woman wearing irish linen shirt

My intuition was wrong, but I didn't ask much.She must have listened to this concert with the clients at that craft beer bar, otherwise, in terms of Miss Pan De's dedication, no matter how much she loves classical music, she wouldn't be in such a rush, and she's not chasing stars.

Chasing money is possible.

Why lie to me?Is the customer related to our company?Or is it simply a professional habit?

"Do you usually listen to classical music?" asked Miss Pender.

"I often listen to it." I have studied piano for 14 years, and I can chat a little or two about it, "Speaking of "Resurrection Symphony", I was actually at Shui Lan's farewell performance, which was what he and SSO performed at the time. So I’m curious who the conductor is today. I remember they found an older foreigner to be the new music director, is that the person?”

The full name of SSO is the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. It used to be mediocre, but it has become a world-class one, thanks to the blue water.He is to the SSO what Simon Rattle is to the CBSO.I saw his conductor once very early, when he was probably less than 50 years old, with a firm face; when he bid farewell to the performance, his facial features and eyes were much softer, and his level reached the peak.

"Today is a young man." Miss Pender's attention was obviously focused on the farewell performance, "I was on a business trip in Tokyo at that time, it's a pity. Is the performance also held here, how is it?"

"At the Esplanade," I said. "Even though it's been over a year, I still remember it vividly. The orchestra was like a person that day."

"Is it better than the "Second Symphony" by Abbado and LFO?" Miss Pender had a hint of teasing in her eyes.

"No, no," I saw through her trick, "I don't want to compare previous versions, I'm not 'that' classical music lover."

"Me neither." She laughed.

The receptionist at the door noticed us coming.Miss Pan De took out two invitation letters, it turned out that today is indeed an internal event.The quality of private performances is very variable, it's a bit like a blind box draw: frankly, I don't like blind box draws.But I didn't pay for the performance after all, so I can't fault it.

There is a promotional poster for today's event near the door. Miss Pande slowly read out the name of today's conductor: "Kahchun Wong. Do you know what the Chinese characters for Kahchun Wong mean?"

This is obviously a Cantonese or Hokkien transcription of the name. How could I recognize it, so I took a photo of the conductor and searched, and said: "In Mandarin, it is pronounced as 'Huang Jiajun', which probably means 'Elijah'."

There is also a logo of a local charity in the corner of the poster. It seems that these two invitations are much more expensive than usual, but I don’t know whether it is BCG or which client gave the money.Of course, Miss Pender paid for it out of her own pocket, so I can't tell, I just don't think so.

"But what does 'Elijah' mean?"

"Israel's prophet?" I actually just said it casually, and I didn't expect her to be serious. "Well, I was talking nonsense just now, it's just that 'Jiajun' gave me that impression."

"You said you were an atheist." Miss Pender paused, "I think you are familiar with these allusions."

"You know, English is not my mother tongue. For an acquired learner, reading the classics is necessary in order to learn English well. When I was in college," I said as lightly as possible, "I used to think about Don't be a translator for extra money—I saw the profession of translation as too vague and easy at the time—I heard from a professor that the King James Version of the Bible would give people a new understanding of the English language. understand."

"Have you developed a new understanding of English?"

"If you want others to praise you, don't boast with your mouth." I responded.

Miss Pande slowed down and looked at me: "Is this from "Proverbs?"

I nodded and joked, "You also said you were an atheist."

"Well," she said calmly, "let's say, reading classics knows no borders."

After entering, we sat down in the middle back row.There were more people than I expected. At the moment, most of the seats were empty, and the audience was concentrated near the center line. There was no one in the front row.The area we were sitting in seemed to be a reserved seat, except for two people sitting in the three rows ahead, it was only me and Miss Pender.

It was still early before the official opening, and we chatted quietly.

"The difference in pronunciation is really big." Miss Pan De said suddenly, "I mean the names, 'Kachun' and 'Jiajun', right?"

She is really gifted at learning languages. She speaks the word "Jia" perfectly, and the rhyme and ending of the word "Jun" is not satisfactory, with some Indo-European habits.I explained: "This is actually more like the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin. People who speak Cantonese live in the south, while Mandarin is based on northern Mandarin." Feeling that she was more interested, I introduced the people living in Nanyang The geographical composition of the Chinese, "Will this topic be boring?"

"Of course not! Language is often a window to understand a civilization." She held one cheek, and the tenderness brought by the glass of red wine hadn't completely left her, "Why do you know this?"

"I once thought that if I didn't have to worry about bread, I might study folklore or linguistics. The possibility of doing research on language differences is the greatest...or be a museum librarian." Seeing that she didn't believe it, Emphatically, "Really!"

"It's not that I don't believe you," Miss Pender smiled happily, "it's just that, you know, you look more like someone who will stand out in a crowd."

