Chapter 126: This Kind of Relationship, I Like a Lot
It was a table full of dishes that Gan Yan Yu usually loved.
Yet today, the girl was particularly glum while eating.
It seemed like her sad emotions were lagging behind her honest little mouth.
She was crying while sulking, shoving hot and sour ribs into her mouth.
“Lin Tian, am I useless?”
“Lin Tian, the competition is next week.”
“Lin Tian, what should I do?”
Lin Tian just watched Gan Yan Yu as she wailed, stuffing her face with ribs and puffing on them like they were too hot.
It didn’t seem like she was all that sad after all.
“You need to eat so you have the energy to figure things out!”
Noticing Lin Tian’s gaze, Gan Yan Yu mumbled weakly and took another bite of rib.
“…”
“I messaged Gao Zhen Yang.”
Lin Tian roughly explained the situation to Gao Zhen Yang over WeChat.
About the incident at the Star Cup competition when fans waved signs, and the organizers handled it poorly.
Others might think it was overly sensitive to complain about that, but Gao Zhen Yang knew Gan Yan Yu’s situation.
As a council member of the Qingzhou City Music Association, his connections were broad, and they could only hope for him now.
[Got it, Teacher Lin Tian.]
[I have a friend on the Star Cup organizing committee; I’ll mention it to him.]
[But don’t get your hopes up; the committee’s organization is complex. The hosts might be deliberately negligent. If that’s the case, I doubt it’ll help much.]
“…”
Gao Zhen Yang was always emotionally intelligent in his responses.
To sum it up: not much hope, be prepared for multiple outcomes.
Lin Tian was already very grateful for Gao Zhen Yang’s help and wouldn’t ask for more.
“Teacher Gan.”
“Uh-huh?”
“What are you afraid of?”
Lin Tian asked.
The issue here was why having supportive fans in the audience would add so much pressure.
It seemed like a pointless question, but Lin Tian wanted to understand it more clearly.
“I…”
“Are you afraid of disappointing their expectations? Like worrying whether you’ll perform well in front of your fans and let them down?”
This really fit Gan Yan Yu’s character.
Lin Tian guessed that was likely the case.
“Partly, yes,” Gan Yan Yu said softly. “After all, I know I’m not really competent enough for the big stage. I got stuck with a reputation that doesn’t match my abilities just because I look somewhat appealing and have my grandpa’s name backing me up, gaining attention that doesn’t truly belong to my level.”
“You need to believe in your talent!”
Lin Tian said somewhat helplessly.
Round and round, back to the issue of confidence.
However, Gan Yan Yu said “partly,” indicating this wasn’t the main reason.
“And what else?”
“I feel like many people come not because they really like me, but just to see me make a fool of myself.”
“Hmm?”
This perspective caught Lin Tian off guard.
“Why would you think that?”
“Because I’m used to it. It’s always been this way,” Gan Yan Yu gently set down her chopsticks.
“…”
Lin Tian quickly remembered the impolite girls they had met at the concert the first time they went together.
Yeah.
Gan Yan Yu had always been like this.
Since her debut, the title of “Gan’s Heir” had placed an undue amount of attention on her, which didn’t match her talents.
Those who rushed to see her perform,
Were they genuinely fans of Gan Yan Yu, or were they just there to laugh at her?
The answer was obvious.
At least, before Gan Yan Yu managed to make a name for herself through her concerts,
It was probably the latter.
Gan Yan Yu grew up in such an environment.
For a normal person, starting from scratch to become an idol in every sense might typically follow this process:
From obscurity — to gradually gaining an audience and starting to have fans — audience numbers increasing further, leading to haters and doubts — amidst the criticisms and cheers, eventually letting the cheers drown out the doubts, thus growing into someone unstoppable.
But Gan Yan Yu’s route was extremely absurd:
From the very beginning, the audience was already packed.
There was no scenario where the “audience” and “fans” grew together from scratch.
This led to a situation where doubt overwhelmed everything, and nobody had faith in her.
From start to finish, having almost no positive feedback, she had to rely entirely on her own determination to break through all skeptics, eventually becoming the person she wanted to be.
Just thinking about it felt terrifying.
In this world, whatever you do,
Not having any positive feedback is a nightmare.
Any successful person learns to find a point of positive feedback in their efforts, be it encouragement from friends or steadily rising exam scores.
