Chapter 152: Driving a Tiger to Devour a Wolf
After finishing her song, Li Sishi politely bowed towards the audience, then quickly returned to the side of the stage to shake hands with the wealthy boss who had donated money to support her performance in order to express her gratitude.
"Our whole family loves your singing. This new song is so catchy and easy to sing along to, it's sure to be a hit!" the wealthy boss said cheerfully.
Li Sishi quickly smiled and thanked her boss again for his financial support, then left the stage amidst the good-natured laughter of the host and the audience.
Before it was time for her to play games, the very "career-minded" Li Sishi went to the donation hotline center to check the donations received when she sang: it was pretty good. The song was popular with all ages, and the list of donors included people who donated thousands or tens of thousands of yuan, as well as children who donated ten or twenty yuan.
Not bad, it's a pretty good start. I'll see if I can "negotiate" the game part with the big donors later.
Specific performances are usually at a fixed price, but for games, the hosts and artists can haggle with the philanthropists using their thick skin—Li Sishi, having attended so many charity galas, had long ago figured out a trick for making money off the big shots…
Sitting at the donation hotline center, Li Sishi rested while helping the operators record the donation list and amount. Before long, she heard the host say the lines for the game.
So she quickly left the donation hotline center and followed the group of artists playing the game to the center of the stage. Following the order of the lottery slips, she sat down at the table next to the answer table corresponding to the number on her slip.
Although there were two male celebrities on the show with whom she had somewhat ambiguous relationships, she drew a pretty good seat this time. It wasn't a sandwich that was likely to lead to some interesting events, but rather the one on the far left of the question-and-answer table.
Counting to the right, there's the game black hole plus her cheap senior brother who hasn't quite figured out his feelings yet, and then there's the straightforward cat who sneaks peeks in her direction from time to time.
However, with a table between them, it wasn't appropriate to make any obvious moves in the early morning. Peeking around furtively like this was already flirting with being caught by the cameras and the audience...
Li Sishi inwardly scoffed at the straightforward cat's love-struck mind once again, but outwardly she remained quite quiet, watching the hosts with an obedient demeanor as she waited patiently for the questions to be answered.
Because the main focus is on helping people with disabilities, the charity gala was also quite unique, with the rules for the Q&A session differing slightly from typical quiz games: This session
The question is phrased in reverse word order, so respondents are required to first understand the content of the question before providing an answer.
The original intention behind these games was to allow able-bodied people to experience the daily lives of disabled people, so that they could understand how important a healthy body is through empathy.
Things that seem simple to able-bodied people are incredibly difficult for people with disabilities.
The games they are playing now are designed for people with hearing impairments. Normally, the order of words does not affect the understanding of the content when reading, but if they cannot hear clearly or understand what they are hearing, then it is quite difficult to communicate and respond.
Similarly, there are other interactive games such as blindfolded games and leg-binding games, but these are for other celebrities to participate in.
The first question was relatively simple. The requirement was to understand what the host said in reverse order, and then repeat it in the correct order.
Li Sishi listened intently for a while, then immediately started pressing the buzzer on the table.
"Okay, Meili is the first to press the buzzer. Haha, she really lives up to her reputation as a smart girl who used to lead teams to participate in inter-school knowledge competitions. It will be difficult for you guys to beat her..." The host teased Li Sishi.
After successfully reciting the poem in the correct order, Li Sishi smiled confidently, making the audience laugh along with her smug little face.
The questions then became more difficult, no longer simple word problems, but gradually incorporating mathematical problems.
Despite her strong competitive spirit, Li Sishi didn't want to bully the other contestants too much. She quickly calculated the points in her mind and would occasionally slow down her typing speed to give others a chance to press the buzzer.
The frustrating thing is that even though she went easy on them, the scores of the group next to her were still appalling...
Especially Cheng Erjian, who isn't good at math, and Ling Chen, who studied abroad in middle school and therefore has less knowledge of classical Chinese poetry—these two are faster in reaction and hand speed than others, but they often make mistakes when answering questions, and their scores almost end up being negative after adding and subtracting. They can be described as unfortunate brothers in the world of answering questions...
Soon, the game became more difficult. The host, who was in charge of reading the questions, no longer read them into a microphone, but into a paper cup—which extended to each answer table.
This is a "paper cup telephone" game that children often play.
