In September in New Zealand, spring has just awoken. Ivan sits on the porch, enjoying the scenery of the farm.
Cherry and apricot blossoms compete to bloom, pink-white petals drifting in the wind, like a gentle snow. The morning dew still clings to the grass leaves, the air filled with a scent that mixes earth and flowers. A flock of sheep moves across the distant hillside, like a white cloud.
The phone rings, it's a number from Italy.
"Professor Ivan," the voice on the other side is Augustus Balberini's, carrying a complex emotion of joy and regret, "Carlotta's piano recital is next week in Milan. We sincerely invite you to Rome, we also invited Professor Yang Ping, but he..."
"He refused," Ivan says calmly. He knows Yang Ping very well.