"In the museum crowd."

"Yes, but definitely an art gallery, not a folk museum," she said, "and you're not a docent, probably an art director."

I squinted my eyes: "Do I look so far away from real life?"

"It has nothing to do with the sense of distance, Yao." She tilted her head, "It's a pity that you just stay behind the document."

I was just trying to make some jokes.For some reason, I was a little shaken by Miss Pender's unintentional words.I pursed my lips and said, "Thank you. Tomorrow I will go to the official website of the National Art Museum to see if they still need newcomers."

Miss Pender laughed.She carefully controlled the volume again, looked around, and said in a low voice, "That would really bother me."

The naughtiness in her eyes was fleeting, and as soon as the words fell, the cunning, whether false or real, was hard to discern.I just took it as a joke, and heard her say: "Is there a big difference in the pronunciation of your name? Li Yao."

"It's almost like that, but what you said just now is a bit like calling some Italian boy, called 'Leo'." Her pronouncing it dragged on for a while had Italian meaning, I lowered my head and smiled, demonstrating To her, "'Li Yao'. That's how it's pronounced in Mandarin."

"Li Yao."

She learned it perfectly.

I complimented her honestly: "Excellent."

"In your hometown," she asked again, "is there any special local language?"

I shook my head: "My family speaks Mandarin."

She nodded suddenly.Seeing that I was still looking at her, it seemed that I had misunderstood something. Miss Pan De felt a little sorry and said, "Don't laugh at me. I don't speak Hindi. So the pronunciation of 'Sonia' is 'Sonia' ',It is nothing special."

I would not be puzzled by the style, and joked: "I know a little bit. Wangbadong Wangbadongwangbadong."

Miss Pender laughed: "It's very similar."

This is the homonym of the Hindi broadcast voice that can often be heard on the subway, meaning "999".

I'm a little distracted.It is almost a torment to chat with her. Miss Pande is too relaxed tonight, without professionalism and alienation. Arena to challenge.I seem to be spending a wonderful night, for this night I dress up carefully, and she also dresses up carefully; I forget the cardboard boxes in the second bedroom, forget the lies that rot in my stomach, the sword is about to dissolve under her gaze, and I forget myself Where is it, and what is the reason for forgetting to be here.

As if it really was just a good night, with the lady next to me sharing food, memories, and whatnot.

what should i expect

"This is Marathi, and the bottom is Punjabi. Isn't it very different?" While speaking, Miss Pande wrote her name on the invitation letter.I don't know where Marathi is from, and what region Punjab is in, but the strange language left on the paper does not make people sober, but makes me more confused.

I simply tried to show kindness, took out the pen in the bag, took her invitation letter, and wrote my name in Chinese characters in the blank space.The texture of the cardboard was too smooth, and the ink didn't dry for a long time. I almost smeared her handwriting with the hand holding the invitation letter. Fortunately, I found it quickly, and immediately raised my thumb.

"Your pen does not belong to the Shen Jin series." Miss Pan De said suddenly.At this time, the concert was about to start, and there were many people around, so her voice was very low.I didn't hear clearly, so I moved closer.

Miss Pan De whispered in my ear, "The author of your pen is Koji Michishang. His personal style is too strong. Shen Jin of the National Light Association, when he is put together with other people's works, he can usually be recognized at a glance. .His legacy appeared in Namiki, probably in 2011 at the latest, and after that, it can only be seen in the second-hand market, because Michigami Koji passed away in 2010."

She mixed a lot of Roman-like words, which were obviously Japanese, and I couldn't immediately understand what she was talking about.The lights in the auditorium have been turned off, the conductor is the last to show up, and the wind players are obviously not in the mood; but the strings, no matter if they hold the violin with the length of an arm or the violin with the height of a person, they are all ready to go, waiting to start instruction.

"If you go into the store to buy a piece of gold now, of course only the works of Koji Koji. If it were really ten years ago, it would not be so easy to buy the pens painted by Koji Koji. His Tusu utensils are much more interesting than fountain pens. By the way," Ms. Pande spoke with eloquence as if she were talking to me about something we should have a lot in common with, "Kakuji Yasuji is the mainstay of Wajima lacquerware. If you really want to If you go to the Folklore Museum as a lecturer, besides Fuzhou, you should not forget Wajima.”

No matter how stupid I am, I can understand what she is saying.She obviously knows more about Makie than I do.

And, know a lot more.

"You set me up." During the short gap between the applause, she leaned close to my ear in an unusually quiet voice, and whispered, "Do you really think I don't know?"

The bow fluttered from far to near, the cello fell like thunder, and I was out of my mind.

This is the strangulation of the fiddle.The light in the darkness heralds the resurrection of the Titans—but that's Mahler's protagonist.

I am not a giant titan, in the dark, I am afraid that I will die before dawn.