After Andrew's collapse, things have changed drastically.

Andrew was expelled from the academy for assaulting his teacher, he gave up the drum kit and began to find a new direction in life, and Andrew's father used his power and connections to sue Fletcher to the board of trustees, and Andrew became an anonymous witness, eventually forcing Fletcher to be expelled.

Inadvertently, Andrew meets Fletcher at a jazz bar. When discussing the latest situation, Fletcher mentioned that he was "fired", because it was an anonymous report, so Fletcher didn't know who it was, and Andrew also pretended not to know, and the two talked calmly for the first time.

Before saying goodbye, Fletcher said that he is now the conductor of a jazz band that will be doing the opening performance of the jazz festival, in Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall, the top and most noble stage in the entire industry, the top stage that every musician and artist dreams of, and after a successful performance on this stage, it will become a celebrity in the industry, and even start his own career as an artist, but the drummer of this band is still a little subpar, and Fletcher gave Andrew time to think about it, hoping that he would join them in their performance.

The performance repertoire is "Whiplash" and "Caravan".

Andrew was moved.

So Andrew found his drum kit again, started practicing the basics again, started playing "Whipping" and "Caravan" again, and challenged the 400 strokes again.

Sitting on the stage of Carnegie Hall, Andrew was nervous. The nightmare seemed to invade again, entangled, the wounds and calluses in the palms were not enough to compensate for the panic in his heart, and his forearms and palms began to tremble uncontrollably, he knew that it was too much to behave, but he could not control himself.

Raising his gaze and glancing at the score of "Whipping", those painful and dark memories came flooding again, which forced Andrew to take a deep breath, take another deep breath, and compulsively calm himself. Then, Fletcher came in.

When Fletcher didn't rush to the podium, his footsteps stopped in front of Andrew.

Andrew's mood relaxed slightly, and he tried to sketch a shallow smile, and raised his head to meet Fletcher's gaze, but the stiffness and tightness at the corners of his mouth still revealed the deep anxiety in his heart, and he leaned forward slightly with his upper body, thinking that Fletcher had something special to explain to him.

"Are you stupid or stupid?" Fletcher's endless words made Andrew slightly stunned, and he didn't understand where this sentence came from.

"What?" Andrew asked, his facial expression slightly stiffened, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, confused.

Fletcher looked at Andrew quietly, his expression did not fluctuate too much, but the condescending perspective had a majesty, and it was still a sentence without context, "I know it's you." ”

Those eyes were cold and indifferent, revealing a bloodthirsty brutality even if there were no waves, as if they were staring at a corpse. The corners of Fletcher's mouth tugged slightly, not a smile or a murderous aura, but the biting cold was released without reservation, and Andrew fell into the ice cellar in an instant.

He knows.

Fletcher knows.

Fletcher knew that he had been whistleblowing and had caused him to lose his job. So today? Today is a trap, a sweet trap.

The reason why Carnegie Hall is known as the highest stage in the industry is because of the high-end of the show and the professionalism of the audience, only the best performers can appear here, only the best musicians can take the stage, and only the best audience can taste the difference.

Everyone knows that if you put on a wonderful performance here, you will become famous, one step to the sky, officially confirm your position in the industry, and from then on you will embark on a broad road to prosperity, and start your career, this glory and praise is unparalleled.

But it's easy to overlook that if you mess up a top-notch professional performance here, it will be remembered for thousands of years, and even the slightest and simplest mistake will be keenly captured by the audience here, and then it will become a label that will accompany the musician's entire career.

That's the Fletcher trap.

Because Fletcher was sure and sure that Andrew would not be able to complete the 400 blows of the "caravan", and even the shadow of the "whiplash" might not be able to step over.

So Fletcher sent out an invitation: he was going to destroy Andrew's career, once and for all.

If he messed up the Carnegie Hall performance, it would have no effect on Fletcher, who was over half a hundred years old, not to mention that being expelled from the academy had already affected his career, but for Andrew, who was only nineteen, he could basically say goodbye to the jazz band completely. Even if Fletcher's professional reputation would be further damaged, Fletcher was willing to choose the jade burning method and die with Andrew.

