140. What are you thinking?

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“Oh dear, what are we going to do? If that young girl loses, she’ll have to leave the industry and never touch music again.”

Chu Hao suddenly raised his head, his brows drawing tightly together. A trace of anxiety flickered through his eyes, almost imperceptibly.

Shen Lanxin continued to fan the flames. “Why not have your cousin go and help her? Ji Fanxing has signed on to produce five songs with Tianyu, after all. Her fans are eagerly waiting to see the two of them join forces. This would fulfill their wishes as well…”

Chu Hao’s eyes darkened, and his voice sank. “I’m sorry, Grandpa, but I have to leave first.”

“Heh heh, go on, eldest grandson.”

“Hao’er, I’ll have someone deliver the invitation to you.”

As the wife of the head of the Chu Group, the largest entertainment company in the Dragon Kingdom, obtaining an invitation was hardly difficult for her.

Chu Hao gave a slight nod and turned away without looking back.

Watching her son hurry off, Shen Lanxin’s smile gradually widened, and a sly light gleamed in her eyes.

That boy really was all talk and no honesty when it came to his feelings.

Chu Fei looked at his wife with some disapproval. He had heard that Ji Fanxing had severed ties with her family merely because her parents favored one child over another. It was truly rebellious. Was she really suitable for Hao’er?

“Heh. Back then, when I wanted you to join the army, you would rather run away from home than do it and chose to go into business instead. Weren’t you rebellious too?” Old Master Chu suddenly cut in.

“Hao’er is willing. Do you think you can talk him out of it? When you wanted him to study business, he went overseas to study music instead.”

Shen Lanxin looked helplessly at her husband.

Chu Fei covered his forehead. Fine. Nine-tenths of the Chu family’s blood seemed to be made up of defiance. They truly had no right to call anyone else rebellious.

At the Conservatory of Music, in the Department of Traditional Instruments, Ji Fanxing set down her erhu and rubbed her slightly aching wrist.

She had played the erhu continuously for two hours. At last, it was over.

Lu Shengge approached her with a face full of admiration.

“Fanxing, you’re incredible! You played for two hours without stopping. That was absolutely amazing!”

Two hours of playing the erhu at such intensity, and every piece had been difficult. If it had been her, either her mind or her hands would have given out.

“It was all right. The final piece wasn’t particularly difficult.”

When the livestream had drawn nearly one hundred thousand viewers, Ji Fanxing had yielded to the fans’ fervent requests and played almost every song she had released in the Dragon Kingdom on the erhu.

By the end, everyone was exclaiming that the erhu was an instrument without limits.

Their understanding of the erhu had deepened considerably, and no one mentioned anymore that it was an instrument meant only for beggars.

Lu Shengge still could not contain her excitement. Holding her phone, she was practically bouncing with joy.

“In just this short while, I gained five hundred thousand followers! And the livestream’s popularity broke the platform record too!”

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“Fanxing, you’re amazing! Especially the way you looked playing the erhu standing up—so cool and dashing! I never dreamed the erhu could be played like that!”

Ji Fanxing smiled. “I’ll make you a stand. You can try it too. It’s genuinely exhilarating.”

Lu Shengge still had classes to attend. After the group agreed to meet formally that afternoon for rehearsal, they parted ways for the time being.

During a break, Ji Fanxing opened the microblogging platform to see how public opinion was developing today.

She would never have guessed it. The moment she looked, she was stunned.

#JiFanxingChallengesYuanBingbing#

#JiFanxingErhuBattle#

#JiFanxingQuitsTheIndustry#

One trending topic after another appeared, and the hot-search rankings were almost entirely dominated by her.

When she opened the topics, the comments below were even more lively.

