Chapter 93

Lin Qianman was indeed stumped by this question.

It was like a ladle of cold water, directly extinguishing the fire in Lin Qianman’s heart.

But it didn’t completely go out; the charcoal, not quite dead, stirred restlessly, still warm.

But she had become rational.

Lin Qianman sighed: “I’m sorry.”

Tao Nian didn’t know why Lin Qianman inexplicably sighed. She pouted her lips: “Then when can I ‘lick’ you?”

Lin Qianman hesitated for a while between subtly comforting Tao Nian and telling her the truth. Finally, she summed it up, telling her: “It won’t be long.”

Tao Nian uttered an “Ah,” and asked: “Then what do I need to do?”

Lin Qianman: “Act well, transition, ​Read on BaiLianTales​and have a chance to go to school and become better.”

At the same time, Tao Nian’s tone was innocent: “Can I become a mukbang streamer?”

Lin Qianman: “…”

If she had known this day would come, she would have brought Tao Nian home the day she came down the mountain and had her do mukbang streams every day. Now she wouldn’t be so frantically torn between her future and romance.

Lin Qianman helplessly said: “Forget it, we’ll see then.”

Currently, Tao Nian’s specific work arrangements weren’t solely up to her own studio; at least for this year, the AD Girls’ group schedule was still the priority.

After Tao Nian had been inexplicably depressed for a week, everyone on the film set noticed that Tao Nian had inexplicably started to become happy again.

Then she reverted to being that goofy little sun from before.

After observing for two days, everyone began to suspect that Tao Nian’s inexplicable depression earlier was probably due to a breakup.

Now, being so happy, it was probably because they had made up.

But who was the other party in the breakup?

Tao Nian had taken leave for her birthday, but ended up on a trending search with someone else. She returned before her holiday was over, and after returning, she became depressed.

Excluding all interfering factors—there were no interfering factors at all.

There was only one conclusion.

The other person was Lin Qianman!

They felt as if they had stumbled upon something huge.

A staff member, unable to keep the gossip to themselves, opened their phone and searched on VB forums, trying to find a place to say something, anything, as a big gossip alert. Although everyone now knew about the Tao Nian and Lin Qianman CP, it was mostly a carnival for CP fans; no one had yet definitively stated that the two were together. So now, they would be the first! If Tao Nian and Lin Qianman really officially announced, everyone would thank them!

Thinking this, they pondered their warning wording while looking at everyone’s comments.

“A brief analysis of the causes of the tragic love story of QianNian.

Abstract: It is well known that top actresses often dote on idols, and behind every little idol there is such a powerful figure. However, love in the entertainment industry is often tragic. QianNian is an outstanding example. From love at first sight to tearful gazes today, the love of QianNian is undoubtedly a tragedy without an ending.

Keywords: Lin Qianman; Tao Nian; QianNian; love tragedy; beautiful love; BE aesthetics.

I. Social Causes of the QianNian Love Tragedy

Balabalabalabalabalabala…

II. Personal Causes of the QianNian Love Tragedy

Balabalabalabalabalabala…

III. The Game Between Fans and Love

Balabalabalabalabalabala…

Conclusion: The tragedy of QianNian’s love is not inevitable. Clearly, by changing some factors, the two could have stayed together for life. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, perhaps a lack of fate, the professional ethics of idols in the broader social context, their excessively high sense of responsibility and honesty towards fans, as well as Tao Nian’s naive, simple, and innocent personality, and Lin Qianman’s deep, steady, and far-sighted perspective, all made it impossible for them to be together with peace of mind. They could only suppress their deep-seated desires for each other, separated by distance yet seemingly close. One can only say that the tragedy of QianNian’s love should not have happened. But the reality is such, and thus, I believe the tragedy of QianNian’s love is the pinnacle of BE aesthetics in this era!”

In the comments section below, there was also a link.

Clicking in revealed a PPT.

The text was the content of this thesis, accompanied by images of QianNian.

It was well-organized, rigorously worded, with beautiful but melancholic accompanying pictures. The calm text contrasted with the scenes of the two people, mutually in love but separated, making the sorrow of tearing apart beautiful things even more prominent.

The staff member, trying to expose the news, looked at this rigorous, formal, and detailed CP thesis and the PPT that could perfectly serve as a template. The hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly.

Suddenly, he felt as if he had returned to that terrifying era dominated by papers.

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who had returned to that terrifying era dominated by papers.

Among the QianNian CP fans, whether they had already graduated or were preparing their theses, whether they had written many papers and summarized their own templates or had never written a paper and only heard terrifying legends about them, now looking at this paper, they all simultaneously shed tears.

Who knew the threshold for shipping CPs was so high now, save me.

First, there were million-follower internet celebrities, then academic bigwigs; they could even write a thesis just from shipping CPs.

Save me.

Truly QianNian.

