Chapter 14.11
The Organizing Committee arranged the players by drawing lots, knowing what track Zhou Yun Sheng would play, no one wanted to be his follow up act, his performance would make theirs seem more mediocre. Obviously, everyone was similar ages, but the gap was so obvious. He was excellent to the level of inducing fear, it took great courage to compete with his skills on stage.
When it was their turn to put their hand in the black box, everyone began desperately praying, even the self-proclaimed genius Hannah. She’d regarded this session’s championship and the admission to Curtis Music Academy as hers, she hadn’t expected to encounter a true genius like Xue Jing Yi halfway. Because of Xue Zi Xuan, she’d paid close attention to the girl, and could’ve sworn that she was a very ordinary person.
Chinese people viewed arrogance as a thing of shame, perhaps she’d been hiding her strength? True strength should be flaunted rather than striking people off guard, damn it, she must’ve done it deliberately! Hannah indignantly pulled her hand out of the black box and looked at the number, then her face suddenly paled. 12, the middle of the group, usually a very good positon, but because Zhou Yun Sheng was 11, it was a death sentence. After him, who would still have the patience to listen to her song?
“No, how can there be such a coincidence?! Someone must’ve rigged it, I want a re-draw!” Hannah’s family was very prominent in Austria, she looked polite on the surface, but her true character was very overbearing. She insisted that someone was deliberately arranging her number and Xue Jing Yi’s close together since the preliminaries just to embarrass her.
“If you have great strength, nothing in the world can make you feel fearful.” Zhou Yun Sheng lightly commented. The staff translated this sentence into German and English, and the noisy Hannah immediately quieted down, realizing that her unruly behavior had exposed her inner fear.
But when facing such a strong opponent, who wouldn’t feel fear? Thought the remaining twenty-five contestants. No one was willing to draw the number 12 either.
The draw scene was broadcasted live, and the boy’s statement hinting at his strong self-confidence conquered the audience members. The competition had not yet begun, but the ratings were already climbing. Because of ‘To Pavlochev’, people who’d never listened to classical music had become Zhou Yun Sheng’s fanatical fans.
Today, the concert hall was overcrowded, and the cameramen were aiming their lenses at the first few rows of spectators. They were mostly heavy-hitters in the music industry, including Xue Zi Xuan, the eight judges, and several world-class pianists. Then the twenty-six contestants promoted to the semifinals, the international pop music godfather, Bill, the famous director, Parson, and even the Dean of Curtis Music Academy, Beckett.
At the time of the preliminaries, they were scattered around the world and had endless work on their plates, but after listening to the Zhou Yun Sheng’s vivid music, they put everything on hold and came to the venue, wanting to personally appreciate his unique charm.
“Missing the chance to listen to ‘To Pavlochev’ live is my lifelong regret, this couldn’t happen a second time, so I did everything I could to be here today.” In order to hype the competition, the host went around interviewing the heavy weights. This statement was from the Dresden Symphony Orchestra’s lead pianist, Kent.
“I came here for Joy. Her sound watered my almost dehydrated inspiration, so I hope I can have the opportunity to work with her. She’s wonderful, her hands are magical!” Bill directed a NO.1 gesture at the camera, his words revealing utmost admiration.
“Curtis Music Academy needs such talented and passionate students like Joy. Will we accept her? Oh, what a redundant question, as soon as she’d finished playing ‘To Pavlochev’, Curtis’ door had already opened up for her.” Curtis Music Academy’s Dean finished this sentence, then vaguely glanced at the Julia Music Academy’s Dean sitting not far away. They also wanted to enroll this genius, in the future, their rivalry would be very intense.
