385 I Can Play Piano

Qin Guan’s character was an ordinary boy with black hair and eyes. His name was Eric.

He was a little weak. Athletes were the most popular at school. As a quiet, clever boy, Eric was bullied by other students. During science class, some boys had distracted the teacher while others had thrown chewing gum at Eric's clothes.

The lonely boy couldn't do anything but look at the white sticky gum on his blue jacket. He lowered his eyes. He knew defending himself would not work.

On the camera, his face looked clean. The gentle, silent boy suffered through all that unfair treatment.

The bell rang and only Eric was left in the classroom. He picked up his books and walked to the washroom, where he picked all the gum off his clothes.

He looked indifferent in the mirror, like a butterfly on a spider’s net. His wings were broken. He had no idea about the value of life.

The helpless, weak, dark nature of humans and his cowardice shone through his expression.

He walked to the school dining room and recorded the structure and position of the basins and sundries in his notebook.

Meanwhile, gay and straight students were holding a meeting.

"In my opinion, men who wear colorful necklaces are not necessarily gay," Alex was saying with an enigmatic expression.

"And I’m straight." He smiled. Nobody noticed whether the short-haired boy was wearing a colorful necklace or not.

Now all the main characters of the school shooting had been introduced. It was a beautiful day. Red maple leaves were lying on the green grass, and white clouds were floating in the blue sky. It was a good day to walk one’s dog...

"Okay! Stop there!"

"All the crew move on to the next scene except Eric and Alex."

The scene ended without any special effects or action. It seemed like a household DV film. Qin Guan nearly fell asleep on set.

Gus was satisfied with the playback. In fact, he was worried about Qin Guan's adjustment to American shooting methods, but he had unexpectedly made a perfect interpretation of the character, taking into account his own guidance.

Suddenly, Gus felt sorry for the gloomy boy in the camera. He must have been treated unfairly to commit such a terrible crime.

The fiery-red maple forest surrendered itself over to the golden aspen trees. Eric's family was an ordinary middle-class American family. Their house had a broad yard, French windows and a fridge with many sticky notes on it.

The parents were busy, and their child was lonely.

Eric was playing the piano. A melancholy, but emotional tune was being produced by his dancing fingers.

For that particular scene, Gus had asked the producer to hire a piano teacher.

"Can you help him with the tune in two days? Qin Guan, can you play the piano?"

Qin Guan nodded. "No problem. I can watch the tutor play it once. I will just need the music score."

What a proud young man! Anybody would need to spend at least half a day on the track if they were learning it for the first time. You can’t master everything.

"That's why beautiful people are always silly," the tutor murmured to himself.

The director was an idiot to cast that actor.

The tutor made an elegant gesture and pressed the first key slowly. "Okay, pay attention..."

Pigeons flew into the sky... The player closed his eyes, lost in thought while the audience got absorbed into the scene. Qin Guan fixed his eyes on the keys and on the tutor’s dancing fingers, memorizing the movements silently.

After the last note, the tutor opened his eyes. "Do you remember the feeling? Shall I play it once more, or should we get back to the music score?"

Actually, Qin Guan wanted to start on the music score. Come on! Ask me!

Qin Guan looked into his eyes seriously. His dark pupils looked charming and confident. The papers between his slender fingers were rustling along with the breeze.

"Let me try," the handsome Asian boy said.

The tutor looked at Qin Guan blankly. He wants to try? Impossible! Won't he ask me to play it one more time?

The director and stage manager also fell silent. Is the US really supposed to be the most confident country in the world and China the most modest one?