Chapter 51: Boss Wang's Values

  "The ball is pretty good, it's quite smooth!" Mr. Wang commented.

  This was the first time he had heard such an evaluation after playing the piano, and he couldn't help but feel a little flustered. This may be because every time he finished playing the piano, he was fed with all sorts of praise by Ye Siying and Professor Wang, so suddenly hearing such an evaluation made him look at this fat man as if he were a god. It seems that being a boss is indeed knowledgeable and has met many good pianists, so his self-evaluation is not high. Thinking about this, Chen Chufan couldn't help but feel anxious about whether his skills could pass the scrutiny of this picky fat boss.

  "I don't know what President Liu thinks, but I think it's still quite fluent, should be around a amateur level 5 or 6?" Boss Wang asked the woman beside him casually.

  " Amateur level 5 or 6?" Liu Zong seemed to have just come back to his senses from Chen Chufan's performance, and replied in a bad tone: "Professional level 5 or 6 can't play better than him!"

  "No wonder the music is so smooth. Hehe, young man, you're still so young, great, great! You have a bright future!" Wang boss was caught off guard by Liu's sudden praise and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, smiling awkwardly.

  After listening to the conversation between the two, Chen Chufan suddenly realized. It turned out that it wasn't that he played badly, but this fat boss didn't understand music at all. This also made Chen Chufan suddenly realize that playing the piano was still for people who understood it, and only then could it touch the heart. No wonder Bo Ya and Ziqi became inseparable as soon as they met, it turned out to be this reason.

  Chen Chufan was secretly admiring the deep friendship between Boya and Ziqi, when Liu Zong spoke up again.

  "You're still a student, right?" Liu asked Chen Chufan.

  "Yes, Director Liu. I'm reading at Zhongbei Minzheng University!" Chen Chufan replied.

  "Just don't call me Director Liu, call me Auntie Liu instead!" It seemed that Chen Chufan's formal title, as learned from Old Wang, was not to her liking, and she corrected him.

  "Alright, Aunt Liu!" Chen Chufan had always been accommodating when it came to such requests.

  "Are you from the music department?" Liu Ayi asked further.

  "Not a history major!" Chen Chufan replied, and then hastily added: "But I'm currently minoring in music!"

  "Oh, can you play Liszt's 'Sighs'?" Aunt Liu gave out the topic.

  Chen Chufan knew at once that this was a serious test of himself. "Sighs" is also known as "The Great Sea", one of Liszt's etudes, although it is considered simple compared to other Liszt etudes, and the playing technique is not as tricky as other Liszt etudes, but it is still an extremely difficult piece. The main difficulty lies in the extremely fast chord and melody coordination. Of course, for Liszt's etudes, there is no truly simple one, and to play this piece well, you really need some skill.

  Chen Chufan happened to be very familiar with this piece and didn't need to look at the score. Because Professor Wang had always let him practice the coordination of his two hands with this piece, he basically played it once or twice every day. With Chen Chufan's current abnormal memory, which was like that of a monster, it was naturally not difficult for him.

  "Got it!" Chen Chufan replied simply, and his ten fingers danced on the piano keys once again.

  It has to be said that Chen Chufan grasped the essence of this song. The rhythm of the piano sound is undulating. Sometimes it's like a spring bud bursting into bloom, sometimes it's like a stream rushing into the sea, magnificent and resplendent. It's as if the light waves on the ocean are shimmering and intersecting, unfolding before the listener's eyes.

  After finishing the song, Chen Chufan looked up at the two again. Boss Wang didn't rush to interrupt this time, but kept nodding his head, with his entire body shaking due to his fat, yet Chen Chufan couldn't tell what his nods meant from his expression.

  She was the first to speak, saying: "Ah, what a pity!" Her words after a sigh made Chen Chufan tense up again. Did he not grasp something well? But wasn't he already in control of the essence of this piece according to Professor Wang's evaluation? Just as Chen Chufan was about to open his mouth to discuss with Liu Ayi, Old Master Wang continued along Liu Ayi's words.

  "Haha, Director Liu, he's just a student, can't expect too much from him! After all, not every Chinese person is Li Xiaodi! Haha!" Boss Wang seemed to think his own words were humorous and chuckled twice before continuing: "Actually the middle part was played quite smoothly, it's just that at the end this kid probably got distracted by stepping on the pedals, so his hands stopped for a moment, but overall it was still passable!"

  Mr. Wang's comment made Chen Chufan almost cry, what is called stepping on the sustain pedal and causing his hand to stop for a while? Isn't there originally a pause at the last few ending notes of this piece? Doesn't this section only need to step on the sustain pedal? Just as he was about to speak up and educate Mr. Wang on piano knowledge, Liu Ayi spoke up first.

