AMTWPICL Chapter 8

When Song Linchu was just a few years old, his father unexpectedly passed away. Later, his mother became seriously ill, so he was forced himself to spread his wings and support his family through the storms of life while others were still coddled and protected.

In his memory, he had hardly received any protection from male elders.

Therefore, when he saw Tan Yue going to such great lengths to teach Yuan Ruidong a lesson using dirty tricks, he was already deeply moved and he did not expect Tan Yue to go this far. For a while, Song Linchu was at a loss.

As the man left, Song Linchu hesitantly said, “Mr. Tan, scaring him is already satisfying enough. You don’t have to delay your business because of my affairs.”

“It’s not because of you,” Tan Yue roughly scanned the document, then closed it and tossed it aside. He casually said, “I just happened to want to find a new business partner.”

“…”

Okay, the whole script fell apart.

As expected, he was still that steel straight man who lacked common sense.

Tan Yue saw Song Linchu’s dejected expression and his lips twitched slightly.

He had achieved his current status through years of planning and scheming. He remained been dormant and planned in secret for nearly ten years so he was particularly indifferent and would not easily help anyone.

Occasionally, he would help in situations like this just because he felt like it, and didn’t want anyone to feel indebted to him.

Of course, Song Linchu could not guess Tan Yue’s thoughts. He had classes in the afternoon and went back to school first.

As soon as he reached the school gate, he heard someone call his name from behind: “Song Linchu.”

Song Linchu turned around and saw a girl wearing a furry bunny ear hat running towards him.

“Sister Zhou.” Song Linchu smiled slightly and greeted her.

The girl’s name was Zhou Kexin, a talented artist in their school’s art department and also the head of their school’s student union’s cultural and entertainment department.

“It’s really you. What a coincidence,” Zhou Kexin ran up to him, smiling, “I was just looking for you. Let’s talk while we walk.”

Song Linchu walked with her into the school and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Just…the annual campus singer competition is about to begin, you know,” Zhou Kexin blinked at him.

Song Linchu: “…”

He didn’t want to know.

The campus singer competition in Zhou Kexin’s mouth was jointly organized by their university and the neighboring Aviation University.

Both schools’ leaders held it in high regard, so the annual singing competition had become a major event at their respective institutions.

Zhou Kexin discovered Song Linchu’s singing talent by chance and has since invited him to participate in the competition every year, only to be turned down each time.

“I am tone-deaf,” Song Linchu said.

Zhou Kexin replied, “Do you think I would believe that?”

Song Linchu begged, with a distressed look on his face, “Senior sister, please spare me. There are already enough contestants, and I am not participating.”

“No, I have a reason this time,” Zhou Kexin responded. “I am about to step down as the department head, and I have been in this position for two years. The champion of the singing competition has been won by the other school for the past few years and I feel quite frustrated, I want to make a final effort before leaving my post.”

The singing competition between the two schools appeared to be a friendly competition on the surface, but in reality, both schools were secretly competing with each other. Over the years, they have had their fair share of victories and defeats.

However, since Song Linchu’s generation, a talented singer from the aviation university emerged, who was said to have participated in their school’s televised singing competition and almost made it to the finals. This was akin to a professional competing with amateurs. As a result, the other school had won the championship for the past two years.

Song Linchu rubbed his forehead and said, “I think you have some misunderstanding about my ability.”

He sang better than the average person, that was all.

Zhou Kexin replied, “It’s different. You have so many fans, and a lot of people will come to watch the competition, so we will not be at a disadvantage to Aviation University in terms of atmosphere.”

Song Linchu thought to himself, ‘Am I just being used to draw a crowd?’

Since the person from the aviation university was good-looking and popular, not only did they dominate the competition every year, but there was also a considerable advantage in the number of people who came to watch him perform, which had a significant impact on the contestants.

Especially last year, perhaps due to the other school’s overwhelming momentum, two of their hopeful contestants faltered, and the top three spots were all taken by the other school. Some radical students even ridiculed them on online forums.

“Give me a chance to retire honorably,” Zhou Kexin pleaded. “Please?”

Song Linchu rubbed his forehead and replied, “Let me think about it. I will give you an answer tonight.”

“Okay!” Zhou Kexin exclaimed happily. “I’ll wait for your good news.”

Song Linchu was not being arrogant. He just found the attention quite overwhelming. When he was in high school, he was forced to perform a solo during an arts festival. The video was widely circulated outside of his school, and every day, people would stop him at the school gate, asking for his contact information. This left Song Linchu was at a loss.

Since then, he refused all opportunities to stand out.

Song Linchu returned to the dormitory during lunch break. Only Li Chang was in the room, chatting affectionately with his girlfriend over video call.

Li Chang’s girlfriend was majoring in flight attendants at the nearby aviation university and was also the school flower of the department. She was exceptionally beautiful, causing many male students to envy Li Chang.

In the past, their dorm mates often teased Li Chang, saying that he must have saved the galaxy in his past life to have such a beautiful girlfriend.

Upon seeing Song Linchu return, Li Chang exchanged a few words with his girlfriend and ended the call, then exaggeratedly said to Song Linchu, “You finally came back. Amazing, our good boy has learned to stay out all night.”

