Lin Tian believed he wasn't a person with low emotional intelligence.
But sometimes, Gan Yanyu really baffled him.
Or rather, the heart of a woman is always a mystery!
Especially someone like Gan Yanyu who seemed so smart when they first met.
So, Lin Tian's approach was simple.
Drag! Just forcefully drag it out!
Hence, these words truly reflected Lin Tian's heartfelt thoughts.
As long as you don't die, everything else can be discussed.
.....
However, upon hearing Lin Tian's words.
Gan Yanyu suddenly froze.
Her eyes became empty, yet her face flushed red.
It was as if a character from a 2D world had stepped into reality, the pupils of a beautiful girl trembling slightly.
It was unclear whether her face was red from awkwardness or shyness.
"What are you talking...about?"
Gan Yanyu turned her face away, her voice becoming softer.
Lin Tian quickly realized.
His statement just now could be quite ambiguous.
It meant like, as long as you are here, everything tastes delightful...
Damn!
What kind of corny love line was that?!
Lin Tian quickly explained: "What I meant was, I'm usually alone after work, so having someone with me tonight makes me really happy."
Lin Tian didn't know what he was explaining, feeling that his explanation was getting stranger.
But,
Seeing the girl's expression slowly soften, he knew that at least his words had the desired effect.
At the same time, a screen appeared in front of him.
[SAN value: 18↑]
[Health status: Very poor→Poor]
Better now?
Lin Tian felt a bit relieved.
Although the value was still low, at least it proved that his efforts were not in vain.
With a bit more effort, maybe he could find a new breakthrough.
"Alright."
Gan Yanyu adjusted her expression to appear more serious.
Although she felt that Lin Tian coming up with such a line all of a sudden was a bit weird,
Considering that Lin Tian, from any perspective, would not likely say a love line with "that kind" of implication.
It actually made the statement seem more sincere.
Thinking this, the girl's mood calmed down.
"Let's do this."
Lin Tian suddenly came up with a new idea,
"Please treat me to some dessert."
"Dessert?" Gan Yanyu's eyes lit up.
"Yep, and if it's not filling enough, we still have mung bean cakes."
Lin Tian had noticed this earlier.
When passing by a dessert shop earlier, Gan Yanyu glanced three times at the menu by the door.
Really can't hide anything, can she?
She's good at hiding her own secrets, though.
"Alright."
This time, Gan Yanyu responded quickly.
They headed to the dessert shop.
Bright lights, a fresh and clean decoration style.
They sat down in the shop.
Gan Yanyu ordered two portions of pudding, one mango-flavored and one strawberry-flavored.
Lin Tian ordered a watermelon slush.
He liked the feeling of scooping up the tall mounds of watermelon slush with a spoon, digging into it like excavating someone's ancestral grave, it was quite stress-relieving.
Watermelon juice flowed down the slush, resembling the corpse water emerging from an excavated grave.
This comparison, Lin Tian had once made when scolding Xu Yong.
It was Lin Tian's birthday that day, Xu Yong had boasted about treating Lin Tian well but ended up taking him for slush.
Lin Tian instantly asked whether this slush looked like the bloody water from your family grave, and whether his scooping resembled excavating your family's ancestral grave.
However, Lin Tian later indeed fell in love with this flavor.
Gan Yanyu held up her cup, the tiny pudding cup in her hand appeared as noble as a holy lotus artifact.
She picked up a spoon, gently scooped some up, and placed it into her mouth.
Slippery texture, ice-cold to the touch, accompanied by the refreshing scent of the world's number one fruit, mango.
Delicious!
The girl bit her spoon, her eyes curved in delight, displaying an extremely happy expression.
It was as if all the troubles of the world had disappeared with that bite of pudding!
This scene left Lin Tian, who was sitting across from her, utterly dumbfounded.
For some reason, he thought of someone, an invincible man—
Qimu Nanxiong.
So, the scenes of eating pudding in anime really do exist in reality.
"I remember, grandpa's coffee shop also sells pudding, right?"
