You're dumping me, huh? Fine, then I'll just pick up the school beauty and make her my wif

The sustain pedal is malfunctioning.

Su Qinghe's long eyelashes trembled slightly, then she quickly lowered her eyes, concealing the fleeting coldness in them.

She didn't even need to guess; apart from Ye Qingru, who had just come down from the stage, there was absolutely no way anyone else could have tampered with the piano.

But right now, the most important thing isn't thinking about how to get revenge on Ye Qingru.

The most urgent task is to solve the problem of the lack of a sustain pedal.

The piece she's going to play today requires a high degree of sustain pedaling; without sustain, the sound quality will definitely suffer significantly.

What should we do?

Meanwhile, the audience below the stage noticed that Su Qinghe had not started playing for a long time and began to realize something was wrong.

"What is Su Qinghe doing? Why hasn't she started yet?"

"Did you forget the score?"

"It can't be that bad, she played so well at the welcome party..."

Whispers from the audience rose like a tide.

The judges began whispering among themselves, their gazes towards Su Qinghe now filled with scrutiny.

Meanwhile, on the side of the stage, Ye Qingru leaned against the curtain with her arms crossed, coldly watching Su Qinghe, who was stuck in a stalemate on stage.

She was waiting to see Su Qinghe make a fool of herself.

Wait and see her stand up awkwardly, bow to the judges and apologize, wait and see her slink off the stage, skirt in hand.

She used all her strength when she stepped on the pedal just now, because she was afraid that if she hadn't broken it, her plan would have fallen through.

"Go ahead and play, Su Qinghe." Ye Qingru was already laughing wildly in her heart, her red lips curving into an extremely wicked arc, "Let everyone see what tricks you can play without the pedal."

Meanwhile, in the audience on the other side, Shen Yue also noticed something was wrong and immediately stood up from his seat.

The vice president next to him was startled, dropping the program list he was holding to the ground: "Hey, what are you doing, president? Why did you suddenly stand up? You scared me!"

"The piano pedals are malfunctioning."

Shen Yue was extremely anxious. "I've been observing for a long time, and Su Qinghe has been constantly pressing the pedal. It's obvious that the sustain pedal is malfunctioning!"

"Huh?" The vice president was stunned. "What do we do now? Should we call a halt?"

Shen Yue didn't know what to do either.

He knew very well that the piece Su Qinghe was going to play today contained a large number of dense, fast scales, octave chords with a wide range, and continuous passages that required extremely high intensity and explosive power.

These challenges can perhaps be overcome through sheer strength.

But without a sustain pedal, all legato passages would sound dry, like a desert that has been drained of moisture.

The listening experience will be significantly worse, and the final score will definitely not be high.

But if we stop the match now and have the staff check the piano, it will take at least fifteen minutes.

A 15-minute pause can amplify the psychological pressure on a contestant who has already taken the stage to the extreme.

Besides, Su Qinghe was already sitting on the piano bench.

Calling a halt at this point would be tantamount to telling her in front of hundreds of people that something had gone wrong with her game.

After careful consideration, Shen Yue decided that the match should be stopped.

He strode towards the front row, about to call for a halt—

But at that moment, Su Qinghe on the stage moved.

She didn't panic and get up, nor did she explain anything to the judges.

She simply raised her hands calmly and pulled the black ribbon she used to tie her hair from her hair.

Her long, half-up hair cascaded down like a waterfall as the ribbon was untied, spreading across her bare shoulders.

She held the black ribbon between her fingers, the two ends hanging down like a dividing line.

What is she doing?

The entire audience's attention was drawn to Su Qinghe's action.

The students in the back row who were holding up their phones unconsciously lowered their arms and watched this scene with bated breath.

Su Qinghe held the ribbon up to her eyes and calmly blindfolded herself with it.

A black ribbon was tied in a knot at the back of her head, with the two ends hanging down in her long, loose hair, swaying gently as she lowered her head slightly.

"Blindfolded?!"

"She's going to blindfold herself and fire a bullet?!"

"Are you crazy?!"

The audience erupted in uproar.

Su Qinghe's three best friends, who were cheering her on, also showed expressions of disbelief.

The five professors on the judging panel looked at each other in bewilderment.

One of the teachers frowned, preparing to ask a question, but the white-haired old professor in the middle reached out and pressed down on him, gently shaking his head at him.

Jiang Che, sitting in the first row, never took his eyes off his girlfriend on stage.

When he saw Su Qinghe blindfold herself with a ribbon, his reaction was the same as most people's: he was shocked.

But Jiang Che quickly suppressed his surprise and regained his composure.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over everything on the stage and landing on the blindfolded girl.

At the same time, many images flashed through his mind.

The girl huddled in the street corner, her eyes lifeless.

The girl who was feeling her way along the wall, carefully finding her way.

The girl who learned to listen with her ears, touch with her fingertips, and feel the world with her soul in the darkness.

During those days of blindness, she knew darkness better than anyone else.

At this moment, this ribbon is not a confinement, but a journey home.

When Ye Qingru saw that Su Qinghe had pressed the pedal several times without any response, an uncontrollable excitement welled up in her eyes.

Come on, run off the stage crying!

Let everyone see how embarrassing you, Su Qinghe, are!

However, before that excitement could fully blossom, it suddenly froze on her face.

Because she saw Su Qinghe pull out a ribbon from her hair and blindfold herself.

Ye Qingru's pupils suddenly contracted.

What does she want to do?

The next second, the sound of a piano rang out.

Melodious phrases flowed from Su Qinghe's fingertips.

A series of rapid, tempestuous scales ascended from the low register.

Strong notes are full and powerful, while weak notes are light and not weak.

Everyone in the know was stunned.

Without a sustain pedal, the notes should be dry, harsh, and full of breaks.

However, Su Qinghe made up for the time difference with her extremely fast hand speed, connecting the notes at an extreme speed, and weaving the notes into a seamless net.

Su Qinghe's hands danced across the piano keys, her deep blue dress shimmering with starlight-like halos as she moved.

The entire audience was completely immersed in this grand art performance.

Only Ye Qingru revealed an extremely ferocious expression.

Why? Why could she still play under these circumstances?

Why isn't she crying, panicking, or being defeated like a normal person?

Ye Qingru gritted her teeth, her heart burning with jealousy.

Without a sustain pedal, the tone Su Qinghe produced was indeed dry.

This is a physical defect that technology cannot completely overcome.

But she overwhelmed the imperfections in her tone with her overwhelming momentum.