Chapter 52: Submit Chen Yuan's Name Up

There were a total of 15 contestants, but none of them sang all the way through.

Once the chorus was finished, Liu Jinlong and Qi Chen would stop them. Knowing their skill level was enough to avoid wasting time.

At this moment, Fang Youning and Fan Siyu also appeared at the entrance of Room 201, though they did not go inside.

"Ningning, you are relatively professional when it comes to singing. How are they doing?"

"They're all pretty good," the songstress maiden gave a high evaluation.

"Is anyone fighting for a chance at second place?"

"What second place?"

"First place is you, there's no controversy about that. No matter how well these people sing, they can only fight for second place," Fan Siyu said firmly.

Fang Youning felt a bit embarrassed by those words.

"How can you say something like that? There are many people in school who can sing, they're just keeping a low profile."

"I think the one keeping a low profile is you. You're already widely acknowledged as number one," Fan Siyu said with certainty.

"The song you sang at the welcome party—after the school's official account uploaded it online, it got tens of thousands of likes, and the reviews of you are quite high."

"I was just lucky. There are definitely people out there better than me; maybe I'll run into one of them this time."

"Excessive modesty is not a good habit."

Fan Siyu poked her head inside to look, her gaze quickly locking onto Chen Yuan.

"It looks like it's Chen Yuan's turn. Let's see how he sings."

Fang Youning didn't speak, looking into the tiered lecture hall with a hint of anticipation in her heart.

Chen Yuan walked to the front and operated the computer to play the accompaniment.

As the accompaniment started playing, everyone in the tiered lecture hall was dumbfounded.

Just by listening to the cheerful upbeat intro, anyone could tell it was a children's song.

Liu Jinlong: ???

Was this hilarious pest here just to mess around?

While children's songs weren't forbidden, singing one at a time like this felt a bit off.

"Chen Yuan, what are you going to sing?" Qi Chen asked.

"Courage Erupts. You even covered this song on Douyin."

Outside, Fang Youning and Fan Siyu were also somewhat taken aback. Under normal circumstances, nobody would sing a nursery rhyme on an occasion like this.

"I posted that on Douyin; that's a different story," Qi Chen said, massaging her forehead, feeling a bit awkward on his behalf.

"Nursery rhymes are songs too, Senior. Please don't discriminate."

"Fine, fine, go ahead and sing."

"Planting a seed in my heart, da-la-di-la-da..."

"It can make little wishes come true, with magical powers..."

***

Huh?

Originally, Liu Jinlong and Qi Chen were just listening for a laugh, but after hearing Chen Yuan sing, they found it had a certain charm to it, and his pitch was exceptionally accurate.

The only drawback was that the song was too simple, lacking any difficulty, making it impossible to gauge his true skill level.

However, one thing was certain: Chen Yuan could definitely sing, and he sang quite well.

"Stop, stop, stop," Qi Chen interrupted Chen Yuan.

"What's wrong, Senior?"

"Can you change to another song? Something with a bit more difficulty."

"Sure, but there's no accompaniment."

"A cappella is fine."

Ahem, ahem, ahem...

"I awaken the ocean, I awaken the mountain range..."

"Stop, stop, stop," Qi Chen interrupted Chen Yuan once more and said:

"Can we not sing nursery rhymes? Sing a pop song instead."

"I don't know any others, I only know how to sing nursery rhymes."

"Alright then."

The Literature and Art Department's auditions came to an end, and Fang Youning and Fan Siyu quietly slipped away.

"Even though Chen Yuan is a bit eccentric, those two nursery rhymes were sung pretty well," Fan Siyu said, looking at Fang Youning.

"Evaluate him from a professional perspective."

"It was quite good, it's just that the songs were too simple, so I can't tell what his skill level is."

"That's what I don't get. Since he can sing, why sing nursery rhymes? If he had sung a proper song, he'd have the strength to compete for the title of the Science and Technology University's campus heartthrob."

Fang Youning didn't answer, instead pondering this very question.

After the dormitory lights went out, the girls' dorm would have its nightly chat session.

Girls love gossip, and the topic of discussion recently was precisely the title of the Science and Technology University's campus heartthrob.

The other three each held their own opinions, even secretly finding the guys' Douyin accounts and evaluating each other's choices.

Fang Youning had also seen the guys crowned as heartthrobs by them, but felt nothing—they were just mediocre.

If she really had to choose, she thought Chen Yuan was better than the guys her roommates picked.

Knowing how to play basketball, being able to sing, and knowing how to change a diaper—all of these could be counted as bonus points.

After the two girls left, the contestants participating in the auditions filed out one after another.

With no intention of attending evening self-study, Chen Yuan went straight back to the dorm.

Buzz, buzz, buzz—

He received a message from Li Yingying.

***

Li Yingying: "Where can I buy a Yukino? I'll go buy one for you."

From Li Yingying's perspective, it didn't matter what was sung; as long as he showed up, it was support for her work, and she had to buy something to thank Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan: "Yukino has been drinking too much lately. Send over a mature middle-aged woman from Zhonghai, I want to taste the saltiness."

Li Yingying: "What flavor?"

Chen Yuan: "Fruit tea or lemonade is fine."

Li Yingying: "OK."

...

Inside Room 201, Liu Jinlong and Qi Chen stayed behind. The Top Ten Singers competition was fast approaching, and today they had to finalize the results.

"Where is the list of people you picked? Let me see."

While they were singing, the two of them had already been scoring internally, making a preliminary ranking and choosing their top five favorites.

Liu Jinlong pushed his list across the table.

The people chosen by both of them showed a high degree of consistency, with only the last place being different.

"Qian Jiajia's high notes are okay, but her pitch control is a bit lacking," Qi Chen said.

"Your fifth choice, Li Baichuan—what he sang was alright, his emotions were in the right place, but on the stage of the Top Ten Singers, folk songs are at a bit of a disadvantage," Liu Jinlong noted.

"Of the bad apples, you still have to pick the best one."

By their standards, whether it was Qian Jiajia or Li Baichuan, they were both a bit lacking; it was just that everyone else after them fell short by an even greater margin.

"Don't you think what Chen Yuan sang actually sounded quite nice?" Liu Jinlong asked.

"But he was singing a nursery rhyme! If he had sung even one proper song, I might have picked him."

Qi Chen sighed while rolling her eyes, saying:

"I really admire him. This is hardly the time to be acting so eccentric."

"But one thing is for sure: he can definitely sing, and his grasp of melody is very accurate. In this aspect, no one else compares to him."

Qi Chen thought for a moment, nodded, and agreed with Liu Jinlong's view.

"Do you have other ideas?"

"Anyway, both Qian Jiajia and Li Baichuan are a bit lackluster. Even if we submit their names, they'll just get eliminated when the pool goes from 70 to 30. We might as well let Chen Yuan go up. On such a formal occasion, surely he won't still sing nursery rhymes and play the fool," Liu Jinlong said.

Qi Chen twirled her pen, pondering Liu Jinlong's words.

"What you're saying actually makes a lot of sense. I guess he just didn't take the Top Ten Singers seriously. Li Yingying is in his class and also in the Literature and Art Department, so he probably just figured he'd participate for the experience, otherwise he wouldn't have sung a nursery rhyme."

"Right? Besides, what person who can sing *only* knows how to sing nursery rhymes? That's impossible."

"Then it's settled. Let's submit Chen Yuan's name."