BXBX NOVEL Chapter 27 The Old Man, Chou Mo
The piano shop was not very far from where Bai Chen and Li Lin were. They arrived at the place after a little bit of walking.
This place was called the ‘Chou Mo Shop’. It was quite a big piano shop.
Looking from outside the shop, there were many pianos from different brands available.
“Looks like the owner of the shop is named Chou Mo,” Bai Chen said as he looked over at the store sign.
Li Lin nodded. She had been here once and knew that the owner of the shop was a man named Chou Mo; she usually called him Grandpa Mo.
The reason that she had been here once was that she had been buying a piano with her parents.
“Let’s go inside,” Li Lin said and took the lead.
Bai Chen followed her into Chou Mo’s piano shop.
As he walked inside, Bai Chen saw a staff member in a store uniform approaching. His face sported a service smile.
“Which type of piano are you looking for?”
“We’ll just look around first,” Li Lin told him politely before taking Bai Chen further inside to check out pianos of different brands.
The shop staff, knowing the customers would not need any assistance, walked back to his station looking a little bit disappointed because he would get a commission if customers chose a piano that he’d recommended.
“Isn’t that little Lin?”
As Li Lin was taking Bai Chen around to see pianos, the voice of an old man sounded.
She quickly turned around and saw an old man sitting in front of a piano in a casual outfit.
His hair was all white, including his eyebrows and beard. The old man’s face was also full of wrinkles, indicating his old age.
“Grandpa Mo,” Li Lin exclaimed in surprise. She had not thought that she would be here and now run into Grandpa Mo, the owner of Chou Mo’s piano shop.
From what her dad had told her, this grandpa used to be a professional pianist. Meeting him was not easy, not even at his own store.
The old man, Chou Mo, smiled at Li Lin. Even though he’d only met her once, he remembered her very well. This was because her dad was the president of Li Group, a leading company in Xing Zhou City.
He observed Li Lin for a while before noticing Bai Chen, who was standing next to her.
The old man, Chou Mo, noticed that this boy was wearing a more economical outfit, which probably meant that his family was not well-off. He did not care about this, though.
Chou Mo turned back to Li Lin with the same smile. “This must be your boyfriend, right? Why haven’t you introduced me to him before?”
“N… no!” Li Lin objected with a reddened face. She shook her head violently. “He’s just a friend!”
Bai Chen observed Li Lin’s manner with a smile. He found her action like this quite lovely as well.
The boy looked at the old man, Chou Mo, and greeted him. “Hello, I’m Bai Chen, Li Lin’s friend.”
“Oh, hello.” Chou Mo smiled in return. “You can call me Grandpa Mo as well.”
“I understand. I’ll call you Grandpa Mo then.”
Bai Chen did not give this issue much thought, thinking that he would never get to be here again. He was only here to show Li Lin his piano skills, so he could win the bet and kiss her.
“Good, good.” Chou Mo smiled. “By the way, what are you two doing here? Are you looking for a piano to buy?”
“No, Grandpa Mo. We’re here to play some piano. Would that be okay?” Li Lin said quickly.
Chou Mo nodded casually. “Of course, little Lin, you can try this one I’m playing. This one is just as nice as the one you bought.”
He got up from the piano stool and stood to the side.
The old man clearly did not plan to go do something else. He wanted to check out Li Lin’s piano skills to see how she had been progressing. Some advice from him might be useful to her as well.
But the person playing was actually Bai Chen, not Li Lin.
“You go. If you can’t play as you claimed, don’t forget what we agreed on.” Li Lin looked at Bai Chen with a smile of victory.
Bai Chen smiled back. “Don’t forget what I’ll get if I can play though…”
“Of course.” She nodded casually. Li Lin thought there was no way Bai Chen would know how to play.
She was definitely the one who was going to win this bet!
Li Lin only thought it was because he could not afford to lose face, which was why he had refused to surrender earlier.
“Oh? It’s not little Lin who’s playing?” Chou Mo said with a hint of surprise. He did not foresee that it was Bai Chen, not Li Lin, who was going to play.
“Yes, Grandpa Mo. He’s the one playing,” said Li Lin. At the same time, she signaled Bai Chen with her eyes to get it over with.
Bai Chen did not say a word. He only smiled, walked over to the piano stool, and took a seat.
As he sat down, he saw a music score in front of him. Though he did not know what this piece was about, he still understood all of it and knew how to play.
Bai Chen did not wait for Li Lin to tell him to start. He placed the paper bag on his lap and placed both hands onto the keys. The boy started playing with what he saw right away.
A smooth melody, tinged with sadness, sounded. This melody was like the ringing bells of heaven that could hypnotise their listeners.
The first part of the melody was sad and mellow. But when he reached the second part of the piece, the intensity of emotion heightened into intense pressure…
An unstoppable tide of sadness came rushing in!
This melody… inflicted great pain within the heart of its listeners. The words most befitting for it were… immeasurable gloom!
End of Chapter 27