The CEO’s Substitute Wife Is A Genius
Chapter 318: Accident Scene, Requesting a Midway Switch

Chapter 318: Chapter 318: Accident Scene, Requesting a Midway Switch

"It’s her idea." Barrett was serious and earnest.

If it wasn’t for the master’s plan, how could he have placed a female college student in the center position?

And she was a novice, making her first appearance in his band.

If her performance was subpar, she would inevitably become the focus.

This was very risky.

But since the master had spoken, even if it was a risk, he was willing to take it.

After all, he had always wanted to make an unparalleled music album.

Louis said he could fulfill his dream, and this dream-maker was Jiang Man.

"..." Wen Jingya was at a loss for words, feeling a heavy stone blocking her chest, making it impossible to breathe.

What did Jiang Man mean?

She definitely wasn’t being kind to help her; she probably wanted to watch her make a fool of herself, right?

"Don’t worry, sir, I will perform well later! I won’t let you down."

"Good luck, I’m rooting for you." Barrett patted her on the shoulder.

...

It took half an hour for the audience to enter.

The venue was packed with no vacant seats, and some were even standing.

The old Madam Lu arrived late with Lu Xuemei and Jiang Man.

The school was flattered to see their major benefactor showing up.

"Old Madam Lu, what brings you here?"

The principal personally came forward to greet her.

Old Madam Lu walked straight to Madam Lan Xiang: "I knew it was you!"

Her abrupt statement left Madam Lan Xiang utterly confused.

"What about me?"

"It was you who incited Jingya to perform on stage, wasn’t it?"

"Jingya, who?"

"Still playing dumb?" The old lady was so angry her mouth was crooked.

"Mom, don’t be upset." Lu Xuemei pulled her mother back, speaking to soothe her, "This is a school, and Jingya is a student here. It’s a supreme honor for her to perform in Barrett’s band."

"That’s exactly why it’s a perfect bait to win people over!"

"Mom, why don’t we sit down first and watch how things unfold?" Lu Xuemei patted the Old Madam’s back.

"We’ll be watching; she wouldn’t dare cause trouble."

"Hmm." The old lady nodded, accepting the advice.

Seeing this, the principal quickly offered up his and two school officials’ seats: "Old Madam, please take a seat."

"Where’s Manman?" Lu Xuemei didn’t rush to sit down but looked around instead.

But there were too many people, and in the vast sea of faces, she couldn’t find anyone.

Just then, the curtain slowly opened.

Immediately, the venue fell silent.

Lu Xuemei sat down quickly, knowing it wasn’t good to keep standing and looking for someone.

Clap—

The lights went out, and it was pitch black.

...

On stage, Wen Jingya was sitting behind Barrett.

Looking at the luxurious piano in front of her and the curtain that was slowly opening, she didn’t know why, but a rebellious thought occurred to her.

Especially when she saw her grandmother, aunt, and Jiang Man appearing in the first row of the audience, that rebellious idea became even stronger.

From a young age, she had learned music, and mastering the challenging pipa to a level ten performance standard made her the pride of her family.

Because she played the pipa well, Brother Zhou even got her an antique pipa.

Although there was no love between them, there was affection.

But all of this seemed to have subtly changed since Jiang Man’s arrival.

Jiang Man was like an all-capable demon, good at everything.

She felt like the protagonist whose luck had been stolen, becoming dim and overshadowed in the Lu family, reduced to a supporting role.

For some reason, during the few seconds the curtain opened, she rapidly reflected on her circumstances during this period.

Was she not good enough?

No!

It was just that her brilliance was overshadowed by Jiang Man, making everyone forget her.

She wanted to evoke their memories.

She had once been the child of someone else’s family that adults spoke highly of.

Thinking of this, Wen Jingya looked at the marked-up score with a determination to succeed.

When the conductor raised his baton, the melodious prelude began.

After the first section ended, the harp joined in.

Barrett was extremely surprised, his spine stiffening.

Hadn’t he altered the score so that Wen Jingya would only join at the climax with the harp for a lift?

How could...

Because he was in the midst of the performance and couldn’t afford to be distracted; otherwise, he wouldn’t keep up with the beat, and the whole concert would be affected.

Barrett quickly adjusted his state of mind, focusing on his own piano and ignoring the harp part.

When he played the piano with full confidence, the venue fell utterly silent.

Wen Jingya was proud, weren’t all those lines across the score a sign of distrust? Didn’t they not want her to play too much?

She would show them!

This was Barrett’s stage, a world-class stage no less.

It was an excellent opportunity to make a spectacular impression!

Sure enough, she caught the cameras’ attention and noticed four camera positions were filming her.

Because she was sitting right behind Barrett, she knew she would definitely be in the shot and would be the most eye-catching presence.

With so much attention on her, how could she play only a few notes?

There’s a saying: "You won’t die if you don’t seek trouble."

Just as Wen Jingya was full of confidence, she realized she had played an incorrect note.

The harp and konghou are similar, yet after all, they are two different instruments.

The konghou has dual rows of strings, which require significantly different fingering techniques from the harp.

Because her skills were not refined, she hadn’t made the switch at the crucial moment.

However, she was lucky her reaction was quick, realizing her error as soon as she made it.

Moreover, the sound of over a dozen other instruments covered it up, and the mistake was skillfully concealed.

Wen Jingya was full of confidence, feeling that this was just an unexpected situation.

As a pipa player with over a decade of experience, and having performed countless times, such an incident seemed minor to her.

So, she continued playing confidently.

At the climax, as the rhythm picked up, she couldn’t keep up with the pace, and her fingering started to become chaotic.

"What’s going on? The sound of the harp is off."

In the audience, some people had started to notice something amiss.

They were music students, and although such errors might not be detected by the general audience, they were sensitive to them.

"It’s all wrong."

"I heard the Harpist came down with acute gastroenteritis, and Wen Jingya is here as a substitute."

"Our school has harp majors, don’t they? Why didn’t they step in?"

"Yes, the senior students are out for a performance today, and the juniors claimed their skills were not polished enough. You know, there aren’t that many harp students."

"Better nothing than something shoddy. A professional is definitely more reliable than a non-professional."

"It was an emergency situation. The student council president was in charge of it; he originally approached Jiang Man, but she didn’t want to help, and Wen Jingya volunteered..."

"Speechless. If this gets out, how will others mock us? A music academy that can’t find a single harp player?"

"It’s not that we can’t find one; it’s that no one dares to make a fool of themselves. That is Barrett’s orchestra! The world’s best orchestra! Without any time to rehearse together, who would rashly step in to help? Even well-known domestic harpists probably wouldn’t dare be so presumptuous."

"You have a point. It’s just Wen Jingya overestimating herself."

"So embarrassing, there are cameras rolling. I’m getting second-hand embarrassment all over again."

"No worries, it’s Wen Jingya who’s humiliated, not us. One person can’t represent an entire school."

"It’s like watching a car crash, she should just stop already."

The commotion was so great that it began to affect the entire stage.

Although the orchestra members continued to play seamlessly, they were somewhat distracted to varying degrees.

"Sorry."

Suddenly, Barrett’s piano came to an abrupt halt.

"Let’s pause the performance."

He could no longer bear having such strange noises in his performance.

Wen Jingya’s unauthorized actions had completely ruined the concert!

"Please give me a moment, I’ll replace the Harpist and replay the piece for everyone."

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