Chapter 302: Gathering of the Elites (Part 1)

It was two in the afternoon.

The school auditorium had been fully prepared for the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration.

The auditorium, capable of accommodating thousands, was filled to capacity, buzzing with voices as students awaited the performances of the freshman classes.

In fact, the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration was more like a welcome party.

This was a tradition at Ji Province University, held annually, and a more grand celebration involving everyone would generally take place at the end of the year before the winter break. Thus, this time was mainly about showcasing the performances of all the freshmen, with the older students mostly watching for fun. Only a few somewhat famous ‘actors’ or ‘singers’ would perform first but not compete, just to set an example for the newcomers.

Ji Province University had many departments.

Speaking of performances, departments like Mathematics, Physics, Architecture, and Computer Science had relatively fewer girls, and their strength was somewhat weaker.

In contrast, departments with more girls, like Foreign Languages and Chinese, tended to be more powerful.

There were also quite a few girls in Financial Management, and besides Shen Lingyao’s class, there were many outstanding individuals among the other six freshman classes of more than 400 students.

Especially in singing programs, apart from a few girls who sang well but were previously unknown, there was talk of a girl named Meng Li who was particularly impressive. Her mother was a famous singer in the provincial city, highly regarded among the teachers, many of whom believed she could win first place.

“I’m so nervous…”

Entering backstage, Shen Lingyao peeked at the front stage through the open curtains.

On the more than one hundred square meters front stage covered with red carpet, two senior hosts were rehearsing their lines.

To the left center of the front stage was a white piano, with other instruments like guitars available in the back.

Checking the schedule, because she had not submitted her lyrics earlier, Shen Lingyao’s original solo performance was placed at the very end of all the singing programs.

“Huff… Huff…”

The more she looked, the more nervous she became, her heart racing at the thought of performing in front of so many people for the first time.

Miao Jia and other dormitory sisters came over to encourage her, “Lingyao, you’re the best, just relax. Making it into the top ten would be great!”

They had not heard Shen Lingyao sing her original song before; they had only seen the lyrics and thought the imagery was good.

As the conversation ended,

Zhao Qingfeng laughed, “What are you talking about? Top ten? My Lingyao is going for first place this time.”

Miao Jia laughed heartily, whispering something in Shen Lingyao’s ear.

Shen Lingyao’s face turned red immediately, pushing her away, “What time is it now, and you’re still making those jokes? Go back to the audience!”

Zhao Qingfeng wanted to ask what Miao Jia had said.

But Shen Lingyao was too embarrassed to repeat the lewd comments, such as ‘Your man is really competitive, must be fierce in bed too,’ which were outrageous… How could she be so dirty…

While they were preparing, Li Manrou also arrived backstage.

Today, she was going to sing Liang Jingru’s ‘Courage.’

Music teacher Gao Lili also arrived backstage.

After briefly communicating with the other singing contestants and discussing stage precautions, she talked to Li Manrou about the tune. After confirming there were no issues, she then approached Shen Lingyao to inquire, “Student Shen, is your original song ready? Why haven’t you sought me out?”

Previously, teacher Gao Lili had always hoped that Shen Lingyao would discuss it with her.

Unfortunately, Shen Lingyao was busy with dates and studies and was very confident in her ‘original’ creation by Brother Qingfeng, so she never did.

Noticing Li Manrou looking at her, Shen Lingyao arrogantly said, “Teacher Gao, no problem, I’m going for first place!”

Teacher Gao smiled, said nothing, shook her head gently, and walked away.”

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