An Jing would have been surprised if she could recognize him; in her eyes, Jiang Mingyu was just a weird uncle with unruly hair and beard, dark skin, only his eyes looked good, and he also stuttered and always liked to stay at home.
On her second day at work, this weird uncle initiated a conversation with her for the first time.
"Do... do you know how to use a computer?"
An Jing tilted her head and smiled, "Of course, Uncle. I majored in computer science."
Jiang Mingyu let out a sigh and handed her the new computer.
"I, I want to watch TV, but, but I just can’t get this computer to work, can you, can you help me out?"
An Jing, wanting to keep a soft grip on her job, eagerly took on the task.
After all, who would complain with a salary of fifty thousand a month?
Three minutes later, she had booted up the computer, and all the necessary software was downloaded.
"Uncle, what TV show do you want to watch?"
Jiang Mingyu replied decisively: "Youth Trainee."
She was astonished, "Uncle, you also follow variety shows that young people like?"
She had seen the advertisements for this variety show on the subway, but she had long passed the age of watching such insubstantial content. Making money was the real deal.
However, what she hadn’t expected was that this seemingly scruffy but actually wealthy uncle still had a youthful spirit.
She teased him verbally but quickly found the live streaming channel for the show and cast it onto the large screen in the living room.
The live stream had several channels, each representing different competing teams.
"Which team’s live stream would you like to watch?" asked An Jing casually.
"Is there one for Jiang..." Jiang Mingyu coughed and then continued, "Shiguang?"
"Yes, I’ll put it on for you."
An Jing precisely searched and opened the contestant’s live stream. The moment she saw the young man on the screen, her eyes lit up.
Wow, she hadn’t expected the uncle to be so focused on looks; his favorite idol was a melancholic, handsome young man.
Shiguang’s attractive appearance immediately piqued her interest in the show, and An Jing quickly started to search for related information online, recounting it to Jiang Mingyu as she read—
"...this contestant named Shiguang seems quite promising. He was unknown before, but after singing a song on the initial stage, he scored an A, and his live stream room is very popular, it seems a lot of people are here just for him."
"This show appears to have three public stages, and it’s almost time for the first one, but..." An Jing pursed her lips, "the idol you picked seems to be unlucky though. His team’s foundation is average, and so is their song, it feels like their first stage appearance might not go well..."
An Jing rambled on, and when she looked up, she noticed the weird uncle was in tears.
Did she say something wrong?!
She quickly explained, "I didn’t mean your idol won’t make it. I meant he’s just unlucky; don’t cry, I can do anything but make people stop crying, you—"
"No, no, it’s not your fault," Jiang Mingyu wiped his tears and said, "I just got a bit emotional seeing him."
She burst out laughing, "No way, Uncle. You’re crying just from watching a screen; if you met him in person, wouldn’t you faint?"
Jiang Mingyu thought for a moment seriously, "Not really, I used to see him every day, and I never, never did this."
Alright, now she really doubted the mental state of this uncle.
Had she actually encountered one of those legendary rich but foolish uncles?
The first public stage was in full swing.
The members sitting in the lounge were all anxious.
"Captain, are you sure our remix is okay?"
"When we drew our performance order, we were so unlucky to go right after Xi Yang’s team. No matter how well we perform now, it won’t matter, right?"
"Exactly, I heard Xi Yang’s team even brought in a foreign teacher for the arrangement. I sneaked a peek, and that teacher is an impressive original artist I used to follow!"
"Sigh, it’s good to have resources."
"Enough already," Tai Fan couldn’t stand it anymore, "Little Shiguang is already under enough pressure, and now he’s about to go on stage, and you’re still pushing him, don’t you feel guilty? Can’t you just be honest for a while like me?"
After being chided by Tai Fan, the others shamefully bowed their heads.
Ling Bei was silent for two seconds before raising his hand, "Please, Teacher Tai Fan, what should we learn from you?"
Tai Fan lifted his chin, "Learn to stay calm and composed like me."
Ling Bei: "Calm enough to pace twenty rounds in the lounge in ten minutes?"
Everyone burst into laughter, but the friendly teasing indeed eased the atmosphere quite a bit.
[LOL, Tai Fan is really made for variety shows.]
[Incredible, he tells others not to be nervous, and yet he’s actually the most nervous.]
[Ling Bei is really the senior here, a few words and he’s lightened up the mood.]
[They are indeed unlucky though, having to perform after Xi Yang’s team with such a song.]
Jiang Shixu also laughed, but he soon fell silent.
Before long, he stood up, seemingly gathering his courage to address everyone.
"I... I’m not good at sweet-talking or comforting people, and although we might indeed be unlucky, I know that as long as we work hard enough, luck will come to us eventually. We’ve all worked hard for so long, and we can’t lose our confidence over a minor setback." freewēbnoveℓ.com
"Everyone here has worked hard to get to this point, just like me." He grew more confident as he spoke, even daring to meet the eyes before him. "I used to be unable to speak a full sentence in front of strangers, but now, I can sing in front of so many people. Isn’t that progress? As long as we keep making progress, sometimes the results aren’t that important."
Jiang Shixu’s voice wasn’t loud, but it had a penetrating power.
He truly wasn’t good at comforting people, but sometimes heart-to-heart words were more healing than any inspirational quote.
His teammates were moved, each of them seemingly recalling their own pasts, with varying degrees of tears shimmering in their eyes.
"The captain spoke so beautifully; we were too mercenary."
"Indeed, just being able to stand here is already not easy. The friends who used to play with me in the mountains are still herding cattle."
"Me too, my peers have all left the industry, only I am still persisting. Sometimes I feel like a failure, but thinking about it now, isn’t persistence also a form of success?"