House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 106 – Grand Piano and Lin Mu’an

“Move it here, somewhere around here!” Yang Yi directed the workers to move the black painted piano to the side of the bar in the shop. A few days ago, Yang Yi made room for Xixi’s birthday party. Now, Yang Yi bought a piano directly to fill in the space.

At the birthday party, Yang Yi showed a little of his skill, but Mo Fei’s reaction wasn’t too intense. This made Yang Yi more confident about his plan.

Now, Yang Yi could finally buy a piano in the shop and secretly enjoy it!

After all, guitar was nothing to him. Piano and violin were his true love.

The piano in this world was the same as that of in Yang Yi’s previous life, but the brand name was different. Yang Yi didn’t know which one was better. So, he used the most stupid but also the most direct way – buy the expensive one!

The Theodore grand piano from Rhine, worth 860,000, was already the best small grand piano that Yang Yi could buy from a piano store in Jiangcheng – the concert-level one was too big to fit.

Of course, there was also a more expensive grand piano. It was a Swiss-made grand piano that was worth more than a million, but Yang Yi tried it with his hands, and still felt that the timbre was not as good as the Theodore!

But with 860,000 yuan spent, Yang Yi almost emptied his savings. Fortunately, Chen Yijie’s new album hit platinum sales, and Yang Yi made a lot of money. Otherwise, with his contribution income last month, after paying for the investment in the Sahara online bookstore, Yang Yi had no spare money at all.

Of course, at the time Yang Yi signed a contract with Tianxiang, Tianxiang didn’t regret it, because with the song “Long Time No See”, Chen Yijie’s new album also sold many copies in the mainland, making his sales not only reached the platinum standard of Cantonese albums, but also far exceeded that number!

It’s true that a more than 800,000 yuan piano in a coffee shop was a little expensive, but things that one’s like and care about couldn’t be bought with money[1], right?

Xixi was very curious about this huge thing. When the workers were installing and adjusting it, she walked around her father, and couldn’t help pulling her father’s hand. She asked him to lower his head and whisper in her father’s ear, “Papa, I know what this is!”

“What is it?” Yang Yi asked amusingly.

“It’s a piano! I have seen it in the place where Mama works! But it’s not that big.” Xixi tried to use her little hand to draw a picture for his father, “it’s so long, so big, and then Mama can play it! Mama is amazing!”

Yang Yi listened to her daughter’s description and probably understood what she was talking about. He said with a smile, “No, the one at your mother’s workplace should be called an electronic piano, while what your father bought today is called a piano!”

Xixi looked at his father blankly and couldn’t understand the difference.

“Why is Mama called the shopkeeper Qin[2]

“Well, it’s an electronic piano.” Yang Yi corrected her daughter’s pronunciation. He said, “It can only play sound when it is supplied with electricity, so it’s called an electronic piano!”

Xixi knew about electricity, because her father repeatedly told her not to touch those sockets, because electricity was dreadful, and electricity would eat Xixi!

“Xixi understands!” The little girl said naively, “Is the piano able to play the sound because it is made of steel?”

Steel has also become as powerful a term as electricity?[3]

Well, Yang Yi was a little confused by his daughter’s imagination. He didn’t know how to answer. He really didn’t know why the piano was called piano! It should be known that although this thing was made of steel, most of it was still wood.

Yang Yi had an idea and explained, “No, because the piano is made of wood and steel, but because it already has a xylophone that it is called a piano.” (note 1). (TN: This note is place by the author)

“Oh!” Xixi nodded, half knowing and half not knowing. Then she asked, “Is Mama’s piano more powerful than that?”

Xixi’s thinking, perhaps even if Yang Yi break open her head, he wouldn’t be able to understand it. She thought that since the electronic piano uses electricity, and since all the things that use electricity were magical and powerful, such as television… Therefore, the electronic piano should also be very powerful!

Yang Yi’s evaluation standard were of course not the same. He corrected: “No, the sound quality of the electronic piano is basically impossible to compare with the piano, because the piano has the most authentic keyboard instrument sound!”

At this time, the tuner sent by the piano company also helped to adjust the sound. He sat on the small leather stool and tried to play a song to judge the pitch with his ears.

Xixi was also absorbed in watching. The clear and gentle sound of the piano fascinated the little girl. Yang Yi looked at his daughter and got distracted, which was quite rare. He didn’t know if she knows how to appreciate it, but it seemed that, looking at her intoxicated expression, she liked it very much!

