Chapter 37: The Song of Yue People!

  "It's true, if it weren't for the martial arts test going awry, Shao Shixiong would have definitely gotten first place." Luo Qing felt a bit indignant on behalf of Xiao Yunfeng.

  Xiao Yun heard this and smiled bitterly, "You guys think too highly of me, I'm not unhappy at all, I'm just overly excited."

  The two girls' faces were filled with joyful expressions. Lin Chunyin asked, "For the piano assessment just now, did Elder Brother Xiao prepare any pieces?"

  "Let's talk about it later!" Xiao Yun shook his head, "How about you?"

  Lin Chunyin also entered the top ten, and soon it was her turn to perform on stage. At that time, the elders of each hall and institute would score the piano skills of these ten people, and combine them with the results of the literary and martial arts exams to determine the final ranking.

  Lin Chuoyin laughed and said, "I don't care, anyway no matter how badly I did on the exam, I'm still tenth!"

  "Haha, this business of yours is indeed a profitable one!" Xiao Yunle chuckled with a smile.

  Luo Qing smiled and said, "Sister Shifu stayed up all night yesterday to compose a new piece of music. She says that when she performs it later, she wants Brother Xiao to help her critique it."

  "Huh? Really?" Xiao Yun turned to Lin Chu Yin.

  Lin Chunyin smiled calmly, "First time composing, I'm afraid it will make Xiao Shixiong laugh."

  "It's already quite difficult for a first-time composer to produce a good piece, so I'll have to listen carefully later."

  "Is your piano fixed?"

  "I didn't fix it, I borrowed a violin!"

  "Huh? Is this the guitar? Don't mess up like yesterday, or your grades will suffer!"

  ……

  ——

  At the end of the snake hour, on the square.

  Yesterday, the front two rows that nobody scrambled for, now belong to the top sixty seats in the overall rankings. When Xiao Yun and Lin Chuoyin arrived at the square, it was already bustling with people, whispering to each other, discussing their exam results.

  The first row was almost full, from left to right, with only a few empty seats. The people in the back rows were all gazing enviously at those sitting in the front row, because these people were the elite among elites.

  The second position from left to right is empty, and on the corner of the piano case, a green wooden plaque is placed with the words "Xiao Yun" written on it.

  Xiao Yun sat down, and on his left was Xu Wanjun, who had greeted him the day before. When Xiao Yun took his seat, Xu Wanjun turned her face to him and gave a gentle nod and smile, which Xiao Yun returned with a friendly smile, thus they became acquaintances through a nod.

  Looking to the right, Lu Jianfeng was obviously not as friendly, his gaze swept across Xiao Yun's body and then turned to look at the stage, Xiao Yun could sense a hint of hostility in Lu Jianfeng's eyes.

  Thinking of what Lin Chunyin said to herself yesterday, it seems that this Lu Jianfeng is indeed a very competitive person. Because of her own appearance, he was squeezed into third place, and it seems that his heart is not very pleasant.

  When others don't give you a good face, there's no need to eagerly seek it out and end up getting rebuffed. Xiao Yun shook her head inwardly as she looked towards the stage.

  Zhang Men Xie Tianci and Mu Tianen arrived together, soon after, several musicians also came to the high platform one after another. After a while, all the disciples had almost arrived, Liu Yuanchun walked to the front of the stage, coughed lightly, and the area below quickly became quiet.

  "The results of yesterday's literary and martial exams have been posted on the Heavenly Sound Billboard at dawn today, I believe you've all seen your own scores. Liu Yuanchen had his hands clasped behind his back, a hint of a smile on his slightly chubby face. "This assessment, overall, is much better than previous years. What's worth celebrating is that six outer institute disciples have broken into the top sixty of the overall rankings, with two entering the top ten, and one even occupying the second place on the overall rankings!"

  As he spoke, Liu Yuanzhan glanced at Xiao Yun's position with a smile of approval on his face.

  "I shall announce the top ten disciples of this Elite Conference's Martial Arts and Literary Examination!" He took out a scroll from his sleeve, unrolled it gently, and read aloud, "First place in Class A, Elite Institute's Xu Wanjun; Second place in Class A, Outer Institute's Xiao Yun; Third place in Class A, Elite Institute's Lu Jianfeng; Fourth place in Class A, Elite Institute's Gu Changfeng; Fifth place in Class A, Elite Institute's Meng Xiaobao; ... Tenth place in Class A, Outer Institute's Lin Chuyin."

