Chapter 366: Did We Change the World? Maybe!
An hour had passed since Lin Tian and Gan Yan Yu performed “Moonlight” at the Dragon Zither Cup.
Although the competition was still ongoing and the final results had yet to be announced, outside the contest venue, things were already buzzing online!
Zhang Dong had just finished streaming and casually opened his phone.
Boom! He was bombarded by a flurry of Weibo notifications!
In just an hour, three trending topics had popped up:
[#Lin Tian, Gan Yan Yu – “Moonlight”]
[#Lin Tian, Impressionist Music]
[#Recomprehending Classical Music!]
The live recording of Lin Tian and Gan Yan Yu’s performance was going viral on Weibo.
It hadn’t been long, and they had racked up a staggering 80,000 likes!
Alongside this viral footage, Zhang Dong’s own stream clips were also blowing up.
And he had his own stuff to deal with!
Feeling a mix of excitement and nervous dread about his notoriously silly streaming style, Zhang Dong clicked on the video.
Inside, he saw himself attempting to enlighten his viewers about “classical music” and subsequently interpreting “Moonlight.”
“Whoa! As expected of Dong Ge, he’s really got some chops!”
“You can laugh at Dong Ge’s violin skills, but you can’t say he doesn’t understand Moonlight and cats!”
“Indeed, the title of ‘Most Knowledgeable about Moonlight and Cats’ online is still on the rise!”
“If you’re tuning in to his second channel, just trust Dong Ge! It’s a pity he only streamed ‘Moonlight’ and ‘Cats,’ and didn’t chat for long after.”
“.”
Seeing that his interpretation had broken through the noise, Zhang Dong felt a bit shy.
In fact, “Moonlight” was quite a complex piece—most outsiders wouldn’t catch its essence by merely listening. Even insiders sometimes got lost.
The only reason he could grasp the piece quickly, just like the judges and commentators, was because Cat’s performance was out of this world!
She perfectly captured the music’s abstract core.
Zhang Dong felt utterly embarrassed.
It wasn’t him who understood!
Gan Yan Yu might as well have shoved a reference book in his face!
Anyone with decent musical taste could understand.
For Zhang Dong, he didn’t deserve this level of hype.
However, for countless netizens, his insights genuinely provided clarity to many.
And the more impressive Zhang Dong’s interpretations were, the more they reflected the brilliance of “Moonlight!”
When internet users realized that this rendition of “Moonlight” was aimed at them, they went wild.
“I admit, I’m one of those shallow people Moonlight Brother scolded, boohoo!”
“Honestly, the first time I heard ‘Moonlight’ and ‘Cats,’ I thought it was super classy.”
“Moonlight Brother is hitting us right in the spine!”
“Sigh, I love listening to classical music because it calms my heart. But looking back, I was just after the emotional value it gave me without ever really understanding it.”
“I’ve decided; I’m going back to listen to all of Moonlight Brother’s music! Starting with fully understanding ‘Moonlight’!”
Before long, more and more folks were having their existential crises!
There was a time when everyone loved “Moonlight” and “Cats” so much that now, seeing others play “Moonlight” despite losing the competition made them feel deeply ashamed!
Of course, there were those reflecting on themselves and those reflecting on society.
The latter group took a more extreme approach.
Everyone rushed to Mao Wei Ang’s Weibo!
Though the competition results were still pending, almost everyone knew:
—”Moonlight” had already triumphed over Mao Wei Ang by a landslide!
“Some are cashing in on commercial music while others are sacrificing for art!”
“What ‘Moonlight’ is ridiculing is exactly this kind of audience! d*mn it, you’re just mindlessly worshipping soulless music every day!”
“The gap is clear! Do you feel ashamed when you see Moonlight Brother’s music?”
“Honestly, you can listen to ‘g*n Out Like a Dragon’ privately, but why drag it onto the Dragon Zither Cup stage? Seriously, does that fit?”
More and more comments flooded Mao Wei Ang’s posts and related topics.
Meanwhile, the silence of those fangirls was deafening.
Almost no one dared to refute!
Even the most clueless netizens started to see it.
This piece “Moonlight” was like a laser guiding them straight to the soft spot of pop music—an absolute weapon against them!
Now, with three out of ten trending topics being “Moonlight,” the dynamic had flipped!
What was once a one-sided narrative was now thoroughly challenged by classical music.
And over on Weibo, heavyweight figures were chiming in.
Take the famed Tianchao musician Tong Tai, for example—always enthusiastic about promoting “Moonlight” and “Cats.”
Just 20 minutes after the competition ended, he posted a video!
In that video, many folks were meeting the musical titan’s true face for the first time.
Though he was over fifty, he was still brimming with vigor as he solemnly declared:
“Lin Tian and Gan Yan Yu’s ‘Moonlight’ is a milestone in the music industry!”
“It brings us back to the roots of classical music, back to the ‘difficult listening’ era!”
“True classical music should be like this—requiring our active exploration! Great works must withstand repeated interpretations.”
“Here, I want to say, after experiencing ‘Moonlight,’ all friends still creating classical music should give it some serious thought!”
Right after Tong Tai’s remarks, not just the music industry, but even netizens were brought to tears!
On Douyin, a massive wave of excitement quickly kicked off.
Because “Moonlight” was already an Impressionist piece, its essence might be unified, but the appreciation and interpretation could take many forms.
More and more netizens claimed they were inspired by “Moonlight” and “Cats,” and began posting videos of themselves reinterpreting the piece, creating a fresh vision for “Moonlight.”
Some even took it a step further, using “Moonlight” as background music for their paintings, photography, and cosplay, showcasing a series of “artistic” creations on Douyin.
Countless netizens claimed they were inspired by “Moonlight” and vowed to start seriously listening to every piece!
“Lin Tian, do you think we really changed the world?”
At a hot pot restaurant,
Gan Yan Yu bit her orange juice straw, glancing at the posts and videos on her phone, her curiosity piqued.
“It’s great! More and more people are truly listening to our performance of ‘Moonlight’!”
“‘Changed the world’ or something…”
Lin Tian hesitated, scratching his head.
At that moment, a lady at the table next to theirs had her phone ring.
Gan Yan Yu froze,
Listening closely, that ringtone—wasn’t it “Moonlight,” the very piece they had just performed two hours ago?
The lady answered the call, chatting cheerfully for a bit before hanging up, and at that moment, her gaze seemed to meet Lin Tian and Gan Yan Yu’s.
However, the lady didn’t react at all, lowered her head, and went back to picking her food, seeming not to recognize the duo.
Gan Yan Yu was stunned for a while.
Beside her, Lin Tian chuckled:
“See? They’ve just jumped from one form of ‘formalism’ to another.”
“Changing the world isn’t that easy. All we can do is keep playing our music well.”
Lin Tian declared.
Just like that lady,
At the moment she set “Moonlight” as her ringtone, she had already become the perfect captive of the consumerism cage she was trying to escape.
“Mm-hmm,” Gan Yan Yu nodded.
“No need to take it too seriously! Just like…”
Lin Tian paused, lifting his phone with a grin,
“Mao Wei Ang just added me! He wants to discuss a business collaboration with us.”
(End of Chapter)
