Chapter 30: A Single Sound Shocks the World????“Teacher Xu, I've thought it through and chosen this song. This afternoon, a classmate sang it, and after listening carefully, I feel that there's no major issue. However, I need to practice alone, mainly to coordinate well with the music. I don't want anyone disturbing me, is that okay?

  "No problem, I can guarantee it will be fine after practicing at night."

  For two consecutive nights, Xu Shaojie practiced for an hour each time. No one knew how well he sang, and neither Xu Zhuixin nor the brothers in the dormitory disturbed him. Only Xu Shaojie himself knew that the song "Youthful Ambition Does Not Speak of Sorrow" reflected his thoughts, and he was able to infuse emotions into it. The first time he sang along with the music, Xu Shaojie thought of his father and shed tears, taking a long time to control his emotions. Xu Shaojie listened to Liu Huan's original version, savoring every note, and in reality, he only sang three times each night, spending the rest of the time listening and feeling the melody.

  The final will be held in the evening at 7 o'clock in the school hall.

  The preparations started in the daytime, and the school leaders will participate. The final is not as casual as the preliminary round, each department has sent invitations, and professors from the Music Academy have been invited to serve as judges, with scores announced on the spot, striving to be fair.

  The contestants participating in the final, Xu Shaojie was the calmest, couldn't see any urgency, the brothers in the dormitory were anxious and jumping with both feet, all suggesting how Xu Shaojie should do this and that. Some suggested that Xu Shaojie go get a makeover, some suggested that Xu Shaojie go get a beauty treatment, some suggested that Xu Shaojie go familiarize himself with the judges, but it was all in vain. In the end, Xu Shaojie said one sentence that made everyone furious and almost led to a group attack on him. Xu Shaojie was really fed up and said "the emperor is not anxious, the eunuchs are", and the crowd said that Xu Shaojie was like a dog biting Lu Dongbin, not knowing good people's hearts. As a result, the crowd argued with Xu Shaojie about who was the emperor, who was the eunuch, who was the dog, and who was Lu Dongbin, and in the midst of the noise, time slowly passed by.

  Xu Shaojie appeared in the auditorium wearing a white shirt and black pants. He didn't wear makeup or dress up, looking just like he normally did. The song chosen by the finalists had been made public earlier, so everyone felt surprised when they saw Xu Shaojie walk in. No one had ever seen him sing before, yet he chose "Youthful Ambition Knows No Sorrow". This song was too difficult for anyone to sing successfully in the previous rounds, with a pitch that was too high.

  Xu Shaojie sat in the contestant's seat, because he was the last one on stage, so he looked a bit leisurely.

  The final began, and the first contestant to take the stage was a girl. Perhaps she was too nervous, but she actually sang off-key. The audience let out a collective sigh, and some people who normally sing well just can't handle big stages. This kind of training opportunity isn't always available, and it's still rare for university students to go out and sing karaoke.

  When Zheng Yuxin came on stage, Liu Hong applauded hard, while Xu Shaojie drooped his eyelids.

  Zheng Yuxin chose Eason Chan's "Floating Snow", a Cantonese song that can also be sung in Mandarin. Zheng Yuxin chose to sing it in Mandarin, which made Xu Shaojie secretly sigh, thinking that she would definitely not succeed. Nowadays, Cantonese songs all have their own unique flavor, and singing them in Mandarin just doesn't feel right. As expected, Zheng Yuxin's score wasn't very high, but her voice was still pretty good. The professor who gave the critique pointed out that in the future, when choosing a song, Zheng Yuxin should consider choosing a Mandarin song.

  Liu Hong's rendition of Zhang Mingmin's song "One Plum Blossom" was excellent. Many people have sung this song, but it's not easy to sing well. Liu Hong performed with confidence and passion on stage, and the applause after his performance was particularly enthusiastic. Liu Hong won the highest score without any suspense. When the professor commented, he praised Liu Hong for having a talent similar to some students from music academies' vocal departments. Xu Shaojie saw the admiring and gentle gaze in Zheng Yuxin's eyes, who was sitting not far away. Zheng Yuxin subconsciously looked at Xu Shaojie, but saw a cold smile on his face.

  Liu Hong came down looking very happy, he was the most prominent in the semi-finals and entered the final with the highest score. As expected, everyone thought that Liu Hong would be the champion of the final.

