Chapter 279 The Ninth Symphony
James kept going, "If you hadn't shown off your identity beforehand, Lily wouldn't be nervous and she would definitely win."
Lily glanced at James, surprise flickering in her eyes. She couldn't figure out how James had pieced it all together.
The folks outside the music room were also staring at James in shock. They could tell he was probably right; otherwise, Lyle wouldn't be so quiet.
"You actually know piano?" Lyle hesitated for a couple of seconds, gritting his teeth as he asked James in a low voice.
"As a student of a grand piano master, you almost lost to Lily, an amateur. Don't you feel embarrassed?" James's tone was razor-sharp.
Lyle glared at James and then shouted, "Since you know so much about piano, do you dare to compete with me?"
"Fine, but if you lose, you and your girlfriend have to kneel and apologize to my fiancée!" James replied calmly.
"And what if you lose?" Lyle quickly asked.
"I'm just a nobody. Isn't it normal for me to lose?" James said with a grin.
Lyle looked at James, a hint of helplessness crossing his face. James's meaning was clear: if Lyle lost, he'd have to kneel and apologize to Laura, but if James lost, he wouldn't have to do anything. It was an unfair game.
Plus, it was the first time Lyle had seen someone call themselves a nobody so confidently.
"What? Are you scared to compete with a nobody like me? Afraid of losing?" James asked with a smile when he saw Lyle stay silent.
"Fine, let's compete. I'm not afraid of you!" Lyle shouted, provoked by James.
James looked at Lyle and smiled faintly, saying nothing more.
Just then, a man's voice rang out, "James, you're just a poor delivery guy. How could you possibly know anything about piano? Stop disgracing the Hall Family here!"
Everyone turned to the entrance of the second floor.
The speaker was none other than Laura's cousin, Dorian! Thalassa and Elowen were with him.
Dorian had just heard that Laura, Lily, and the others were making fools of themselves at the ArtScape Center. So the three of them rushed over, and as soon as they entered, they heard the conversation between James and Lyle.
Last night, after leaving the hotel, Dorian got curious about James's background, so he had his friends in Lumina City dig around.
He found out that James was just a poor student who delivered food, with no background at all.
"A delivery guy?" Everyone looked at James, their eyes wide with shock.
"I didn't expect him to be a delivery guy. I thought he really knew piano!"
"Yeah, turns out he's just a delivery guy!"
After hearing Dorian's words, the onlookers started mocking James.
"James, what are you still doing here? I know you don't know squat about piano, so get your ass out of here!" Dorian stormed into the music room, shouting at James with disdain.
James glanced at Dorian, his face expressionless. "Who said delivery guys can't play the piano?"
The room went dead silent.
Dorian glared at James, his eyes full of contempt. He thought piano was something only the upper crust could play, and James had no business with it.
"Do you think I care about you? I'm just worried you'll disgrace my family, don't you get it?" Dorian couldn't come up with a good comeback, so he kept mocking James.
"Dorian, James is my fiancé. It's not your place to interfere. I support James competing with Lyle!" Laura stepped up to James and shouted.
"That's right, James isn't a professional pianist. Even if he loses to Lyle, it's not embarrassing. I support James too!" Lily chimed in, thinking James might actually be good at piano based on what he had said earlier.
"Me too!" Nancy added. Compared to James, she disliked Dorian and Thalassa even more, so she was definitely on Laura's side. But she still had her doubts about James's piano skills.
"Are you all nuts? You actually believe a delivery guy can play the piano? You're insane..." Dorian shouted at Laura and Lily, clearly agitated.
James ignored Dorian and turned to Lyle, asking, "Do you still dare to compete with me?"
Before Lyle could respond, Vivienne jumped in. "Why wouldn't he? Do you think my boyfriend would lose to a delivery guy?"
Lyle looked helpless. He could tell that James definitely knew his way around a piano and was probably pretty good. He had hoped to use Dorian's interruption as an excuse to back out, but Vivienne had already agreed on his behalf.
"Pick a piece!" Lyle said, resigned to his fate.
"Let me pick a piece?" James smiled faintly. "How about Beethoven's Ninth Symphony?"
Everyone gasped in shock. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was one of the most famous and difficult pieces in the piano world, and even top pianists struggled with it.
It was tough to convey the sense of defiance against fate after losing one's hearing. Without that personal experience, it was nearly impossible to express that emotion perfectly.
As Richard Clayderman's student, Lyle knew this well. Many great pianists had tried and failed to recreate this piece.
In other words, many people could play "Mariage d'Amour", the piece Lily and Lyle had competed just now, but few could perform the the Ninth Symphony.