They don't actually think I like them, do they?

Meanwhile, the young girl who was contestant number one in the lounge received a message on her phone from a friend in the audience, and she soon learned about the incident.

Excited, she immediately told the other contestants about it, and soon everyone in the lounge knew.

"My God, Senior Su and Orange Jam have such a relationship!"

"It's the original instrumental version! 'Ode to Love' is a work by Su Ruxue!"

"Oh my god, what about the composer, Orange Jam? Is it possible that he'll come with Su Ruxue?"

As everyone was chatting, their eyes suddenly turned to Lin Han in front of them.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at Lin Han.

I recalled what Lin Han had just said: he understood music composition better than the professors on the judging panel.

This could actually be true!!

Moreover, the boy in front of them was so handsome, perfectly matching their expectations of Orange Jam.

Could it be that...

The little girls' hands were already trembling.

"Um!" A very brave girl ran straight up to Lin Han and asked shyly, "Are you Orange Jam?"

"?"

At this moment, a million curses were running through Lin Han's mind.

Seriously?! How could they guess that?!

However, Lin Han maintained his smile and said, "No, that's not it."

The girl blushed and ran back to her seat.

I don't believe it!

Everyone was basically 80% certain that this handsome guy was Orange Jam!

But Lin Han wouldn't admit it, and there was nothing they could do.

Lin Han breathed a sigh of relief. When he turned around, he immediately saw Ning Lei with his mouth agape as wide as a watermelon.

"What are you doing?"

"No, it's okay!"

Ning Lei quickly turned his head away, but his heart was already churning with emotions.

Although he didn't know anything about "marmalade," from what they were saying, it seemed that the song "Ode to Love" was written by the person in front of him.

But this person in front of her looks even younger than Su Ruxue! He really is Su Ruxue's teacher!!

Turns out, I was the one who didn't understand music!

What kind of musical prodigy is this, to be able to compose such a piece at such a young age?!

I've been in school for too long and didn't realize that the threshold for being a "genius" is very high in the outside world.

Actually, I've been hypnotizing myself, telling myself that I'm not suited for music at all!

Suddenly, Ning Lei understood.

Lin Han's words just now were not meant to insult me.

This music master was simply offering himself sincere advice from a highly professional perspective.

Ning Lei gritted his teeth, stood up, and walked to Lin Han. He cried as he spoke.

"I understand, teacher. Thank you for your advice. I'll find a class to teach when I get back, and I'll never embarrass myself in front of you again!"

012. Champion

The entire lounge stared in disbelief at the scene.

what's the situation? ?

That arrogant Ning Lei, he just knelt down like that?!

"That's not the case."

As Lin Han spoke, he quickly helped Ning Lei up. This time, he finally refrained from saying anything harsh.

It's clear that this guy is actually quite serious about music, otherwise he wouldn't be talking to me like this.

However, the influence of the academy and association caused this young man to lose himself; to put it simply, he became arrogant.

Lin Han was rather soft-hearted towards this kind of person, especially since he hadn't really offended him that much just now.

So Lin Han said earnestly, "You have the talent. I only said that because I didn't like you. With your abilities, if you continue to develop, you can also have your own place in the music world."

Ning Lei stared blankly at Lin Han, listening intently.

"However, if you really want to achieve something in this field, the first thing you need to learn is self-awareness. In front of Su Ruxue, you are indeed a piece of trash. Recognize yourself and stop trying to pick on this or that every day. Also, music is for people to listen to. Don't look down on this or that because of some bullshit academic aesthetics. Can't you tell what this song 'Ode to Love' is like?"

This combo of slapping you, giving you a piece of candy, slapping you again, and then teaching you a lesson works very well on "good students" like Ning Lei.

Hearing this, Ning Lei nodded with tears in his eyes, completely convinced.

In fact, he fully understood that "Ode to Love" was a unique masterpiece, and that no such excellent classical music had appeared in China in the past twenty years!

"Now, let's announce the scores for each contestant."

As the host's voice came from the screen, everyone's eyes quickly turned to the screen.

At this point, the trophy had already been brought onto the stage.

It's time to announce the champion!

On the judges' panel, the faces of the judges were not as radiant as one might expect; instead, they all lowered their heads.

Let's go back seven minutes.

While Lin Han was still explaining to the girl in the lounge that he wasn't Orange Jam, an extremely awkward atmosphere fell over the judges' panel on the other side.

The professors fell silent for the first time in response to Su Ruxue's score.

no doubt.

Su Ruxue's performance was absolutely perfect!