Truly the pinnacle of BE aesthetics.

Everyone left comments, expressing their inner turmoil.

“Master, I understand. This is the legendary use of joyful scenes to highlight sorrow. All of Tao Nian’s early humor and absurdity were to create a contrast for the final BE, leaving a deep impression and provoking thought.”

“I also understand. The contrast between the early sweetness and the later desolation allows readers… no, fans, to better experience the characters’ inner emotions. The current long period of no news is negative space, which can make readers… no, fans, more curious, constantly speculating about the characters’ current situation. In the readers’ speculation, the story never ends, but the real-life story has already fallen into tragedy. This deepens the theme and highlights the main idea.”

“Master, I disagree with your view! I think the two characters in QianNian, one active and one static, Tao Nian lively and active, Lin Qianman calm and steady, contrast each other, making their images more vivid and concrete. However, due to their vastly different personalities, they are destined to have different views on many things. So even if they were together, other things might cause arguments or even separation. This tragedy, while unexpected, is within reason!”

The staff member’s hand holding the cigarette trembled madly.

He clicked on the comments below the comments.

“Good heavens, you all say you’re just ordinary CP fans, but how many years have you been Chinese class representatives behind my back?!”

“When you all retired from the literary world, I strongly objected.”

“Tell me, with such eloquent mouths, which province’s top Chinese scholar are you?!”

There were also some fans who were clearly still students.

“Good heavens, you understand so well. Can you help me write my Chinese exam paper this year?”

“If you don’t set the Chinese exam questions this year, I just won’t do it!”

“Not only won’t I do it, if I don’t see your names in the examiner section, I’ll just tear up the paper!”

“Not only will I tear it up, I’ll eat the pieces!”

“It’s getting intense, it’s getting intense! Now it’s the next person’s turn! Everyone, focus the spotlight on this poor kid, whoever they are, and see how they’ll handle this paper!”

The staff member’s hand holding the cigarette trembled madly…

This time, it didn’t tremble.

His cigarette dropped directly to the ground.

He had just wanted to break some news.

But looking at the CP fans’ stance, how did it suddenly feel inappropriate to simply say that the two were together?

How did he suddenly feel guilty about his mediocrity, even feeling that he needed to work hard to get a teaching certificate right now. After being a Chinese teacher for a few years, accumulating knowledge, and then writing a thesis, only then could he convince these fans that Tao Nian and Lin Qianman were indeed together?

Save me.

Is the gossip industry also this competitive now?

Are the costs this high??

The staff member’s plan to break news was cut short by this unexpected competition. He put away his phone and abandoned the idea.

And Tao Nian was also caught up in the “competition.”

How to put it.

Initially, when she came down the mountain, Feng Jun wrote to Lin Qianman, asking her to take care of Tao Nian. In the letter, she mentioned that if possible, she should try to make Tao Nian learn to control her instincts, at least her appetite, so she wouldn’t lose control like many seniors before her, eating whatever she saw, and eventually eating herself when there was nothing left.

Lin Qianman had considered this at first. But after a few days of hunger, Tao Nian’s eyes would sparkle, and the fragrant smell of Lin Qianman would be like the scent of roasted sweet potatoes on a winter night, making her uncontrollably want to take a bite.

Lin Qianman was terrified and decided to take it slow.

As she took it slow, she and Tao Nian became familiar with each other. Watching Tao Nian eat only seemed cute. When Tao Nian occasionally got busy and had no time to eat, she was more anxious than Tao Nian. She completely forgot about the matter.

Lin Qianman wasn’t effective.

But Tao Nian herself found something to divert her attention, and surprisingly lost interest in food.

She was very sad a while ago, so she kept eating.

Now that she’s better, she has many things she wants to do, and her desire for food has lessened.

There were many things that diverted her attention.

Most of it was her sweet affections with Lin Qianman. The two knew exactly what was going on, but because of certain reasons, they had to keep the “paper window” intact, which surprisingly created a different kind of excitement.

No.

It was a different kind of happiness.

A small part was work.

It had been three months since she joined the crew. As a supporting actress, her scenes were not [stolen content]many, and filming would wrap up soon. She had been a bit busy during this time.

The remaining part was to observe fan activity online.

One day, she saw this short thesis.

How to put it.

She had been down the mountain for almost a year now, and she could already fluently read simplified Chinese characters and understand internet slang. Rarely did she have that initial feeling of “mostly understanding the words, but not knowing what they meant when put together.”

However, this thesis made her feel that way again.

She read the thesis sentence by sentence, falling into confusion.

After a long while, with the help of a browser and the comments below, she realized that this was a form of academic expression…

She remembered Lin Qianman’s recent suggestion for her to go to school.

She thought of Feng Jun studying at school.

She was filled with reverence. She respectfully pulled Feng Jun out of her blacklist, deciding that from now on, she would still be Feng Jun’s good eldest disciple.