Chapter 65: Stunning!

Listening to the waves of derisive laughter, Lin Yichen furrowed his brow into a tight knot.

He had thoroughly investigated Xiasheng's past. She had lost her mother the moment she was born, and throughout her childhood, only Nurse Chen had looked after her. As for her education, due to Tan Li's covert sabotage, it had always suffered from major flaws, making her look nothing like the daughter of a wealthy family.

Once she grew old enough to understand things, Xiasheng proved even more rebellious than ordinary girls, choosing to study far away from home and attending only an ordinary school. Where on earth would she have had the opportunity to learn something as luxurious as the piano?

"Hey, your sister... she doesn't actually know how to play the piano, does she?" Lu Sian sensed that the atmosphere was off and whispered to Xia Yu beside him.

"I don't know, but I've truly never seen my sister play the piano." Xia Yu deliberately raised her voice just enough for the classmates sitting in front of her to hear.

And once those classmates heard it, the news spread rapidly through the crowd like wildfire.

"What are you laughing at? Not knowing how to play the piano isn't some disgraceful thing. Were you all born knowing how to play?" Lin Yichen could no longer hold back. He stood up, walked over to Xia Rusheng, and prepared to take her hand and lead her away. How could he possibly stand by and let his fiancée be mocked by others!

To everyone's surprise, Xia Rusheng merely cast a calm glance at him, gently shook off his hand, walked up to the piano, and asked with a smile, addressing the classmate who had made the "suggestion," "What is your name? What piece would you like to hear?"

Clearly not believing that Xiasheng could actually play, and assuming she was just putting up a stubborn front to save face, the girl blurted out, "My name is Chen Yuqing. I want to hear Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. Can you play it?"

As soon as Chen Yuqing's voice fell, everyone in the piano hall gasped. That piece was referred to by Rachmaninoff himself as his "elephant work" and was universally acknowledged as one of the most difficult piano pieces in existence!

Asking someone who couldn't play the piano to perform this was nothing short of malicious entrapment.

Xia Rusheng frowned slightly. The piece was indeed tremendously difficult; without a certain level of musical mastery, no one could play it well. While she could technically play it, given her current skill level, doing so would likely still invite criticism.

It left her with no easy way forward or backward—what a vicious scheme!

"I can play it if you want to hear it, but I have a condition," Xia Rusheng suddenly said to Chen Yuqing with a smile. "If you can defeat me in a piano duel, I will play the Third Piano Concerto for you. But if you lose, I want everyone who just laughed out loud to apologize to me, especially her!"

With that, Xia Rusheng pointed straight at Shen Rou.

"Are you challenging me?" Chen Yuqing asked in shock, then cast a flustered look at Shen Rou. Why was the development turning out completely different from what Shen Rou had claimed? Didn't Shen Rou say Xiasheng didn't know how to play the piano? So why would she dare to issue a challenge?

"Think of it however you like. Do you dare accept the challenge?" Xia Rusheng challenged, glaring at her.

"Why wouldn't I!" Shen Rou secretly glanced at Xia Yu, then gritted her teeth and answered on Chen Yuqing's behalf.

Driven into a corner with no other choice, Chen Yuqing walked over to another piano and asked, "Which piece?"

Xia Rusheng smiled faintly. "Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's *Flight of the Bumblebee*. Me first or you first?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the crowd below was struck dumb with shock once again. That piece was exceptionally fast!

"You go first." Chen Yuqing now fully believed that Xiasheng knew how to play, and she knew just how fast the piece was, but she had no choice now except to bite the bullet. The tallest tree catches the wind; this time, she was taking the fall for Shen Rou.

Amidst the gaze of all present, Xia Rusheng pressed the first key. Down below, many people immediately pricked up their ears to listen, while Chen Yuqing pulled out her phone to start timing. Her own personal record for this piece was eleven notes per second, and she refused to believe Xiasheng could be faster than her.

Lin Yichen and Lu Sian watched anxiously from the back. They didn't know much about piano music, but from Xiasheng's serene expression and the lightning-fast movement of her fingers, they could tell one thing: Xiasheng knew how to play the piano! And she played exceptionally well!

"It's so fast, and she's getting faster and faster," a few classmates began whispering among themselves in the audience.

"Yeah, listen closely. In the first half just now, she was hitting an average of fourteen notes a second!"

"Really? That many?" someone said, consumed by jealousy and bitterness.

"Listen again, it's getting even faster. I reckon her speed is even faster than our teacher's!"

...

The whispers continuously reached the ears of Lin Yichen and Lu Sian, but the longer it went on, the less they could hear anything else, leaving only the sound of Xiasheng's flying, string-like notes ringing in their ears.

In Lin Yichen's eyes, there was only Xiasheng under the sunlight with her cascading long hair—warm, focused, serene, and breathtaking.

This was a Xiasheng he had never seen before, and by far the most beautiful Xiasheng he had ever laid eyes on. She was simply as mesmerizing as an enigma.

"Is this really your fiancée?" After Xiasheng finished playing her piece, Lu Sian suddenly pinched Lin Yichen.

Gazing lovingly and dazedly at Xiasheng, Lin Yichen muttered in a daze, "I don't know either, but she must be..."

At that moment, having finished her performance, Xiasheng stood up, smiled at Chen Yuqing, and said, "It's your turn."

Chen Yuqing's palms were now drenched in sweat as she cast a pleading look toward the teacher on the stage. The teacher knew her abilities inside out; eleven notes per second was already her absolute limit. No matter how extraordinary a performance she pulled off, it was impossible to surpass Xiasheng. According to the data she had tracked, Xiasheng's peak record was sixteen notes per second, with an average speed reaching fourteen notes per second!

If she went up to compete now, the ultimate result would be sheer public humiliation!

Receiving Chen Yuqing's silent plea for help, the teacher on stage gave an imperceptible nod and then announced, "Our new transfer student is truly remarkable. Everyone should learn from her in the future. Well then, there isn't much time left; let's postpone classmate Chen Yuqing's challenge to next time. Now, let's begin class."

"If you can't afford to lose a bet, don't make one." Just as Chen Yuqing was about to return to her seat, a voice suddenly echoed from outside the door.

Dressed in a crisp, tailored suit, Feng Yuan slowly walked into the hall.

"I was making a bet with her; what business is it of yours? Besides, I'm not challenging her today simply because I don't want to disrupt the teacher's class."

"Cowards only know how to run away and make excuses," Feng Yuan said, looking coolly at Chen Yuqing. "You're expelled. And you too, Teacher Qin."

A single sentence sent the classroom into an immediate uproar. Chen Yuqing and Teacher Qin demanded indignantly, "Who do you think you are? What right do you have to expel us?"

"By virtue of being the owner of this school." Feng Yuan dropped another bombshell, which not only startled Lin Yichen and Lu Sian, but also completely baffled Xia Rusheng.

That was clearly not what he had said over the phone!

"So what if you're the owner? The school has its own rules and regulations. You can't just expel us at will!"

Feng Yuan looked at Chen Yuqing and Teacher Qin as if gazing at a pair of clowns putting on a show: "Teachers and students colluding to frame a newcomer and make a fool of her—this is a place for nurturing minds, not a place to harm people. And... my word is the law!"