168 The Girls’ Spring Festival
Pei Ningle sat on the edge of her bed in her bedroom, with her laptop on her lap. On the screen were the listener comments for her original song “Lost Path” on the NetEase Cloud Music platform.
The last comment was from several days ago. It was clear that the number of plays for this song seemed to have stagnated…
Pei Ningle opened Bilibili again and looked at the comments under the video.
The video for this song was the same as her previous cover videos, with her singing to the camera. It was just that in this video, she didn’t wear pigtails or any other fancy hairstyles, and the title of the video wasn’t flashy, just the simple six characters 【Original Song – Lost Path】.
The comments under the video were also basically all positive, but its number of plays was much lower than those previous cover videos.
So, was this song a success or a failure?
From the perspective of commercial marketing, it seemed to be a failure; but judging from the listener comments, the response seemed pretty good. But since the listeners liked it, why couldn’t it spread?
Suddenly, the bedroom door opened, and her mother walked in, wiping her hands on her apron, and asked, “What are you doing? Running away halfway through the meal. Your grandma was just asking me…”
Pei Ningle waved her hand. “You guys eat first.”
Her mother raised her eyebrows. “This is the New Year’s Eve dinner! Going to the bathroom is one thing, but you’re actually playing on the computer?”
Pei Ningle protested, “I’m not playing, it’s serious business!”
“Serious business…” Her mother suddenly thought of something, turned back to close the bedroom door, and sat down next to her daughter. “Chatting with Little Wang?”
The girl said with shame and indignation, “What are you thinking? I said it’s serious business, music business!”
But her mother curled her lip. “Isn’t dating serious business? You child, why are you enlightened later than other girls?”
Pei Ningle: “How am I not enlightened!”
Mother: “Then how far have you and Little Wang progressed?”
“I…” The girl was suddenly at a loss for words.
Her mother put her hands on her hips and looked at her daughter quietly.
After choking for a while, Pei Ningle gritted her teeth and said, “He said he treats me as a sister.”
In an instant, her mother’s eyes went straight.
“Look at you, it’s one thing not to be good at studying, but how can you be so stupid at dating too?”
“I’m not stupid, I’m very smart!”
“Alright, alright. The fact that he’s willing to help you like that shows that he has a very good impression of you. Even when rescuing small animals on the roadside, people pick the cute ones. Who would help someone they don’t like? And for nearly half a year, you’ve lived right next to his school, and you can actually be put off by such an excuse as ‘sister’. You…” Her mother scolded mercilessly.
Pei Ningle: “Then what do you say I should do?”
Her mother also hesitated a little. “How about you don’t hang yourself on one tree?”
The girl closed her laptop, put it aside, and looked out the window.
Outside were the bright lights of thousands of homes, and above those lights was the night sky like black velvet.
Her future seemed harder to see clearly than the night sky.
What would the future be like?
Many things were uncertain, but one thing seemed certain…
Pei Ningle suddenly withdrew her gaze, looked at her 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.”
Her mother sighed. “You really like him.”
Not a question, but a statement, because this girl had already shown it clearly enough.
In that case, what should be done?
Her mother thought for a while and suddenly had an idea. “Doesn’t he treat you as a sister? Just right, then you act like a sister and present yourself well in front of him. Well-behaved, cute, smart, sensible, caring, no one dislikes such a sister.”
Pei Ningle was a little hesitant. “But like this, won’t it seem too clingy?”
Mother: “Everything depends on a degree. Grasp this degree well! You have to be a little clingy, but not too much. And when you’re clingy, you can’t just let him help you. You have to help him often too.”
Help him?
Pei Ningle thought about what she could do and felt it seemed even more troublesome. Cooking, she only knew how to make instant noodles; studying, she couldn’t help even more; as for work… he was her manager, logically he was supposed to help her. What to do?
After thinking for a long time, the girl said dejectedly, “Besides giving him money, I don’t seem to have anything else to give him.”
“Wait, give him money?” Her mother immediately pressed, “How much money do you have now, thinking about buying people off with money?”
Pei Ningle took out her phone, opened the bank’s text message notification, glanced at it, and replied, “Most of what I earned in the bar before didn’t need to be shared with him, so I have more than fourteen thousand.”
Mother: “Ten thousand yuan is definitely a lot for a student, but you can’t give him money directly. That’s not called dating. You have to be more tactful, like buying him a gift or something, but…”
Pei Ningle: “But what?”
Her mother raised her eyebrows. “Before buying gifts for boys outside, shouldn’t you buy something for your family, especially the mother who raised you?”
“Makes sense…” Pei Ningle changed the subject, “But I brought gifts when I came home.”
Her mother slapped her thigh. “What did you bring? Who brings beef jerky home for the New Year!”
Pei Ningle: “That’s yak beef, it’s really delicious!”
**
After hanging up the call with her father, Ye Xun breathed a sigh of relief.
According to her father, because the police investigation and public announcement were timely enough, it finally helped him clear the suspicion of colluding with others to run away with the money, and he had more confidence in fighting the lawsuit. Moreover, he recently managed to get a payment from an old business friend, which alleviated the funding gap a lot. Perhaps the company could avoid bankruptcy…
On the phone, her father also lamented that thanks to that kind-hearted person who acted bravely for a just cause, if he hadn’t reported Liu Rong in time, the situation would definitely be much worse now.
However, until the call ended, Ye Xun didn’t dare to tell her father that she had actually found that kind-hearted person who wished to remain anonymous.
Ye Xun sat in the empty living room and suddenly remembered that tonight was New Year’s Eve. Perhaps because she forgot to turn on the heater, the girl suddenly felt a little cold. She hurried back to the bedroom, took off her clothes, and got under the covers.
She held her phone, hesitated for a long time, and finally dialed that person’s number.
After a long while, the call connected. Ye Xun cleared her throat and smiled deliberately. “Senior Wang Heng, what are you doing?”
The voice from the phone was still clear and gentle: “Eating with my dad.”
“Eating New Year’s Eve dinner with mom and dad? That’s nice.”
“No, I’m from a single-parent family, only my dad.”
Ye Xun was stunned for a moment and quickly said, “Sorry, sorry, but my family situation is the same as yours, Senior!”
Wang Heng: “Really…”
Ye Xun: “Yes, I’m also with my dad. But my dad has been particularly busy recently and isn’t in Rongdu…”
Wang Heng: “That’s really hard for you, spending New Year’s Eve alone. Since that’s the case, I’ll chat with you for a while longer?”
Ye Xun sat up in surprise. “Can you, Senior?”
Wang Heng: “Of course.”
**
After chatting with Ye Xun, the dishes they ordered were all served.
His father had already eaten quite a bit, glanced at him, and asked, “Who were you chatting with so happily?”
Wang Heng said calmly, “A student I met while tutoring part-time in Rongdu.”
Father: “Male or female?”
Wang Heng: “Someone who practices combat and can knock you down in minutes. You tell me, male or female?”
Father: “Oh, so it’s a young lad…”
Wang Heng shrugged and didn’t say anything more, just picked up food with his chopsticks.
With the hamster’s personal teaching, he of course knew how not to lie without revealing the truth.