Seeing Gan Yanyu showing a rare side of good spirits, Lin Tian tentatively asked.
"Yes, but even though grandpa can make decent coffee, his pudding isn't tasty, not even as good as mine."
Gan Yanyu bit her spoon, seeming to recall some pleasant memories,
"Grandpa was really troubled too. He knew I loved eating it and tried super many different methods, but he just couldn't replicate the taste of the dessert shops outside. When I went to the UK, he said that by the time I came back, he definitely wanted me to eat a pudding that would satisfy me..."
"Did you eat it then?"
Lin Tian mustered his courage and asked.
"You guess."
The girl chuckled lightly.
Then, she bowed her head and picked up another cup of strawberry-flavored pudding, continuing to indulge in the delicious treat.
She really won't reveal anything, huh...
Lin Tian felt somewhat helpless.
But, it wasn't a total loss.
He unexpectedly discovered that Gan Yanyu wasn't as cold as she appeared to be.
She also had a sunny side.
Maybe, before everything happened, Gan Yanyu was also a lively and cute ordinary high school girl...
"I remember you mentioned before... you play classical music?"
Having acquired piano skills and awakened his music repertoire, Lin Tian suddenly wanted to discuss this topic with Gan Yanyu.
Starting with the topic of music, perhaps Gan Yanyu wouldn't be so resistant.
"Yes."
"What's the difference between classical music and other music? Or is it that all very old music is called 'classical music'?"
"It's a lot different."
Talking about this, Gan Yanyu suddenly put down the pudding in her hand.
Though not understanding why Lin Tian suddenly became interested in this, she still earnestly raised her index finger to enlighten Lin Tian:
"Classical music refers to a style of music, not just to 'being very old'."
"In cello competitions, they usually categorize the music clearly, apart from 'classical music' there are also 'modern music', 'jazz', 'pop music', and so on."
"However, in recent years, the popularity of international cello competitions has been rising, attracting more young audiences. Classical music, due to its tendency to be too rigid in technique precision and formality, is currently not very popular."
"So, if you like classical music, doesn't that put you at a disadvantage in competitions?" Lin Tian asked.
"It's not right to say that, we chose this path because of our love for the music, conveying our own music to all the audience on stage, how can that be considered a disadvantage…" Saying this, Gan Yanyu spoke softly and gently, her gaze drifting towards the window.
Lin Tian understood.
If using LOL to represent the cello, then international competitions are the S-series tournaments.
Then, on the stage of the S-series, "modern music," "pop music" are the powerful heroes of the version; "classical music" is like the weak heroes of the version.
Gan Yanyu is a master of "classical music," but because the current version is weak, competitions are very unfavorable for her.
Gan Yanyu is like, knowing there are powerful heroes in the version but not practicing them, resulting in losses when competing.
Isn't that just like UZ...
Of course, these are Lin Tian's wild guesses.
He hadn't seen Gan Yanyu's competitions, nor knew her level back in the UK.
But from the girl's words, it was not hard to sense.
It seems that Gan Yanyu has a fixation on classical music that is hard for ordinary people to understand.
"Dudu—"
Suddenly, Lin Tian's cellphone rang.
It was Xu Yong.
What is this guy calling me for?
"I'm going to take a call."
Lin Tian said, standing up and walking outside the store.
"Lin Tian, where are you now? Still eating with Gan Yanyu?"
As soon as the call connected, Xu Yong hurriedly asked.
"Yes, what's up?"
"That Gan Yanyu, when you introduced me to her earlier, I kept feeling like there was something I wanted to ask you, but I forgot, and I just remembered now—
Do you know why she took a break from school back then?"
"Yes, to study in the UK."
"That's not right..."
Xu Yong's voice lowered,
"When I was in my first year of high school, I went to the administrative office to submit a letter of apology, and I saw her taking a leave of absence at the next table, it was super crowded, really dramatic!"
"I remember, her reason for taking leave was to go abroad for medical treatment."