Chapter 8

As the music began to play, Chen Cong took a deep breath and firmly gripped the letter containing the secret that his mother had given him.

It was Tu Honggang's "Feng Yun," a song with a very powerful and majestic atmosphere, especially the series of "Where is there" rhetorical questions, which were extremely grand.

As the music started, Chen Cong suddenly tore off his top and threw it, revealing a black tight-fitting vest and his well-built body.

The bronze-colored, muscular physique immediately drew a chorus of screams from the female students.

"Ah~"

Even more intense than the boys' cheers.

"Hmph! Showing off!"

Sun Hao said jealously, voicing the thoughts of most of the boys in the audience.

"Wind stirs up the dust!"

With the first line of the lyrics, Chen Cong moved, leaping into the air with a flying kick.

"Clouds turn into rain and fall to the ground."

He landed silently on one foot.

This single move immediately earned a round of applause.

Clean and crisp, beautiful!

But it wasn't over yet.

"Heroes surge from all directions!"

Immediately followed by a 720-degree spinning kick!

"Righteousness has existed from ancient times to the present."

Landing instantly with a spinning turn!

"Swords and spears dart about!"

With each subsequent line of the lyrics, there was a high-difficulty move.

From side flips and 540-degree aerial leg swings to backflips, the most terrifying part was that all the high-difficulty moves were seamlessly connected, with no pauses in between, making the performance incredibly intense!

Anyone who practiced routines would be shocked by Chen Cong's performance. These high-difficulty moves, if performed in a routine competition, would earn high scores, and Chen Cong did them one after another.

The entire audience fell silent.

At that moment, all the students were stunned by Chen Cong's martial arts performance.

Even though they didn't understand it, they knew Chen Cong's performance was amazing!

They had never seen such a martial arts performance before.

What they thought would be a mediocre program turned out to be an unprecedented shock!

Fang Qiu watched with a smile, noticing that Chen Cong seemed to be looking at him intentionally or unintentionally at each transition, as if showing off or challenging him.

Chen Cong was indeed challenging Fang Qiu.

Originally, he only planned to perform a simple routine, but after discovering Fang Qiu, the suspicious martial artist, he immediately changed his performance to a series of high-difficulty moves, challenging Fang Qiu.

Fang Qiu was not bothered by Chen Cong's challenge and watched his performance with an appreciative eye.

For this performance, he had only eight words of evaluation.

Flamboyant and flashy, but lacking substance!

True martial arts can kill with one strike, taking a life with one blow!

Why perform so many complicated moves?

But he could do it too, and if he were to perform, it would be even more flashy and lacking in substance than Chen Cong's!

"Only deep affection and boundless righteousness, regardless of the gathering and dispersing of clouds and winds!"

As the song ended, Chen Cong, drenched in sweat, reined in his movements and slowly concluded his performance.

The audience erupted in applause and whistles.

This martial arts performance not only stirred the boys' masculinity but also aroused the girls' romantic hearts.

What they thought would be a simple and unimpressive martial arts routine turned out to be the most outstanding performance so far, surprising everyone.

Including the beautiful senior Liu Feifei, who hadn't expected it.

The entire Class 3 felt honored and proud because of Chen Cong's performance.

The host came on stage amidst the applause, but Chen Cong, who should have left, did not. Instead, he reached out and took the microphone from the host.

Seeing this, the audience fell silent, knowing that Chen Cong was about to speak.

Chen Cong held the microphone, looking in Fang Qiu's direction with a challenging gaze.

"Everyone thinks my performance was great, but I know there might be someone in the audience who is even better."

The audience was stunned.

Could there be a hidden expert in the audience?

"I offer this performance as a humble attempt to draw out the experts. I hope the experts in the audience will not hesitate to teach me. I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow night at the same time!"

He said this while staring at Fang Qiu.

Fang Qiu smiled.

The audience, however, was in an uproar.

This... This is a public challenge!

This was the first time they had seen a public challenge in their lives. This legendary event was happening right before their eyes.

And it was happening during the Mid-Autumn Festival gala!

The audience buzzed with discussion, all wondering who Chen Cong was challenging.

But they knew that tomorrow would be exciting, with a public duel!

The host was sweating.

He hadn't expected Chen Cong to be so bold as to issue a public challenge in front of all the students and leaders. How could college students privately fight?

He secretly glanced at the direction of the dean, who seemed to be smiling.

But he wasn't sure if he had seen correctly. Regardless, he quickly took the microphone and said, "Thank you, Chen Cong, for your wonderful performance. For now, let's put aside personal matters and enjoy the poetry recitation 'Praise of the Moon' by Wu Siyuan from the second year of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Please enjoy!"

...

After leaving the stage, Chen Cong glanced at Fang Qiu, who looked calm, and then returned to his class under the watchful eyes of everyone, sitting down quietly.

Fang Qiu hadn't expected Chen Cong to issue a public challenge.

This move was tough on both himself and his opponent!

As for whether he would show up tomorrow...

It depends on his mood.

Just as the poetry recitation was halfway through, the senior class teacher Liu Feifei quietly approached.

