Xie Yizhi changed into his pajamas and then comfortably flopped onto the bed. It had become a habit for him to scroll through his WeChat Moments before going to bed. The first thing he saw was the profile picture of his father, which was an image of the Monkey King. Eight minutes ago, his father posted, "We didn't become lovers. We just talked for a long time."
The corners of Xie Yizhi's mouth twitched. Wait... Was his father going through adolescence? Or was there some aunt he couldn't forget in his heart? But if he posted it here, not only could Xie Yizhi see it, but his mother could also see it!
So Xie Yizhi left a comment, "Dad, have you lost your mind?"
Soon, the comment received a reply, "It's okay, son. I've already been beaten up."
Xie Yizhi: "..."
After thinking for a while, Xie Yizhi opened the chat window with his father, edited a message, and sent it.
"It's late at night. Why aren't you sleeping? Do you have something on your mind?" Xie Yizhi asked.
"Sigh, I just suddenly remembered that I've never been in a relationship before. I want to give it a try, but I've encountered some obstacles for now," his father (Xie Ji) sent a message in reply.
"You've been married to my mom for so many years. How come you've never been in a relationship? What kind of obstacles are there?" Xie Yizhi said.
"Your mother was brought home by your grandparents. It was an arranged marriage. At that time, I saw that your mother was beautiful and got married to her directly without having a relationship first."
"I want to be in a relationship, but my father didn't allow it before, and now my wife doesn't allow it. Sigh, my life is destined to be incomplete," his father (Xie Ji) sent another message.
Xie Yizhi: "..."
"Can you buzz off?"
"I told you to watch fewer videos."
Xie Yizhi was already used to his rather unconventional father. His father was always too quick with the internet, and sometimes the memes and trends he followed were even things that Xie Yizhi, a young person, couldn't keep up with. Also, since Xie Yizhi was in junior high school, his parents seemed to have stopped going out. His father no longer took on corpse transportation jobs, and his mother no longer sold poisonous insects. Usually, they just did some farm work in the village and tidied up the house. So, in the final analysis, they were just too idle.
If he remembered correctly, his father, Xie Ji, was fifty-five years old this year. Wasn't this exactly a good age to go out and make a name for himself? It was such a waste to stay at home. Xie Yizhi still held the hope of seeing his father achieve great things.
Logically speaking, for a family like his that was involved in funerary affairs, dealing with the dead, these "otherworldly" occupations should have a rather high income, and it might even be extremely profitable. Anyway, that's what he read in novels. But after all these years, he had already come of age and graduated from university, yet he was still waiting in vain for his parents to "reveal their cards." The life they were living was still very poor.
Xie Yizhi's suspicion wasn't groundless. He remembered that when he was in his sophomore year of university, he had run out of his living expenses and really had no money for food. So he asked his father for money. Perhaps feeling sorry for his son, Xie Ji decided to use his private savings to lend Xie Yizhi some money. But he accidentally entered the amount as the password. It was a transfer of a full six-digit amount... Xie Yizhi would never forget that night when Xie Ji called him dozens of times just to get the money back.
Thinking of this, he transferred 800 yuan to his father. It was already early in the morning, and tomorrow was his birthday. Seeing that his father was feeling down late at night, he simply transferred the red envelope to him in advance to make him happy. He also wrote a blessing message, "This is a birthday red envelope. I wish Boss Xie you blessings as vast as the Eastern Sea, a long life like the Southern Mountain, rolling wealth, and a bright future!!"
Almost in less than a second, the transfer was accepted.
"I'll take the red envelope, but you can take back the sentiment," Xie Ji replied irritably. How old was he? And he was still being wished a bright future?
Xie Yizhi: "..."
"By the way, I probably won't be able to come back for your birthday this year. You can spend it with your mother," Xie Yizhi said.
"It's okay. Don't come back alone either. Report in advance if you find a partner. Your mother and I are busy. I'm going to sleep now," Xie Ji said.
Seeing this, Xie Yizhi didn't send any more messages. He turned off the screen of his phone and closed his eyes. In fact, he had already bought the train ticket. Even though his father said those things, he must still miss his son in his heart. He would give them a surprise then.
Originally, Xie Yizhi had wanted to take the opportunity to invite his parents to come to the city and have a few days of fun. But the proposal was rejected.
Xie Yizhi tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. He couldn't figure out why his parents were so resistant to leaving home. He had attended primary school in the village, and then he went to junior high school in the town. Since then, he had been going to and from school alone. Xie Ji and his wife had never come to pick him up. In his memory, his parents had never left Xie Feng Village.
"嘶..." When Xie Yizhi was a child, he often quarreled with his parents about this. Other children had their parents take them out to play or go on trips during winter and summer vacations, but he had never experienced that. It was only after he went to university that he started going out and wandering around by himself, which was a way to make up for his childhood.
However, when he was a child, he didn't understand. As he grew up, Xie Yizhi gradually guessed that perhaps it was because of the special circumstances of their family that there were some things they hadn't told him. Now that he was so old, when he went back this time, he could try to test the waters and ask about it.
Thinking about these things, he didn't know how long it had passed before Xie Yizhi finally fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, he was woken up by the alarm clock. He opened the live streaming platform and was surprised to find that his account had gained more than 7000 followers overnight. It had increased from the original more than 3000 followers to just over 10,000 followers.
"What's going on? Have I become a popular internet personality with over 10,000 followers just like that?" Xie Yizhi exclaimed in surprise.
When he looked at the only fan group in the background, he realized that someone had recorded a screen of his live broadcast in the early morning and made clips of it, and the clips had become quite popular. That's why he had gained so many followers.
The die-hard fans in the fan group were chatting enthusiastically, and the messages just kept coming.
——[What did I miss? I fell asleep last night and didn't watch the live broadcast!]
——[Brother played rock-paper-scissors with the mirror in the middle of the night. He got so angry after losing that he dragged out his reflection in the mirror and gave it a beating!]
——[Even though I know it's a pre-prepared video effect, it's still very entertaining. It's so funny!]
——[Brother Xie has even discovered such a niche live streaming niche! He's becoming popular! He's finally made it! He's become an internet celebrity!]
——[The clips have already received over a hundred thousand likes, and even marketing accounts are cutting and sharing them.]
Was he really going to become popular? It couldn't be. Xie Yizhi was a bit slow to react. So gaining followers was this easy? If he had known earlier! If he had known earlier, he wouldn't have been doing entertainment live streaming at home. He would have gone out earlier to look for... ghosts!
——[Ah!??? I just happened to miss the live broadcast yesterday! I feel like I've missed out on a fortune!]
——[When will the live broadcast be today? Is there any notice?]
——[I don't know. Brother Xie's live broadcast time seems to be quite random. There's no fixed time. Sometimes he starts the live broadcast when he wakes up, and sometimes he does it before going to bed.]
The fan group was filled with mentions of him. Everyone was shouting [Please start the live broadcast, host]. There were even people saying [I've already got the loan. Ask Xie Yizhi to start the live broadcast quickly].