"Come out, lose, shoe, foot, side, left, will..."
The host read the title aloud in a low voice, and Li Sishi and the other contestants pressed their ears tightly against their paper cups, afraid that they might have misheard something.
The world of people with hearing impairments is indeed a world that makes people with hearing impairments feel very uncomfortable.
Li Sishi listened to the question being read three times in a row. Only then, amidst the blank and confused expressions of the others, did she take off the strappy high heel of her left foot and place it on the table, while forcefully pressing the buzzer button with the other hand to begin answering the question: "Throw out the shoe from your left foot!"
"Not only do we have to talk about it, but we also have to do it!" another host, Sister Yuan, reminded her.
Sister Yuan's full name is Tang Yuanyuan. She is a long-time employee of TBL since its inception and is known as one of the "treasures of the station" along with Sister Zhuang. However, compared to Sister Zhuang's dignified style, she has a cheerful and bubbly style that matches her round figure and sweet name. She is a timeless and popular emcee.
"Coming right away!" Li Sishi stood up on one leg with the shoes in her hand, and then jumped out amidst laughter, throwing the strappy high heels in her hand forward.
"Okay, okay, go back now." Host Sister Yuan quickly waved her hand to go back, and then called to the assistant host who was helping to hold the question and requirement board, "Jiale, help Meili pick up her shoes."
Li Sishi nodded and turned to hop back to her original position like a one-legged crow, but unexpectedly, the cotton thread connecting the paper cup to her feet was accidentally touched by the assistant host Jia Lezai who went to pick up the shoe.
The cotton thread was pulled up several centimeters off the ground, and Li Sishi, who could have easily hopped back to her seat, was immediately thrown into the air, tripping and nearly falling forward.
"Watch out!" Amid the gasps of the audience, Cheng Erjian, who was closest to her, rushed out and pulled her firmly into his arms.
Li Sishi looked up in shock and met a pair of light brown peach blossom eyes filled with worry.
"Are you alright?!" Cheng Erjian helped her up, half-carrying her, and asked with concern.
"It's nothing, thank you so much, senior brother. Luckily you acted in time." Li Sishi quickly shook her head and replied with a smile.
Meanwhile, Jia Lezai, the assistant host who had picked up her shoes, quickly grabbed the microphone and apologized to Li Sishi after handing the shoes to Ling Chen, who had come to help but was a step too late: "I'm sorry, Meili, I wasn't paying attention..."
"It's alright, I'm not hurt. Luckily, my senior brother is both caring and agile; he caught me as soon as he appeared." - Cheng Erjian
After breaking free from his embrace, Li Sishi quickly waved her hand to indicate that she was alright.
"It's alright, it's alright, everyone go back to your seats and continue answering questions!" Seeing that no accidents had occurred, Sister Yuan quickly smoothed things over, "Haha, Meili, you've actually 'benefited from misfortune' this time. Most people can only experience one segment, but you also got to experience another segment involving mobility impairments—so, what are your thoughts on this?"
"My thoughts? My thoughts are that we really need to cherish our health; health is truly hard-won." Li Sishi naturally took Cheng Erjian's hand, and with his help, returned to her seat. She immediately responded into the microphone on the answer table.
This natural and fluent response seemed to perfectly smooth over the unexpected incident that had just occurred.
However, this is only the opinion of those who are unaware of the inside story.
As she walked back in the early hours of the morning carrying this strappy high heel, she deliberately gave Li Sishi a joking look when she passed by: "Is it convenient for you? Do you want me to help you put it on?"
"I can do it myself!" Sensing that he seemed to have noticed something, Li Sishi quickly took the shoes back.
In the early hours of the morning, she handed the shoes to the original owner, and then, seemingly with light steps, returned to her seat along with the other artists who had rushed out to help after witnessing the accident.
It's hard to say whether to feel sorry or relieved, but his seat was a little bit further away from Li Sishi than Cheng Erjian's.
But it was precisely because of this small distance that he was able to see clearly some things that he had intentionally or unintentionally overlooked in this unexpected event.
It turns out that, at some point, the old friend no longer wanted to be a "cheap senior brother" or "cheap uncle," but instead wanted to join this century-long battle to pursue beauty.
Although Li Sishi quickly described Cheng Erjian's rush to pick someone up as "brotherly love," among all the people who rushed out to help, the two people who were most concerned and nervous were the ones who both had her in their hearts.
