"Xingtong, who are these two? Why have I never seen them before?"

As he said this, Wu Shihao's eyes were tightly locked on Ye Xuan, with a hostile expression.

According to his understanding, Yao Xingtong would never bring a strange man to her home, and Ye Xuan's appearance here clearly made him vigilant!

Yao Xingtong pointed to Ye Xuan and Lu Miaochan, calmly introducing, "This is Mr. Ye Xuan from East Sea City! And the beautiful lady next to him is Mr. Ye's girlfriend, Ms. Lu Miaochan."

What? Ye Xuan!

Hearing Yao Xingtong's words, a glint of light flashed in Wu Shihao's eyes!

"Xingtong, is he that Ye Xuan!? The pianist you specially invited to accompany the new song?" Wu Shihao asked in a deep voice, looking at Ye Xuan with eyes full of hostility.

"Yes, it's this Mr. Ye."

Yao Xingtong frowned slightly, somewhat displeased with Wu Shihao's questioning attitude, but still nodded.

Narrowing his eyes into a dangerous slit, Wu Shihao didn't respond, instead stepping forward, standing tall before Ye Xuan, reaching out a hand, and saying, "Mr. Ye, nice to meet you! I am Wu Shihao, the most outstanding young pianist in Yan Country, please guide me!"

Wu Shihao didn't show any politeness, immediately boasting about his status with an extremely arrogant attitude.

Although he was greeting with words, there was no politeness in it, and his gaze contained blatant disdain, making people feel very uncomfortable!

Ye Xuan glanced at him indifferently and casually said, "Oh, hello."

And then...

Nothing happened!

Since this guy was rude, Ye Xuan saw no point in paying him any mind. He directly ignored the outstretched hand, not even shaking it.

Seeing Ye Xuan not giving him face, not even shaking hands, Wu Shihao's face stiffened immediately.

It felt like stepping in dog feces, soft and squishy, yet very disgusting, making him very annoyed inside!

"Mr. Ye, although East Sea City has developed well in recent years, compared to Shangjing, it's just a small countryside! For someone coming from a small village, it's no wonder you're lacking in manners, only saying hello and not shaking hands."

Wu Shihao's face carried ridicule, subtly mocking Ye Xuan, with a proud expression on his face.

"East Sea is called the Pearl City of Yan Country, if that's also a small place, then isn't Shangjing just a small countryside town? In that case, Mr. Wu, your taste isn't much better than mine, at most you're just a foolish son of a wealthy landlord."

Ye Xuan gave him a strange look, not provoked by Wu Shihao's words at all, and said indifferently.

Then he calmly added, "Moreover, I'm not accustomed to shaking hands with a stranger, it's my personal preference, sorry."

Although he said sorry, there was no hint of apology in his tone!

It was entirely due to Wu Shihao's earlier attitude towards him, but now their situations had reversed!

The corner of Wu Shihao's mouth twitched slightly, unable to refute Ye Xuan's blatant and implicit retorts, because what the other party said was not wrong!

However, he was unwilling to admit it inside, as a native of Shangjing, in Wu Shihao's view, besides Shangjing, everywhere else in Yan Country was countryside.

And he was not alone in this belief. Among Shangjing's affluent sons, wealthy businessmen, and people of status, seventy to eighty percent have more or less this notion!

This concept cannot simply be measured in terms of right or wrong. Being under the halo of Shangjing naturally carries a kind of arrogance, as if they were inherently superior.

Regional discrimination has existed in Yan Country since ancient times.

Wu Shihao glanced at Ye Xuan and sneered inwardly, "A countryside yokel, trying to put on airs with me? Just see how I'll deal with you later! Hmph!"

Thinking this, he retracted his hand, shifting his gaze to Ye Xuan with a fake smile and said, "Mr. Ye, I've heard from Xingtong that your piano skills are outstanding, may I know what level you've reached in piano and how many national awards you've won?"

Ye Xuan said calmly, "Mr. Wu, you're flattering me! My piano skills are just so-so and I've never won any awards because, altogether, I've been learning piano for less than three months, my level only counts as entry-level. How many awards can you expect from a piano beginner?"

In this regard, Ye Xuan was indeed not lying; the total time he spent learning piano was indeed no more than three months! As for winning awards, Ye Xuan simply didn't care.

He learned piano initially just out of boredom, to find some hobbies and pass the time.

It certainly wasn't to win any awards!

Of course, with Ye Xuan's current piano skills, he didn't need to prove anything with awards. Because he had previously participated as a judge in a world-class piano competition hosted by Curtis Music School and personally awarded the trophy to that year's champion.

Ye Xuan naturally wouldn't mention these things, so upon hearing his words, Wu Shihao's heart immediately surged with joy!

Even the piano master Mo Tao beside him frowned slightly.

"Xingtong, is what this guy said true?" Wu Shihao quickly concealed his inner joy and asked Yao Xingtong with a serious face.

Yao Xingtong glanced at Ye Xuan, nodded, and said, "Mr. Ye Xuan did indeed tell me that his piano practice time is not long, but I believe this does not negate his piano skills! Mr. Ye is a piano genius, not some novice."

"A piano genius? Hmph, Xingtong, you're overestimating him. Even I, who have won the national youth piano competition, dare not call myself a piano genius! Yet he dares to claim to be a genius! I think he's just a counterfeit trying to pretend, at best, he's an obscure amateur pianist trying to ride on your fame and riches, this kind of person is a fraud."

Wu Shihao laughed without restraint, not hiding his mocking intent, and said with a cold snort.

"Wu Shihao, please watch your words! Mr. Ye is a guest I've invited, if you call him a fraud, are you questioning my taste as well?" Yao Xingtong said icily.

Wu Shihao became tense inside, quickly explaining, "Xingtong, you've misunderstood me, that's not what I meant at all! I just don't understand why you would rather have a low-grade player accompany than give me a chance? Isn't it an insult to me that in your eyes, I'm not even comparable to this amateur who has practiced piano for three months?"

Upon hearing this, Yao Xingtong frowned her delicate brows. Although she didn't like Wu Shihao in front of her, she didn't want to offend him either, so she reluctantly said, "I didn't mean to insult you, I just think this song is more suitable for Mr. Ye to accompany me! It's not about the level, but the different playing styles."

"Styles?"

Wu Shihao sneered and said calmly, "Xingtong, I don't think a novice who has only studied piano for three months would have any style to speak of! This is simply a big joke."

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