Chapter 169: The Young Girls’ Spring Festival
Pei Ningle sat on the edge of her bed in her own bedroom, with that laptop computer on her lap. On the screen were the audience comments for her original song Lost on the Wangyu Music platform.
The last comment was still from several days ago, and it was clear that the playback volume for this song seemed to have stagnated…
Pei Ningle clicked open Bilibili again and read the comments under the video.
The video for this song, like the previous cover song videos, was her singing in front of the camera. But in this video, she no longer had pigtails or any other hairstyle, and the video’s title was nothing fancy, just the simple six words Original Song – Lost.
The comments under the video were basically all good reviews, but its playback volume was much lower than those previous cover song videos.
So, was this song a success or a failure?
From the perspective of commercial marketing, it seemed like a failure; but from the audience comments, the response seemed pretty good. But if the audience liked it, why couldn’t it spread?
Suddenly, the bedroom door opened, and Mother walked in, wiping her hands on her apron, and asked, “What are you doing? You ran off halfway through dinner, and just now your grandma was asking me…”
Pei Ningle waved: “You guys eat first.”
Mother’s eyebrows shot up: “This is New Year’s Eve Dinner! Going to the toilet is one thing, but you’re actually playing on the computer?”
Pei Ningle protested, “I’m not playing, it’s serious business!”
“Serious business…” Mother suddenly thought of something, turned around to close the bedroom door properly, then sat down beside her daughter, “Chatting with Little Wang?”
The young girl said indignantly, “What are you thinking? I already said it’s serious business, it’s about music!”
Mother pursed her lips: “Isn’t dating serious business? You child, how are you even later to become enlightened than the girls from other families?”
Pei Ningle: “How am I not enlightened!”
Mother: “Then what stage have you and Little Wang progressed to?”
“I…” The young girl was suddenly at a loss for words.
Mother put her hands on her hips and quietly looked at her own daughter.
After choking for a good while, Pei Ningle gritted her teeth and said, “He said he sees me as a younger sister.”
In an instant, Mother’s eyes went wide.
“Look at you, not good at studying is one thing, but how are you so bad at dating too?”
“I’m not bad, I’m very intelligent!”
“Alright, alright, if he’s willing to help you like that, it means he has a lot of good feelings toward you. Even when rescuing a little animal by the roadside, people pick the cute ones—who would help someone they don’t like? And it’s been nearly half a year, you live right next to his school, and he can still brush you off with the younger sister excuse. You…” Mother mercilessly criticized.
Pei Ningle: “Then what do you say I should do?”
Mother hesitated a bit too: “How about you don’t hang yourself on one tree?”
The young girl closed the notebook, put it aside, and looked outside the window.
Outside was the bright lights of myriad homes, and above those lights was a night sky like black velvet.
Her own future seemed even harder for her to see clearly than the night sky.
What would the future be like?
Many things couldn’t be certain, but one thing seemed certain…
Pei Ningle suddenly withdrew her gaze, looked at Mother beside her, and said seriously, “I don’t know what will happen in the future, but right now, I don’t want to give up so early.”
Mother sighed: “You really like him.”
It wasn’t a question, it was a statement, because this girl had already made it obvious enough.
If that’s the case, then what should be done?
Mother contemplated for a bit, then suddenly had an idea: “Doesn’t he see you as a younger sister? Perfect, then be a younger sister, show your best self in front of him. Obedient, cute, intelligent, sensible, caring—nobody dislikes a sister like that.”
Pei Ningle was a bit hesitant: “But like that, won’t it seem too clingy?”
Mother: “Everything needs to be done in moderation, grasp that degree! You need a little bit of clinginess, but not too much. And when you’re clingy, don’t just ask him for help all the time—you need to help him out often too.”
Help him?
Pei Ningle thought about what she could do, feeling like it was even more trouble. Cooking, she only knew instant noodles; studying, she couldn’t help even more; as for work… he’s an agent, which is supposed to help her, so what to do?
After thinking for a long time, the young girl said somewhat dejectedly, “Besides giving him money, it seems like I have nothing else to give him.”
“Wait, giving him money?” Mother immediately followed up, “How much money do you have now, and you’re already thinking of buying people off with money?”
Pei Ningle took out her mobile phone, clicked open the bank’s text notifications and glanced, then answered, “The money earned at the bar before, most of it didn’t need to be split with him, so there’s over fourteen thousand.”
Mother: “Ten thousand yuan is definitely a lot for a student, but you can’t just give him money directly, that wouldn’t be dating. You need to be euphemistic, like buying him a gift or something, but…”
Pei Ningle: “But what?”
Mother raised her eyebrows: “Before buying gifts for boys outside, shouldn’t you buy something for family first, especially the mom who raised you?”
“That makes sense…” Pei Ningle changed tack, “But I brought a gift when I came home.”
Mother slapped her thigh: “What did you bring? Who brings beef jerky home for New Year’s!”
Pei Ningle: “That was yak beef, it’s really delicious!”
————
After hanging up the phone with Father, Ye Xun breathed a sigh of relief.
From what Father said, because the police’s investigation and announcement were timely enough, it finally cleared him of the suspicion of colluding with others to embezzle funds, and he’d have more confidence in the lawsuit. Plus, recently an old friend in business had made a payment, easing the funding gap quite a bit. Perhaps the company could avoid the fate of bankruptcy…
On the phone, Father also sighed in relief that there was that good-hearted person who acted bravely for justice—if that person hadn’t reported Liu Rong in time, the situation right now would definitely be much worse.
However, even until the call ended, Ye Xun didn’t dare tell Father that she had actually found that good-hearted person who didn’t want to reveal their name.
Ye Xun sat in the empty living room, suddenly realizing that tonight was New Year’s Eve. Perhaps because she forgot to turn on the air conditioning’s heat, the young girl suddenly felt a bit cold and hurried back to the bedroom, took off her clothes, and got into bed.
She held her mobile phone, hesitated for a good while, and finally dialed that person’s number.
After a moment, the call connected, Ye Xun cleared her throat, and deliberately laughed, “Wang Heng Senior Male Student, what are you doing?”
The voice from the mobile phone was still clear and gentle: “Eating dinner with my dad.”
“Eating New Year’s Eve Dinner with mom and dad? That’s nice.”
“No, I’m a single-parent family, just my dad.”
Ye Xun was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, “Sorry, sorry, but my family situation is the same as Senior Male Student’s!”
Wang Heng: “Is that so…”
Ye Xun: “Yeah, I’m with my dad too. But my dad’s been super busy lately, and he’s not in Rongdu…”
Wang Heng: “That’s really hard work for you, spending New Year’s Eve alone. Since that’s the case, how about I accompany you and chat a bit longer?”
Ye Xun sat up in surprise: “Is that okay, Senior Male Student?”
Wang Heng: “Of course.”
————
After finishing the chat with Ye Xun, the ordered dishes had all been served.
Father had already eaten quite a bit, glanced at him, and asked, “Who were you chatting so happily with?”
Wang Heng said calmly, “A student I got to know while doing part-time tutor work in Rongdu.”
Father: “Boy or girl?”
Wang Heng: “She trains in combat, could take you down in minutes. What do you think, boy or girl?”
Father: “Oh, so it’s a young guy…”
Wang Heng shrugged and said no more, just picked up his chopsticks to get some food.
With the hamster’s example, he of course knew how to not lie without giving himself away.
————
