Chapter 218: Inspiration
She remembered the song she had written a while ago, the one that had boosted Nangong Ying’s popularity once again, a song of regret and remorse. At the time, it had given Nangong Ying a more fleshed-out, human persona.
Now, looking at this girl, at the photos on her phone, and the fact that she was an old acquaintance of Nangong Ying, all of it made her suspect the inside story.
Could it be that the girl Nangong Ying had spoken of, the one she felt guilty towards, was her?
“When did you and her meet?”
“First year of high school.”
“Were you close?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“We’re not friends anymore.”
She interrogated her like a police officer questioning a suspect, but Yu Linna clearly didn’t want to answer. Her replies never exceeded two sentences. This frustrated Zhou Silan.
It also solidified her conviction that this girl and Nangong Ying had a past together.
The fact that she was unwilling to answer only proved that she was avoiding it.
“Girl, last question. Why did you two fight?”
“We didn’t fight.”
“Didn’t fight?”
“We just simply chose different paths. She became an actress, I became a novelist. It’s as simple as that.”
To Yu Linna, the past was the past. There was no need to bring it up again.
In the beginning, she had indeed been conflicted. Even when she saw Nangong Ying, a glimmer of hope would still flicker in her heart, and she would question why she had done it. It was only after being hurt repeatedly that she finally recognized the truth, no longer holding onto any hope, and completely let go of the past.
Therefore, to her, Nangong Ying was more like a passerby in her memories, someone who would not affect her future.
Zhou Silan was silent for a moment. She thought about the lyrics she had personally written for “The Times You’ve Forgotten.” Recalling them now, they were a perfect match. They were so similar to Yu Linna and Nangong Ying, almost identical.
That made sense. After all, the story Nangong Ying had told her was based on Yu Linna.
“What an unexpected harvest.”
Zhou Silan smiled.
To have gained so much from this trip to Guangnan, and to even meet the real-life prototype of the song Nangong Ying sang. This girl was indeed exactly as Nangong Ying had described.
“Yu girl, now that it’s come to this, do you hate her?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know her well.”
“Haha, so that’s how it is.”
She felt a pang of bitterness, perhaps the bitterness of fate itself.
The entertainment industry was a messy place. Very few people could remain pure from start to finish. Most who lived in that mixed-up world lost themselves.
After all, it was a place of hedonism and luxury.
It was somewhat understandable that Nangong Ying couldn’t maintain her integrity.
But she still felt that this child was a bit pitiful.
“If you could say one thing to her, what would you say?”
“Thank you.”
Zhou Silan seemed to know what to do now. It seemed she had found her inspiration.
Writing a song with Yu Linna as the prototype seemed like a good idea. At least in her, she had found the desire to create, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. This time, she would sing it herself. She also wanted her songs to become more popular, to be liked by more people. Because she was a singer, she wanted her songs to live on.
After all this, Zhou Silan was about ready to leave. She wanted to go back to her hotel to rest and then write. It had been a long time since she had felt this way. Once the feeling came, nothing could stop it.
“Girl, I’m heading back now. We’ll meet again if fate allows.”
“Take care, Great God Zhou.”
“Don’t call me ‘Great God.’ I’m not that old. I’m only seven years older than you. You can call me ‘Sister’.”
“Okay, Sister Zhou.”
“Then we’ll meet again.”
This trip to Guangnan had been quite fruitful.
She wanted to go back and write a song.
What should she call it…?
How about “Forget Me”? No, that sounds like a love song.
“You’re So Cruel”? Even worse, that’s too strange.
“Thank You.”
Yes, that’s good. Let’s call it “Thank You.” The content would be about a girl who decides to let go of someone and bravely face a new life. Although it still had a bit of a love song feel, it fit the title well.
…
After Zhou Silan left, Yu Linna stretched and prepared to make dinner. The evening would be for work. To her, her life was completely unaffected. She ate what she should eat, worked when she should work. Nothing had changed.
The summer vacation had been going on for a while. Fang Jiangning had also recently checked her admission status. Although Yu Linna had been teasing her that she might not get in, she had indeed been accepted into Guangnan University, albeit just barely. But she was very lucky. She was in the same major as Yu Linna, which meant they could live in the same dorm, be assigned to the same class, and continue to hang out together for four years. It was too wonderful.
Excited, she had live-streamed a whole night of League of Legends after checking her admission information. She won every match, even turning the tables in losing games and making the opponents cry. Her fans, seeing this, commented that the streamer’s state was very unusual. She was usually not this fierce. Had she taken the wrong medicine?
In fact, Fang Jiangning had taken medicine—happy pills. She couldn’t control herself.
“Hello, friends in the audience! Since I’ve been streaming LOL a lot, let’s switch games today and stream Honor of Kings. Although I look like a weak girl and my skills might not seem great, my rank is actually King with 40 stars. If I had the time, I might even have a chance to reach Glory. Enough talk, let’s play a ranked match today. Let me think about who to pick.”
