Who is superior, who is inferior; who excels, who falls short.
The moment these eight words left his mouth, the entire room fell into a stunned silence.
If a moment ago, people still believed this was a simple cultural exchange and friendly competition, it was now painfully clear to any discerning eye that these words carried a tone of blatant provocation—and insult.
What’s more, Tosaki Naohara had spoken them in Chinese!
The intention couldn’t be more obvious.
Even the R-nation delegates were startled by his audacity, but then a glint of excitement appeared in their eyes. One turned to the Huaxia representatives and smiled, “I think this is a great suggestion. What do you think, Your Excellency?”
The Huaxia representative gave him a long, searching look. “We have an old saying in Huaxia: Think thrice before you act. I advise Ambassador Matsumoto to consider carefully before making a decision.”
But Matsumoto took this advice as a veiled threat. His face darkened slightly, his smile stiff and fake. “It’s just a cultural exchange—no need to take it so seriously. Or… is it that your student doesn’t dare?”
The Huaxia representative’s brow furrowed deeply.
Meanwhile, the students in the audience were already starting to get worked up—
“What does that R-nation brat mean? He even said it in Chinese! He’s clearly not taking us seriously!”
“Sure, guests should be treated with respect—but not rude ones. We don’t need to be polite to this guy.”
“Such arrogance from a tiny island nation. No class at all. Can’t hold a candle to our magnificent Huaxia.”
“Sister Yue won’t back down! Go get him!”
“She better make him kneel and sing ‘Conquered’!”
“Support Sister Yue! Show that punk what it’s like to be crushed by the Demon Queen!”
“…Our Goddess Yue slays at academic competitions, no doubt. But this guy wants to compete in qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting… Can she really handle that?”
If it was just an on-the-spot test or a written exam, no one would worry—Sister Yue was practically the goddess of perfect scores, the queen of exams.
But this wasn’t about grades—it was about talent. And it was even framed nobly as a “cultural comparison.”
Wasn’t that aiming directly at Sister Yue’s weak spot?
Everyone knew she came from a humble family that sold pancakes. To be blunt, how could a family like that afford to nurture artistic hobbies from childhood?
And it takes years—decades—to become proficient in those arts.
“This Tosaki Naohara is so sly! He knew exactly what to target and still suggested qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting? Four things?! Why not just ask her to fly to the moon?!”
“Clearly he’s doing this on purpose, bullying Sister Yue for what she probably can’t do.”
“So what now? The challenge has been issued. If Sister Yue refuses, the R-nation side will think we’re afraid.”
“D*mn—does anyone here even know how to do all four?”
No one answered.
Even doing two out of the four would be impressive, but to master all four? That’s an impossible ask for most people.
Even someone like Ling Xuan, raised with privilege and groomed like a young noble, couldn’t say confidently: I’ve got this.
“We’re doomed… This is going to be a global embarrassment.”
“…”
As morale visibly sagged, Tosaki Naohara stood on stage with a smug smile of triumph.
But just then—
“Sure,” Jiang Fuyue said with a smile. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it rang out like thunder. “How would you like to compete?”
“Holy cr*p! Sister Yue accepted the challenge!”
“She really is the Goddess Yue—completely fearless!”
“Sister Yue, you’re amazing! I want to have your babies—”
“Uh… maybe not the time?”
“Wait—is she really capable of this? Does she actually know these arts?”
“Who cares? If she dares to say yes, she must be confident. Have you ever seen her flinch?”
“That’s right—trust Sister Yue and achieve immortality!”
“Are you guys being too optimistic? I admit Jiang Fuyue is brilliant, but we’re talking about artistic skills here. These take years to master.”
“She’s smart. Learning these should be a piece of cake for her, right?”
“How do you know she’s learned them at all? And even if she has, what if she’s not competition level?”
“Competition level?”
“That guy on stage, Tosaki Naohara—check out his personal bio. You’ll get it.”
Five minutes later—
“World record holder in chess? Skilled in multiple board games? Fluent in six languages? Regarded as R-nation’s most versatile prodigy?!”
“Holy crap, he’s OP…”
“Shut it! Stop boosting the enemy! Don’t jinx our side.” But if you listened closely, there was a subtle tremor in their voices.
