Little Singer King of Two-Dollar Stores and Brother Sunglasses
Ling Xi was discovered by a scout in an underground passageway. At that time he was wearing his uniform, holding a guitar, sitting on a small campstool he had brought and performing an original song he had written. The little guy looked pure, his singing voice sounded pure and even the way he laughed was pure.
The scout threw twenty dollars in the box in front of Ling Xi and struck up a conversation with him, asking him if he wanted to be a star. Ling Xi said, “I do.”
The scout asked, “Oh, then what is your name?” Ling Xi told the scout his name. The scout was curious, “Ling? This surname is quite rare.”
Ling Xi looked up at him, a naive look in his eyes. “How could it be? Ling Boli also has the surname Ling.”
At once, the scout made a decision: Such a mentally retarded child, he must take him in. A few days later, Ling Xi was accompanied by his parents to the agent company to sign a contract. The three members of the Ling family had the same kind of aura, which can be described as laidback and innocent, or even careless and absent-minded. Papa Ling flipped through the contract, he did not hire a professional lawyer and did not raise any objections. He turned to Ling Xi and said, “Son, sign it.”
Ling Xi replied, “Okay.”
The scout looked at this and felt anxious. He asked if they wanted to amend any of the terms, although the changes brought up may not be accepted by the agent company.
Mama Ling waved her hand dismissively, “There is nothing to amend. Anyway, he is already a big hit.”
At that time, Ling Xi had written the “Xi” character of his name wrongly. The scout stared in disbelief at the boy who wrote his own name “Xi” wrongly. He had written it wrongly three times, and was smeared all over the contract. Ling Xi threw the pen down and asked, “Can I write in Pinyin?” The scout replied of course not.
Ling Xi reluctantly took out his ID card and looked at the character “Xi” for a long time. He angrily said, “When I am done signing this contract, the first thing I want to do is change my stage name.”
At that time, Ling Xi strongly demanded that his stage name be changed using another “Xi(夕)” character instead of “xi(曦)”. (T/N: Ling Xi’s original character means first ray of morning sun. The character he wanted to change to can mean sunset and is easier as you can see but it does not sound very auspicious for a name).
But the agent company felt that this “Xi(夕)” did not sound very good and instead chose “xi(熙)” (T/N: This xi can mean bright, sunny). After changing his stage name, Ling Xi was entered in a strict and intensive training. When he signed the contract, Ling Xi was 15 years old and had just entered high school. He only had time to go to the company for training during weekends and summer vacation. Such training dragged on for two years before the company felt he was ready and sent him to join a singing competition. After joining rounds all over the country, during the third year of his high school and graduating, he finally won a third place in the entire country.
Winning third place in the whole country did not sound like much but for a small company that Ling Xi had signed to, it was one of the best awards that any of their artistes had won already. Wu Youpeng, the scout who discovered Ling Xi and who has been Ling Xi’s agent for the past 2 years was extremely happy. He dragged Ling Xi around to eat, drink and jump around all night. Ling Xi was quite excited. After all, it was the first award that he won. He could almost see a future of himself obtaining the title of “King of Songs” as he walked to the pinnacle of his career while taking a “Ms Perfect” for a wife.
After graduating from high school, under a campaign by the agent company, Ling Xi went to a music school and registered his name. He usually did not attend classes and was at the company every day writing and practicing songs. On this path of music, Ling Xi had some talent and furthermore, he had just won an award, having this buff as an additional success. Who knew the first record he released got universal acclaim, the song “Heart has Ling Xi” swept the top of all charts. In a single instant, his songs were being played in Two-Dollar stores, clothing shops and hairdressers. He also obtained a “nickname” – Little Singer King of Two-Dollar Stores.
It was estimated that he was cursed by this nickname. All the songs he released after had average sales but was widely used in massage shops that had special services, shops that sold hair accessories, as well as those stores that sold handphones to migrant workers, and some are considered as divine comedies, loved by choreographers of dancers at the public square.
“Ling Xi, I had to use several strings to get you this opportunity. You must seize it, okay?”
