Things I'm not worthy of going to
Even though she knew Janus was just interacting with the camera and announcing his choice to the global audience watching the live stream, Jiang Songhe's heart still pounded twice when she heard "I want who I want".
He then had time to rationalize Janus's decision, arguing it must have been based on professional considerations, while simultaneously struggling with a conflict between his pride and his protectiveness. However, when the question he had previously posed actually came to a conclusion, he still couldn't find an answer.
In the voiceover, the host moves the conversation forward, guiding Janus to give his reasons. The other three mentors listen attentively, waiting for the mentor who has only now seized the power to save the day to explain.
Janus, clutching a rescue card emblazoned with the prominent number 1000, lowered the microphone in front of him, leaned forward, and said, "As I've just said, I want who I want."
The explanation was so brief that it left no room for further questioning.
Rosa mouthed "Wow!" while Kun Ji'en and Tre shrugged, pointing to the sky and the ground in confusion. But ultimately, this was an internal team battle, and no matter how confused the mentors from other groups were, there was no need for them to meddle and interfere.
The two then suggested moving directly to the voting stage.
The process of voting ending and the total count being tallied takes some time, so the live stream then cut back to the stage.
The two young players remained side by side in the same frame. After witnessing the team mentor's decision, their expressions of shock—one of joy and the other of worry—were fleeting and quickly reversed.
Upon learning that he had been saved by special privileges, Jiang Songyun looked embarrassed and speechless, turning his gaze from the mentor's seat to LEO beside him. LEO smiled and looked back at him for a few seconds, then spread his hands to the host next to him, indicating that he had something to say.
Although surprised by the result, he still wanted to congratulate his good friend. Just like when Songyun made a mistake, he took the drumsticks for him, and at the finish line of the competition, he believed that Songyun would also take the trophy for him.
After finishing speaking, LEO handed the microphone back to the host, turned to face Kang Song-yoon, and raised his forearm. Kang Song-yoon understood and shook his hand, finally smiling and saying that he definitely would. The two bumped shoulders vigorously, and then LEO wrapped his arms around Kang Song-yoon's back and hugged him tightly.
What a touching friendship! The host exclaimed, encouraging the audience both inside and outside the venue to give LEO the warmest applause.
A discordant sound suddenly broke out off-camera; it could still be heard on stage even though it wasn't on the radio channel, indicating that the person was very agitated.
The host was also very professional, with no unusual expression. He only glanced offstage before continuing the proceedings with a fuller and more enthusiastic voice, looking directly at the camera: "The exciting moment is about to arrive. Please stay tuned."
The live stream then jumped directly to the settlement figures, and the voices of the players in the arena were replaced by background music.
Based on the votes from mentors, media, and audience, Jiang Songyun received an additional 1000 points from the "Save Card," ultimately eliminating his teammate LEO with a lead of 609 votes.
The vote counts from all sides were clearly displayed on the airport's large screen, clearly announcing the winner and also clearly stating that without Janus's extra 1000 points, Kang Song-yoon would have been eliminated.
Jiang Songhe felt a mix of emotions. Although the director and host worked perfectly together to quickly cut off the unexpected interruption, he was also in the airport more than 2,000 kilometers away when he heard indignant cries of "pre-arranged" and "unfair."
Whether the audience inside the voting venue was influenced by this incident and changed their support, and whether the 609-vote advantage could have been higher and more convincing, have become unresolved mysteries after this episode.
Thinking deeper, who are the questioners, where do they come from, and will they have a lasting negative impact on Jiang Songyun and Janus...?
But what's done is done, and no amount of thinking from outside the screen will change anything. All he can do is silently pray that Jiang Songyun will live up to Janus's trust and expectations, and prove themselves with his abilities, while protecting himself.
The space in this part of the airport is fairly spacious, but there are no seats because it is connected to the check-in area. Like Jiang Songhe, the spectators standing from the sidelines craned their necks, and had to react to the situation from time to time, which was quite physically demanding.
