Chapter 105
"Boss!" Zhu Le hurried over when he saw the two of them coming, staring at Tang Bai opposite him with hatred, his cheeks puffed up in anger, with an expression as if he was bullied and didn't know what to say.
Tang Bai crossed his arms and looked at Zhu Le with disdain, as if to say, "You just know how to complain." Zhu Le became even angrier.
Although Zhou Li didn't know what happened while they were away, she knew Tang Bai must have had ill intentions. She deliberately tilted her head to Shan Jia and said, "How did we get second place in this competition? Isn't this just a slap in the face of some pretentious people? He made harsh remarks before the game, and then there was a landslide afterward. If I were him, I'd probably be too embarrassed to face anyone. I wouldn't be here yelling like a toad. Don't say that the toad of summer is Doha."
Tang Bai's face turned green, but he also knew that he could not win the argument with Zhou Li. Zhou Li had always gotten the upper hand verbally in several confrontations with him. He snorted coldly and turned around to talk to the person next to him.
Zhou Li sneered and turned to ask Zhu Le, "What does he want to do now?"
Zhu Le said cautiously, "He was talking nonsense, and I was so angry that I said a few words to him. I didn't say anything... hehe..."
Zhou Li held his forehead with his hand. "You can't win an argument, so you just avoid the edge for a while, and rush to ask for a scolding? Zhu Le, do you have a masochistic tendency?"
Zhu Le laughed foolishly.
The room was in chaos, and finally someone stepped forward to act as the host and take control of the situation.
"Are all the guitarists here? Let's go outside!"
"Every band can vote! You can't favor your own musicians!"
"Well, let's put it this way. Each band can vote twice, but they can't vote for their own band, they can only vote for other bands! We're all musicians, we don't play those fancy tricks like knowing each other or who we know. You can only vote for the band you like and think is the best!"
The host briefly explained the rules, and the main group moved outside. Most of the guitarists went outside to build a small stage. Zhou Li saw the cameraman and director also standing in the open space. They probably got the news and thought there was something to shoot, so there were suddenly more people than before.
Zhou Li told Shan Jia: "Don't be nervous, just perform at your usual level."
Shan Jia smiled at her, the corners of his mouth raised slightly and said: "Why do you look more nervous than me?"
Zhou Li glared at her: "That's because someone suddenly scared me."
Shan Jia put his guitar on his back and said coolly, "Let's get started."
Zhou Li waved.
Zhu Le came over and stood on the left side where Shan Jia usually stood, and said worriedly, "Boss doesn't usually work so hard!"
"Believe her." Zhou Li said.
The host borrowed a microphone and jumped onto the stage.
"Let me explain the rules of the competition to all the contestants. You will all perform the same song, and each song will only have two minutes to play. I hope everyone can show a high level of guitar performance in this short period of time!"
"Alright! Let's start with the one standing to my right!"
The others moved aside to leave the main stage for him.
Zhou Li took a look and saw that there were ten bands on the stage with a total of 13 guitarists. Three of the bands had two guitarists. There were also some other musicians who could play guitar, but they simply didn't come up to perform because they were no match for professional guitarists.
Generally, the level of a guitar player is judged from many aspects such as guitar playing skills, musical expression and artistic appeal. Zhou Li is not worried about Shan Jia's music and artistry, but is most worried about her skills. This is mainly because Shan Jia is the only female guitarist present. Generally, the longer a guitarist's hands are, the more they can span multiple pitch ranges. Shan Jia's hands are considered long among female guitarists, but compared with males, they still have some innate disadvantages. I don't know how Shan Jia will make up for this shortcoming.
Because it was not a formal competition, everyone was relatively relaxed. The first musician was not very famous, but judging from his musical skills and understanding of music, he was not bad. It was just that his playing skills needed to be improved.
Zhu Le was also watching with great interest. He played bass, but the structure of this string instrument was similar. He also started with guitar and switched to bass because he loved the low melody of bass, so he knew a thing or two about guitar.
When the second person came on stage, Zhu Le couldn't help but open his eyes wide and breathe heavily with excitement. This was a real master who came purely to show off his skills, which was dazzling to watch.
Zhou Li began to worry about Shan Jia. As expected, those who could enter the audition were not good people. There were hidden dragons and crouching tigers. She turned to look for Shan Jia. She could not see her clearly from a distance, but she could see her calmness. Her body did not sway with the fluctuations of the stage show. She looked like she had seen a lot.
This contestant is definitely not as good as the first one in terms of musical expression, but his guitar skills are indeed impressive enough, as evidenced by the many whistling and cheering people in the audience.
