The organizers immediately stepped onto the stage to check her microphone.
“Testing, one, two, three… That’s strange, there doesn’t seem to be any issue. How could it suddenly lose sound? Should we replace it with another one for you?”
“No! That won’t be necessary!”
Lin Yixuan refused immediately.
“If there’s no problem, I’ll continue then.”
She deliberately emphasized the word “continue,” hinting at Su Niansheng, but there was still no movement backstage.
What on earth was she up to?
“Um…”
“The sudden interruption of the song has affected my performance a bit. May I request a ten-minute break…”
As she spoke, the singing in the speakers unexpectedly resumed.
Lin Yixuan’s face instantly turned pale.
The entire venue erupted in an uproar.
“What’s going on? Was she lip-syncing?”
“Lip-syncing means playing a pre-recorded song and matching the lip movements during the actual performance. But today, to ensure fairness and impartiality, all performances are done a cappella. No recording or playback equipment was used at all. Someone must have been singing for her, right?”
“Singing for her? Is that even allowed?”
“How could a student from Kyoto University resort to such despicable tactics?”
“So vain! Cheating just to win the competition!”
“Wow, this is getting intense!”
At this point, Duan Chengyu’s drowsiness vanished completely. Not only that, but he also shouted, not minding adding fuel to the fire, “Who’s the one singing for her?”
“Yeah, who’s singing for her?”
One stone stirred up a thousand waves.
In the venue, others joined in, shouting along.
The organizers’ cameras closing in, the principals and mentors whispering criticisms, and the disgusted looks from classmates and fans—all of it made Lin Yixuan feel utterly humiliated. In an instant, she had fallen from heaven into hell, wishing she could just run away.
However, just as she turned to leave…
The stage curtain slowly drew open.
The crisp sound of high heels tapping on the wooden floor, accompanied by a girl’s clear and melodious singing voice and her stunningly beautiful appearance, appeared before everyone’s eyes.
“If this is love, it was never fair…”
“Hiss—”
Instantly, the entire audience gasped in unison.
She was breathtakingly beautiful!
Her voice matched her appearance perfectly, utterly flawless!
She wore a black strapless gown that cinched her slender and soft waist. A string of pearl necklaces adorned her neck, their crystal-clear, lustrous sheen complementing her snow-white skin. Her collarbone was straight and symmetrical, and her facial features were exquisitely refined.
Her rose-colored lips, the graceful curve of her upturned nose, and a pair of starry eyes shimmering with delicate light—all reflected boundless radiance beneath the flutter of her thick, curled lashes. Even the top of her elegantly styled hair was flawlessly perfect.
She looked like a porcelain doll stepping out of a music box, so beautiful that no one dared to blink.
“Oh my god, she’s so beautiful?!”
“Even top celebrities wouldn’t dare to be this stunning!”
“Is this the legendary beauty with a sweet voice?”
“Is that Su Niansheng? She’s famous indeed, truly worthy of being the campus belle. She brings so much honor to Kyoto University!”
“She’s like a little fairy…”
Duan Chengyu was stunned.
Finally, he understood why, that day, her simple call of “brother” had been enough to make Jun stay.
Who could resist such beauty?
With just a beckoning finger, any man would come running.
Doubt, understand, and surpass.
He turned his head and indeed saw the boy beside him had already opened his eyes, staring intently at the girl on stage as if entranced.
He couldn’t help but feel the urge to tease.
“Jun-ge, are you looking at the wrong person? Didn’t you like the ones in white dresses? Shouldn’t you be looking at the one next to her, what’s her name… Xuan?”
“Today, I like the one in the black dress.”
“Hahaha!”
He couldn’t help but laugh.
Alright, forgetting your roots!
Zhong Zhe’s eyes also lit up, but when he looked at Shen Junxi, he felt he was different from the others.
Unlike the admiration and appreciation others showed for a pretty girl, Shen Junxi stared fixedly at Su Niansheng, his pupils dark and profound, like an extremely dangerous, deep vortex ready to sweep her up, drown her within, his possessiveness so intense it almost overflowed.
As if she were his private treasure.
Shen Junxi’s tall, straight figure leaned forward slightly, as if trying to get closer to her, closer still. The deafening cheers of the audience couldn’t drown out the secret, fervent heartbeat in his chest.
My princess.
“I never expected this song wasn’t sung by Lin Yixuan, but by Su Niansheng!”
Cheng Hao was astonished.
Shi Yubai’s gaze also abruptly fixed.
It was her.
Indeed…
It was her voice.
“Yubai, you’re really lucky to have such an outstanding, beautiful, and generous girl chasing after you! I’m so jealous, why don’t you just give in already?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“How am I talking nonsense?” Cheng Hao said, “Everyone at Kyoto University knows that the campus belle Su Niansheng likes you, the unattainable grass of the finance department, and she’s been pursuing you passionately. Only you could hold back like this—if it were anyone else, they’d have eagerly latched on already! Wait!”
As he spoke, he suddenly cupped his hand to his ear. “Listen, isn’t the song Su Niansheng chose today a public confession to you?”
On stage, the girl was singing, “Then this must be love, I can’t resist.”
“She can’t resist your charm!”
“So romantic, who could resist this?”
“Yubai, tell me the truth, do you really not like her at all?”
As the song neared its end, Su Niansheng sang the final line, “That’s not me seeing clearly, it’s me proving I love you,” and looked toward the audience, searching for Shen Junxi. Her gaze inadvertently swept past Shi Yubai, who almost instantly looked away.
He turned his face aside, his eyes cold and devoid of any emotion. “I don’t like her.”
“Really?”
Cheng Hao hesitated.
If he didn’t like her, why had he stared so intently for so long after she appeared on stage, and… why had he been rubbing the document in his hand the whole time?
As a friend of many years, he had noticed this little habit of his—when he was in a good mood, he would unconsciously stroke something nearby.
The last time he did this was probably when he received the full scholarship to Kyoto University.
As the final note fell, Su Niansheng finally found Shen Junxi and waved at him, breaking into an incredibly radiant smile.
In the front row, bathed in the stage lights, the young man whose every feature seemed touched by an air of noble elegance also lifted the corners of his lips slightly, responding to her in his heart.
I love you too.
“Ahhh, so good, so good!”
“Cheering for you, cheering for you, cheering like crazy!”
“Su Niansheng, the champion! Su Niansheng, the champion!”
Inside the venue, waves of cheers rose higher and higher. Everyone looked at the girl with admiration and awe, except for Lin Yixuan, whose face was deathly pale. Her gaze toward Su Niansheng was sharp as a knife, as if she wished she could carve a piece of flesh from her.
So it was her all along!
That outfit, that expression…
She had planned this long ago, intending to betray her in the finals and turn her into a clown scorned by all!
And here she thought she was just a naive, clueless fool.
Who knew she could be so cunning!
That bitch!
From now on, she’ll never get anywhere near Yuebai again!