Chapter 90: Strength

Yun Jingxiao's face revealed excitement: "Then what kind of songs am I suited to sing?"

As the president of the Philharmonic Society, Yun Jingxiao actually loved singing very much. Unfortunately, the heavens had given him such a voice; as soon as he opened his mouth, it was a form of torture for both himself and others.

Originally, he had wanted to give up and just be a quiet guitarist, but he never expected Miss Luo Quan to tell him he was still salvageable. How could this not make him overjoyed?

Miss Luo Quan answered seriously: "I still need to go back and study this, but I can tell you clearly: your voice is a rare, good voice."

There are so many types of music; it's not as if only soft, sentimental love songs can be popular. Even with Yun Jingxiao's broken-gong voice, he could still conquer an audience.

Having received a clear answer, Yun Jingxiao's mood became much more cheerful, and the topic finally returned to the main subject.

"Tell me about the format for this Komaba Festival singing competition." Miss Luo Quan found a random spot to sit down. Wherever she went, the members of the Philharmonic Society followed.

Kamigaya Lingyin took out her phone and began to recite from the script: "This competition lasts for one day. You perform on stage once in the morning, afternoon, and evening. After each performance, the audience can choose whether or not to vote for you, and the final ranking is determined by the sum of the votes received from the three performances."

Miss Luo Quan was delighted: "That sounds like we should have a huge advantage, after all, the competition venue is at the University of Tokyo."

Kamigaya Lingyin shook her head: "It's not like that. To ensure fairness for this singing competition, each university is only allocated 1,000 voting spots. Students collect tickets with their student IDs, and once the quota is reached, no more are distributed."

Miss Luo Quan nodded: "It looks like we'll have to rely on our own abilities."

Yun Jingxiao let out a sigh: "If that's really the case, then we actually have nothing to fear."

"What do you mean by that?"

Yun Jingxiao explained: "It's probably because the University of Tokyo has occupied the number one spot in Japan for too long. I don't know if it's out of jealousy or some other psychology, but students from other universities have made a pact on Twitter that they must defeat us this time."

Several university student council presidents have already agreed that all votes for this music competition will go to the Kyoto University team. That team is a band that has already debuted and naturally has a certain fan base. If they also get these votes, it will be impossible for us to defeat them."

Miss Luo Quan frowned slightly: "Won't the school do something about it?"

Yun Jingxiao shook his head: "The student council president told us that this is a form of training for us. Either we crush our opponents with absolute strength and maintain the University of Tokyo's title as Japan's number one within the rules..."

"... or we learn to act like adults, win over everyone we can, and defeat our opponents outside the rules."

"In short, the school will absolutely not intervene this time and will let us fend for ourselves. The president has already gone to think of ways, but it looks like there aren't many universities willing to help us."

"To think there's such a tactic. I can only say that as expected of the top brass at Japan's number one university; their way of thinking is different from ordinary people," Miss Luo Quan sighed.

Kamigaya Lingyin clenched her fists: "But it will be different now that you've come. You are the goddess in the hearts of us young people in Japan!"

Hearing this, Miss Luo Quan covered her mouth and laughed: "You flatter me, you flatter me. I can only say that my songs are more liked by young people."

A member shouted: "Not at all! Even my grandfather likes your songs!"

Everyone laughed out loud.

After laughing, Miss Luo Quan said sternly: "No matter how many difficulties we face in this competition, that's a matter for two months from now. We need to do what's in front of us well."

"The first thing is, I want to see your skill level. It's not that I don't trust you; I just want to understand your strength, after all, we are a team from now on."

"That's simple. We'll each give you a solo. I'm the president, so I'll go first," Yun Jingxiao said, picking up his guitar. He strummed the strings with a calm expression; his movements were dashing and free, but the melody he played was exceptionally beautiful.

Yun Jingxiao was playing Miss Luo Quan's "Myall." When she produced this song, she had injured her hand, so she used a computer to simulate the guitar sound. If played purely by hand, there would be more or less some changes in pitch within the melody.

However, Yun Jingxiao did not have such an issue; the melody and pitch were almost identical to the computer-produced version!

Although Miss Luo Quan's guitar skills couldn't be considered very high, her musical literacy was definitely not bad; she would never judge incorrectly in terms of pitch and melody.

After Yun Jingxiao finished playing, Miss Luo Quan was the first to applaud: "Truly incredible. I produced the accompaniment for this song using a computer, and you actually replicated it completely on your own. Amazing!"

Miyano Xia Zi said proudly: "The president was once the youngest Grade 10 guitarist in Asia. Besides ordinary guitars, he is also very skilled at electric guitars, jazz guitars, and ukuleles!"

Miss Luo Quan nodded, thinking to herself: No wonder he can be president; he really has some skills.

