On the first day of school, the school beauty in black stockings took me to a hotel.

The night before the semi-finals, room 1208 of the Jinjiang Hotel in Shanghai.

The Bund outside the window is dazzling at night, and the cruise ships on the Huangpu River look like glowing caterpillars slowly crawling.

Neither of the two people in the room was in the mood to admire the scenery.

Su Wanqing sat cross-legged on the bed, with a small notebook spread out in front of her, filled with densely packed notes.

The markings were done with pens of various colors—red, yellow, green, and blue—it was like a rainbow come to life.

She was muttering to herself, her fingers flying across the paper; anyone who didn't know better would think she was cracking some state secret.

Liu Yu sat at his desk, holding his guitar, listening to "The Man Who Chases the Light" over and over again.

His fingers flew across the strings, the melody flowing like a stream, but he always felt something was missing. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong, it just didn't feel right.

"Stop!" Su Wanqing suddenly shouted.

Liu Yu's hand trembled, and the guitar emitted a piercing noise.

He turned his head and looked at the "little notebook warrior" on the bed: "What's wrong now?"

Su Wanqing jumped off the bed and ran barefoot to him, holding her little notebook high in her hand, almost poking Liu Yu's nose.

"Honey, look at my analysis! Let me tell you, I've thoroughly investigated each of those twenty-four contestants in the semi-finals!"

Liu Yu leaned back, dodging the small notebook that was almost shoved into his nostril: "Underwear? Why are you pulling down someone's underwear?"

"A metaphor! Don't you understand metaphors?!" Su Wanqing stamped her feet in frustration. "I meant we dug up their secrets! We thoroughly researched them! Why do you keep finding fault with what I say? Did your reading comprehension skills fail you back in the college entrance exam?"

Liu Yu's lips twitched: "Alright, alright, continue. What did you uncover?"

Su Wanqing took a deep breath, turned to the first page of her notebook, and began typing.

"First of all, the first-place winner, Wang Feier, from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, is a professional singer, and her singing skills are indeed amazing. But! However!" She emphasized, tapping her finger on the paper, "she has a fatal weakness: her song choices are conservative. In the preliminary round, she sang 'Light Years Away,' and in the semi-finals, she's supposedly going to sing 'Bubble,' both of which are technically impressive songs. These kinds of songs might be enjoyable for the judges, but the audience gets tired of them easily. Moreover, her style is too rigid, almost textbook-perfect, lacking any surprises."

Liu Yu nodded: "That makes sense. And then?"

Su Wanqing turned to the second page: "Second place, Zhou Jie, from the Xi'an region, sings folk songs. This guy is in the same category as you, guitar playing and singing, original singer. But his original songs, how should I put it..." She wrinkled her nose, her expression like she'd eaten an unripe persimmon, "a bit corny. The lyrics are all about 'girls,' 'distant places,' and 'dreams,' so formulaic. You're different. Your lyrics are down-to-earth, full of life, 'black stockings,' 'Cullinan,' 'I thought you were a boy but you turned out to be a beauty,' these are all real experiences, you can tell they're true, not made up."

Liu Yu said expressionlessly, "Can you please stop bringing up the 'black stockings' thing? What am I supposed to explain if a reporter digs it up?"

Su Wanqing retorted confidently, "What's there to explain? That's art! Art originates from life but transcends it! Just say you used symbolism; 'black stockings' symbolize feminine softness and mystery, understand?"

"Okay, you can continue."

Su Wanqing turned to the third page, her expression becoming subtle.

"That fourth-place Chen Haonan..."

Liu Yu raised an eyebrow: "What? He has a fatal weakness too?"

Su Wanqing sneered, "He's not just weak, he's full of weaknesses. But! But!" She emphasized, "This guy has an advantage that no one else has... his dad. You don't know, I heard backstage today that his dad knows several judges, and their relationships are quite close. Although the competition is supposed to be fair and just, it's a society based on personal connections, you know."

Liu Yu frowned: "You mean he can use connections?"

Su Wanqing waved her hand: "It's not about getting a ranking through connections, that's too obvious, no one would dare to do that. But you can't guarantee that the judges will be a little lenient when they score. For example, if you sing 90 points and he sings 70 points, the judges might give him 75 and you 85. Over time, the difference will be smaller."

Liu Yu was silent for a few seconds, then laughed: "So what? I'll sing my song, and he'll sing his. Even if the judges give him ten points, he'll still be the same. I don't believe he can go from 70 to 90."

Su Wanqing looked at him, her eyes lighting up: "Honey, I love your confidence! You look especially handsome when you say that!"

Liu Yu raised an eyebrow: "When have I ever not been handsome?"

Su Wanqing thought for a moment: "When I first woke up in the morning, my hair was a mess and I had sleep in my eyes. I wasn't very handsome then."

Liu Yu's lips twitched: "Can you please stop undermining me?"

Su Wanqing chuckled and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek: "Teasing someone is teasing someone, loving you is loving you, they're two different things. Alright, alright, let's not talk about Chen Haonan anymore, he's just cannon fodder anyway. What I really want to talk to you about is someone else."

She turned to the fourth page, her expression becoming serious.

"This is Lin Xiaoyu, from the Chengdu region, ranked tenth. Do you remember her? She was the one who sat next to me in the preliminary round, her boyfriend was number 19."

Liu Yu nodded: "I remember, what's wrong?"

Su Wanqing said, "I talked with her for a long time today and found that this girl is extraordinary. She is from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and studies pop singing, but her style is not the kind that is purely technical; it is more heartfelt. The song 'A Diao' that she sang in the preliminary round, although her technique was not the most outstanding, was particularly full of emotion, and it made several people in the audience cry. The judges gave her tenth place, which is actually a bit low. I think she should have been able to make it into the top five."

Liu Yu became interested: "You think highly of her?"

Su Wanqing nodded: "Yes! And after talking to her, I found that she really admires you. She said your original works are very inspired, the kind of 'natural talent,' not 'hard-working talent.' Her exact words were: 'Your husband's writing has a natural feel for language; it's not something he learned, it's something he was born with.'"

Liu Yu was stunned for a moment: "Given to life? I didn't give birth to a child."

Su Wanqing rolled her eyes at him: "A metaphor! Another metaphor! She's saying your talent is innate, not something you can develop through hard work. That's a very high compliment, don't you understand?"

Liu Yu nodded, feeling a little pleased inside, but he didn't show it on his face.

Su Wanqing continued, "There's another person you need to watch out for, the eighth place winner, what's his name again..." She flipped through her notebook, "Zhao Yuxuan, from the Nanjing region. He's from Nanjing University of the Arts, studying musical theatre. He has solid singing skills and an exceptionally strong stage presence. In the preliminary round, he sang a musical theatre excerpt, singing and dancing, which blew the audience away. But this style is a bit of a disadvantage in pop song competitions; the judges might find it 'too dramatic.' So his ranking might not be very high, but he's definitely a formidable opponent."

After listening, Liu Yu exclaimed, "Teacher Su, how much homework did you do?"