Second Piano Concerto

Longjin Town is built along the waterfront. There are many streams and bridges in the town, and trees are everywhere.Liuyang's coffee shop is located in a relatively secluded area. There is a clear stream outside the store. There are many willow trees planted on the bank of the stream. The three trees in front of her house are especially beautiful. They are pleasing to the eye whether viewed from a distance or up close. The store adds a bit of atmosphere.When Liu Yang came to this town to open a shop, he immediately fell in love with this place, so he took a lot of trouble to rent the shop and the backyard, and named the coffee shop "Liu An".Although the location is a bit out of the way, the views and coffee are impeccable, and it has been a favorite with couples since it opened.

When Qin Haiou stepped into Liu An's store, Liu Yang and a waiter were busy adjusting the cushions on the sofa.After she came back, she adjusted the pattern of some areas of the coffee shop, and washed all the sofa covers and cushions. Today, all the doors and windows were opened just for ventilation, and the business was not actually started.Although she was working, she still put on delicate light makeup, wearing a retro floral skirt, simple white leather shoes, and a lady's watch with a brown leather strap on her wrist.When she turned her head and saw Qin Haiou, she was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "What a good idea!"

"I think so too." Knowing that she was talking about her glasses, Qin Haiou also laughed.He didn't need to pretend in front of Liu Yang, he took off his glasses and hung them on his shirt pocket.

"Please sit down as you please." Liu Yang pointed to the surrounding sofas.Although she was busy cleaning up the shop these days, she was always looking forward to seeing Qin Haiou again, and even repeatedly imagined in her mind how she could get answers to many questions from him if she had the chance to see him again.But now that she really saw him, she realized that she was not fully used to having such close communication and contact with him.Fortunately, Qin Haiou himself did not notice this.Like many customers who visit a coffee shop for the first time, he took a look at the furnishings in the shop, then sat down and looked at the willow trees outside the window and said, "Your shop is in a great location."

"Thank you." Liu Yang was very happy.She had heard this praise from countless guests, but she never thought that one day she would hear it from Qin Haiou.She smiled and asked, "Would you like something to drink? How about a cup of coffee?"

"Okay." Qin Haiou said.

"Which one do you want to drink?" Liu Yang asked.

Qin Haiou thought for a while: "You just recommend it."

"Please sit down for a while," Liu Yang said, pointing to the bookshelf beside him, "There are books here," and then pointing to an inconspicuous corner in the distance, "There...there is a piano, I'll go and make it for you Coffee." After she finished speaking, she walked quickly towards the bar, and only when she entered the bar did she secretly glance at Qin Haiou again.Qin Haiou's gaze was fixed on the piano as expected.

Liu Yang exhaled lightly, she could feel her heartbeat speeding up at that moment just now, and she is still pounding and nervous now.She has loved the piano since she was a child. Although she did not embark on the path of a professional pianist, she has always persisted in playing the piano as a hobby.She bought a piano and put it in the store, entertaining herself in her spare time, and occasionally playing a song for the guests in the coffee shop to add to the fun.She didn't know if Qin Haiou found the piano when he entered the store, but she hoped he would.Just like all Qin Haiou's music fans, in Liu Yang's eyes, Qin Haiou is the prince of the piano kingdom, and his brilliance on stage is unmatched. There is also a more comprehensive understanding and a deeper understanding.But today, this person unexpectedly appeared in her shop like the big boy next door and became her customer.She never dreamed that she would have such a precious opportunity, maybe she could ask him to play a piece on this relatively private occasion, so that she could stand beside him and appreciate every detail of his performance.From the moment she saw Qin Haiou in this store, this thought suppressed all other thoughts, crowded out all the doubts in her mind, and continued to expand until it occupied her entire mind, making her excited beyond restraint.Therefore, whether he would agree or not, she wanted to try her best.

While grinding her coffee, she observed Qin Haiou secretly, but found that Qin Haiou was just staring at the piano blankly, as if he was completely empty, and did not respond to the hints in her words until she served the brewed coffee. When he was in front of him, he sat up straight on the sofa as if he had just woken up from a dream, and raised his hand to take the coffee.

"Do you like playing the piano?" Qin Haiou asked suddenly, taking a sip of his coffee.His tone was a bit stiff, his eyes were on the coffee in his hand, and he didn't look at Liu Yang's face.Liu Yang felt a subtle change in Qin Haiou's mood.She didn't understand what she did wrong, which caused the originally good atmosphere to suddenly stagnate.But she still smiled and nodded: "Yes, I learned a little as a hobby when I was young, but it was abandoned due to busy studies, and I recovered intermittently after work, but I can only play simple pieces, and especially I don't like playing etudes."

"Well... that's pretty good." Qin Haiou said.

Liu Yang felt a little embarrassed.Qin Haiou was obviously absent-minded when he said this, making it hard to figure out what he was thinking.Liu Yang had no choice but to find his own words to continue: "When I was learning the piano, I always felt that the teacher was too strict, and practicing the piano was too hard. Later, I didn't have time to play the piano. Instead, I felt more and more that playing the piano was a kind of fun and relaxation. Instead, I regretted not doing it at the beginning. Can practice better..."

Qin Haiou took another sip of his coffee and stopped talking.

