Let alone Qi Mu, even Caroline and Jacques were shocked with the sudden refusal.

Caroline frowned. "What's the matter, Evra? Since you admit that Qi Mu is the most skilled, why do you say it's impossible for our orchestra to hire him as our deputy concertmaster?"

In the whole orchestra, only Caroline would dare to speak to Evra in such a manner. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her blue eyes were full of reprimands.

Every symphony orchestra would have their own music director and chief conductor. Usually, both positions will be held by the same person. Min Chen, for example, was both the music director and the chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

But with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the chief conductor was Evra, while the music director was Caroline. That being the case, only Caroline had the right to question Evra's decision. And when the two most influential people in the orchestra started arguing, Jacques couldn't say anything.

Evra asked seriously, "Caroline, do you really want to bring Seven into our orchestra?"

Caroline replied with an affirmative, "Of course! Since he's the most skilled, why can't we hire him? Evra, do you think Qi Mu is too young? Don't you like young people most? The average age within our members is 32 years old. You don't have to worry about Qi Mu being too young."

At this, Evra shook his head. "No, Caroline. Of course I wouldn't reject Qi Mu because of his age. However, it is absolutely impossible for me to hire him as our deputy concertmaster." After a pause, Evra added, "Reed wanted me to be fair and just so I honestly admitted that his student is the best. But, if you hire Little Seven as the deputy concertmaster, then…"

"It's unfair to the orchestra!"

Qi Mu was shocked, Caroline even more so. She forgot what to say for a while.

Evra sighed, then turned to Qi Mu onstage. "Seven, I admit that you have excellent skills. But, it is because you're so skilled that I can't hire you. In your opinion… Does an orchestra needs a deputy concertmaster who can surpass the actual concertmaster?"

As soon as he finished, Jacques coughed.

Evra narrowed his eyes at this, "What's with the coughing? Do you think you can surpass Qi Mu's 《Chaconne》? Do you think you can play 《Dance of the Goblins》 as wonderfully?"

The video on Youtube had spread all over the classical music circle in Europe. Evra wasn't so rigid that he couldn't accept new things, so he had heard Qi Mu's performance of 《Dance of the Goblins》 at the Heldenplatz.

Of course, even if he hadn't seen it, Akkad never failed to show off his student's superb skills so Evra never had the chance to miss it.

Under Evra's questioning, Jacques's dark skin turned red. Sheepishly, he said, "Okay, Mr. Evra, that hurts me." With that, he gave Qi Mu a bad glare.

Jacques wasn't a saint. Evra praised Qi Mu, so of course he was jealous. Moreover, he was never an open-minded person. And Qi Mu knew another thing just by looking——

Even if he did get to enter the orchestra, Jacques would ignore him.

Evra sighed. "All in all, I don't want a deputy concertmaster who can suppress the concertmaster, Little Seven. And, although Jacques isn't a nice guy, he is skilled. I have no plans to replace him…"

"Hey, Evra, I've known you for more than a decade, can you not hurt my feelings like this!"

Evra ignored the plump, dark-skinned man and went on, "So Little Seven, it is as your teacher thought. You're not suitable as a deputy concertmaster… Being the concertmaster for a small orchestra is better for you than being the deputy concertmaster of a big orchestra."

Qi Mu couldn't get angry at such a solid reason. He accepted Evra's apology politely, receiving countless blades from Jacques' glare and an apologetic hug from Caroline.

However, Qi Mu slowed down before leaving the stage. A curious smile appeared on his fair and handsome face. He asked softly, "By the way, Mr. Evra… You said that someone performed 《Chaconne》 before me today. If I may ask, who shared the same luck as me?"

Before Evra could speak, Jacques sneered. "His name is Luo Yu Sen, the deputy chief of our second violin group. He's very generic and his skills are acceptable. I didn't expect him to play a pure emotional piece, yet make such a mess out of it."

Evra glanced at Jacques and sighed. "Although I don't like to air the dirty laundry of my orchestra to the outsiders, Jacques is right. I thought Luo's 《Chaconne》 was like mud compared to Little Seven's, when I first heard it. But now… Well, it's just a piece of shit."

Both Caroline and Jacques burst into laughter.

Qi Mu's eyes narrowed slightly and the corner of his lips curled up. Then, he frowned. "Since… This Luo Yu Sen's skills are unsatisfactory, then why is he the deputy chief of your second violin group?"

The remark brought Jacques' and Caroline's laughter to a halt. Qi Mu bowed politely and left the rehearsal room.

Caroline turned to Evra, puzzled. "Evra, if Qi Mu didn't say it, I would have forgotten that Luo's level is a bit misaligned with our orchestra. I remember that you wanted to dismiss him last year. Why did you let him stay as the deputy chief of the second violin group till now?"

Facing Caroline's question, Evra sighed with embarrassment. "Caroline, you should know the nature of Lu and Luo's relationship, right? That tragedy happened when I was hesitant to renew his contract last year. When Luo came to me, he was in a lost state. I was afraid the man wouldn't be able to stand it if I gave him another big blow."

Although Evra has a bad temper, he was much more persistent than Dorenza when it came to caring for talented people. From the average age of the orchestra members, it was obvious that he liked young musicians. He thought they had a lot of room for improvement.

When the topic turned to Lu Zi Wen's accident, Caroline could only give up and stop talking.

Jacques, on the other hand, sarcastically remarked, "Lost state? Oh, Mr. Evra, do we really know the same Luo Yu Sen? Why do I feel… There were too many suspicious things with Lu Zi Wen's death?"

Caroline yelled, "Jacques! Don't talk nonsense!"

"Was it really nonsense?!" Evra fell completely silent, abandoning what he wanted to say. Jacques sat up straight and said, "You can ask any member of the orchestra. Who didn't doubt Lu Zi Wen's cause of death?! Who knows what happened in those two hours. Luo Yu Sen said he left before Lu Zi Wen's asthma attack. Do you really believe him?!"

"But… The police investigated." Caroline's voice was a little hesitant.

Jacques smiled sardonically. "Those police officers… Who knows what's going on with them."

After a short while, the black man bowed his head and sighed. "Sorry, Evra, Caroline… I was a little emotional just now. I really don't like that Luo Yu Sen guy. His smile is just… too hypocritical."

"I understand, Jacques," Caroline said, nodding. "You'd better change your attitude. You were so jealous just now that you looked like you'd tear Qi Mu apart."

Jacques pursed his lips and stopped talking.

Just as the next applicant was about to enter the room, Evra finally spoke. "…Even you think the accident last year was suspicious, Jacques?"

Jacques froze. He turned to look at Evra, only to see the man looking at the ground, eyebrows furrowed, and lost in thought.

Before he could ask, the next applicant entered the room with their violin.

The audition for deputy concertmaster of Vienna Symphony Orchestra… was still on-going.

For some things, as long as you plant a seed of doubt, the seed would take root. When it did, it would sprout, then grow into a towering tree.

Qi Mu only needed to fertilize and water it. Everything else was bound to develop smoothly.

Now that he had the time and opportunity…

He would push the matter forward.

Translator(s): Kuro

Editor(s): Empress

Kuro:

Happy New Year, guys! And I know some of you might have noticed that the concertmaster of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra has changed names. Yeap, my fault. It was translated as Jasper at first, but then I remembered the name Jacques existed. I am so sorry everyone!!!