"Bang," the door closed, but Chen Qijun’s words lingered in Tai Fan’s mind for a long time.
He was actually praised by Mom?!
After so many years, she finally deigned to praise him!
Tai Fan, excitedly hopping and jumping around, left the break room, and when he saw that Jiang Shixu had been reassigned as his new roommate, he became even more thrilled, busying himself with Ling Bei to move all his belongings over.
After busying themselves the whole morning, they finally took care of all the miscellaneous tasks, and Tai Fan grandly declared:
"Today, I’m treating everyone to hot pot on the cafeteria’s third floor!"
The conditions in the training camp were limited, and they could only eat in the cafeteria on a regular basis.
Each person’s budget was also limited. The production team recharged their meal cards with money, and once that was used up, they’d go hungry.
And the third floor of the cafeteria was what they called "Gourmet Paradise," where they could find all sorts of food, but correspondingly, the costs were much higher.
Normally, they would only splurge and go up there when celebrating some major event.
With this proclamation, Tai Fan had almost spent his food budget for the entire week.
However, Jiang Shixu gently shook his head.
"You guys go ahead, I won’t go. I haven’t really practiced singing much today. I want to spend some time in the practice room."
Tai Fan stared in disbelief, looking at the wound on his face, "Are you crazy?! Even you still want to practice singing?!"
Don’t let his usual fragile appearance fool you; sometimes he could be incredibly stubborn.
Before Jiang Shixu could open his mouth, Tai Fan continued his barrage, "Isn’t your guitar still not fixed? Why the rush to practice singing? Although the second round is coming up, isn’t there still a week or two? What’s the hurry? With your skills, isn’t first place just a matter of minutes?"
Jiang Shixu pinched the corner of his clothes, becoming somewhat bashful.
He knew he needed to relax, but with his sister back, she would definitely watch the live broadcast. He had to put on a good show and make his sister proud!
Seeing Jiang Shixu , Tai Fan’s heart softened instantly and he waved his hand, "Ah, forget it, no eating then. I won’t eat either. I’ll accompany you to practice."
Ling Bei joined in as well, "Then I won’t go either. I’ll bring a box meal to the practice room, and we can eat and practice together!"
Jiang Shixu’s eyes lit up, and after nodding vigorously, he grabbed Tai Fan’s hand and headed to the practice room, "Tai Fan, you’re really nice. I haven’t thanked you for today yet. Without you, I... I wouldn’t know what to do. After the show ends, I’ll definitely treat you to a meal."
Tai Fan chuckled, looking at Jiang Shixu with a sudden surge of paternal pride in his heart.
No wonder even his mother, known as a shrew, would turn gentle around Jiang Shixu – looking at him made even Tai Fan’s fatherly love overflow!
He sized up Jiang Shixu from head to toe.
The other was wearing only a thin gray jacket, which had become frayed from the scuffle with Xi Yang.
Rumors had long been circulating in the camp about Jiang Shixu’s rags-to-riches story, saying he came from a small village with several siblings, and that he hadn’t completed high school before struggling to make ends meet, eventually arriving at a musical instrument shop where he started live broadcasting by chance, which led to a booming rise in fortune, bringing him to where he was now.
His family situation definitely couldn’t compare to Tai Fan’s, so how could he let him foot the bill?
With that thought, Tai Fan put his arm around Jiang Shixu’s shoulders, "What’s this about treating? We’re best friends. You could buy me a pack of instant noodles from the roadside and I’d be over the moon."
"However..." Tai Fan’s tone shifted, "You seem pretty low-key usually. How come you have such an expensive guitar?"
There were not a few instruments at his home, and the guitars he usually played with were at most worth a few tens of thousands of yuan.
With Jiang Shixu’s modest family conditions, how could he be using such a custom-level, priceless guitar?
Jiang Shixu bit his lip as if recalling something, and his fluffy head drooped down immediately.
"This guitar was a gift from my sister. I cherish it very much."
Tai Fan was quite surprised, "Oh, it was a gift from your sister? She’s really capable to give you such an expensive guitar. Where is she now? Why didn’t she come to pick you up during the last break?"
"Her sister... is in a very distant place."
He couldn’t quite remember the name of the island, but before his sister left, she had said that she was going to a place far south, probably very, very far from the Capital.
However, when Tai Fan heard this, he took it differently.
In a very distant place?
Could it be... she had already passed away?
He quickly lowered his head to look at Jiang Shixu’s expression and, sure enough, he saw a faint sadness in the eyes of the person looking down.
At this moment, he finally understood why the guitar was so precious to Jiang Shixu.
It was a keepsake from his deceased sister!
How could it not be cherished?!
The punishment that Xi Yang received was indeed too lenient!
The live-streaming audience, watching the reactions of Jiang Shixu and Tai Fan, misunderstood the situation as well and began to feel sorry for Jiang Shixu’s predicament.
[My God, no wonder Shiguang was so distraught when he saw the guitar getting damaged, it turns out it’s a keepsake from his sister.]
[Little Shiguang is so pitiful, woohoo, he lost his sister and now he’s getting bullied here.]
[Xi Yang went too far, just because he’s from a big company, does he think he can do whatever he wants?]
[Who’s doing whatever they want? Didn’t Brother Yang apologize? Why are you guys holding onto this issue so tightly?]
[Heh, some injuries can’t just be fixed with an apology, your brother will screw up again sooner or later!]
At 11:30 in the afternoon, the plane from H City to the Capital finally landed.
A group of people walked out of the cabin high-spirited, ready to warmly welcome their dearly missed hometown after more than a month away, but the moment they set foot on the ground, they all simultaneously made faces of disgust.
"Damn, why is the Capital so cold? Can we wear jackets now?"
"This gasoline smell, it’s so awful, I feel like throwing up."
"Why is there so much sand? My face hurts from the blowing wind."
Having grown accustomed to the fresh and natural idyllic life on the island, they were evidently somewhat uncomfortable returning suddenly to the big city.
But Jiang Li walked at the fore, as composed as ever.
The skies of the Capital were a dull gray.
While waiting for the shuttle bus, Jiang Li, out of sheer boredom, opened Weibo. The first thing that caught her eye was today’s trending topics—
1. Shiguang and Xi Yang’s fight caught on scene
2. The idle king turns out to be Mr. Chen’s own son!
3. Xi Yang’s persona collapsing?
Jiang Li was surprised.
So now, little Jiang Shixu has learned to fight?
Scrolling down further, her eyes twitched sharply.
— Shiguang’s own words "My dearly departed first love sister": The bitter past of a youth adrift in the North.
When did she die early on?