Li Jiong was thoughtful on the way back and Meng Fei preferred not to interrupt his thoughts. He brought the plum blossom branch with him and placed it in a vase on the desk in the office. Li Jiong had just gotten out of the shower and was wearing looser clothes that Meng Fei called pajamas. These clothes were much more comfortable, he really didn't understand how the people of this world could stand walking all day "tied up" that way.

Or how they couldn't stop checking their cell phone all the time. Now he understood that someone could work themselves to death in this world.

Li Jiong looked for Meng Fei and found him in the office listening to audio in that strange language. Not wanting to get in the way, Li Jiong stopped to get to know this part of the house better. There was a shelf of books, these at least had a script similar to the one he knew.

Most were on architecture and urbanism, but on a lower shelf were copies on music history, instrument maintenance, and a piano sheet music book. He looked closely at the instrument on the cover of the book and recognized it in the corners of the room. Curious, he approached and compared the book with the real object. His eyes then landed on a portrait over the piano. It was the only photo in the entire house. A respectable-looking gentleman, completely bald, posed for the photo in formal attire. His hand rested warmly on the shoulder of a boy, perhaps twelve, also formally dressed.

He was holding a bouquet of magnolias and smiling at the camera as if this was the most special moment of his entire life. Behind them was a black grand piano. Li Jiong recognized the young man. The same bright gray eyes and wide smile. But the gentleman beside him looked too old to be his father. Maybe grandfather? Li Jiong thought.

Meng Fei then finished listening to the audio and tapped his fingers on the table, reflecting. "Looks like the verses you wrote for the matrix are more or less on track."

"Was your acquaintance from elsewhere?"

"Yes. I didn't say it before, his name is Marcus Gray. He got some similar symbols found in the Tang Dynasty period. Although that doesn't mean that dynasty existed in your world. In this one, the Tang Dynasty is known for popularization of writing so it's clear he would find more ancient texts from this time."

He nodded thoughtfully. "Thankfully Peng Niu had the books I researched, they date back to earlier times. But there may also be some clues about Tang Dynasty texts. At that time Buddhism was very well accepted and it is possible that the translation of the matrix indicates an opening to one of the gates of Hell." Li Jiong scratched his head in confusion.

"Are there any Buddhist sects in your world?" Meng Fei asked.

"Yes. It has a Buddhist and a Taoist belief. Their members get along well with each other, but Meng Fei does not belong to either of them."

"Well, he just needed to know the principles, right? Believe it or not, he literally tried to send you to hell, haha, the problem is that either this is hell or he made some miscalculation. I won't even consider that Hell doesn't exist since I can see that there are other worlds!"

Meng Fei seemed to have broken into a monologue of ideas.

"I was also thinking about changing the order of the verses, we wrote them as if the matrix reading direction was from the outside to the inside but it could be the opposite, or also if we consider that each ring of the matrix was seen from a three-dimensional point of view ... ah sorry, I got carried away after the visit to the park, haha..."

Li Jiong was pale with so much information and he felt his head spin. He wasn't able to follow all of Meng Fei's reasoning, but despite that, a wave of confidence rose in his heart. If there was anyone who could send him back, it was the man in front of him.

Meng Fei noticed that Li Jiong was distracted by something, although he didn't quite know what it was.

"Something wrong?"

"Oh, no! I was just thinking that this painting is very realistic and it's the only one you have, so it must be pretty high value." Li Jiong pointed to the portrait under the piano.

"Ah! This is a photograph. This image was obtained in a similar way to the matrix photo that was taken. That's why it's so real, it wasn't hand painted." He smiled at the photo fondly. "You're right, it's very valuable to me and the only one I have. This was my tutor, his name was Dai Lu."

"A tutor?" Li Jiong frowned but then it occurred to him that he was intruding too much. "Sorry, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to..."

"It's no big deal, my mother was addicted to opium and to buy the drug she sold me to a brothel."

A light dawned in Li Jiong's mind, he had heard a similar rumor about the other Meng Fei once and had never given it much thought in his world Meng Fei's mother owned such a place, a pleasure house, but she sold her son into slavery when she was having difficulties in her business... Strange, there are some differences but anyway the mother got rid of the son in both cases... would that have anything to do with the difference in behavior between these two person?

"I had some... assignments to do, and one of them was to provide musical accompaniment when the brothel girls performed. I was able to play several instruments, pipa and erhu mainly... one day I was doing maintenance and tuning instruments in the courtyard and a gentleman stopped and watched me for a long time. I didn't recognize him as a customer and ended up asking him if he needed anything."

"He asked me for some water, then sat down and started making conversation, asking about the instruments and songs..." Sometimes Meng Fei would pause, his eyes were downcast and his eyelashes trembled slightly with emotion. Li Jiong watched every move and expression he made with interest. This person had a fragile side as well. Meng Fei was still telling his story.

"He asked if I could play a little... I started with the erhu, which I liked best, even so he wanted to hear a little bit of everything I had. I had to test the instruments anyway, so I didn't mind. I thought that's it. He was someone passing by, who liked music. I played some melodies that I had thought of myself, because I didn't like brothel music. After listening to them, he left with such a kind smile.

