Under duress, Wen Dongrong really accompanied Old Li to the lottery shop to pick a set of numbers.
“Old Li, engaging in this feudal superstition is not the way. Buying lottery tickets boils down to probability, after all…”
Old Li covered his ears, not wanting to hear Wen Dongrong’s long-winded lecture.
“Do you still want my help or not?”
“Of course!”
If he needed Old Li’s help, he had to show the right attitude. Wen Dongrong immediately changed his tune, wishing Old Li an early big win.
Old Li was satisfied and helped Wen Dongrong contact that wealthy reader on his behalf.
After learning the wealthy reader was only 16, Wen Dongrong did not even want to sell anymore. The reader got anxious instead: “So what if I am underage? Does being underage mean I cannot spend money to meet the author? My family all know about this money I am spending!”
The wealthy reader said her family fully supported her idolising Wen Ying.
Wen Dongrong had Old Li ask in detail and learned that this wealthy young reader, though only 16, was already a veteran fan.
She had been obsessed with Hong Kong stars before, then Korean stars. Before liking Wen Ying, she was a die-hard fan of Yu Tianlin… When Yu Tianlin’s persona collapsed, the young reader cried for days. After crying, she felt very lost.
With her idol brother’s persona ruined, the young reader turned grief into anger and stormed off to watch “The Galaxy and You”, the drama competing directly with her brother’s show!
She watched with the intent to pick faults, but after finishing, she exclaimed “it is actually great”.
Other viewers chased the drama for the male or female lead, but this young reader, freshly betrayed by Yu Tianlin, swore to resist all superficial attractions of looks. Thus, she fell for Wen Ying, the writer of the “The Galaxy and You” script.
She got into it through the drama episodes, then bought the tie-in novel of the same name after watching. That led her to “Teenage Idol”. Just then, Wen Ying held a five-city signing tour, and the young reader attended every single one, chasing Wen Ying across five cities for signatures. Although she had sworn to resist superficial looks and first loved the writer’s inner depth, only to discover the writer herself matched her aesthetic perfectly, one could only call it fate.
The enthusiasm she had for stanning before was now directed entirely at chasing Wen Ying.
The difference was that her previous idols, the various male stars, had plenty of public activities: concerts, TV shows and films, albums to replay endlessly, even photo books to savour. Now that her stanning had shifted to a writer, she found Wen Ying’s daily life far too low-key!
Low-key was good, though.
Compared to the array of male stars the young reader had fawned over before, Wen Ying, who rose to fame through writing, was a student at a top high school. The young reader’s family felt Wen Ying had far more substance than those male stars and could bring positive influence to a child, so they fully backed her current stanning pursuits.
After explaining her family’s stance and recounting her journey to liking Wen Ying, the young reader even moved Old Li to emotion.
Looking back, Wen Dongrong wore a smug expression, but his reason held firm: “Do not listen to her sweet talk. Tell her there must be a guardian present for any transaction.”
How heartless and cold!
Old Li accused with his eyes, but Wen Dongrong refused to budge on the condition.
The young reader had no choice but to agree.
One copy of “Seeking Yong” was worth 50,000 yuan, and mailing was impossible anyway. The young reader arranged a time with Old Li to come to Rong City and collect it in person.
Two days later, Old Li met this young wealthy reader outside the airport.
The young tycoon had a young man with her. She said her parents were busy with work, so her cousin was accompanying her.
Cousin… that barely counted as a guardian, right?
Old Li first handed over the “no.000600” copy of “Seeking Yong” for verification. The girl wiped her hands on her clothes before taking it, examining it carefully for a long time before nodding to her cousin beside her.
“Cousin, it is real!”
The young man reminded his cousin, “You looked it over properly?”
“I did. The group chat and forums all explained how to spot fakes. No mistake!”
The girl was very excited. The young man was a bit clueless, “We came all the way to Rong City, and you really just want to buy one book? Do you not know which school this writer attends? How about I take you to see her?”
“No!”
The girl refused outright: “Not disturbing Little Fish is our principle!”
So fans had principles too?
How peculiar!
The siblings were both straightforward. Once the book was confirmed real, they immediately went to a nearby bank to transfer the money to Old Li.
After the siblings left, Old Li handled the transfer at the counter, sending the money to Wen Dongrong. Wen Dongrong’s piggy bank was rarely so flush, so he immediately offered to thank Old Li for his efforts. Old Li declined the invitation.
“I will skip the meal. Tonight is the lottery draw. I need to head home early to watch!”
“You do you.”
This transaction left both sides very satisfied. Wen Dongrong turned the grand prize into cash, the young reader got her chance for a solo meeting with her idol, and even the middleman Old Li was pleased, full of anticipation to borrow Wen Dongrong’s good fortune.
Only the young man who accompanied his cousin to Rong City got nothing out of it.
The young man thought for a while and felt he could not come for nothing, so he called a university classmate: “Your family is in Rong City, right? I remember you said in a county under Rong City, not too far from the city centre? Why do I ask? I do not want anything. I am just asking if you want me to bring something back. I am in Rong City right now. Oh, I came with my cousin. She is stanning, chasing that ‘Fish Against the Current’… ”
Wen Kai, far away in the capital, received the call from his classmate and was utterly baffled.
The caller was the rich second-generation classmate who had been helping Wen Kai all along.
Sure enough, relatives of rich people were rich too. Hearing his rich classmate say his little cousin spent 50,000 yuan just to buy entry to a meeting with ‘Fish Against the Current’ and even flew to Rong City for it, Wen Kai was at a loss for words.
What to say?
That ordinary folk do not understand the world of the wealthy.
Or that these 50,000 yuan were spent too… Wen Kai bit back hard, not saying that ‘Fish Against the Current’ was his own cousin.
He owed his rich classmate many favours and would repay them when he had the means, never using Wen Ying to settle debts.
“No need to bring anything. If you have time to spare, I can recommend two eateries. The ambience is not great, but the food is truly delicious. They are hole-in-the-wall spots only locals know.”
Hole-in-the-wall spots?
The rich classmate lost interest, but his little cousin perked up.
“Go go go. Local-only small diners. Maybe Little Fish has eaten there too!”
Imagining eating at the same diner as Little Fish and tasting what Little Fish had eaten, the stanning girl was thrilled beyond measure.
Fine then. They were already here, and it was a special recommendation from Wen Kai, so it should not be too bad.
The siblings went to the hole-in-the-wall spot Wen Kai recommended.
On Saturday, the little diner was packed. They barely snagged a small table.
In the end, the one who suffered was still the rich classmate.
Not only did he cover the round-trip flights from the capital to Rong City for two, he also topped up the shortfall for his little cousin’s book purchase. Her pocket money was just over 20,000 yuan; the remaining over 20,000 was on him.
Worst of all, at the hole-in-the-wall spot Wen Kai recommended, the signature dishes were excellent. His little cousin bounced out full of energy after the meal, but he ended up with a bad stomach ache!