  "Boss Wang, I said it's a pity, not that the child didn't play well, but this piano's sound quality is a bit poor, it's a pity for the child to perform on this piano." Liu Ayi said bluntly without giving Boss Wang any face.

  "Huh? Haha!" Boss Wang rubbed his head, feeling a bit embarrassed and smiled awkwardly. But Fatso's heart was broad-minded, and he didn't seem to be annoyed either. "So that's the case, haha, that means this kid has potential. Alright then, you're hired! What's your name again?"

  "My name is Chen Chufan!" Although the boss's appreciation ability made Chen Chufan speechless, he was still very happy to be hired. Playing the piano casually could bring in income, which was more reliable than performing a stunt of breaking stones on his chest at a circus.

  "Chen Chufan, how about this: you come to work every evening from 7 to 9 pm, and I'll pay you 30 yuan per hour. That's 60 yuan a day, paid daily, but you have to guarantee that you'll come for at least five days a week." Wang Baozi thought for a moment before speaking out the salary terms.

  "Huh?" Chen Chufan was somewhat stunned. He had been told by Han Xiaoxi that the boss of this coffee shop had invited Ye Siying to play the piano here, and the price was supposedly 100 yuan per hour. How come he himself only got 30 yuan per hour? The difference was too big! He thought his playing shouldn't be much worse than Ye Siying's! Thinking of this, Chen Chufan carefully asked: "Boss Wang, I heard from a classmate that you offered her a salary of 100 yuan per hour to be the pianist. Why did you only offer me 30 yuan per hour?"

  "Oh! So you're a classmate of that beautiful girl! No wonder she came to me on her own!" Mr. Wang suddenly realized, and then continued to explain: "Chen, I have my reasons for offering that beautiful classmate 100 yuan per hour, of course! Just look at how pretty she is, and how well she plays the piano - in school, she must have many suitors, right? And when I asked her if she had a boyfriend, she said no! So I invited her to come play piano here, and do some casual advertising on the side - can you imagine the huge sensation that would create? Those suitors will come to my coffee shop every day to try to win her favor, and they'll definitely spend money while they're here, won't they? Do you think I'd lose out?"

  What a master! Chen Chufan secretly sighed in his heart, feeling that he had learned another lesson today. As the saying goes, "each profession has its own expertise". The fat man in front of him may not understand piano, but when it comes to business calculations, he is absolutely ten times better than himself!

  "Then let's talk about you. Your piano skills have been recognized by Director Liu, so they should be exceptional too. But do you have the charm of that beautiful classmate of yours? Can you attract many girls to come and watch you play the piano?" Mr. Wang asked back.

  Chen Chufan shook his head dazedly, and in terms of appeal, he was naturally not as great as Ye Siying. As for attracting girls, he also acknowledged that he didn't have that charm. He did want to say that the beauty you mentioned is actually my nominal girlfriend, but saying this out loud seems to be useless for asking for a higher salary.

  "That's it! So 30 yuan an hour is already quite a lot. Sitting in front of the piano for two hours a day, just think of it as practice, and you can earn 60 yuan, which is not bad at all!" Boss Wang said matter-of-factly. "How about it? Have you thought it over? If so, you can start work tonight at 7 o'clock!"

  Chen Chufan was almost persuaded by Boss Wang and was about to agree, but then he saw Liu Ayi, who had been silent all along, smiling and shaking her head slightly at him, as if hinting something. Chen Chufan's heart skipped a beat, and the words that were on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down. He shook his head instead and said: "The salary is still too low, I need to think about it!"

  "Ah, well, there's nothing we can do about it then, Chen. I'm just a small business owner here too, and I won't be able to afford paying you a higher salary either! You go back and think about it for now, if you're willing to accept the offer, come back and start working!" Mr. Wang said with a shake of his head.

  "Well then, I've disturbed you for today, I'll take my leave first!" After saying that, Chen Chufan stood up from the piano and prepared to depart.

  "Wait!" Liu Ayi stopped Chen Chufan's footsteps, took out a very delicate business card from her small leather bag and handed it to Chen Chufan. "This is my card, I think your piano skills are not bad, and there is still room for improvement. If you have any questions, you can give me a call, maybe I can help you."

  "Thank you, Aunt Liu! I'll take my leave first!" Chen Chufan took the business card handed over by Aunt Liu and solemnly put it into his own pocket. Then he turned around and left.

  "What a pity! Actually, it's still a good seedling, but it has positioned itself too high! Alas, it's just a student, and yet it wants so much salary! Too proud, that will be a great vessel, what a pity, what a pity!" Boss Wang looked at Chen Chufan's departing back with regret, shaking his head and sighing while wobbling his fat body.

  Liu nodded in agreement, "Yeah, who says it's not?" But after thinking for a moment, he added, "These kids nowadays are really something!"