Chapter 369: The Legendary Deification of Moonlight and Cat on the Internet
When those words left his mouth,
the office descended into a deafening silence.
He Shu Mo stared incredulously at Yao Han, unconsciously swallowing hard.
To be precise, the criteria shouldn’t have been “win the championship,” but rather “represent Tianchao at the Cole Cup.”
He simply could not fathom the day when the respected Tuoba Jianhui would become a pitiful defeated dog.
But just like Pandora’s box, once Tuoba Jianhui opened it, he had to bear the consequences.
“Why, why would Teacher Tuoba do something like this?”
Unable to contain himself, He Shu Mo asked again.
“.”
At this moment, Yao Han placed a hand on his shoulder, breaking the suffocating tension.
“It’s just a possibility, right?”
“Indeed.”
He Shu Mo let out a sigh of relief.
After all, Gan Yan Yu reaching the finals was already a stroke of extreme luck.
To even talk about competing in the Cole Cup now was downright delusional.
The chances were too slim!
“Besides, don’t you think it’s interesting how the top four in this final have turned out?”
Yao Han skillfully shifted the conversation away from Gan Yan Yu, glancing at the scores.
“Interesting?”
He Shu Mo shifted his gaze as well.
The top four—Nanaly, Bai Junze, Gan Yan Yu, and Mao Wei Ang.
He couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Why did it have to be these four?”
If you looked at any one of them in isolation, there wouldn’t be much of a reaction.
But putting all four together and seeing them in the top four? Now that was something!
“Whoever wins among these four will create unprecedented history.”
If Nanaly wins, she’ll be the first British player to snag the highest honor in Chinese cello and create a spectacular scene of British cellists representing Tianchao at the Cole Cup.
If Mao Wei Ang wins, he’ll become the only invited finalist to win the Dragon Zither Cup, triumphing in a professional cello competition on his first attempt. This will also severely undermine the prestigious status of previous professional cellists, giving the Chinese music scene a resounding slap in the face.
If Bai Junze wins, the image of the Tianchao cellist will plummet to historical lows, as the entire nation witnesses a beggar scratching his rear end proclaiming victory for the country. The glorious image that generations of Tianchao musicians painstakingly built will be shattered to smithereens.
And Gan Yan Yu? Let’s not even get into it; we’ve already spilled plenty of ink on her—she’s the heavyweight champion capable of turning the current music world upside down.
Just these four. All of them are exceptionally talented.
Which one of them wouldn’t give the association a monumental headache?
That’s why, upon seeing this list, He Shu Mo couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Earlier, it was said that this year’s competition brings a 20-year unprecedented upheaval, with a level of skill never seen before in players.”
He Shu Mo chuckled sarcastically,
“Seeing it this way, that’s definitely true.”
The intensity of the competitors was indeed the highest in history.
The bad news?
Not a single one of them is a normal person!
This must truly feel like chewing on chicken ribs for the association—nauseating to the point of wanting to vomit yet too reluctant to spit it out, stuck in their throats, all sticky and disgusting.
The kicker? They probably have to choose from these folks.
He Shu Mo looked up at Yao Han:
“Teacher Yao, I think I somewhat understand.”
“Understand what?”
“Understand why you always look so happy when watching competitions.”
He Shu Mo adjusted his glasses and said,
“Watching the association’s misfortunes is far more interesting than the competition itself, right?”
With the semi-finals of the Dragon Zither Cup wrapping up just yesterday,
after a night of stirring up,
the next day,
when Lin Tian woke up from his apartment bed,
his phone was exploding with notification pop-ups.
“Dragon Zither Cup semi-finals ended, Mao Wei Ang only ranked fourth! Surprisingly, the first place is…”
“Making history! Gan Yan Yu becomes the first cello player in 16 years to reach the finals with classical music! Is the trajectory of Tianchao music about to change again?!”
“‘Moonlight’ is a massive hit overseas! Topping the daily music charts in 86 countries and regions!”
“A complete victory for classical music?! Under the leadership of Moonlight and Cat, where will the future of Tianchao classical music go?”
“.”
The tiny text filled Lin Tian’s notification bar to the brim.
Lin Tian clicked “expand,” revealing more articles, giving him organized chaos anxiety.
Is it really this exaggerated?
Lin Tian opened Weibo.
At that moment,
on the homepage,
beneath the topics related to music, there were reports buzzing everywhere about the semi-finals of the Dragon Zither Cup.
