Chapter 5: Classical Goddess

  The idea of intoxicating three people ignited in Qiqige's heart and became unstoppable.

  Then, Qiqige smiled and raised his wine glass, saying to the three of them: "Come on, I'll toast everyone a cup, let's drink together!"

  Qí Huì's face turned deathly pale, What's wrong? What happened again?

  Zi Ke's face was bitter as he looked at the full cup of wine.

  Drink up? You'll definitely throw up again!

  Not drinking? Wouldn't that make you seem somewhat unmanly?

  "This... " Zhi Kai muttered awkwardly.

  Hu Yinlin gave Qi Wei a look and glanced at the corner of the wall.

  With Hu Yinlin's hint, Qi Hui suddenly became happy.

  "Come on! Let's get it done!"

  Qī Huì confidently followed everyone in raising their glasses, seeing others finish their drinks in one gulp, Qī Huì hastily poured his wine into the corner of the wall.

  "Whoosh!"

  This cup of wine is not just a cup of wine, it's a generous serving and the sound of pouring it out is loud.

  The sound attracted the attention of many people around.

  Not just Qiqige's three people, but also the surrounding guests and waiters cast their eyes on Qi Lei.

  In those eyes, there was confusion, indignation, and disdain...

  Too many emotions mixed in.

  "Hey!" Qiqi Ge frowned and said: "Too wasteful!"

  Zi Ke felt like he had lost face and looked down in embarrassment.

  "Sir, this is a public place, your behavior will be fined!"

  A person who looked like a waiter walked up and said in a cold tone.

  Zhi Kai didn't even dare to lift his head to answer.

  Hu Yinlin reacted quickly and smiled at the waiter, saying: "How much is it? We'll pay together when we settle the bill later!"

  Watching the waiter leave, Qi Hui finally let out a long sigh of relief.

  "If you can't drink, then don't force it, drinking soft drinks won't make anyone laugh at you!"

  Qiqi Ge's voice floated over.

  Zi Hui's face fell instantly, and being looked down upon by a 'goddess' was really unbearable.

  Alas! I've lost face all the way back to my grandma's house.

  After finishing a meal, Qi Hui and the 'goddess' still didn't make any progress, while Hu Yinlin and Xiong Wuzi chatted with the 'goddess' in high spirits.

  Back at the registration point, there were still many people queuing up, although it was a cold day in the first month of the lunar year, these people were also sweating profusely.

  It can be seen that these people have been waiting for a long time.

  If it were in the past, Qi Hui would definitely abhor and detest such a sinister thing.

  But today I suddenly felt a sense of pride, this feeling is humble and weak, but it really exists.

  The judges had dinner and rested enough, and returned to the competition venue, where the afternoon's match began.

  Qí Huì was the sixth one. While standing outside the "door" waiting anxiously, Qí Qí Gé also walked in from outside.

  Zi Kezheng was puzzled, but then he remembered that Qi Qi Ge's number was right behind his own.

  In the pre-selection venue, there are a total of six small arenas, which are six large rooms divided into three judges in each room.

  While Qi Hui and Qiqi Ge were both assigned to the third room,

  It's finally Zhai Ke's turn to perform. As the person in front of him walked out with his head down, hugging his guitar and looking dispirited, Zhai Ke started to feel nervous and couldn't remember how he had walked up onto the stage.

  He came to himself again and found that Qi Hui was already standing on the stage, facing the teacher.

  "Hello, what's your name?"

  A bespectacled 'woman' on the judges' panel asked with a smile.

  "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I am Qi Wei, from Jiacheng, my number is 65973!"

  Zi Ke felt a bit nervous, having participated in competitions since he was young, but never as nervous as today.

  "Let's start! Don't be nervous! Relax!"

  The female judge's expression remained unchanged, but the two male judges on either side of her were frowning and silent.

  One of them sat on the left side of the female judge, wearing a pair of sunglasses and looking cool, and Qi Lei felt very familiar.

  Another one with eyes closed leaning against the chair, as if dozing off, with long hair like instant noodles, feeling just like a rock band.

  Zi Hui stabilized his emotions and began his performance.

  The performance in the preliminary round does not require singing, just playing a rearranged song is enough.

  Zhi Ke played "Für Elise", this famous piano piece is easy to play with a piano, but fingerstyle guitar is not that easy.

  This piece was learned by Qi Hui half a year ago, and it took more than three months to master. The embellishments in the middle were added by Qi Hui himself.

  The three judges were silent after the piece was finished.

  Especially those two male judges, as if they hadn't heard what Qi Lei played at all.

  The first one to speak was still the female judge wearing glasses.

  The female judge smiled and said: "Your playing is still good, but you lack strength. You shouldn't be very old, right?"

  "I'm sixteen now!" Qi Hui said.

  The female judge nodded, "You know that this morning there were many people, they are all thirty or forty years old, and some of them have been playing the guitar for over twenty years. You can say that they learned to play the guitar in the same era as Cui Jian. Do you know who Cui Jian is?"

  "I know!"

  Zi Ke finished speaking, and the judge who was wearing sunglasses and had been acting cool all along interrupted: "The sense of rhythm is not bad, and there's no major problem with your fingerwork, but you need to pay attention to one thing - you tend to get nervous, and when you're nervous, the tempo will drag. If you accompany a singer in the future, it'll be easy to affect the singer!"

