Chapter Thirty-Nine: Fruit Tangyuan

In the backstage office, the station director and a few others stared intently at the computer screen.
“How is it?” the director asked.
“It’s already past five!” a staff member replied.
“Come on, let’s keep pushing!”
“It’s past six, director! It’s past six!” The staff member turned around, excitement in his voice.

At the front of the stage.
Jiang Yun, dressed in green, sang with deep emotion: “I stand by the cradle of the infant, you patrol the border of our motherland. I till the fields in my hometown, you stand guard in the frontier…”

“Director, it’s past seven!”
“Whoo-hoo!” Everyone cheered with excitement.
“Wuhu!”

At the front.
Jiang Yun finished his performance.
“Wow!”
The audience erupted in applause, some wiping tears from the corners of their eyes.

On the online platform, live streaming was simultaneous, and viewers were going wild, flooding the screen with comments.
“I never thought Jiang Yun could sing revolutionary songs!”
“Jiang Yun is truly an all-round artist!”
“Love Jiang Yun!”
“Long live Jiang Yun!”

Backstage, Zhu Wen waited as Jiang Yun removed his makeup.
“Teacher Jiang Yun, thank you so much for saving the day this time.”
Jiang Yun finished, waved his hand, “It’s nothing, don’t mention it!”
“Teacher Jiang Yun, let’s not waste words, give me your bank card number!”
“6217 xxxx …” Jiang Yun recited his card number.

“Ding!”
A phone notification sounded. Jiang Yun took out his phone, glanced, and confirmed the transfer.
“21:10, five million yuan transferred.”
Jiang Yun looked at the digits, counting, unit, ten, hundred, thousand…
“Five million!”
“I’ve received the transfer!” Jiang Yun lifted his head and said.

“Teacher Jiang Yun, are you going home now?”
“Yes, I’m going home!”
“There’s one last program, won’t you stay to watch?” Zhu Wen asked.
“No.”
“Alright, I’ll have someone drive you back!”
“Okay!”

The tranquil night of Mid-Autumn.
Jiang Yun sat in a Jaguar, quietly gazing out the window.

The car slowly stopped at the noodle shop from earlier in the day.
Jiang Yun’s home was just behind the noodle shop, the house connected to the shop.
He got out, walked to the rolling shutter, and knocked.
“Old Jiang, someone’s at the door, maybe our son’s back. Go open it.”
Jiang Jun shuffled to the door, pulled it open. Jiang Yun’s figure appeared in sight.
“You rascal, you’re finally back. I was about to fall asleep—your mother and I have been waiting for you! Hungry and tired!”
Jiang Yun entered, rubbing his shoulders. “It’s so cold!”
Autumn in the north is like this; nights are especially chilly.

Jiang Yun sat at the dining table. Shen Hua brought the dishes over. “Son, eat quickly, everything’s still warm!”
Jiang Yun couldn’t help but ask, “Why didn’t you eat first?”
“It’s Mid-Autumn! How could we celebrate without you?” Jiang Jun replied.
“Sigh~”
Jiang Yun sighed inwardly, realizing today’s events were due to his own oversight.

The family sat down to eat, laughter and conversation filling the air.
Jiang Yun had wanted to bring up buying a house, but seeing Jiang Jun and Shen Hua, supporting each other, living most of their lives in the noodle shop, he simply couldn’t say it.
“Wait a bit longer, talk about it later!” Jiang Yun thought to himself.

He rested at home for two more days, bought a ticket, and flew straight from Jiangnan to Xiaoxiang.
Because the second episode of the first season of “Longing for Life” was about to start filming.

In an old residential area of Magic City, Li Lulu stood outside Jiang Yun’s rented apartment, knocking on the door.
“Is the boss heartbroken, not willing to see me anymore?” Li Lulu sighed.
“Maybe I should call him,” she mused, but quickly abandoned the idea.

Li Lulu returned to her own place, lying on the bed, her thoughts in turmoil, imagining all sorts of things.
“Will the boss never see me again?”
“What should I do?”

“Ding!”
Her phone rang. Li Lulu glanced at it. It was a bank deposit notification.
“Who transferred ten thousand yuan to me?”
“Ding!”
Another bank notification, accompanied by a text message.
“I’m going to Xiaoxiang to record the show, can’t come back. This ten thousand is your salary, the other ten thousand is deducted. Go buy yourself something good to eat—reward yourself!”
“Yay!”
Reading the message, Li Lulu jumped up from the bed in excitement.

Meanwhile—
“Sir, the plane is about to take off. Please turn off your electronic devices!”
“Alright!” Jiang Yun turned off his phone.
He put on an eye mask and quickly drifted into sleep.
When Jiang Yun woke again, the plane had already arrived in Xiaoxiang.

Jiang Yun confidently exited the airport, found his driver, and got into the Cadillac.
He returned to the familiar crossroads, turned left, and walked toward the Mushroom House.
The door was open. Jiang Yun entered.
“Oh my god, look who’s here! Our all-round star has arrived!” He Ling opened his arms, giving Jiang Yun a big hug.
Huang Kang came over. “Just now, He Ling and I were saying, counting the time, you should be here!”
“Teacher Huang, is your leg alright now?”
“All fine, look!” Huang Kang hopped a couple of times.

“As usual, He Ling and I will go pull up radishes, Jiang Yun will watch the house!”
“Teacher Huang, how about I go pull up radishes, and you rest more?” Jiang Yun offered.
Huang Kang stroked his chin in thought. “Alright, I’ll slack off today!”

Jiang Yun and He Ling took hoes and headed to the vegetable patch to harvest radishes.
By the time they returned, it was already half past five.
Jiang Yun entered the Mushroom House, finding three unfamiliar faces inside—two men and a woman.
The woman was petite, one man tall and thin, the other of average build.
The average-built man stepped forward, extending his hand. “Hello Jiang Yun, I’m Chen Chi.”
Jiang Yun shook his hand, smiling back.
The tall, thin man came over. “I’m Deng Xin.”
Jiang Yun shook hands, both smiling.
Deng Xin pointed at the petite woman. “She’s Yang Ying!”
Deng Xin whispered to Jiang Yun, “She always goes off-key when she sings.”
“Hehe,” Jiang Yun chuckled.

“What are you whispering about, Deng Xin!” Yang Ying frowned, shouting.
Yang Ying’s ears were sharp; even Deng Xin’s quiet complaint was heard.
Jiang Yun quickly stepped in. “What dishes did you all order? Is Teacher Huang Kang going to be troubled again?”
“I ordered Three Cup Chicken!” Deng Xin said.
“I ordered fruit tangyuan,” Yang Ying chimed in.
“I ordered the simplest,” Chen Chi said, hands in his pockets. “Just iron plate squid.”
“Yeah, right! You call that simple?” Deng Xin laughed, scolding him. “We’re in the wilderness, where are we supposed to find an iron plate?!”
Jiang Yun stood aside, his eye twitching.

“You’ve got nerve to say that!” Huang Kang stormed over, angry.
Jiang Yun smiled quietly—every time it was time to order, Huang Kang’s fury was inevitable.
“You!” Huang Kang pointed at Yang Ying. “You’re the one with all the tricks. The dishes those two ordered are normal, but your fruit tangyuan is going to be the death of me!”
“Teacher Huang~” Yang Ying looked at Huang Kang with pitiful eyes. “I just wanted to eat it~”
“……”