Chapter 137: Fortune and Misfortune are Intertwined

"Insufficient purchase rate, please wait in line." Zheng Wenjun was on his way when Li Sishi reminded him of this. He had also noticed the problem in the early morning and immediately let go of his hand: "Sorry."

"Leo, could you sign this for me?" Li Sishi remembered her "mission" and handed over the poster she was holding.

“Okay.” He picked up the poster and started writing, while giving Li Sishi a very serious look.

After handing the autographed poster back to Li Sishi and hurriedly saying, "Remember to contact me if anything happens," he then walked quickly to the other side of the stage in the early hours of the morning, urged by his staff.

"Leo!" The fans who remained behind shouted a few times but failed to bring their idol back. So, many clever people turned their attention to Li Sishi, who had just "benefited from the misfortune," and secretly "indirectly groped" her as she squeezed out...

This girl was just hugged in the early morning—although she was only saved because the railing broke in the early morning, she did indeed get a hug from her idol!

While the moment is still fresh, go and "get close" to this girl; in a way, they've felt the warmth of their idol!

As Li Sishi squeezed her way back to her seat, she understood the thoughts of these young women. Considering the hands that had tried to catch her when she stumbled forward, Li Sishi could only sigh inwardly. On her way back to her seat, she endured countless indirect groping and unwanted advances...

Even Zhou Huichang couldn't resist giving her a hug when she returned to her seat.

"Alright, alright, you've had your fill of taking advantage of me. Sit up, the show is about to start." Li Sishi finally managed to push away the reluctant Zhou Huichang, and then stuffed the rolled-up poster into her arms.

Zhou Huichang chuckled a few times while holding the poster. Just as she was about to unfold it to admire her idol's autograph, she suddenly caught a glimpse of Ling Chen already performing on stage. So she quickly turned her attention back to the big stage in front of her.

After helping Zhou Huichang, who was staring intently at the stage, put away the autographed poster, Li Sishi felt relieved and began to watch the first performance of the four Heavenly Kings together with a feeling and gaze that she couldn't quite describe.

To be honest, given the limited development level of this era, and the fact that she was looking at it with the perspective of someone who had experienced the magnificent stages of later generations, she felt that... the current stage setup, program arrangement, and other things were undoubtedly quite rudimentary.

However, the performers and the audience

The performers are all overly energetic, so the performances at this time are actually much better than those in the future—before smartphones, computers, and other things improve people's daily entertainment, such performances are already a rare feast.

Rough, wild, and natural, it has a unique, unadorned flavor.

"Look, Cheng Erjian is here!" Zhou Huichang pointed to the location of a group of backup dancers.

"Mmm." Li Sishi gave a perfunctory reply, then quickly covered her ears and endured the rooster-like chorus of the fan club next to her in the early hours of the morning.

Unfortunately, this is one of the downsides of going to a live performance: overly excited fan groups will belt out a song and sing along to show off their idol's popularity during the performance... It's become a common practice.

Moreover, this is a privilege only the most popular celebrities can enjoy; others would love to have it but can't.

After the opening parade ended, in the small backstage dressing room, Lei Jun, the manager, was very satisfied with the fan group's performance that night: "Tonight you were the only one with a fan group singing along, not bad, not bad... Hey, are you even listening to me?"

Looking exhausted, Ling Chen rubbed his temples and said, "Sorry, I was thinking about something just now, but I heard it. It's because my fans are so supportive that I feel so happy tonight."

"Yeah, during the last part, you were having so much fun that you just ran off to play with the long line of backup dancers!" Lei Jun scolded him sternly. "It's not that I'm criticizing you, but you need to remember, your role is that of a young girl's prince charming, her dream lover, not some comedian. Sometimes you need to be mindful of your image..."

Just thinking about how he used to help other singers "dance" on stage when it wasn't the early morning performance time, but because there was no rehearsal, he ended up with dance moves that were completely out of place... gave Lei Jun a headache.

He put so much effort and thought into shaping him into a prince charming, but in the early hours of the morning, this guy just couldn't control his goofy nature!

It's fortunate that the theme of this stage was "enjoying life with the people," otherwise, with this guy going so wildly and bringing along the other two collaborating singers, leaving only the one with the best singing skills still singing... I bet that would drive the other two managers crazy, and they might even come to "demand an explanation" from him.

"Alright, alright, I'll try to be more careful in the future," Ling Chen quickly assured him.

"It's good that you're really careful!"

Lei Jun rolled his eyes at him, then said earnestly, "If it goes any later, the station will probably 'bundle' you with three other people to form a young but powerful idol group to counter the impact from Taiwan... This is a great opportunity for you, you must seize it!"

"Just like how I used to call myself one of the 'Three Musketeers' with Huazai, Hanyou, and the others?" Ling Chen suddenly realized.

