Chapter 15: The First

Xu Yancheng nodded in agreement. The two of them then left together.

When Lin Lu danced, she was fully absorbed, completely immersed in her own world, utterly unaware of anything else around her. Throughout her performance, there was neither applause nor any commentary or murmurs—the entire hall was silent. Even for the two minutes after her dance ended, not a sound could be heard in the venue.

Then, a judge suddenly rose from his seat and began to applaud her. In the next moment, thunderous applause erupted from the crowd.

Huang Han approached Lin Lu, embracing her in excitement.
"Spectacular! My dear, you always manage to surprise your teacher."

Today, Lin Lu had truly outdone herself; her performance elevated the entire competition to its climax.

Xu Mingchuan stood stunned for a long time before he could react. He had seen many of Lin Lu’s performances before, but this was the first time one made his blood surge and his mind reel. Previously, he only came to watch Lin Lu—he understood nothing about dance and couldn’t discern any technicalities. It wasn’t until today that he truly felt the allure and power of dance.

Lin Lu really was worthy of her own claim to be the best; there was not a shred of exaggeration in it. Xu Mingchuan even felt that perhaps he was not good enough for her.

When Lin Lu came out after removing her stage makeup, she saw Xu Yancheng and Su Yi together, with Wen Caiqing beside them.

At that moment, Xu Mingchuan’s car arrived. He rolled down the window and called out to Lin Lu, “Hop in! I know a place with amazing food.”

He knew that before a performance, a dancer would usually avoid eating to maintain the perfection of their form. And Lin Lu had just expended so much energy—she must be famished by now. Lin Lu was indeed very hungry, so she got into the car without hesitation.

Xu Mingchuan’s call was naturally heard by Xu Yancheng and his group. Xu Yancheng glanced over and saw Lin Lu sitting in the front passenger seat, smiling. He paid it little mind and turned his attention back to Wen Caiqing, continuing their conversation.

“Your Uncle Su will be back the day after tomorrow. You should come over for dinner,” Wen Caiqing said.

Xu Yancheng nodded. “Then I’ll leave the cooperation matter in Uncle Su’s hands.”

“We’re family, there’s no need for such formality,” Wen Caiqing replied, looking at him with increasing fondness. When Su Yi wanted to be with Xu Yancheng, Wen Caiqing had fully supported the idea, even offering plenty of suggestions. Su Jinyuan was also quite impressed by him. Xu Yancheng was, in fact, the son-in-law the Su family was most satisfied with.

When the competition ended that afternoon, Huang Han had a heated argument with the judges over the championship contention between Lin Lu and Su Yi.

“I don’t think there should be any dispute over which of these two performances was superior.”

“Teacher Huang, we understand how you feel, but please trust our professional judgment…”

“You are all the most authoritative judges of major competitions in the country. I hope your professionalism does not let the dancers down.”

“Of course.”

The awards ceremony was delayed by nearly an hour. In the end, Lin Lu and Su Yi were declared joint winners—the first time in the history of the dance competition that such a tie had occurred.

Huang Han was extremely dissatisfied with this outcome; she believed Lin Lu’s performance completely outshone Su Yi’s and that it was unfair for both to share the title. Even the unexpected group win by Dreamweavers' ensemble could not lift her spirits.

Lin Lu, however, was much more composed. Upon hearing the result, she even took the initiative to comfort Huang Han. Huang Han was so upset that Lin Lu ended up representing their team in the rest of the award and photo sessions.

Xu Mingchuan brought his own camera and took many close-up shots of Lin Lu from below the stage. Xu Yancheng, nearby, gave a cool snort. “You’re quite the devoted fan, aren’t you?”

Xu Mingchuan glanced at him and continued taking photos. After a while, he finally asked, “Are you planning to get back together with Su Yi?”