Chapter 451 Online Love
Time flows silently and the winter solstice comes quietly.
Inside the Peking National Convention Center, the dazzling crystal chandeliers illuminate the entire venue as bright as day.
On the red carpet of the National Drama Festival, the stars are shining like waterfalls.
The ladies came in gracefully, their skirts fluttering like a flowing feast, with colors, light and shadow interwoven into a torrent that instantly swept everyone's vision.
The men formed another upright landscape, like calm and steady pillars on the red carpet, with their own unique demeanor.
After the ceremony, Yang Mi was graceful in a long tulle dress that was so soft that it seemed as if it could be blown away by the wind at any time. The dress was embellished with tiny crystals that were scattered like stardust, gleaming under the lights.
Tang Yan, who was standing beside him, was full of envy as she softly exclaimed, "Mi Mi, without Shi Shi here, I'm afraid the other actresses will be outshined by you!"
Yang Mi nodded, a sly smile on her face. Yijie continued to miss the National Drama Festival, and now was the moment when no one could compete with her.
She had already arranged a large number of press releases, and was determined to take advantage of the traffic and popularity of this National Drama Festival to appear on the hot searches several times.
"Mimi, when do you plan to officially announce the termination of the contract with Tengda Culture?" Tang Yan suddenly asked.
"Next week." Yang Mi replied, feeling that time flies so fast. In a blink of an eye, her three-year contract with Tengda Culture has expired.
The company is now buying back the 1.8% virtual equity she holds. Once these financial matters are completed, it will officially announce that the contract will not be renewed.
At this moment, Yang Mi was filled with mixed feelings. Tengda Culture was indeed a large and formal company.
She parted ways with her old employer amicably without any dramatic disputes, and the company also repurchased her shares strictly in accordance with the original subscription contract, which was a happy ending.
"You!" Tang Yan shook her head helplessly, not knowing what to say for a moment.
How many people are vying for a place in Tengda Culture, yet my best friend is unaware of her good fortune. Without the support of Tengda Culture to protect her from the wind and rain, does she really think that making it in the entertainment industry is that easy?
Yang Mi naturally understood Tang Yan's concerns. A flicker of hesitation flashed across her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination. Now that things had come to this point, there was no turning back. She was determined to carve out a niche for herself with her own abilities.
Then he asked, "Tangtang, don't just talk about me. What about you? How are your resources lately?"
Tang Yan shrugged, sighed, and confided: "Chentian Entertainment's operating conditions are getting worse and worse, and there are no high-quality resources at all.
I'm always looking for roles on my own, so I'm not short of them. When my contract expires, I don't plan to renew it."
Yang Mi was curious: "How long does your contract with Chen Tian last?"
"It's too early, still two and a half years," said Tang Yan, looking worried. She signed a ten-year contract with Chentian Entertainment after graduating from the Central Academy of Drama in 2006, which wasn't due to expire until May 2015.
Now that Chen Tian's power is declining, she has to find resources on her own during this period, which is really difficult.
After the two beautiful girls from "Chinese Paladin" finished talking about their careers, the topic naturally turned to their love lives.
A hint of gossip flashed in Yang Mi's eyes, and she asked with a mischievous smile: "Tangtang, how is your relationship with Luo Jin? I think he is interested in you."
Hearing this, Tang Yan looked around guiltily and said in a low voice, "We are just ordinary friends."
Yang Mi chuckled: "Are we really just ordinary friends?"
Tang Yan felt even more guilty: "Mimi, don't let me get carried away. I have a boyfriend."
"Tangtang, can you be a little tougher? If you want to break up with that Qiu guy, just do it cleanly. It's not right to keep having such an on-again, off-again relationship?" Yang Mi felt sorry for her friend.
Tang Yan didn't want to dwell on this topic any further, so she quickly changed the subject: "You're only talking about me. What about you? I heard that Lao Liu wants to get back together with you?"
"I'm not like you. If we break up, we should do it cleanly. A good horse never turns back." Yang Mi said in a firm tone.
"Besides, I'm about to start my own business, so I have to focus all my energy on work and don't have the time to think about love affairs."
She has decided to be a career-oriented woman. Right now, love is far less important to her than career.
The red carpet of the National Drama Festival has been spread out like a long river of gold. The stars are dressed in gorgeous clothes and walking on the light. Their fluttering sleeves weave a brilliant starry sky. The noisy voices overflow the fence and surge into a tide in the night.
But no one noticed that the WeChat app in their pockets was quietly brewing a revolution.
At the same time, the chill of the winter solstice was climbing along the window lattices of Tsinghua University.
In the girls' dormitory of Tsinghua University, Liu Yuqing curled up at the head of the bed, her fingertips entwined with the earphone cord, and chatted with her mother on WeChat.
"Mom, I'm not going home tomorrow. My sister-in-law is here to pick me up to try on bridesmaid dresses. Then I'll stay at Jingyuan for one night and go back to school directly on Sunday."
