Chapter 89: Damn It All

After singing the song and checking the guitar’s tuning, Huang Guolun did not sing any further.

By then, more than five thousand viewers had flooded into the live room, and the chat was in an uproar, praising Huang Guolun’s music and urging him to keep singing.

Zhao Jing, however, knew very well how to whet the audience’s appetite. She did not join them in pressing him to sing more; instead, she seized the moment to run several more rounds of promotion for the film.

She told everyone, “If you want to hear Teacher Huang’s music, go watch the film. Then on Saturday night, Teacher Huang will go live again and bring everyone a grand night of music and fun with me. Eight o’clock Saturday night—don’t miss it. Bye-bye!”

“Jing, don’t go! Stay and chat a little longer!”

“Jing, show your face! I’ve been waiting forever—just one peek, is that so impossible?”

“Jing, let Teacher Huang sing another one! We were just getting into it!”

“Could someone kindly leave a download link for Teacher Huang’s music?”

“Jing, tell us one more joke before you go!”

...

Those reluctant pleas left Zhao Jing in high spirits. She laughed, “All right then, I’ll tell one joke before ending the stream.”

But to give Huang Guolun more room to shine, she quickly changed her mind and said, “Better yet, let’s hand over the last joke of the day to Teacher Huang. Teacher Huang, why don’t you tell us one?”

Huang Guolun had just set down the guitar and was about to stand when he heard the request. At once he grew awkward. “I don’t know how to tell jokes. You tell them.”

Zhao Jing shot him a look and whispered, “Just tell one. If you do, they’ll like you even more. I’ll switch to a close-up and push the film harder.”

As she spoke, Zhao Jing adjusted the camera and framed a close-up of Huang Guolun.

Zhao Yan and the others also looked eager, wanting to hear what joke he would tell.

Huang Guolun, forced to oblige, said, “All right then, I’ll tell one. Don’t blame me if it isn’t funny. It’s a bit of an old one. Back when Germans tested the safety of trains, they had to consider whether a high-speed train’s glass would shatter if struck by a bird. So they went to a supermarket, bought a chicken, and fired it at the train windows for testing. The British heard about this and, when testing their own railways, also went to a supermarket and bought a frozen chicken. But no matter what they did, the glass kept breaking. So the British asked the Germans to describe the process in more detail, went back to continue the tests, and still failed. The second time the British asked for advice, the Germans, growing impatient, asked about the exact testing procedure and then answered: thaw it first.”

Pfft.

Zhao Yan laughed.

Huanzi glanced at her speechlessly and asked, “That’s really so funny?”

Zhao Yan smiled. “I think it’s pretty amusing.”

There were also viewers in the live room praising Huang Guolun’s joke as hilarious.

Some even wanted compensation for their phones, because they had just taken a sip of water when they heard Huang Guolun tell the joke, and the phones were ruined on the spot.

Zhao Jing, however, felt that Huang Guolun’s joke was rather dry. In a rare show of solidarity with Huanzi, she sighed. “Teacher Huang, what was that? You might as well have told us a story about your son. Forget it, I’d better end the stream now, or I’ll lose followers. ... Everybody, see you Saturday night at eight!”

She no longer wasted words with the viewers and simply cut the livestream.

Afterward, she tallied the income from this impromptu stream and found that it had brought in more than eight hundred yuan.

After tax, she would still take home over six hundred fifty.

Zhao Jing reported this pleasing result to Huang Guolun and insisted on splitting it fifty-fifty with him.

What was there to split over such a small amount? Besides, most of the people watching tonight were Zhao Jing’s fans. They had given gifts because of her, so he simply declined.

That night, Huang Guolun stayed at the duck shop and had a simple meal.

During dinner, they discussed some of the details for the special show they would do next week.

After seeing Huang Guolun’s musical charisma for themselves, Sister Xu, Su Ling, and Liu Xiaowei all felt that this music teacher was extraordinary.

Just as the Zhao sisters had said, Teacher Huang truly was a musical genius.

If he were to hold a special performance at their duck shop, it would surely stir up a great buzz there.

This uncle was practically their God of Wealth.

Zhao Yan did not think of Huang Guolun as a God of Wealth. She only felt very lucky to have met such a gifted friend.

Zhao Jing felt even luckier. Over dinner, she kept telling Huang Guolun that if the special show next week brought in a lot of money, they must split the earnings fifty-fifty; she could not shamelessly take advantage of him without a word.

Huang Guolun took the opportunity to discuss something else with Zhao Jing: when they did the special show next week, she should not find others to come sing with them. He would bring his student, and the three of them—he, Bai Yao, and Zhao Jing—would be enough to fill the entire performance.

If the event turned out well, then the livestream income should be split fifty-fifty between Zhao Jing and Bai Yao; he would take nothing, considering it pure help—helping the duck shop build popularity and helping his older brother’s film with promotion.

Huang Guolun’s attitude toward money moved Zhao Jing and the others deeply: being rich was wonderful. One truly did not have to worry about money, nor haggle over every little cent.

In fact, Zhao Jing’s family was quite well-off too. Though not as wealthy as Huang Guolun’s, they still had assets worth tens of millions.

But like her sister, she did not like constantly asking her family for money. Spending what she earned herself gave her far more satisfaction.

Since Huang Guolun was being so generous, she would not fuss over these petty calculations; she would simply follow his arrangements.

As long as Huang Guolun did not feel that she was taking advantage of him, then she could accept the money with a clear conscience.

As for Huang Guolun bringing Bai Yao to join the special show, Zhao Jing was actually rather excited.

The wildly androgynous, rasping voice in the ending song of the film was tremendously striking.

If such a distinctive singer could come lend support, their special show would become even more worth watching.

Zhao Jing then suggested that if the special show made a big splash, they could hold it more often—every Friday and Saturday, whenever everyone had time.

She herself would be free until early December. Once mid-December arrived, she would no longer be able to do anything else and would have to devote herself fully to preparing for her graduate entrance exam.

Huang Guolun thought it over. For the coming month, he probably would not have anything to do on Friday or Saturday nights.

But if they were to keep doing such special shows, Bai Yao would need a great deal of time for rehearsals and practice.

Doing it for a week or two would be fine, but if Bai Yao had to keep up this kind of intense singing work for a whole month, even if it did not interfere with her studies, it would still be very damaging to her voice.

So Huang Guolun only agreed to try it for two weeks first and decide later whether to continue depending on how things went.

They did not stay long at the duck shop that night. After finishing dinner there a little after seven, Huang Guolun hurried home.

When he got back, he saw Huang Tao on the sofa, watching TV while gnawing on a pork knuckle.

Unlike the average four-year-old, who likes cartoons, Huang Tao enjoyed watching all kinds of films and variety shows.

At the moment he was engrossed in a gunfight movie.

He was eating with even greater enthusiasm, chewing on the knuckle with his eyes on the television, his mouth not resting either, muttering nonsense like, “Hold your hand in mine, cut off the child by the wrist. Flesh and bone apart, damn your lung!”

...

...

...

This chapter is the last public chapter.

After fifty-two days of waiting, the Singer is finally going on sale.

Thanks to all the readers for staying with it all the way through. Thanks also to the editors for their great support.

After it goes on sale, I will definitely work even harder on updates so everyone can enjoy the story to the fullest.

If you are able to subscribe, please support the正版 edition of this book so that I can buy a few more cans of formula for the real-life little Taozi.

I won’t say more. I’m off to write. See you in VIP tomorrow at noon!