Please, come home and practice the piano

Chapter 1302, Section 522: The Ultimate Showdown [Part 1]

In an office in a corner of the auditorium corridor at Yunxi Middle School, the judges were chatting and laughing.

The atmosphere here is much more relaxed than the tense atmosphere on the field.

Just then, a soft knock sounded on the door, and everyone stopped talking and looked over.

Then the door was pushed open a crack, and a staff member wearing glasses stood outside: "Excuse me, teachers, the competition will begin in fifteen minutes."

Upon seeing this, everyone in the room stood up from their seats; it was time to get to work.

"Please, Teacher Li."

"Teacher Lin, please don't go first."

The middle-aged man whom Ang Lee called Teacher Lin is Lin Hui, the deputy director of the vocal music department of Rongyuan Academy, and also the head of today's judging panel.

Amidst laughter and conversation, the two leaders led a group of judges to the inner passageway, following the staff.

Speaking of which, Ang Lee and Lin Hui have a history of collaboration.

During his university years, Li An played piano accompaniment for Lin Hui once, recommended by Lao Wei. The piece they collaborated on was the Flower Song from the opera Carmen, which received a round of applause from the audience.

At that time, Lin Hui had not yet been promoted to associate professor, and Li An was just a junior in college.

Several years have passed in the blink of an eye, and everyone has become a better version of themselves.

Today's judges' panel is located in the eighth row, right in the center of the audience seating area. There are eight seats in total, with the two seats bearing the names of Ang Lee and Lin Hui on the left and right sides of the center.

Lin Hui: "I heard the sound effects here are pretty good."

“It’s really good,” Li An replied, glancing towards the southeast corner before taking his seat.

Children from four schools in Yudong District are sitting there.
-
When the sixteen branches arrived, their positions had already been divided into areas.

Just then, Shuren and Shipo's teams arrived at the scene at the same time, and Zhang Miao and Haitao decided to have the children from the two schools sit together.

This resulted in the current seating arrangement.

At first glance, it's hard to tell whether Wang Xiaohu and Qiao Zhizhi have infiltrated Shipo's group, or whether Xiaoche and Xiaoxing have infiltrated Shuren's group.

The four people sat together, connecting the seating areas of the two schools.

However, their respective teams can be easily distinguished by their clothing.

The Shuren Choir was dressed in matching black formal attire as usual today, with men in suits and women in evening gowns, while the Shipo Choir's attire was somewhat different.
Not to mention Wang Xiaohu and the other children, even the teachers had never seen anyone dressed like this for a choir competition.

Although there is no explicit requirement for participants in choral competitions to wear uniform attire, uniform clothing is considered an unwritten rule of choral competitions.

Like the other teams participating today, they were all wearing the same white shirts, the same black suits, or even the same school uniforms, looking neat and tidy.

The children from Keshipo were dressed like they were on a picnic today, their bright colors suggesting they had just come back from playing on the Rainbow Bridge.

Upon meeting, Wang Xiaohu realized that Shi Po must have come prepared today. He had a premonition that Shi Po might use some unexpected trick today, otherwise he would not have given up the dress code score.

In his view, untidy stage attire would result in a deduction of points.

So what exactly is Shipo's ingenious trick?

Sitting beside the car, Wang Xiaohu was deep in thought.

Xiao Che also had some questions she wanted to ask. As soon as they met, she realized that Shu Ren might have a special arrangement for today.

Because Wang Xiaohu wasn't wearing a tuxedo.

Wang Xiaohu wasn't wearing a tuxedo!
Wang Xiaohu, obsessed with the conductor's podium, isn't even wearing his signature tuxedo, the one he wouldn't let anyone touch!?

This is absolutely incredible!

You should know that Wang Xiaohu used to be the kind of person who couldn't help but change into a tuxedo and show off for a whole morning during rehearsals.

Then, just before he was about to go on stage for the finals, Wang Xiaohu wasn't wearing a tuxedo. Was he having some kind of emotional problem?
Eh?
"Does Tiger already know?"

As she glanced at the car, Xiao Che suddenly felt a pang of anxiety; a possibility had suddenly occurred to her!
Then this image appeared in her mind—

Last night, after dinner, Aunt Xu called Hu Zi to the living room and, in front of Doubao and Douhua, said to Hu Zi meaningfully: "You're going abroad in September." Hu Zi first stood up abruptly from the sofa, then his lips trembled, his eyes flashing with various emotions, and finally sat back down on the sofa without saying a word.

As a result, after suddenly learning that he was about to go abroad, Tiger found it hard to accept and inexplicably decided not to wear a tuxedo on stage that day.
Although there is indeed no logical connection between the two, Tiger's actions are sometimes completely illogical.

