A sparring partner...?

It would be impossible not to be surprised, but Qin You never expected that the other party would find him through Tang Chen.

Tang Chen:

Their team is full of young players who came from youth training. Team leader Wen watched our previous matches and thought you were a good fit, so he wanted me to ask you about it.

That's what he said, but Qin You felt he didn't have that much time. First, he had classes at school that he couldn't miss; second, games were just a pastime for him, and he wasn't going to put that much effort into them.

Tang Chen:

Don't worry, it won't take up too much of your time. It'll be at most two hours on Saturday afternoon!

Seeing this, Qin You couldn't refuse. If it were Saturday, it shouldn't be a big problem. But there was another thing: no matter how much he practiced, he needed teammates, right? Was he going to take on five opponents at once?

Tang Chen:

I've already told Feifei, don't worry, I'll play AD. There's also a top laner and a mid laner from the youth training team.

Qin You:

You can make the arrangements, but let me know in advance when you're done. I have something to do, so I have to go now.

Putting away his phone, Qin You grabbed the dawdling Fang Zhe and ran to the basketball court next door.

"Brother You—"

As soon as he entered, he saw Meng Liangchen waving at him. Qin You nodded in response before pulling Fang Zhe to sit down on the stands.

Compared to the tennis courts next door, the basketball courts in the gymnasium are only open to students from MicroCity University, and the number of cheerleaders is rather 'meager' (actually, having any at all is already quite good).

As a substitute teammate, Meng Liangchen was benched, but fortunately the atmosphere in the club was good. Newcomers always rise step by step, and there's no need to rush.

Qin You patted the empty seat next to him, gesturing for Meng Liangchen to sit down.

Meng Liangchen sighed and sat down with a smile. He was wearing a red and black team uniform today and looked very smart. In addition, he had grown taller recently and looked like a teenager.

Qin You was very satisfied. As an elder, he was always happy to see his younger generation growing up healthily. These were the last remaining seedlings of Jiuyue.

In this harmonious scene, Fang Zhe might be the only one who seems out of place, mainly because... he can't stand other people's loving and affectionate brotherhood. What happened to the saying that all brothers are the same? Are he and his brother the odd ones out?

Whether Qin You and Meng Liangchen are unconventional or not is not what people care about; the important thing is that the scene in front of us is beautiful!

If Meng Liangchen looked like he hadn't fully grown up in high school, he's now quite a handsome, athletic young man. He looks a lot like his brother Meng Ziqiu, both with distinct features and a sunny disposition when they smile.

Qin You goes without saying; he's always the center of attention. Even though it's been a while since university started, every time we see him, we're amazed from a different angle. So we can only marvel at how lucky he is to have such talent.

No, that's not right. God gives others plain rice, but He should be given a Manchu Han Imperial Feast!

As the saying goes, though the words may be rough, the principle is sound; the facts are indeed as they are.

Qin You and Meng Liangchen talked for a while, and soon he was called by the others to warm up and prepare. Even the alternates had to prepare for the competition.

"Then I'll go first, Brother You."

"Go."

***

At the same time, Xu Qian, who was at TZ Company, had just finished recording 3,000 commonly used characters.

Worth 1.2 million...

Even after signing the contract, Xu Qian was still somewhat dazed. This was much more lucrative than filming. Normally, after deducting various expenses, he would only receive around 200,000 yuan for a film, and that was if he had a lot of screen time. If it was just a cameo, he would only earn tens of thousands or even a few thousand yuan at most.

In just half a day this afternoon, he earned almost a year's worth of money.

Sure enough, the entertainment industry is still incredibly lucrative; otherwise, so many people would flock to it! Xu Qian, with his ordinary-minded perspective, was extremely excited.

After signing the contract, Xu Qian was driven home by Yan Lang. Ms. Lin from Guangyi replied yesterday, saying that the appointment was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, which meant that he could rest for half a day tomorrow morning. If there was nothing else, he could even change his identity and go to Yuncheng.

I wonder what's going on with Xiaoqing. I've been gone for half a day and she hasn't sent me a message.

He was muttering to himself when his WeChat message rang, but it wasn't from Xiaoqing; it was from Meng Ziqiu.

Meng Ziqiu had already contacted Yan Jiudu and decided to set off directly for the capital tonight, instead of going through Weicheng.

Meng Ziqiu:

Oh, and one more thing, I sent you something yesterday, you should receive it today.

thing?

Xu Qian returned to his apartment, completely bewildered, and received a text message from the courier as soon as he closed the door.

Oh well, I have to go downstairs again.

When Xu Qian arrived at the post station, he learned that Meng Ziqiu had sent him a large object, but it was not heavy in his hand.

"Can I take it?" the proprietress asked him in a friendly tone.

"It's nothing, thank you. I'll take it now." Xu Qian shook his head, put his arms around his shoulder, and easily took it away.

The proprietress's youngest daughter stood at the door until everyone had walked away before turning around and going inside, a smile still on her face. "Look at you!" the proprietress's daughter said, amused.

The younger daughter simply replied with a "hehehe" emoji.

...

Xu Qian carried the items home, unpacked them one by one, and exclaimed in surprise – isn't this an erhu?

He took a picture of the erhu and sent it to Meng Ziqiu, along with a question mark.

Meng Ziqiu:

/This is a gift from Daxiao, but I don't know how to do it.

Xu Qian shook his head and chuckled. "Alright, he really can do this. His uncle, the headmaster who raised him, is an expert at playing the erhu. It's just that he hasn't played it in a long time, so he might be a bit rusty."

