Producer System: My Girlfriend is a Cellist-Chapter 37 Gan Yanyu Also Keeps Pace with Lin Tian

On the way to their destination in the car.

Gan Yanyu clenched one hand into a tight fist while her other hand ceaselessly scribbled and doodled on her thigh, and then she would pinch her thigh sharply.

This scene left Lin Tian beside her completely dumbfounded.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah... Ah?"

Caught in the act, Gan Yanyu’s pretty face blushed slightly as she awkwardly shrank her head.

"When I’m nervous, I draw pentagrams on my leg..."

"And the pinching?"

"To reset the ’drawing board’."

"Hmm."

It seemed Gan Yanyu had a strict system in place for this routine.

Lin Tian wondered if anyone else were to operate this system, would it still function normally?

Today at noon, to fulfill his promise to Gan Yanyu to meet the chairman of the Music Association, Lin Tian had forsaken even his precious lunch break and specially took a taxi with Gan Yanyu to their appointment.

"Are you that nervous?" Lin Tian asked.

"I’m nervous for you!"

"Nervous for me?"

"The old master is a conductor who has performed at the Royal Albert Hall..."

"Which music hall?"

"The Royal Albert Hall in London, UK!"

Gan Yanyu raised her index finger and said seriously,

"Only world-class musicians have the qualification to perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall!"

"Oh."

Although Lin Tian was not familiar with these names in the music industry, he somewhat understood.

It was like when he used to watch idol anime from Neon, where the idols often saw performing at the Tokyo Dome as their ultimate goal.

However, things in the entertainment industry certainly couldn’t be equated with world music; what they pursued was not on the same level.

"Besides the Royal Albert Hall, there’s also the Music Association’s concert hall in Vienna, the Berlin Philharmonic Hall in Germany, and Carnegie Hall in New York, USA... These places are seen as the pinnacle of artistry in the eyes of every musician. To be able to perform at these concert halls is to be a very impressive musician!"

As Gan Yanyu spoke the names of these places, her eyes were filled with longing.

Perhaps, this was also Gan Yanyu’s dream as a cellist.

"What about Sir Gan? Has he ever been to these places?"

"No..."

As she said this, Gan Yanyu’s eyes dimmed,

"Grandpa... he had a chance to go, but after he was eliminated from the Ker Cup, he never performed again."

"That much of an impact, huh."

Lin Tian found it hard to comprehend.

Although he didn’t understand the cello, he knew there were numerous music competitions in the world, and not just the Ker Cup—though it was the most prestigious.

Moreover, at the level of a musician, for those in the arts, competitions aren’t everything, right?

"It’s not that."

Gan Yanyu spoke softly, "That year, grandpa shouldn’t have lost."

"Why do you say that?"

"He was sabotaged."

Gan Yanyu became slightly agitated as she spoke quietly,

"During the entire competition, grandpa was in good health, but on the morning of the competition, right after finishing rehearsals and returning to the dressing room, grandpa started vomiting non-stop and managed to endure until after the competition, before he was taken to the hospital to have his stomach pumped."

"This incident was appealed by the Zhonghua Cello Association to the competition committee, and an expert group from Vienna intervened in the investigation, but there were no conclusive results..."

This was something Lin Tian hadn’t expected.

All along, he only knew that Sir Gan was knocked out in the Ker Cup quarterfinals, but not that there were such incidents behind it.

However, when he searched for related news, he didn’t find any coverage.

It seemed that the matter was likely suppressed. After all, a concluded investigation with no results being disseminated wouldn’t benefit public opinion.

No wonder, Sir Gan never again played the cello but instead opened a coffee shop to retire.

His will had been shattered.

If it were me, I’d give up too.

So many years have blinked by, and the truth about what happened sixteen years ago is now impossible to know.

But this has become an unshakable reason for Gan Yanyu to attend the Ker Cup.

The young girl turned her cheek towards the car window.

Word by word, she spoke softly:

"If that day comes, I must go to Vienna myself to see what grandpa actually went through back then...."

Perhaps the river of time has already diluted everything; the participants, committees, and audiences from the contests of the past might not remember this incident anymore.

But for the person who was personally hurt, his time, forever remains on that very day sixteen years ago.

Looking at grandpa who had become a vegetative state, unable to move anymore, Gan Yanyu’s heart could not let go of the obsession with the Ker Cup, no matter what.

Lin Tian could somewhat understand.

The musicians’ obsession with music.

At the same time, he was also a bit more curious about this old artist named Wan Qi.

...

The car stopped at an old neighborhood.

When they knocked on the door, a young man opened it.

"Hello."

Gan Yanyu greeted politely, "We’re looking for Mr. Wan."

"You must be Gan Yanyu and Lin Tian, the old man has been waiting for you for a long time."

The young man said with a smile, then gestured "please" with his hand, welcoming both of them in.

It was a house that had a millennial air, with grey and blue decorations, old calendars on the walls that easily brought to mind things like dream cores.

Just as he entered the inner room, Lin Tian saw a white-haired old man tidying up.

"Yo! Yanyu has arrived." The old man turned around, saw Gan Yanyu, and immediately showed a smile.

"Mr. Wan."

Gan Yanyu bowed respectfully.

"Ah, how many times have I told you, don’t do this formal stuff with me, don’t do this formal stuff with me... I’ve been friends with your grandpa for so many years! I watched you grow up!"

Wan Qi seemed to utterly detest Gan Yanyu’s polite manners, vehemently shaking his hands.

It looked like a very sprightly old man, just like Sir Gan.

On this topic with Gan Yanyu, he indeed resonated very well with Lin Tian.

"How’s your grandpa doing?"

"It’s still the same." A bitter smile appeared at the corner of Gan Yanyu’s mouth.

Hearing this, the elderly man put down the book he was tidying, and sat down on a wooden rocking chair.

He sighed heavily:

"Ah! This old guy, I always told him, cooping himself up in that cafe, suffocating all his good luck away! Now look, he’s laid down, hasn’t he?!"

"..."

Seeing the atmosphere gradually turning somber, Wan Qi took a big cigarette and lit it.

"Let’s not talk about this now—Yanyu, this is..."

He turned his gaze toward Lin Tian.

"This is Lin Tian."

"Sir, nice to meet you."

Perhaps influenced by Gan Yanyu, Lin Tian also bowed respectfully.

"Oh right, right! You’re the one who wrote ’Ode to Love’, that piece, right?!"

Wan Qi suddenly stood up from his chair, excitedly looking Lin Tian over.

He couldn’t help but click his tongue in admiration:

"Great potential, great potential!"

"Come with me!"

Saying so, the old man led the two into a room.

He turned on the lights.

A piano, quietly laying in the center of the room.

"Young man, come take a look!"

Wan Qi called Lin Tian over, guiding him to feel the touch of the piano with his hands.

"What do you think? If you don’t mind, you can take it away."

"Take... take it away?"

Lin Tian was flattered.

"This piano, it’s been my old buddy for nearly thirty years. Although I’m quite reluctant to let it go, Yanyu has been pleading with me for a long time, haha... She’s only ever approached me proactively this one time in so many years. I can’t let her down, right?" Wan Qi laughed heartily.

Lin Tian, surprised, turned his head to look at Gan Yanyu.

The young girl quickly turned her face away, and in a tone not heavy yet incredibly serious said:

"You... weren’t you always worrying about the piano... I thought since we’re partners, it can’t always be you giving, right?"