"Almost, but this time we added one more person, making it four." Lei Jun explained, "The station's initial choice for the fourth person was Li Dewen, but unfortunately, his image and performance were a little lacking, and his career path overlapped with Hanyou's, so in the end, we chose Huo Gucheng."

"His dancing is truly first-rate." (He nodded in the early morning.)

"He was originally a dancer for a TV station, of course he can dance. He just had bad luck here and didn't become famous, then he happened to have good fortune back in Taiwan and returned home in glory. He's good-looking and popular, it was his turn to have this opportunity." Lei Jun said, glancing at Ling Chen again, "If you two work together often in the future, you should learn more from him. You'll be at a disadvantage if you don't have some singing and dancing in your concerts. You know you're only agile when you're playing around, otherwise you're not very agile..."

"I was quite agile just now. A girl was holding onto a railing that broke and she was falling forward. I managed to catch her in time!"

④

Lingchen immediately retorted, then a worried look appeared on her face, "I wonder how she is, she hasn't even called..."

"Why are you so worried... Wait, does what you're saying mean you gave your phone number to someone?!" Lei Jun's expression immediately changed upon realizing this.

"She's my fan, and she got into this accident while trying to get my autograph. How could I feel good if something happened to her?" Ling Chen said matter-of-factly.

Besides, that girl is indeed very pretty, but the white T-shirt she's wearing is obviously made of cheap material and has a cheap cut.

It's rare for a beautiful girl to emerge from a humble abode, and if such a young and beautiful girl were to meet with an accident, not only would her family be heartbroken, but outsiders would also feel it's a pity.

Poor people are used to not taking minor bumps and scrapes seriously in order to save money, but if something involves them, they should also take some responsibility.

"You..." Lei Jun gritted his teeth and said "you" for a while, but finally gave in to Ling Chen's innocent look. "Forget it, I'll handle this. Don't worry, if anything happens, she'll definitely call you."

Even if that girl doesn't have the same...

The mobile phone that the company gave away was a gift, but most families these days have landlines, so if they really wanted to contact someone, they would eventually get in touch.

I just hope that girl isn't the type to take advantage of me...

While the agent was still struggling with the decision in the early hours of the morning, Zhou Huichang, who was walking back with Li Sishi while unfolding his autographed poster, stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"What's wrong with you?" Li Sishi immediately noticed Zhou Huichang's unusual behavior.

"N-nothing..." Zhou Huichang forced herself to suppress her excitement and pulled Li Sishi to a corner before whispering in her ear, "Besides the signature, there's a phone number on this poster!"

"You mean..." Upon hearing this, Li Sishi immediately recalled the words she had spoken to her before leaving in the early morning.

If you need anything, please contact me...

According to what she had heard in the industry before, the fact that he left her his phone number in the early morning was not necessarily because he was lustful, but more likely because he cared about his fans.

"Maybe he was worried because I seemed fine on the surface but hadn't gone to the hospital for a checkup, so he left me his phone number," Li Sishi thought for a moment.

road.

"Cousin, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?" Zhou Huichang asked with concern.

“No, I didn’t fall, he caught me.” Li Sishi shook her head. “There wasn’t a single bump or bruise.”

"Then this phone number..." After confirming that Li Sishi was really alright, Zhou Huichang couldn't help but look back at the string of numbers next to the signature.

"You can try it if you want; you won't lose anything by trying," Li Sishi said with a smile.

Zhou Huichang's gaze lingered on that string of numbers for a while before she finally hugged the poster tightly: "No, this is too abrupt. If there's nothing wrong, let's not disturb him..."

Li Sishi glanced at Zhou Huichang's cowardly expression and smiled even more broadly: "Then it's up to you."

Unbeknownst to the two, their agent, in another location in the early hours of the morning, was also experiencing incredibly complex emotions during this time, worrying both about the arrival of the phone call and the fact that it hadn't come.

It wasn't until several months later, after the high-level decision-making process officially announced the formation of the four Heavenly Kings, that agent Lei Jun, along with Ling Chen, plunged headlong into more work arrangements and no longer had time to think about that phone number.

At this moment, Li Sishi officially submitted her application for the selected subjects for the high school entrance examination, much to everyone's anticipation.

.

"Ten subjects? Are you sure?" Miss Huang, the homeroom teacher, was quite surprised after receiving Li Sishi's subject selection application form.

“That’s right, I think I’m pretty confident.” Li Sishi nodded. “Besides, we can only register for a maximum of ten subjects now, and we’ll only take the subjects with the best scores. It’s better to register for more subjects than less. Even if we get just one more point, we can eliminate a lot of people.”

"Your idea is indeed very ambitious, but given the number of subjects, the school will give you some extra training and arrange a special car to pick you up and drop you off..." Principal Jia was quite concerned about Li Sishi, this unexpectedly outstanding student.