The professors even rediscovered the joy of purely appreciating music, forgetting that it was a competition and that it was a piece of classical music. They simply enjoyed the exquisite tenderness of "A Love Song."

However, she was playing classical music!

This is the music that the academy has repeatedly told its students not to learn over the past three years; it is the culprit behind the Jinchuan Cello's disastrous defeat three years ago; it is something the association deeply abhors!

This is absolutely not a question of whether the judges can accept classical music.

This is a question of whether everyone is willing to admit that they were wrong to oppose students learning classical music, and whether they are willing to bow down to those students who recommended "Salut d'Amour" in the first place!

At this moment, what lies before everyone is a score based on their own conscience, and on the other hand, the glory of the association, the pride of the musicians, and the majesty of the Jinchuan cello.

The answer is obvious.

Liu Chuan had already filled in the scores, and he had said everything he needed to say during the performance.

He lay back in his chair, watching the trophies on the stage with a cold smile, completely relaxed.

If he doesn't even have this much self-confidence, then he's wasted his long-standing high position in the association.

The hostess opened the envelope, and the scores were revealed.

There were eight judges in total. All contestants' scores were calculated by removing the highest and lowest scores and then taking the median.

"Contestant number one, Tao Pan, 7.74 points."

"Contestant number two, Yin Xingchang, 7.59 points."

"..."

When it came to number six, the host paused, glanced at the audience, and left them in suspense.

All the spectators, including the athletes in the lounge, held their breath.

"Contestant number six, Ning Lei, 9.16 points."

It actually scored over nine points!

The highest score so far is a full 0.8 points ahead of the second place!

Everyone gasped in astonishment. No wonder he was last year's champion!

However, people didn't react much emotionally because there was still one person whose identity hadn't been revealed, and that person was the one everyone was most looking forward to.

"Contestant number eight, Su Ruxue."

The host paused again, then spoke clearly:

"8.89 points."

As soon as these words came out, the whole place was in an uproar.

"Huh?? Su Ruxue lost??"

"How could that be? Su Ruxue clearly played better!"

"Ha, perhaps we common folk just don't understand art!"

"Fuck your mother, give me my money back!"

The audience erupted in cheers and shouts.

The players in the lounge were stunned. They could have predicted that they would lose the game, but they never expected that Ning Lei would be the champion.

Ning Lei's mind went blank, and he stared blankly at the screen.

An announcement came over the loudspeaker: "Please come up to the stage to receive your award, Ning Lei!"

At this moment, Liu Chuan, sitting on the judges' panel, was leisurely drinking hot water, his face already beaming with joy.

This result was expected.

For the association, nothing, absolutely nothing, can compare to the association's glory and prestige!

The proud old folks would never do something as self-defeating as letting Su Ruxue win the championship with her internet-famous classical music!

If Liu Chuan doesn't even understand this principle, then he's wasted all his time working in the association's management.

"Congratulations, Teacher Liu."

"Little Ning, you've really made something of yourself!"

"Having defeated Su Ruxue to win the championship, Xiao Ning is going to be famous in Jinchuan!"

The other professors congratulated Liu Chuan, but Guan Han snorted and turned his face away.

Although Zhang Zhiping, the vice chairman, also gave Ning Lei a higher score than Su Ruxue, he simply lowered his head and remained silent.

Despite the discontent expressed by many spectators behind them.

But those sounds were too far away, how could the association possibly hear them?

.......

Lin Han walked out of the lounge and saw Su Ruxue leaning against the wall in the corridor.

"Teacher Lin Han."

Upon seeing Lin Han, Su Ruxue managed a weak smile.

"What are you standing here for? Why don't you come in?"

"If I can't win the competition using Teacher Lin Han's music, I probably won't have the face to meet Teacher Lin Han."

Su Ruxue gave a bitter smile, her beautiful face serene and peaceful. She looked up at the ceiling and stretched.

"Ah~ In the end, I'm still the same as before, unable to do anything."

"No, that's not the case."

Lin Han took out his phone and played a video.

The video shows the contestants in the lounge watching Su Ruxue's performance. They, also holding cellos, listened to Su Ruxue's soft voice with longing and fascination on their faces. Their eyes were bright as they looked at Su Ruxue, showing no trace of the panic and worry they had felt when they first learned that Su Ruxue was playing classical music.

The audience members in the video also had the same expression.

"Your classical music has already reached everyone. Everyone genuinely appreciates your classical music. They don't show such exaggerated expressions when watching other people's performances," Lin Han said with a smile.