However, Xiao Che quickly stopped the little drama playing out in her mind because she realized that Hu Zi had discovered her secretly observing him.

The other person was looking at her with a playful gaze, a smirk that was incredibly irritating.

"What? Are you curious why I'm not wearing a tuxedo?"

Wang Xiaohu asked the question very rudely, because he didn't give the car any time to answer.

Then a hint of melancholy crossed his face, and he sighed softly, "Sigh, I hope everyone can be happy."

Car: "."

As expected, there was no logical connection whatsoever, but Xiao Che could still sense that Wang Xiaohu was genuinely a little frustrated when he said the last sentence.

"Who's unhappy? Everyone's happy, and shouldn't you be even happier?"

Tang Xiaoxing chimed in, "Exactly."

Although he had overcome the mental block of being "two points apart," Wang Xiaohu was still considered an opponent by Tang Xiaoxing at this moment.

She won't be "polite" to her opponents!

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaohu sighed again, "You wouldn't understand even if I told you, especially the two of you."

ha?
These words left Xiao Che and Tang Xiaoxing even more confused. Why was it specifically referring to them?
Actually, Wang Xiaohu was fine today. On the way here, he was even cheering everyone on. But after the car ran into Shipo's group and saw that Shipo had brought even more people today, he suddenly felt uneasy.

Judging from Xiao Guan's attire, he knew that Xiao Guan would be on stage today.

You should know that although Xiao Guan went to the competition venue yesterday, he didn't go on stage in the end.

Wang Xiaohu could more or less guess why Xiao Guan didn't go on stage; he knew that Xiao Guan sang very off-key.

That means Shi Po also went through a round of selection. He didn't believe that Xiao Guan hadn't signed up for the choir competition. A Qian and Xiao Zhang had both participated, so it was impossible for Xiao Guan not to sign up, given his personality.

So, the fact that Xiao Guan didn't go on stage in the end means that Xiao Guan was eliminated.

But today, Xiao Guan not only came again, but he also wore colorful clothes that matched everyone else's style. Moreover, the group at Shipo today had more than just Xiao Guan; Wang Xiaohu counted at least ten more people than yesterday.

Did these students suddenly appear to make up the numbers?

Wang Xiaohu didn't believe it. In his eyes, there was only one truth—these classmates had all been rejected, and then returned to the choir for some unknown reason.

Well, he could actually vaguely guess who it was that allowed these classmates to come back.

However, when faced with the teachers' decision to eliminate students, he ultimately chose to remain silent.

Comparing the two situations, Wang Xiaohu felt ashamed.

So he has to bring first place back today, otherwise he won't be able to face the team members who were eliminated but still insisted on coming to watch the rehearsal.

Thinking of this, Wang Xiaohu's resolve hardened even more; he was determined to get first place today!

Just then, a commotion broke out at the scene as a staff member walked onto the stage.

The draw is about to begin!

Amidst the staff's voices, representatives from each team rose to the stage. Wang Xiaohu represented the Book People team today, followed by Tang Xiaoxing.

Go, Little Star!

"OK!"

After Wang Xiaohu and Tang Xiaoxing left, Xiaoche bent down, lifted its buttocks, and moved to Wang Xiaohu's position.

Seeing this, Qiao Zhizhi leaned closer and whispered, "Sister Linlin."

"What's wrong with him?" Xiao Che asked in a low voice.

Qiao Zhizhi was taken aback. She thought Sister Linlin was asking her why Wang Xiaohu wasn't wearing a tuxedo, and subconsciously asked back, "Sister Linlin, don't you know?"

As she spoke, she realized that Sister Linlin probably didn't know yet, so she figured it wasn't something Sister Linlin couldn't be unaware of, and so she confessed, "We don't have a conductor for this piece today."

"Huh?" That's not what Xiao Che wanted to ask, but this is even more exciting: Shu Ren didn't have a conductor on stage today?
"Why?" the car continued to ask.

Actually, Qiao Zhizhi didn't know exactly what Wang Xiaohu was thinking. "It's probably because there were too few people for the four parts, and we've already rehearsed this song very well, so he applied to sing the four parts."

Xiao Che squinted; this was a huge amount of information. After a moment, he asked, "You guys wiped out people?"

Qiao Zhizhi sighed softly and nodded: "We originally had thirty-two boys, but in the end only six remained."

Hearing this, Xiao Che understood. No wonder Hu Zi had looked hesitant and sighing earlier; there was such a thing.

For a moment, Xiao Che couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Hu Zi. She knew Hu Zi's sense of team responsibility, especially as the commander. He must have felt terrible seeing his teammates eliminated.

But just then, she seemed to see Tiger on the stage in the distance, holding a fortune slip in his hand, with a smug expression on his face.

