Third Game Begins

After the banquet, all the contestants knew their competition numbers.

Xia Yu was A-32.

It means the first day, the thirty-second one.

This time it was a regional competition, with more than eighty contestants, so it was divided into two days.

The thirty-second would not be until the afternoon, so he could go to the White Cat in the morning to see about the adoption.

He hoped that An Siyao's performance time would also be later, otherwise, he could only watch the recorded broadcast.

At six in the morning, Xia Yu arrived at the White Cat. Eight hours later, it was two in the afternoon, just in time to watch the afternoon session.

At six, most of the children were still asleep. Xia Yu lay beside Tina, waiting while playing with the girl's hair.

By seven, the staff of the welfare home began to move, watching all the children wash up and change into clean clothes.

At nine, a bus arrived at the door, and more than a dozen people got off. They were the ones intending to adopt.

There were many people, but many came as couples, so they could only take away up to ten children from the welfare home.

Using the body of a cat, Xia Yu wandered among these people, but nothing felt particularly special.

These adopters had been vetted, and most of the unsuitable ones had been eliminated.

Two families among the dozen people took a liking to Tina.

With golden hair and blue eyes, even among the white people in District Two, it was rare.

Some radicals even called people with blond hair and blue eyes the most pure-blooded.

The welfare home didn't just let people take a child they liked, but also needed to consider the child's feelings.

So the old administrator asked Tina, who thought of her grandmother and didn't know what to do.

She looked at Xia Yu, who shook his head at her.

Among the dozen people, two had a feeling that made the cat comfortable, but unfortunately, these two families didn't have that.

So the girl refused both families.

The old administrator clearly noticed that Tina's refusal was because of the white cat, and she was about to persuade her, but then remembered the incident where the white cat saved her.

For such a long time, the white cat had never gone out of the welfare home. How could it happen to appear on the day she went out?

It must be a spiritual cat.

So she said nothing more and recommended other children to the two families.

In the afternoon, around one o'clock, the adopters who found their favorite children went to process the paperwork, and those who didn't were sent back.

At two o'clock, Xia Yu returned to his own body. At this time, he was sitting under the stage, and the afternoon competition had already begun.

There was no Liu Ronglan among the judges, in order to avoid suspicion.

The first one on stage was a girl Xia Yu didn't know. Judging from the serious expressions of the people around, she was a formidable character.

The girl wore a plain white Chinese-style costume and held an ancient zither in her hands.

In this world, the ancient zither was also a world-class musical instrument, and it wasn't strange to meet another contestant who played the ancient zither.

After placing the zither, the girl adjusted her armor and began to play.

A cheerful sound echoed through the hall.

After listening to the prelude, Xia Yu identified the song as "Amusement Park Songstress."

This piece of music embodies a kind of unattainable emotion. Although it appears cheerful on the surface, it contains a profound sadness within its tune.

In the first section, the sadness is not too intense. Listening to the music, one can feel the emotions of joy and frustration when pursuing someone, as their every action affects you.

In the second section, the sadness gradually takes up the main part, as the pursuit is rejected and the possibility of companionship is gone. At the same time, a hint of obsession appears.

If you like it, I will change accordingly.

The music then enters a brief period of cheerfulness, representing the effort towards a goal and seeing a bright future.

However, in the third section, the mood suddenly changes. The cheerfulness vanishes abruptly, and the tempo becomes faster. The original joyful emotions suddenly become chaotic.

This is the false happiness being shattered, finally realizing that echoing the other person's preferences is also in vain. Emotions are such irrational things.

But the mood doesn't fall into silence; the chaos slowly fades, and cheerfulness reappears. The dead heart continues with the empty echoes.

After the young girl finishes playing, applause erupts from the audience.

Xia Yu applauds and assesses the girl's skill level. The difference in technique between her and him is not significant. He is currently at the beginner level of Lv4, while the girl is likely around the mid-to-high level.

The five judges on the stage praise the girl's performance before letting her leave.

The next one to take the stage is Xia Yu's acquaintance, the one who had harassed An Siyao in Kaiyang. His skills are considered top-notch in Su Province but not enough on a larger scale.

Ten more people perform before it's Xia Yu's turn.

Arriving backstage, Xia Yu changes his clothes. After the flute player ahead of him leaves the stage, he takes a deep breath, starts his elegant performance, and goes up.

The judges on stage whisper to each other.

"The next contestant, he's the one known for his violin and piano skills, right?"

"His violin has potential, but his piano is just average."

In the regional competition, the judges are somewhat dismissive. Xia Yu's piano level is enough to rank him near the top in Su Province, but it's only considered average here.

"It might be a bit risky for him to make it into the top ten, but there's still hope."

"Let's discuss this later. I didn't enjoy his Flight of the Bumblebee in the video. Now we can listen to it live."

"Hey, I even brought a professional timer."

One of the judges pulls out a timer.

They look forward to Xia Yu's entrance, never thinking that he might not play Flight of the Bumblebee.

Until Xia Yu appears.

Seeing the young man in traditional Han clothing, holding a guzheng, the five judges become restless:

"Who is this? What's going on? Isn't Xia Yu supposed to be next in the lineup?"

"Did he go to the wrong stage? How could such a low-level mistake happen backstage?"

"Wait, it doesn't seem to be a mistake."

"His face is indeed the same!"

They exchange glances, disbelief filling their eyes:

"So, first he plays the piano, then the violin, and now the guzheng?"

"His violin is better than his piano. Can his guzheng really be better than his violin?"

Compared to the judges on stage, the audience below is much more composed.

They are some distance away from Xia Yu, and since he is not wearing a suit but has changed into Han clothing, none of the audience recognizes him, so they are not surprised at all.

At this moment, their impression of Xia Yu was quite profound.

This was because Xia Yu had used elegance, his blue shirt and embrace of the zither giving the audience a feeling that a true ancient noble son had emerged.

Some of the ladies who liked this kind of elegant style were even more dazzled.

After paying respects to the judges, Xia Yu placed the guzheng on the stand in front of him and sat down gracefully.

A group of ladies became more agitated watching him.

Even the posture of sitting down was so handsome!

With his hand hovering over the guzheng, Xia Yu plucked the first string.