Chapter 22: The competition begins; Jiang Zhiyao secretly switches the sheet music.
This was the first time An Shixia had seen Yan Lingyu like this. It felt like she had fallen into some kind of trap, but she was happy to accept it.
Yan Lingyu almost couldn't resist kissing An Shixia's lips, but in the last few centimeters, he changed direction, and his cool lips landed on An Shixia's forehead.
Xiaxia's first kiss shouldn't be so hasty. He wanted to kiss her properly after that grand confession.
Let everyone see that Xiaxia is his.
"Brother Yu, I have to... go back."
The moonlight had quietly descended, and the room was somewhat dim.
Yan Lingyu suddenly reached out and pulled An Shixia into his arms: "Let me hug you for a moment, just for a moment."
An Shixia's head was passively pressed against Yan Lingyu's chest, which was very hard and uncomfortable at all. Moreover, she felt that Yan Lingyu's belt was digging into her, which was also hard.
A question arose in her mind: why was the boy's whole body hard?
Fortunately, Yan Lingyu let go of her after hugging her for a while and opened the door: "You go back first, I'll come and cheer you on tomorrow."
**
Half an hour before the piano competition, all the participants had drawn lots. As expected, Jiang Zhiyao was the last to perform, while An Shixia was the last one.
Before the competition started, everyone was waiting in the backstage lounge. Jiang Zhiyao looked at An Shixia from afar with a strange expression.
An Shixia saw her too, but didn't say anything.
Jiang Zhiyao bit her lip and walked up to An Shixia: "Shixia, you look really good today."
An Shixia retorted, "Did I dress badly before?"
"You look good, but you look even better today. I'm just bad with words, I don't know how to talk. Um... do you need to go to the restroom?"
Jiang Zhiyao was a little nervous at this moment. If An Shixia went, she would still have a chance to get her sheet music.
Jiang Zhiyao's purpose was obvious, and An Shixia nodded: "Go."
She said that she was going to get her bag.
Jiang Zhiyao blurted out, "Wait a minute!"
Her tone was urgent, her heart felt like it was hanging in mid-air, and she was terrified that An Shixia would take the bag away.
"What's wrong?"
An Shixia's hand holding the bag froze in mid-air as she turned to look at her.
"I just went to the restroom, and there was nowhere to put my bag."
The reason is quite valid and convincing, since no one wants to leave their bag on the bathroom floor.
An Shixia lowered her eyes slightly and curled her lips: "But there are a lot of people here, and I'm afraid I'll lose it if I don't take it."
"I'll hold it for you. Even if my bag gets lost, I won't let it get lost. Shi Xia, don't you even trust me this much?"
I know I misunderstood you yesterday, but I've already apologized. I genuinely consider you a good friend. Please don't ignore me, okay?
As Jiang Zhiyao finished speaking, she adopted a pitiful expression, making it hard for anyone to refuse her.
"Okay, then you hold it for me, but please don't lose it, my sheet music is still inside."
An Shixia deliberately emphasized the words "musical score".
Jiang Zhiyao's eyes flickered, and she clutched her bag to her chest in front of An Shixia: "Don't worry, I definitely won't lose it. You should go to the restroom."
An Shixia hummed in agreement and walked towards the restroom.
Jiang Zhiyao watched her walk away, her gaze falling on the bag in her hand.
An Shixia's bag has only one buckle. Once the buckle is opened, everything inside is clearly visible.
But the rest room is full of surveillance cameras, so she definitely can't just switch them out directly.
Her gaze suddenly fell on the waiter beside her, her eyes darted around, and she had an idea.
She quietly unfastened the clasp on An Shixia's bag, then placed her own bag next to An Shixia's. She opened her own bag, pretending to rummage through something, but didn't close it afterward.
Jiang Zhiyao glanced at the waitress out of the corner of her eye. When she saw the waitress walking towards her, Jiang Zhiyao immediately stood up, took her bag, took two steps, and bumped into the waitress.
She then twisted her ankle and fell backward, causing two bags to slip off her and their contents to spill onto the ground.
The waiter, thinking it was his fault, nervously apologized, "Miss, I'm so sorry, are you alright? I didn't mean to..."
Jiang Zhiyao frowned in pain; she hadn't controlled her strength well and her bottom hurt a little when she fell.
But she was in a hurry to change the sheet music and didn't care about that, so she just casually said, "I'm fine."
She stuffed her belongings into her bag, her gaze falling on the two sheet music pieces, a look of determination in her eyes.
She picked up a card at random and looked at it; it was the one An Shixia had played before.
She quickly put the items into her bag and then stuffed all the scattered items on the ground into An Shixia's bag.
After doing all this, Jiang Zhiyao let out a deep breath. She had succeeded; she was sure to win an award this time.
As for An Shixia... I can just say a few sweet nothings to her and she'll definitely believe me.
A genuine smile appeared in Jiang Zhiyao's calculating eyes. She had a premonition that as long as she shone brightly in this competition, her future path would be smooth sailing.
She stood up, straightened her clothes, and casually walked back to her previous spot.
When An Shixia returned, she maintained the same posture as before, as if nothing had happened.
"Shi Xia, the group in front of us has already entered, and it will be our turn soon."
The competition is divided into groups of ten. When the first group is about to finish, the next group just needs to go to the back area and wait to go on stage.
There were restrictions on the number of participants in this competition; only those who had won awards were eligible. As a result, the number of participants was much smaller than in regular competitions, with just sixty people.
Each contestant must finish their performance within 3 minutes; those who exceed 3 minutes will be eliminated.
"Group Six can wait in the backfield now."
The person in charge of the backstage area came in and called out, and Jiang Zhiyao immediately pulled An Shixia forward.
"Shi Xia, let's go inside first."
As the last person in the fifth group came on stage, the piano music could be heard clearly from the backstage area.
As soon as her piano music drifted over, An Shixia was already certain that it was Geng Wen, who had come in second place in the original story.
She played very well, and An Shixia felt it was comparable to her own sheet music. However, she seemed a little nervous and made a minor, harmless mistake at the end.
However, this point resulted in a deduction of 0.5 points, ultimately earning a high score of 98.5, the highest in the entire competition so far.
As she left the stage, a look of annoyance flashed across her face as she passed backstage.
Watching her walk out backstage, Jiang Zhiyao smiled gloatingly. She had been worried that Geng Wen would block her way, but she hadn't expected her to make such a stupid mistake.
After the previous contestants took the stage one by one, only Jiang Zhiyao and An Shixia remained backstage.
Jiang Zhiyao feigned concern and reminded Shi Xia, "Don't be nervous when you go on stage later. If you're like that person just now, it'll be a loss."
"You too, you must do your best."
The better you perform, the harder the fall will hurt.
Jiang Zhiyao couldn't help but smile at the thought of being the champion, and at that moment, her name was called from the stage.
"Shi Xia, I'm going up first."
An Shixia watched her go on stage, then reached for her bag, took out the sheet music, glanced at it, crumpled it up, and threw it into the trash can next to her.
On stage, Jiang Zhiyao's piano music had already begun.
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