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Dan looked at the guy in front of him and instantly felt uneasy.
Stane, Tony's dad's former partner. He co-founded Stark Industries alongside Tony's father. After Howard Stark passed away, Stane ran the company until Tony came of age and handed it back—then stayed behind the scenes, helping Tony out.
That's what the public believed.
But Dan, who knew the Iron Man story, knew the truth—Stane was an ambitious schemer, always looking to take over Stark Industries. In Iron Man 1, he even built the Iron Monger suit and tried to steal Tony's arc reactor by force.
Tony rubbed his chin. "Oh yeah, I guess I never introduced you two. But it's not too late now—this is Dan, a young genius."
Stane grinned and reached out his hand. "Hey there, little genius. I'm Stane."
"Hello, Mr. Stane," Dan replied.
Even though he knew this guy had shady intentions, Tony still trusted him like he would an uncle—at least for now—so Dan didn't feel like saying much about it.
Besides, even if he told Tony everything he knew, would Tony believe him? What if he asked for proof? He couldn't exactly say, "Oh yeah, I time-traveled here."
"Haha, what an interesting kid. Not many people get called a genius by Tony. Let's sit down and have a chat."
The four of them found a seat near the front and sat down.
Just then, a classy and elegant woman stepped onto the stage, holding a small black bag in her hand.
"Oh wow, isn't that the young and beautiful violinist? Not bad, Tony, you actually managed to get her here."
Stane looked at the woman with surprise.
Tony gave a smug little grin.
"Hehe, normally she doesn't perform for businessmen like us, but I told her this was a charity event, and she agreed to come. Women her age… still so full of love. I'm seriously thinking of inviting her to my room tonight to explore that love a little deeper."
Stane burst out laughing.
"Tony, you're unbelievable. Give the poor woman a break."
"Haha, give her a break so you can try? What about the lovely lady sitting next to you—does she approve?"
They joked for a bit but quickly quieted down, along with the rest of the venue. The entire hall went silent as the beautiful violinist prepared to perform. Clearly, everyone knew who she was—and how rare it was to get someone like her to play live. They wanted to enjoy it properly.
Seeing the crowd settle, the violinist gave a graceful bow and pulled out an orange-red violin from her bag.
The bow touched the strings, and with her pale arm slowly moving, the music began to flow.
Bach's classic "Air on the G String" echoed through the hall.
The melody was elegant and emotional. Everyone listened, completely enchanted. This young violinist really lived up to her reputation.
Dan closed his eyes, quietly soaking in the music.
Soon, the piece ended—and the hall erupted into thunderous applause.
"That was amazing," Stane said with a sigh of admiration.
Dan nodded in agreement.
"It was really good… but I feel like something was missing."
He probably should've kept that to himself. As soon as Dan spoke, even Tony turned to stare at him in disbelief.
At that moment, the hall was still mostly silent, with people still caught up in the afterglow of the music. Since they were sitting in the front row, Dan's voice carried clearly enough to be heard from the stage.
A flicker of annoyance passed through the violinist's eyes. Being told by some sixteen-year-old kid that her performance was lacking? Not exactly flattering.
"Oh? Then tell me—what was missing?"
Still savoring the music in his head, Dan casually replied without thinking.
"Emotion. Feeling. Or maybe… soul. The piece was great, sure—but it felt like it was being played by a machine. Just a mechanical repetition of the notes on the sheet. You can't reach higher levels if you're just copying what's written."
Ironically, that was something Hongdu had once said to Dan in a dream. He couldn't consciously remember the dream, but the words had stuck with him anyway.
As soon as those words left his mouth, Tony closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Oh, come on. That woman was a world-class artist—how could Dan just say that?
Stane shook his head, puffing on his cigar. No wonder Tony liked this kid—he was just as arrogant.
As for the violinist, she didn't seem mad. Instead, she stared at Dan with a thoughtful look.
Dan realized something was off. He opened his eyes, looked around, and suddenly realized what kind of mess he'd gotten himself into.
"Sh*t! What the hell did I just do?!"
It felt like a thousand alpacas were running wild in his heart. Who the hell was he, someone who didn't know jack about violins, to criticize a master?
"Then why don't you come up here and show me what it means to put soul into a performance?" the violinist said with a hint of challenge.
Dan waved his hands frantically."No, no, forget it. Just pretend I was talking nonsense, alright?"
"Nope," she said firmly. "Aside from my mentor, you're the first person who's ever said something like that to me. And every time my mentor pointed out a flaw, he'd demonstrate the right way afterward. So, you'll do the same."
"But… I don't even know how to play!"
Dan felt his soul leave his body. He'd never even touched a violin before! Well… maybe in a dream.
The room filled with awkward tension.
Everyone was watching now. Things had just gotten interesting—a representative from the Valentine Orphanage going head-to-head with a famous violinist. And in a fancy charity gala, no less. Who didn't love a bit of drama?
Suddenly, a strange mark appeared silently on Dan's palm.
And then, a voice echoed in his mind.
"Say yes."
Before he knew it, Dan stood up.
Seeing him rise, the violinist didn't hesitate to hand her instrument over.
Dan gently touched the violin's body."You've taken good care of it. You must love it a lot."
"Of course. This violin is my life."
Dan gave a faint smile and handed it back."I can't play with someone else's life. Mr. Stark, could you help me get a violin?"
Tony nodded and called over Happy.
Soon, Happy returned with a wine-red violin.
"Here. This is the pride of Arthur's Music Shop. I pulled a few strings under Stark Industries to borrow it. You sure you wanna go through with this?"
Tony looked at him, clearly confused about what Dan was thinking.
Dan took the violin and nodded."I wanna give it a shot."
All eyes were on him as Dan stepped onto the stage. The spotlight lit him up.
He took a deep breath and rested the violin on his shoulder. The moment the bow touched the strings, everything about him changed—his presence, his confidence. A natural elegance radiated from him, like he was meant to be on that stage.
The music started. Everyone was stunned.
The beautiful violinist stared in disbelief.He said he didn't know how to play—what a liar! Men really were all the same: lying pigs.
"....."