After a while, Yu Liang finally stopped laughing. He asked Yu Ningmeng specifically what had happened.
After receiving Yu Ningmeng’s explanation, he felt somewhat disappointed.
He had thought his granddaughter had really embezzled public funds to support a man, but it turned out she had only touched the money he had given her last time. Moreover, it didn’t seem like she was supporting a man—it looked more like she had been scammed by one.
He then asked Yu Ningmeng about Xia Yu.
Although Yu Ningmeng had some grievances against Xia Yu, she did not take the opportunity to settle personal scores and instead told the truth.
She told Yu Liang that from the time An Siyao handed her bank card to Xia Yu until now, over a month had passed, and Xia Yu hadn’t touched the money in the card at all. Moreover, Xia Yu could be considered a talented young man who had made a lot of money in partnership with An Tiansheng, so it was unlikely that he would deceive An Siyao.
Yu Liang had already verified all of this. He had just unavoidably harbored some suspicions moments ago.
“Also, the relationship between your granddaughter and that Xia Yu might be progressing a bit quickly,” Yu Ningmeng hinted to Yu Liang.
Yu Liang understood the implication but didn’t take it seriously.
“That’s not a problem. I started early myself… cough, Siyao waiting until now to begin dating already shows she values chastity. Do you want her to end up like you, staying single for her entire life…”
Before Yu Liang could finish his sentence, Yu Ningmeng hung up the phone.
Putting down the phone, Yu Liang stroked his chin.
He called in a new assistant and transferred fifty million from his private card directly to Yu Ningmeng’s account.
After calming Yu Ningmeng’s emotions, Yu Liang began thinking about Xia Yu again.
It seemed he needed to meet this Xia Yu soon.
Unaware that Yu Liang had already set his sights on him, Xia Yu continued living his life—playing games, taking over others’ bodies, and growing closer to An Siyao.
This continued until October 17, the day the Conservatory’s Composition Competition began.
During the day, he gave An Siyao the tickets and brought Liu Manman along to accompany An Siyao.
He didn’t feel comfortable with An Siyao wandering around outside alone among men.
The participants’ seats were located near the backstage entrance, so Xia Yu couldn’t sit together with An Siyao.
At 7:30 PM, the three of them entered the venue together.
This was the conservatory’s small auditorium, much smaller than the grand hall used during the Mid-Autumn Festival gala.
“Hey, what exactly are you going to play?” Liu Manman hooked her arm around Xia Yu’s neck, trying to get the inside scoop.
She had already confirmed that Xia Yu’s piece wasn’t “White Horse” or “White Horse in the Rain.”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Xia Yu pried her arm off his neck. “Siyao is here. Behave yourself.”
Hooking someone’s neck like that brought their bodies close together.
“So you’re saying it would be okay if Siyao wasn’t here?” Liu Manman countered.
“…” Xia Yu hadn’t expected to be flirted with using such a conditional question.
“It wouldn’t be okay even if she wasn’t here,” Xia Yu replied.
Xia Yu’s response was quite ordinary, and Liu Manman felt somewhat disappointed.
Grabbing An Siyao’s hand, Liu Manman continued asking the same question: “Siyao must also be curious about what piece you’re going to play, right?”
She tried to pull An Siyao into the effort to pressure Xia Yu for answers.
“Uh-huh,” An Siyao’s reply made Liu Manman happy for a moment, thinking An Siyao agreed with her and would join her in pressuring Xia Yu.
However, An Siyao’s next words were: “I’ll listen carefully when the performance starts.”
Although An Siyao was curious, she didn’t want to know in advance. She would follow Xia Yu’s arrangement and listen attentively once the performance began.
Liu Manman was extremely disappointed. She felt An Siyao had already been completely brainwashed by Xia Yu, not even realizing that Xia Yu had found another lover.
She thought again about the sapphire crown incident and felt a surge of malice, wanting to use it to threaten Xia Yu, but she stopped herself in time.
If she were to threaten him, it would have to be done privately.
Xia Yu escorted An Siyao and Liu Manman to their seats. There, he also encountered Shen Shengsheng and the counselor.
He greeted them briefly and then said goodbye, heading to his seat for the participants.
Pretending to look at the back door, the counselor stole a glance at Liu Manman’s face, inwardly exclaiming in shock.
He had previously heard that Xia Yu had connections with the Liu family and had been wondering how significant those connections were. Now he realized it was big enough for Xia Yu to be playing around with the family’s legitimate daughter.
If this relationship continued developing, after Liu Manman inherited part of the family business, Xia Yu might become her right-hand man, running a major company.
