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Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Slap in the Face: Dimensional Reduction Strike (Part 2)
What’s called a dimensional strike.
If Lu Qianrou’s piece just now was considered splendid by everyone.
Then Lu Sheng’s piece can only be described as shocking and incomparable.
This is not merely a question of whether one’s piano performance skills are superb.
The whole song is like telling a story with movements, progressing with the leaping of notes, unfolding the scroll of history before everyone.
—Above the Wasteland.
What is Above the Wasteland?
Even though China today stands proudly at the summit of the world, having reclaimed its voice, no Chinese person could forget the humiliating history that occurred less than a century ago when our motherland was invaded, trampled, pillaged, and insulted.
That humiliation is etched into the bloodline of every Chinese person, and this piece named "Above the Wasteland" suddenly awakened the memories sealed within everyone’s blood.
Striving, uplifting, fighting, ascending.
Above the Wasteland represents an indomitable hope.
Lu Qianrou’s piece depicted the tender love and attachment between lovers, while Lu Sheng’s depicted a sweeping landscape and the rebuilding of a nation and home.
It was already a level above in terms of scope and intent.
Not to mention the impeccable technique and performance.
The single tear that the girl shed after finishing her performance resonated in everyone’s heart, making everyone’s heart tremble with it.
The barrage in the live broadcast room paused for a moment.
The ridicules and wait-for-a-laugh comments that were there before vanished at the first bar of the music.
No distinction between professionals and amateurs was needed; anyone with a normal hearing could tell how strong the girl’s piano playing was.
There was simply no comparison with others.
Some even felt that her performance could hold its own against Master Osborne’s live performance.
Even more so, it had the authenticity and passion unique to youth.
Because of youth, because of representing a new life force, tears welled up in the eyes.
A true, dimensional strike.
At this moment, no one in the barrage was mentioning the rumors about the girl sleeping with old men from the organizing committee for the sake of competition eligibility.
With such piano skills, it wouldn’t have been too much if Master Osborne himself had written an invitation letter for the girl.
Was there a need to sell her body for qualifications?
Li Muchen took a deep breath below the stage.
At this point, he knew why, when the girl saw the vicious comments on Weibo that day and asked if she needed him to do anything, she said there was no need, that she was clear about it in her heart.
She did need him to use any tactics or connections, and she didn’t need any explanations or defensiveness.
Ability was the best proof.
Brutally slapping the face of all the trolls.
In the audience, Lu Qianrou’s lips trembled, shaking her head in disbelief, murmuring: "How is this possible... how is this possible..."
Jiang Ting and Jiang Yusheng were also struck by lightning, unable to recover their senses.
In stark contrast was Lu Youye, standing on the other side below the stage.
"My Shengsheng wah wah... truly deserves to be my sister! So impressive!" 𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
Lu Youye, with tears at the corners of his eyes from the performance, was excited like a Husky, almost jumping up, wanting to rush to the stage to give Lu Sheng flowers.
He was pulled back by the expressionless Lu Siyan grabbing his collar, speaking with some speechlessness: "... You think this is a concert? Calm down a bit."
In the VIP viewing box upstairs, Lu Ziye, who had been wearing sunglasses, also took them off, revealing a seriousness rarely seen in his flirtatious peach eyes.
The assistant beside him, Tan Jun, took a deep breath.
"... You actually got it right."
"This sister of yours who you haven’t formally met is indeed much better than your Qianrou sister."
The judges’ evaluations were unprecedentedly unanimous.
No criticism or comment, just emotion and praise.
As soon as the final scores appeared on the big screen, everyone couldn’t help but widen their eyes.
—9.85 points!
Removing one highest score and one lowest score, the average score of the remaining five judges was still a high 9.85.
This is the highest score received by a contestant in the seven China piano competitions so far, directly breaking the record.
Compared with Lu Sheng’s 9.85, Lu Qianrou’s earlier 9.57 was simply not worth mentioning.
The champion was decided.
The whole venue boiled over.
Only the girl remained calm, standing up slowly from in front of the piano, just as composed as she was before performing, neither humble nor arrogant.
Since the last contestant had finished performing, according to procedure, the host invited all the contestants back to the stage.
The big screen displayed the ranking of the eighteen contestants by their scores; Lu Sheng was naturally far ahead of everyone, ranked in the first position.
Whose trophy the championship belonged to was beyond question.
Lu Qianrou clenched her fists, nails digging deep into her flesh, barely squeezing out a smile in front of the camera.
But that smile was uglier than tears; it was uglier than crying.
"So, I announce that according to the ranking of scores, the champion of this piano competition is contestant number 18, Lu..."
Before the host could finish saying "Lu Sheng," at this moment, an unexpected event occurred.
The contestant named Hu Ye, who was ranked third, suddenly stood up, seized the host’s microphone, and said excitedly: "This Lu Sheng cannot be the champion!"
"What she played just now was not her original piece! That’s a violation of the competition rules, her score should be voided!"
...What?
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole venue erupted.
All the live audience members were dumbfounded, the barrage in the live broadcast room exploded with comments, and even the judges on the judges’ bench were stunned.
Hu Ye was saying Lu Sheng’s performance wasn’t her original piece?
But how could that be possible.
The judges were all renowned industry veterans, and the venue was not short of professionals and amateurs in the piano world.
Such a stunning piano piece, if it had been previously published or performed, would have surely caused a sensation, and they couldn’t possibly have never heard of it before.
Only Osborne perked up, as if realizing something, glancing at Lu Sheng on the stage subconsciously.
...So that’s how it is.
No wonder he had felt a vague sense of familiarity when listening. So this was the reason!
Suddenly accused of breaking the rules, the girl did not defend herself, turning her head to look at the excited Hu Ye.
One of the judges sitting next to Osborne couldn’t help but ask Hu Ye: "Contestant, what do you mean by saying Lu Sheng’s piece is not original, is this piece someone else’s creation?"
"Of course!" Hu Ye replied excitedly, "I’m a fan of Rosy, and I was born with absolute pitch; others may not recognize it, but I can."
"This piece that Lu Sheng just played is basically the backward rendition and adaptation of Rosy’s ’Daytime Fireworks,’ if you don’t believe me, you can compare it with the recording."
"The competition requires all contestants to participate with their original compositions. However, Lu Sheng performed Rosy’s piece, isn’t this a violation of the rules?"
"Not only should Lu Sheng not be a champion, but she should also be disqualified because it’s intentional cheating and also infringes on Rosy’s rights. She should be punished!"
