She looked at Kuang Ye with some sadness. “Ye, is she your girlfriend? She’s really beautiful!”

Kuang Ye tightly held Mu Wan’s hand and nodded. “Mm, she’s my lover, Mu Wan.”

Alessia indeed had feelings for Kuang Ye, but it wasn’t to the extent of unrequited love. Although she felt a bit disappointed inside, her face remained composed as she restrained her emotions and then spoke to Shen Lele.

“What does ‘bye bye kiss’ mean?”

Shen Lele, who had been watching the drama unfold, suddenly found himself in trouble. He quickly explained, “It was a slip of the tongue, I meant ‘kiss good-bye.’”

Manager Zhang gave Shen Lele a light tap on the back of his head. “After the competition, I’ll find you a foreign language tutor. If you forget all your high school vocabulary, when you go back to take the CET-4 and CET-6, your parents will come after me.”

Shen Lele’s parents were quite open-minded. When he joined ST, he had to take a break from school for the first two years of training and competition, and they didn’t object. But since they entrusted their son to ST, they couldn’t let him go down the wrong path. If he continued saying “bye bye kiss” in college, he’d have no face to explain it to his parents.

Shen Lele was on the verge of tears. “Manager, I was just joking.”

Manager Zhang, with his typical serious demeanor, said, “Anyway, the language tutor arrangement is settled. Prepare to practice your ABCs every day!”

Alessia, seeing that she had caused internal conflict within ST, quickly tried to mediate.

Kuang Ye, seeing that he was no longer involved in the conversation, sent Mu Wan to the car.

“Text me when you get to the hotel.”

“Okay, good luck in the competition!”

“You too!”

—

After that day, both sides began intense training. Forget about seeing each other once a day—having time for a video call was already considered good.

After the first round of the Paganini Violin Competition, good news arrived: all of Jian Jia’s participants had passed. There were 15 violinists from Jian Jia attending the competition, and the pass rate was nothing short of incredible. Since the participants’ resumes included the company they were affiliated with, Jian Jia’s name was on many people’s lips during the event.

As the competition progressed, the difficulty gradually increased, and players with weaker abilities or unstable mindsets were slowly eliminated. Most of Jian Jia’s members were eliminated as well, but just standing on this international stage was already a testament to their remarkable skill. They quickly regrouped—those who had work returned home to continue their jobs, while those without work stayed behind to cheer for their teammates who were still advancing.

A month later, only three members from Jian Jia made it to the finals: Mu Wan, O Rou, and Li Yue. Mu Wan and O Rou were expected to make it to the finals, as their skills were always top-tier. But Li Yue’s qualification surprised everyone. After all, in the early days at the company, Li Yue had been involved in operations and logistics, rather than playing the violin. She seemed more like a manager than a musician. Nobody expected her to make it so far.

Li Yue: “Hmph, you all don’t know the extent of my abilities.”

She was aware that her position at the company was a bit awkward, so she had secretly been practicing hard for the past year, wanting to give everyone a little shock.

Mu Wan had never underestimated her. Aside from the fact that in her previous life, Li Yue had been the concertmaster, Mu Wan knew from the very first moment she heard Li Yue’s music that she had unparalleled talent. Even in a muddy, struggling agency, Li Yue could still bloom beautifully in the music world. There was no reason to believe that, after switching to a better environment, her skills would decline.

Mu Wan had originally thought she might find time to watch Kuang Ye’s match during the competition, but the reality was—there was absolutely no time. This was her first time participating in such a high-level international violin competition, and there was no way she wouldn’t be nervous. So, she had to double her effort in practicing.

What’s more, one of her opponents was O Rou, who had won the crown in the previous life.

Kuang Ye, however, did manage to find time to watch Mu Wan’s performance. Ever since his hand injury healed and he returned to the field, ST had been undefeated in both the summer and global competitions. They spent little time together, but both were fighting for their own dreams. Even though it was exhausting, their hearts were sweet.

Finally, the Paganini Violin Competition Grand Final arrived. Coincidentally, this was also the day of the HW Global Championship Grand Final. Yes, for the first time, the LPL region of HW had made it to the global finals.

[Ahhh, my heart is trembling, winning the championship, winning the championship, winning the championship. ST hasn’t lost a single match up until now, and everyone’s in top form.]

[I started playing HW because I’m a fan of the Jian Jia CP, and now I’m seeing Ye Shen’s unstoppable momentum, smashing through everything. As a fan of the strong, I’m loving this.]

[I’m a violinist, currently in Genoa, at the Paganini International Competition finals. Mu Wan is seriously super strong.]

[I’ve always known Mu Wan is strong, but I didn’t know she was this strong. I’m also competing in this year’s Paganini, and I had a match against her. Her bow was almost a blur, and yet her sound was so stable. I lost, but I accepted it.]

[Wuwuwu, what a powerful duo. Sweet when together, kings when apart, a match made in heaven. Truly divine.]

“Let us congratulate Miss Mu Wan for becoming the champion of this year’s Paganini International Violin Competition.”

In the elegant and solemn hall, as the host called Mu Wan’s name, the entire room erupted into thunderous applause. O Rou’s face flashed with regret, but she still went over to give Mu Wan a hug.

“You truly deserve it. Congratulations.”