“Get lost,” Song Linchu scolded with a smile.

“Weren’t you attending the senior’s birthday party yesterday? Judging from the person who answered the phone, it didn’t sound like the senior. Did some smelly man abduct you?” Li Chang joked.

“You’re spot-on,” Song Linchu thought, but he didn’t tell Li Chang about what had happened the night before, so as not to worry him. Instead, he vaguely replied, “A friend of mine.”

“Oh,” Li Chang didn’t probe any further. “As long as you’re okay.”

Song Linchu sat down at his desk and took out his phone, wanting to text Tan Yue something, but afraid of getting choked up and making himself angry. After a while, he suddenly turned his head and looked at Li Chang, who was grinning foolishly and texting his girlfriend.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked.

Li Chang responded with a puzzled “Huh?” and then said, “Go ahead, ask me.”

“How did you pursue your girlfriend?” Song Linchu asked.

Upon hearing this question, Li Chang became enthusiastic and said with a smirk, “To be honest with you, it wasn’t me who pursued her. She was the one who first expressed her interest in me.”

Song Linchu looked at him with a “You’re just bragging” expression.

“Truly, I wasn’t particularly good at playing basketball. However, during high school, I was the star player on the school basketball team and was quite impressive. After a school basketball game, she took the initiative to add me on social media and said that I reminded her of her idol, Rukawa Kaede. We got to talking and, you know how it goes.”

Song Linchu: “……”

He understood what was going on, but it was of little value to him.

He didn’t play basketball, and Tan Yue probably didn’t even know who Rukawa Kaede was.

**Rukawa Kaede is a character in the manga and anime series “Slam Dunk”. He is one of the main characters and a talented high school basketball player.

“Why are you suddenly asking this? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for some girl and want to pursue her?”

Song Linchu denied it: “No.”

“Hey! Your expression tells me otherwise!” Li Chang dragged his chair over and leaned in, “Then you’ve come to the right person. I’m known as the master of love, with many people coming to me for advice on how to pursue their girlfriends.”

Whether or not he was a love master was up for debate, but it was true that many people came to him for advice.

After all, not everyone has the ability to pursue the campus goddess.

Song Linchu looked at him skeptically: “Go on, then.”

“Well, you have to make the other person see your shining points. Every time you stand under the spotlight and receive awards at the competition, isn’t there a crowd of people asking for your WeChat and confessing their love to you? That’s your shining point, your charm. My girlfriend was also captivated by my handsome basketball moves!”

Song Linchu nodded thoughtfully.

It seemed like…there was some truth to it.

That night, Zhou Kexin received news that Song Linchu would be participating in the competition.

—————

Before he knew it, it was Wednesday afternoon, and Song Linchu had no classes, so he informed Tan Yue and brought him a medicinal soup.

This time it was a beef medicinal soup, still delicious and fragrant. The aroma alone made one’s mouth water.

The steam of the hot soup wafted and lingered around, enveloping the faces of the people with a warm mist. Tan Yue’s face, which was like that of a cold mountain’s snow pine, appeared slightly warmer at this moment.

“What is it?”

Tan Yue slowly and calmly finished the last sip of soup, set down the spoon, and looked at the person sitting across from him who was eagerly staring at him.

The youth’s black and clear eyes carried a hint of innocence and inexperience, making people feel an urge to give him all the stars in the sky.

“It’s not a big deal. I just wanted to ask if you are free this Saturday night?”

“No.”

Song Linchu: “…” Why isn’t he playing along with the routine!

At least he should have asked what it was about!

It doesn’t matter, since he didn’t ask, Song Linchu will take the initiative to speak for himself.

“I’m participating in our school’s singing competition. The preliminary round is on Saturday, and it will be broadcasted live on Little Apple TV. Would you come to the live stream and cheer me on?”

Tan Yue retorted, “Can you see me cheering for you?”

“…” It was a good question; he really couldn’t see him.

But was that the point?

“Although I can’t see you, just the thought of you watching me will fill me with strength and allow me to perform better and more excellently!”

Tan Yue wiped his mouth with a tissue and remained silent.

Song Linchu quickly said, “My biggest competitor will also be participating in this competition. Winning or losing is crucial for me. If I lose, he will mock me, and would you really want to see me being mocked?”

“I wouldn’t!” Before Tan Yue could speak, Song Linchu quickly spoke up for himself, looking pitifully at him and using his ultimate weapon, “Gege-“

Tan Yue paused.

This was the first time Song Linchu had called him “gege”. Unlike the cold and distant messages on WeChat, his voice was clear and sweet, with a slight upward inflection at the end, which made it sound less like a title and more like a playful gesture.

Due to family reasons, Tan Yue didn’t like being addressed as “brother”. But now he realized that this title could be so intimate.

“Oh,” Tan Yue finally relented. “Let’s talk about it later.”

“… “What kind of person says ‘let’s talk about it later’ when it’s already happening?!”

Song Linchu gritted his teeth. It didn’t matter though, he would pester him again on Saturday.

If he didn’t watch the live stream, he would edit out the part where he performed and send it to him!

If he still refused to watch it, he would send him a photo!

Honestly, with enough persistence, even a straight steel man like him could be bent like a paper clip!