“I don’t care—I still believe in Sister Yue, no matter what.”
Among the Huaxia students, opinions were divided—some cheering, some doubtful.
Meanwhile, exchange students from other countries were whispering among themselves.
“Whoa, she actually accepted? That’s unbelievable.”
“Is she going to play chess? There’s no way she can beat Tosaki.”
“I’ve seen Tosaki’s matches—his moves are tricky and sharp. One of his opponents once vomited on the spot, completely crushed.”
“This Huaxia girl must be insane.”
“…”
Edmond, usually the most talkative among them, was uncharacteristically silent.
“What do you think?” someone asked casually.
“I think…” Edmond rubbed his chin with two fingers, “she won’t lose.”
“…You’re insane too.”
“…”
On stage, Tosaki Naohara squinted slightly as Jiang Fuyue accepted so readily, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.
“Do you know what you’re doing right now?”
Jiang Fuyue smiled. “I think that’s a question you should ask yourself.”
Tosaki chuckled, but there was no warmth in his dark brown eyes. “Qin, chess, calligraphy, painting—let’s start with qin. We’ll each choose a traditional instrument from our own country, play a different piece simultaneously, and whoever gets thrown off or plays a wrong note first—loses.”
Jiang Fuyue: “What if neither of us makes a mistake?”
“Then we compare the difficulty of the pieces.”
“Fine.”
After a discussion between the Huaxia and R-nation delegates and ambassadors, the rules were agreed upon.
Next came the preparation time. Instruments would be provided by the school.
But Tosaki refused—he had brought his own.
“D*mn—he clearly came prepared! Who knows how long he’s been scheming this. So shady!”
Even Principal Hu Yongwei, who had remained calm all along, couldn’t hide his displeasure.
I invited you here as a guest, offered you opportunities to learn and exchange ideas, gave you tours, room, and board—and this is how you repay us? By scheming against my students?
No host would be happy.
The Huaxia representative hesitated. “This student… does she really…”
Clearly, there were doubts about Jiang Fuyue’s abilities.
After all, youthful passion is one thing. But if she agreed on impulse and lacked the skill, the only one embarrassed would be Huaxia.
Hu Yongwei said seriously, “To be honest, I don’t know if she’s trained in these arts. But one thing I do know—Jiang Fuyue never fights a battle she isn’t sure she can win.”
The representative looked at the stage and sighed, “Let’s hope so…”
They were given 30 minutes to prepare and select their instruments.
Jiang Fuyue walked off-stage and whispered something to the principal, who then turned away and made a phone call.
Twenty minutes later, the music teacher arrived, panting, carrying a solid-looking redwood case.
“What did Sister Yue pick?”
“Judging by the size, either a flute or a xiao.”
“Agreed—definitely not a qin.”
“Wait… does Sister Yue really know how to play? She’s not gonna wing it, right?”
“Even if she wings it, that R-nation brat won’t be able to tell.”
“Are you stupid? There’s a judge!”
As it happened, one of the delegates was a renowned music expert from M-country with deep knowledge of both Huaxia and R-nation instruments—an ideal impartial judge.
Tosaki: “Since we’re ready, let’s begin.”
Jiang Fuyue took the redwood case from the teacher.
“Good luck!”
“Thanks.”
She smiled and walked calmly up the stage. Then, before everyone’s eyes, she opened the case to reveal the instrument she would be using.
Whoosh—
“No way—it’s that thing?!”
“Sister Yue is god-tier!”
“Absolute bad*ss.”
“Just seeing the instrument—we’ve already won!”
“…”
But the exchange students from other countries looked utterly baffled—
“What is that thing?”
“Why are the Huaxia students reacting so strongly?”
“It has a trumpet-like head and a long pipe—oh! What instrument is this? I’ve never seen it before.”
“Isn’t Huaxia classical music usually played on string instruments, like the one you pluck and press at the same time?”
“I know that! It’s called a guzheng! But this clearly isn’t that.”
Edmond finally snorted softly, tired of the ignorance, and decided to enlighten them…
Can you guess what instrument Sister Yue chose?
