Chapter 50 Fate Cheng Sijie felt a surge of joy at being affirmed…
A dinner party is, after all, a dinner party, not a gathering of friends.
You can't just ramble on and on, but as the host, you also need to liven things up and say some polite things, but...
Cheng Sijie collapsed onto the bed, feeling utterly bewildered. When did she become an "adult"? It seemed like year after year, she had changed just like that. But it was alright, at least these changes were real. After becoming an adult, no one cared how much she ate on Crazy Thursdays or when she got up. Although there were more troubles, there was also more freedom to make her own choices.
Life is about getting by day by day, fooling yourself into believing in the good, doing the good, and thinking the good. Cheng Sijie remarked.
But she didn't forget one more thing.
She made a voice call to Jiang Hui. At this time, it should be the middle of the night for Jiang Hui. According to his schedule, he should already be awake. Sure enough, Jiang Hui answered very quickly.
The room was quiet. Cheng Sijie was too lazy to turn on the main light, so she only turned on the bedside lamp.
As the light shone down, she felt sleepy and tired.
Cheng Sijie complained lazily, "Why did it take you so long to answer the phone?"
Jiang Hui cleared her throat. "I just got up not long ago."
He said gently, "Why are you so tired?"
Cheng Sijie said, "Turn on the camera for me, I need to check up on you."
Jiang Hui chuckled and said, "Can't you see it directly?"
Cheng Sijie said, "I won't watch it. I'm too lazy to be like you."
Jiang Hui said, "But I watch it often."
Cheng Sijie rolled her eyes. She had installed surveillance cameras in the living room, and Jiang Hui had access to log in and view them. "You know I adjusted the equipment today, right?"
She didn't use a question, but an affirmative statement.
Jiang Hui said, "...Hmm."
He spoke in a lazy tone, deliberately acting coquettishly, afraid that Cheng Sijie would bother him.
Jiang Hui's personality is like this; no one is perfect, and he has an excessive desire for control and an extreme personality. Although he usually suppresses his emotions well and doesn't hurt anyone, he still needs a suitable, legal, and morally acceptable outlet for his emotions.
Moderate dredging is a good approach.
Cheng Sijie promised him that she had installed surveillance cameras in the living room so that he could check on them at any time. In a daze, she would feel like she had become the protagonist of some kind of idle game, and Jiang Hui would occasionally give her some money.
For example, send her a red envelope while she's watching mindless variety shows and compliment her on how cute she is, or suddenly call her name through the security camera.
Cheng Sijie knew that many people probably couldn't stand Jiang Hui. Even though he was so outstanding, living together day and night wasn't something that could be perfectly controlled just by being smart and successful in one's career.
Living life... well, it's all about matching the pot with the lid.
Anyway, she accepts it well; it's just a matter of fun between the two of them. If she couldn't accept it, they would have broken up long ago.
Of course, this only applies to adults choosing a partner; we shouldn't set a bad example for children.
Cheng Sijie was charmed by his whining and told him to hurry up and make the video call, without any delay.
Jiang Hui hung up the phone and video-called her. Although he looked tired, he didn't have dark circles or redness under his eyes. Even though Cheng Sijie knew that he had a habit of working out and dancing to train his physical fitness, she couldn't help but feel jealous. "How come your skin is so good, baby?"
Jiang Hui said, "Because I'm your pretty boy, baby."
Cheng Sijie laughed, raised her phone, and looked up at him, "Are you very tired?"
Jiang Hui said, "Making money isn't hard work, I'll buy you a diamond ring."
Cheng Sijie said, "Huh? Do you have to work so hard to save up for a diamond ring to get married? What kind of diamond ring is that valuable?"
Jiang Hui just laughed, "Of course, you can't just buy a diamond ring when you get married. There are many other things to consider. You also need to prove that you can earn a lot of money. Otherwise, how can you make someone willingly marry you? Right, Chengcheng, the anchor?"
Suddenly I heard someone knocking on the door.
Jiang Hui said, "Wait a minute."
It was his assistant, carrying Jiang Hui's breakfast and some documents; he didn't know what they were.
Cheng Sijie didn't have a chance to ask about Xinghai's situation, so she told him to contact her after he finished his work that night. "Are you busy? I still need to adjust the live streaming equipment tomorrow morning. Message me when you're done."