Several more musicians came to perform, each performing for two minutes without a break. Soon it was Shan Jia's turn. She had just gone on stage and stood at the back. The captain of Yizhihua and guitarist Ning Hong had already performed. They were both veterans, with mature skills and extremely stable expressiveness. However, from their playing, one could tell that they didn't seem to take this competition seriously at all. They interacted with the audience while playing the piano, making it like a solo concert. Zhou Li didn't know whether others liked it or not, but at least the atmosphere on and off the stage was good.
Before Shan Jia's performance, Zhou Li also discovered a guitarist with very cool playing skills. He was a master. Zhou Li heard Tang Bai shouting the most happily. Although he had not noticed which team this guitarist was from before, he knew that he should be Tang Bai's man.
It was Shan Jia's turn. Zhou Li's heart was tense. She clasped her fingers together on her legs. Her body, which was originally leaning against the back of the chair, suddenly tensed up and moved away from it. She clasped her hands together and looked at Shan Jia.
Shan Jia lowered his eyes and held the guitar, then suddenly looked up and smiled at the audience.
"Okay, we can start." said the host.
Shan Jia nodded. She saw Zhou Li and plucked the strings without hesitation. Zhou Li was stunned. Not only her, but most of the people in the audience were stunned.
"Did she play it wrong?" someone asked.
"Yes, it's the same song again." Someone said with a serious expression.
The whole audience fell silent, finally recognizing the true color of the original song.
In just a few minutes, Shan Jia completed the arrangement with just a guitar, making the rhythm more powerful. Not only that, her use of vibrato and arpeggios is extremely powerful, her finger skills are very strong, and her muffling technique is neat and crisp. There is basically no noise in the connection between sections, the sound cutting is perfect, and her finger-snap performance technique is mature.
Although she is not as wild and showy as the previous performers and is more restrained, those who know the subject know that her playing skills are not weak. What is even more rare is that her musical expression is very strong. This song has been derived from the original song and truly belongs to Shan Jia, bearing her mark. This is something that no one has shown before. Her musicality and artistry are unparalleled, surpassing everyone else. She is simply a genius, taking an unconventional approach, but outstanding.
After the song ended, everyone applauded Shan Jia. Even Tang Bai had to admit Shan Jia's talent. Her excellence was obvious to all.
After the performance, Shan Jia walked straight off the stage and gave up the stage. She walked towards Zhou Li. Zhu Le, who was originally sitting next to Zhou Li, gave up his stool and brought another one over. Shan Jia held the guitar with one hand and took it off her body. Zhou Li helped to steady it, and Shan Jia sat down.
The two looked at each other on the stage and no one spoke. After a while, Shan Jia asked, "How was my performance?"
"Very good." Zhou Li said truthfully.
Shan Jia chuckled, "It seems that the goddess of luck is on my side today."
Zhou Li tilted her head to look at Shan Jia. Her brows were relaxed, and the rare smile on her face added a bit of liveliness.
"Who is the goddess of luck?" Zhou Li asked.
Shan Jia turned to look at Zhou Li, and the two of them locked eyes. Zhou Li saw herself in her dark pupils. Shan Jia opened her mouth, and Zhu Le happily moved a stool and sat behind them. "Boss, you were so awesome just now! Why don't you teach me these things? I can use them when I play bass! I'm sure you'll charm a bunch of girls."
Shan Jia closed his mouth again.
Zhou Li said to Zhu Le in annoyance: "Didn't your boss teach you normally? It's because you didn't listen carefully!" He wanted to pick up Zhu Le and throw him out.
Zhu Le looked at Zhou Li with a nervous look. He scratched his head, thinking that the captain was irritated by his usual laziness. He scratched his hair and said sincerely, "I will definitely work harder!" He muttered, "You two are too abnormal. I have tried my best to keep up with your progress."
"Huh?" Zhou Li looked at Zhu Le dangerously. Zhu Le chuckled foolishly, sat up straight and sat back, not daring to come any closer, for fear of being killed by the captain.
There was another round of applause from the audience. It turned out that the performance on stage was over and there were only three contestants left.
Zhou Li leaned over to Shan Jia and whispered, worried that others would hear: "Do you think you can win?"
Her breath was very light, gently brushing against Shan Jia's eardrum, making it itchy.
Shan Jia shook his head. Zhou Li leaned closer and lowered his voice, saying, "You are number one in my heart."
Shan Jia looked slightly surprised, then smiled.
She tilted her head slightly, and put her head close to Zhou Li, creating an atmosphere of whispering, "I thought you wouldn't be partial."
Zhou Li smiled and hit Shan Jia's shoulder, "I won't do that to others, but you are one of us."