  "Thank you, judges!"

  The judges said that Qi Hui listened with confidence, but he was actually very nervous. It had been six or seven years since he last participated in a competition, and he had changed a lot during those six or seven years.

  At that time, newborn calves were not afraid of tigers, so they had nothing to fear, but this time was different, with too many worries, they would become tense.

  It seems like this is one of my own weaknesses that I need to overcome!

  "Alright, let's make a decision!" said the female judge, raising the placard in her hand, but not revealing the words on it.

  Zhi Ke knew she was doing it on purpose, so he could only wait for the next two judges.

  The sunglasses judge smiled and said, "You're only 16 years old and have such a level, it's undeniable that you have great talent. If you 'refine' and polish yourself in the future, you'll definitely become a great artist! I'm passing you!"

  "I won't let you pass!" The female judge said directly afterwards.

  Zi Ke's 'excited' heart suddenly calmed down, as two of the judges gave a pass, he could advance to the next round, one judge was undecided, and if none passed, he would be eliminated.

  If all three pass, they will directly advance to the final round.

  Zi Ke began to pray silently, hoping that the rock music judge would pass him.

  The female judge wearing glasses turned her head to look at the rock boy, waiting for him to make a decision, but he was already snoring loudly.

  The female judge frowned and pushed the rock boy, who then woke up.

  Although awake, he was still dazed and furrowed his brow as he glanced at Qi Lei, playing a very casual game of cards!

  Pass!

  What? Zhen Xi couldn't help but be shocked, this is too hasty!

  Seeing Zhi Hui's surprised expression, the female judge said: "Congratulations, you can proceed to prepare for the rematch!"

  Rematch! Although Qi Hui was lucky, he knew in his heart that this added another hurdle.

  Thanked the judges and walked out of the arena.

  Qiqige outside saw Zihui come out and walked in slowly.

  "Hey, don't be nervous, relax!"

  Zi Ke said to Qiqige, but knew that his words were somewhat superfluous, as Qiqige didn't seem like the type of person who would get nervous.

  But Qiqi still said thank you to Zixuan.

  Zi Ke passed the re-examination, but was worried that Qi Qi Ge might not pass, so he followed her in to listen to her results.

  The judges on the platform saw Kiki Ge coming in and took another look at Qi Lei standing at the "door" without leaving.

  It seems like I understand something now.

  The judge asked questions at the beginning of the show, and in the same way as asking Qi Lei, Kiki Ge opened her guitar case and took out a classical guitar!

  Classical guitar? Zhai Ke was stunned, although the fingerstyle competition did not explicitly require the use of folk guitars, but classical guitars were obviously a bit more difficult than folk guitars.

  Because classical guitar playing is fingerstyle itself, it's not as casual as folk guitar.

  What's more, Qiqi Ge is still a 'girl', which made Qi Lei worry about her.

  Qiqi Ge obviously didn't care about these things and started playing her guitar with a slant.

  The playing style of classical guitar and folk guitar is different, with strict rules for every move.

  Qiqige played surprisingly "Canon", which made Qi Lei even more surprised.

  Pieces like Canon are generally difficult for boys to play well, let alone Qi Lei who has only practiced double guitar with Hu Yilin and knows how hard this piece is.

  Qiqige's playing is obviously effortless, very smooth and with many added embellishments in the middle, which is not something that a typical guitarist can do.

  Then, Qi Hui became more interested in Qiqige, and an idea emerged in his mind.

  Must be friends with her, and it's that kind of ambiguous relationship between a boy and a girl.

  A man likes a woman, maybe just for a moment, wants to have her, and maybe that's the most real thought at that moment.

  Qiqige's piano sound was very pleasant, the judges on the stage nodded slightly, even the rock boy who was dozing off couldn't help but open his eyes wide and stare at Qiqige.

  It's unclear whether it was for her beauty or for her music.

  Qiqi Ge made no mistakes at all, and was playing with her eyes closed. Her facial expression looked very enjoyable.

  Even when playing the most 'delicate' and difficult parts, there was no opening of eyes or any sign of effort.

  This level of skill is probably very difficult to attain in just a decade or two.

  When the music ended, Qiqige finally opened her eyes and stood up, slightly bowing to the three judges.

  The three judges surprisingly stood up and applauded, and Qi Lei also followed suit.

  This melody should only exist in heaven, but unexpectedly today Qī Kuì was able to indulge his ears and hear this heavenly sound.

  The female judge wearing glasses was somewhat excited, deliberately suppressing it for a moment, and said: "Very good, the skills are solid, especially as a girl, it's really rare, much better than those male comrades!"

  "Thank you!" Qiqi Ge said naturally, without any pretence.

  The man in sunglasses finally took off his disguise, and the face that was like a car accident scene suddenly became clear and distinct in front of everyone.

  "Awesome! I won't say more, you pass!"

  "I'll let you through too!" The rock boy said hastily.

  "Me too!" said the female judge with a smile.

  Qiqige bowed again and smiled: "Thank you!"

  "Congratulations, you have been directly promoted to the national finals! Let's meet at the finals on January 14th!"