In contrast, Shen Shengsheng merely admired Xia Yu’s musical talent. Even at his best, he would only become a musician.
As a money-oriented person, the counselor felt that Xia Yu would be better off aligning with the Liu family.
Because An Tiansheng and Yu Liang had intentionally kept a low profile, the counselor didn’t recognize An Siyao. Otherwise, if he had known that there was also An Siyao—an An family legitimate daughter and the sole heir of the Yu family—he would have been even more shocked.
After a moment of astonishment, the counselor returned to his usual demeanor. Although he thought Xia Yu choosing Liu Manman’s side would be better, Xia Yu wasn’t him. He stood firmly with Shen Shengsheng, who could provide him with more benefits.
Inwardly, he apologized to Xia Yu because he was determined to support Shen Shengsheng.
Shen Shengsheng also glanced back at the two girls. He felt An Siyao looked somewhat familiar but couldn’t place her.
He looked at Xia Yu again, stroked his mustache, and felt very satisfied.
He asked the counselor beside him: “Do you think Xia Yu will play ‘White Horse’ or ‘White Horse in the Rain’?”
This question stumped the counselor. He had expected Shen Shengsheng to ask about music, so he had spent time brushing up to ensure he wouldn’t be speechless when questioned. However, he hadn’t anticipated Shen Shengsheng would ask such a multiple-choice question.
He knew about “White Horse in the Rain” because Xia Yu had played it at the Mid-Autumn Festival gala, but what was “White Horse”?
When the counselor didn’t answer quickly, Shen Shengsheng shook his head: “Xiao Fu, your IQ just isn’t up to par. ‘White Horse in the Rain’ is a duet, while ‘White Horse’ is a solo. You don’t need to think about it, do you?”
Internally, the counselor roared: I didn’t even know what ‘White Horse’ was—how could I know it was a solo piece?!
“Right, right, ‘White Horse in the Rain’ I’ve heard, I just couldn’t think of that,” the counselor tapped his head, looking helpless.
“Haha, no worries, read more detective novels,” Shen Shengsheng was in a good mood. He didn’t continue to press the counselor and turned his gaze back to Xia Yu.
He thought that since Xia Yu had refused to participate in the Mid-Autumn Festival gala but had eagerly joined this time, it must mean he had rediscovered his love for music and the sense of accomplishment that came with captivating an audience.
Once he confirmed that Xia Yu’s passion for music had reignited, he could proceed with his next plan—recruiting Xia Yu to defect from his teacher’s tutelage and join his Shengyue company.
Besides Xia Yu, there were several other promising guzheng players, so losing Xia Yu wouldn’t be a big deal. However, Xia Yu being the heir to the Huapai school was complicated because Liu Ronglan was counting on him to revive the Huapai tradition.
If necessary, he would find a way to have Xia Yu work with both parties.
If Shengyue lost its standard-bearer, it would be a complete disaster.
The standard-bearer was the core of Shengyue’s promotion. Regardless of the musical instrument school, young people were inspired by the standard-bearer and poured their passion into it.
If the standard-bearer’s ability was insufficient, the impact would be enormous. Not only would fewer young people join, but those who did would lose their enthusiasm and become slackers, accelerating the decline.
Shen Shengsheng sighed deeply, feeling somewhat depressed.
He raised his head and glanced at Liu Manman again, continuing his thoughts: those without talent worked hard, while those with talent always ran away.
Unaware of Shen Shengsheng’s inner turmoil, Xia Yu was now sitting with the other contestants.
When the other contestants saw Xia Yu, they were somewhat surprised.
“What piece are you going to play?” one contestant asked.
“Piano,” Xia Yu answered.
“But I’ve never seen you before. What year are you in?” another contestant, probably from the piano class, asked.
Xia Yu thought to himself that he was from the College of Liberal Arts, so naturally, the music students wouldn’t recognize him.
However, saying that might cause trouble.
“Freshman,” Xia Yu answered.
“Oh, now that I look carefully, you do seem a bit familiar,” the other contestants nodded.
They said he looked familiar from the Mid-Autumn Festival gala and previous performances. If they followed their instincts and recalled carefully, they could recognize Xia Yu, but they didn’t.
If they asked for Xia Yu’s name, they could also identify him, but they didn’t.
They all assumed that since this was a competition within their music college, the participants must all be classmates from their own college.
One student seemed to sense something, but seeing that everyone else and Xia Yu himself looked ordinary, and that Xia Yu was known for playing guzheng and sheng rather than piano, he thought he was just imagining things.