At the end of the song, Xixi came back to her senses and agreed with her father: “Yes, Papa’s piano is amazing!”

…….

After the piano was set up and adjusted, Yang Yi sent the people from the piano shop out. At this time, Uncle Lu from the bicycle repair shop next to him said in a loud voice, “Yang Yi, what big thing have you bought?”

“Added a piano to the shop.” Yang Yi smiled.

Piano? A tall, thin boy with long shawl hair, who was waiting for his bike to be repaired at Uncle Lu’s, raised his head in surprise and looked at Yang Yi thoughtfully.

“Well, I thought that you didn’t have many customers in your shop. How can you spend so much money on such expensive things?” Uncle Lu nagged and worried about Yang Yi.

These neighbors were very ordinary local people. They were very talkative, and liked to talk about family and things at home, but in fact, everyone was very kind. If anyone was in need of help at ordinary times, they just need to shout, and no one would refuse.

After a few words with Uncle Lu, Yang Yi returned to the shop and cleaned the footprints and dust left when the piano was moved in.

Xixi, however, was full of curiosity. She climbed up on the small leather stool. She looked at the black and white keys first, then stretched out her small hand and pressed it.

“dong dong dong…… do do do……”

Different keys have different sounds when pressed!

Xixi seemed to have found a brand-new good toy, and she began to explore it with joy.

At this time, a man appeared outside the door. He poked his head into the shop and then gently called out, “Hello, boss!”

Yang Yi came over from the back with a mop and said from afar, “Sorry, there is something going on in the shop today, so I didn’t open it. Look, the sign isn’t hung!”

But when he got closer, Yang Yi saw that it was the long-haired young man in Uncle Lu’s repair shop just now.

“I’m sorry, boss, but I’m not here to have coffee. Could I bother you for a few minutes?” The long-haired young man felt uneasy when he looked at Yang Yi, who was as tall as the Black Pagoda[4], but he still mustered up his courage and said, “My name is Lin Mu’an, and I am a freelance musician…”

Lin Mu’an, um, listening to the very common mandarin pronunciation, Yang Yi could probably tell that the other party should be from Guangdong Province. Of course, he was not from Hong Kong. Young people from Hong Kong would not come to the mainland to make a living.

Yang Yi sized up Lin Mu’an. He felt that the other side looked a little uneasy and didn’t look like a star. There were many kinds of musicians, high-end musicians, those who were stars, those who were depressed and unwilling to mix in bars, and those who sang under the overpass. Those who like music and regard music as their own lives can be called musicians!

Lin Mu’an should be the third. Later, in his introduction, he also explained that he was presently a resident singer in a bar.

“What do you want?” Yang Yi asked somewhat puzzled.

“Excuse me, I’d like to ask if you are short of a pianist? Someone who specially play music for the customers, and coffee shops usually have them, which makes the atmosphere in the shop more intense. I can play the piano and sing…” Lin Mu’an was trying to sell himself.

However, Yang Yi has no intention of hiring a pianist. He bought a piano for his own enjoyment.

So, he smiled apologetically and said, “You just heard the owner of the bicycle repair shop say that in my coffee shop, there are only a few customers in a day, so there is no need to hire another pianist.”

“Okay…” Lin Mu’an was very disappointed, but he bowed to Yang Yi graciously and said, “Sorry to bother you.”

Looking at the figure of Lin Mu’an leaving, Yang Yi was a little lost in thought.

He seemed to have forgotten something?

Oh, right, he forgot these sentences: “Please tell me your story…”

Well, just kidding, Yang Yi didn’t really have the idea of hiring a pianist in the shop.

(note 1: Regarding the origin of the piano name, Xiao Han checked. There are two theories. One is the one Yang Yi said, and another possibility is that in the Republic of China, the piano was originally called dulcimer, but at that time the education department wanted to unify the name. They want to start with the manufacture materials of the piano, but thought that xylophone is too corny, so it’s called the piano…)

_____________

[1] 但千金难买心头好 – Money can’t buy happiness.

[2] Shopkeeper Qin – Qin means piano. So it means piano’s owner. But “piano’s owner” doesn’t flow well with Xixi next question. This is like a nickname or something.

[3] Xixi suddenly associate steel to electricity. Like electricity is to electronic piano as steel is to piano. The thing that enable them to play the sound. Kid’s logic.

[4] This is referring to Qixing Mountain Pagoda, commonly known as the Black Pagoda. He was just saying that Yang Yi was very tall/big person.