Chapter 58: "They actually sent me *La Campanella*? Is this even human?"

If we are going to live stream, let's live stream.
Li Can quickly forked out the money to purchase a complete set of live-streaming equipment, along with several high-spec computers.
Star-Beauty Entertainment's contract did not state that live streaming was prohibited.
It was entirely feasible to let Chen Gang make some extra cash on the side first.
Gangzi might seem a bit flighty at times, but when it came to professional competence, he was by no means inferior to anyone.
On the path of the piano, Chen Gang held absolute confidence in himself.
Being young, he lacked a certain depth of interpretation and understanding of art, as well as theoretical depth.
Yet clearly, he lacked nothing in terms of technical mastery, and the emotional expression of his pieces was top-tier.
At just eight years old, Chen Gang's standard was already capable of crushing a crowd of art examinees. Through all these years of arduous practice, though seemingly just a college student, he had actually stepped into the realm of true concert-level performance back when he was still an irritable little brat.
Once he graduated and held a few concerts, bearing the title of "virtuoso" would come without the slightest bit of pressure.
With this kind of strength, once he dropped so-called "pride" and entered the live-streaming sphere early on, it would truly be a dimensionality-reduction strike.
To the current piano streamers in the live-streaming world, Chen Gang was absolute an otherworldly demon.
"Just in time, Gangzi, I have a few supreme martial arts manuals here."
Having finished setting up the equipment for Chen Gang, Li Can slapped his forehead as if remembering something, walked over to his desk, and pulled three thick, large books from the bottom drawer.
"Practice these, and they'll grant you thirty years of internal energy, allowing you to break through all techniques of the piano."
"What supreme martial arts manuals?"
Subconsciously, Chen Gang reached out and took the heavy books, clutching them to his chest.
Flipping them open, his brow furrowed slightly.
*Fourteen Grand Etudes of Transcendental Technique*
*Selected Piano Pieces and Compositions*
*Essential Large-Scale Piano Suites*
As he casually flipped through them, Chen Gang's expression instantly tightened.
The density of the notes and accidental signs was somewhat absurd, and the span of the register was remarkably ambitious.
It was all concentrated musical information.
Based on his understanding of Brother Can, these pieces definitely had some wicked tricks up their sleeve.
"Oh, *Fantasy Impromptu* is in there too, inside the selected compositions. Feel free to take these and play them; you can even make them into piano falling-block projection screens. The copyright is in my hands."
Chen Gang had no time to feel moved at all.
Thinking through the hand shapes based on the sheet music for a moment, he was dumbfounded in an instant.
"Are you kidding me, bro? Octaves are fine, but what the hell is an eleventh interval?!"
The exceptionally explosive register span made Chen Gang's brain spin on the spot.
He slammed the book onto the desk with a bang and sprang to his feet.
Lifting his head, the look he directed at Li Can was filled with a complex mixture of shock, astonishment, despair, and various other emotions.
"Ah, you mean this."
Li Can smiled.
He reached out a large hand and tapped gently on the piano keys.
An eleventh interval span was executed as effortlessly as breathing.
"Huh?!"
Chen Gang stood frozen in place.
Then he abruptly snapped to his senses.
Li Can was one meter ninety centimeters tall—a basketball player's height, accompanied by a basketball player's large hands.
Although piano talent did indeed require looking at one's hands, and hand size was one reference factor, this was still pushing it a bit too hard!
"Don't worry, it's just the web of the thumb and index finger. You can just surgically snip it, and then you'll be able to play."
"No, Li Can, are you speaking human language?!"
Chen Gang lost his cool, blushing fiercely on the spot.
If Li Can couldn't do it either and was deliberately cooking up something utterly disgusting, that would be one thing.
The problem was that he *could* do it.
Where was the justice in that?
"It's fine, you can use a shortcut."
Li Can smiled even more happily, even letting out a gloating chuckle.
"Let me find it for you... right here!"
He flipped open the transcendental etudes.
Locating a specific passage, he initiated a combination of octaves plus finger rolling amidst Chen Gang's horrified gaze.