But for Gan Yan Yu,
The only thing that could possibly give her satisfaction might be—— the fulfillment she gets from performing classical music.
Thus, her notion of being “used to it” was just that.
To her, those holding signs, who came to see her perform, might not genuinely like her,
They could simply be there to witness her blunders.
“I understand now.”
Lin Tian said, “So it’s not that you dislike being liked; it’s just that this kind of liking feels fake and makes you uneasy, right?”
“Sort of, yes.”
Gan Yan Yu nodded.
“On the day of the competition, just focus on your performance. Leave everything else to me!” Lin Tian declared confidently.
If that was the case, it was easy-peasy!
Way simpler than freaking out about disappointing fans!
“What are you planning?”
Seeing Lin Tian’s “I have a plan” face, Gan Yan Yu immediately felt uneasy.
She knew how bold Lin Tian had been at the last concert.
He hadn’t slept for two full days and nearly collapsed on stage!
In Gan Yan Yu’s eyes, Lin Tian always felt like he was up to something mysterious.
She had known that from the moment they met.
“You’re not planning to do something self-destructive again, are you? Considering how much you seem to enjoy that…”
“What do you mean ‘enjoy’? Am I some kind of masochist in your eyes?”
Lin Tian complained.
The girl’s eyes widened.
“Then are you telling those sign-holding people to go fight? Wear more clothes, it’ll hurt!”
“Isn’t the concern that I should be fighting less rather than just wearing more?!”
Lin Tian couldn’t help but retort.
He felt Gan Yan Yu would turn out to be that kind of person who, while advising you to take care of your health,
Would also tirelessly make you some nourishing soup to ensure you showed up at night.
“…Don’t worry; I won’t do anything reckless anymore.”
“But if I tell you about it in advance, it just ruins the effect.”
“So you just need to focus on preparing and performing well!”
Lin Tian raised his index finger, emphasizing every single word,
“It’s the last week, so give it your all!”
Friday evening.
The countdown to the Star Cup finals—two days left.
Lin Tian had dinner plans with Xu Yong.
The two were eating at a restaurant near their school.
Having been out of school for over half a month, Lin Tian realized he’d gotten pretty unaccustomed to not bickering with anyone.
With the stress of senior year, Xu Yong began to miss the days Lin Tian was around, so the moment he had a rare free time, he called Lin Tian out.
They had a simple meal of curry rice.
Affordable, unlimited rice, always a favorite for students who commute.
Lin Tian hadn’t had it in a while and was rather nostalgic.
“How’s our great musician, Teacher Lin Tian, preparing for the art examination?”
Xu Yong placed the green tea he had just bought from the convenience store on Lin Tian’s table and asked after sitting down across from him.
“Doing well, I guess.”
Ever since he had a breakthrough while jamming with Gan Yan Yu,
Lin Tian’s practice had also been going smoothly, and passing the art examination was a sure thing.
But the following practical exam for the Zhuanghua Music Academy was uncertain. After all, he had only practiced for a month, and he needed to show a little more prowess; conclusions shouldn’t be rushed.
“Ugh! The school has been deathly boring without you!”
Xu Yong stuck his chopsticks in his plate, making a “thud thud thud” sound.
“You wouldn’t believe how annoying Su Ran has been. Lately, she’s taken to finding trouble and keeps coming over to chat with me, and it’s all about you!”
“Chatting about me?”
“Yeah, asking about your high school freshman and sophomore years, your hobbies, your glorious history, and stuff like that?”
“d*mn it, does she like you or something?”
“Don’t worry.”
Lin Tian patted Xu Yong’s arm, earnestly saying,
“She could fancy anything under the sun, but it’s impossible for her to like me.”
He figured out what kind of person Su Ran was.
On the surface, she seemed like an overachiever, but secretly she was either watching silly TikToks or concocting some mischievous schemes that nobody else would think of.
“Surely you didn’t spill any of my secrets?”
Just in case, Lin Tian asked.
“Of course not. I won’t share your deeply introverted little orphan story with anyone.”
“Thanks for that,” Lin Tian replied.
“…”
Once again, Xu Yong regretted letting Lin Tian enjoy himself!
He only had a rant in mind but somehow could never land a good shot.
“Is that so? You think she’s just interested in my short stature?”
“I bet Su Ran asked so much because she’s curious about you and Gan Yan Yu.”