Liu Yang suddenly felt very annoyed.There were many speculations in her mind, but she had no clue, and she didn't know how to change the status quo.The conversation was unsustainable for a while, and Liu Yang was extremely anxious, but at this moment, the clerk of the coffee shop leaned in half of his body from the small door leading to the backyard, scratched his head and shouted: "Sister Liu, that pipe is still leaking! "

Liu Yang was helpless.Usually, there are people coming and going in her shop, not to mention ordinary customers, even if friends often come to sit for a while, most of them are acquaintances like Zhuzhu Tanshuo, so her guys will always report to her whenever there is something, and they are used to it. As for interrupting her while she was entertaining guests, her friends would naturally not mind.Just now she sent this guy to the backyard to water the flowers, but she forgot to tell him not to come and disturb him.The ground water pipe used to water the flowers and wash the stone bricks burst a few days ago. She had someone repair it yesterday, and now she heard from the guy that it must have burst again while watering the flowers.But she didn't want Qin Haiou to wait here because of this matter anyway.Qin Haiou is different from others, she doesn't want him to feel slighted.She frowned, and was about to signal the guy to go back to the yard with gestures, but Qin Haiou said, "Go and have a look."

Liu Yang was taken aback for a moment, because it was Qin Haiou's suggestion, so he omitted even the thought process, and subconsciously said, "Okay." After he finished speaking, he realized what he had said, and hurriedly said, "Sorry."

Qin Haiou watched Liu Yang's figure disappear outside the door, and involuntarily returned his eyes to the piano in the corner.This is an ordinary upright piano, probably because it was played or cleaned not long ago, the cover is still open, exposing the row of black and white keys that he is very familiar with.Since he came to this ancient town, he has never seen a piano, let alone practiced it, it has been quite a while.He had never been away from the piano for such a long time since he started learning the piano.All this time he had thought that his distaste for the piano hadn't gone away, that he just wanted to run away, and he did.He temporarily left everything related to the piano and lived a relaxed and happy life every day.But just now, the moment he saw this piano, he felt as if his heart had been hit hard, and his brain was roaring, as if he had once witnessed an abandoned piano being pushed down, and the body of the piano suddenly touched. When it hit the ground, all the hammers and strings were vibrating, making an extremely muddy and heavy sound.He saw all his hard work in vain, and the disgust and oppression was ready to move, but at the moment he felt more than that.

Qin Haiou found that he was extremely eager to touch those keys.This longing mixed with inner resistance made him feel so natural yet so incomprehensible.The piano is like air, food and sleep to him. He never thought that he would reject it, let alone desire it so much at the same time.It was like facing the two poles of a magnet at the same time, being pushed and attracted at the same time. This contradictory and chaotic feeling made his heart feel like being pulled and aching.He didn't know what to do.He stood up and walked to the piano, and put his fingers on the keys, but he didn't dare to force them to make a sound.But the sounds were all in his head, each note distinct, as if he had played them.He stroked slowly, silently back and forth, but the pain in his heart did not ease.He stared down at the piano, and after an unknown period of time, he realized that Liu Yang had also come to the piano at some point, staring at him intently.

"I... come and have a look." Qin Haiou explained in a low voice, retracting his hand.

Liu Yang looked at him with some puzzlement, but there was more expectation in her eyes.Just now she saw a very complicated expression on Qin Haiou's face, like obsession, resistance, and pain. She didn't understand why he showed such an expression when facing the piano, but she didn't have time to think about it.When she saw Qin Haiou's fingers on the keys, all her attention was attracted.This was the first time she saw him put his hands on the black and white keyboard at such a close distance, and it was indeed an indescribably beautiful picture.This made her put aside all her caution and concerns, and summoned up the courage to say to him, "Can you...play a piece here?"

Qin Haiou looked up at her, and Liu Yang's expression made him unable to refuse.He took a deep breath slowly: "What do you want to hear?"

Liu Yang's face was immediately lit up with joy, and when he answered, his voice trembled a little: "Anything is fine... anything is fine."

Qin Haiou lowered his eyes again, remained silent for a moment, and sat down in front of the piano.He looked at the keys in front of him, and silently selected the repertoire in his mind, but just as he was doing this, the long-lost and familiar feeling quietly climbed up from the bottom of his heart, like a vine that was constantly cut, dragging his thoughts into In the darkness, he was forced to uncontrollably think of the last time he sat in front of the piano - how he meditated over and over again on the difficult passages he was going to play, how he played the next song under the lights of the stage and under the gaze of the audience. Every sound, how he tried his best to suppress the tension and trembling of his fingers that almost engulfed him... Even though he knew that Liu Yang was the only one beside him now, he still couldn't overcome this reaction.He had already experienced this sense of defeat, as if his body and mind had been crushed, and it was because he didn't want to experience it again that he came to this ancient town, but now he found that it had always been with him, and it was even more serious than before.This not only frightened him, but also made him feel hopeless.Does he have to live in such a shadow from now on?Could it be that he will no longer be able to play the piano from now on? !

Liu Yang had been waiting quietly with full expectation, but Qin Haiou never put his hands on the keys again.He sat there with a pale complexion, his whole body seemed to be dead. After a long time, he stood up suddenly, said "I'm sorry" in a hurry, turned around and walked out of the coffee shop door quickly.