Since boarding the plane, Wu Youpeng’s mouth had not stopped for even a moment. Instead, Ling Xi who was being nagged at him all the way did not even have a trace of nervousness on his face. When the air stewardess walked past him, he even quickly grabbed her skirt and shook the empty glass in his hand, shyly asking, “Do you still have more orange juice?”
Wu Youpeng was so angered by Ling Xi that he rolled his eyes. Ling Xi was 26 years old this year. Other than his first record, the sales for the following records year after year was not as good and the traffic on the internet was quite average too. Fortunately, his songs has always been on the top five most downloaded ringtones of major telecommunication providers. Even though the profits from this channel was not very high, it still managed to block the mouths of the management in the company.
But because there were many new people debuting in the circle now, the “young grass” image that Ling Xi portrayed when he first debuted had long been taken over and buried by the new “tender meats”. Look at it, Ling Xi was sitting in economy class and no one even recognized him!
This time, Wu Youpeng used the friendship of an old friend, and was extremely thick-skinned, finally obtaining for Ling Xi an opportunity to sing the ending song of a Xian Xia drama. Furthermore, the screenwriter and him has known each other for a long time. In the script, there is a small cannon fodder that only appeared in two episodes for Ling Xi to act as! This was Ling Xi’s first acting role. This good news made Wu Youpeng so happy that he had not slept properly in a few days.
At this time, Ling Xi was keeping his cool, or you could say was being simple-minded. He was not nervous at all and even had the heart to ask the air stewardess for another set of lunch! The stewardess shook her head apologetically, “Sir, I am sorry but all the lunch sets were distributed out and there are no more extra sets left.”
Ling Xi was surprised. “But earlier I saw a cart being pushed back from the front and on the car there were some uneaten lunch sets left.”
The stewardess replied, “Sorry, those lunch sets were for the business class. The lunch set for the business class and economy class is different. I can’t…..”
Ling Xi interrupted her, “Do you know who is the person sitting before you right now?”
“….?”
“I am the Little Singer King of Two-Dollar Stores… mmph!”
Wu Youpeng’s hand moved fast and quickly covered his mouth before Ling Xi revealed his name. This brat, really had no image of an idol! The stewardess resisted rolling her eyes and asked, “Really sorry but we still have a few extra rolls of bread. If you want them, I can bring them over.”
Ling Xi nodded his head in dismay, “Bread is fine, but you have to give me two boxes of butter.”
Wu Youpeng was so angry that his nose became crooked. Ling Xi was born with a thin physique and no matter how much he ate, he could now grow fat. In the entertainment circle that pride on looks, his physique could indeed make others envious. He was very greedy and did not care about the quality of the food. As long as he could eat and it did not matter what kind of big event he faced, it would never affect his appetite. Wu Youpeng was now anxious about Ling Xi’s interview but Ling Xi was happily eating and drinking, not worried at all.
As the saying went, do not rejoice too soon for things could still go wrong. Ling Xi was drinking a cold drink while eating bread and not long after, he felt his stomach rumbling. He made an “Aiyo” sound, quickly got up and ran to the toilet. But both toilets at the front and back were occupied and the lines were long.
At this time, Ling Xi still had the mood to make a joke of himself: If he pooped in his pants on the plane, would he make the headlines? ….Ai, headlines for the entertainment section would never reach his turn but maybe the one for gossip could be obtained.
Ling Xi looked fair and handsome. A stewardess’s heart was moved by his appearance and secretly told him, “There is a toilet in the business class. If you’re really in need, I can bring you there.”
Ling Xi was so happy he kept calling her “Good meimei*(little sister)” non-stop. The stewardess kept smiling as she praised his silver tongue and led him to the business class curtain. “Quickly okay and there is a star on this plane so do not take pictures randomly.”
Ling Xi agreed quickly with his mouth but he was thinking inwardly: The star is right in front of you.
Ling Xi had a very clear goal and the moment he stepped into the business class, he went straight to the toilet.
The business class quite empty. Ling Xi saw a man wearing a mask and black sunglasses sitting at one of the aisles. There were people sitting all around him, front, back, left and right. Ling Xi had never eaten pork before but he has seen countless “pig runs” (T/N’: I am not very sure how to translate this slang in english). The radar in his head sounded and he confirmed those people were agents and assistants of the man in sunglasses.
