NOVPUB
Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Falling Off the Horse in Public + A Series of Humiliations②
In just a few minutes, Lu Qianrou’s heart was on a roller coaster ride.
When Lu Sheng’s score came out, she thought she wouldn’t be first anymore, but then Hu Ye pointed out, saying that Lu Sheng played Rosy’s piece, not her own, she was overjoyed beyond measure—
Now the championship was hers again!
However, before she could celebrate for long, there was a shocking turn of events, as Lu Sheng actually claimed to be Rosy.
Ridiculous, truly ridiculous.
She started learning the piano at the age of five, taking piano lessons that cost thousands per session every week, winning awards in various international and domestic piano competitions, yet her level was still not even half of Rosy’s.
How could Rosy possibly be Lu Sheng? How could Rosy possibly be this girl who grew up in the countryside, who knows if she ever took piano lessons, who never participated in piano competitions??
She didn’t believe it. no𝚟𝚙u𝚋.c𝚘m
She just couldn’t believe it!
Jealousy clouded Lu Qianrou’s mind, but the audience, netizens, and other jury contestants weren’t fools.
If just any high school girl claimed to be Rosy, they definitely wouldn’t believe it.
But the girl just now had conquered the whole audience with a performance that could be called perfect and breathtaking, and she played from beginning to end without music sheets, calm and collected.
Such skill was far beyond that of an ordinary person, even surpassing several of the judges seated on the jury.
And if the piece wasn’t self-composed, how could one express the emotions within the music so vividly?
But this time, before Lu Sheng had the chance to retort, Master Osborne was the first to stand up, visibly agitated.
He walked straight to the stage, his brow furrowed, saying to Lu Qianrou, "What do you mean Rosy wouldn’t stand up and refute? Sheng is Rosy!"
With the master speaking out, everyone suddenly realized a problem.
That piece "Daytime Fireworks" was originally sent directly to Osborne’s email by Rosy a year ago.
Even if no one knew who Rosy was, Master Osborne himself would certainly understand.
Osborne said to the camera: "A week ago, I saw a Chinese girl’s piano performance at a banquet online. Because I wanted to make her acquaintance, I decided to set the destination of my trip to China in Jiang City."
"It was not until I emailed Rosy about this matter that I learned that this Chinese girl I admired was Rosy herself, which thrilled me."
"So I immediately changed to the earliest flight, came to Jiang City, and met with Sheng. After dinner, Sheng even made a point of escorting me back to the hotel."
"This China Piano Competition invited Rosy to participate, and it was I who personally recommended her to the organizing committee. Now, Miss Lu Qianrou, do you see any problem with this?"
Since Hu Ye pointed out that Lu Sheng played Rosy’s piece, the number of people entering the livestream increased more and more, with the count directly soaring to a million.
Some netizens were here to watch the drama, some to see contestants clash, some were Rosy fans coming to scold Lu Sheng.
But the few sentences Master Osborne just said contained too much information.
[The performance that Master Osborne mentioned, that’s the piano performance by Lu Sheng at the Fu Family charity dinner, right?]
[It turns out that like us, the master didn’t know Rosy’s real identity before either. Suddenly got the same shock when the master received the email.]
[That’s not the point; the point is that Master Osborne said that Lu Sheng’s participation was personally recommended by him and the organizing committee... which means that Lu Sheng didn’t actively sign up, but was directly invited to participate by the organizing committee?]
[Watson, you’ve spotted the blind spot. This means there’s absolutely no need for Lu Sheng to rely on underhanded methods, so those online rumors saying Lu Sheng slept with the organizing committee members to get her qualification are simply ridiculous.]
[Hold on, I just compared the photo that was circulating online of Lu Sheng checking into a hotel with a man, and that man, judging from his hair color and back, is unquestionably Master Osborne himself, right?]
[Didn’t the Master just say that he had dinner with Lu Sheng upon arrival in Jiang City, and after dinner she even took him back to his hotel? That photo must have been sneakily taken while Lu Sheng was taking Master Osborne back to the hotel!]
[Damn, Master Osborne’s character is witnessed by the whole world, and he previously stated that Rosy is his close confidant. Yet such a pure friendship of different generations has been twisted into something foul on Weibo, luckily the Master doesn’t use Weibo, or he would be furious to death.]
[Oh shoot, someone has already posted those disgusting comments from our domestic Weibo to the foreign internet. Now we’ve lost face abroad; people must think Chinese netizens have no brains, low standards, and filthy mouths.]
[It’s all that damn person who took the photo’s fault, not clarifying the facts before posting online. Those clickbait accounts are even worse, just chasing views without investigating the truth behind the matter. Weibo really needs to crack down on these marketing accounts!]
Sitting among the audience in Class A, Tang Yiyi’s face turned from green to red, unable to help but awkwardly clench the hem of her clothes.
Turns out what Lin Ya said was right... That old man with Lu Sheng in the hotel really was Osborne!
Now everyone else understands why Master Osborne had been searching for Lu Sheng’s figure in the venue the whole time, and why he was so thrilled to see her.
And why Master Osborne personally asked the competition organizers to prepare tickets and front-row seats for their entire class.
This is just too....
Exasperating.
Lu Sheng’s setback made this already exasperating scene even more so, with non-stop discussion on-site and comments in the live stream.
The host came back to her senses and said excitedly, "Since Master Osborne has already vouched for Miss Lu Sheng, then I can also declare that Miss Lu Sheng is undoubtedly the champion of the Seventh National Piano Competition in China."
After finishing her statement, she continued, "Thus, the runner-up of this competition is contestant number 17, Miss Qianrou, and the third-place winner is..."
"Wait a minute."
Before the host could finish, Lu Sheng suddenly interrupted her, once again silencing the entire venue.
The host was also taken aback, "What’s the matter Miss Lu Sheng, do you have a question?"
Lu Sheng said, "Since the competition rules state that one must play their own composition, then I’d like to know what the punishment is for using someone else’s work in the competition?"
"If you didn’t use your own composition to compete, of course, you’d be disqualified from the competition," the host replied.
"And stealing someone else’s work is even more despicable than hiring a ghostwriter to compose for you, and contestants who do such a thing will not be allowed to participate in the National Piano Competition in China ever again."
Lu Qianrou had already stiffened from the moment Lu Sheng uttered "Wait a minute."
And Lu Sheng’s following words caused her shoulders to shake uncontrollably.
No, don’t...
She knew what Lu Sheng was about to say... She was going to expose her! Doing this would ruin her in front of so many spectators and the whole internet!
Lu Sheng glanced around the audience and said, "The reason I had no score to adapt on-site is that the composition I had originally written to compete with was performed by someone else ahead of me."
The host widened her eyes and gasped, "You mean..."
Lu Sheng gave Lu Qianrou a cold look, "The real person who used someone else’s composition to compete is this Miss Qianrou. The piece she played earlier, ’Dusk Descent’, is my composition."
