The fake heiress loves to act? The max-level boss isn't interested in playing along.

Fu Hua put the harmonica back in its case, and the shop assistant suddenly snapped out of her shock.

"etc!"

He pressed down on the box: "You...you were playing a harmonica just now, that doesn't count."

If you really know music, and I can pick any instrument and you can play it, I'll give you this harmonica for free!

That's completely unreasonable.

Even the other customers in the store couldn't stand it anymore: "Comrade, this is being unreasonable!"

"Exactly, that young girl plays so well..."

"You're denying what you just said?"

Steinberg frowned, about to speak,

Fu Hua spoke first: "You choose."

She had already looked at all the musical instruments in the store, and there wasn't one she couldn't play.

Two tigers can also put on a song.

The shop assistant was surprised that she actually agreed.

He paused for two seconds, his gaze sweeping across the store.

Finally, it landed on that black upright piano—

This is the most expensive instrument in the store, and also the most difficult to make.

In ordinary households, even if they were to give a musical instrument to their child, they wouldn't choose a piano.

It's expensive, laborious, and there's no guarantee you'll get ahead through it.

"This is it!"

He pointed to the piano, "If you can play a decent piece on this piano, I'll not only give you the harmonica for free, but I'll also apologize to you!"

Everyone looked at Fu Hua.

Piano playing is something she started learning at a young age; Huahua had just returned from the countryside.

She could never play that instrument.

Zhang Wen stamped her feet anxiously, "Huahua, ignore him, let's go!"

Lin Jingqiu also wanted to speak up; she was a piano teacher.

It's very clear that not just anyone can play the piano.

Even if Fu Hua can play the harmonica, the piano... that requires years of systematic training!

After studying for so many years, Chaochao was still told by Steinberg that she was completely useless.

Fu Hua had already walked towards the piano.

She sat down on the piano bench without adjusting the height.

The piano bench was a little low for her, but she didn't mind.

She raised her hand, hovering it above the piano keys.

Her fingers were slender yet steady, as firm as a rock.

As the first note fell, Steinberg held his breath.

Could this be the music craftsman he's been looking for?

What's floating in the air isn't classical music, nor folk music.

It's another piece of music I've never heard before.

It's Castle in the Sky.

The piano piece that Fu Hua loved most in her previous life.

It's not because it's difficult, but because it's simple.

Simplicity to the extreme

Yet it carries the most complex emotions.

Loneliness, longing, exploration of the unknown, and persistence in seeking the truth.

Every time I listen to this piece of music, I feel a faint sense of sadness.

It contains immense courage within its sorrow.

Her fingers moved across the piano keys, slowly and deliberately.

Just let the melody flow naturally.

The left hand plays simple chords, like the steady pulse of the earth.

The right hand features a clear melody line, like a bird soaring in the clouds.

The road ahead is difficult, even if she will never reach that sky city.

But we still have to keep moving forward.

There is an indomitable spirit hidden within the sorrow.

Each crescendoing musical phrase seems to say, "I'm not afraid."

Every key change seems to say: I still have a way to go.

Lin Jingqiu stood there, stunned.

She has taught piano for over a decade and has heard countless students play.

But I've never... I've never heard such music before.

It's not a matter of piling up skills, nor is it an overflow of emotion.

That was... the tremor of the soul itself.

She thought of what Steinberg had said about the accumulation of technology.

Compared to the girl before her, Chaochao's music was like an exquisite artificial flower.

Fu Hua's music... is like wild grass growing from cracks in rocks.

Not beautiful, not exquisite, but real and full of life.

Steinberg's hands were trembling slightly.

He searched for it his whole life.

I've heard countless brilliant performances in Paris, Vienna, and New York.

Skillfully crafted, emotionally rich, and uniquely styled.

But none of them are like the girl in front of me.

There is emptiness in her music.

It's not blank, it's vast emptiness—

Like the boundless night sky, like the deep ocean,

It can contain all the stars and tides.

The last note dissipated into the air.

Fu Hua lowered her hand and stood up.

She didn't look at anyone, but simply walked to the counter.

He picked up the harmonica case: "Now, can I have it?"

The shop assistant stared, unable to utter a single word.

"Wait a minute!"

Steinberg strode up to Fu Hua.

Overcome with excitement, he stammered, "Young lady... no, friend... what's your name? Who do you study piano with? How long have you been studying?"

Fu Hua looked at him and said calmly, "I taught myself."

"since--"

Steinberg choked.

Self-taught? How is that possible?!

Could it be talent?

Lin Jingqiu finally regained her voice, and she walked up to Fu Hua.

His eyes held a complex expression: "You...you're Yu Rou's daughter? Fu Hua?"

Fu Hua nodded.

She also recognized the person in front of her as Lin Jingqiu, Su Yurou's friend.

"But your mother said you..."

Lin Jingqiu couldn't continue speaking.

She recalled Su Yurou's words—"Huahua suffered a lot in the countryside, and she only put in the effort to study; she doesn't know anything else."

"Zhaochao is different. I raised her myself, and she has talent."

Can't do anything?

Talented?

This piano skill, this musical understanding—what do you call this complete incompetence?!

Su Yurou, shrewd for half her life,

Mistaking a fish eye for a pearl!

Steinberg grabbed the translator's arm, his excitement spilling out in French: "Tell her, tell her this is the student I've been looking for, this is music!"

Music with soul is not about technique, nor is it about training.

This is it—

He pointed to his heart. "My heartbeat! I can hear my heartbeat in her music!"

The translator quickly translated.

The entire delegation was stunned—

This foreign gentleman was so harsh in his evaluation of Chaochao at the theater just now.

Now, however, he is interested in this beautiful young girl.

So... fanatical?

Fu Hua shook her head: "Thank you. But I don't study music."

"What?"

Steinberg thought he'd misheard. "Why not? You're talented! God-given talent! You can't—"

"I have things I want to do."

Fu Hua interrupted him, her tone polite but firm, "The music is good, but it's not my path."

After she finished speaking, she looked at the shop assistant who was still in a daze: "Can I have the harmonica now?"

The shop assistant mechanically handed over the box.

Although harmonicas are expensive, he is not only a shop assistant but also the boss, and he cannot ruin his own reputation.

Fu Hua took it and pulled out three ten-yuan bills from her pocket: "I won't take it for free, consider this as cost."

She pulled Zhang Wen, who was still in a daze, and turned to walk out of the store.

The autumn sun shone on them.

The noise of the street filled my ears again.

"Fu Hua..."

Zhang Wen finally found her voice, her eyes wide open, "You...who exactly are you? How can you do everything?"

Fu Hua did not answer.

She looked up at the sky; the clouds drifted lazily by.

Like that sky city that's always in the distance.

The music is very good.

But her battlefield is elsewhere.

Behind her, in the music store, Steinberg was still standing there.

Gazing in the direction she had left, he murmured, "Fu Hua... Fu Hua..."

Lin Jingqiu was pale and her mind was in complete chaos.

"I can't let my divinely gifted girl leave?"

Steinberg, leaning on his cane, chased after him.