Then she looked at Tang Xiaoxing.

on the stage.

Tang Xiaoxing put away the fortune slip in her hand, feeling a sense of peace and reassurance.

Just then, the captain's voice came from beside them, asking, "What number are you?"

Tang Xiaoxing turned her head, a smug look on her face: "I'll definitely be later than you guys."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaohu smiled and then said calmly, "We'll see."

He simply didn't believe that Shipo was further back than them, unless Tang Xiaoxing was incredibly lucky.
Just then, an excited voice rang out: "Number Fifteen!"

Hearing this, Wang Xiaohu became even more confident, but suddenly he saw Tang Xiaoxing make a gesture towards him.

"six"

"No way," Wang Xiaohu thought with a wry smile. He thought that drawing number fourteen was already the best possible outcome.

After the staff finished tallying the order of appearance for the sixteen teams, the representatives who drew lots walked off the stage from one side, and then the host took the stage.

And so, the final began.

The process was no different from yesterday's, except that the applause was the loudest when Ang Lee stood up to introduce the judges.

This is certainly not just the work of the book people and the children of Shipo, but also the efforts of A Liu's small group from Rongda Affiliated High School.

And in the last two rows of the stands, Senior Sister Ji was holding up her phone to record everything in front of her.

"Brother Marco, is Sister Linlin's school the last to appear?"

Sitting next to Senior Sister Ji, Lin Guoguo tilted her head and asked.

“That’s right,” Marco said, taking another piece of beef jerky from his pocket and handing it to Lin Guoguo.

"Thank you, Brother Marco," Lin Guoguo said, taking the gift and nodding earnestly. "I'm going to cheer for Sister Linlin later."

Marco was quite startled upon hearing this and quickly lowered his head to whisper, "Guoguo, you can't make a sound during the game. You have to wait until everyone is clapping before you can shout 'Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!"

Lin Guoguo rolled her eyes cutely upon hearing this: "Of course I know!"

Just as Marco was about to say something more, Senior Sister Ji's voice came, "You two, be quiet. Marco, stop giving her snacks. She already has three cavities and she's still eating them."

Both of them immediately shut their mouths.

At this point, the first team to go on stage was ready to take the stage.

Then the host's voice rang out:

"The first team to appear in this round of competition is from Rongcheng No. 8 Middle School. Their piece is 'Childhood,' with guitar played by Xue Fei and harmonica played by Shi Yiming."

"Wow——————"

Applause erupted from the audience.

Little Tiger thought to himself, "As expected of the finals, this setup at the start is quite interesting."

There was no conductor, and the accompaniment was just guitar and harmonica.

"Did you hear what happened during your sound check? Was the accompanist a teacher?"

Just as Wang Xiaohu was trying to get some information from the car, the Mario brothers walked onto the stage.

"Wow——————"

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Goodness, they've even put on a costume!
Mario, wearing a little red hat, holds a guitar, while Mario with a green hat holds a glittering silver harmonica.

The Mario brothers' appearance on stage immediately created a visual impact on the audience.

It was as if the scene that should have been shown in the finals had been switched on all at once.

The No. 8 Middle School Choir, which took the stage next, also did not follow the usual pattern. Usually, choirs form straight lines, but they simply surrounded the two Marios in the middle of the stage, creating a formation that was neither neat nor chaotic, which looked quite asymmetrical and interesting.

Seeing this, Xiao Che couldn't help but sigh. She hadn't imagined that she would see a stage like theirs that didn't follow the usual path on the final stage today, but seeing the opening of No. 8 Middle School, she had a feeling that there would be many interesting scenes at the competition today.

That's great! She loves the feeling of having complete control over the stage!

Just then, on stage, the red Mario raised his guitar high, as if in the opening gesture of conducting, and then the green Mario next to him brought his harmonica to his lips.

"Whoops——"

The soft, tingling sound of the piano rose from the center of the stage, accompanied by the chorus melody of childhood songs, instantly reaching everyone's ears and bringing a unique coolness to the scene.

Those who had grown accustomed to piano preludes these past two days couldn't help but feel a sense of novelty.

What kind of childhood song will the No. 8 Middle School, accompanied by harmonica and guitar, bring us?

"On the banyan tree by the pond—"

"The cicadas are chirping, announcing the arrival of summer—"

Wow!
I thought No. 8 Middle School was just making a fuss, but when the singing started on stage, the expressions of the audience changed slightly.

Teams outside of Guangyuan District were particularly amazed.

They were unaware that the team that won first place in Guangyuan District yesterday was none other than No. 8 Middle School, which was on stage right now.

The Mario Brothers weren't at work yesterday.

A chaotic battle among city-level choirs?
It's on the verge!