Chapter 3

"Let's eat first, let's eat first, I'm starving to death."

Lin Zai Shan put down his guitar, his nose close to the bento bag, and tried hard to smell the aroma of the food inside, his mouth watering.

"Just wait a bit, the part you just rearranged sounded really good. You should sing it again while you still have the feeling. I'll record it, inspiration can be fleeting!"

"Your old man's inspiration won't be fleeting anymore. This time, after the collision, my inspiration is like a flood, I can't even control it. The little part I rearranged just now is nothing. After we finish eating, I'll show you a few things."

"Really?"

"Of course, it's real. This car accident has given me a new lease on life. I've walked through the gates of death and realized many things—rock music should be a freedom that breaks all boundaries, not a restriction. I can't keep clinging to this one path. I won't rely on my old tricks anymore; I want to take a broader path in music and become a versatile musician."

Lin Zai Shan left Bai Ge speechless.

Bai Ge asked in a daze, "Have you really figured it out?"

"I have. I will completely change myself and rediscover the joy that music brings me."

"That's great!"

Bai Ge clapped her hands happily, put down the voice recorder, and took a can of beer from the bento bag, handing it to Lin Zai Shan: "Dad, here, today we'll celebrate your new life!"

Lin Zai Shan shook his finger: "No, no, no, I'm going to quit drinking from now on. I want to live a healthy life."

"Huh?"

Bai Ge's jaw almost dropped to the ground. She looked at the big drinker Lin Zai Shan in disbelief, hardly able to believe her ears!

"Why are you staring at me like that? Hurry up and give me some food, I'm about to starve to death."

"Oh."

After a moment of shock, Bai Ge quickly took out two boxes of food from the bento bag. One was a chicken leg set, and the other was the fried large intestine that Lin Zai Shan loved the most.

Smelling the aroma of the food, Lin Zai Shan was almost drooling.

Before picking up his chopsticks, Lin Zai glanced at the empty bento bag and asked Bai Ge, "Why did you only buy one meal? Aren't you eating?"

"I ate at the school cafeteria, a classmate treated me. Dad, you eat quickly, this is the fried large intestine from Seven Fragrant, your favorite!"

Bai Ge pushed the fried large intestine in front of Lin Zai Shan and secretly swallowed her saliva.

She had indeed eaten, but not because a classmate treated her. She had eaten instant noodles in her dorm.

The rent was almost due, and Lin Zai Shan had no money. Bai Ge had written fewer soft articles for the website this month, so she hadn't earned much. She had only managed to earn enough for this month's rent by working part-time, and she couldn't afford the 18 yuan bento.

Lin Zai Shan had a keen insight. From Bai Ge's furtive glance at the bento, he guessed that she had bought only one meal to save money, which made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

Unlike the well-built 19-year-old girls, Bai Ge was very thin, clearly malnourished.

She was only about 1.57 to 1.58 meters tall, and her body was like a stick, almost skin and bones. If someone said she was a junior high school student, they might believe it.

She wore a clean, white T-shirt with cartoon letters, which was originally a tight fit, but on Bai Ge, it looked a bit loose.

She wore a faded, frayed denim mini skirt, and her exposed thighs were about as thick as the calves of other girls, but they lacked the sexy appeal of super-slim models, making her look rather pitiful.

Unable to eat alone, Lin Zai Shan picked up the chicken leg and offered it to Bai Ge: "You eat the chicken leg, I don't like chicken legs."

"But you love the chicken leg set, don't you?"

"I'll eat more vegetables from now on. Eating too much greasy food is bad for my voice. I need to take care of my voice first."

"Dad, I can't get used to it. You've changed so much after waking up this time!" Bai Ge was stunned as she took the tender grilled chicken leg, a bit scared.

"Ha ha, I almost got run over by a car, of course, I need to have an epiphany and change."

Bai Ge was extremely unaccustomed to Lin Zai Shan's "huge change." Usually, Lin Zai Shan rarely smiled, always frowning with a bitter and resentful expression.

Now, Lin Zai Shan could even laugh while eating rice. Was he hit and became crazy?

