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October 18, 2015, Poland, Warsaw, central district.

Fu Tiao was lying on the big bed of the Chopin Hotel, looking at the clean, bright and tidy ceiling above his head with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

The time finally came to the final day. Looking at the alarm that kept ringing around him, Fu Tiao lay on the bed for a long time. He couldn't hold on any longer, so he got up and turned off the alarm.

From the first time he woke up in the far away Vilanów district to the time he woke up in the central district, it was only half a year, but it seemed like he had experienced many, many things.

From an ordinary unknown person who entered the Chopin International Piano Competition to one of the top ten players in the finals of the Chopin International Piano Competition, it can even be said to be the top three players. Everything seems to be a bit dreamy.

Fu Diao shook his head, lay down on the soft big bed again in a daze, and turned to look out the window.

Warsaw still looks extremely gloomy. Even though it is eight o'clock in the morning, everything Fu Diao sees is still gray, as if it is not yet dawn.

For some reason, Fu Tiao suddenly remembered that Mr. Broz had been cursing the Warsaw government with him before, and he couldn't help but laugh easily and shook his head helplessly.

The weather didn't get any better even on the final day. The sunshine before seemed to be an illusion.

This feeling made his originally slightly excited mood become much calmer.

He hadn't waited long in bed when there were knocks on the door, and a male's voice came from outside the house.

"Fu! Are you there? Have you gotten up? Fu?"

"Here we come! Please wait a moment, I'll be out soon."

Fu Tiao stood up and answered, put his clothes on himself casually, walked to the door and opened it. At the door was a young man who looked like a waiter. He picked up the writing board in his hand and spoke to Fu Tiao who had just opened the door.

"Fu, this is today's itinerary, take a look."

After that, when Fu Diao took the writing board in his hand, he said directly: "That's right, Fu, your competition time today is 6:40 pm. This is the estimated time. Today's performers are still

Four people, Zhao Chengzhen, you, Aljoa Jurini, and Aimi Kobayashi.

Due to the importance of the finals, there will be a separate interview during the day today. In addition to this is the press conference. The press conference is of the type that you can go or not, but the interview must go because we need to be there

Before the competition, personal short videos between the players are played, probably when the band players are taking a break and arranging the piano.

Apart from that, there is nothing else to do. In order to ensure your safety, it is best to do it in this hotel if possible. We will go to the concert hall when the time is almost up. Try not to go to the concert alone.

In the hall, because..."

The waiter looked helpless and glanced at the window behind Fu Tiao.

Fu Diaoruo felt something, turned around and walked towards the huge floor-to-ceiling window of the hotel. Before he could reach the window, he already saw the dense crowd nearby.

Various Chopin decorations, various cultural shirts, and various musical instruments.

Everyone seemed to celebrate this as a festival that occurs every five years, especially those tourists who came from other places to watch the game. They were even more excited and crazy.

Some instruments are solo, but there are also many instruments that can be combined with other music to form a multi-person ensemble.

The atmosphere of music is particularly strong just because today is the first day of the Chopin International Piano Competition.

The hotel waiter didn't know when he had walked behind Fu Tiao, looking at the revelers below with a helpless expression.

"Because it's a bit too chaotic outside, and Mr. Fu is the one who is going to play in the competition today, so for your safety, it's better to wait until after today's performance to go to the carnival instead of today..."

Fu Tiao looked at the group of people downstairs and couldn't help but rub his wrists with an expression of approval.

Just as the waiter on the side said, it is really not easy to go out today. It is best to rest in the house and wait for the start of the game.

Fu Diao nodded and said to the waiter: "Okay, I understand. By the way, where is the interview taking place?"

"The interview is waiting. The reporter who interviewed you before will come directly to the hotel for the interview. Don't worry. As for the press conference of the Chopin International Piano Competition finals, you can also see it on TV. Do you have any other questions?

?”

"Gone."

"Okay, if you have any other questions, you can contact me directly. Press and hold 1 on the phone in the house, and I will receive the message. I need to inform other players now. If I need to purchase something,

I can help too."

After saying that, the waiter bowed slightly to Fu Diao and immediately turned around and left.

Fu Diao looked at the timetable in his hand, glanced at it briefly, and then casually threw it near the bedside table.

The time above is exactly what the waiter said. At around ten o'clock in the morning, it is the opening ceremony of the Chopin International Piano Competition. Several leaders are giving speeches. Players like them do not have to go there. After all, they are punished by standing still.

, and will not let them speak a few words alone.

Then, at almost eleven o'clock, the Chopin International Piano Competition was announced to begin.

Then there will be some small activities held by the organizing committee, some performances, etc., and finally at six o'clock, the competition will start.

Fu Tiao sat in the room, turned on the TV and flipped through the content casually. He soon discovered that even if he could see the grand event of the press conference, it would be difficult to understand it in the end.

Because of the Polish words mentioned above, the Polish words that Fu Diao remembers most clearly are still the simplest words such as nie ma za co, Cze, Dzikuj, Do widzenia, Hello, Thank you, and Good morning.