Especially Cheng Erjian's swift, almost subconscious, rush out—he was right there, watching his "uncle" rush out faster than him, then revealing a look of utter concern on his face…
Fortunately, reason told him not to do anything; otherwise, he might not have been able to react in time.
Going to the other side to help pick up the shoes was also to create some distance, so that I wouldn't get too excited and impulsively do something to this rabbit that was nibbling on the grass near its burrow.
What kind of extreme behavior is being targeted?
With the three people on the left each having their own thoughts, the game seemed to come to a satisfactory end after two more action questions.
The biggest winner of this round was undoubtedly Li Sishi, the quiz queen.
Taking advantage of the near fall, Li Sishi cleverly conspired with the host, Sister Yuan, to persuade a philanthropist who came to donate to give her an extra 100,000 yuan as a "soothing fee"...
Backstage, Li Sishi tidied herself up a bit, told her assistant, and then quietly went to find Ling Chen to have a proper talk with him.
The implication is that she feels she is still young and wants to focus on her career—this not only allows her to reject the confession made before midnight but also indirectly explains her situation with Cheng Erjian.
"I understand what you're thinking." Without the jealousy or sadness Li Sishi had anticipated, Ling Chen said calmly, "Actually, I could pretty much guess your answer already..."
"I'm sorry," Li Sishi said sincerely.
"You don't need to apologize. Someone likes you, but you don't want to reciprocate their feelings right now. It's not your fault, it's me who's causing you trouble. I should be the one apologizing." Ling Chen shook his head and forced a smile.
Seeing how pitiful he looked, Li Sishi's tone softened slightly: "Actually... it's not that I didn't mean it at all, it's just that I really don't have that plan right now, so I can only refuse you..."
“It’s okay.” Ling Chen turned to look at him. “You said it was ‘temporary,’ so no one can predict the future. I haven’t given up; I’ve just changed my approach to pursuing you in a way that I hope will make you more comfortable.”
"Although you can't accept my feelings right now, you should still be able to accept my pursuit, right?" He smiled.
Feeling like she'd been tricked, Li Sishi remained silent for a moment, but looking into his expectant, bright eyes, she finally sighed and said, "Fine, I really can't argue with you."
After indirectly answering his question with this sentence, Li Sishi planned to leave quickly to prevent herself from succumbing to temptation and agreeing to any more requests for concessions...
"Hey, wait a minute, aren't you going to Malaysia to promote your movie later?" Ling Chen suddenly called out to her.
"Yes, is there something you need?" Li Sishi turned around and, following her recent habit of being asked to stay, smiled and asked, "Would you like me to bring you some specific souvenir or gift?"
"It's not me, it's actually..."
"This is a gift for you." She pulled several concert tickets from her bag on the dressing table in the early morning. "These are company tickets—Hanyou will be touring to Malaysia back then. You can bring your friends to see it. I recently took on a movie role and have to start filming early, so I haven't had time to go."
"Really? Thank you so much! His concert tickets are so hard to get! Wow, here are a few!" Li Sishi took the tickets without suspicion and left happily.
Assistant Quan, who had been watching the whole thing silently, finally couldn't help but ask after Li Sishi's figure disappeared through the door: "Leo, why did you give the ticket to Ah May? I seem to remember Hanyou did too..."
Assistant Quan was Lingchen's high school classmate, having joined his side even earlier than Lei Jun. Over the years, through thick and thin, their relationship had grown stronger than that of brothers. Therefore, Lingchen only discovered that his "uncle" had become his love rival in the dressing room, and he spoke to Quan, feeling wronged and annoyed, for a while.
Then, after a series of kind words of persuasion from Ah Quan, she was able to calm down her turbulent emotions.
Otherwise, Li Sishi might not have been able to listen to her "response" so calmly when she came over in the early hours of the morning, and then she would have followed her lead and used her words to her advantage.
"Of course, many people will want a good girl, but I don't have time to stay by her side. And they're so far away, and they're even senior and junior brothers..." Ling Chen sighed helplessly, "I can only find someone to 'help' me take a look."
When you're caught between a tiger in front and a wolf behind, and you can't confront them head-on—
Rather than causing trouble and becoming annoying, it's better to feign generosity, quietly use one enemy to devour another, and then patiently wait for the day when you can reap the benefits.
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