"Don't just stand there, eat quickly, or it will get cold and won't taste good."

"Oh..."

Bai Ge, with her dry, chapped lips, started eating the chicken leg with a strange feeling.

"What's wrong, you're so unaccustomed to my change? Should I go back to my old ways and yell at you a few times, and you'll feel better?"

"No, no, Dad, don't joke with me!" Bai Ge smiled sweetly as she ate the chicken leg and said, "I've been hoping for your change, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly. Hehe. Looks like I should thank the girl who hit you."

"Sure, after thanking her, we can ask her for compensation for mental distress and lost wages, then we'll have money to pay the rent. By the way, is she rich or not? Is she a wealthy woman?"

"Don't even think about it! Dad, don't have any bad ideas!"

"What kind of car did she drive?"

"You should ask what kind of bike she rode." Bai Ge told Lin Zai Shan, "A 50CC small motorcycle. She's not rich."

"Ah? I was hit by a small motorcycle?"

"What did you think? If you were hit by a car, would you still be sitting here eating with all your limbs intact?"

"Really? I was knocked out by a small motorcycle?"

Lin Zai Shan was extremely embarrassed. He didn't expect his body to be so weak.

"You must have been drunk this morning, wandering around on the road. The girl accidentally hit you. She said she only lightly bumped into you, and you fell to the ground, hitting your head on the curb and passing out."

"That's so embarrassing, so embarrassing!"

"The girl was scared to death. She thought you were a scammer. She couldn't wake you up no matter how she tried, so she called the police, and they brought you to the hospital. The doctor said you were fine, but you just wouldn't wake up. They said if you didn't wake up, you might become a vegetable. The girl was really scared this morning."

"You must have been scared too, bringing my guitar to save my life."

"Hehe, I was a little scared." Bai Ge used her white, slender fingers to show a small distance in front of Lin Zai Shan, and said optimistically, "I believe you will wake up. You passed out because you were drunk, you won't become a vegetable."

"You know me well."

"Dad, the girl was already scared enough by you. Don't try to extort her, don't ruin your reputation anymore."

"I know. I'm fine, I'll be discharged tomorrow. Don't let people think I'm a scammer."

"Stay for two more days. The doctor checked you this morning, did a CT scan, and said you're fine, just a bit weak from malnutrition. The doctor suggested you stay in the hospital to recover."

"I'll recover at home. I don't want to stay in the hospital, it's no different from being a scammer. I can't afford to lose face by spending other people's money to recover."

Bai Ge hesitated for a moment and said, "Okay, if there's nothing else, we'll be discharged tomorrow and go home to recover. I'll cook for you."

"Do you have the girl's contact information? Call her and tell her I'm fine, so she won't worry."

"Okay!"

Bai Ge put the half-eaten chicken leg back in the box and told Lin Zai Shan, "I'm so full, my stomach will burst if I eat any more. Don't just eat the rice and vegetables, eat a few bites of the chicken leg too. The doctor said you need to supplement your nutrition."

Bai Ge's thoughtfulness made Lin Zai Shan feel like he was wearing a warm, cozy cotton jacket.

He finally understood why people always say that daughters are their fathers' little cotton jackets.

Bai Ge wiped her hands with a tissue, picked up her canvas backpack, and found the old phone and the girl's business card. She called the number on the card and reported Lin Zai Shan's safety to the girl.

While Bai Ge was on the phone, Lin Zai Shan picked up the girl's business card and looked at it.

The girl who hit him was named Sun Yuzhen.

This name vaguely reminded Lin Zai Shan of the blurry face he saw before he passed out.

The girl looked very similar to the Korean actress Son Ye-jin.

He didn't expect her name to be so similar to Son Ye-jin, differing by only one character.

The girl's business card listed her workplace as the Art and Entertainment Department, Group 3, of Oriental TV Station.

She was actually a variety show producer!

Oriental TV Station was part of the Oriental TV Group, whose parent company was one of the top large TV groups in the Chinese-speaking television industry in this world.

In this world, there was no concept of state-owned enterprises; all large groups were corporate entities.

