Chapter 129: You've Offended My Whole Family, Then It's Time for You to Go
Want to go off on someone?
Most important thing is having a good reason.
Xia Zhilan had already been unhappy with that influencer for a long time.
If you insult me, as an elder and a senior, I can be generous and pretend it didn’t happen. After all, who hasn’t been young and wild before?
But now you’ve made my future daughter-in-law angry too. As the saying goes, even a monk fights for dignity.
Since my future daughter-in-law stood up for me, how can I, as her future mother-in-law, just sit and take it?
Now that the girl messed up her own performance, it gave Xia Zhilan the perfect excuse to teach her a lesson. After all, this was a music academy, and there were a lot of people here who really understood music.
Xia Zhilan was sitting at the judges’ table. Normally, as a respected senior, even if the student played poorly, she’d be expected to say some kind or encouraging words.
But this time? She didn’t want to.
Around her, the music professors were already looking awkward. They had clearly heard how badly Xie Xinyi had played, and they started whispering among themselves.
“What’s going on? This is the top student they recommended?”
Another school judge shook their head and said quietly, “She's not a top student, I heard she’s an influencer… she was allowed to perform, supposedly to attract viewers.”
One of the faculty judges cried out, “An influencer?!”
If they weren’t sitting at the judge’s table, she probably would’ve slammed the table and shouted, ‘Do you people even know what these influencers are like nowadays?!’
Giving a performance slot to this influencer Xie Xinyi was such a waste. If she weren’t famous online, and they had given this chance to someone else...
But there’s no “if” in reality. Everyone now turned their attention to the star of the night, Xia Zhilan.
If she was willing to be polite about it, then maybe they could all pretend this didn’t happen.
They just hoped she wouldn’t go too hard on her.
But “pretend it didn’t happen”? Sorry.
If I let this slide, how am I supposed to unleash my fury?
As the messy piano performance finally ended, the audience gave a few weak claps. Everyone here was studying music, they clearly heard the problems.
Some students began whispering, “With that level of skill, how did she get picked to represent the school?”
“This piece is actually for a beginner. And she still made mistakes? If this were a final exam, she’d fail.”
“First-year students play better than her.”
“Gross. Seriously disgusting.”
“Now I get it. She got picked just because she’s a social media influencer. But just because you’re famous online, does that mean you can break school rules?”
“......”
“Shhh, let’s stop talking. I want to see what those judges say. I bet they’ll still praise her, saying it was a great performance, huh?”
Because everyone here was a music student, and they knew their craft, they were even more disgusted by the performance.
And now… They were all waiting to watch the drama unfold.
For example, imagine if some respected senior in the music world gave her a good score… That would honestly be hilarious.
So where did things really go wrong? The problem was that influencer Xie Xinyi played terribly, it was just ridiculous!
Now it was time for the judges to give their scores. The school leaders, wanting to be nice and encourage their own student, might give her a 6 or 7 out of 10 just to comfort her.
But the most important part was still Xia Zhilan’s attitude.
The host, already smiling, asked, “So, Miss Xia, what score would you like to give?”
“Me?” Xia Zhilan casually flipped through the number cards in her hand.
When she got to the “10” card, the audience immediately started booing. But too bad for them, she was just organizing the cards, not actually giving a score yet.
Xia Zhilan smiled sweetly at her.
Just looking at her made influencer Xie Xinyi feel chills all over.
If she had known this woman was a well-known veteran in the music world, she would’ve cried and apologized long ago. But now, it was too late. She had no choice but to keep pretending to be confident.
“As for what score to give this young lady,” Xia Zhilan said with a gentle smile, “I think everyone already knows the answer, don’t they?”
She paused, then added, “So I won’t give a score.”
“Whoaa—” The entire theater broke into an uproar.
Everyone had been waiting to enjoy some drama, and now she suddenly refused to give a score?
Who's going to make up for the fun we just lost?
Well, maybe... the influencer?
Different people had different reactions.
Anyone who’s stood on a big stage knows how much pressure there is. All you see is a big dark crowd of people, and you hear the booing. That alone is scary enough.
And now the most important judge happens to be someone you have a personal grudge with?
Blood rushed to Xie Xinyi’s head. Fueled by her confidence as an online celebrity, she grabbed the host’s microphone and shouted.
