February 14th.
As the people of Tian Chao were about to celebrate the Spring Festival, far away in Vienna, Europe.
The 2026 Keller Cup World Cello Competition, third stage, final round, officially began.
.....
7:00 AM.
When He Zhichen stood downstairs and saw Lin Tian and Gan Yanyu coming out, both with indescribable exhaustion and dark circles under their eyes.....
"Did you two sneak off to taste the forbidden fruit last night?!"
He Zhichen exclaid in terror,
"Did you really have to pick the day before the finals for your first experience, Mr. Lin Tian?!"
"What nonsense?"
Lin Tian rubbed his sleep-deprived eyes, rendered speechless by He Zhichen's jaw-dropping statent,
"We just... didn't get enough sleep...."
"Weren't you supposed to sleep for eight hours?!"
He Zhichen widened his eyes. He rarely spoke to Lin Tian and Gan Yanyu in such a loud voice, but at this mont, he was overwheld with frustration,
"You got back to the apartnt at 8, even if you two lovebirds had sothing to chat about... chat for three hours, you'd still have eight hours of sleep, right...?"
At this mont, He Zhichen resembled a parent worried sick about their kid's college entrance exam the next day, endlessly nagging.
"All right, all right."
Lin Tian patted He Zhichen's shoulder. Being too tired, he couldn't muster much energy, and said lazily,
"It's okay... we can catch up on 20 minutes of sleep on the way..."
"That's exactly the problem!!"
.....
Despite the complaints, He Zhichen understood that ti waits for no one.
"Get in the car first." He Zhichen opened the car door.
There was still plenty to do at the final venue.
Whatever needed to be said could wait until they were in the car.
...
"So, how long did you actually sleep last night?"
He Zhichen asked from the driver's seat, glancing back.
"How long....."
Lin Tian carefully recalled the events of last night.
He vaguely rembered the last ti he checked his phone, it was past two-thirty.
Then, he heard Gan Yanyu's knock on the door.
After that, they sat on the balcony and started watching the stars..... Lin Tian couldn't recall how long they watched.
He only rembered that the night was very, very long.
Just like their first eting, an entire night spent until dawn when he hastily caught a cab from halfway up the mountain to school.
The difference was.
The next day then, Lin Tian had the entire morning to sleep, and it was during an extended math class. The super boring drone of the middle-aged math teacher combined with math formulas created a symphony of lullabies; nothing was more sleep-inducing.
But today, he could actually hear a real symphony.
Plus, if he really did fall asleep, he'd be dood.
"A conservative estimate, actual sleep should be in the range of 3 to 7 hours."
Lin Tian thought seriously and gave an answer.
"Is it within the 0 to 3 hours range?" He Zhichen asked sincerely.
"Uh... yes."
"You two #&#￥....."
He Zhichen slapped his forehead, almost revealing a look of despair.
"Don't get too worked up."
Lin Tian said seriously, "Actually, sotis when you sleep less, you feel more refreshed, after the morning competition, we can rest in the afternoon....."
Like right now, after chatting a bit with He Zhichen, Lin Tian realized he wasn't as tired as he imagined.
Perhaps this could be attributed to the good habits cultivated during high school. Since he commuted and had morning and evening self-study sessions, Lin Tian's average sleep ti in his second year was almost always five hours.
So, getting up and heading out this early while feeling sleepy was sothing Lin Tian found easy to adjust to.
"What about Mr. Gan Yanyu?"
He Zhichen then noticed that throughout, he had been conversing with Lin Tian and hadn't heard Gan Yanyu's voice at all.
"Mr. Gan... is quite possibly dead asleep."
Lin Tian turned his head to look at Gan Yanyu, who was leaning against his shoulder, already snoring softly in a rhythmic manner,
"And you call this energized??"
He Zhichen held his head, feeling as if the sky was falling.
At the Yingqin Cup, not a hint of insomnia, during the concert, not a hint of insomnia, at the Dragon Violin Cup, not a hint of insomnia.
Yet right before this final, crucial performance, insomnia struck.
Can less than three hours of sleep really handle such high intensity and deliver a normal performance?
After a year of stressing, He Zhichen finally cracked at the last mont.
"It's really not that serious, really not that serious... when we get there, just buy us two cans of energy drinks on the roadside." Lin Tian hurriedly comforted He Zhichen.
It's no big deal, just didn't sleep well. The reaction was a bit excessive.
Like parents fearing their child will get an upset stomach before the final exam and embarrass themselves on the exam day.
So fussy.
The longer I've known him, the more He Zhichen loses that reliable senior computer science vibe who only spoke with numbers.
"Mr. Lin Tian, today is different, you know."
He Zhichen said while operating his phone,
"Do you know what the viewership numbers in the official live stream are right now..."
"What?"
"Three hundred and forty thousand!!"
He Zhichen straightened up, couldn't help but slap the steering wheel,
"The competition hasn't started, and the peak live stream viewership is already 340,000!"
What terrifying numbers are these?! This is actual real-ti live viewership, not the total number of plays, not the count of distinct viewers; the actual number of spectators might be even higher.
"That's great."
Lin Tian smiled, "It ans our competition is getting a lot of attention."
Reviews
All reviews (0)