Since they were all familiar with each other, after confirming that Xia Yu wasn’t an intruder, they started chatting about the competition. The competition hadn’t started yet, so they could talk freely.
“This competition will be a showdown between Lao Gang and Lao Zheng,” one contestant said.
“Yeah, yeah,” others agreed.
“I’ve always felt these competitions have no suspense at all. We’re all from the same college, and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Could there really be a dark horse suddenly emerging? Don’t you think so?” the speaker asked Xia Yu.
Xia Yu gave an awkward but polite smile.
“Yeah, this junior seems a bit introverted, but it’s okay. Once we participate in more activities together, he’ll get used to it. Lao Zheng was the same way at first. I remember clearly the first time we dragged him to press…”
“Cough, cough, cough,” the other contestants immediately coughed.
The speaker also immediately stopped talking.
What he had just said was an inside joke among their small circle. Outside of their group, they all presented themselves as upright individuals who resisted all temptations, only playing together among close friends.
The atmosphere became momentarily silent and awkward.
One contestant broke the silence: “Why don’t we bet on who between Lao Gang and Lao Zheng will win the championship?”
The atmosphere then became lively again.
“I think it’ll be Lao Zheng. He’s more traditional and should be favored by the teachers.”
“I think it’ll be Lao Gang. The piece composed by his girlfriend is really exciting. These days, the teachers aren’t that traditional either. They might just pick Lao Gang.”
They discussed enthusiastically, making Xia Yu feel somewhat nervous.
Who exactly were Lao Zheng and Lao Gang to be so highly praised?
At first, Xia Yu had thought that since he had come, how could he not be first? But now, after hearing their exaggerated talk, he began to doubt himself.
After all, this was Huada University, full of hidden talents. Was it too arrogant of him to think he could dominate the competition with just his Music Level 5?
Just as he was thinking, the much-anticipated Lao Gang and Lao Zheng arrived and sat together.
“We’ll compete in a moment!” Lao Gang looked at Lao Zheng.
Lao Zheng leaned back in his chair: “Our pieces are similar. It’ll come down to whose performance technique is stronger.”
Their eyes met, and they both wore the same smile on their faces.
On stage, the judges had already taken their seats, and the instruments were ready. The host announced the start of the competition.
Xia Yu leaned back in his seat. He decided to observe first and see what level Lao Gang and Lao Zheng were at.
Although he felt confident he wouldn’t lose, if he couldn’t dominate the competition and win first place, performing wouldn’t be meaningful.
His plan to observe failed when the host first called his name.
The host only announced one name, which was a feature of the competition—perform first, then speak.
After going on stage, Xia Yu sat in front of the piano.
Down in the audience, Shen Shengsheng frowned and turned to the counselor: “Why is Xia Yu playing the piano?”
The counselor also looked confused. He didn’t know what Shen Shengsheng didn’t know!
Fortunately, Shen Shengsheng was only expressing his surprise and didn’t continue asking.
At the contestants’ area, the more experienced participants briefly discussed Xia Yu and introduced him to Lao Zheng and Lao Gang.
Hearing that this was a freshman pianist like themselves, Lao Gang smiled: “I wonder what kind of surprise this freshman will bring us.”
“What kind of surprise could there be? The champion will definitely be either you or me,” another contestant said.
Lao Gang and Lao Zheng exchanged glances. In each other’s eyes, they knew the other thought the same.
Until Xia Yu began playing.
Hearing the intro, Lao Gang and Lao Zheng nodded. Hearing the first part, Lao Gang frowned. Hearing the second part, Lao Zheng’s eyes widened. Hearing the third part, the other contestants were astonished.
On stage, Xia Yu, somewhat worried about messing up, activated Elegance and gave it his all with Music Level 5.
A string of melodious notes flowed from his fingers.
Liu Manman closed her eyes and listened carefully. The melody was slow and winding, making her think of the sun, grass, and butterflies.
If the piece could be divided into spring, summer, autumn, and winter, this piece would be spring.
The intro ended, and the first part officially began. The melody became somewhat livelier, but overall it remained quite winding, and the rhythm was still relatively slow.
During this section, Liu Manman felt the breeze. In the sunlight, the wind blew over the grass, and butterflies played.
But it seemed to be more than that.
Liu Manman lightly frowned. She felt she had missed something, but she couldn’t figure it out for the moment.
She continued listening.
The music of the second part became somewhat somber, as if the sun, grass, and butterflies had all fallen asleep.
This was dusk, Liu Manman judged.
The music was still beautiful, but Liu Manman’s attention was completely elsewhere. Her feeling of having missed something became even more intense.
The third part began.
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