Several screens in the studio flickered and Maestro Ludovico De Luca's image appeared. The screen was split into two. A big square showed him while a small square showed another person who was his translator.
Everyone was very surprised because they expected that it would only be a phone call, but it turned out to be a video call instead.
Feng Jiu greeted the maestro and introduced herself. The translator translated the maestro's introduction. The people were impressed even though a lot of them didn't know much about him because they weren't really interested in classical music. It was only when the issue about Iris performing at his concert became the news topic that they learned about him.
"There you are, Xiu—Iris! We talked on the phone the other day, but you never mentioned that you're facing all these problems regarding your performance at my concert. Why didn't you tell me?" Maestro De Luca demanded.
"Hello, Maestro. Lovely to talk to you again. I didn't tell you because it's not a big deal," she answered, waving a dismissive hand.
"You silly child." He started lecturing her. "Next time, tell me these things!"
"I understand, Maestro."
Everyone was too dumbfounded watching the exchange between the two. Most of them couldn't understand what they were saying because they were speaking in Italian. The translator was doing his best to keep up with them.
Iris looked too calm and comfortable talking to such a distinguished figure. She looked like she was just speaking to a family member she met every day. Even the experienced interviewer Feng Jiu stuttered a bit while she was introducing herself to the maestro earlier.
What was more, the people were surprised to discover that Iris spoke fluent Italian. The Black Stars became even more die hard fans than before. Their boss was just too amazing! Was there anything that their boss could NOT do?
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The director signaled for Feng Jiu to take over the situation as Iris and Maestro De Luca were getting carried away by their own conversation.
"Maestro De Luca, we are all so pleased and excited to have this opportunity to speak with you directly. It's such a great honour!" Feng Wan skillfully interrupted the two. "May I ask the reason why you decided to call us here today?"
"I called because I was informed that Xiu—Iris is being bullied by some of the classical musicians there," Maestro De Luca said. "If I had known earlier and if I'm not so busy preparing for my next concert, I would've flown there right now. I'm severely disappointed in Maestro Wei Liu and the other musicians teaming up with him to harass Iris. I respected him as a fellow classical musician before but I had no idea that he's actually a narrow-minded snob who bullies young, talented musicians. Music, be it classical or not, is meant for everyone! Music has no borders and shame on those who create them from their own misguided sense of discrimination!"
The faces of Maestro Liu Wei's two students in the audience paled. They wished that the ground could just open up and swallow them whole. They mentally beat themselves up for listening to their maestro and joining in his hate campaign against Iris Long. Now their hopes and dreams of venturing outside the country to further their classical music careers abroad were all crushed. Who would respect them after Maestro De Luca slapped their faces alongside their own maestro?
They tried to quietly leave the studio, but they were blocked by several Black Stars and the studio's security who just arrived at the scene.
"I'm here to confirm that Iris Long performed with me at my orchestra concert in Germany," Maestro De Luca continued. His voice was heated and laced with anger. "You are all demanding recordings from Iris? Are you just acting ignorant or what? You're all classical musicians and yet you don't know that cameras or any recording devices aren't allowed in my concerts? If you want recordings then ask them from me, not from her! Although the recording for my entire concert is not released yet, I'll post Iris' two performances on my website. Go take a look and see for yourselves. If you still spout any nonsense after this, then you really have serious problems in your heads!"
The translator winced a bit at the harsh words the maestro said. She tried to soften the words with less accurate translations with similar meanings in order to make them more acceptable for general viewing on TV. Of course, she filtered out the curse words as well.
"If Iris is not appreciated there, she's always welcome here in Europe," Maestro De Luca said to finish his tirade.
Feng Jiu asked him a few more questions to which he was surprisingly accommodating to answer. After speaking to Iris and telling her not to let anyone bully her, he ended the video call.
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Iris watched all of these happening with a calm and unfazed expression. She wasn't really bothered by Maestro Liu Wei. Like all the other haters bashing her, he was just part of an unpleasant background noise in her life. Annoying, yes, but couldn't affect her in any significant way.
She didn't tell Maestro De Luca about this matter, so someone must've told him. Grandpa Lu? Jin Liwei? It wasn't Grandpa Lu's style to directly interfere with her career because he wanted her to learn how to handle everything herself. So it should be her man, Jin Liwei.
A smile softened her expression. Although she preferred handling things on her own, it felt good that someone was taking care of her even when she didn't ask for help.
Her heart warmed up. She couldn't wait for the interview to be over, so that she could go home to her darling.