"Dream Wedding" is a sorrowful piece, symbolizing a love as fleeting as a shooting star—lovers who cannot be together, able only to hold their wedding in dreams, comforting themselves with illusion.
The system provides creative introductions and background information for each of the ten gifted pieces.
Although Ian Song has never been in love, he can only pour his own feelings into the protagonist of the piece.
So at this moment, his expression carries sorrow mixed with a trace of confusion and despair, yet within that despair is a faint joy of wish-fulfillment.
His fingers fell upon the black and white keys, and mournful notes flowed out with them.
From the moment he began playing, Ian Song completely immersed himself in the story.
"Dong dong!"
The sorrowful piano music flowed through the entire hall. All ten judges made the same gesture: they closed their eyes, savoring the piece and its artistic conception.
Meanwhile, the audience also fell silent; some, moved by emotion, were already in tears.
Evie stared blankly at the figure on stage, the lingering notes in her ears making her want to cry.
The chief editor’s gaze looked a bit dazed; she didn’t look at Ian Song, but stared into the air above the hall, as if lost in some memory. Unknowingly, tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.
“Dream Wedding” isn’t a long piece—just a little over two minutes.
When the piece ended, Ian Song felt his own eyes growing moist. He didn’t get up right away, but sat at the piano for a few seconds to calm himself, then slowly stood, bowed to the judges and audience.
“Pa pa pa!”
The moment he straightened up, a tidal wave of applause broke out, each round louder than the last, echoing on and on.
Only when the host appeared to announce the scoring did the applause finally die down.
“Now, let’s invite the ten judges to score Contestant No. 1, Ian Song’s performance.”
“Alright, let’s see the scores from our ten judges, starting with Teacher Lillian Yang on the left. Lillian Yang has given...!” At this point, the host’s voice faltered—because the scorecard actually read 11.
Isn’t the full score supposed to be 10? How did she give an 11!
Luckily, the host had plenty of experience and quickly asked in surprise, “Teacher Lillian Yang, does your score of 11 have a special meaning?”
Lillian Yang is a female judge in her late thirties, currently teaching at the Conservatory of Music. She holds the title of associate professor and her piano skills are already at professional level nine.
Then Lillian Yang glanced at Ian Song on stage and said, "I’ve been paying attention to Ian Song since the auditions. I have to say, he’s the most gifted piano youth I’ve ever seen. His performance level is already master standard. In terms of composition, 'Blue and White Porcelain' already carried a master’s flavor, but compared to this 'Dream Wedding,' it falls short. 'Dream Wedding' is more mature, more beautiful, and fully at master level. Most crucially, he composed it within just one hour.
So, 10 points can’t express my admiration for Ian Song—I can only give him 11!"
"Thank you for your review, Teacher Yang. Ian Song, do you have anything you’d like to say?" The host turned to Ian Song as a staff member handed him the microphone.
"Thank you, Teacher Yang, for your praise. I’ll work even harder from now on." Ian Song replied gratefully, also a bit surprised by the judge’s sharp eye. 'Blue and White Porcelain' was adapted from a song, so even though Ian gave it his all, he couldn’t fully capture the original flavor—lyrics would have made it perfect.
"Alright, now let’s invite Teacher Ethan Lan to score." The host looked at the second judge.
Ethan Lan smiled and held up his scorecard—again, it was an 11. He said, "This is exactly what everyone expected. He deserves this score!"
Another 11! Ian Song couldn’t help feeling excited.
The other contestants watched the scene on stage, full of both envy and jealousy. Shelly Song stared at Ian’s image on the big screen, her admiration growing even deeper. "Big brother really is amazing. The championship is definitely his this time!"
"This kid is unreal!" Evan Xia sighed. Though he felt a little disappointed, he was even more genuinely happy for Ian Song.
Host: "Please, Teacher Mark Ma, give your score!"
Mark Ma raised his scorecard with a serious expression—yet again, it was an 11.
The whole hall erupted; applause rang out once more.
When the applause faded, Mark Ma spoke up: "Our great Yanhuang civilization has a history spanning ten thousand years and is now the world’s second largest economy, but our piano field still lags far behind other countries. The world’s top piano master, Nina, is from the Eagle Federation, and the youngest master, Shirley, is from Ameria. But now, the world’s youngest true piano master is one of us, a Yanhuang native—and Ian Song is only seventeen! In the future, the world’s number-one piano master will surely be him! Ian Song, keep it up—I believe in you!"
"Well said, Teacher Ma!" the host praised, then asked Ian Song, "Ian, after receiving such high praise from Teacher Ma, do you have anything you’d like to say?"
Ian Song entered the piano competition for two reasons: to improve his relationship with Shelly Song, and to earn Fame Points. But after hearing Mark Ma’s words, he suddenly felt a heavy sense of responsibility.
So, after a brief silence, he said, "I have only one thing to say: I won’t let anyone down!"
"Well said!"
"Way to go, Ian!"
"Ian Song, we love you!"
Cheers and applause filled the hall.
After that, all seven remaining judges gave Ian Song a perfect score of 11 and showered him with praise. Of course, two judges also warned him not to get too arrogant.
So, Ian Song’s final score was 11.
With Ian Song’s dazzling performance as a benchmark, even though a few later contestants did well, the judges rarely gave out high scores. Notably, Shelly Song’s composition 'Kite and Wind' won the judges’ favor, earning an average score of 9.1 and placing her second.
Evan Xia, who wrote 'I Love French Fries' with Ian’s guidance, also performed well and ultimately ranked seventh, advancing to the finals.
While the other contestants continued their performances, Ian Song pulled up his system panel. Since the top ten wouldn’t be announced until the competition ended, he had to stay for now.
Earlier that morning, he spent 500,000 Fame Points to learn 'Raging Waves,' leaving just over 300,000. But now, not only had he recovered them, he’d surpassed his previous total, reaching 1.05 million.
It seemed JoyStream Video’s promotion was still going strong. At this rate, he might earn several hundred thousand more Fame Points before it was over.
“Meow‑Meow, how many Fame Points for the next lottery?” Ian Song asked.
“Four point eighty-eight million!”
Even though he knew his Fame Points would rise sharply, hearing that number still made Ian Song grit his teeth.
"Hello, Ian Song, we’re from JoyStream Video. Mind if we chat?" Just then, a clear, pleasant female voice sounded beside him. Looking up, he saw two women had approached.