  Xu Shaojie was the last to go on stage. Unlike all the previous contestants, Xu Shaojie went on stage calmly and quietly, with a smile on his face, as if he were detached from everything. All the judges felt that it was strange for a contestant to have such an attitude, which could either be due to extreme confidence or indifference. Everyone originally thought that choosing a song like "Youthful Ambition" in the competition was not a wise decision, and even a slight mistake would lead to problems. An experienced contestant would not make such a choice unless they were exceptionally talented. Moreover, many judges knew that Xu Shaojie had not participated in the preliminary round and directly entered the final round, so no one had high expectations for him.

  When the host introduced, Xu Shaojie unexpectedly discovered Tang Wanrou. This girl didn't know how she got in and sat in the front row. At this time, Xu Shaojie couldn't care less, saying he wasn't nervous was a lie. All of Xu Shaojie's thoughts were focused on the song, and he wasn't paying much attention to the outside world.

  The music started, and the song "Youthful Ambition Does Not Say Sorrow" had two accompaniment rhythms. One was Liu Huan's original accompaniment, which was very difficult, and the other was a musical accompaniment that made it easy to sing karaoke. Xu Shaojie was not so arrogant after all, choosing the karaoke accompaniment, after all, he was not a professional singer. Xu Shaojie quickly immersed himself in the music, forgetting everything outside. At this moment, he thought of the hardships of his childhood and youth.

  "Several times of wind and rain, several times of spring and autumn, the wind, frost, snow and rain are intertwined with the rapid flow, having experienced hardships and tribulations, my heart remains unchanged, the ambitions of youth are not spoken in sorrow..."

  When the singing started, the auditorium was particularly quiet, including all the judges, who were also quiet. When the previous singer performed, the judges discussed with each other, but this time, everyone did not discuss and listened to Xu Shaojie's performance.

  Xu Shaojie finished singing, and the auditorium was still quiet. A few seconds later, thunderous applause erupted. Downstage, Liu Hong's face looked very unsightly, Zheng Yuxin lowered her head, and her expression couldn't be seen clearly. Liu Hong knew that today's champion must be Xu Shaojie. If he himself were to win the championship, it would be embarrassing to go on stage to receive the award.

  Xu Shaojie got a few perfect scores, and when the results were announced, the applause was even more enthusiastic. Tang Wanjun stood up to applaud, drawing everyone's attention. It seemed that there wasn't such a beautiful girl in school. However, seeing Tang Wanjun so excited, everyone couldn't help but start wondering, if she didn't know Xu Shaojie, why would she be clapping like this?

  The professor commented simply: Without professional training or full emotional investment, it's hard to sing "Youthful Ambition Never Fades" well. Xu Shaojie's singing made him wonder if Xu was a top student in the vocal music department of a music academy.

  Xu Shaojie won the championship without suspense.

  Xu Shaojie saw his homeroom teacher, Xu Zhuxin. His eyes seemed to have tears in them. Xu Shaojie didn't know what to say. Xu Zhuxin helped him completely shatter the demon in his heart, the hurt caused by emotions, and from this moment on, it completely disappeared. What Xu Shaojie thought of was his own ridiculousness, actually sighing over a lost love that wasn't worth remembering for such a long time. If he hadn't participated in this singing competition, Xu Shaojie would still be trapped in it.

  The gaze in Tang Wanrou's eyes made Xu Shaojie's scalp feel a little numb, it was unreserved adoration and admiration. Xu Shaojie was somewhat intimidated by Tang Wanrou, this girl seemed harmless on the surface but was actually a rose with thorns, if he could transfer her, Xu Shaojie would do so without hesitation.

  Xu Shaojie had just come down from the stage after receiving his award when he was surrounded by Ma Jianhua and others, who were clamoring for him to treat them. As the first-place winner, Xu Shaojie had received a 100-yuan cash prize, and with many female classmates casting admiring glances his way, he almost melted under their gaze.

  "Alas, the squad leader is indeed the squad leader. You guys say that in the army, a squad leader is the lowest-ranking officer, just one rank above a soldier. Our Squad Leader Xu usually keeps a low profile, but at critical moments, he makes a stunning move. Brothers, isn't this just like Chu Zhuang Wang? Brothers, how should we punish Squad Leader Xu today?"

  "Sun Yong is right, we should punish him severely. I think this way, since Xu Ban Zhang got the bonus today, let's find a way to use it up cleanly, what do you brothers think?"

  Ma Jianhua, Du Yuxin and Sun Yong, among others, surrounded Xu Shaojie and walked out of the auditorium. Xu Shaojie kept searching around with his eyes for Tang Wanyu, this girl was clever and would definitely show up.

  "Xu Shaojie, congratulations on winning the singing competition's championship, future singer."

