Chapter 27: Did he ever really love you at all?

"I hope you can still laugh when this is over." Long Junhao, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke.

Chu Nan replied, "As I said, I will definitely be smiling brighter than you. You go first."

"Fine!"

Under the expectant gaze of countless students, the instruments in the trio's hands began to play almost simultaneously.

A moment later, Long Junhao, acting as the lead singer, began. "This song, 'The Promise', is dedicated to the one I love most, Zhou Xiaonan!"

Upon hearing Long Junhao's words, a wave of cheers erupted from the crowd, as if it had been rehearsed. In the crowd, Zhou Xiaonan frowned slightly. In the past, she might not have felt much, but now, hearing those words only made her feel a sense of disgust.

Soon, Long Junhao began to sing.

"The Promise," being a newly released song this year, was quite popular. Long Junhao's singing ability was decent, and he performed with genuine effort; many girls were even moved by his gentle voice, but that was all it amounted to.

No matter how well he sang, he could not surpass the original artist. Furthermore, since the live audio was unpolished, it inevitably sounded less than perfect in certain parts. Consequently, once the song ended, he only received applause from a portion of the audience, with hardly any cheers at all.

At the end, Luo Xiang grabbed the microphone and shouted, "Dear classmates, if you think our Brother Long sang well, please raise your hand! Cast your precious vote for him!"

The bystanders felt confused by this abrupt call for a vote. However, when they saw that several dozen people had already raised their hands, at least half of those present followed suit.

Although Long Junhao was not entirely satisfied with this result, his main goal was simply to ensure that Zhou Xiaonan understood the meaning behind the song he chose for her.

Moreover, even with this turnout, it was something the boy in front of him could never hope to beat. Forget half the votes; he wouldn't even get a quarter. Long Junhao gave a disdainful smile. "Your turn, Chu Nan!"

Chu Nan shook his head. "If this is the extent of your ability, there's no need to continue."

In Chu Nan's view, their skill level didn't even match his own. He had originally planned to crush them with two songs from the future, but it seemed unnecessary now.

Luo Xiang’s face darkened immediately. "What did you say? Chu Nan, are you too afraid to compete? If you're too scared, admit defeat now instead of spouting nonsense and influencing everyone's judgment!"

"Fine. Next, I'll perform 'Qilixiang' for everyone." As soon as Chu Nan finished speaking, he began to play and sing.

However, when Luo Xiang heard this, he burst into laughter.

"Boss, did you hear that? This guy actually said he's going to play and sing 'Qilixiang'? 'Qilixiang' is hard enough to sing on its own, let alone playing and singing it simultaneously. Is this guy a joke? Does he think Brother Jay's style is something just anyone can imitate?!"

Long Junhao also laughed. This song, let alone for this Chu Nan, was difficult even for their own music teacher to perform.

That unique, slurred singing style of Brother Jay was not something everyone could replicate; if done poorly, it would only backfire.

"There's no suspense left in this first round."

Hearing the familiar melody Chu Nan was playing, Zhou Xiaonan couldn't help but grit her teeth. "That annoying Chu Nan! Why didn't he just use that song 'Dislocated Time' to crush them instantly? Can he even sing this 'Qilixiang'?"

She was standing too far away to hear the agreement about the best-of-three format; she simply felt that Chu Nan was underestimating his opponent.

The only consolation was that Long Junhao's performance of "The Promise" wasn't particularly good either. In Zhou Xiaonan's opinion, it was a 7 out of 10 at best—a passing grade. Long Junhao was only capable of moving himself, and she certainly hadn't been moved.

But as soon as Chu Nan began to sing, Zhou Xiaonan smiled, for she knew that Chu Nan had already won.

"I didn't expect this guy to have captured three-tenths of Brother Jay's essence. It seems I underestimated him. Then again, how could the singing ability of someone who could write 'Dislocated Time' be bad?" In an instant, Zhou Xiaonan felt at ease, quietly listening to Chu Nan sing the song.

Listening to the original version was one experience, but hearing it sung by a boy she had taken an interest in was quite another. The former was worth savoring and listening to repeatedly, but she didn't listen to it with such focus; for the latter, she listened to every single lyric with great care.

"The rain falls all night long,
My love overflows like the rainwater,
The butterfly on the windowsill,
Is like a beautiful chapter flying in a poem,
I continue to write,
Writing 'I will love you forever' into the end of the poem,
You are the only one I want to understand..."

As the song ended, almost everyone in the room burst into applause. They looked at this boy with astonishment; he had truly captured the feeling and the essence of the song.

Apart from the difference in vocal timbre compared to the original, there was almost no disparity. There was no off-key singing, and he even captured that unique, slurred charm—a feat that Long Junhao could never hope to achieve.

"Since when did this Chu Nan sing so well?" Tian Jiaojiao, standing in the crowd, felt a mix of annoyance and pride. She was annoyed that the song wasn't sung for her, but proud that Chu Nan could perform such a beautiful piece with a skill level approaching the original. It made her feel inexplicably glorious.

She glanced at He Qianqian beside her, whose expression was not very pleasant. Suddenly, her eyes shifted, and she sighed. "Sigh, Qianqian, do you think Chu Nan was just pretending all this time? Look, the song he used to sing, 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,' was always a struggle and often off-key. But look at him now—it's like he's a different person. Do you think he never really liked you at all?"

"Hmph! If he never liked me, I never liked him either! Who wants him to like them?!" He Qianqian felt an inexplicable tightness in her chest. She also felt deceived, and even if Chu Nan came to beg for her forgiveness now, she wouldn't easily grant it.

A flicker of secret joy crossed Tian Jiaojiao's eyes as she heard this. If He Qianqian had no feelings left for him, did that mean she had a chance?

Even so, she wouldn't pursue Chu Nan herself; Chu Nan should be the one pursuing her. After all, a girl only falls in love a few times in her life; she had to enjoy the feeling of being pursued by a boy.

She wanted to be a princess for once, held in the palm of a knight's hand, one who would tolerate all her faults and be unconditionally good to her, pampering and loving her for a lifetime. Even if she wanted the stars in the sky, he should swear to pluck them for her. Only then could he be her Prince Charming, not just someone who happened to be handsome.

"Does anyone like his song? If you do, cast your vote for him." Even though he was extremely reluctant, Luo Xiang still picked up the microphone and said those words.

In an instant, more than half of the crowd raised their hands. But it was clear that in one specific section, almost no one raised a hand, and three people who accidentally did so quickly pulled them back.

Noticing this detail, Chu Nan smiled. These guys really had no integrity; they had already started bringing in shills to sabotage him.

However, it was clear that the bystanders far outnumbered them, and in the end, Chu Nan won by a narrow margin.

"Chu Nan, you were lucky this time, but you won't be so fortunate with the next song!" Long Junhao's expression was quite ugly as he saw the result. He had underestimated his opponent; he hadn't expected Chu Nan to actually have some talent.

But it didn't matter. There was no way he would win the next one!