Phoenix Rising: From Heartache to Heroism novel Chapter 250

The owner gave Hattie the music score, requesting her to review it.

Hattie noticed how thick the music score was and understood it contained over a hundred songs.

The owner then said, "I will choose a song at random for you to perform. If you can play it, I will judge you based on how well you do. If you can't, you will be disqualified. The songs are also rated, the higher the score, the better."

Hattie felt especially confident in her abilities.

"Go ahead, Sir."

The zither shop's owner was delighted.

At last, someone who could play the zither had come.

He browsed through the music score and stopped at a random page, which turned out to be "Sound of Lament".

"Perform the 'Sound of Lament'."

This was a zither composition with a difficulty rating of ten, demanding advanced skills and rapid changes in melody, making it highly challenging.

Everyone focused on Hattie. She grinned confidently, put on the finger picks beside her, and started playing. Each string she plucked was perfect, and she played flawlessly until the end.

The owner clapped and said, "Excellent job! At last, a genuine zither player is here. You performed this piece wonderfully. I'll give you an eight out of ten."

The maximum score was ten.

Hattie felt a bit unhappy and asked, "Why only eight points?"

The owner responded, "Your technique and finger movements were flawless, but you lacked a bit of expression."

Some pieces require more than just technical skill. They need to create a sense of unity between the player and the music, evoking a feeling of presence.

Hattie frowned, thinking the owner must have a problem with his hearing.

But she kept her thoughts to herself and continued playing. She needed to gather more points to achieve the highest score and earn extra credit.

"Choose another piece. I assure you, I know every song in this music book, and I won't make any mistakes."

The owner said, "Alright, since you're so confident, I'll pick another one."

The owner randomly flipped through the music book.

"Melody of the Battle."

Hattie hesitated briefly when she heard the title.

"What's wrong, don't you know it?" the owner asked.

"Of course, I do."

But Hattie secretly felt uneasy about this song.

She recalled struggling with "Melody of the Battle" during practice. In the end, she didn't achieve the highest score in her exam, but she managed to pass.

Hannah Leid was very disappointed in her.

"Let's start."

Hattie lowered her gaze, adjusted the finger picks on her fingers, and began to play.

But just then—

As her fingers were about to touch the strings, the distant sound of a zither reached her ears.