The organizer hurriedly rushed onto the stage and reminded the host. “There’s another contestant by the name of Janet Jackson. She hasn’t performed yet!”
Upon hearing those words, the host looked embarrassed. I can’t believe I forgot about the last contestant! Making a mistake like that is absolutely unforgivable! Besides, it’s a mistake I will never make under normal circumstances. Sigh. I can only blame Janet Jackson for having such a low presence that I completely forgot about her! Still, the results won’t change even if she finishes her performance. Those that passed the preliminary round would still pass, and the current ranking won’t change either!
The host picked up the microphone again and announced, “My sincerest apologies. There was a mistake with the rankings just now. We still have the final contestant, Janet Jackson, who has yet to make her appearance. Please welcome her onstage!”
As soon as those words rang out, the judges in the audience seats glanced at each other. Janet is an author who joined the piano competition just for the fun of it. We aren’t quite sure how to score her performance either… Sigh; this is troublesome.
Backstage, Hazel had a gloating expression on her face as she smilingly said, “Some people just have so little presence that even the host forgot about their existence.”
Emily boldly said, “Haha. The host has great foresight. Even if a certain somebody performs, it won’t make a difference to the current rankings or the people who passed the preliminary round. It’s just a perfunctory action at this point.”
Only Hazel and Emily were talking in the observation area. The other contestants chose to remain silent. They simply sat there and waited in silence. On the other hand, Janet leaned her body sideways. Her eyes curved with a slight smile as she, too, remained silent.
Emily took Janet’s faint smile to be a bitter smile. Therefore, she added, “Don’t be too nervous. In the worst case, you can choose to give up. It’s not humiliating to do so. Besides, you’ll be laughed at, at most.”
Janet slowly turned her head while raising her eyebrows. “Thanks.”
Emily was slightly taken aback by Janet’s response. A look of scorn and disdain flashed through her eyes. I have to admit; Janet’s mental strength is extraordinary. Then, Janet lifted her eyes and languidly walked onto the stage. Her high ponytail completely exposed her fair neck. She was wearing a white blouse paired with a light-colored denim skirt. Her attire made her look extremely clean.
Even if Janet was not conspicuously dressed, she was particularly eye-catching on the stage. More than tens of thousands of pairs of eyes watched her fixedly, but the looks in their eyes were complicated and undefined. In their opinion, she was pretty, intelligent, and had quite a good reputation. However, she had to also be a little crazy; why else would she involve herself in piano too?!
With all of those factors combined, the audience looked at Janet with disinterested expressions. Even so, some of them took out their phones to record her performance. Their aim was simple enough—they wanted to record her embarrassing moments. They were sure many netizens would be interested in those moments too. After all, they wanted to see how the chairperson of the Writers Association was going to make a fool of herself.
Despite all that, some of Rose’s fans among the audience cheered for her too. “Good luck, Janet! We believe you can do it!”
To be honest, most of these fans did not hold out much hope for her performance. They were simply hoping that she would not be ranked last, lest she became the butt of jokes. Compared to the cheering Emily and Roxy received, the support for Janet was very, very little. Contrarily, some of Emily’s fans even stepped forward and mockingly yelled, “Even if you cheer with all your might, it won’t change Janet’s rankings! She should stick to writing books if that’s her forte! Why is she joining this competition?! What a waste of time!” “That’s right; I’m still waiting to see Emily’s next performance!”
“Hurry up and get off the stage after your performance! Don’t embarrass us!”
Naturally, Rose’s fans supporting Janet couldn’t bear hearing such verbal insults being hurled toward her. Thus, they retorted, “How do you know nothing will change?! Don’t make false assumptions if you don’t know anything!”
“That’s right! When Janet became an author, Emily was still playing with sandcastles!”