With a broad hand span and nimble fingers, the texture of his striking on the keys was remarkably springy, producing a tone rich with crystalline graininess.
"Look, octaves are simple, and finger rolling is also simple. Why not combine octaves with finger rolling?"
"Of course, if you really can't press them, you can also switch to a shortcut technique—quick-touch and quick-play to achieve the exact same auditory effect."
His fingering shifted continuously.
Li Can's effortless delivery dealt a heavy blow to Chen Gang.
After a long silence, Chen Gang finally spoke with a complicated expression.
"I'm sorry, Brother Can."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Back when I practiced your *Fantasy Impromptu*, I kept cursing you for writing blindly. Now I realize that you were actually holding back back then, right..."
"No, what I'm giving you right now is actually holding back."
Li Can waved his hands repeatedly, freezing Chen Gang's complicated expression in place.
"If you want something even harder, I have more here, but it might be a bit early for you to touch them right now. Wait for me to find it for you—"
"Don't!"
Seeing that Li Can was about to flip through the scores, Chen Gang turned pale.
He hurriedly stopped Li Can.
More?
If he tried any more, his mental state would truly shatter!
"I'll practice these first, I'll practice these first..."
Though his expression was bitter, resembling someone who had lost everything, Chen Gang knew very well.
Once he thoroughly mastered the books in his hands, he would undoubtedly become an unstoppable force rampaging through the entire piano-playing circle!
Achieving fame and fortune, and perhaps even shocking the entire piano world.
Although Brother Can had even harder pieces and his skill level was most likely higher than his own, if the big bro ate meat, getting to follow along and eat a small piece was still a heavyweight achievement.
Therefore, while Chen Gang complained, he harbored absolutely no resistance or resentment.
In fact, his heartbeat couldn't help but accelerate a little.
He was getting excited!
"Screw it! Let's practice!"
After debugging the equipment, registering his accounts, and figuring out how to start and stop the live stream, Chen Gang rushed off to practice the piano and ponder the score.
At the very least, he needed to master one piece first.
However, Chen Gang's excitement came to an abrupt halt the moment he saw the title of the piano piece.
His expression turned rather peculiar.
Brother Can was a genius at naming things as always.
This piece actually turned out to be *La Campanella*.
At this, Chen Gang truly couldn't hold it together anymore. He snapped his head up to scan his surroundings, only to find that Li Can had already bolted.
"Li Can, you bastard, you actually gave me *La Campanella*?!"
...
The runaway Li Can was currently holding his phone as he hurried toward the school.
The contact list on his phone clearly displayed the name "Winnie."
He had been quite busy lately, and even when he went out with Winnie, it was mostly just for rehearsals.
Now that he had some free time, naturally he had to slack off a bit.
However, Li Can had no idea that in the brief moments since his departure, Chen Gang had transitioned from excitement to utter fury.
As everyone knew,
A virtuoso did not focus merely on "knowing how to play."
They focused on "playing well."
Pitch, rhythm, tempo, emotion, color, dynamics, gradation, tone quality, overall acoustic effect, fluidity and integrity of technique, and personal interpretation and expression.
These musical details, often overlooked by the general public, were actually the most important elements.
A virtuoso would re-deconstruct all the details of a piece, assimilate them thoroughly, and then perform.
Only then could the audience hear, from the handling of these details, whether the performance was good or bad, whether it carried emotion, and whether it was moving.
The reason for Chen Gang's wild joy and the reason for his fury were one and the same.
The transcendental difficulty was truly transcendental; while driving the technique to insane heights, it simultaneously emphasized cantabile qualities, musicality, color, and emotion.
Ding-dong~
A text message from Li Can made Chen Gang's blood pressure skyrocket even further.
[The big child has arrived, Daddy is going out to play. You practice well. Oh right, the party performance is the day after tomorrow, don't forget the repertoire either. If you make a fool of yourself, I'll record it and loop it in the studio so everyone can laugh at you together.]
Thump, thump, thump!
A dissonant chord rang out from the piano, as if someone was slamming their fists onto the keyboard.
"Damn it!!"