To put it simply, Fletcher is going to destroy Andrew.

"I know it's you. That was the only thing Fletcher said, and the cold eyes fell lightly on Andrew's body, and then all the cruel memories rushed over him.

Looking at Fletcher's back walking to the front of the stage, Andrew began to tremble slightly, the fear from the depths of his soul made his muscles tense, he raised his head slightly, and looked at Fletcher's bald head intently, the deterrence and oppression that fell from top to bottom made Andrew almost out of breath.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, it's an honor to open the JVC festival, I'm Terrance-Fletcher, these are the best musicians in New York, the best musicians in the world, and we're going to play some traditional tracks, but before that, we're going to start with a brand new piece by Tim-Simonec called 'Upsinging.'" ”

Andrew's whole body froze in place, his restlessness could not be calmed down at all, and as Fletcher's words advanced, the sense of restlessness suddenly froze, and he stared at Fletcher incredulously with round eyes:

"Up-shaking, what-up-shaking?"

He didn't receive any notice at all.

Then I saw Fletcher turn his head, the curvature of the corners of his mouth rose slightly, still not a smile, but a sharp breath of blood, which completely cut off Andrew's last straw-

Andrew flipped through his music stand, "Whipping" and "Caravan", that's all, and then looking at the other band members calmly flipping through the scores, everyone had a "shake up", Andrew immediately panicked, panicked to the extreme, he didn't even have time to observe Fletcher's expression and demeanor:

The calm, triumphant, and confident posture, like a cat catching a mouse, pressed the mouse under its paws, but was not in a hurry to end its life, but played with it again and again, because the cat firmly believed that the mouse could not escape from the palm of his hand.

In this moment, he holds the power of life and death in his hands.

But Andrew didn't have time to observe, and all those fears, those panics, and those low self-esteem all rushed up and grabbed him by the throat: Run, run, run, that's the only thought in his mind.

Andrew tried to get up, but his knees were weakening, and he staggered back half a step and almost fell, but it was too late for Fletcher to give him no chance: the play began.

The show began, and now it's the end of the run, and the ending is the same. This is a trap that has no loopholes.

Andrew forced himself to sit down, grabbed the drumsticks with both hands, and looked left and right, but his eyes were empty and blank, he had never heard of this piece before—because it was newly composed, let alone practiced, and now that there was no score, how could he play it?

In the depths of his eyes was a dead ash, almost desperate.

But Andrew forced himself to join the performance, trying to fit in with some basic drum beats.

However, his drum beat was like a disaster, completely ruining the performance of all his teammates, and it was not a systematic rhythm and melody at all, which made him timid and hesitant, hesitating whether he should continue to play or simply give up, just as he was about to disarm and surrender—

It's time to add the drums.

The cellist standing next to him said depressedly, "Please, play, play!"

It's also an important performance opportunity for the rest of the band, and while they didn't go wrong, how many more opportunities did they have in Carnegie Hall?

Andrew could only grit his teeth and continue to play, but ...... It's a disaster, a complete disaster, and Andrew's playing and the band's performance are two things that are outright out of place, even for an amateur audience.

Eventually, Fletcher folded his hands, and the performance was over, and Andrew's amateur drum beat was still continuing, and he stopped in a panic, and then hung his head deeply, deeply, deeply, the shame and shame that had completely destroyed his last line of defense.

Carnegie hesitated for a moment, vaguely remembering the bits and pieces of applause, even more humiliating than silence.

Fletcher came up to Andrew and whispered, "I guess, you just don't have that talent." ”

Andrew stared straight ahead in a daze, the light in the depths of his pupils was crushed little by little, even worse than despair, and stared at the audience in front of him in a daze, frightened and bitter, through the milky halo, he could only see the audience who tried their best to suppress their shameful expressions.

In the depths of his eyes, cold tears spread little by little, as if he could see that the soul was fading its color little by little, and finally turned into a dead silence.