  Meng Xiaobao?

  Xiao Yun suddenly felt that the name seemed familiar, turned his head to look sideways, and saw a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old sitting in the fifth seat, who was also smiling at him.

  It was him! Xiao Yun suddenly realized that it was the disciple who had brought himself up the mountain that day. This Meng Xiaobao, gave Xiao Yun a pretty good impression, and unexpectedly ranked fifth in Class A, truly unexpected.

  "Below are the twelve disciples who entered the Elite Institute..."

  After reading out the names one by one, the disciples below the stage had mixed emotions. Liu Yuanzhan closed the scroll and said, "Disciples who didn't make it into the Elite Academy don't need to be disheartened. There will be many more opportunities in the future. Moreover, from this assessment's results, it's not hard to see that as long as one is willing to work hard, even if they're just an Outer Academy disciple, they can still achieve something."

  "Thanks for Master Shu's teachings." The disciples chorused in unison.

  Liu Yuanzhen gently stroked his beard, rolled up the scroll, turned around and asked Xie Tiangui for instructions. After getting Xie's consent, he turned around and said, "Now we begin the third assessment item, piano skills. The top ten disciples of Class A will go on stage one by one from tenth place to showcase their piano skills. The piece must be self-composed and not limited to any category. The results of the piano skills assessment will be combined with the overall ranking to determine the final ranking."

  "Tenth place, Hayami Kanade!"

  Liu Yuanchen's voice fell, Lin Chuyin picked up the wooden piano and walked onto the stage with a gentle pace.

  Embracing the guqin, she bowed to Xie Tianci and others, turned around and placed the wooden zither on the guqin case, looking at so many people below the stage, Lin Chuyin seemed to have a little nervousness.

  "Come on, sister!"

  A low voice came from under the stage, Luo Qing's voice, Lin Chuyin let out a long sigh, her eyes involuntarily turned to Xiao Yun, and received an encouraging gaze from Xiao Yun, Lin Chuyin's slightly tense heart slowly calmed down.

  "The Song of Yue People"

  Lin Chuoyin tuned the instrument, announced the name of the piece, took a deep breath, placed her ten fingers on the strings, and gently plucked the strings, striking out pleasant sounds on the piano.

  "This evening which evening is it? I am sailing in a boat on the river. Today which day is it? I get to sail with the prince..."

  She gently opened her crimson lips, and the melodious singing accompanied by the pleasant sound of the guqin spread throughout the entire square. Almost in an instant, everyone was captivated by Lin Chun's music. Thousands of eyes converged on the woman who sang while playing the instrument on stage, a truly delightful scene.

  "Not bad, it's indeed the initial stage of Heart Song cultivation."

  Xie Tianci stroked his beard with a smile, and the others also had a hint of approval on their faces. An outer courtyard disciple could compose such a heartfelt melody, which was already quite difficult to achieve.

  "I am ashamed to wear good clothes, not because of the shame of being insulted. My heart is often worried and cannot be cut off, I met a noble son. The mountain has trees, the tree has branches, my heart loves you, but you don't know, my heart loves you, but you don't know!"

  The singing voice kept echoing in the square, and it was unknown whether it was intentional or unintentional. Lin Chuoyin's gaze shifted to Xiao Yun, Xiao Yun's heart skipped a beat, then relaxed, nodding and smiling at Lin Chuoyin.

  "The Song of Yue People" is considered to be from "Chu Ci". Although the lyrics have been passed down, the melody has long been lost. This song contains a story that Xiao Yun remembers very clearly.

  In the Spring and Autumn period, Chu Wang's younger brother, E Jun, took a boat trip. A Yue person rowed the boat and sang to him. The song was melodious and moving, touching E Jun. He immediately had someone translate the lyrics into Chu language, thus creating the "Yue Ren Ge" lyrics.

  The noble Lord O understood the song's meaning and, rather than getting angry because of the boatman's lowly status, he followed Chu etiquette by placing both hands on the boatman's shoulders and solemnly draping a beautifully embroidered silk coverlet over him.

  It was originally a beautiful portrayal of the friendship between gentlemen, regardless of wealth or status. However, on earth, it gradually evolved to imply romantic love between men and women, and even between men.

  In the Tianle Continent, there is a similar legend. However, Xiao Yun thinks that Lin Chu Yin's singing voice should also be just a simple friendship between gentlemen, and he himself was mistaken. This is not Earth, there are no so many different versions of interpretation, and the women in this world cannot be so bold as to show love to a man.