Chapter 102: Don’t Praise Me to Death

The next day, Sunday at noon.

Yu Zhile was in the study composing and arranging music when he faintly heard his mother and wife chatting in the downstairs hall.

“Honey!”

Qin Haiyu suddenly called out. The moment Yu Zhile came out, she said with excitement, “Mighty Bull Group really did sponsor Dad’s card room!”

Yu Zhile said, “Your husband took care of it, so of course they had to sponsor it. But you two didn’t tell Dad that I was the one who found the sponsor for him, did you?”

Qin Haiyu said, “I didn’t say anything! Mom didn’t either!”

Yu Zhile asked, “How much did Mighty Bull Group pay for the naming rights?”

Yu’s mother spoke up then. “Your dad said it was ten thousand a month, and someone just went over there to sign a one-year contract with him!”

“Nice! Even a place like that got ten thousand a month. They must mostly have given such a high price for my sake!”

Yu Zhile asked curiously, “Did Dad say there were any conditions for the naming rights?”

Yu’s mother said, “Not really. The only thing is that the card room can’t sell other brands of dairy products anymore, and the signboard at the entrance has to be changed to add the advertisement. That’s about it.”

Yu Zhile said, “There should be some supply discounts too, right?”

Qin Haiyu replied, “There are! I just heard Dad say that cartons of milk that cost sixty-five yuan in the supermarket are now supplied to his card room for less than forty yuan after the sponsorship. It’s a lot cheaper!”

Yu Zhile smiled. “Then if Dad ever feels motivated, he could even act as a distributor for Mighty Bull Group’s dairy products and make quite a bit of money on the side!”

Yu’s mother shook her head. “If your father had that kind of drive, then you wouldn’t be a first-generation rich man. You’d be a second-generation rich man!”

Pfft!

Qin Haiyu laughed at her mother-in-law’s words.

Yu Zhile had to agree with his mother. His father really did have that slacker’s nature!

Content with a little wealth, that was his father’s philosophy of life. So growing up, the family in his memory had never been truly well-off, but they had never suffered poverty either.

That was why he rather admired his father’s mindset. Still, that was a mentality of the older generation. Young people now only wanted to make good money and enjoy both spiritual and material fulfillment.

And right now, Yu Zhile was enjoying himself very much.

He had a grand villa, a lovely wife, and a precious daughter.

In his spare time, he made music, showed off his affection, coaxed the child, and watered the flowers and plants.

When the baby got a little older, they could take her to the seaside to play, collect shells, catch crabs, and do all sorts of things together...

Every day would be so warm, so fulfilling, so carefree!

Just thinking about it felt delightful.

What Yu Zhile looked forward to most now was his wife getting pregnant with their second child. But for that kind of thing, the two of them left it to fate.

Toward evening, after dinner, his mother packed up some food for his father and then returned to their hometown, because Monday was coming and she had classes again tomorrow.

And that night, I Am a Singer began airing once more.

Yu Zhile held their clingy baby in his arms, fighting a wits-and-nerves battle with the lively little one as he watched television.

Ever since watching I Am a Singer, Yu Zhile had discovered that his wife had become a devoted viewer of the program. Every time she watched, she praised how beautiful the stage was and how wonderfully the singers performed.

That showed she still longed for the stage.

It was just that after becoming a wife and mother, even if a stage were laid out for her, she would consider the family and the child. However much she liked it, she would still resolutely give it up.

Looking at the serious way his wife stared at the television, Yu Zhile thought that once summer vacation arrived and Old Yang’s The Masked Singer was confirmed, he would let his wife participate and relax a little, enjoy herself a little.

Compared with I Am a Singer, he was sure his wife would like the format and rules of The Masked Singer even more.

But if she joined The Masked Singer, he could no longer prepare those songs for her. Otherwise, if every song was such a stunning new one the audience had never heard before, anyone could guess her identity by the end.

And then there would be no suspense at all.

What Yu Zhile found most interesting and most captivating about The Masked Singer was guessing the singers’ identities.

Especially those singers who were not easily recognizable. You thought he was one person, only to discover in the end that he was someone else entirely, and you were left mentally exclaiming, “Damn!”

That process was what made it most thrilling, most enjoyable.

...

Two weeks later.

Yang Bing sent a message: “It’s approved! The Masked Singer has been confirmed!”

Yu Zhile replied: “Congratulations! From now on, I’ll have to call you Director Yang!”

“Uh...”

Yang Bing was a little embarrassed. “Although I got the program approved, I still won’t be the director this time, because I don’t have much experience in directing. So even though The Masked Singer is the show I’m in charge of, the director will still be Director Zhang.”

Yu Zhile replied: “Then you’ll have to study hard under Director Zhang! Once you’ve built up your directing experience, you’ll be the backbone of Eastward Satellite TV’s variety shows!”

“Uh, stop trying to butter me up!”

Yang Bing was practically floating from what Yu Zhile said.

By now, I Am a Singer had already broken a 2 percent ratings share for three consecutive episodes. To be honest, he really was the heavyweight in the station’s variety department now...

After all, in the eyes of the leaders and his colleagues, that was exactly what he had become.

And precisely because of that, with Director Zhang’s help, he had managed to apply for a variety program of his own.

Of course, that also depended on the fact that the program he had planned, The Masked Singer, was eye-catching both in concept and in subject matter.

So after the station reviewed his proposal, they immediately approved it. And the preliminary funding allocated by the station was even higher than that of I Am a Singer!

That showed the leaders believed the market prospects of The Masked Singer were even better than those of I Am a Singer.

And so time flew by.

Two months later.

Children’s Day arrived, and Yu Zhile and his wife took their baby back to their county hometown. At the primary school where his mother taught, they spent the holiday together with the children.

Since New Year’s Day, Qin Haiyu had again been out of the public eye for half a year. So after applying a little makeup and slightly altering her appearance, she blended into the primary school without being recognized.

Of course, the main reason was that not many of the elementary school children knew her.

In the afternoon, after the baby had played herself tired with the older boys and girls at the school, Yu Zhile picked her up. In no time at all, she had already fallen asleep against his shoulder.

Qin Haiyu gently rubbed the baby’s head and said softly, “She’s been running around all afternoon. She must be exhausted.”

Holding the baby, Yu Zhile gently patted her little bottom and said, “This is the first time she’s played with so many big brothers and big sisters, and she wasn’t shy at all!”

Yu’s mother said, “That’s better! Then when she goes to kindergarten and primary school later, there won’t be anything to worry about!”

On the way back from the school to the old family home, Qin Haiyu’s phone suddenly rang. She took it out and looked. It was a call from Xu Ling.

After answering, she said, “Honey, Lingling says Eastward Satellite TV has a summer music program and wants to invite me to join!”