As evening approached, the sun wasn’t so intense anymore. Lin Wanwan locked the door of the small warehouse, put on her sunglasses and mask, and checked her phone as she walked.
Her phone was now filled with unread messages on WeChat and missed calls.
What kind of a big day was today? So many people were looking for her?
There were quite a few unfamiliar numbers in the missed calls, which she ignored altogether. There was one from Lu Shouyue, but she ignored it for now as well. Looking at WeChat, Lu Shouyue, Gu Jingyu, Chen Jinyu, and some old classmates and her roommate from her only year in university (she moved out to save on accommodation fees from the second year) all sent her many messages.
Upon opening them one by one, she found out that Xiao Chong’s video playing the Ancient Zither had blown up on trending searches. These people were all asking her about Xiao Chong.
Well, Lin Wanwan wasn’t particularly surprised. After all, Xiao Chong’s looks and zither skills were indeed unparalleled these days.
She replied casually with a few messages indicating she was fine and had seen their messages but was very cool about it, using the same tactic she initially used with Chen Jinyu—evasive non-answers.
Regarding the trending searches online, she browsed through them briefly and found they weren’t much different from what she expected, with most being infatuated looks. A few certified Ancient Zither musicians shared the video, commenting that the zither skills were high and surmised that it was dubbed with tuned audio, not the original video sound.
To put it bluntly, they didn’t believe that a fresh face with such top-tier looks could play something so divine.
Lin Wanwan smiled indifferently, naturally not foolish enough to argue. After all, Xiao Chong was a person from a thousand years ago, couldn’t be exposed, and fame might not be good.
She exited the trending content and continued checking her WeChat.
Most of Chen Jinyu’s messages were photos from hanging out and asking why she didn’t answer the phone, suggesting she join them when she’s free.
The last conversation she opened was from Lu Shouyue. He was also inquiring about Xiao Chong, asking if she could contact him since his Ancient Zither teacher was very interested. If convenient, he hoped Lin Wanwan could introduce them.
Lin Wanwan wiped her forehead, recalling Lu Shouyue playing the zither before—it was almost professional, so it’s no wonder his teacher wouldn’t be ordinary either.
Xiao Chong has definitely caught some attention now...
Fortunately, there are a lot of costume dramas being filmed these days, and many young people like wearing traditional Han clothing. The footages she recorded weren’t too sensational. At most, she could push it as a video she stumbled upon online.
Yes, just handle it like that. After all, she also didn’t know, didn’t recognize, wasn’t clear.
Thinking this, she directly sent the fabricated reply: "Sorry, Mr. Lu, I’m afraid I can’t help you with this. I don’t know him either; I just happened to find the video online and saved it."
Lu Shouyue quickly replied: "\(^o^)/ Alright, no problem. Wanwan, are you done yet? Where are you now? Do you want me to pick you up? Let’s have dinner together? Tonight there’s a small beer music festival on the beach here. How about joining us? Your friends will be there too."
Lin Wanwan looked at the time on her phone; it was almost 4 PM, which would be around 6 AM in the Great Tang. Even if she plays until 10 or 11 PM and then goes to the Great Tang, it would only be midday. She still had plenty of time.
Lu Daxiong was probably still helping her buy the boat; she also needed to give the other party some time! She just didn’t know where the little elephant went. When she went back to the Great Tang to move things, she hadn’t seen the little elephant. But even if she needed to find it, it wasn’t urgent.
So Lin Wanwan replied to Lu Shouyue: "Sure, where’s the address? Send me the location, and I’ll take a cab there directly."
Lu Shouyue called back immediately: "Wanwan, I’m free right now. Where are you? I’ll come to pick you up."
Since he said that, Lin Wanwan naturally agreed. She gave Lu Shouyue the address of a nearby building. After hanging up, she walked toward the building.
After waiting at the agreed spot for about twenty minutes, a sleek black car pulled up by the roadside.
Lin Wanwan curiously looked at the golden statue on the hood, which looked like it was going to leap forward. She thought the car’s emblem was quite ostentatious.
Just then, the window of the passenger seat rolled down, and Lu Shouyue’s smiling face appeared to her: "Wanwan, sorry to keep you waiting, get in."
Lin Wanwan smiled brightly, took a few steps forward to open the car door, sat in the passenger seat, and responded with a smile, "It’s an honor for Mr. Lu to pick me up personally."
Lu Shouyue helped her put the hiking backpack into the back seat and casually asked, "In such hot weather, why carry such a big hiking backpack?"
Lin Wanwan took off her sunglasses and said, "Oh, I went hiking. This backpack is convenient; it can hold a lot of things."
The car slowly started to move, and Lu Shouyue said while driving, "So you went hiking today? Not bad. Did you gain anything from it?"
"Just gained a bit of knowledge."
"Can you play the song from the video you listened to yesterday? The online video only has a small snippet, which is not satisfying enough."
Lin Wanwan thought for a moment; she didn’t really have a reason to refuse, so she said, "Alright, but won’t playing music affect your driving? It might not be safe."
Laughing heartily, Lu Shouyue said, "Wanwan, you’re too funny. No worries, my driving skills are excellent."
So Lin Wanwan opened her phone’s album, clicked on Xiao Chong’s video, and when it started playing, Lu Shouyue added, "Wanwan, connect the Bluetooth to the car and play it through the car speakers."
Once the Bluetooth was connected, the zither melody from the video slowly poured out from the surround sound system. Lin Wanwan and Lu Shouyue subconsciously held their breaths, quietly immersing themselves in the musical wash.
After the melody finished, Lu Shouyue, after savoring it for a moment, sighed: "The one playing the zither has a deep mind, with seemingly grand ambitions, yet also a bit of acceptance of whatever comes. Quite intriguing."
Lin Wanwan: "...Mr. Lu, you’re impressive, discerning so much from one tune. Would this count as a ’High Mountain and Flowing Water’ understanding? This song is actually the ’High Mountain and Flowing Water’ piece."
Feigning casualness, Lu Shouyue said, "Did you download this because it sounds good or because the player looks good?"
Lin Wanwan chuckled for a moment, then said, "Probably a little bit of both."
Raising an eyebrow slightly sourly, Lu Shouyue said, "Usually, such videos are dubbed post-production. It’s unlikely a person could play at this level naturally; it’s probably electronically adjusted as well. And these fresh-faced celebrities are usually packaged up."
After realizing that sounded a bit off, he added, "But the one actually playing is indeed very skilled, definitely counts as an Ancient Zither Master."
To Lu Shouyue’s assessment, Lin Wanwan responded with a silent, knowing smile.