Jiang Hui said, "Then I'll hang up after I finish eating."
As he unpacked the disposable chopsticks, he muttered to himself, "I haven't seen him in ages, and when we do, he has to get busy after just a few minutes. What a miserable life."
Cheng Sijie couldn't help but laugh, her heart melting into a sweet melody. "There's nothing we can do. We're not sixty-year-old grandpas and grandmas. We haven't reached retirement age yet. When that time comes, no one will care what you do."
Jiang Hui said, "Well, now the retirement age has been postponed, it'll be 65 years old, honey."
Cheng Sijie: "..."
She watched him slowly pick up broccoli and beef to eat, along with a bunch of supplements, which he also ate all of, like taking medicine. Although Cheng Sijie knew that this guy wasn't that unfortunate, and was even quite well-off, love makes people blind, and she couldn't help but sigh: "This kind of constant flying around is too exhausting."
His words clearly conveyed a sense of heartache.
Cheng Sijie felt a little embarrassed after blurting it out. But then she thought about it again:
Isn't the highest form of love said to be heartache?
There's nothing wrong with her showing off her high level of sophistication.
Jiang Hui smiled, her cheeks puffed out. They had known each other for so long, Jiang Hui knew exactly what Cheng Sijie was thinking, if not 100%, then at least 90%.
When Cheng Sijie saw his smile, she immediately pretended to glare at him and said, "What are you laughing at? Eat your food properly!"
She thought for a moment and then asked, "Are you really going to retire from the entertainment industry? A girl who came to help me set up the equipment today is a fan of yours, and she had your merchandise hanging on her bag."
She shifted her position and got out of bed. "I feel like you're finally at the peak of your career, and you want to retire now to do some kind of investment or something?"
Jiang Hui said, "I'll only be handsome for these few years. In another two years I'll be thirty and I'll have to get married eventually. Rather than making things awkward later, it's better to disappear from the public eye. All that will remain is the sentiment that 'it's not shameful to have been a fan of Jiang Hui.' My retirement from the entertainment industry will be dignified."
That's the logic...
Jiang Hui said, "Didn't you say before that you didn't want to keep doing live streaming anymore?"
Cheng Sijie said, "That's exactly what I was thinking. I wanted to give it my all this time by switching platforms, and then I'd quit the live streaming industry."
Tired, stressed, and full of backstabbing...
That's not all.
Even with mental and physical exhaustion, it's still manageable.
However, the mainstream internet user group has always been young people. In two years, she will be almost thirty. She wants to focus more on her own little corner of the internet, stop working day and night, live a regular life for a few years, and find other pleasures in life.
Life is full of disappointments, but being able to do the most suitable thing in the prime of one's life is a kind of luck.
Fans are happy to enjoy her at her most captivating, beautiful, and dedicated, but if the quality declines, her livestreams falter, and she relies on nostalgia to "stay alive," then the fans will also lose out. This is a very real issue.
Thinking of herself, she suddenly understood Jiang Hui's meaning, "Go ahead and get busy, I still have something to ask you, don't forget to contact me tonight."
She suspected that Jiang Hui had helped her make connections in Xinghai.
Jiang Hui nodded, "But don't wait for me. I'll be busy until late. I'll call you when I have time."
When the topic turned to work, his expression became serious. He picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth clean and then carefully tidied up the cleaned packaging.
The two hung up the phone.
Cheng Sijie guessed that he wouldn't be free tonight.
Sure enough, Jiang Hui was busy until late at night. He sent Cheng Sijie a message saying she was definitely asleep and wouldn't call again. He also sent her his recent schedule.
When people live in different places, they have to go to great lengths to find time to communicate, chat, and meet in person.
It's actually a good thing that both of them are busy; otherwise, if they were to fall ill from longing, it would really lead to unrealistic disappointments and speculations about the relationship.
Even though both people want to maintain the relationship, the distance and the various emotions that arise in reality make misunderstandings and conflicts more likely, and may even lead to them eventually drifting apart.
Fortunately, they persevered. Cheng Sijie thought, isn't this a kind of fate?
…
The next day, Chen Yue and the others arrived early. Cheng Sijie asked them if they had eaten breakfast, and they all said they had, but Cheng Sijie still ordered drinks in advance.