The live stream had been going on for nearly 7 hours, and during the break for the settlement, the crowd, now at eye level, began to move about.
Taking advantage of the extra space in front of her, Jiang Songhe moved forward a few steps to witness Jiang Songyun's moment of reckoning in the final match of the finals up close.
The stranded passengers, who were waiting for the live broadcast to begin, couldn't help but stir after witnessing what had just happened. They expressed their personal opinions one after another, with some supporting Jiang Songyun and LEO, while others said it was expected and others said it was hasty and biased.
Jiang Songhe, whose attention was elsewhere, heard the chaotic discussion. He initially disdained to listen, but his built-in translator, though not very sensitive, was beyond his control and he had to squeeze in to listen.
Already feeling irritable, the surrounding travelers who had come and gone gathered again to form a wall, drastically reducing social distancing. The smells of various fast food medleys permeated the area, and even though Jiang Songhe's stomach was empty, the smells still made him feel nauseous. He was reluctant to leave, so he could only raise his chin and slow his breathing.
Jiang Songyun and LEO were the last group in the quarterfinals, and it is estimated that the stage set will need to be re-prepared for the championship battle. After the votes were announced, the advertisements on the screen played for an unusually long time.
Jiang Songhe felt the surroundings getting more and more crowded, and he was getting taller and taller. His long-dormant obsessive-compulsive disorder suddenly came over him, making him feel like he had a thorn in his back and a fishbone stuck in his throat. He even started to feel that his own suitcase was dirty, so he let go of his hands and only rested his wrist on the handle of the pull rod.
Without the restraining force of the rollers, the chaotic army of feet that had been invading Jiang Songhe's territory pressed the box against its owner's trouser leg. Jiang Songhe was unable to move in any direction, and just when he was about to step on something, someone called out "Brother" from behind him.
Startled, Jiang Songhe turned around and saw the guy selling fanfiction squeezing into a crack in the wall, grinning at him.
"Tsk, don't yell like that." Jiang Songhe thought the kid knew that Song Yun had been saved by Janus and entered the top four, and was about to brag about himself again. He had just mentioned that Maner landed at V200, and besides, he didn't want to spread the word. He reached into his pocket to take out his phone, so he turned back and didn't want to talk to him.
It turned out the young man had no such intention. Despite being discouraged, he pushed forward and kindly reminded me, "The crew couldn't reach you. They just saw us talking and asked me to come find you."
Jiang Songhe realized the misunderstanding. Urgency and apology temporarily overcame her germaphobia. She took out her phone and saw the missed call on the screen. Her attitude softened a bit: "Uh, what do you want?"
"It's been over nine hours, of course it's time to board, what else could it be?!" The young man wrinkled his nose and looked up at him. "They're too busy verifying my identity and reissuing my boarding pass over there, otherwise why would they ask me to help them find you?"
It was indeed a matter of utmost urgency. Jiang Songhe took one last look at the large screen that hadn't yet been rebroadcast, repeatedly saying "I'm sorry" as she paved the way and led the young man through the crowd.
The two quickly returned to the original flight delay waiting area, where Jiang Songhe successfully obtained her boarding pass and followed the passenger line to the boarding gate.
Seeing that the young man was still following him around, he thought for a moment, then pulled out a pack of disinfectant wipes from his pocket, quickly wiped his hands, the handle, and his phone, opened WeChat to receive payments, and turned around to say, "Thanks, I'll transfer the money to you now."
"What... a transfer?" The young man scratched his face with his boarding pass, then waved his hands repeatedly as if his personality had changed. "No, brother! That's not what I meant!"
Misunderstanding a stranger once is enough. Jiang Songhe left her phone unlocked and asked for the QR code to be scanned, raising an eyebrow to ask, "What does that mean?"
"I... I was presumptuous before." The cold-faced uncle's long legs made it hard to catch up, and the young man followed closely with short steps, barely keeping pace. He covered his mouth with his boarding pass like a thief. "Considering that I travel all over the country and it's not easy for me to make a living, brother, please be magnanimous and pretend you didn't hear what I said... Hehe... Don't sue me?"
