Episode Ten: The Dominant Older Woman and the Hidden-Gem Nerd

"Plink, plonk..."

With a gentle twist of the tuning pegs and a few test notes, He Tianran offered Wen Liang a shy smile and whispered, "I haven't played since my sophomore year of high school. I'm a bit rusty, so don't laugh at me."

He slid his fingers into position and slowly closed his eyes. Perhaps no one would have guessed that the boy who could barely even twirl a pen without dropping it was now dancing his fingers across the strings with fluid grace. After a highly melodic intro, his right index finger swept into a smooth arpeggio while his thumb’s thenar eminence struck the guitar body.

The percussive beat and the plucked strings wove together, and a fingerstyle arrangement of "Sunflower" blossomed from He Tianran’s fingertips.

"This song really suits the scent Wen Liang wears," He Tianran thought. He was not a person who found it easy to bare his soul, but music seemed to be his alternative way of expressing himself in this moment.

Wen Liang watched the boy, mesmerized. This was the first time she had seen He Tianran play, and the first time she had glimpsed this unknown side of him.

Every technique—the sweeping rolls, the tapping, the harmonics at the twelfth fret—were far from simple, yet He Tianran executed them with effortless mastery. Anyone ignorant of fingerstyle guitar would have been stunned: could this truly be played on a single guitar? Compared to the familiar chords of pop songs, the rich, purely instrumental melodies of fingerstyle were on another level entirely.

In this state, He Tianran seemed to be enveloped in a charming, radiant aura that was completely different from his usual self.

This kid... he’s actually quite handsome when he’s serious.

As the final note slowly faded, Boss Park’s applause interrupted the two who were still lingering in the afterglow of the music. Wen Liang snapped out of it, clapped her hands, and laughed, "I had no idea you played. Why didn't you ever say anything?"

He Tianran froze. It seemed his future self had truly severed all ties with the guitar.

"Exactly, Tianran! That account of yours hasn't been updated in a year, has it? You’re just going to throw away 200,000 followers like that?!"

The chubby boss chimed in with clear dissatisfaction. Wen Liang asked in confusion, "What 200,000 followers?"

"You don't know?" Boss Park looked stunned. He caught He Tianran frantically signaling him to stop, but the chubby boss just chuckled and spilled the secret: "On Bilibili! This guy is a content creator, one of the top figures in the fingerstyle circle."

Afraid Wen Liang wouldn't believe him, the boss pulled out his phone, found He Tianran’s account in his Bilibili follow list, and handed it to the girl.

Wen Liang took it and saw the username: NaturaL.

223,000 followers, 57 uploads, with an average view count of over 50,000. His pinned video had a staggering 5.42 million views—a cover of "Secret Base" from *Anohana*.

"His fans love calling him 'Big N' or 'NL'. Every day, people leave comments or messages asking when he’s coming back after a year of silence. If they knew the master they idolized was such a closeted nerd, their jaws would hit the floor."

Boss Park blurted out all of He Tianran’s secrets. Seeing Wen Liang carefully scrolling through the phone interface, he winked triumphantly at He Tianran and mouthed, "Big brother is giving you an assist here!"

He Tianran felt like dying. He set the guitar down and hurried over to Wen Liang’s side, anxious. "There’s nothing to see. Let’s go."

He started to walk away, but Wen Liang didn’t give him the chance; she grabbed his arm.

"This is a good thing, so why didn't you want me to know? And why did you stop playing guitar?"

Wen Liang asked with a frown. The boss added, "Yeah, you say you're a senior now and busy with studies—I get that. But a year ago you were only a sophomore, right? And you still come to my shop to swap game discs plenty, so you definitely have time for games."

"I don't want to talk about this. Today was just an accident..."

He Tianran’s ears were burning red. Seeing how distressed he was, Wen Liang knew he was harboring something he refused to share, preferring to keep it bottled up. She let go of his arm and comforted him: "Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, I won't ask."

She returned the phone to the indignant boss and gestured with her chin toward the Yamaha Red Label guitar He Tianran had just played. "Boss Park, how much for that guitar?"

The chubby boss hadn't expected the girl to pivot so quickly. He said, a bit dazed, "That one? That’s... a Yamaha FG5, 9,800. Miss, if you’re just starting to learn, you can’t buy something this expensive. I have some entry-level ones here..."

"No, I’ll take that one. I’ll pay by QR code."

Wen Liang pulled out her phone to pay. Even as oblivious to social cues as He Tianran was, he panicked: "Student Wen, what are you doing! This guitar isn't right for you."

Wen Liang turned her head. "I didn't meddle in your business, so don't meddle in mine."

"You..."

He Tianran was speechless. He could only watch with wide eyes as Wen Liang paid without even haggling. Boss Park happily pulled out a leather gig bag, packed the guitar, and handed it to Wen Liang, who promptly threw it at He Tianran.

"It's yours."

"What the hell?!"

Boss Park couldn't help but exclaim. He then very tactfully sat back down on his stool, looking like a man ready to watch the drama unfold from a safe distance.

"No... this... this is too expensive! If you were going to do this, you might as well have bought me that perfume from earlier..."

He Tianran cradled the guitar, looking utterly aggrieved.

Wen Liang looked him straight in the eyes and said loudly, "Boss, can this guitar be returned?"

At this point, even a fool could read the room. The chubby boss recorded the scene on his phone while replying, "Nope, no returns."

Wen Liang shrugged. "There, you heard him. I don't know how to play, and if you dare give it back to me, I'll smash this guitar right here and now!"

Smash it?

Ten thousand dollars worth of gear, just like that?

He Tianran, who valued money above all else, knew for a fact that Wen Liang was capable of doing exactly that. But if he accepted it, the gift was simply too valuable...

Fortunately, Wen Liang offered a solution:

"It’s not for free. You have to agree to one condition."

"What?"

Looking at the boy’s cautious, nervous expression, the corners of Wen Liang’s mouth curled into a sweet arc.

"From now on, you have to listen to me no matter what. You can't run away, and you can't refuse!"

"I..."

"Don't worry, I won't ask you for anything unreasonable. Think of it as whatever I ask you to do being worth the value of this ten thousand. Once you've done enough for me to cover that ten thousand, you won't have to listen to me anymore."

He Tianran’s ears turned even redder. He was still hesitating, but the observing boss was practically jumping with excitement!

Is there really such a thing as a forced sale this good in the world? Why did it have to be this kid, He Tianran, who got lucky? I haven’t experienced a dream-like scenario like this in over thirty years!

A beautiful high school girl acting like a dominant queen, teasing an introverted little nerd!

The chubby boss felt his own "maiden heart" being reawakened; his hand holding the phone trembled slightly.

"Fine... I promise..."

After weighing his options, He Tianran agreed. He loved the guitar, and he couldn't bear the thought of it being smashed.

"Good!"

Wen Liang’s eyes sparkled. She clapped her hands as if she were the one receiving the gift, then circled behind He Tianran and pushed him toward the boss.

"What are you doing?"

He Tianran asked in a panic. The girl peeked out from behind him with half a smile, stuck out her tongue, and said:

"First task: hurry up and negotiate with your boss friend... Ten thousand is way too expensive!"

"..."

The chubby boss’s smile froze on his face.

He knew all too well just how much this kid, He Tianran, loved his money...