Translator: 549690339
âIâm here to formally announce that An Nuonuo has advanced directly to the final round!â
When the judge said this, the venue erupted with enthusiastic applause.
No one opposed; everyone believed it was well-deserved by An Nuonuo.
An Nuonuoâs eyes brimmed with joy as she bowed deeply to the judges before stepping down from the stage.
Backstage, she gently hugged Jiang Xu.
âThat was awesome,â Jiang Xu pinched her pert nose and said, âI bet those two are dumbfounded right now.â
An Nuonuo turned to look at Huang Xiaofei and Chen Yaoyao.
Both of their expressions were indeed not very pleasant.
What they thought was a sure thing had turned into an unexpected surprise.
Because with An Nuonuo setting such a high barâ¦
â¦the performances of the other competitors, although not bad,
were just that, and it was hard to stir the audienceâs interest again.
Jiang Xu leaned in and whispered something to An Nuonuoâs ear.
She nodded and briefly left backstage.
When she returned, she put something in his pocket.
Finally, it was Jiang Xuâs turn to take the stage.
When he made his appearance, the audience, which had lacked enthusiasm, once again burst into fervent applause.
An Nuonuoâs rendition of âWhen Farewell Bloomsâ had already been stunning.
Would Jiang Xu be able to come up with something even better?
With a microphone in hand, Jiang Xu stood stably on stage,
emanating strong confidence naturally.
He spoke with a smile, âHello, teachers, seniors, and peers, Iâm Jiang Xu.
Today, I will be singing a song I wrote myself, âTo Her.â Thank you.â
The prelude began.
Jiang Xu slowly started singing.
âYouâre asleep with your palms tight, shallow dimples on your cheeksâ¦â
This song was written by a father for his daughter.
It told of a fatherâs affection for his daughter from childhood to adulthood, his hopes, and the reluctance of letting her go when she grows up and marries.
To complement the song, Jiang Xu deliberately made his voice a bit raspier.
As soon as Jiang Xu began, the venue fell silent.
âYou too will fall in love with someone, giving so much, so muchâ¦â
When it reached the climax, many fathers with daughters couldnât help but shed tears.
Thinking of their daughters leaving someday to marry and move away, they felt wave after wave of sadness.
Backstage.
An Nuonuo clasped her hands tightly.
Watching Jiang Xu on stage soar freely and exude utmost confidence, she just felt he was incredibly handsome.
She looked every bit the smitten fan girl.
Meanwhile, Huang Xiaofeiâs heart kept sinking.
Finally, he glared at Chen Yaoyao, âHow could this happen? Why didnât you tell me he had so many songs?!â
âI didnât know either,â Chen Yaoyao replied with aggrieved innocence.
Who could have expected Jiang Xu to have so many songs in reserve?
After all, such songs normally took a long time to develop just one, didnât they?
Huang Xiaofei snorted coldly and said no more.
Looking at Jiang Xu on stage, his eyes flickered uncertainly, pondering something.
With the song finished, the audience exploded with applause and cheers not outdone by those for An Nuonuo earlier.
It was the same judge who stood up again.
Wiping away tears, he said, âJiang Xu is simply too outstanding. Once again, 1 must make a decision against the schoolâs wishes.â
âHahahaâ¦â
Many teachers and students couldnât help but burst into laughter.
Thus, Jiang Xu also advanced directly to the final round.
âThank you, all the judges,â Jiang Xu said as he bowed deeply in the direction of the judgesâ panel. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
But he didnât step down from the stage immediately.
Instead, he continued, âToday, as a student, I encountered a little trouble and would like to ask for help from all the teachers and students.â
Everyone looked at him with puzzled expressions.
Jiang Xu: âActually, for this event, I had prepared four original songs.
There are still two more, which are âItâs Windyâ and âYouthâ.
Hmm, those were the songs Huang Xiaofei and Chen Yaoyao performed earlier.
But the problem is, I didnât authorize them to use these two songs.
In other words, they are plagiarizing my work.â
âBoom!â
As soon as he said this, the entire audience erupted into an uproar.
Backstage, Chen Yaoyao instantly panicked.
She hurriedly looked at Huang Xiaofei, âHuangâ¦â
She hadnât expected Jiang Xu to be so bold, to expose this matter right in front of the entire schoolâs teachers and students.
Huang Xiaofei waved his hand dismissively, âWhatâs there to panic about? What evidence does he have to prove those songs are his?â
âHa ha,â Huang Xiaofei scoffed, âI thought too highly of him. His way of handling things is too naive.â
Chen Yaoyao immediately felt reassured by Huang Xiaofeiâs words.
In fact, based on Jiang Xuâs usual way of dealing with things, he should have gone to the senior management of the school afterward.
That would have been more prudent.
But this time, he didnât want to do it that way.
He just wanted to make those two thieves, especially Huang Xiaofei, completely disgraced in the school.
It was the same judge as before.
He stood up abruptly, his expression serious as he said, âJiang Xu, are you telling the truth?â
Jiang Xu nodded, âTrue.â
âHuang Xiaofei, Chen Yaoyao, please come up on stage.â
Huang Xiaofei and Chen Yaoyao came up to the stage.
Chen Yaoyao spoke first, âTeacher, this is not true, heâs framing us!â
Huang Xiaofei then resumed his facade of hypocrisy and innocence.
He glanced at Jiang Xu, then said softly, âI donât know what I did to offend Jiang to make him slander me like this.
But I, Huang, have always conducted myself with integrity, and Iâve never done something I havenât done.â
Below the stage, many female students murmured among themselves.
âJiang seems very decent, doesnât look like someone who would do this.â
âYeah, could this be some kind of misunderstanding?â
Jiang Xu looked at the two thieves and sneered, âSeeing as weâre all classmates. Iâll give you one more chance now, if you admit it, I wonât pursue the matter further.
Otherwise, Iâll have to use the weapon of law to protect my legitimate rights.â
Chen Yaoyao felt emboldened by having Huang Xiaofeiâs support and her courage grew.
She held her head high and said to Jiang Xu, âHow can we admit to something fabricated out of thin air?â
Jiang Xu ignored her, then turned to Huang Xiaofei, âYou also donât admit it, do you?â
Huang Xiaofei spread his hands, âJiang, there must be some misunderstanding here, why donât we discuss this offstage?â
His innocent act made many students start to doubt.
No matter how they looked at him, he didnât seem like a person capable of such an act.
Yet no one noticed the hint of triumph in Huang Xiaofeiâs eyes when he locked gazes with Jiang Xu.
Without evidence, what can you do to me?
âAh, I offered you a graceful way out, and you didnât take it,â Jiang Xu shook his head.
He had deliberately said this to make the two firmly deny everything first.
Then, by presenting the evidence, he could push them both into an abyss.
Jiang Xu reached into his pocket and pulled out the recording pen that he had asked An Nuonuo to go home and fetch earlier.
Facing the crowd of teachers and students, he spoke loudly, âI have a recording here.. Please listen, everyone!â