Chapter 140: The Final Four

Looking at Classmate Qi Xiaoyue, whose eyes instantly welled up with a mist of tears, Lin Yu wore a faint smile at the corner of his mouth and said, "Silly girl. What is there for me to explain? The Lin Yu she was talking about isn't me. Otherwise, why didn't she look at me when she said those words? This is definitely just a coincidence!"

"Really? But why do I feel like she's into you!" Qi Yue pouted unhappily, her tear-filled, bright eyes glaring fiercely at Lin Yu.

Pinned by that gaze, Lin Yu felt a pang of worry deep in his heart, thinking to himself that this Jiang Lele was truly wicked, deliberately trying to disrupt their "family harmony."

Seeing Qi Yue's innocent yet furious expression, Yang Zhilin, who was standing nearby, saw her face darken all at once, and she demanded accusingly, "If there's nothing between you, why does she keep approaching you time and time again? I remember that at the banquet last time, she was sitting right next to you!"

"Of course she had to bring up the sore spot!"

Hearing this from Yang Zhilin, who never lied, Qi Yue trembled with anger, and Xiao Qiangwei's eyes projected a gaze that clearly labeled him a bad guy.

While the situation here was descending into chaos, Jiang Lele over there was secretly snickering to herself.

After the short episode laden with ambiguity passed, the competition resumed. This time, the contestant was a slightly chubby boy who looked to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, but his skills were quite impressive; his rendition of *Blue Turkey* was played with a delightful, joyful feel.

On the other side, feeling like he couldn't wash himself clean even if he jumped into the Yellow River, Lin Yu's eyes rolled as a thought struck him. With a profound tone, he said, "There really is nothing going on. If there is anything, it's probably just her unrequited wishful thinking. How could the few of you not know who is in my heart? Especially Qi Yue, don't you know?"

Hearing him say this, Qi Yue, who was relatively simple-minded, instantly wore a smug, triumphant smile. After casting a glare at Jiang Lele by the piano, she ordered, "If she's trying to confess her feelings to you, then go reject her right now. Spare some people from holding onto delusional fantasies. Hmph, in the entire Binjiang City, who doesn't know that you're my man."

"Hehe, is it really necessary to elevate this to the level of men and women!"

Lin Yu replied with a chuckle, and then continued, "Can you play the piano?"

"A little bit, why do you ask?" Qi Yue answered with a puzzled expression.

This caused Yang Zhilin and Xiao Qiangwei beside them to exchange a glance and shake their heads in unison, thinking to themselves that this girl was far too easy to coax. A single sentence to change the subject, and she was acting as if nothing had happened at all.

"How about we do this later... sound good?" Lin Yu leaned in close to Qi Yue, whispering softly into her ear.

"Okay, okay!" Once she understood the plan, Qi Yue immediately broke into her most radiant smile, looking very much like Hua Mulan returning victorious from battle.

However, a moment later, she sighed and said, "But... can I do it?"

"If I say you can, you can. Even if you can't, you still can."

Lin Yu offered a reassuring smile and then turned his gaze toward Yang Zhilin, whose expression was slightly chilly, asking, "Zhilin, was that *Moonlight Sonata* you played earlier altered? Why did it sound so different?"

Hearing Lin Yu ask this, Xiao Qiangwei chimed in as well, "It was different, especially after you played it. The timelessness and lingering tenderness in this piece increased by more than thirty percent. The moonlight was no longer gloomy, but directly bright and cheerful. It sounded much more like a sonata of love. It was wonderful, truly great."

Seeing that everyone had locked their gazes on her, Yang Zhilin revealed a faint smile and said with a touch of youthful pride, "This piece was adapted by my mother. Back in the day, she used this exact arrangement to win my father's heart, haha. This was also the first piano piece she ever taught me to play. And the only one, too."

There was such a story behind it?

It turned out that the fiercely cold and proud Xia Ling was the one who took the initiative to pursue Yang Xiong! It really seemed that every force had its match. Thinking of this, the corners of Lin Yu's mouth curled into an amused smile.

Seeing both Lin Yu and Qi Yue wearing playful smiles, Yang Zhilin let out an unsatisfied huff.

Then she explained, "Actually, my father has only gotten chubby in recent years because he attends too many banquets and social functions. When he was young, my dad was an undisputed campus heartthrob."

"Although I haven't met your dad, based on your looks and connecting it to the genetic theory of heredity, I choose to believe your words." Lin Yu was still smiling. Because he found it genuinely amusing, he couldn't hold back and let out a chuckle.

"Quiet down, she's still in the middle of a competition. Where's your decorum? We are all civilized people."

Prompted by Qi Yue, Lin Yu realized he had acted a bit out of line. He felt that the reason for his outsized reaction was entirely due to the deep-seated fear he harbored toward Xia Ling.

Marx once said: To appreciate music, one needs an ear trained to distinguish melodies; to an ear devoid of musical sense, even the most beautiful music is entirely meaningless.

Clearly, everyone present was musically gifted. Although Lin Yu was the only one in the room who couldn't play the piano, his aesthetic judgment wasn't bad.

Yet, as Roger North put it: The purposes of music are twofold—first, to delight the senses through pure harmony; and second, to move the soul or inspire one's passions.

From the extent of his own pleasant state of mind, he could readily judge the quality of the music being played.

When there is music, time always flies.

Amidst one popular and beloved piano piece after another, the hands of the clock quietly ticked forward, and it was already twenty minutes past ten in the evening.

Feeling that it was getting quite late, Lin Yu took out his phone and made another call to his mother, Wang Chunhua, telling her not to wait up for them anymore and that the few of them had matters to attend to and wouldn't be coming over tonight.

The easygoing Wang Chunhua didn't lecture Lin Yu about anything; she merely instructed him to be safe and take good care of the two young women, and then hung up the phone.

Lin Yu, who was slightly baffled as to why his mother had specifically mentioned taking good care of "two girls," could only manage a wry smile.

On the other side, Jiang Lele—who had just dropped a bombshell by declaring that the only person she liked was Lin Yu—calmly took a seat on a barstool and quietly lost herself in the music.

Once immersed in the moving melodies of the piano pieces, Jiang Lele grew completely focused, her temperament vastly different from her usual lively demeanor.

Glancing at her by chance, Lin Yu felt that perhaps every girl might have moments where she possessed a captivating charm.

Yet girls suffered from comparison; by contrast, Jiang Lele, who originally possessed a certain allure, appeared much less prominent—and even seemed devoid of any light—when placed alongside the dazzling brilliance of Yang Zhilin.

Like a single blooming flower that outshines all others, rendering ten thousand beauties pale by comparison—that was precisely what this felt like.

As the river of music flowed on, the final top four contestants were finally born.

They were Yang Zhilin, who had advanced earlier; Jiang Lele, who played the emotional version of *Für Elise*; Yao Sining, the slightly chubby teenage boy; and Zheng Shaoyang, the handsome young man with flowing, graceful hair.