Chapter 24: The Talk of the School
One of the major charms of short videos lies in capturing life.
From a bystander’s perspective, a video of a “waiter” playing the piano in a restaurant is bound to attract people’s attention and good vibes.
With 120,000 likes on Douyin, this likely means it has racked up over 5 million views.
In the grand scheme of Douyin, it might seem modest.
But the kicker is, this video has a location tag on it—
[Qingzhou · SWING Restaurant]
When a 120,000-like video finds its way into real life, especially in the school circle, it’s safe to say that’s impressive heat!
“I need to see this!”
Lin Tian quickly snatched the phone.
In the video, there he was in a waiter’s uniform, sitting in front of the restaurant’s piano, playing “Dream Wedding.”
Beside him, a crowd of diners was watching and snapping photos.
It was such a simple, unedited clip.
Yet, the comment section had already piled up with thousands of comments!
[Wow, is this a high school student? So impressive!]
[I’ve been playing piano for three years, and I could never play like that.]
[This handsome guy is too cute! Where’s this restaurant? I want to check it out!]
[A guy playing piano? I can’t even imagine how good the food must be!]
[Am I the only one curious about the name of this piece?]
[.]
Before diving into the comments, Lin Tian assumed the main topic of discussion would be the piece “Dream Wedding.”
After all, this was a world-famous piano composition from his previous life.
How could it not leave an impact on people?
To his surprise, discussions about the music were less than 20% of the comments.
For most, it seemed like they only recognized it as a pleasant tune, nothing more.
Many probably thought it was just another piano piece they hadn’t heard before—there are tons of lovely instrumentals out there, right?
This left Lin Tian scratching his head.
The remaining 80% of the comments were describing the shock of the video and playfully roasting Lin Tian!
They even gave him a super cool nickname: ”Piano Guy.”
Then the comment section turned into a wild party.
[In ten minutes, I want all the info on this Piano Guy!]
[He’s so handsome; he must have a Douyin account, right? Secretary, check it out!]
[I can’t sleep until I find out Piano Guy’s name!]
The speed at which netizens hunt for a partner is only slower than their speed for everything else.
Soon, someone dropped some intel in the comments.
[Not sure, but I think it’s Lin Tian from Qingzhou No. 7 High School, Senior Year.]
[He’s definitely good-looking; a lot of lower-year girls recognize him from our school.]
[Not only is he handsome, but his grades are also top-notch—always in the top ten of his class!]
Busted!
They definitely got him good!
Lin Tian felt a wave of bewilderment wash over him.
He never expected so many people knew him!
Since entering high school, Lin Tian had been living a very energy-conserving life, the kind of socially invisible person who stays seated when they could be hanging out.
He didn’t even know most of his classmates’ names that well.
He genuinely believed he had succeeded in becoming a background character at school.
At least, he rarely encountered anyone trying to strike up a conversation.
Turns out he was just burying his head in the sand?!
But thinking about Xu Yong makes sense.
After all, Xu Yong recognized Gan Yan Yu, who had taken a year off from school.
As long as it’s a top-tier beauty, someone like Xu Yong knows about them, even if they don’t attend the same school.
In high school, when your schedule is crammed with studies, even a rumor can make for good gossip for quite some time.
A handsome face with a name always popping up at the top of the grades sheet?
Yeah, it sounds a bit implausible to say nobody knows him.
But the intel didn’t end there.
[But… Lin Tian seems to have a resting cranky face. He looks a bit fierce when he’s expressionless and tends to keep to himself, giving off an unapproachable vibe.]
[There have been rumors that Lin Tian has a beautiful girlfriend outside of school, so he’s not interested in school girls, which is why he always has a sour expression.]
[Ladies from other schools, if you’re interested, I suggest you hold off. Even our senior girls don’t dare to approach him, let alone us younger girls. No matter how you try, you won’t be able to get to him.]
Seeing this, Lin Tian looked up at Xu Yong.
“Hey, Brother Yong, do you think I look cranky most of the time?”
“Where do you look cranky? You have a classic Sima face.”
“Isn’t that basically the same as having a cranky face?”
“There’s a bit of a difference between having a dead mom and not having one,” Xu Yong stated seriously.
“You’re right; my mom’s definitely not alive.”
Lin Tian nodded, refocusing on his phone.
When he refreshed the page, that particular comment had vanished.
The comments continued to trickle in, but before long, they’d all fade away.
Lin Tian guessed this was probably Douyin’s protection mechanism?
For direct revelations, there’s likely a limit on traffic, and some comments might even get deleted.
This was kind of a protective measure for the video’s subject, to prevent oversharing.
Especially since the main character is a high school student.
However, seeing so many people searching for Piano Guy’s Douyin ID wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In any case, he’d think about shooting short videos tonight and discuss it with Gan Yan Yu tomorrow.
After school, Lin Tian left his classroom.
He happened to catch the rush-hour wave, with students bustling all around the playground.
Walking through the campus, he noticed that the number of eyes on him had skyrocketed compared to usual.
Looks like the news spread, huh?
Lin Tian couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless.
“Y-you, hello!”
At that moment, two girls blocked Lin Tian’s path.
One of them looked shy, fidgeting as she said, “Excuse me, are you Lin Tian?”
When Lin Tian heard someone recognize him first, the girls nearby, who had been watching curiously, slowed their pace.
“What’s up?” Lin Tian asked.
“I, I wanted to ask if you’re the ‘Piano Guy’ on Douyin?”
“What Piano Guy?” Lin Tian frowned.
This change in expression made the girl tremble like a leaf.
“N-never mind!!”
Her friend instantly started to dig her toes into the ground.
Slowly backing away, she tried to look inconspicuous.
“Anything else?” Lin Tian pressed.
“Y-yes!”
Gathering her courage, the girl suddenly shouted, “Lin Tian, do you have a girlfriend?!”
At that moment, all the nearby girls fell eerily silent, as if someone had pressed a mute button.
(End of Chapter)
