Taylor Swift was actually my fan?
Lin Yuan was surprised not only because she was a future superstar, but also because he was a Taylor Swift fan himself.
In that future timeline, during those days when he lay bedridden, her songs had soothed Lin Yuan's heart through many painful moments.
For Lin Yuan, his favorite Taylor Swift song was "All Too Well," also the favorite of many Swifties.
That song had deeply influenced Lin Yuan's views on love, making him realize that the fundamental logic of relationships between men and women was—compatibility of needs.
Perhaps the starting point of most relationships between men and women came from mutual attraction. At that stage, people were blinded by the thrill of falling for each other and could not see that their needs were incompatible.
In that song, what attracted the male lead to the female lead was her innocence, embodied by a scarf. It might have been the most famous scarf in the world.
Who said only Easterners used objects to express emotion?
As their passion faded, an intimate relationship had to face the test of compatible needs. Both people had to tolerate each other's flaws and provide the value the other needed.
But the male lead was childish and immature. On one hand, he shouted about damned patriarchy, yet his behavior was chauvinistic. He was a hypocrite without even realizing it.
That lyric went: "I'll get older but your lovers stay my age."
I would grow old, but your lovers would remain forever young and beautiful.
No one stayed eighteen forever, but there would always be someone who was eighteen.
It directly exposed the male lead's hidden thoughts. All he needed was a young, beautiful woman to decorate his life.
Leonardo DiCaprio should give that a like.
But a person like the male lead would never understand the mutual protection born from absolute trust between a man and a woman—the invincible sense of security it brought.
Only sincerity could earn sincerity in return.
Lin Yuan found it hard to imagine that these were lyrics written by a twenty-two-year-old girl. Taylor Swift had matured early; she had always been more mature than her peers and understood what she wanted sooner than they did.
As a Taylor Swift fan, Lin Yuan was delighted by their meeting today. The feeling of being fans of each other was novel as well.
He happily signed the book. "Taylor: May you have the whole world in the days ahead. Lin Yuan."
Then he handed the autograph book back to Taylor.
"Well then, goodbye." Lin Yuan smiled and prepared to leave.
"Wait, do you have a girlfriend?" Taylor stopped him and asked bluntly.
"What?"
"If you don't, you can consider me."
"Little girl, if you want to play house, shouldn't you go find your friends?" Lin Yuan only wanted to laugh. American kids were maturing far too early.
"I don't like those snot-nosed little brats. You're more charming. And don't treat me like a child! I'm not that young anymore."
"All right, but I still have to apologize. There's someone I like."
"Is it the girl you shared a blanket with? She's very pretty, and her legs are long. But I'm not bad either. In a few years, I won't lose to her." Taylor persisted.
Looking at the five-foot-one Taylor, Lin Yuan found it rather amusing.
Of course, she was right. In a few years, she would grow to five foot eleven, becoming tall, radiant, and stunning.
But he was not rejecting her because Taylor was not pretty enough.
He had a favorable impression of the future Taylor Swift, but that was merely a fan's affection for her.
The person he liked was also the Taylor who shone brilliantly on future stages, definitely not the little girl before him.
Right now, he only found this little girl interesting and adorable. He would never have any other thoughts.
Lin Yuan shook his head. "Everyone has their own destiny. The right person for you will appear at the right time."
"I think you appeared at exactly the right time. Fine, then I'll ask a different question. Would you mind having one more girlfriend?" the blonde girl asked with a smile.
Lin Yuan shook his head. Just as he was about to refuse, Taylor continued.
"I think you should give it a try!"
"Think of it this way. Suppose that ten years from now, twenty years from now, you and that girl have been married for many years. But by then, your marriage has lost its passion, and she's become one of those middle-aged women who constantly nags her husband."
"You begin thinking back on the women you missed in your life. You start wondering whether, if you hadn't chosen her back then and had instead been with another woman, you might have been more compatible and happier."
Taylor pointed at herself seriously and continued, "And I might be one of the women you think you may have missed."
"The future you will imagine whether things would have been better if you had been with me back then. You keep thinking about that possibility and feel it would have been such a pity not to try."
"But today, you can give your future self an answer. You can try being with me first. Maybe you'll find that I'm not all that great either—just as nagging, boring, and passionless. Missing out on me wouldn't be a pity at all."
"But perhaps you'll find that you're very happy with me, that every day is filled with passion, and that choosing me truly gives you a different life."
"No matter the outcome, you will have one less regret in the future."
"Isn't that a good thing? I'll let you two-time us. You'll only profit and never lose."
Taylor rattled off a long speech in one breath, then looked at Lin Yuan expectantly.
"I've seen Before Sunrise. Don't try to trap me with lines from a movie," Lin Yuan answered irritably.
He added silently, Little brat, stop watching romance movies all day.
"Damn it! That's not important. What's important is that what I said makes perfect sense!" Taylor said anxiously.
It made no sense at all.
Taylor could never have imagined that he would not be conflicted.
Twenty years later, Liu Yifei had not become a nagging middle-aged woman. She was still radiant and beautiful, the unattainable dream girl in countless people's hearts.
And if she were with him then, their relationship would never lose its passion.
Taylor would be even less able to imagine that Lin Yuan had truly returned from the future. He really knew what his future self regretted.
As for Taylor, Lin Yuan knew her personality better than anyone. As a longtime fan, he understood exactly what kind of person Taylor was.
How could she possibly like a man she had only just met? How could she possibly like him enough to accept him two-timing her?
Lin Yuan was one hundred percent certain that if he accepted her ridiculous suggestion, she would toss that tiny budding bit of affection for him straight into the trash the next second.
She despised such a scumbag from the bottom of her heart. Perhaps in the future, she would even write a song with sharp lyrics mocking his ugly antics.
Taylor's behavior today was a fishing test. If he took the bait, it would prove that he was not worthy of her affection.
Lin Yuan understood her approach. When you wanted to invest a great deal of emotion in someone, it was best to first confirm that they were worth it.
"The biggest truth is that you should know better than to force yourself on a man who isn't yours. Whether you're a man or a woman, being a pathetic simp is never a good thing." Lin Yuan rejected her again.
"A simp?"
"That's not important. Anyway, good luck. I hope you meet someone who truly suits you soon," Lin Yuan said.
"I really do like you a little now!" Taylor's eyes shone even brighter.
Lin Yuan suddenly realized that by rejecting her, he had also passed her test.
As a Taylor Swift fan, he naturally knew just how persistent she could be when pursuing something, and how determined she was to overcome every obstacle.
Just as he wanted to make things clearer and reject her more firmly, a line of golden system text suddenly appeared before his eyes:
Helping Taylor Swift avoid the major pitfalls on her path to growth is your duty as a fan. Skill rewards will be granted according to the host's level of dedication.
The system!
That damned system had once again dangled a generous reward before him, while asking Lin Yuan to do something he wanted to do anyway.
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