Shan Jia felt her shoulders sink slightly. Zhou Li put his hand on her shoulder and looked at the stage. She pondered over what Zhou Li said, especially the three words "one of our own", and slowly felt a hint of joy.
Are they one of us? Shan Jia leaned back in his chair and listened quietly to the performance on stage.
The guitar was placed across her and Zhou Li's legs. Zhou Li felt relieved. Although Shan Jia was reckless on stage this time, her performance was still as reliable as ever. If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't give votes to her own people, Zhou Li would have wanted to cast both votes for Shan Jia and cheat openly!
"Okay, the contestants on stage have finished their performances. I'm not sure whose performance you like, but Uncle Da has already made a choice. Even though I'm the host, I also have the right to vote! Please raise your hands and vote!"
"First, contestant number one. What do you think of his playing? How many people support him? Those who support contestant number one, please raise your hands!"
After all, it was a private and impromptu competition, so it was not that formal. The contestants had already run to the stage and sat down, watching everyone raise their hands with a smile. Those who liked the performance raised their hands lazily, and the host counted them and recorded the number of votes on his mobile phone.
After rounds of voting, Zhou Li also voted for his favorite contestants. Since he could not choose people from his own team, Zhou Li reluctantly chose two people from Yizhihua. Yizhihua had indeed been leading with the most votes in the previous counting process.
Next was Shan Jia. Zhou Li looked nervously to see how many people around him raised their hands.
Shan Jia didn't care much about it. She went on stage not for the competition, but with a little selfish motive, and it was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision.
This kind of private competition, after all, is usually a game where acquaintances vote for each other, and everyone will basically vote for people they are familiar with.
"One, two..." The host was counting the votes on the stage.
Zhou Li was surprised to find that almost most people raised their hands, but he didn't know if there were more than Yizhihua Band.
"Twenty-eight votes!" The host was surprised after counting. "It seems our only female contestant is just as capable as any other man! She's leading the older brothers of Yizhihua by just one vote. Do they have anything to say?"
Captain Yizhihua waved his hand, and Ning Hong shouted, "I surrender!"
"Hahahahahahahahahaha." Everyone laughed.
Shan Jia was also stunned. She didn't expect this result.
The voting continued, but no other contestant surpassed Shan Jia. Finally, the host said, "Let our champion come up to receive the award."
"There are prizes?" Everyone was surprised.
Zhou Li said, "Go quickly!" She took the guitar from Shan Jia's arms. Shan Jia stood up still a little confused.
She looked at Zhou Li, who waved at her and told her to go up quickly.
Shan Jia pursed her lips and walked onto the stage. The host handed her a speaker sponsored by the title sponsor as a prize. It must be said that this temporary prize was quite suitable for the music competition. The contestants below laughed and said, "If we knew there was a prize, we would have worked hard just now!"
"So you didn't work hard? The prize you got flew away, didn't it?" Everyone laughed and ended this wonderful night.
Shan Jia stepped down and handed the prize to Zhou Li, then took his guitar and put it on his back. Zhu Le leaned in front of Zhou Li to look him over and whispered, "Is this from a sponsor?"
Zhou Li opened it, took a look, and then closed the box.
The three of them returned to their own residence. When they reached their own territory, Zhu Le dared to ask, "Is this Li Simeng's brother's company?"
Zhu Le looked at the speakers placed on the water bar.
Zhou Li asked, "Didn't you say you were going to get information? What did you hear?"
Zhou Li didn't want Zhu Le to mention anything about the past, so Shan Jia went to put down the guitar.
Zhu Le chuckled and said, "The older brothers at Yizhihua said they haven't come up with any ideas yet."
Zhou Li rolled his eyes at Zhu Le, "So you went there to eat and drink for free?"
"I paid for the takeout too." Zhu Le looked aggrieved, "What you guys are eating is what I ordered."
"Then I'll give you the money back?"
Zhu Le waved his hands hurriedly, "What are you doing to each other?" He also knew that he had said the wrong thing today and didn't dare to tease Zhou Li anymore.
Zhou Li waved his hand and said, "Go to bed early. We'll go to the rehearsal room tomorrow morning."
She went upstairs and saw Shan Jia standing on the second floor in a daze, as if waiting for her.
Zhou Li walked forward. Shan Jia saw that it was her and smiled at her with curved eyes, saying, "Good night."
Zhou Li replied inexplicably: "Good night."
Shan Jia turned around and went back to the room.
Zhou Li only realized what was happening when he saw the closed door in front of him.
Could it be that Shan Jia was waiting for her here just to say good night to her?
I'm depressed. My fingers are still sore. I hurt my fingers while moving things yesterday. I took a rest overnight and can barely write now.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
