Videos of solo instrument performances were not very popular on short-video platforms.
Performances on niche instruments like the cello were even less popular.
Those people who dressed provocatively, started livestreams, and took song requests were a different matter.
Anyone who had posted on Douyin knew this.
The videos people usually scrolled through might casually have hundreds of thousands or even millions of likes.
But when you actually made one yourself, getting over ten thousand likes on your first video meant you were exceptionally gifted—someone born to make a living on the internet.
Yet despite every possible unpopular buff stacked against him, Lin Tian had still gotten 23,000 likes. That was an outstanding result!
None of this had been accidental.
It had all been within Lin Tian's calculations!
Although Lin Tian had not spent much time on Douyin, and might not have fully grasped how to make an appealing video himself,
the good thing was that he had already stepped into a pit once a few days ago.
That video of Lin Tian performing in a restaurant.
With over a hundred thousand likes, Lin Tian had initially thought that his "Wedding in My Dream" would become the true star.
But the truth was that, compared to the music itself, the comments were more focused on "a handsome male high school student working part-time as a pianist in a restaurant."
That was what had made Lin Tian realize something.
Being good at performing music was a bonus, but it was absolutely not essential.
The real essential was having a gimmick the video could showcase.
Once Lin Tian understood that, he immediately avoided a lot of detours.
Right from the start, he had Gan Yan Yu change into a high school uniform to perform. With lighting and the right camera angle, he found the angle that made her look best.
That was also to create the gimmick of "a female high school student performing."
With both a gimmick and sufficiently strong musical ability,
it would be hard for the video not to blow up!
Some comments proved exactly that.
Damn! Has no one noticed? The tags this creator used are unbeatable!
Hand fetish, lady, uniform, long-leg benefits. The creator did not deceive me at all!! Though wasn't that last part, with the stick going in and out, a little too much?
Just tell me, did the bow go in and out over the strings or not?!
This creator is solid! His tags are genuinely not misleading!
A female high schooler and a cello—who could resist that?!
Especially after everyone saw in the profile that the performer was named "Cat," they immediately began filling in the blanks themselves.
Cat-chan. Hehe, Cat-chan, hehe hehe.
She's already this amazing in high school. Cat-chan must be a goddess-like older sister with incredible poise!
Of course, an older sister who played the cello this beautifully had to be a pretty girl!
Of course, some netizens held different opinions.
For example, a user named She Knows I Shot My Load, Who Knows Who I Shot My Load at started firing away in the comments:
No, your imaginations are pretty wild when it comes to jerking off.
Wearing a school uniform makes her a high school student? This is Douyin. It's all just for traffic!
I'm in a band myself. This cellist's skill is damn near professional level, and you're telling me she's a high school student?
She'd be lucky not to be some forty-year-old auntie! Best-case scenario, she's some woman in her late twenties! And she probably isn't pretty either, or why wouldn't she show her face?
If she's really a female high school student, I'll eat the cello in the video on the spot!!
No matter how passionately the commenters debated,
there was one thing Lin Tian could be sure of.
Their first shoot had been a success!
The moment he got home that evening, Lin Tian called Gan Yan Yu and asked her to come over.
She would surely be happy to see such good news.
Lin Tian definitely had to show off: See? I told you wearing the school uniform was the right call, didn't I?
After all, it had over a hundred thousand views. That meant more than a hundred thousand people had listened to the girl's cello!
Wasn't this exactly what she had always pursued—letting more people hear her music?
Lin Tian did not even dare imagine what expression Gan Yan Yu would make.
"Mm."
As Gan Yan Yu sat on the sofa in Lin Tian's home and looked through the comments on the phone,
the girl was not as excited as Lin Tian had imagined.
"It's pretty good."
Gan Yan Yu pursed her lips and spoke softly before handing the phone back to Lin Tian.
Lin Tian froze.
"That's it?"
"Huh?"
"No other comments?"
"What other comments do you need?"
As if to humor Lin Tian, Gan Yan Yu twirled the tip of her hair around a finger and pretended to think for a while.
Then she said solemnly,
"Over a hundred thousand views and more than twenty thousand likes. Very impressive. Next time, we'll definitely achieve even greater glory!"
Lin Tian frowned as he looked at Gan Yan Yu.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Although Gan Yan Yu had always been emotionally steady, whenever she was happy, the subtle changes in her expression and the look in her eyes were obvious.
"Is there something you're not satisfied with?"
Lin Tian asked.
After Lin Tian asked that, Gan Yan Yu's pupils visibly contracted.
"It isn't that I'm dissatisfied. It just feels a little strange."
"What feels strange?"
"This piece you wrote, 'Salut d'Amour,' is really, really good, right?"
"Yeah."
"Even though I might not have performed it that well, I still basically played the whole thing through, didn't I?"
"Your performance was perfect."
"Then isn't it strange? No one is discussing the music. It feels like they didn't like our video because of the music at all."
Gan Yan Yu lowered her voice. "Your composition was clearly so good, but they don't know how to appreciate it."
Lin Tian fell silent.
He understood.
Gan Yan Yu had treated the filming so seriously and carefully cooperated with Lin Tian's performance before
not for the "video statistics," but simply because she wanted more people to hear their music.
But now, although they had more than a hundred thousand views, it was hard to say whether anyone had truly fallen in love with their music.
They had probably fallen for her instead.
"But it's okay. As long as people watch the video, it means our efforts weren't wasted."
Gan Yan Yu said.
The girl's feelings were more complicated.
Honestly, as she read through those comments and saw people praising, flattering, and even worshipping her appearance,
she felt nothing at all.
She did not care about any of it.
Appearance was the least important quality a person could possess, yet it was always what the most people mentioned.
Gan Yan Yu disliked that feeling very much.
As though the only thing about you worth praising was your pretty shell.
To her, only music truly mattered.
"It's okay. We'll work harder next time!"
Lin Tian stood up, patted Gan Yan Yu on the shoulder, and comforted her.
Then he changed the subject.
"Actually, there are people who understand our music too. Look—"
Lin Tian handed her the phone.
In the private messages backstage, someone named Yan Yan Who Loves Playing in Water had sent them a message:
I didn't get much of an education growing up, and I don't understand music either, but this piece really made me feel the most beautiful side of love!
Moonlight and Cat, thank you. Although I've never met either of you, you truly changed my life.
Starting tomorrow, my new life will begin!
Gan Yan Yu froze when she saw that message.
Her beautiful pupils trembled slightly.
All the gloom seemed to disperse at that moment.
"See?"
Lin Tian put away his phone and smiled smugly.
Before you continue