The video of Lin Tian and Gan Yan Yu’s stage performance of “Moonlight” spread virally, and Lin Tian found another like every time he scrolled down.
In the comments section, the comments from netizens were like a tidal wave.
“Wow! This is amazing! Classical music in the finals!”
“This isn’t just the first for the cello competition! This is the first for the entire Chinese music scene in 20 years!”
“Boohoo, I’ve always liked classical music, why can’t our neighboring violin competitions have a great talent like this?! ”
“The last time classical music reached the finals in a national instrumental competition was 16 years ago in the Dragon Zither Cup, right?”
“C’mon, it’s another cello! The cello really has a reputation!”
“Didn’t see that one coming; not only is it a cello, but the champion that year was Gan Lao. For those who don’t recognize him, let me enlighten you — he is still regarded as the top cellist in Tianchao to this day, and he’s Gan Yan Yu’s grandfather!”
One stirring comment after another, and the enthusiasm radiating from the netizens was palpable.
These comments made Lin Tian’s heart race with excitement.
So, this is what it feels like to ride the wave of good fortune?!
It’s been a whole year—exactly one year of making music!
Every time they broke through, Lin Tian and Gan Yan Yu almost faced online controversies once again.
And regardless of how they performed, as long as they went viral and made themselves known to more people,
there had to be controversy!
Arguments would arise!
There was no way around it; Lin Tian was already used to it.
“Moonlight and Cat” had faced controversy since their debut.
But now,
with the entire internet cheering them on, singing their praises, everyone enthusiastically fawning over them.
It was a first!
Lin Tian was finally getting a taste of the blissful ride of good fortune!
Shortly after, beneath those comments,
the topics surrounding Gan Yan Yu and Gan Lao emerged.
Netizens began throwing around phrases like “inheritance,” “destiny,” “passing the torch,” and whatnot.
It seemed like Gan Yan Yu’s advancement was always predestined by fate!
With all this, Gan Yan Yu’s competition was suddenly bestowed a divine quality.
Their journey through the competition was even painted with a legendary stroke by the netizens.
In an instant,
everyone burst out with a series of slogans:
“When Gan Lao won the championship and represented Tianchao at the Cole Cup, Gan Yan Yu can certainly do it too!”
“Let Gan Yan Yu win the world championship that Gan Lao failed to obtain!”
“Classical music ahh! Let classical music be great again! Gan Yan Yu, you are that god!”
“.”
—Don’t underestimate that Gan Yan Yu is only third place.
Now, most netizens have been educated about the competition system and have shared knowledge about a bit of music history.
They all know the high value of Gan Yan Yu’s “third” in advancing through classical music!
Among them,
the well-known music Up mainstay and professional violinist Zhang Dong on Bilibili.
He even wrote a “proclamation of crusade” from Gan Yan Yu’s perspective on his Bilibili page, attracting a multitude of netizens to watch.
“Back then, during that year’s Cole Cup, Senior Gan Hua suffered a crushing defeat. At that time, two-year-old me watched Gan Lao sitting slumped in the chair, tears streaming down his face. This scene is etched in my memory forever.
At that moment, I thought if I could become a professional musician, I must win everything. Now, the opportunity of a lifetime for me at the Cole Cup is right in front of me, and I must consider whether this might be my only chance in life.
I believe that the Tianchao cello can regain its past prestige thanks to Gan Lao’s tremendous efforts. Reclaiming the glory of Tianchao’s cello is my duty!”
“.”
This little essay left Lin Tian speechless.
It felt familiar; he wasn’t entirely sure, so he looked again.
“.”
As the cheering netizens soared Gan Yan Yu onto the pedestal of cello deification,
Lin Tian himself wasn’t doing any worse than Gan Yan Yu.
If Gan Yan Yu was being exalted to the altar of the cello,
then Lin Tian was on the brink of being hailed as the god of classical music!
Under the topics related to the Dragon Zither Cup,
previously suppressed fans finally let loose.
They opened up their Weibo accounts to unleash provocations:
“I officially declare Lin Tian is Tianchao’s number one classical musician—who agrees? Who disagrees?”
“How many records of classical music albums has Lin Tian broken himself? You used to say album sales and status can’t be equated, but after this competition, with a piece of ‘Moonlight’ reversing all odds! Who dares to disagree?”
“I dare say, in the past few months, just the classical music that our Moonlight Brother has crafted surpasses the total from since the founding of the nation!”