"The next program after this one is your hand flute performance. Chen Cong has brought us honor, and whether our class can become famous at this Mid-Autumn Festival gala depends on you! You must perform well!"

Liu Feifei looked at Fang Qiu seriously, encouraging him.

"Senior, don't worry. I'm not boasting, but Old Fang's hand flute skills are top-notch. It will definitely be a hit and impress everyone in our college!"

Fang Qiu hadn't spoken, but Sun Hao immediately chimed in with a grin.

Fang Qiu glanced at Sun Hao and then looked at the senior, who was even more serious than he was.

"You're putting so much pressure on me. Aren't you afraid I'll get nervous and perform poorly?"

"Senior believes in you!"

Liu Feifei patted Fang Qiu's shoulder and raised her fist. "Go for it!"

"Go for it!"

Zhu Benzheng, Sun Hao, and Zhou Xiaotian cheered for Fang Qiu together.

"Go for it!"

Fang Qiu responded, took a deep breath, stood up from the ground, and followed the senior to the backstage.

In the messy and simple backstage area, Fang Qiu was surprised to see a figure that shouldn't have been there: the school beauty, Jiang Miaoyu.

A handsome man stood beside her, smiling, while she was talking to the host.

Fang Qiu recognized him; he was the student council president of their Traditional Chinese Medicine college, a third-year student, Li Qingshi.

He was in the same grade and major as Fang Qiu's senior, but in a different class.

These two prominent figures in the college clearly knew each other and nodded politely at each other.

Li Qingshi's gaze never landed on Fang Qiu; it went directly from Liu Feifei to Jiang Miaoyu.

Fang Qiu saw a word in his eyes: pride!

He was a very proud person.

"You can go rest over there and adjust your state. When the host calls you, you can go on stage."

Liu Feifei pointed to a chair in the corner. "I'll leave now. I need to check on our class to make sure they don't cause any trouble."

Fang Qiu nodded. After Liu Feifei left, he walked straight to the chair and sat down, closing his eyes to rest.

Jiang Miaoyu only noticed Fang Qiu then. She was slightly surprised to see him and smiled, nodding.

Fang Qiu returned her smile.

At this moment, Li Qingshi finally looked at Fang Qiu for the first time, sizing him up. His eyes flashed with surprise, followed by a hint of disdain, and then he looked away.

Fang Qiu didn't pay attention to him, walked to the corner, and sat down, closing his eyes to rest.

"The program has been added. It's the third-to-last program, after the street dance, the song 'Yilian.' I look forward to your stunning performance."

The host said politely to Jiang Miaoyu.

Hearing this, Fang Qiu opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Miaoyu in surprise. He hadn't expected her to come and perform, especially at their Traditional Chinese Medicine college's Mid-Autumn Festival gala.

He knew the song "Yilian," which he liked very much, in both French and Chinese versions.

He hadn't expected Jiang Miaoyu to sing this song.

But this warm and fresh song really suited her personality.

"Thank you!"

Jiang Miaoyu said with a smile.

After that, she left the backstage with the student council president, Li Qingshi.

Fang Qiu sat alone in the backstage, quietly waiting to go on stage.

Ten minutes later, the host announced, "Please enjoy the hand flute performance of 'Qinghua Ci' by Fang Qiu from the third year of Traditional Chinese Medicine!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the students of Class 3 immediately started cheering loudly.

"Fang Qiu! Fang Qiu!"

The loudest voices were clearly from his dorm mates.

Fang Qiu felt warm and smiled as he walked onto the stage.

Hand flute?

In the audience, Jiang Miaoyu looked at Fang Qiu with surprise as he walked onto the stage. She had known he was going to perform when he appeared backstage, but she hadn't expected it to be a hand flute, which she had never heard of.

But now she knew his name.

Fang Qiu? Fang Qiu?

She wasn't sure which "Qiu" it was.

But the name sounded nice.

Jiang Miaoyu was now looking forward to the performance of this classmate who had helped her.

A classmate noticed her unusual expression and asked curiously, "Do you know him?"

Li Qingshi, who was squeezed between a group of girls, perked up his ears.

"Passing acquaintance."

Jiang Miaoyu smiled.

The classmate nodded, and Li Qingshi also breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze shifting to Fang Qiu on the stage.

He was curious to see what this passing acquaintance of the school beauty would do.

He was looking forward to it.

Except for his own class, the applause from other classes was sparse.

Most people didn't know what a hand flute was, assuming it was just another instrument, and they didn't have high expectations for an instrumental performance.

Fang Qiu, hearing the sparse applause, was not bothered. He walked to the front of the stage, stood in front of the microphone, and said naturally and confidently, "Stay true to your original aspiration, and you will achieve your goal. After crossing the hills, you will know the vastness of the sky and the expanse of the clouds! Hello, I am Fang Qiu!"

Fang... Qiu.

So that's the "Qiu."

Jiang Miaoyu thought to herself.

A simple and unexpected introduction instantly made everyone remember Fang Qiu's name.

"Fang Qiu! Fang Qiu!"

His dorm mates