Producer System: My Girlfriend is a Cellist-Chapter 196 - 164: The Enthusiastic Bai Xi

The Yingqin Cup is a biennial competition held by the Music Association of Qingjiang Province for all cellists. It is the largest and most prestigious cello competition in Qingjiang Province.

There are no barriers to entry; all cellists can register.

But the preliminary round of the Yingqin Cup, while called "preliminaries," actually involves a round of selection beforehand.

Each registered participant must record a performance video before the competition and submit it along with their personal information to the official email. Only those who pass this screening qualify for the offline preliminaries.

Even so.

Over 1000 cellists still participated in this round of the Yingqin Cup preliminaries.

Among them, the number in the professional group also reached a staggering 260 people.

This scale was something Lin Tian had never encountered on any stage he had been on before.

The 260 competitors in the professional group were divided into two batches: morning and afternoon.

Lin Tian and Gan Yanyu were in the morning session.

At this moment, the 130 contestants were split between two large rest areas.

"Teacher Lin Tian, Teacher Gan Yanyu—"

A familiar voice sounded, and Lin Tian had a bad feeling.

Turning around, he saw Bai Xi, dressed in a red gown, approaching with a graceful step.

"I didn’t expect we would all be in the morning session. Looks like I’ll be going before you again."

Bai Xi still wore that overly enthusiastic smile, as if she had been a fan of theirs for many years.

However, to Lin Tian, it seemed more like a provocation from someone who was already a victor.

After all, after their last warm exchange, Bai Xi went on stage and won the championship.

Actually, there’s no need to be so sensitive.

Today is just the preliminaries, with only pass or fail at stake. For now, there’s no competition between Lin Tian and Gan Yanyu and Bai Xi.

But, a comparison can be made through the performances that are coming up.

The presence of so many media outlets today also has something to do with this.

They’ll give each cellist a "comprehensive score" based on their performance in the preliminaries, from the dimensions of technique, emotion, expressiveness, audience feedback, and judges’ feedback, updating the "Comprehensive Player Ranking" for the Yingqin Cup in real time.

It’s like the pre-competition rankings, but the list is updated after each match, and since the scores are given based on performance, they’re obviously more reliable than pre-match assessments.

This also provides all the spectators following the competition with a clearer picture of the rankings prior to the final round of Yingqin Cup.

"....."

"Mm."

Faced with Bai Xi’s greeting, Gan Yanyu nodded.

She always responded politely to anyone who approached to say hello.

"Is Teacher Lin Tian also going on stage with you this time?"

Bai Xi suddenly shifted her gaze to Lin Tian.

"Yes."

"Ah, that’s great. I wish I had a talented regular partner like Teacher Lin Tian, too bad I have to use the official accompanist..."

As Bai Xi finished saying this.

Gan Yanyu subconsciously moved her chair, inching closer to Lin Tian.

"....."

As the two of them talked, many other contestants in the rest area were watching.

Bai Xi and Gan Yanyu could be considered star contestants this time around, after all, they were ranked in the top two in the strength rankings released by the media.

Seeing the two of them interacting warmly, many contestants who lacked confidence in their own skills sighed to themselves, "Ah, really powerful musicians all know each other."

"Hey, hey, look at that—"

Just then, Bai Xi suddenly lowered her voice and pointed toward a figure in the distance.

It was a cellist dressed a bit differently from others who tended to choose more elegant gowns; she wore a suit jacket and a JK-style long skirt.

The girl wore glasses and had thick bangs, sitting alone in a corner, keeping a considerable distance from all the other musicians, and emitting a gloomy aura.

This aura, unlike the deliberately avoided one of Bai Xi and Gan Yanyu due to their young age back then.

This girl... herself exudes an aura of being not easy to approach...

"Yun Qiuxiu."

Bai Xi said.

Lin Tian quickly remembered, he had seen this name on the rankings.

Located below Bai Xi, Gan Yanyu, and Nannali, in fourth place.

If the forcibly clashing Nannali were to be removed, that would make her third.

However, since she had not participated in the Star Cup before, she was parachuted into the rankings, so her strength was not very clear.

"Recent winner of the Yong Guang Cup in Yongzhou City, 26 years old, now recognized as the number one cellist in Yongzhou."

Bai Xi revealed a meaningful expression,

"I’ve seen her competition, very impressive, her strength is no less than mine..."

As she said these words, Bai Xi’s tone lightened, as if narrating some ancient, mysterious legend.

That scary?

Lin Tian became somewhat curious.

Bai Xi is the champion of the Star Cup and ranked first in this media selection.

Just what level is her "not losing to oneself" referring to, coming from her mouth?

Looking at this Yun Qiuxiu, with her aura of darkness, she doesn’t seem like a powerful cellist but more like a shut-in.

That kind of shut-in who plays otome games, wears pain clothes, and likes to lock herself in her room.

"Hah, but this time we won’t be able to see her play!" Bai Xi suddenly laughed.

"Why?" Gan Yanyu asked.

"She’s behind Teacher Gan Yanyu, of course, she won’t be seen."

"Aren’t you going to stay and watch the competition?"

"I’m staying to watch Teacher Gan Yanyu’s performance; naturally, I’ll leave after it’s over," said Bai Xi.

"....."

It’s really like saying "I only consider Gan Yanyu my opponent" openly laid out on the table.

Anyway, I’m about the same, besides Bai Xi, Lin Tian doesn’t have any other competitors he’s particularly focused on.

In this respect, Lin Tian suddenly appreciated Bai Xi somewhat.

Although she always seems carefree on the surface, in reality, she’s quite scheming in her green-tea-like appearance.

But, though she seems very green-tea-like on the surface, every word from Bai Xi is very frank to Lin Tian.

Using the most scheming way to behave in the most open-hearted manner.

"Enough talk, it’s my turn to go on stage."

Bai Xi waved to the two, smiling, "Do your best~ you two."

After Bai Xi left, suddenly, a noisy commotion arose around.

Lin Tian turned his head to look and saw that inside the rest room at the moment, many musicians’ gazes were focused on the big screen.

"Why does he look so upset?"

"It feels a bit ominous today..."

"I’m not going to get scolded when I go up, am I? Mr. Tuoba is so scary!"

"..."

Lin Tian looked at the screen.

At this moment, at the competition site, the director switched the camera to the judge Tuoba Jianhui.

The old gentleman had his arms crossed over his chest, leaning back in the chair.

His sharp eyes, frowning.

A sigh mixed with anger startled even the head judge.

It appeared he was extremely dissatisfied with the performances of the few contestants just now.