Chapter Forty-Eight: Creating Miracles
(A special thanks to “Book Friend 160101104956825” for the monthly ticket.)
Beside the road near Hope Elementary School, inside a black SUV.
Yang Qing stared blankly at Wang Ming, puzzled. “Why did you just transfer me twenty thousand yuan?”
“Heh… That’s your appearance fee for playing the piano for my sister,” Wang Ming chuckled. “It’s from the TV station. Don’t worry, just take it.”
Yang Qing looked dazedly at the sum Wang Ming had sent, struggling to believe it. “This… just twenty thousand… Is it really that easy to earn money like this?”
“Well…” Wang Ming was a bit taken aback. “Not exactly. It depends on your reputation and skill. If you’re famous enough and your playing is top-notch, your appearance fee could reach over a million. But if you’re not well-known, you might only get to play in themed restaurants, and if you earn a few thousand a night, that’s already pretty good.”
Yang Qing paused. “Then these twenty thousand—what does that make me?”
“Heh, all thanks to my sister,” Wang Ming said proudly. As the queen of pop’s younger brother and her freelance agent, he couldn’t help but feel accomplished.
At this moment, he also realized his superstar sister’s feelings toward Yang Qing, and couldn’t resist boosting Wang Ying in front of him: “Think about it, bro. My sister is a superstar. You might not be famous in this field right now, but your piano skills are outstanding. Accompanying a diva—how could the appearance fee be low?”
He scoffed at the TV station. “Even twenty thousand is too little. If my sister didn’t stop me from pulling strings, I could’ve gotten you three times that!”
Yang Qing fell silent.
Is it that I’m just too inexperienced, or do you all really know how to play the game and make money?
He couldn’t help but ask, “Is the entertainment industry really this lucrative?”
“Well…” Wang Ming hesitated. “It depends on your luck. Of course, whatever you do, obeying the law is most important. Then, aside from luck, you have to rely on your own abilities. Take my sister for example—her beauty is well-known, but more importantly, she’s naturally gifted with a great voice. A famous music critic once said she’s a born singer…”
As Wang Ming continued, Yang Qing listened, but the more he heard, the stranger it felt.
Everything you say is true, but I can’t help but feel you’re just bragging about your sister in disguise…
Wang Ming grew more animated. “Besides works the audience loves, endorsements are another big thing—especially luxury brand endorsements. The fees can easily start at ten million!”
“Ten million!” Yang Qing was genuinely shocked.
Is this really earning money? Isn’t this just daylight robbery?
“So your sister… must be rich?” His voice trembled.
“Uh, not really.” Wang Ming’s face turned wry. “How do I put this, my sister’s… stubborn. She just wants to sing well and doesn’t care about all that messy business. Back when she was with a big entertainment company, she’d occasionally take on a few endorsements. Now that she’s independent and has her own studio, she’s only taken one endorsement, and that’s just thirty million a year, that’s all.”
Yang Qing: …
He didn’t want to keep talking to Wang Ming.
Thirty million a year! And you say ‘just’!
Give me a break! If you stopped pretending, would it kill you?
He sighed, “I’m really envious. If only I could make money like that. What you all earn in a year is more than most people could make in a lifetime—more than happiness and health, even.”
Wang Ming was taken aback, seeming to grasp the hidden meaning in Yang Qing’s words. After a moment’s silence, he nodded. “Yeah, that’s why my sister says that as a public figure, you must be grateful and give back. Be grateful to the country, to society, to every kind person, and do what you can to give back.”
He hesitated, as if wanting to say more. “She really is giving back too. She… well, forget it, I’ll tell you another time.”
“Huh? Is there something you can’t share?” Yang Qing was confused.
Wang Ming shook his head gently. “Not exactly, it’s just not for me to say.”
Yang Qing nodded. “Alright, your sister really is a good person.”
“Heh, right?” Wang Ming grinned, then suddenly changed the subject. “Yang, why don’t you sign with my sister’s studio?”
“Eh?” Yang Qing froze, then waved his hand with a laugh. “Me? Come on, how could someone like me sign with a superstar’s studio? Don’t joke.”
“I’m not joking! You’re amazing, Yang!” Wang Ming clapped him on the shoulder. “You play piano so well, you can do photography, editing, even write songs. Sure, they’re just simple children’s songs, but that’s already impressive!”
As he listed Yang Qing’s skills, he suddenly paused, looking at him with surprise. “Wait, now that I think about it, you seem to know a lot…”
“Let me see—cooking, interior design, photography, editing, piano, songwriting… And Fang Du told me in secret that their program was your idea as well.”
“Whoa! Yang, you’re almost supernatural! You’re not normal!”
He stared at Yang Qing in shock, stammering, “You… you wouldn’t happen to have turned into some kind of spirit after the founding of the country, would you?”
Yang Qing: …
Ah, in the end, I’ve revealed too much and been noticed by someone sharp.
Now, how should I explain? What to do…
He looked at Wang Ming, whose eyes were wide with curiosity, and said sheepishly, “If… if I said I learned it all from books, would you believe me?”
Wang Ming replied, “Do I look like an idiot to you?”
Yang Qing: …
Troublesome!
After a long silence, he took a deep breath, and suddenly his eyes brightened. “Suppose—just suppose—I know even more, much more. What then?”
Wang Ming was stunned, almost frightened, staring at Yang Qing as a storm raged in his heart. His voice trembled, “More? You… you mean you have even more skills?”
Yang Qing glared. “Don’t worry about what else I know, just tell me—what then?”
“What then…” Wang Ming stammered, “Well… if you’re not a spirit, then this… this is a miracle, a bug in reality!”
A miracle…
Yang Qing paused, then broke into a broad, contented smile.
Yes—a miracle!
Since there’s no way to explain, then I won’t. I’ll simply display even more. When there are enough inexplicable things, it naturally becomes a miracle!
Yes, a miracle created by a single person!
As for being suspected—let them suspect. When the miracle I create is recognized by society, by the world, what will suspicion matter?
At that point, all doubts would only become part of the mysterious aura surrounding me!
With this realization, his mind suddenly cleared.
He smiled, but Wang Ming grew even more alarmed.
You’re not actually a spirit, are you! Don’t smile at me like that—it’s scary!
He shrank back a little, voice barely above a whisper, “Yang, you… you may think I’m handsome, but… but I’m not tasty!”
Yang Qing’s face darkened in exasperation. “What nonsense are you on about! I’m not a spirit!”
“Really… really?”
Yang Qing: …
Not really! I’m not a spirit, but I have a system more incredible than any spirit!
But can I say that? Absolutely not!
So…
He looked deeply at Wang Ming. “Tell me, do you think a single person can create a miracle?”
Yes, thanks to Wang Ming, Yang Qing suddenly realized a sense of crisis.
He needed to create a miracle of his own, so that all suspicions about him would become the very aura of mystery that surrounded him!
Yang Qing could foresee that, as time went on, the system would grant him even more talents, and he would need to act, to live up to these “gifts.”
Wang Ming was left speechless by Yang Qing’s words.
One person… creating a miracle!