Chapter 112: Chapter 112: Champion

The second was Jones.

He was a veteran guest on the show and had long since mastered these segments.

He gave a rather heartfelt speech from the bottom of his heart. Every sentence, while never mentioning his desire to win, was about the Empire’s honor.

Third, fourth… fifth…

None of the composers were fools; they all said things to curry favor with the audience.

When it was Jiang Qin’s turn, she found herself at a bit of a loss for words.

Because everything that could be said had already been said by those before her…

Not knowing what to say, she simply bowed and thanked everyone willing to vote for her.

Even so, her votes continued to climb.

Perhaps some people just preferred this sincere method of canvassing for votes, rather than the flowery, over-the-top speeches.

As the numbers on the big screen soared, the final vote count was locked in.

First in votes: Jones.

Second: Jiang Qin.

Third: Ize.

Fourth: Finland.

Fifth: Amos.

Sixth: Yi Lin.

Seventh: Rister.

Eighth: Ali Cook.

Ninth: Hai Ning.

However, Jiang Qin’s score was higher than Jones’s. Combined with the show’s weekly new song charts, where several of her songs ranked well, she had accumulated a significant number of bonus points.

Finally, the host excitedly announced, “The champion of the eleventh season of Interstellar Composer is—Miss Jiang Qin!!”

“Let’s give her a thunderous round of applause to congratulate her on winning the championship! We now invite Her Highness Leiman to present the award!”

“GASP—the award presenter is actually Her Highness Leiman?”

“Oh my god, why is Her Highness Leiman here? Hasn’t she been in seclusion for many years?”

Leiman Xiu was the previous Emperor’s biological younger sister, an S-level female, and also a legendary singer-songwriter.

She pioneered many of the pop music genres currently popular throughout the Interstellar era.

It could be said that her status in the Empire’s music scene was monumental. Many people wanted to become her student but couldn’t even find a way to approach her.

Thirty years ago, Leiman Xiu announced that she would be going into seclusion with her mates.

For the past thirty years, she hadn’t made a public appearance at any occasion.

No one expected her to reappear on the championship night of Interstellar Composer.

And, to top it all off, she was personally presenting the trophy to a composer from the Federation…

You can’t even imagine how green with envy some people were at that moment!

Especially Jones, who had once again missed the championship by a hair’s breadth.

If this weren’t a live broadcast, he probably would have stormed off the stage in anger.

He could accept losing to Karl, because Karl was, after all, his senior. It was perfectly normal for a junior to have less experience and popularity than a senior.

But he could not accept losing to a newcomer.

A Bronze Level female, no less!

If not for the precedent set by Karl, he probably would have demanded a public release of the detailed breakdown of Jiang Qin’s votes and the specific data from the song charts.

He couldn’t believe the data was actually real.

Jiang Qin hadn’t just won the support of most Federation people; she had also moved many Imperial people and Myriad Races People.

But what he found most unacceptable was that the award presenter was Her Highness Leiman!

You had to understand, most of the males in the music industry had an idol.

And that idol was Her Highness Leiman!

She was elegant, beautiful, gracious, and noble… He was captivated by her talent.

This was the closest he had ever been to her!

And yet, he was the runner-up. Again.

How could the runner-up possibly compare to the champion!

’Her Highness Leiman will only remember presenting the award to the 11th season’s champion, Jiang Qin. She won’t remember a runner-up like me…’

The outcome was just as Jones had thought.

Leiman looked at Jiang Qin with an admiring gaze, offered a few sincere words of praise, and said:

“I really like your composition style. If there’s an opportunity, I truly hope we can collaborate on a song.”

“If I have a suitable song, I would also greatly look forward to collaborating with Your Highness.”

Since they were on stage, the two didn’t exchange pleasantries for long.

Leiman simply left her with, “After the show ends, I’ll have my assistant contact you. We can talk in detail then.”

“Okay.”

…

Next were the awards for the runner-up and the third-place winner, after which everyone gave another thank-you speech.

And with that, this season of Interstellar Composer came to a perfect conclusion.

Only after the live broadcast ended did the crowd seem to remember they were supposed to be cheering.

[We won? Our Federation’s composer won?]

[Yes, that’s right, we won!! We finally won for once!!!

Everyone, remember this moment! Remember the name of our hero: Jiang Qin!!!]

[I knew it! I knew Qin Bao could do it! No one believed in you, but you were the one who made us proud!]

[Hahaha… Imperial people, how does that face-slap feel? You sent out several legendary composers, even a Diamond Level one, but the championship was taken by a Bronze!!]

[Thank you, everyone, for casting your precious votes for Qin Bao. As long as you like Qin Bao, we’re friends.]

[My feelings are a bit complicated right now. I don’t want to see a Federation person win, but I feel like she deserved it.]

[I still don’t like those Federation barbarians, but Jiang Qin is an exception!]

…

[That’s right. I don’t like Federation people, and I never want to be friends with them, but… music has no borders.]

[Heh, a bunch of traitors!

If you hadn’t voted for that female, would she have won the championship?]

[Probably. Her songs had a very high play rate on the charts, so she got a lot of bonus points.]

…

Regardless of the arguments in the live chat, the Jiang Fans were already figuring out how to celebrate.

Wen Xueli was in the group chat, organizing fans to greet the starship.

Wen Jiaqi was taking down a list of names.

Meanwhile, Beta, led by her mate, had already settled into the best spot, waiting to take a set of beautiful photos of Jiang Qin as she left the production team’s site first thing in the morning.

With her were two other females and three males, positioned at various other locations.

***

An hour later, the Star Network barrier between the Empire and the Federation was re-established.

The Federation people, who were still gloating in the live broadcast room, reluctantly returned to their own network to continue their celebrations.

The top few trending topics were all about Jiang Qin winning the championship.

#Ah Diao is a person, but also a community#

#Thirty-three years later, the Federation wins the championship for the first time#

#Championship Night, Jiang Qin’s god-tier moment#

#Blunt vote canvassing, is Jiang Qin socially inept?#

#Jiang Qin took first place, was it by playing the victim or by real strength?#

…

There were those who praised her and those who disparaged her.

After all, with the external conflict over, the infighting was about to begin. Some unscrupulous marketing accounts loved to go against the grain, knowing such topics would generate more buzz and controversy.

So there would always be someone who chose to pour cold water on others’ happiest moments.

The Jiang Fans had never expected this kind of situation.

[??? Qin Bao just brought honor to our Federation, and she’s immediately getting stabbed in the back?]

[What do you mean, ’playing the victim to get votes’? Weren’t those experiences the truth?]

[Exactly! If it weren’t for those experiences, how could she have created such deeply moving songs?]

[It’s true what they say: the ones who can hurt you the most are often the ones closest to you!

You marketing accounts are truly heartless. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were sent by the Empire.]

…

————

There should be three more Chapters. Everyone can come back and read them at dawn.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep