapped his fingers on it, breaking the silence with a crisp, sweet sound.
“Yes, we’re the biggest corrupt shop in Anglo, an exclusive one,” the principal said.
“Mr. Principal…” someone whispered in the crowd.
Maxwell smiled. “But because of the march you just ruined, I will not charge you for the pot.”
After he finished, he patted the boy’s shoulder, indicating for Ye to follow him.
Before going out, he turned and said to the rest of the audience, “Ladies and gentlemen, I was deeply touched by your love of music today. Since everyone is a music lover, you can come and attend the school’s practice class. But just remember that you have to finish your work first.”
There was a silence in the crowd.
“Well, goodbye, ladies and gentlemen.”
Finally, Maxwell waved gracefully, closing the door on the stunned school workers.
－
In the silence of the hallway, Maxwell looked at the boy over and over, and looked at his dog several times as well. When Ye Qingxuan’s whole body had goose bumps, Maxwell finally finished looking and held his chin, then sighed, “I do not understand why the guy wrote a recommendation letter for you.” He shook his head and lamented, “Did he owe you a lot of money?”
“He? Who?” Ye Qingxuan asked. “Mr. Wolf Flute? I did him some favors.”
“Wolf Flute? I remember him. He was the shame of the academy at that time, but I was very fond of him. I heard that he quit school and did not know where he was going. I see now.” Maxwell suddenly understood. He nodded and asked, “Your name?”
“Ye Qingxuan,” the white-haired teen answered honestly. He pointed to the dog by his side. “This is Old Phil.”
Old Phil was gnawing the sausage. It returned Maxwell’s gaze with a supercilious, arrogant, and cold glare which made Ye Qingxuan exceptionally ashamed.
Maxwell also had some more questions, “Age?”
“Seventeen.”
“You are not old enough to attend school yet, but it’s okay since you have a letter of recommendation.”
Maxwell hammered his palm. “Well, remember to come to school early tomorrow to take the exam. If you can pass it, you can attend the school, but remember to pay the tuition. After all, recently I have been quite short of money,” he rambled.
He saw the dramatic change in the teen’s expression from surprise to shock, and then to ecstasy.
“Exam? I can take the exam?” Ye Qingxuan almost rudely pulled him. “Entrance exam? You are not lying to me, right?”
“Yes,” said Maxwell. He firmly nodded, “If I were the examiner, you would not even need to take the exam.”
“Yeah, exam, exam,” Ye Qingxuan muttered, so excited he was about to dance. “As long I pass the exam, I will be able to enter the college and become a musician…”
“I cannot guarantee that you will become a musician. I just collect the tuition.” Maxwell did not care if he offended the boy. Ye Qingxuan was not listening at all. He was ecstatic, holding Old Phil and laughing, and ran off somewhere…
－
Watching the teenager cheering away, Maxwell also laughed. “Must be nice to be young and energetic again.”
The night was deep. He coughed a little and looked to the side, “Your Highness, how do you feel?”
Mary put on a white shawl to protect her from the night’s wind. In the dim street light, she looked graceful yet lost. After a long time she slowly shook her head. “I do not like him. I don’t understand my uncle.”
“Just because you did not get your uncle’s letter of recommendation?” Maxwell had seen through her. “Only at this time, I feel that Your Highness is still a little girl.”
Mary was furious and glared at him. “Mr. Principal, should I be offended?”
“Haha, just consider me as a nonsensical old man. Please don’t punish me. After all, there were a lot of people who wanted to attack me recently, giving me a headache.”
“Do you worry about this?”
“I need to worry about it a little. After all, the Secretary of State seemed to be convinced, and wanted to change the principal, so the politics is really annoying. The position of the examiner must be rotated between the aristocrats and musicians. Every time, I feel that Anglo’s future is falling more and more. I feel that Anglo would be… “
“Mr. Principal, you seem to be saying something you should not say.” The girl reminded him with a little anger, “Do I have to remind you why I came here tonight?”
“I know, I know.” Maxwell shrugged. “I know exactly why you were here tonight. I know it is hard for Your Majesty. I can take a leave for a while if necessary. Well, it happens that I have new wine in Wellington’s winery. It would be nice to go and give a taste. Unfortunately, I missed the princess of Yunlou’s dinner. I have been quite looking forward to seeing the Eastern beauty.”
Getting his assurance, the girl’s angry expression dissipated after a few minutes. “Mr. Principal, you are willing to sympathize with my
mother’s good intention. She will be very grateful. It was a worthwhile trip for me.” She bent over and said goodbye. Before leaving, she saw the teen cheering in the distance on the street. She looked at him, her eyes full of mercy.
She asked, “Mr. Principal, although I do not know how he could warrant my uncle’s letter of recommendation, in your view, so you think he can really pass the exam?”
“I do not think it is impossible.” The Principal laughed mysteriously, “The older one becomes, the more one is prone to reminiscing. I feel that I’ve seen him before and if that is the case, he is at least worth looking forward to. After all, the miracles are part of the pleasures of life.”
27 The Exam
Mr. Sidney, who had not slept all night, turned around in his office and watched the sun shine through the windows, his eyes bloodshot.
A middle-aged man in an expensive suit came and politely knocked on the door. Ben was full of excitement, “Sir, the Principal has just taken the carriage and gone to Wellington.
“Disregarding the objections from the Ministry of Education, and at the risk of offending five or six big families, he still insisted on expelling McCain of the Cameron family. He now must pay the price.”
Mr. Sidney had expected this. The departure of the Principal meant that the musician faction would remain silent in the next two months and that the elite faction would prevail, which would be a good thing. However, as one of the representatives of the Academy’s nobles, he was not pleased at all.
“It’s a pity for McCain. He was a good-for-nothing but he was still the concertmaster,” Ben said.
“He was found smoking mandala. He deserved it,” Sidney said indifferently. “This might have been arranged by his brothers or sisters to rid him of his right to his inheritance. In any case, the exam is now in our hands, sir.”
“I will not allow the Royal Academy of Music to continue going downhill,” said Ben. “Temperament is the privilege of the Bloodline of Glory, and to see a group of shameless guys dare to appear in my class, I just do not feel comfortable.”
“Of course,” Mr. Sidney nodded.
Because the elite faction now controlled the enrollment examinations, it would no doubt be a disaster for the commoner candidates, especially in a place like the Royal Academy of Music, where the noble bloodlines were concentrated, and many saw the commoners as threats…