Ji Nian was now fully awake and thinking about the big issues in life again. How could she earn money? She glanced at the blogger's reply saying "Thank you," but did not comment further.
Suddenly an idea crossed her mind. In her old world, internet celebrities made good money. Now that she was good-looking, should she develop her career towards being an internet celebrity?
As she nodded to herself decisively, she opened Douyin, the short video app everyone here used, and browsed through the content. She felt more and more that she could also do it.
However, when she tapped on her personal center, there were 99+ comments and private messages. She was puzzled to find that the original owner also had an official Douyin account with a few selfies and videos. Ever since her love affair was exposed, there were no nice comments under the videos, so she clicked the button to mark all of them as read.
What kind of videos could she make? Ji Nian was vexed. She opened the front camera to look at herself. With a face and big eyes like these, flawless skin... Ji Nian stroked her own face. She really envied herself.
Her hair was a bit messy. She picked up a comb from the desk and tidied it up, cleared her throat, and sang a song that was very popular in her old world.
As she opened her mouth, she was astonished. Her voice was ethereal, flexible and moldable, with a nice treble range. She tried some high notes and had no problems hitting them at all.
Ji Nian seemed to see a ray of light ahead. As an elementary school music teacher who could play the piano and amateur guitar player, plus all those pop songs from her old world, wouldn't it be easy to make money this way?
With this thought, Ji Nian prepared to record a video. The lighting in this rented apartment was somewhat dim, but no matter, she put on her earphones, turned to face herself, adjusted her position, and tapped record.
She recorded a verse, listened back to herself in the video with earphones on, half of her exquisite features showing as she sang clearly in the dim light. Even with no makeup on, her delicate facial features made her very attractive. Her ethereal and clean voice was captivating.
Satisfied, she tapped to turn on subtitles, filled in Composer: (Mystery), Song: (Guest), then input the lyrics.
"Done!" Ji Nian tapped upload. She wondered what the reaction would be to this video going public, so to be safe, she checked the music listening platforms here. None of the songs were familiar and the one she sang didn't exist either.
That night, when netizens clicked open Douyin, a video suddenly popped up - a woman singing clearly under dim lighting, but it was a song no one had heard before.
"This person looks very familiar."
"Oh my god, isn't this called Ji Nian?"
"She's out here singing now?"
"Has nobody noticed this song seems nicer the more you listen?"
"Don't know who it is, stumbled across this video by chance. Can you do the full song?"
"Get out of the entertainment industry."
"Please stop pestering him after an amicable breakup, okay? And you're still singing love songs? What are you implying?"
In a flash, Douyin's popularity shot up. Cheng Liran's fans forwarded it to Weibo with the title (18-Tier Ex-Girlfriend Still Won't Let Go).
With this, Cheng Liran's fans exploded. They couldn't accept that their beloved idol was actually dating such a person - an unknown figure who was clinging on desperately after the breakup and now shamelessly playing on Douyin.
Within just an hour of the video being posted, Ji Nian's phone kept ringing. She took a look - sure enough, most were scolding her, but there were also quite a few people who didn't recognize her and left friendly comments.
She saw one that said "Can you do the full song? What is this song, why can't I search for it?"
Ji Nian tapped to reply: "It's a new song. I'll record it for you tomorrow."
The netizen who received this reply was dumbfounded. She had just checked the information on this Ji Nian and she didn't seem great, yet she gave such a nice reply. So the netizen also tapped: "Thank you!"
Just then, He Yi sent a WeChat message popping up. Ji Nian tapped it open.
He Yi: You've posted another video?
He Yi: But it sounds quite nice, your voice is good. You've totally got what it takes to be a singer.
Ji Nian: I'm planning to go all out trying my luck as an internet celeb. I've still got a long way to go paying off the foreign debt.
He Yi: I can see your success coming, go for it!
Ji Nian: Hahahaha, for sure!
The video was still gaining popularity. Ji Nian couldn't be bothered with the comments - they were all unpleasant anyway. Right now she was thinking about developing her short videos in future, so she went online to search for tips and tactics.
Luckily she has a good memory. As a compulsory course throughout college, she would find opportunities everyday to practice popular tunes on the piano. With her brain capacity, she had memorized quite a large repertoire.
The next day, Ji Nian planned to go out and buy a guitar. The weather was quite hot currently, so she simply tied her hair in a neat bun, wore a shirt dress with white sneakers, slung a crossbody bag over her shoulder, and headed out like that.
After checking online, she learned she'd have to go to busier streets to find instrument shops. She transferred from bus to subway, now comfortably blowing the air con inside the train. With a face mask on in the heat, she was still sweltering hot, but she daren't take it off - it'd be trouble even if just a tiny few recognized her.
Yet the passengers kept sneaking glances in her direction. With casual clothes on, a neat bun, and a shirtdress flaunting her long, fair and slender legs, she attracted eyes even in an ordinary outfit, even a few men nudging each other wondering if they should ask for her WeChat.
Getting off at her stop, Ji Nian followed her navigation to an instrument shop. A very handsome young man greeted her, dressed like someone deeply into music, with a somewhat wild look.
"How much for a guitar here?" Ji Nian asked.
"What kind are you looking for, miss? We've got guitars at all price ranges."
"Um...nothing too expensive." Ji Nian said, somewhat embarrassed.
"We've got them. Please take a look inside." The young man smiled.
Ji Nian stepped in. The interior decor was very stylish, with a grand piano that was clearly out of her budget at a glance.
She picked up a guitar and tried it out; the sound wasn't bad. It felt rather expensive to her. "How much is this one?" she asked.
"It's one of the more costly ones, over three thousand yuan. It has very fine workmanship." The young man explained.
I see, Ji Nian nodded and decisively put it down. "I want something more affordable."
The young man thought for a moment, then walked off and returned with two guitars. "These will be cheaper. We've currently got an anniversary sale and discounts."
"About how much?" Ji Nian really didn't have much money, just 2,500 yuan on her.
"1,200 for this one, 1,500 for that." The young man replied. Their shop mostly carried mid to high end brands, so they were typically 1,000 yuan at least.
Ji Nian exclaimed inwardly. Guitars were so expensive? Her last one had cost just over 600 yuan and lasted her a long time. She picked up the 1,200 yuan guitar and felt it out. Pricey meant good quality. It felt nicer than her previous 600+ yuan guitar.
"Alright, I'll take this one. The tuner and capo come free with purchase, right?" Ji Nian asked.
"Yes we provide those." The young man started packing up the guitar.
"No wait. Could you help tune it for me first? I need to use it after this."
The young man nodded with a smile. "Of course."