That night, the courtesan of the house said that I would not need to play that night that one of the regulars had made a special request and that another musician would come to play. I was curious about the instrument that had been placed in the main hall. It was this piano."

"Is this instrument called a piano?" Li Jiong smoothed the ebony wood.

Meng Fei lifted the lid that protected the keyboard and played a high note. "Yes. I had never seen anything like it at the time. Just traditional instruments. This one is a Yamaha model U1. It was the first thing he told me. The man I had met that afternoon was a musician hired to play that night. He explained over what a piano was and asked me how I had been so thoughtful playing for him, wouldn't I like to hear something before the performance tonight."

Meng Fei's memories were so fresh in his mind that he regretted not being able to describe what the timbre of his tutor's voice was like or the musky smell of the brothel and the reddish shades of degraded colors of the veils hanging on the walls. This story would be too long and he didn't want to bore Li Jiong with memories of him.

Meng Fei was a thin and small boy even at the age of ten. But his face was pretty and delicate, which wasn't an advantage there. He was often requested by customers and very early on he had to learn a trade that was not pleasant for a child. Because he had such good musical ability, the main courtesan forbade him to be mistreated, either by clients or by any other courtesan who was vying for clientele. Even so, he was not given enough food and slept in an extremely cold and damp back room.

"His name is Meng Fei, am I right?" The man's voice was so melodious and youthful that it was at odds with his old and tired appearance. The boy nodded.

"So little one, what would you like to hear me play? What's your special request?"

Meng Fei thought for a while, he only knew the repertoire of songs he was required to play in the brothel other than the ones he composed himself. There was also the problem that some melodies didn't play well on some instruments.

"Sorry sir, but I don't know what music you can play on this instrument. But I'll see you play tonight anyway." He responded politely.

The man smiled. "My good boy, you and I don't need a name for the music we want to hear. I asked you for water but your music quenched my spirit's thirst. So what would you like to hear?"

Meng Fei looked at him in surprise and thought a little about what he would like to hear. He didn't want to hold that gentleman there too much but seeing his clear eyes watching him so warmly he couldn't help but think carefully. The man did not pressure him at any time and he felt at ease with him.

"Can you play...I mean...do you have a song that's like when the heavens and earth are covered with snow, the plum blossoms are in bloom and the Queen of heaven [1] then descends to earth?"

Meng Fei didn't know how he was talking so much nonsense all of a sudden, but it was like he took a pain out of his chest with that sentence. He remembered this landscape, which he had seen before and it was so beautiful in her eyes that he wanted to be able to see it and show it at that moment. It was the last time he saw his mother, when she left him at the brothel and walked away as the night snow fell.

The musician sat down at the piano and the boy approached, moved by anxiety. Is there a song that could describe these feelings like this? The man's fingers began to dance softly across the keys and upon hearing the first notes forming the melody Meng Fei was paralyzed. All he could see was the fields sleeping under the snow, the white fragrant flowers hanging from the branches and the full moon shrouded in snowflakes.

Tears filled his eyes and they ran silently down hot cheeks. He was staring at the pianist's hands the whole time and didn't even notice when he finished the song. The melody echoed in his soul, etched like the chill of snow in his heart that night. He only realized when the man hugged him. His face reached the height of his abdomen, he wore a soft and warm wool coat.

"Boy, one day the snow will have to melt, but the queen of heaven can gaze at plum blossoms in spring too."

Meng Fei's throat felt tight but he forced himself to say thank you. "Thank you sir."

"You can call me Dai Lu. Now, Meng Fei, wouldn't you like to learn to play this song?"

"Yes!" The child responded immediately. No matter how he wanted to learn it! Dai Lee stroked his hair and promised to teach him.

After the evening's performance, the pianist talked to the courtesan and after some negotiation he managed to get her to give him the boy in exchange for several performances and a certain amount shameless to ask.

Meng Fei then went to live with Dai Lu until his death five years later. All that Dai Lu could leave him was the house and his instruments, of which Meng Fei kept the piano to the point of starvation. But it was all that was left of her past besides that photo.

"He taught you the song then." Li Jiong asked interestedly.

"Yes, her name is Claire de Lune [2], it means Moonlight. Would you... like to hear it too?"

Li Jiong nodded, he wanted to see how the piano sounded and he also wanted to see Meng Fei play it. He looked down at those long, slender fingers, remembering their touch earlier in the morning. Meng Fei sat down on the piano, stretched out his hands and began to play the synaesthetic melody.

Li Jiong could actually see the moonlight at that moment, right in front of him, wandering alone through the rain of snowflakes that Meng Fei saw on a certain night...

Author's Note:

[1]Queen of Heaven: metaphor used for the Moon.

[2]Claire de Lune: composition by Claude Debussy, is the third part of the "Suite Bergamasque", inspired by the poems of Paul Verlaine.

1. I know Claire de Lune is a very "beat" song but I'm sorry, I really have a crush on her 😅.

2. Then Li Jiong even tried playing the piano but it was a complete disaster. Zero musical talent, but he knows how to appreciate what's good.