Although Chen Yue didn't say it, she appreciated the gesture. Cheng Sijie could tell that she was serious and responsible in her work, so he guessed that the soldiers under her command must be the same. Sure enough, although everyone was a little embarrassed, they accepted it generously.
The round-faced girl from yesterday said with a smile, "You spent so much money yesterday, so I'm going to have to do a good job for you today."
Sister Li, the short-haired girl, said with a smile, "Don't think that Qingqing couldn't help much yesterday. She used to be a music student, and she's really good at it. She's especially sensitive to voices and sound quality. The two of us are like two swords combined, invincible! And Chengcheng is lucky. She'll only be here for a short time before she goes back to school."
Qingqing touched her cheek. "Sister Li, you've made me feel embarrassed."
Cheng Sijie asked with a smile, "Going to study abroad?"
Qingqing quickly waved her hand: "No, no, I took a gap year in my master's program to gain some experience after graduation."
Cheng Sijie exclaimed, "Wow, that's amazing! The pressure of graduate students is immense. Sometimes when I can't produce results in my research, I break out in pimples. Do you music students have it tough too?"
Qingqing said, "Yeah, our major relies too much on talent, sigh. I don't have that kind of mentality."
Cheng Sijie's heart skipped a beat, "Do you like Jiang Hui?"
Qingqing blushed, "Oh, right, but I'm a very laid-back fan. His music arrangement is really good, I think I can learn something from it..."
This can be considered a cute "excuse".
Cheng Sijie listened to her with a smile.
Who doesn't follow celebrities to enjoy their good looks, relax and feel good, and inject energy into their life?
She said, "My friend is a model. I met Jiang Hui when we did a magazine shoot. She has his autographed album and gave me one. Do you want it?"
Qingqing was very excited, "Chengcheng, you're so kind! But I'll accept it myself too, thank you, thank you."
Chen Yue and the others watched with smiles. After finishing their milk tea, everyone went back to work.
Qingqing was completely unlike her shy and timid self during their earlier chat; she kept issuing commands:
"Lower the low frequency by three points, and raise the mid and high frequencies again."
Sister Li is the audio engineer in charge of sound mixing, and she often asks Cheng Sijie to make various human voices.
Qingqing explained, "Chengcheng, your voice is very textured. We slightly lowered the low frequencies to reduce the possibility of popping sounds; and we boosted the mid and high frequencies to make the sound clearer and brighter, which matches your image."
Cheng Sijie said, "It's really amazing! Wow, no wonder people say singers have their own mixing capabilities when they praise them—that's what it means."
After another four or five hours of work, all the lighting, angle, color, and sound parameters were recorded and imported into the OBS software on Cheng Sijie's computer, and saved as a scene file named "Sijie - Hybrid Cinematic Light".
Finally, Chen Yue sent a clear device connection diagram and operation guide to Cheng Sijie's phone: "Chengcheng, look, all the settings have been optimized. Next time you go live, just press this master switch, and all the devices will start in sequence. You can start broadcasting directly by opening OBS, just as simple as before. If you don't know how, contact me on WeChat."
Cheng Sijie clapped his hands: "Great!"
They exchanged glances, all agreeing that the collaboration had been quite pleasant. They politely declined Cheng Sijie's invitation to dinner, saying, "Let's go back and rest. Other anchors have already made appointments, so we won't be having dinner together."
Qingqing winked cleverly and said, "There will be a National Day celebration at Xinghai headquarters during National Day. All streamers with 500,000 followers will receive an invitation. Sister Chen said that if you come, we will treat you well! Haha, Sister Chen is so generous. We will go eat hairy crabs and lobsters then!"
Chen Yue gave a gentle smile. "This little girl, she's been thinking about this for a while now, hasn't she?"
Cheng Sijie said, "I'm still 100,000 followers short, so I need to work harder."
Chen Yue patted Cheng Sijie on the shoulder and gave him a serious look: "You'll definitely be fine!"
Qingqing said, "My sister Chen is really good at judging livestreamers!"
Sister Li also said, "Yes, it's 100% guaranteed to be a huge hit, haha."
Cheng Sijie felt a surge of pleasure at being affirmed. "Okay, thank you for your kind words!"
She thought: Although life is full of unpleasant things and there are plenty of mean people, but...
Isn't it for people to look forward to these strangers they never thought of but who they feel a connection with, and to be happy for the lovers, friends, and relatives they already have but who are still incredibly precious?
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