He had personally witnessed Li Sishi's academic performance over the past two years, and it was in no way inferior to the top students from prestigious schools. Moreover, she had such high goals and drive, and with the school's support, she might actually be able to bring back the honor of being a top student among the top ten.

Even if they are not "top students" with all ten A's, as long as they can get five A grades with half of their subjects at the A level, they are already able to withstand the storm from the school board.

This would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it could be related to Zeng Dingbaosu's life or death in the future!

Thinking of the board's dissatisfaction with the school's performance over the years, Principal Jia gritted his teeth and said, "Let's register according to Li Sishi's wishes!"

After lying in bed for a while, Li Sishi carefully got out of bed and planned to go to the bathroom again before going to sleep.

When she stepped into the living room, she could already hear soft snoring coming from the sofa. Li Sishi smiled and glanced at her cousin, who was fast asleep on the sofa.

So she tiptoed toward the restroom.

Unexpectedly, they heard extremely soft voices coming from the master bedroom.

Li Sishi listened intently and immediately recognized her uncle's voice: "There's still more than a month until summer vacation. Do you think we should let Sishi go back to school next semester or arrange for her to join a class first?"

"If we can arrange for them to transfer to another class, we should definitely do so. It's best if young people have time to study and get more education," Aunt Liang Shao'e replied immediately.

Li Sishi knew a little about the hidden reasons behind her aunt's idea of ​​giving as much education as possible: when her aunt was young, her family was poor and looked down on girls, so they only allowed her to attend primary school and then stopped her from continuing, even though her aunt's grades were much better than her brother's.

Therefore, in my aunt's mind, if she could afford to send her child to school, she should support her to the very end.

Of course, this also caused my aunt's "

The family's mentality of "all other pursuits are inferior, only studying is superior" led them to favor Zhou Huichang, who had better grades.

Meanwhile, Zhou Huiguang, who had poor grades, disliked studying, and often hung out with bad friends, was often treated like a "younger brother" at home, where even breathing was considered a mistake...

Back then, I was so ungrateful that I thought my aunt's good intentions were a form of oppression, and I rebelled against her openly and secretly with Zhou Huiguang. Now, I realize that for people like them with such backgrounds and families, studying was indeed the most effective way to change their lives.

However, at the tail end of Hong Kong entertainment's golden age, there were still some other opportunities—as long as one's appearance met the requirements and one was hardworking and able to endure hardship.

Although Li Sishi had already decided to return to the entertainment industry, she had also made preparations beforehand: after all, a beautiful girl with good grades and good manners is obviously more in line with the image of a "pure and innocent girl" in the minds of the people of Hong Kong than a beautiful girl with only a pretty face.

Don't you see that even though she attended a prestigious traditional secondary school like Maryknoll Convent School and got 4 A's in the HKCEE, the "most beautiful Miss Hong Kong" Yin Jiali was still ridiculed by a certain famous talented woman for being beautiful but soulless for many years?

Therefore, she not only had to study hard, but also had to cultivate the image of a beautiful and well-behaved academic achiever.

At this moment, the uncle and aunt were whispering about which middle school they planned to find for her.

“How about we go to Zeng Ding Bao Su, where Chang Chang and Guang Zai are studying now? It’s close to home and easy to get into. Si Shi’s first time back in Hong Kong won’t put too much pressure on her,” Zhou Jiayun suggested.

"Of course there's no pressure. Zeng Dingbaosu is in the lowest-level band 3 secondary school, and it's famous, as you call it—'Zeng Ding Bu Shu' (meaning 'adding more sons')."

Almost everyone who applies gets in. Liang Shao'e's tone immediately changed.

The Education Bureau does not have a formal grade division for secondary schools in Hong Kong, but because students are ranked according to their academic performance and assigned to three groups, they are often referred to as band 1, band 2, and band 3.

However, although the "groups" of schools are fluid, those that can be rated as band 1 are undoubtedly mostly established traditional prestigious schools, while band 2 are relatively worse but still have basic guarantees.

Only Band 3 high schools are the most mixed. Most of the teachers and students are just going through the motions, and some are simply giving up. They are the breeding ground for gangsters and delinquents. There is constant internal and external fighting, and the school is so badly called a "martial arts school" because of it.

While there are certainly schools with good school spirit and strict discipline among band 3 secondary schools, they are definitely different from the first two. Just like standing out from the crowd or being a mediocre student, we cannot only look at the group as a whole, but also need to pay attention to the unusual individual circumstances.

The "Zeng Ding Baosu Memorial Middle School" that Zhou Huichang and Zhou Huiguang attended was originally founded by the wealthy Zeng Nanya to commemorate his mother, Ding Baosu. In earlier times, wealthy families had a custom of adding the husband's surname to the bride's name after marriage, especially in political and business circles. A daughter of a wealthy family would add her husband's surname to the beginning of her marriage to indicate her marital status.