At this moment, the lights focused on the girl.
The entire venue fell silent.
The F-holes of the eighteenth-century Guadagnini cello opened like scarlet eyes beneath the overhead lights, while the gilded snake patterns winding around its body faced the judges' table, flicking their tongues.
Nana Li drew her bow across the strings.
The first performance of the Dragon Qin Cup began!
As the first note was born from the point where the bow met the D string, the gauze curtain over the air-conditioning vent suddenly went still—the entire concert hall became a specimen sealed in amber of rosin.
Gentle, tender music poured forth with the girl's performance.
"Saint-Saëns's 'The Swan.'"
Gan Yan Yu murmured softly, quickly recognizing the piece.
"A moth?"
"The goose from 'swan.'"
Gan Yan Yu added.
Lin Tian looked thoughtful. The author was pretty good at naming things—the title sounded like an insect when spoken aloud.
"..."
Nana Li played with devotion. Her music was pure, immaculate.
Carrying a healing breeze, it drifted gently through the venue, brushing over the audience.
Hm?
Something was off!
Almost as soon as the introductory passage began, Maple Leaf's brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
"It actually seems... pretty good?"
Maple Leaf said, stroking his chin.
Whether it was the expressiveness or her masterful control of the cello,
it was fully worthy of a professional cellist at the Dragon Qin Cup.
It was not nearly as awful as he had imagined!
Hearing Maple Leaf's comment,
Bamboo Leaf froze for a moment, then nudged Maple Leaf's thigh beneath the table.
What did he mean, it seemed pretty good?
Wasn't he giving away what they had been thinking earlier?
After being nudged, Maple Leaf quickly came back to his senses.
Damn!
He had been too shocked and let it slip.
"It's a very