Chapter 24

Ngoc Lam had been on a whirlwind of activities for over a year and a half, garnering the attention of the media that had come to call her a one-of-a-kind legend. She often took rare chances when she went on tours to meet artists who were her teachers, interact with other talents, visit old friends, and make new ones. Her talent had made many experts take off their hats in admiration, and her popularity was growing by the day as more vinyl records were sold under her name. Though she could play most musical instruments fluently, the Rector had advised her to focus more on the violin and piano, which he believed were the most popular instruments and would bring her more fame and benefit the Conservatory's reputation. 

Ngoc Lam recently won first prize in the Mozart piano competition for group A, which is for children aged 7 to 9 years old. Meanwhile, Minh was preparing for an upcoming competition featuring the works of Chopin. However, while Ngoc Lam's talent was blossoming, Minh's progress seemed to be slowing down. Over the past three years, Minh had hardly won any tournaments, and he was getting older. Mrs. Phuong impatiently suggested that Minh should study abroad. After all, Minh was already a professional artist, so joining a good orchestra shouldn't be difficult. Minh, however, kept procrastinating and even suggested staying at the Conservatory of Music to become a lecturer.

Ngoc Lam, one day, saw him sitting next to Thanh, their hands clasped together.

Minh's slowdown was becoming more and more noticeable. There was a lot of gossip behind his family's back. Mrs Phuong was furious and forced her son to start his career abroad right then. Minh firmly refused. The mother and the son argued. When Mrs Phuong pressed for the reason, Minh was so confused that he used Ngoc Lam as a shield. Mrs. Phuong was even more angry. She shouted.

"Ngoc Lam what? That girl is a legend now! You are lucky enough that she hasn't stepped on you. Why do you still want to stay for her? Look at yourself right now! You're almost 25 years old! And you still want to hang around this village pond! Sooner or later, you will sink! The next generation is growing very strongly. Have you seen that?"

Knowing that dragging on like this was not a good way, Minh and Thanh started looking for opportunities to go abroad together.

The opportunity had finally come. A large orchestra from Czechoslovakia offered to recruit some of the Conservatory's talents for its ongoing tour. The position for the lead piano was vacant, and several places for the choir were looking for singers, too.

Ngoc Lam was performing abroad, so this chance couldn't be more ideal.

Minh talked to Mrs. Phuong. Seeing that her son began to understand his situation, she immediately agreed. The audition went smoothly for him. The conductor was very satisfied with Minh, but Thanh had not received any response yet. Minh promised that after being selected, he would ask them to promote Thanh, even if a reserve position was acceptable, as long as they could be together.

Unexpectedly, a change happened before the time. Ngoc Lam's overseas concert was wildly successful. The girl herself played most of the instruments used in the orchestra and received huge acclaim from music lovers and professionals. The Rector grinned and couldn't stop talking about the girl to the orchestra's leaders from Czechoslovakia. They asked when Ngoc Lam would return home. Knowing she would return two days before their performance, they asked the director to change the lead pianist to her.

When he heard the news, Minh felt like he was struck by lightning. He couldn't have imagined that all the hopes he had placed in this time would be so blatantly taken away. The whispering behind him became louder and louder. They laughed at him because even a little kid like Ngoc Lam could snatch a job out of his hand. Thanh also distanced himself from Minh. The eyes of the students sticking on his back made Minh feel like they were looking down on him. Mrs Phuong knew what happened and was infuriated. She shouted at Minh.

"Look! You could have gone abroad years ago. What are you staying here for? Now, no one wants to choose you anymore! How could you be so stupid?"

When Minh's busy father found out about it, he was also extremely mad. He called him and scolded him.

Minh felt extremely depressed. He arranged to meet some friends at the club to relieve his sadness.

Unexpectedly, before finishing his drink, Minh witnessed another shocking scene.

Thanh was wearing a tight t-shirt and low-waisted pants, his arm around the waist of a Western man. Minh recognized him from the orchestra's leadership team. The two of them touched intimately while they were laughing and talking. Minh was so shocked that his whole body stiffened. Before Minh's friends could ask him anything, he ran to Thanh.

"Thanh" Minh shouted amid the loud music, "What are you doing?"

Thanh was a bit startled when he was caught cheating, but looking at Minh's dispirited appearance, he saw no need to feel guilty anymore.

"You promised me that if you were recruited, you would help me get into the orchestra. Now that you have been eliminated, so I have to find another opportunity. Why are you questioning me?"

"So you're going without me?"

"Stop it!" Thanh lost patience, "I can't stay in one place forever. How long will I have to wait for you?"

"I turned down the opportunities to work abroad to stay here with you! What do you mean by saying that to me?"

"That's your problem! You chose to stay, and now you blame me? If you can't take it then break up!

Having finished speaking, Thanh hugged the man's waist and walked into the crowd, leaving Minh standing motionlessly alone.

Minh almost collapsed after that day.

A person born into the spotlight like Minh realized for the first time that he had been abandoned. The compliments around him were gradually replaced by words of sarcasm, pity, or hate. His vivid world is like a water-soaked wall of which each piece was peeling off to reveal its ugly original.

Minh suddenly realized how lonely he was those days.

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Ngoc Lam returned home without knowing what had happened. As soon as she landed, she was surrounded by reporters. The Rector did not miss the opportunity, stepped up to give her a bunch of flowers, and stood next to her in the same frame of the photos. Luckily, Ngoc Lam's family quickly picked her up and took her home before the Rector dragged her into his fame game.

On the way home, Ngoc Lam borrowed her mother's cell phone to text Minh

"Hello Minh, it's me, Ngoc Lam. I'm back. Tomorrow I'll go to the Conservatory, and let's play a duet together!"

When she got home, Mr Woods had been waiting for her and her family. Before that, the teacher mentioned the situation to the girl's parents. He advised Ngoc Lam not to accept the piano position of the Czechoslovakian orchestra. Mr Woods suggested that the family first use the reason that Ngoc Lam had to complete her elementary school program and then quickly find a way to withdraw Ngoc Lam's school records so that she could study abroad as soon as possible. In the worst case, let her take the entrance exam to a public secondary school. At this point, the principal will no longer have a reason to keep her. Ngoc Lam can escape the risk of unintentional conflict with any prominent figure at the Conservatory.

Ngoc Lam's family went to the dean's room to request that Ngoc Lam would withdraw from the Western Orchestra participation list. The director had no choice but to negotiate with the orchestra's leaders. They agreed to let Minh replace her. Mrs Phuong was complacent when she heard about it. At the same time, she was applying to nominate herself for the position of the subject head to replace the head who was about to retire. That was not only good for Minh but also helped improve her reputation. She told Minh to work seriously without noticing that her son's face was no longer as bright as before.

Recently, Minh had to go to the hospital to treat depression. He didn't know how to talk about this with his mother when he heard that he was accepted into that orchestra. In order not to affect his work, Minh kept his matter a secret. Mrs Phuong knew that her son had been going to the hospital often, but she only heard him say he was not feeling well.

The first performance went positively. Minh always tried to take antidepressants regularly. His spirit had not fully recovered, but it improved a lot. After the performance, Minh received the decision to tour with the orchestra. Many bouquets were sent to congratulate him. He took out his phone and replied to Ngoc Lam's text message from three days ago. He sent the message while smiling.

Not long after, the smile suddenly disappeared. In front of him, Thanh was coming.