Chapter 78 - Interview Show

“Inspirational Life” was a show hosted by a famous host in Chinese Television System, Zhao Qun. It specialized in finding real life, inspirational stories from the common folk.

The ratings weren’t spectacular, but it had a huge influence. The older generation loved it especially.

Yun Xiangxiang and Yang Qi arrived at the scene in military training clothes. The two sets of clothes Yang Qi tried out in the makeup room didn’t make him look as energetic as when he was wearing the green military clothes. That was what the program planner thought.

They decided to not apply any makeup; they only straightened the clothes and combed their hair. Both of them would go up there in their military training clothes.

“Don’t be nervous later,” Yun Xiangxiang noticed that Yang Qi was clenching his fists and breathed deeply. She calmed him down smilingly.

“Let’s give it up for our stars of today’s ‘Inspirational Life’,” Zhao Qun yelled after the opening credits rolled.

The stage door of where they stood yawned open. The applause from the live audience greeted them.

Yun Xiangxiang gripped Yang Qi’s wrist when she saw him freeze. He was almost dragged to the center of the stage by her.

“Hello, Mr. Zhao,” Yun Xiangxiang graciously shook hands with Zhao Qun first.

Yang Qi imitated Yun Xiangxiang, “Hello, Mr. Zhao.”

“Hello,” Zhao Qun shook hands with them too. He then stood between both of them, “Let’s get the introductions going.”

Zhao Qun also spotted Yang Qi’s stiffness. He turned his gaze to Yun Xiangxiang.

“Hi everyone. I’m Yun Xiangxiang. I’m a freshman who just got into university,” Yun Xiangxiang kept her introduction simple to not pressurize Yang Qi. However, her smile was gorgeous and received the audience’s applause in return.

The ratings for the live broadcast were also phenomenal. Huan Yu Century Entertainment didn’t hold back on the publicity department these three days.

[The goddess has her natural look on! She’s so pretty!]

[I had always thought that the military training clothes were ugly. Now I know that I’m the ugly one.]

[I envy the inspirational brother to be able to go on a show with the goddess!]

Yang Qi cooled off a little immediately after that, “Hi everyone, I’m Yang Qi. Not the belle, but the weirdo. [1]”

His statement livened up the atmosphere. Yun Xiangxiang smiled encouragingly.

“Seems that both of the top students are very busy. They came straight to the show in military training clothes.” Zhao Qun took it away with a smile, “Come have a seat. Let us talk about your story.”

[What does ‘your story’ mean? Why did you put it so ambiguously? I’ll send a razor blade to the station![2] ]

[The one above me, are you stupid? That’s Chinese Television System. Do you have a death wish by sending a razor blade to them?]

[Just send it to Zhao Qun {😄}]

Both Yun Xiangxiang and Yang Qi were wearing headsets. They sat on an arc sofa and consciously left a space of one person between them. Zhao Qun sat across to them.

“Everyone knows that the two students sitting next to me are top students who just enrolled into Qingdao University. Yun Xiangxiang was even admitted as the nation’s top. She is truly the top student among the top students.”

“From what I know, you were already a top student since you were little, is that true?” Zhao Qun glanced at Yun Xiangxiang after he said that to the audience with, Yun Xiangxiang responded with a polite smile later on.

“My family had an advantage. My father’s a teacher,” Yun Xiangxiang replied, “I started learning earlier than most kids.”

“So you didn’t go out to play and only studied at home since you were little?”

“Not exactly. Kids will naturally thirst to learn when they reach a certain stage. They will learn faster at school once they learn it at home. Once they know more than the other kids and get some praise from the teachers, they would learn harder due to their vanity.”

Yun Xiangxiang answered smilingly, “It would be hard to stop once excellency became a habit and learning became a way of life. The longing for playtime would be reduced.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Seems that Xiangxiang is a self-disciplined type,” Zhao Qun gave a slight laugh before focusing the topic on another star, Yang Qi, “Yang Qi should be the hardworking type. I heard that your grades weren’t particularly great when you were little.”

Yang Qi touched the back of his head abashedly, “My grades were only slightly above average since I was a kid. I have never gotten into the top ten before Grade Twelve.”

“Is the goddess sitting beside you the reason behind your diligence?” Zhao Qun gestured at Yun Xiangxiang.

Yang Qi nodded.

“Can you share it with me in detail?”

Yang Qi thought for a while before he spoke, “It was around new year’s time during the winter break. My classmates in the chat group said that “Caring Love” was great. A lot of them even teased me because my name sounds like the female protagonist played by the goddess.”

“But we lived in a farming village. There wasn’t a cinema there. I would have to go on a two hour drive into the county for it. A ticket’s price was a week’s worth of my living expenses. I couldn’t bear to spend that kind of money if the fee for the round trip was added. That was why I didn’t go to watch it. But I do follow the goddess’s Weibo.

Yang Qi looked at Yun Xiangxiang apologetically when he said that, but immediately added, “Even though I didn’t watch ‘Caring Love’ in the cinemas, I did work part time during the summer break and watched ‘University Dream’ in the theatre.”

Everyone thought that his eagerness was adorable.

“En, thank you for supporting ‘University Dream’.” Yun Xiangxiang also chimed in to help him calm his nerves.

How much does a film ticket cost in your country?” Zhao Qun got quite interested.

“Twenty yuan.” Yang Qi replied curtly.

“In other words, twenty yuan is your living expenses for five days?” Zhao Qun was aghast.

Yang Qi nodded, “It’s plenty. Sometimes I could even have a yuan or two left over.”

“Not even four yuan [3] for a day. What do you have for your three meals?”

“Things are cheaper in our county. A mantou or an egg for breakfast costs fifty cents. I’ll go for dishes that cost two yuan in the canteen for lunch. It was basically either potatoes or some rolls that cost a yuan for dinner.”

Yang Qi answered earnestly, “My grandma would give me a can of pickles when I went home every week, some salted duck eggs or seafood sauce. I only needed to buy some rice if I brought these to school. They make a tasty meal.”

“What about water?”

“There’s a water dispenser in the classroom. It’s free flow.”

He would fill his belly with water if he wasn’t really hungry just to save some money. That was exactly like what Xia Hong did in ‘University Dream.’ It was also why he was so fond of Yun Xiangxiang. But he was embarrassed about it. He also didn’t want his parents to be worried if they found out.

“You might be called Yang Qi, but you have Xia Hong’s life,” Zhao Qun said with a genial laugh.

“Oh no, I have it much better than Xia Hong. I may live in a farming village, but it wasn’t deep in the mountains. My parents didn’t ignore my presence either. They already did their best to give me whatever they could. There were a lot of children in our village that graduated from junior high, but dropped out in senior high. Some had bad grades, some had family issues. I still have a sister. My parents are also nice to her,” Yang Qi elaborated, “I think I am really blessed.”

Folks had tears welled up in their eyes inexplicably when they saw Yang Qi’s silly grin.

“Why didn’t you work hard before this?” Zhao Qun suddenly asked a slightly biting question.

“I used to think that that was all us rural kids could amount to. Everyone seemed to be like that one way or another. It was nothing,” Yang Qi replied.

“You didn’t have a goal you would strive for? Won’t your teacher encourage you guys regularly?”