Nan Yu knew that since the conversation had reached this point, it was perfectly natural for her to bring up the matter.
She could follow the current conversation, expand on the topic, talk to Tan Linyuan about Wu Xiaxian, and then smoothly mention the theft of her musical score.
But she still chose not to.
The root of this problem lay with herself. She had been too trusting and stupid enough to let others take advantage of her.
This was the consequence she had to bear.
Tan Linyuan frowned slightly and stared at her intently for a few seconds. His eyes then landed on her finger.
"I accidentally cut it while chopping vegetables just now. It's not serious," Nan Yu explained and covered the wound with another finger.
Tan Linyuan looked at her and casually said, "How could you be so careless."
Nan Yu's hand paused while picking up food, and her breath caught.
Yeah, how could she be so careless.
...
After dinner, Nan Yu returned to her room.
Looking at the scribbled and revised draft in the drawer, she felt rather dispirited.
She picked up her phone and searched for that piece of music. It was still ranked first.
Nan Yu couldn't quite describe her feelings.
She clicked into the page, which contained an introduction to the musician and the inspiration source of the piece.
When she saw that "Return" was labeled as "love - themed", her heart skipped a beat and her whole body froze.
This piece of music had nothing to do with love at all.
Not only had her musical score been stolen, but also the emotions she wanted to convey had been erased, simply summarized as "love".
Nan Yu's eyelashes drooped, and she felt extremely dejected.
It wasn't just because her musical score had been plagiarized.
It was like her own child had been dressed in ill - fitting clothes, made up with inappropriate makeup, and put on display in public for people to admire.
The next day, Nan Yu went directly to Zhou Yu's record store, re - recorded a version of "Return", and released it online.
When selecting the category, she didn't hesitate to click on "original".
This was originally her work.
Soon, her homepage and comment section were bombarded.
All the comments said that she was trying to ride on the popularity, attract traffic, and was resorting to any means to get famous.
Those who called her a plagiarist, a malicious person without creative ability, were like knives stabbing at her.
She was the original creator, yet she was labeled as a plagiarist.
She was unable to defend herself.
She had never experienced such online violence before, and every single word made it hard for her to breathe.
Wu Xiaxian even directly sent Nan Yu a cold notice, asking her to immediately take down all the infringing works.
Yes, according to them, it was she who had infringed.
How absurd.
Zhou Yu knew that Nan Yu had been in a low mood recently, so he gave her a few days off to adjust her emotions.
She had little appetite and began to suffer from insomnia at night.
But her little bit of pride got in the way, and she didn't want Tan Linyuan to notice, so she acted as normal as possible.
She could explain her small appetite by saying that her appetite was poor due to the changing seasons; but it was hard to hide her insomnia.
She and Tan Linyuan slept in the same bed, and her tossing and turning in the middle of the night surely couldn't escape his notice.
"I'll sleep in the guest room tonight," Nan Yu said to Tan Linyuan, who was about to enter the study after taking a shower.
"Having trouble sleeping again? There's some calming incense in the cabinet in the room."
"No."
"Then what's wrong?" Standing at the door of the study, he looked at her tangled expression and asked casually.
Nan Yu hung her head, desperately thinking of an excuse in her mind: "... I'm about to get my period."
She looked like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
Tan Linyuan thought she was being strange and his tone deepened, "When have I ever asked you to sleep alone when you're on your period?"
"Besides, what do you think I'll do to you?" He stared at her.
Nan Yu wasn't good at lying. "I'm not a good sleeper. I'm afraid I'll stain the sheets."
"I know very well whether you're a good sleeper or not," Tan Linyuan raised his eyebrows. "Even if the sheets get dirty, they can be washed."
Nan Yu still wanted to argue, "I..."
She couldn't think of any other excuses.
Tan Linyuan stared at her for a while and then slowly asked, "Did I do something wrong to make our Yu Yu sad?"
He said it very gently. Although he had no other intentions, it still sounded rather ambiguous.
It was like a boyfriend who had done something wrong, sincerely asking what mistake he had made to upset her.
Nan Yu stood there stunned. Her mind, which had been racking for excuses just now, couldn't function at all.
Her eyelashes fluttered slightly, and her voice stammered, "N... no..."
It had nothing to do with him.
But his question made her feel a bit guilty.
Nan Yu had no choice but to mumble something and went back to the room. She turned off all the lights and forced herself to sleep.
But as soon as she closed her eyes, all she could think about was "Return".
Later that night, after Tan Linyuan finished his meditation and chanting, he returned to the bedroom.
In the darkness, all of Nan Yu's senses were extremely sharp. She could even hear the soft rustling of his clothes.
She felt the other side of the bed sink, and then the warmth of another body was transmitted to her.
She was held in his arms.
Nan Yu suddenly became even more awake. She even held her breath.
At this moment, Nan Yu didn't know whether she should continue pretending to be asleep or pretend to be woken up by him and open her eyes groggily.
But soon, there came the steady and reassuring sound of his even breathing behind her ear.
In order not to disturb his rest and also afraid that he would ask her why she was still awake, she chose to pretend to be asleep.
The feeling of being wrapped in his arms brought a moment of peace to her floating heart.
The woody scent on him was very pleasant, like agarwood.
It was a bit like the smell of the calming incense she had smelled before.
Just as she was about to fall asleep in a daze, she faintly heard a soft sigh. It was so faint that she even thought she had misheard.
"I'm here. What are you afraid of?"
Before she could carefully savor this sentence, her thoughts in her mind had already scattered.
Nan Yu forgot how she had fallen asleep.
But tonight, she had indeed slept better than in the past few days.
It made her feel at ease.
When Nan Yu woke up, Tan Linyuan was changing into a suit in the room.
His light - beige shirt was tucked into his suit pants, and an olive - green striped tie complemented his dark - gray suit perfectly.
His overall temperament was very elegant and casual, not overly formal. Judging from his style, he should be attending some kind of event.
Nan Yu rubbed her eyes and yawned.
Hearing the movement on the bed, Tan Linyuan turned around and saw her sleepy face and loose hair.
Her voice was a bit hoarse, with the laziness of just waking up. "Good morning."
Tan Linyuan's Adam's apple rolled slightly, and he reached out to adjust his tie knot. "Good morning."
"Are you going to a cocktail party today?" Nan Yu blinked and smiled at him. "Does that mean I don't have to cook?"
Tan Linyuan looked down at her and asked if she wanted to go with him.
"No, I'm not interested," Nan Yu shook her head. "You go and attend your cocktail - party affairs. I'll wait for you at home."
Undoubtedly, Tan Linyuan was touched by her words.
He looked at her as if amused. "Who has cocktail - party affairs in the morning?"
Nan Yu was a bit dazed and only then realized.
Yeah, what kind of affairs could there be in the morning?
Tan Linyuan crossed his arms and looked at her leisurely. "Really not going with me?"
"You haven't told me what the event is," Nan Yu still seemed uninterested, but still replied to him.
Tan Linyuan remained calm, looked down at her, and asked evenly, "How about going to the live - original music competition as a judge? Are you interested?"