“You—! I never imagined you’d be one of the judges today. But this is clearly personal revenge!”
Xia Zhilan: silently laughing.
Other judges and leaders: “What an idiot.”
Onlooking students: “Ooh, the real drama begins?”
If Xie Xinyi had just left quietly with her tail between her legs, it might have put Xia Zhilan in a tougher spot.
She wouldn’t even get a proper chance to teach her a lesson, what a waste that would’ve been!
But now, Xia Zhilan simply raised an eyebrow and said, “Miss, what were you saying again? Personal... what? Revenge… what? I’m not quite sure what you mean, could you explain it?”
Xie Xinyi choked on her words.
“I...!”
Seeing Xia Zhilan acting as if she were standing up for justice, everyone around couldn’t help but admire her.
But really, what could Xie Xinyi say?
That she had trashed a respected senior during a livestream without realizing who she was?
That she had mocked Xia Zhilan’s piano playing?
Saying it out loud would only make things worse!
So, after hesitating for a moment, Xie Xinyi changed the subject and said. “I—I—I didn’t mean it like that. I just... I mean, why didn’t you score me? Isn’t that targeting me?”
All the judges, teachers, and school leaders: Clap!
They honestly just wanted to slap themselves in the face.
Do you really not know how bad your piano playing was? And you still have the nerve to ask why you didn’t get a score?
If we weren’t school staff trying to save face, would we even consider giving you a score?
But now, everything was firmly in Xia Zhilan’s hands.
Some people wanted to cover up the truth, but Xia Zhilan spoke up and exposed it.
“It’s not that I refuse to give her a score,” she said with a smile, “It’s just that I feel I’m not talented enough, I’m not worthy. What qualifications do I have to judge someone as skilled as her?”
All the school leaders and teachers: “Uh… what?”
Xie Xinyi: “???”
Lin Yibai: “Counterattack! Brilliant!”
It sounded like humble praise, but it was full of sarcasm and irony.
Xie Xinyi was clearly shaken now. She stammered, “You… what are you talking about? I… I don’t know what you mean… I… um…”
Xia Zhilan, seeing this, acted even more self-deprecating and said. “Someone like me probably doesn’t count for anything. My playing is awful, just complete trash, really.”
The leaders and teachers were shocked.
“Miss Xia, how could you say that about yourself? Your musical skills are highly respected across the industry. So many people want to be your student but never get the chance! How could you say you’re not qualified?”
Xia Zhilan (in her mind): Good question.
Why would she say something like that? Wasn’t it because someone once said those exact things about her? And who was that person?
Xia Zhilan took out her phone. She was still kind at heart, still debating whether to give that person a way out.
But then she remembered how that foolish internet celebrity insulted her son, then her future daughter-in-law. And even pointed at her and called her playing garbage.
Well, well, she offended our whole family.
So… let’s settle this.
Xia Zhilan handed her phone to the host. On it was a recording from one of Xie Xinyi’s livestreams. The host had the tech crew project it onto the big screen.
Everyone in the hall could now see and hear Xie Xinyi’s livestream window.
She was watching a music video. The key thing? The person playing the piano in the video was none other than Xia Zhilan.
And she was trash-talking:
“The video quality is trash, sure. But listen to the music. That piano… can a human even play like that?”
“From a professional point of view, as a music student, I can only say—this is total garbage. It’s just trash! I wanna throw up.”
What made it worse was that the video had been edited to highlight Xia Zhilan’s elegant, traditional playing. So who exactly was she insulting?
She was insulting the very veteran that the school had worked so hard to invite, calling her music trash.
Then what does that make you? The school leaders were absolutely furious.
Meanwhile, Xia Zhilan just spread her hands, shook her head, shrugged her shoulders,
and looked pitifully at them.
“So, do I really have the right to judge her? Don’t you all think so too?”
Who would dare answer that?! No one even dared to play peacemaker now.
Because if you defended your student, you’d basically be saying that Xia Zhilan’s playing was trash.
And as for Xie Xinyi? She was done.
Her livestream career? Over.
In the music world, which puts a huge emphasis on seniority and respect, there’s no place for someone like her who breaks all the rules.
So now what can she do? You’re finished, idiot.