Xu Yong interrupted Lin Tian and didn’t give him a chance to act smug,
“Su Ran also said this wild thing. Recently, she excitedly told me that she discovered you two are ‘Moonlight and Cat.’”
“She figured it out?”
Lin Tian froze for a moment, then it hit him that Su Ran had posted a video imitating Cat that went viral.
That must have been when she figured it out.
After all, if someone in reality didn’t know Lin Tian and Gan Yan Yu, just watching their performances online wouldn’t give any clues.
But for those who did know them, it was pretty easy to piece together they were Moonlight and Cat after a couple of videos.
But thankfully, Lin Tian didn’t have many acquaintances in real life.
So having someone like Su Ran guess it was already quite a lot; it was hard to imagine anyone else figuring it out.
“Don’t worry; she promised not to leak it. But I’m even more curious about one question—”
Xu Yong leaned in closer and whispered,
“What’s the relationship between you and Gan Yan Yu? How far have you two gone?”
“…”
Before Lin Tian could react, Xu Yong quickly continued,
“Look, you guys have over 2 million followers on TikTok now, and you went to the art examination for her. You’re probably spending every day together since you both aren’t in school—Tian Ge, it shouldn’t be hard to move things along, right?”
This was quite rare.
When Xu Yong discussed Gan Yan Yu, he wasn’t being crass.
In the past, his mouth would have run away, spewing ridiculous things like: “You haven’t been to school for over half a month. Assuming you’re at it three times a day, you’ve probably been through over fifty rounds with Gan Yan Yu. Let me see if you’re down to just water now!”
In contrast, this time Xu Yong was genuinely concerned about Lin Tian’s romantic progress.
“Our relationship is complicated, but it’s actually very pure.”
As soon as the topic shifted to this, Lin Tian returned to his “immature at heart” self, and he started speaking more softly, with a hint of artistry.
“What’s complicated about it? To an outsider like me, you two eat together, go to school together, sh**t TikToks together, and attend college together… Seriously, when are you two officially together already?”
“Believe it or not, you might find it hard to swallow,” Lin Tian rested his forehead on his hand,
“Don’t be fooled by our eating together, going to school together, shooting TikToks together, and applying to colleges together… we really haven’t had any ambiguous moments. There might have been one or two slight oversteps, but we’ve never addressed anything that could hint at romance.”
“Is it that absurd?!”
Xu Yong was shocked.
For normal guys and girls, as long as they are of the proper orientation and identify as male/female, if they spent that much time together…
It would be practically impossible to not spark any chemistry!
Forget the potential for even flirtatious chats, at least emotional discussions should have come up!
“Don’t tell me ghost stories—You mean to say that until now, you haven’t even talked about Gan Yan Yu having a boyfriend.”
“That’s true.”
“Then what the heck do you two chat about every day?!”
“Music, and what to have for the next meal.”
“…Impressive.”
After holding his tongue for so long, all Xu Yong could say was that.
He honestly felt like his worldview was being ground into the dirt.
If previously he disregarded Su Ran’s so-called “innocence”,
Now he was completely convinced by this dynamic!
“After all, we’re partners.”
Seeing Xu Yong’s anxious expression, Lin Tian couldn’t help but smile.
Who said he and Gan Yan Yu lacked “deep topics”?
They did, and they often talked—about their dreams!
Nothing attracted attention more than this topic!
In fact, there were other discussions too.
The most profound moment they shared was probably when they talked about how to build the healthiest and greenest “partnered” relationship to ensure their creative paths wouldn’t be affected.
“So what are you planning to do? Are you really going to keep saying you like her?”
Xu Yong sounded exasperated, “At the very least, you should express something, try to gauge her feelings, right?”
“Fair enough.”
Lin Tian recognized that just daydreaming wasn’t going to cut it.
In his mind, he and Gan Yan Yu’s sweet romantic life had already piled up enough to fill an entire novel.
Always fantasizing without saying it out loud wouldn’t do.
Sooner or later, he needed to bring it up—even if the aim wasn’t necessarily to get together.
In fact, he really liked the aspect of their relationship where the only topic was “dreams.”
“When do you plan to say it?”
Xu Yong cut to the chase.
“The Parrot Zither Cup, I suppose.” Lin Tian paused and replied,
“By the time of the Parrot Zither Cup, I’ll clarify everything with her.”
Just hoping that, with Gan Yan Yu’s personality, she wouldn’t crumble under the pressure.
(End of Chapter)