The toilet in the business class was more spacious than the one in economy class. The toilet seat was covered with a plastic sheet that will be wrapped automatically. The toilet seat was not only warm, after shitting, there was also an automatic bidet spray to wash the butt.
Originally Ling Xi wanted to get it over and done with quickly, but the spray was just too comfortable for the water flow and temperature wad just right. He spent 5 minutes shitting and ten minutes washing.
He really liked this kind of toilet bowl with smart technology. If only he had an electrical socket because his toilet bowl at home, he would definitely install such a toilet bowl.
He was about to get up when suddenly, he heard the voices of two men outside the door.
“Xu ge(T/N:ge is like older brother), I am just going to use the bathroom. It is just a few steps, is it necessary to follow me?”
The man who first spoke had a very nice sounding voice. Ling Xi felt it sounded rather familiar.
“How can I let it be, lately you are only having just tomatoes or cucumbers. I have to follow your every step closely. what happens if you suddenly faint in the toilet?” The voice of second person obviously sounded older. Ling Xi guessed this person should be in his thirties.
“If you are worried about me fainting, don’t let me go on a diet.” The first man smiled bitterly. “Look at the movie you told me to take on. This role is so poor in the early stages. Everyday I am starving until it feels like I am half-dead but the director was still not satisfied.”
Ling Xi understood by listening. He guessed that the people standing outside the door were the mysterious” Brother Sunglasses” and his agent. Brother Sunglasses was on a diet for his recent role and the agent was worried he would starve to death. Thus, even following him to the toilet, worried then he would die just by shitting one poo out.
Ling Xi opened his ears wide and listened carefully. He hoped that conversation between the two men would reveal the identity of this brother in Sunglasses. In the entertainment circle, there wasn’t a shortage of gossip. Thus, he needed to absorb more “nutrients” and report to Wu Youpeng when he returned.
“That’s right, earlier what did the kid who entered the Business class want?” Brother Sunglasses’s agent asked.
“The stewardess came to apologize. She said that customer wanted to use the toilet so she brought him in.” Brother Sunglasses answered.
“What apology!” The agent gave a dismissive snort. “Those stewardesses are clearly just using chances to come over and speak with you more… and you are also too friendly,agreeing to autographs and photos…okay,okay don’t glare at me… you’re not at fault, I will shut up okay?”
Brother Sunglasses gave an indistinct hm sound.
Sitting on the toilet bowl, Ling Xi listened with envy. When would he be able to communicate with Wu Youpeng so firmly? Wu Youpeng was his agent but was stricter with him than his own parents. Often, with just a glare from Wu Youpeng, Ling Xi would obediently listen.
The agent standing outside the door asked again, “But why did we not see that kid leave?”
Brother Sunglasses answered, “Maybe he left when we were taking photos. There are so many people, we won’t be able to keep track.”
Ling Xi snickered silently. These two were too stupid. He was hiding in the Business class toilet and had overheard their entire conversation. Didn’t the both of them realise that the door was locked from the inside and outside there is the sign which showed locked in red… Wah fuck!
Turned out the stupid one was him, Ling Xi! He was too anxious to go to the toilet earlier that he did not lock the door! He guessed that outside showed that the toilet was vacant. Hence, the Brother Sunglasses and his agent could chat outside the toilet and was not worried about people overhearing their conversation.
Brother Sunglasses continued speaking, “Alright, you go back first. If I do not come out after a long time, then you can come and look for me.”
Ling Xi could not let him in! He wanted to bear his idol baggage a little while longer! However, he was helpless as the size of the toilet in the Business class was twice the size of the one in the economy class. Sitting on the toilet bowl, even with his arms stretched out, he could not reach the latch of the door. And the person outside was about to enter…
Ling Xi did not hesitate any further. Without even pulling up his trousers, he got up and jumped forward towards the door. However, at that unfortunate moment, the plane suddenly met with a turbulence and jerked. The folding door was not touched by anyone but opened due to the impact.
Brother Sunglasses, “….”
Brother Sunglasses’s agent, “….”
Ling Xi who was half-naked and embarrassed, “… Hi?”
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