"Don't bother your brother all the time." Mother's advice came with warmth.
"I know." Liu Yuqing responded with a smile.
When I hung up the phone, a notification suddenly popped up at the top of the phone screen - WeChat version 4.0 has been updated, adding a Spring Festival red envelope function and optimizing the voice intercom experience.
"Red envelope?" Liu Da's campus beauty paused. WeChat, which her brother treasured like a treasure, hadn't added any new features in a long time.
While thinking, I started updating.
The update progress bar ran out quickly, and when the WeChat icon lit up again, there was an icon that looked like a New Year's envelope at the bottom of the chat interface, and the word "red envelope" below it was particularly eye-catching in the dim dormitory.
"Is there a bug in WeChat? Where did this red envelope button come from?" roommate Liu Jiajia exclaimed.
"Jia Jia, don't be so jumpy. You scared me." Yu Ying rolled her eyes and typed on the keyboard. "Are you stupid? Didn't you see the update notification? Do you understand the new features?"
Liu Yuqing fiddled with it for a long time and was about to click on the red envelope icon when his phone suddenly vibrated.
When I opened the friend list, I saw a red envelope jumping next to the avatar of my friend "Minnesota Iron Man".
As the name suggests, a red envelope definitely involves money. Liu Yuqing hesitated for a moment, but curiosity ultimately overwhelmed her hesitation.
The moment I clicked on the red envelope, an animation exploded with tiny golden lights—12.21 yuan. My WeChat balance increased by exactly the same amount, not a fraction.
"Thank you, I'll try the new feature too." She replied, not wanting to owe anyone a favor.
Just as his fingertip was about to fall, the Minnesota Iron Man replied in an instant: "No need! Today is the Winter Solstice. I saw the update on WeChat and sent this number. It's a Winter Solstice greeting."
"Then I'll send it to someone else." As Liu Yuqing was typing, the other party suddenly sent a pleading message: "No, Yang Liu! We haven't chatted for several days. If you want to send a red envelope, please send it to me."
Liu Yuqing was stunned for a moment, but still sent back a red envelope of equal value.
The other party sent a message immediately after receiving it, and the words were full of joy: "Thank you Yang Liu! Are you going home tomorrow weekend?"
"No reply," Liu Yuqing felt that the topic was a bit deliberate, but she still replied habitually, "My brother is getting married on New Year's Day, I want to be a bridesmaid, and I'm going to try on clothes tomorrow."
"Then you must be more beautiful than the bride."
"My sister-in-law is very beautiful. She has a very gentle appearance and is the most beautiful girl in the light-colored category."
"You're not bad either. We each have our own merits."
"You talk as if you've seen me before." Liu Yuqing curled her lips.
Mingzhou Iron Man is an online friend she met through WeChat Shake. The two have been chatting for more than a year but have never met offline. After all, he is just the "Iron Man" on the other side of the screen.
In a male dormitory of a university in Hangzhou, the winter wind outside the window blew dead leaves against the glass.
The Minnesota Iron Man sat at his desk, his phone screen was so bright that it was a bit dazzling. He typed and deleted the words in the WeChat chat box, and deleted and typed again.
He originally wanted to ask Yang Liuyiyi to send a photo of herself trying on the bridesmaid dress, but with his fingertip hovering over the send button, he ultimately couldn't muster up the courage and pressed delete.
After chatting with this netizen for over a year, he had already pieced together the outline of the other person from the clues in his circle of friends: the ginkgo path in Tsinghua University, the desk lamps in the library, the occasional mention of family gatherings...
The purity and innocence hidden in the text, like the warm light in the winter night, made him repeatedly test the boundary between virtuality and reality, and willingly indulge in this gentle adventure.
Because they had never met before, they could be open and honest with each other and had no scruples. The fantasy and expectation, the heartbeat behind the screen, and the anonymous romance made him fall in love with Yang Liu Yiyi unknowingly.
Just as I was lost in thought, someone patted my shoulder.
My roommate leaned over and teased, "Ah Xing, you're obsessed with that Tsinghua girl again? This online romance is almost a year old, right?"
Another roommate came over and added, "I bet five bags of spicy noodles that she's probably a 200-pound girl, otherwise why wouldn't she post a photo for a year?"
With a light snort, the Minnesota Iron Man unconsciously stroked the screen with his fingertips: "Impossible."
"Okay, you're going crazy again." My roommate shook his head and sighed. "But honestly, your love for love's sake is quite pure. There are no material entanglements, no complicated calculations, and none of the twists and turns of reality. It's great."
"Is there really no photo of her on WeChat Moments?" someone asked, "At least we should know what she looks like, right?"
"I looked through it all, and it's all scenes of Tsinghua University campus, or scenes I took casually." Minnesota Iron Man subconsciously clicked on Yang Liuyiyi's circle of friends.