What do you mean by that?
Seeing Jiang Songhe raise his eyebrows even higher, the young man pointed a finger at the boarding pass in Jiang Songhe's hand: "I just glanced at it. Your name is Jiang Songhe, and the contestant in the top four is Jiang Songyun. I slapped my forehead and exclaimed, 'Wow! You're probably his brother!'"
What should have been a quick scan-to-transfer transaction took ages to complete, and Jiang Songhe, losing patience with the young man's rambling, asked bluntly, "What does this have to do with whether or not I'll sue you?"
The word "accuse" carried considerable weight coming from the family member of the person directly responsible. The young man rubbed his hands together, bowing and scraping as he spilled the beans: "Those copies of your brother's weren't authorized; they were just temporary reprints. I just happened to have the perfect timing and location, so I brought them over to test the waters... But don't worry, I'll put them away as soon as I get there, and I won't sell a single one..."
Jiang Songhe stumbled, stopped in the middle of the boarding line, locked the scanner, and pulled up his WeChat contact QR code after flipping through two pages of cringeworthy images and text in economy class.
"Open it." Jiang Songhe pointed a sharp glare to the side and below. "Add me as a friend."
The young man didn't understand, but he did as instructed.
With a beep, the friend request was accepted.
Jiang Songhe interrogated the trafficker: "How many books did you bring?"
The young man said hesitantly, "Five, five books."
Jiang Songhe spread his large hand: "Give it to me."
The young man quickly reached into his bag: "These are the only five books I have. That's all."
Jiang Songhe clasped his hands together and confiscated the document: "From now until the plane takes off, you have about one hour to send me a written guarantee."
"After I send the V, I'll give you 500 for processing fees."
-
Before the internet was cut off after boarding the plane, Jiang Songhe received a written guarantee with colloquial language and typos, as promised.
After reviewing and confirming that it would not affect the principle that "this export will never sell Jiang Songyun or any other person or any color of merchandise without authorization," Jiang Songhe estimated the kid's thought process of confessing without being asked and felt a bit of sympathy.
With this kind of brain, one has basically said goodbye to the path of seeking wealth through danger, and is unlikely to do anything outrageous, illegal, or disorderly.
So he transferred 500 as agreed, according to the specifications for the top-tier artist interview materials, and then turned off his phone.
As the plane took off, Jiang Songhe's heart sank deeper and deeper.
The journey back to Manel was fraught with obstacles, as if every little thing was trying to sabotage me, as if it were maliciously reminding me that I had sins I could never atone for in my lifetime, and that I was unworthy of pursuing something so beautiful and radiant.
The road ahead is even more uncertain. His younger brother's health condition is unknown, whether he has been able to prove himself at the most crucial juncture is unknown, and the future of his relationship with his young, silver-haired mentor is also unknown...
He suddenly realized how cowardly he was; things had come to this point, and he even wanted to run away by silently reciting Jonathan's name.
When he recited it for the last time, he felt angina and a sense of boundless fear, exactly the same feeling of weightlessness he had experienced in countless dark nights long ago.
He dared not think about it anymore, nor dared he read it again.
The fingertips of the five fingers covering the double cover began to tremble. Jiang Songhe leaned slightly to reach the small suitcases filled to the brim in the storage cabinet at her feet, but the cabinet door was closed again after being opened a little.
He turned the top picture book upside down, thinking he might need to eat something.
I casually ordered a meal by pressing the call button, and finished it off with a bland taste. The adverse effects of low blood sugar were somewhat relieved, but not by much.
He thought he might need to find something else to do.
On international flights, it's nothing more than eating and sleeping, then sleeping and eating again. Once you've finished eating, sleeping becomes awkward.
Four hours in Mosfeldman, regardless of whether he can fall asleep or not, even if he does, he will probably wake up as soon as he closes his eyes, feeling nauseous and confused, and his mental state may be even worse.