  Ma Jianhua and others were shocked by the sudden appearance of Tang Wanrou, this girl is really beautiful, it's just that no one has ever seen her before. Everyone looked at Xu Shaojie with a flustered face, his eyes contained too many meanings, if it weren't for Tang Wanrou being in front of them, everyone would have swarmed up and questioned Xu Shaojie already.

  "Tang Wanrou, hello, I didn't expect you to come watch the singing competition."

  "Xu Shaojie, as a reward, this is for you. Remember, you owe me one."

  Tang Wanrou handed Xu Shaojie an envelope, but before he could see what was inside, Tang Wanrou had already left. Watching her leave, Xu Shaojie let out a sigh of relief. It was already late at night and the girl was outside, which was indeed inconvenient, so he wouldn't have to send her off later. The Public Security University was still some distance away from here.

  "Xu Ban Zhang, you're hiding something from us! Hand it over and let's take a look. If it's a love letter, we promise not to leak it out."

  Sun Yong snatched the envelope and hastily opened it. Xu Shaojie tried to grab it back, but was held back by others around him. Xu Shaojie didn't know what it was, but based on intuition, he thought that Tang Wanru wouldn't send a love letter or anything like that. Their relationship hadn't reached that level yet, and besides, nowadays it's usually men who write love letters to women.

  "Wow, driver's license, Xu Ban Zhang, you're not simple at all! You actually got a driver's license, tsk tsk, impressive, too impressive! I really didn't expect that. Honestly, what was the name of the beauty who just helped you, and what's your relationship with her? She even helped you get a driver's license!"

  Xu Shaojie was stunned and quickly took the driver's license, looking at it carefully. The photo on it was exactly the same as the one on his ID card, which he had only applied for last year. Xu Shaojie couldn't care about other people's teasing and quickly thought about Tang Wanrou's background. Getting a driver's license was not easy for ordinary people, requiring training and a series of exams, plus some money. Yet Tang Wanrou had somehow managed to get it done easily, without him even knowing.

  "Xu, squad leader, honestly confess and share your experience with the brothers. You're always ahead of the times, having two 'plum blossoms' already, while we're still single, it's not fair! Today you sang so well, who knows how many beautiful girls are waiting for you in the back."

  "Sun Yong, you little rascal, want me to introduce that beautiful girl from earlier to you?"

  "That's a good idea, Captain Xu. Let's go see this chick tomorrow. Don't say anything now, there are a bunch of perverts around and I don't want them to ruin my chances."

  Ma Jianhua showed a look of indignation and his eyes rolled around before he spoke slowly and deliberately.

  "Xun Yong, have you ever heard of a saying: 'Fresh flowers arranged on cow dung.'"

  Sun Yong immediately looked at Ma Jianhua, very dissatisfied.

  "Sun Yong, don't look at me, this is Xu Ban Zhang's transfer target. The beauty didn't even glance at us just now, how can you, a toad, jump around? You won't get to taste the swan meat anyway. Let's ask Xu Ban Zhang about the flavor of love instead. I've always wondered why Xu Ban Zhang performed so exceptionally, it turns out it's the power of love! Ah, the power of love is truly great. Right, Sun Yong, if you can experience the power of love, this time we'll be able to get second place and surpass Liu Hong."

  Everyone burst out laughing and surrounded Xu Shaojie, walking towards the outside of the school. The night market food outside was not bad, mainly targeting students, so it wasn't expensive. With this 100 yuan, they could have a good meal.

  The boss of the night market had a bitter face, he looked at Sun Yong helplessly. With such a singing level, he dared to come out and show off. Several people who were preparing to have a midnight snack couldn't bear Sun Yong's romantic singing and escaped in the midst of his song. This group of college students was really strange, they ate with relish, unmoved. Could it be that they were tempered by such singing every day? The boss had guessed correctly, everyone had already developed immunity to Sun Yong's singing.

  Sun Yong got drunk and when he returned to the campus, he was wailing like a ghost, taking one step forward and two steps back. His mouth didn't stop pouring out emotions. Ma Jianhua and Du Yuxin were holding Sun Yong up, but they weren't much better off themselves. They simply sang along with Sun Yong. Xu Shaojie was still sober, watching from behind with caution, as if he had done something wrong.

  The enthusiasm for the singing competition quickly dissipated, and everyone continued to study. Life returned to calmness. Tang Wanruo never came looking for Xu Shaojie again. Everyone also believed Xu Shaojie's explanation that it was just a coincidence because they met while studying at the Public Security Academy, so he helped her with the driver's license. Xu Shaojie never mentioned Tang Wanruo's name, and Tang Wanruo didn't come to Xilin University, making the people in the dorm even more convinced it was just a chance encounter.