My fingertips brushed across a photo of the sunset in the library—there was no one in the photo, but it exuded an indescribable cleanliness.
He suddenly looked up, his eyes sparkling: "But she is different."
"What's the difference?" the roommate poured cold water on her. "She's a Tsinghua University graduate, and her family seems well-off. She might just be treating you as a friend online to relieve her boredom. From what I see, you're just unrequited love."
The Minnesota Iron Man frowned and didn't respond. Those late-night sharing sessions, the instant replies to complaints, the tacit agreement that even the red envelope amounts had to coincide with the winter solstice date...
In the utopia built by words, it is clear that Yang Liu Yiyi has become the person he most looks forward to in his heart.
"I'm going to Peking to take the postgraduate entrance exam," he suddenly said, his voice low but full of persistence, "so I can go and see her."
The roommates looked at each other in bewilderment, ultimately shaking their heads in frustration. Everyone knew that this journey held too many unknowns.
But if it really comes true, the "Yang Liu Yiyi" who only lives in the text will probably become an irreplaceable fragment in Ah Xing's youthful memories, the brightest white moonlight in his heart.
After Liu Yuqing finished his conversation with the Mingzhou Iron Man, he enthusiastically sent WeChat red envelopes to his friends and had a lot of fun.
Yu Ying accepted the red envelope from Liu Yuqing and turned to look at her roommate Zhang Zetian, who was sitting quietly beside her. "Xiaotian, why are you so quiet? What are you busy with?"
Zhang Zetian raised her beautiful face and explained with a smile, "I was reading Tengda Group's introduction to the WeChat red envelope function."
Yu Ying immediately became interested, leaned over, and her eyes fell on Zhang Zetian's laptop screen.
I saw that the official Weibo of Tenda Technology Group just updated a content: Let your thoughts be within reach - WeChat version 4.0 has launched the "WeChat Red Packet" function!
Dear WeChat users,
As the year draws to a close, let's welcome the warmth! During this time of winter, a time for connecting and sharing warmth, the Tenda WeChat team is thrilled to officially launch WeChat Red Packets, a key feature of WeChat 4.0, to our global users!
This is not only a functional update, but also a heartwarming innovation in the traditional way of conveying thoughts under our vision of "connecting everything".
1. What is a “WeChat red envelope”?
WeChat red envelopes are a new electronic blessing tool built into WeChat chats. They perfectly combine my country's millennia-old customs of giving lucky money and congratulatory gifts with the convenience of the mobile internet.
Through WeChat red envelopes, you can instantly transfer the amount of money carrying blessings and thoughts to your relatives and friends on WeChat in a very ceremonial, safe and convenient way, no matter where they are.
2. Core Features: Simple, Fun, and Direct
1. Two red envelopes, choose as you like:
Regular Red Packet: Send a specific blessing! You can set a fixed amount and send it to a designated friend or everyone in a group chat.
Suitable for birthday wishes, thanks, gifts of a fixed amount, etc., to express clear intentions and maintain friendship.
Lucky Red Envelopes: Double the surprise and joy! You set the total amount and number of red envelopes, and the system will randomly allocate the amounts and generate the red envelopes.
The process of grabbing red envelopes is full of unknown fun, and "the best luck" can really ignite the atmosphere in the group! Whether it's a holiday celebration, a gathering with friends, or an active group chat, competing for lucky red envelopes is the perfect choice.
2. Extremely simple operation, just three steps to get it done...
3. Customized blessing messages to add the finishing touch...
4. Collection and recording are clear and transparent
Friends will receive a striking red envelope bubble prompt on the chat interface, and the "Open" button will appear in front of them. Click it to open the red envelope, and the amount will be immediately deposited into WeChat wallet.
The sender can clearly see in the "WeChat Pay" message or red envelope record: who received the red envelope, the amount received (lucky red envelope), and the red envelope status (whether it has been received, expired and returned).
3. Safety and security: we go all out
Tenda Technology Group and the WeChat team are fully aware of the importance of financial security. The WeChat red envelope feature is built on the solid security system of WeChat Pay.
4. Unlimited trial scenarios, connecting you and me with true love...
5. Experience it now and let the warmth flow...
Tenda Technology Group and the WeChat team are committed to using technological innovation to enhance user experience and connect people emotionally.
The birth of WeChat red envelopes stems from our respect for traditional culture and our infinite imagination of the future of mobile social networking.
We believe that this small electronic red envelope will carry the blessings and laughter of hundreds of millions of users, and will become a "palm-held" bridge connecting you and me and delivering warmth in this winter, in the upcoming Spring Festival, and every day in the future.
Let your heartfelt wishes no longer be limited by distance; let blessings be within reach. WeChat red envelopes make every moment worth celebrating even more heartwarming!
Sincerely, The WeChat Product Team of Tenda Technology Group
Winter Solstice, December 21, 2012
(The second update will be later, and there will also be the second update tomorrow)
(End of this chapter)
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