Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Of course, Zhao Youyue was calm, she need not have others telling her what real music was, because she had already experienced it firsthand from Chu Luoxun herself.

Out of curiosity, she glanced at him and thought that he was familiar, but she did not actually know his name.

It could not be helped, Zhao Youyue never paid attention to any students with great academic results or to her fellow music contestants, this was how she behaved. She only paid attention to herself, never comparing herself to others, she would be satisfied, as long as she improves herself.

Zhao Youyue kept quiet, but Liu Yuxi was displeased with his attitude, “Mind your manners! Do you want to influence her mind by speaking to her in that foul tone, my little sister will not waver to such petty harassment!”

After being scolded by Liu Yuxi, this male violinist toned down on his imposing manner, “Ahem, allow me to introduce myself; my name is Hang Yongming, a second-year art student. This competition was merely an experience for me because I don’t care about the trophy. I’m not taunting or picking a fight with her; I just feel sorry for her!”

Suddenly, Zhao Youyue remembered him, “Hang Yongming? Aren’t you a senior student at Jiang Nan high school as well? I think I saw your performance during the previous year’s cultural night party; everyone knows how well you played the violin.”

Zhao Youyue said it in a neutral tone as if she was telling a fact, but still, Hang Yongming could not hide his happy face after being praised by the beautiful genius musician, this was something worth being proud of… If only she could say it in a stronger, impactful tone.

“Oh, a junior? You’re currently a first-year student, I presume? Are you going to join the arts class next year?” Hang Yongming said.

Jiang Nan high school had exclusive arts and sports classes to show that the school provided quality education, but usually, the students who joined these classes would not be performing particularly well in their academics.

People often discriminate students who joined these two classes, because the mainstream students of this school were proving themselves capable of achieving good grades, and pushed these two lesser known classes into the shadows. People would look down upon them.

Many students were proficient at drawing in the art class, and only a few played music, probably because music required more talent and finance to nurture.

Hang Yongming was considered the most skillful violinist in Jiang Nan high school; he had shown his skill during a cultural night party in school during his first-year. He got famous because he had played a self-improvised anime song with the violin, not a classical song. Now, he planned to do that again in this competition!

“No, I might be joining the liberal arts class.” Zhao Youyue replied.

“What? Aren’t you going to join in with the pros? I think you totally have the potential to become an international violin master! Not everyone could play a song as precisely as you do.” Hang Yongming always said things with exaggeration, without thinking twice.

“Didn’t you just say that my violin was boring?”

“That’s because you failed to understand the song itself, the songs you played were all too dull, you can’t surprise the audience with that! Haven’t you read a novel called ‘Beautiful April’? Your style totally matched the main hero; only Chu Luoxun can influence people with her music! Err… This character made me aware of something important in music, so I’m gonna be like her in this competition!”

Zhao Youyue saw yet another follower of Goddess Chu; and she asked, “What place did you get on the qualifiers?”

“Fourth… But I don’t think the ranking matters, what really matters is to make the audience feel engaged and have them indulge in the music, that’s the real purpose of playing music, am I right?” Hang Yongming said it with enthusiasm, hinting Zhao Youyue to learn something from Goddess Chu.

“I agree with what you said; it makes perfect sense.” Zhao Youyue replied seriously. Of course, why she wouldn’t agree with Chu Luoxun’s music style, that was part of her!

Hang Yongming became even more excited, as if he had found a confidant, someone that must be shown the way of Chu Luoxun. He did not expect Zhao Youyue to know anything about “Beautiful April,” and started to promote the novel itself. He firmly believed that the author, Leng Zi, was a musician too, or else “she” would not be able to describe classical music so intimately.

Although “Beautiful April” was a romantic novel, it was worth a read to every musician out there for them to learn a thing or two from it. Don’t always play such dull music that won’t sway anyone, that would be pretty boring, can’t you feel that the whole theater is getting sleepy?

Liu Yuxi was trying her best to not burst out in laughter, thinking that this Hang Yongming was a ridiculous person. He did not seriously think that Zhao Youyue would be as reckless as Chu Luoxun in this competition?

Thanks to Zhao Youyue, Liu Yuxi also read the novel, “Beautiful April.” Of course, she was fond of the character, Chu Luoxun. She acknowledged the way Goddess Chu played her music, and she knew Chu Luoxun was already at a level where no one could reach her, but unfortunately her body…

But now, Zhao Youyue was participating a music competition, and her goal was to gain favor from the judges and win it, not please the audience.

Finally, it was Zhao Youyue’s turn, she took her violin and walked up to the stage slowly with her gorgeous gown. When she reached the center of the stage, a murmur rose up from the stirring audience!

With some makeup, Zhao Youyue was absolutely stunning! Even though she did not grow her hair out, she could still awe the audience with her gorgeous gown, because she was already cute in the first place!

Many of the audiences recognized her as the one who got the first place in the qualifiers, and many of the judges believed that she was a genius violinist. She might even be a late bloomer, because she had no prior records of participating in any competitions.

When Zhao Youyue’s parents saw their daughter going up the stage with such grandeur and elegance, they felt very pleased. Wang Hua nearly cried out with tears of joy because she had been expecting her daughter to become the center of attention for years!

Zhao Youyue might have a long way to go still, but at least she had taken her first step…

Han Leng was struck dumb, he nearly cried “Chu Luoxun” out loud, for every move that Zhao Youyue made mirrored Goddess Chu, down to her goddess temperament!

Just what exactly happened?

The judges were admiring Zhao Youyue as well…

When Zhao Youyue started to perform, and Han Leng let out a sigh of relief, this was not Chu Luoxun’s style, not at all!

It was more like Gu Yuan’s style, cold and mechanical; nothing else thrown into the music that she played accurately. She played the classic song in its most original form, right off the bat, and gained the highest rating from the judges!

Hang Yongming was enraged by Zhao Youyue, didn’t she agree to learn from Chu Luoxun?

He felt cheated!

But he decided to turn his rage into power, and use it later to drive the judges speechless. He wanted to show Zhao Youyue what music really was!