"It's my turn." Kamigaya Lingyin sat down next to a piano, placed her hands flat on the keys, and her body fell into stillness. Everything seemed frozen, peaceful and quiet.

Subsequently, her hands began to jump wildly on the piano, and her body swayed due to the violent shaking of her arms. Every light press or heavy strike of her slender fingers produced a string of long or rapid piano notes, and these notes blended together to become exceptionally noisy, as if a swarm of bees were circling everyone's ears.

With such a recognizable melody, Miss Luo Quan knew almost immediately what Kamigaya Lingyin was playing.

It was the famous piece "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Because the melody of this piece is extremely fast, many pianists and violinists like to use it to show off their playing techniques; it is a true piece of virtuosity.

Of course, with Kamigaya Lingyin's level, she certainly couldn't be called a pianist yet, but for her age, it was already quite rare.

After Kamigaya Lingyin finished, it was Miyano Xia Zi's turn with the violin. She chose the same piece as Kamigaya Lingyin, also "Flight of the Bumblebee," and her strength was still stunning.

Miss Luo Quan really didn't expect that a small music club would be so full of hidden talent, seeing three people in a row with such outstanding strength. She wondered if the final member, Amuro Yu, could give her the same surprise.

However, just as Amuro Yu sat down and picked up his drumsticks, the noise coming from the doorway interrupted his performance.

Everyone turned their heads to look. It turned out to be the members of the Karate Club. These members were all boys, chatting and laughing, and their voices were surprisingly loud.

"Are they always this noisy?" Miss Luo Quan asked in a low voice in Kamigaya Lingyin's ear.

Kamigaya Lingyin's expression was solemn: "It will only get noisier once training starts later."

It was clear that everyone's complexion wasn't very good; it seemed that as soon as these Karate Club members arrived, something bad was about to happen.

"Oh... isn't this Goddess Sister Quan Shui? Why are you here?" A sturdy boy from the Karate Club walked over.

He just glanced casually at the Philharmonic Society's side, never expecting to see a figure he had anticipated.

"I am also a member of the Philharmonic Society now." Although Miss Luo Quan didn't know this person, she responded out of politeness.

The boy shook his head and sighed: "That's a real pity. It would be great if you could come to our club... However, your application to join the Philharmonic Society shouldn't have been approved that quickly, right? Perhaps you could change your mind?"

Yun Jingxiao's expression changed: "Iwasaki Eishi, is this how you poach people?"

Iwasaki Eishi spread his hands innocently: "Sister Quan Shui hasn't truly joined the Philharmonic Society yet, so how can this count as poaching? I'm just letting Sister Quan Shui reconsider the club she wants to join. After all, our Karate Club has many entertainment activities in private."

Miss Luo Quan laughed: "For example?"

Iwasaki Eishi thought there was a chance and said happily: "For example, taking a yacht out to sea, surfing in Hawaii, skiing in Alaska, or even going to Las Vegas to play a few rounds. Our members played all these things last year, and there will be even more new tricks this year!"

"That sounds very rich and high-class, but what should I do if I'm a natural landlubber, afraid of the cold, hate gambling, and hate traveling far away even more?"

Hearing Miss Luo Quan completely reject all the leisure activities he proposed, Iwasaki Eishi knew what she meant even if he were stupid: "So, is this a refusal?"

Miss Luo Quan nodded: "In fact, I haven't submitted an application to join the Philharmonic Society. I have been a member of the Linguistics Society from beginning to end, and I have no intention of withdrawing for the time being."

"I see... that's a real pity..." Iwasaki Eishi said softly. Although his expression was calm, the members of the Karate Club all knew this was a precursor to his impending anger.

Jinggong Jinggong Ya Zuo stepped forward and pressed down on Iwasaki Eishi's slightly trembling shoulder: "Eishi-kun, don't bother Miss Luo Quan and the others. Let's just do our own thing."

Iwasaki Eishi looked at the Imperial Grandson and took a deep breath: "Well... since Jinggong Ya Zuo-kun has spoken, I can't refuse to give face. Let's leave it at that."

After speaking, he turned and walked toward the Karate Club's activity half of the room.

"Thanks to your help this time." Yun Jingxiao nodded in thanks to Jinggong Jinggong Ya Zuo.

Jinggong Jinggong Ya Zuo revealed an elegant smile: "It was just a small effort. Eishi was scolded by his parents today and is in a very bad mood. Please don't take offense."

Miyano Xia Zi looked indignant: "It's not the first or second time. When is it not us they take their anger out on? If you have the ability, go provoke the seniors in the Judo Club next door!"

"Keep your voice down." Kamigaya Lingyin tugged at her good friend's arm.

"Then that's it, you guys are busy." As Jinggong Jinggong Ya Zuo left, he secretly glanced at Miss Luo Quan with his peripheral vision.

Very happy, she didn't see him.

Very sad, she didn't look at him. ===== CHAPTER 91 =====