She started her stream, turned on her mic, and her melodious voice filled the stream room. The viewers were all very excited. They couldn’t help it; Little Angel’s voice was too pleasant, too distinctive. Even without showing her face, she was still worshipped.
“Little Angel, don’t play support! Play bottom lane and kill the opponent!”
“By the way, Little Angel has never shown her face. I think with such a nice voice, you must look pretty good.”
“Yeah, why doesn’t Little Angel show her face?”
The viewers kept asking why she didn’t show her face. Some even sent a few rockets, insisting that she answer the question.
Fang Jiangning could only smile wryly.
She actually wanted to show her face. After all, that was the best way to gain popularity. But her parents wouldn’t allow it. When she was still in high school, they said she could show her face after her exams. Now that the exams were over, they had changed their tune, saying she could do it after she started university.
Clearly, her parents were just trying to delay. It was understandable. As parents, how could they bear to let their only daughter show her face and work in a less-than-reputable profession like streaming? Fang Jiangning could understand that.
“I want to show my face too, but… for family reasons, I’m not allowed.”
Fang Jiangning let out her little grievance. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but her parents wouldn’t let her.
“Family reasons? Is it because your parents won’t let you?”
“Yeah, I’m an only child. They can’t bear to let me do this kind of work.”
Fang Jiangning chose a poke mage and answered the viewers’ questions with a wry smile. In the past, she always avoided this topic or found other things to talk about to distract them. It was rare for her to answer so directly.
“I knew it! No wonder Little Angel never shows her face. It’s because of her family. Little Angel is so cute, she’d definitely be very popular if she showed her face.”
“Did you guys notice? Little Angel said she’s an only child. An only child, and her parents control her, not letting her show her face on stream. This situation can only point to someone born after ’95. In other words, Little Angel, you’re still a student?”
“!!!!”
“An analytical genius has appeared.”
Fang Jiangning was a little surprised. Seeing more and more of these comments and her game loading on her phone, she started to panic.
They say the internet is full of talented people, and it’s not without reason. You might be a loser in real life, but you could be a big shot online. Would a normal person be able to analyze so accurately?
To force her to answer the question, people in the stream room started sending gifts, one rocket after another. All kinds of high-end gifts were being sent. It was clear they were determined to get an answer.
Fang Jiangning kept trying to change the subject. After the game started, she kept saying she needed to farm for her hero, clear minion waves, but the viewers wouldn’t let her off the hook. They kept sending gifts.
As the saying goes, you can’t bite the hand that feeds you. She had no choice. With so many gifts, she had probably made at least a few hundred thousand. And that was just from one stream. It was unrealistic to try and avoid it.
“Yes, I’m a student. Starting in September, I’ll be an official university student. Because my parents are strict, they won’t let me turn on the camera. I’m sorry for not showing my face all this time.”
“!!!!!”
“!!!!”
The fans went wild.
They probably never expected that the Little Angel they had been following for so long was actually a current university student. Wow, this was big news. Although there were many minors in the streaming world, a mysterious, faceless popular streamer like Fang Jiangning was very rare. Any revelation about her was a huge bombshell.
“Little Angel, so the Little Na who used to stream with you, is she really your best friend?”
“Yeah, she’s my best friend. We were deskmates for the entire third year of high school. I always checked my answers with her after every exam.”
“Oh my god, I always thought Little Angel was a working woman. I never expected her to be a student. What happened to the mature, intellectual older sister!”
“I can’t be an older sister, but I can still be a little sister.”
“Little Angel, can you get your best friend Little Na to stream too? We want to see her. Even if she just wears a mask, that’s fine.”
“How could I? She’s very busy. She doesn’t have the time.”
Chatting with her fans while streaming, Fang Jiangning was quite happy. Just by admitting she was a student, her popularity had risen so much. Many fans were getting excited. Perhaps because she had always been so mysterious, now that a corner of the mystery had been unveiled, everyone was excited.
By the way, some people used to suspect she was a man dressed as a woman. Thinking about it now, that probably wouldn’t happen again.
“Why don’t we talk about the game? Look how good I am with this hero. I can even use my dash and then my ultimate.”
“The game isn’t important! We just want to know about Little Angel’s private life!”
“Yeah, where does Little Angel go to school? I’m a university student too. Can I come see you?”
“I want to know where Little Angel goes to school too.”
These fans were really too crazy.
Was it really that big a deal that she revealed she was a university student? Was there a need to be so excited?
Fang Jiangning sighed, looking at the game on her phone. It seemed that playing a proper game was unrealistic. She should think about how to deal with her viewers.
By the way, it had been a while since she had seen Yu Linna. She should find her for a chat later.