The eight major TV groups covered the national viewing range, and the competition among them was extremely fierce, almost white-hot.

Oriental TV was one of the top ten TV stations in the country in terms of overall ratings, especially known for its variety shows.

Their variety shows often ranked in the top three in national ratings.

In this world, many singers made their money by appearing on variety shows, which also helped them gain popularity. Therefore, singers in this world were almost all versatile artists, rarely relying solely on singing.

Seeing that Sun Yuzhen was a variety show producer, Lin Zai Shan had a thought and wanted to get to know her.

The old man had offended everyone in the industry.

By now, he had no friends in the industry, and no enemies either, because no one even cared about him anymore.

He had no popularity, and even negative news about him was no longer reported by the media.

Years ago, he had been cruelly and mercilessly abandoned by the industry.

With his current status, it was difficult for him to make a comeback in the music industry, let alone have a chance to return.

If he could befriend Sun Yuzhen, maybe this producer could help him pave a path for his comeback.

"Dad, the girl said she will come to see you after work."

After hanging up, Bai Ge told Lin Zai Shan sweetly.

"You've already met her, right?"

"Yes, when I came to the hospital this morning, she was still there. She was very polite, probably afraid of being extorted, and apologized to me for a long time."

"How old is she?"

"Twenty... four or five?"

"So young?" Lin Zai Shan pointed to Sun Yuzhen's business card and said, "I see she's listed as a producer, a producer in the Art and Entertainment Department of Oriental TV?"

"Yes, she's probably a new PD."

Sitting next to Lin Zai Shan, Bai Ge reminisced, "Come to think of it, I have quite an affinity with this girl. I've seen her before, many times."

"You've seen her?"

"Yes, I worked as a cashier at Seven Fragrant (a chain fast-food restaurant) two years ago. At that time, the girl had just joined the Art and Entertainment Department of Oriental TV and was the youngest in the group. She would come to Seven Fragrant every night to buy bento for her group. She was very pretty, so I had a deep impression of her. I remember one time she had a stomachache and rushed to the restroom. The restroom at Seven Fragrant was out of paper, and she was stuck in there for over half an hour. I happened to go to the restroom and helped her by bringing her some paper. Hehe."

"Uh... we're eating, don't talk about that."

From what Bai Ge said, Sun Yuzhen was a new PD, and it seemed she couldn't help him much.

However, getting to know a producer in the industry was better than not knowing one.

Lin Zai Shan still wanted to get to know Sun Yuzhen better.

"Working in the variety show industry is really hard on the body. I remember when I saw this girl two years ago, she was a vibrant young woman with beautiful skin, so smooth it could almost drip water, looking more elegant than celebrities. But when I saw her this morning, my goodness! She looked like she had aged ten years, very haggard, no energy, and her skin was in terrible condition. I guess she works a lot of late nights, it's really tough."

"Maybe she was scared and haggard because of my 'scam.'"

"Hehe, maybe. But the competition in the TV industry is really intense, both for the stars in front of the camera and the production teams behind the scenes. Sigh..." Bai Ge sighed deeply. She was studying media, and one of her future career directions was to work behind the scenes at a TV station.

"Dad, you should quickly regain your former glory. My initial reason for studying media was to help you with better career planning in the future. But if you can't make a comeback, I might have to work at a TV station, like that hardworking PD."

"No, don't worry, I won't let you suffer anymore. I'll make sure you live the happiest life."

"My goodness! Dad, you've changed so much, it's like you're a different person! You can even say flattering things to me, hehe, I feel so happy!"

The old Lin Zai Shan used to curse and yell at people for no reason, and when he was annoyed, he would tell Bai Ge to get lost. He never said anything about making her life happy.

Lin Zai Shan's sudden change left Bai Ge feeling a bit unaccustomed, but at the same time, she felt very happy!

"Almost starving to death, relying on you to earn a living, what's left of my old face? Anyway, from now on, I'll take care of earning money, and you don't have to worry about money anymore. I'll use my music to get our life back on track."

"Okay, okay! Dad, I believe in you! You're the most talented and best musician in the world!"

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[Please recommend and collect! New book, need recommendations to grow!]

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