Chapter 88: The Musician's Soul

  Time: July 4, 2013

  Location: Liu Dehua's home in Hong Kong

  Liu Dehua, Guo Xiaoyu

  This is already the second day after the top 4 knockout round, and after that, each judge will bring a contestant for a seven-day training session. Among them, Liu Dehua brought Guo Xiaoyu.

  Now, Guo Xiaoyu is in the home of Liu Dehua in Hong Kong. His home in Hong Kong is not big and is unremarkable among the large and small villas on the Mid-Levels. Standing in his home, Guo Xiaoyu feels like he is in the 70s or 80s, with all sorts of black and white photos, ancient tea sets, and a gramophone in the corner, all showing Liu Tianwang's nostalgic side. People often say that men who are nostalgic are generally good men, and Liu Tianwang is probably one of them.

  Nostalgia is good, but too much nostalgia is not good. When Guo Xiaoyu saw that pile of music equipment that could only be seen in the 80s, he was left staring at Liu Tianwang with his mouth agape.

  Liu Tianwang saw Guo Xiaoyu like this and couldn't help but laugh: "How about it, these things are not bad, right?"

  "It's not bad." Guo Xiaoyu said: "These things of Hu Ge, if put in an antique shop, are estimated to be worth some money!" From Guo Xiaoyu's address, it can be seen that he is now quite familiar with Liu Tianwang, so making a harmless joke is no problem.

  When Guo Xiaoyu said this, Liu Tianwang didn't get angry, but instead smiled and said: "You see them now old, but in the 80s, my studio was the most top-notch, countless classic songs came out of here."

  When Liu Tianwang said that, Guo Xiaoyu suddenly became solemn and respectful. What he respected was not the stories behind these devices, but the attitude towards music. For true musicians, this is their pilgrimage destination, just like why so many people must go to Elvis Presley's former residence to shoot MVs - they don't want to hype anything, they just want to feel the music that resonates in their souls.

  Guo Xiaoyu slowly walked to the old piano, gently lifted the lid, and softly pressed the keys as if caressing a lover's skin. He slowly played the first chapter of "Moonlight", and the gentle, beautiful atmosphere was like floating in front of him at that moment. Suddenly, he understood why Liu Tianwang brought him here - there was something inexplicable and unspeakable about this place, something that every musician perceived differently, which we might as well call a musician's soul.

  Seeing Guo Xiaoyu's demeanor, Liu Tianwang couldn't help but smile. This time, he brought Guo Xiaoyu to Hong Kong not to teach him how to sing or anything like that - these things Liu Tianwang thought he really couldn't teach. However, with his many years of life experience, Liu Tianwang saw many shortcomings in Guo Xiaoyu. One of them was that he didn't have the soul of a musician, put simply, he didn't have a rigorous attitude towards music. So, his first priority was to help him forge this spirit, which is why he brought him here, letting him experience the souls of musicians for himself. Looking at Guo Xiaoyu's current state, it's clear that he has understood quite a bit.

  After a while, Guo Xiaoyu stopped playing and closed the piano cover. He smiled at Liu Tianwang without saying any words of gratitude. Some things lose their meaning when spoken aloud.

  At this time, Liu Tianwang said: "Let's go, someone invited me to dinner today, let's go together."

  "This isn't good..."

  "There's nothing wrong." Liu Tianwang said as he walked towards the bedroom, turning his head to add: "She's a beauty, isn't she?" Looking at him like this, where was any hint of the King?

  Hearing Liu Tianwang's words, Guo Xiaoyu could only dryly laugh and secretly think: "This is like a beauty having dinner, what am I, a big light bulb? If you guys want to do that thing, I'll just do that thing too... wouldn't that be bad for doing that thing?..." Cough cough... Reiterating once again, Guo Xiaoyu is a pure and innocent child.

  Liu Tianwang took out a document bag from the bedroom and threw the car key in his hand to Guo Xiaoyu, saying: "Wait for me to guide you later, drive the car, let you have fun."

  Liu Tianwang was thrilled, but when his 500-horsepower monster turned into a second-hand Alto for Guo Xiaoyu, Liu Tianwang knew he was wrong. When they finally arrived at their destination, Liu Tianwang eagerly took the keys from Guo Xiaoyu and said: "You're really too boring, even a 70-year-old old man can drive faster than you."

  "This is for traffic safety." Guo Xiaoyu retorted, "If you drive fast and hit someone, what do you do? Even if you don't hit anyone, hitting flowers and grass is also not good."

  Facing Guo Xiaoyu's words, Liu Tianwang wisely chose to change the subject and said: "Alright, our traffic safety ambassador. The destination has arrived, making a beauty wait is not something a gentleman should do." He then led the way inside.

  Kuo Xiao Yu and his group arrived at the city center, but this place was absolutely desolate. Kuo Xiao Yu hadn't seen a single person for such a long time. However, there was something special about this street - not a single business was repeated along the entire street. Moreover, many luxury cars could be seen here, indicating that the people who came to this place were either wealthy or of high social status. The destination Kuo Xiao Yu and his group arrived at was a restaurant.

  The restaurant is not very large, probably just over a hundred square meters, with two floors. The first floor has a stage similar to a bar's karaoke platform, where someone is currently playing the saxophone. Downstairs are several tables scattered around, on which guests are seated and savoring the wonderful music.

  Liu Tianwang bumped against Guo Xiaoyu's arm and asked, "How is it?"

  "Not bad, I like the atmosphere here, it's calm and elegant."

  When Guo Xiaoyu said that, Liu Tianwang patted his forehead and said, "It's over, you're done for. At your age, you should be into bars and nightclubs, not drinking coffee and listening to saxophones here."

  "Haha..." Facing this kind of teasing, Guo Xiaoyu had already completely gotten used to it. This kind of talk, He Laoshi and Zhang Jie had said countless times before, Guo Xiaoyu was long accustomed to it.

  At this time, Liu Tianwang pointed to the top and said, "There is a special guy like you up there, and it's a beauty. I believe that you two special guys will definitely have common topics."

  "What common topic?" Guo Xiaoyu waved his hand and said, "I think I have a lot in common with Huage!"

  "No..." Liu Tianwang hastily shook his head: "I'm only 40 years old, I have nothing in common with you two 70-year-old old men and old women, you'd better go chat with her instead." As he spoke, Liu Tianwang headed upstairs to the second floor.

  Guo Xiaoyu looked back at Liu Dehua, who was like a little kid, shook his head and smiled as he followed him.

  PS: The leader doesn't want us to spend New Year's Eve, but he himself is having a great time eating reunion dinner with laughter. Xiaomeng, Gudou, Chacha. You guys are too awesome! Thanks for the nonsense, Fox, I won't mention it, we can only repay you by working hard and writing more.