Jiang Songhe touched the screen in front of him. Moss City was at 05:47, Maner was at 03:47, the live stream started at 19:00 last night and ended at 05:00 after 10 hours, so Moss was at 07:00, and the landing time was 08:40, which is 6:40...
As he suffered from oxygen deprivation at high altitude, his mind became increasingly sluggish. His unfocused eyes stared at the pitch-black expanse outside the window. He would make mistakes in his calculations, then overturn them and start over, repeating the same futile efforts until the plane finally landed at its destination.
...
After passing through border control and customs, Jiang Songhe turned on his phone.
For some reason, he borrowed a light from a driver who had just dropped off a passenger in the parking area outside the airport. After thanking him, he went to a corner and smoked a cigarette in the wind. After the notification sounds finished ringing, he opened WeChat and actually dealt with work messages first.
Then I opened my WeChat Moments and liked all the posts by Yunhe employees about their paid leave. Finally, I opened the pinned chat window that showed "Did you not come?"
05:12
Songyun: Hyung, I won!!!
Song Yun: From now on, please call me Champion!!!
05:38
Songyun: I just realized you called me in between.
Song Yun: I asked the staff, and they said they didn't see you in the spectator room.
06:00
Songyun: Did you not come?
Take a deep breath and make a voice call.
Jiang Songyun took a long time to answer. The background music was noisy dance music. Jiang Songhe held the receiver close, suppressing the urge to ask where his brother was, and explained, "Songyun, when I was almost there, I encountered extreme weather and was stranded in Moss City for more than nine hours..."
"Oh, so that's what happened!" Jiang Songyun's voice sounded very good, without a trace of temper, and he even raised his voice to comfort Jiang Songhe, "It's okay, as long as you arrived safely."
Jiang Songhe opened the cigarette pack, but there was no lighter. He closed it again and put it away, but couldn't help asking, "Where are you? I'll come find you."
"We're having a post-match party~~~" Jiang Songyun spoke loudly, his voice drawn out. "Don't bother coming, we came directly in the Star Show shuttle, I don't even know the exact address~~~~"
"Who are you all?" Jiang Songhe asked in as friendly a tone as possible. "Have you been drinking?"
"I drank it! How can an 18-year-old Star Champion not drink? Are you worried I'll get drunk after one drink? No way! I drank with LEO when the training camp was stressful~~~~ Practice proves that my embarrassing moment was just because I was too nervous, I can actually hold my liquor!"
Jiang Songhe crumpled the cigarette pack, his facade of being an open-minded older brother about to crumble, when Jiang Songyun said, "I'm not a child anymore, I can take care of myself, I don't need you... come on. Don't worry, there will be media at the post-match party, I won't drink too much and embarrass myself to maintain my image."
Jiang Songyun's tone suddenly became very calm, so calm that it made Jiang Songhe uneasy. She quickly replaced it with a drawn-out laugh: "You must be exhausted after a long day. Why don't you find a hotel to sleep for a while? I'll send you a WeChat message when I'm done, oh, and I can send you photos too. We'll talk about it then~~~~~"
Before Jiang Songhe could respond, he said that they wanted him to come over and take pictures, and then hung up the phone.
Jiang Songyun didn't call him "brother" again on the phone.
Jiang Songhe put down his phone, somewhat bewildered. He hadn't had a chance to ask Jiang Songyun if he was injured, but judging from his voice, he seemed alright. He smiled inexplicably. In this sprawling airport hub, he suddenly felt lost, unsure of where to go next.
His palms vibrated again; the phone suddenly felt incredibly heavy. He held it up with both hands, saw the number on the screen, and his heart pounded in his ears. Without thinking about what the other person would say or how he should respond, he quickly answered, forcing out a hoarse "Hello?"
Jonathan's opening remarks were devoid of any emotion or any meaningful information for Jiang Songhe to deduce: "I'll send you an address to my apartment."
"e" means "my apartment," not "me."
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