Chapter 35 – Gotta Get My Piano
In the classroom at dawn, sunlight streamed through the windows and fell upon the desks, but was obstructed by a pile of textbooks as high as a human head.
With fifteen minutes left until morning reading class, the early birds were taking advantage of their final moments to nap on their desks.
Dead in the water, the classroom resembled a massive incinerator, with each diligent student lying quietly like corpses, yearning for the day when school and the world meet their demise.
”Yongge.”
Lin Tian barely took his seat when he placed a bag of McDonald’s on Xu Yong’s desk.
”I’m treating you.”
”?”
The fog of Xu Yong’s drowsiness lifted as he looked up, shock plastered on his face.
”There’s a burger and soy milk shake inside,” Lin Tian explained.
Xu Yong opened the bag, finding it was indeed McDonald’s, and his expression turned even more alarmed.
”Are you planning to d*e?”
”I have no future.”
”Planning on getting snipped?”
”Screw your mom.”
Even the usually polite Lin Tian couldn’t help breaking out the colorful language in front of Xu Yong.
He took a breath and said sincerely,
”After some thought, I realized we’ve been sitting next to each other for two and a half years, and I haven’t treated you to breakfast yet.”
”Holy cow! Growing up!”
Hearing Lin Tian start to get emotional, Xu Yong blushed slightly, patted Lin Tian’s shoulder, and gave a shy reproach.
”Yeah, we’ve almost done three years together.”
Xu Yong unwrapped the burger and took a bite, moved by the thoughtfulness.
”Ah, lately I’ve been trying to start something, but I need a piano. Without it, my future is doomed. If someone could lend me some rice…”
He spat out the meat from his mouth, shoved the burger back into the bag, and hastily returned it to Lin Tian’s hands.
”Hehe, you little rascal!”
Xu Yong gestured fiercely at Lin Tian, smiling warmly.
”Oh, Yongge~”
Lin Tian couldn’t help grinning sheepishly.
”You thought I’d be so nice just to buy you a burger?!”
Thinking he had almost fallen for Lin Tian’s trap, Xu Yong immediately filled with heartfelt greetings toward Lin Tian’s parents,
”You really are your mother’s son.”
Halfway through, he remembered this would make Lin Tian feel good.
So he quickly changed his tune:
”You truly are lucky to have both your parents still around!”
”d*mn curse, huh?”
Even Lin Tian had to admit Xu Yong’s attack was venomous.
”Not kidding, Yongge, I’m really in a bind this time.”
”Don’t even think about it, that’s money for my rig!”
Unlike Lin Tian who has to take care of his own eat, sleep, and lodging,
his family was relatively wealthier. They didn’t lack anything on a daily basis.
Still, they chose to work to build a sweet gaming machine, ready for the hot ride on some heartthrob game.
Willingly, his parents chipped in 3,000 RMB for the setup, but for such money, even the guys in GeYouBaN (PC forum slang) might struggle to fit a capable rig for a demanding game.
Helplessly, he turned to the GPU community for aid, where his friends generously contributed.
They decided on an RTX 4070 paired with i5-12400, ballooning the cost to eight grand.
He has to hustle like hell to earn what’s needed.
After three months of hard work, he’s nearly there…
Lin Tian now wants to snatch this away!
Really shady! How could he do this?!
But after calming down, Xu Yong recalled that Lin Tian seems not to be in the habit of borrowing things casually.
Thus, he asked patiently:
”So, you need a piano? What’s going on?”
Lin Tian showed no secrets, pulling out his phone,
and showed Xu Yong his recent video explaining his current situation.
”.So you mean you’re shooting short videos with that girl and gaining some traction. With a piano, you could become famous on Douyin?”
”You got it.” Lin Tian approved.
After hearing Lin Tian’s words, Xu Yong fell deep in thought.
If told by others, Xu Yong would dismiss it as baloney,
yet for Lin Tian, who he knew was a pragmatist, it was different.
This guy’s dedication is as striking as his looks: annoyingly enviable.
So, Xu Yong started serious pondering.
He’d witnessed Lin Tian’s piano prowess last week; plus, one of his videos did catch on fire.
At first, Xu Yong was teaching him Douyin, now it’s practically live-action!
Looking at the 29K likes on his phone, he spotted Lin Tian’s profile name.
Pointing to “Gan Ya Ru and Cat”, he asked Lin Tian,
”Who’s Cat?”
”Gan Ya Ru.”
”And Moonlight?”
”Me.”
”Why call yourself Moonlight?”
”Am I named Cat instead?”
Lin Tian had him speechless.
Logical and convincing.
”Mind telling you, Douyin isn’t all about cash.”
”Know that perfectly.”
”.”
Seeing Lin Tian’s resolute gaze, Xu Yong sighed.
”How much you need?”
”About eight grand.”
Lin Tian knows a decent piano costs between twelve to fifteen hundred.
Though it’s crazy spending that at his stage, he doesn’t mind.
To achieve big things, sometimes you’ve gotta be bold.
Money’s no issue once success rolls in!
”You’re leaving nothing for me.”
Xu Yong couldn’t help complaining.
”Bro, I’d love to help right away, but I kept the money with my mom to avoid impulse buys before building the rig. If I go ask now, I’ll have to explain everything.”
”Got it.”
Understanding, since eight grand is no small sum.
Any parent would faint knowing their kid borrowed that much unseen.
”During break period, I’ll hit her up.”
Excitement made Xu Yong shudder.
Eight grand, imagine that!
”Lin Tian, you sure about spending over ten grand on a piano?”
An impoverished high schooler borrowing for TikTok fame…
Too wild for any teacher or parent to accept.
But Xu Yong just believed Lin Tian.
He felt a sense of achievement seeing Lin Tian succeed.
Soon, break time came.
They headed to the rooftop chem lab, where no one ever went, perfect for secretive pursuits.
Waiting impatiently near the door for fifteen minutes, they heard the bell ring.
Xu Yong finally made the call, stepping out.
”How’d it go?” Lin Tian inquired eagerly.
Xu Yong sighed heavily,
”Rejected!”
”What?”
”Mom refused, saying only three grand tops, and even that was pushing it.”
Three grand, barely a toy piano at best.
Despairs struck them.
Xu Yong comforted Lin Tian, heading back to the classroom.
On the way, Lin Tian reflected:
Was he too hasty?
At this point, survival was still a problem—how was he thinking about pianos?
Maybe even without backup, he could ace the next shot.
As he reached the classroom, a classmate stopped him.
”Where were you, Lin Tian?”
”Some girl came looking for you during break.”
”A girl?”
”Yep, long-haired, pretty one, said urgent matters, left when she couldn’t find you.”
His heart sank at the description.
Checking his phone, he found a message from [Rain’s Afterglow].
Why’d that dimwit come to school?
(End of Chapter)