“Just this one piece ‘Moonlight’? Replace it with another composer, and they’d be set for life!”
“Unfortunately, our Moonlight Brother is overflowing with masterpieces, raising everyone’s threshold, making it seem like whenever he writes a piece, it’s no big deal!”
“All these comments under the Dragon Zither Cup topic easily got thousands of likes.
The comments section was overwhelmingly filled with supportive voices.
Lying on his bed, Lin Tian saw these comments and felt an acute sense of shame!
He was merely a messenger of the piece, at most knowing how to play the right piece at the right time.
How could it be as exaggerated as they say?
And yet now he’s being lumped with the title “Tianchao’s best”!
What a ridiculous title! Lin Tian was merely 19; how could he dare take that on? These fans really have no idea how to rein it in!
Lin Tian scolded this behavior in his heart while liking every comment.
His finger was practically numb from clicking.
Of course, Lin Tian knew.
Although everyone was hyping this up so much online, once he loses in the finals, they’d all turn against him.
That’s the nature of the contemporary internet.
The speed of building up a deity is fast; the speed of tearing one down is even faster.
But Lin Tian didn’t care.
From the beginning, “Moonlight and Cat” had been under fire; he was used to the din of online doubts and criticisms.
Now that he finally caught a break,
he just wanted to accelerate forward hard.
Bring on more!
What he feared least was being hyped to d*ath!
And while the whole internet was revving up to pop champagne for Lin Tian and Gan Yan Yu, slapping labels like “the hope of classical music” and “rebuilding the glory of Tianchao cello” on them,
another topic’s heat surged back onto the trending list.
This was the “Battle of Classical vs. Popular Music” topic that had gotten so much attention before the competition.
Before the competition,
the music circle had been sharply divided into two extreme factions, each claiming their music was more suited for the masses.
And now,
with the semi-finals results out, “Moonlight” exploding globally, and Gan Yan Yu scoring higher than Mao Wei Ang under immense pressure,
this old topic naturally resurfaced for the netizens.
Time for some fun!
Before the performance of “Moonlight,” they had already settled this once.
Back then, even if Gan Yan Yu got eliminated, there was no doubt that “Moonlight” outperformed “The g*n Comes Out Like a Dragon.”
Before the results were announced,
people were already tearing it up.
Now Gan Yan Yu not only advanced but utterly crushed the scores.
There’s no way the netizens would let this slide!
Thus,
as major media outlets reported the semi-finals of the Dragon Zither Cup and cheered for Gan Yan Yu,
a huge number of fans had a clear intention.
They dashed directly to Mao Wei Ang’s Weibo.
Alongside him, almost everyone who had spoken up for Mao Wei Ang previously faced the wrath!
“Speak up! Is ‘The g*n Comes Out Like a Dragon’ even worthy of carrying ‘Moonlight’s’ shoes?”
“Honestly, comparing Mao Wei Ang to our Moonlight Brother is an insult to our Moonlight Brother!”
“d*mn it, making pop music is one thing, but being oblivious enough to ride our classical music’s face is another! ”
“Typically, just singing some trivial songs to entertain you little fans is fine, but why come to provoke our Moonlight Brother?”
“I’m saying it plain: when it comes to composition, our Moonlight Brother can demolish half the Chinese music scene by himself!”
The comments from netizens grew more extreme, quickly invading the comments of celebrities with millions of followers.
It was a mass slaughter—tragic and unbearable to witness.
Many smaller celebrities quickly deleted their Weibo posts, unable to withstand such attacks.
Meanwhile, the fans of the Chinese music scene remained silent, having to swallow their pride.
Occasionally, those who dared to retort were quickly drowned in the tidal wave of outrage.
Watching such Weibo posts, even Lin Tian felt a tinge of pity.
If you think about it,
these are all people who love music; many of them were just trying to voice their passion for pop music, and this online spat looks pretty pathetic.
Nonetheless, Lin Tian couldn’t control those netizens.
He put his phone down, slipped on his slippers, and got out of bed.
What was he supposed to do today?
Lin Tian recalled in the bathroom, shaking off the cobwebs from his brain.
Right, meet Mao Wei Ang.
Thinking of this, Lin Tian suddenly choked.
Remembering the sorry state of Mao Wei Ang’s Weibo earlier.
Ouch.
Lin Tian felt that his biggest problem now was managing his expression when he saw him.
(End of Chapter)