【Has Ji Fanxing become far too arrogant? Not only did she make a wager with Zhao De, she even dared to challenge Yuan Bingbing?】

【Bingbing is the queen of cover songs. Every song she sings becomes a hit. Whether in vocal experience or stage experience, Ji Fanxing cannot compare with her. Add Zhao De’s composition to the mix, and I can’t even imagine how wonderful the final piece will be.】

【If she loses, she should quit the industry at once. Stop coming out to embarrass herself!】

【Did this woman attend the exchange conference just to humiliate people? She made a wager and even declared war through music. Isn’t she afraid of how ugly it will be if she loses?】

…

Ji Fanxing frowned slightly. She remembered that she had never said anything provocative. How had such trending topics appeared?

She continued scrolling. Only when she reached the earliest comments did she learn that it had all started because she had played “Horse Racing” with too much murderous intensity.

“All right, then.”

Ji Fanxing spread her hands.

When she had played “Horse Racing,” she had indeed been thinking about how to defeat Zhao De and Yuan Bingbing at the listening showcase.

“I was careless. Music doesn’t lie. I revealed my feelings without realizing it.”

Ji Fanxing drew a deep breath, set her phone aside, and reminded herself that she had to pay attention to such details next time.

At four in the afternoon, most of the conservatory’s students had finished classes. In the rehearsal room of the Department of Traditional Instruments, Professor Gu Huaiyuan brought in several students he had carefully selected.

“Fanxing, they’re the finest students in our department. I’m entrusting them to you now.”

The students held their respective instruments and looked at Ji Fanxing curiously.

Some wore expressions of open admiration, as though they wished to become her disciples immediately.

Others looked utterly bewildered, clearly having no idea what was going on.

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Still others had a hint of insecurity in their eyes, as though they doubted they were up to the task.

After Professor Gu Huaiyuan left, a tall young man holding a xiao stepped forward. A trace of doubt colored his voice.

“When Professor Gu called us here, he gave us a basic explanation. The first week’s listening showcase is only four days away. The traditional-style music you want us to perform is something none of us has ever attempted, and we’ve never even heard of popular arrangements for traditional instruments.

“With so many different instruments among us, can you really teach us well in such a short time?”

Ji Fanxing said nothing. She simply picked up the vertical bamboo flute she had prepared beforehand and casually played a passage.

The flute’s winding melody carried a touch of languor and a touch of spontaneity, like a breeze in early spring brushing across willow branches—gentle, yet brimming with life.

When the piece ended, the young man was completely won over by Ji Fanxing’s skill and lowered his head slightly.

Ji Fanxing spoke slowly. “I know that completing a piece in only four days is a tight schedule, but I can tell you this with complete responsibility: if you follow my instructions, then four days from now, we will present an unprecedented feast for both the eyes and the ears.”

Her tone was firm, and her eyes were filled with confidence. She seemed to possess a kind of magic that made people want to believe her instinctively.

Over the next hour, Ji Fanxing assessed the upper and lower limits of each person’s abilities. Taking their individual strengths into account, she devised a detailed practice schedule for them.

No one objected after that.

Once the students had left, Ji Fanxing fell into deep thought.

Traditional music in the Dragon Kingdom had declined to this extent, yet these students had come here because they genuinely loved it.

Since Professor Gu Huaiyuan had placed them in her care, she would naturally protect and guide them with all her heart.

When it came to those students, forcing growth by pulling at the shoots would only do harm. Steady progress was the best approach.

Her opponents, however, were Zhao De and Yuan Bingbing, both experienced composers and singers.

Zhao De’s rock song “Let Me Be Free” still held more votes than “Whispers of the Pipa.”

After carefully analyzing his musical style, she found that he placed greater emphasis on rhythm.

Traditional-style songs, by contrast, tended to be lyrical and slow to build. If she wanted to overwhelm Zhao De at the listening showcase, she had to choose a song that would dazzle the audience from the very beginning…

Four days was neither a long time nor a short one.

To rehearse a high-quality piece in such a short period—one that would not place too great a burden on the accompaniment—there was only one choice…

“What are you thinking about?”

A slender hand waved before her eyes. Chu Hao had walked to the opposite side of Ji Fanxing, leaned forward slightly, and raised a brow at her.

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