Perhaps it was because of all the good things that had happened today, Xu Qian was in a particularly good mood. He pulled over a chair and placed the unfolded erhu on his lap. It was a brand new erhu that needed to be assembled first.

Although he hadn't touched it in a long time, thankfully an instruction manual was included. Xu Qian glanced at the manual, quickly installed the inner and outer strings of the erhu, and then the bridge string...

In this way, about twenty minutes passed.

Installing an erhu isn't difficult, but it requires meticulous attention, especially in tuning.

However, Xu Qian didn't forget to close the window before tuning, otherwise his neighbors would cause him trouble.

After finishing, Xu Qian tried playing a short section of "A Plum Blossom in the Wind" and thought, "Hmm, not bad!"

Just as he was about to continue, he suddenly stopped because he had forgotten the score—or rather, he only remembered this much.

Helpless, Xu Qian went online to look for erhu scores. The "One Plum Blossom" piece he was familiar with definitely didn't exist, but there should be similar ones.

Sure enough, he found a song with a similar style, a catchy melody, and it was perfect for playing.

Xu Qian tried playing it all the way through and thought it was okay, so he took out his phone to record it.

Who said he wasn't open for business! Here he is, isn't he?

A four-minute video was quickly uploaded to Weibo by Xu Qian. It was completely unedited and featured him alone from beginning to end, with a dark background, clearly showing that he was the kind of person who didn't want to turn on the lights.

[Do you think I need the electricity bill? Turn on the lights!]

[Do I need this little bit of data?! Keep updating!]

[After listening to it three times, I started listening to it a fourth time, and it became surprisingly catchy and addictive.]

[Up, up]

Keep going! Don't stop!

[That's it? All you give me is a chin?]

[After becoming a fan of Lao Xu, I've acquired countless new skills, and I never expected that I wouldn't even let the erhu go...]

[Old Xu (shyly): Please call me the all-rounder]

[Old Xu (in a serious tone): Being shy is impossible, absolutely impossible in this lifetime!]

The comments under the Weibo post were very lively. Xu Qian saw the comments and realized that his video was indeed a bit dark. After thinking for a moment, he turned on the light and recorded it again.

Soon, another four-minute video appeared, more than ten seconds longer than the previous one. This time it was clear enough, and Xu Qian even made a special appearance.

Xu Qian V:

[video]

The lights are on, and my face is showing. Everything you wanted has been fulfilled!

[Great! Five stars! It would be even better if it stayed like this!]

[Old Xu (tsk tsk): Why are you dreaming in broad daylight?]

[Pen'er (stubbornly): Dreams may not come true, but they must exist!]

[Waaaaah, my brother finally showed his face!]

[Could the young man upstairs please restrain himself?]

[No male younger sister, no male younger sister, no male younger sister]

[I want a male younger sister!]

[Even Lao Xu has a day when he spoils his fans! It's so touching!]

[After a lifetime of hardship, Xu Meiren finally makes her appearance.]

Xu Qian interacted with the silly netizens on Weibo for a while, and only stopped to cook at five o'clock in the evening.

He opened the refrigerator and took out three tomatoes and a piece of pork belly, intending to make some tomato dumplings and freeze them, since Meng Ziqiu had previously mentioned that he really liked eating them.

Since the ingredients were readily available, Xu Qian started by kneading the tomato dough. As a noodle lover, he had eaten and made countless kinds of noodles, but even so, he never got tired of them.

About two hours later, the fans were pleasantly surprised to find that Xu Qian had updated yet again! Is today some special day? Why has he suddenly become so prolific?!

The Weibo post was no longer a video, but two photos. One photo showed frozen dumplings in a plate, each one pink and tender, with pleats that looked exactly the same, like a heartless dumpling-making machine. The second photo showed steamed dumplings with a dish of vinegar next to them, which looked very appetizing.

The bowls were counted, and there were fifteen dumplings! This is not a large amount for an adult male.

[Is this what a male actor is like? I could eat thirty of him without exaggeration!]

[Baby, please don't go on a diet anymore! You're perfect as you are. Don't follow their example!]

[I'll definitely buy a phone that can smell things someday!]

[At least you have a conscience, knowing to poison food during mealtimes. (I was completely unmoved while eating hotpot.)]

[The hot pot in front +1]

Am I the only one curious about what the filling is?

[This is the first time I've seen light pink dumpling wrappers.]

[That's noodles with tomatoes; Lao Xu posted a tutorial about it before.] [?? Wait, there's a tutorial? I didn't know that.]

[It's on Xiao Yan's Weibo! Old Xu's assistant]

[Understood, I'll go check it out right away!]

While eating dumplings, Xu Qian interacted on Weibo as if he was going to use up all his interactions for the year. Today, he was as active as a fake account.

Sure enough, Sheng Huai asked him about it on Weibo.

Sheng Huai V:

Me? /@XuqianV: [Picture] [Picture] Dinner

Xu Qian was a little embarrassed, but he still replied to him, saying it had to be the person in person.

[Let's take a grand photo together!]

[I don't care! I promise you a prosperous and authentic world!]

[Oh no, oh no, Old Xu is so suspicious that even Brother Huai is starting to have doubts.]

[Xu Qian (proud): He remains silent until he makes a stunning debut.]

[This account is so active it's like a fake account; today is a day to remember.]

[Check-in/Check-in]

[What's going on? Why the sudden surge in updates?!]

[Can we expect a meeting between two food-loving couples?]

Food buddies/couples?

Upon seeing this, Sheng Huai put down his phone, thinking to himself, "It has to be possible!"

Half an hour later, Xu Qian, the food delivery rider, set off on his bike, heading to the film studio.