After listening for a while, he gave up completely and no longer focused on the radio. Instead, he got up and went downstairs to get some breakfast buffet as before.

When he went downstairs, there were already many people sitting downstairs. Almost all the finalists of the Chopin International Piano Competition were here.

Except Nehring.

If my guess is correct, he was probably dragged out as a mascot by the Chopin government again.

After all, Chopin is the top artist in Poland, but there are only a few Polish contestants left.

It's like China held the Blind Abing Hua Yanjun Erhu Competition. In the end, only one Chinese player in the country was able to enter the finals. The other finalists were either from Europe and America, or from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

This is no longer a question of shame or shame, this is a question of national dignity. Of course, Nehring will be treated as a treasure by the Polish government, even though they know that it is difficult for Nehring to win the prize in the Chopin International Piano Competition, especially

This is because there are currently three or four top players on the scene.

Nehring seemed to know this, and without any resistance or hesitation, he directly and honestly followed the government to protect the reputation of the Chopin International Piano Competition.

Seeing Fu Diao coming downstairs, Zhao Chengzhen nodded slightly to Fu Diao, picked up a cup of hot coffee in a ceramic cup, smiled, and seemed to say that this was Polish coffee.

Eric Lu, Kate Liu, and Tony Yang (Yang Yike) were sitting together, chatting with casual expressions. They seemed not to be wary of each other, but they always felt that the atmosphere between them was not right.

After all, it was the finals, and there was no room for mercy at this time. Everyone present was their opponent, without any exception.

Just being able to chat is already considered good, so don’t mention other things.

Xiaolin Aizhen is a relatively lonely person. She is carrying a large plate of lettuce salad without salad dressing. She hides in a corner like a hamster and slowly stuffs the salad into her mouth, her eyes wandering everywhere.

He seems a little afraid of strangers.

Aljoa Jurini, Hamelin, Georgijs Osokins, and Dmitry Shishkin were sitting on the other side, chatting casually.

Even though their relationship is relatively average, facing so many Asians, they always feel like foreign players. It seems difficult to chat with these Asians. At most, they can chat with Kate Liu and Eric Lu.

Let’s talk to Tony Yang and the other three. After all, these three people seem to have grown up abroad since childhood.

But seeing the three of them sitting together and chatting all the time, the four of Hamelin finally gave up and sat huddled together on the other side.

When everyone saw Fu Tiao who had just come out of the elevator, they nodded friendly and said hello.

Fu Tiao glanced at the time. It was now around nine in the morning. He took a dinner plate from the side and then made some scrambled eggs, boiled sausages, stewed eggplants, hash browns and other foods that could quickly replenish energy.

Put it on the plate, then put some salmon on it, made a cup of coffee, and sat in front of Zhao Chengzhen.

Zhao Chengzhen raised his head and glanced at Fu Diao, and then at the food on Fu Diao's plate. He couldn't help but smile, and said to Fu Diao.

"You have a good appetite."

"You have to have a good breakfast, otherwise you won't have the energy to play the piano at night." Fu Diao said casually.

At this moment, Zhao Chengzhen no longer had the same sense of competition as before. After all, the last round was a concerto performance, and he was not particularly good at Fu Tiao.

No, it can even be said that not all players are particularly good at it.

Because after all, a concerto cannot be improved to the ultimate level by one person alone, but requires collaboration with the orchestra to perform a perfect work.

The older you are and the more times you play with the orchestra, the better the concertos you can play.

Zhao Chengzhen never believed that Fu Tiao, who was about the same age as him, could have more than ten years of concerto performance experience than him.

Therefore, Zhao Chengzhen behaved very calmly and was even willing to talk to Fu Tiao, a player who had played three full rounds with him.

Fu Diao glanced at Zhao Chengzhen, picked up the fork on the side and stabbed it hard into the sausage in front of him. The juice inside the sausage exploded instantly.

He put the sausage into his mouth, and the extremely rich meaty aroma and soup-like soup blended in his mouth.

Fu Diao couldn't help but be a little surprised by this feeling. He didn't expect that the sausages he had just made tasted so good.

He looked at Zhao Chengzhen who was looking at him, picked up the coffee that was put aside and raised it slightly towards Zhao Chengzhen, then took a sip.

The bitterness of the coffee immediately eliminated the greasiness of the small sausage in his mouth the moment he entered it, making his mouth extremely refreshing.

Fu Diao couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, looked at Zhao Chengzhen who was sipping the coffee in the cup, and smiled.

"This time your cup should be Polish coffee?"

"No." Zhao Chengzhen also smiled, shook the coffee in his hand, and said casually: "I still have iced American style."

"Didn't you always say that you wanted to be Chopin? Iced coffee is not Chopin enough. Regarding coffee, that's not what you said before in the preparation room."

"It was at that time, and I was already preparing to play Chopin. Of course I would say that."

Zhao Chengzhen filled up half of the coffee in the cup and let out a long sigh of relief with a satisfied expression.
To be continued...