enjoyebooks Chapter 64 The Spendthrift Woman
Chapter 64 The Spendthrift Woman
At 10 a.m., Su Xiaoxiao was sitting in her office reviewing an artist promotion plan when her personal cell phone suddenly vibrated.
She picked it up and saw a notification from Douyin (TikTok) that Zhou Yuji had posted another video.
"This woman..." Su Xiaoxiao muttered as she clicked on the video. The cover image showed Zhou Yuji standing in a vast desert, with her back to the camera, arms outstretched, her long hair flying in the wind, and in the distance, a winding river and a slowly setting sun. The whole scene was as beautiful as a movie poster.
The title, true to Zhou's style, reads: "Desert Wandering Diary: I almost cried from the beauty of the sunset today!"
Su Xiaoxiao's lips twitched slightly as she clicked on the video.
The video opens with Zhou Yuji's face close to the camera: "Friends, I declare that the desert is my second home! The sunsets here are amazing! The sandstorms here are amazing too—I just ate a mouthful of sand!"
The scene shifts to her trudging through the desert, panting as she walks: "Who said the desert is flat and easy to walk on? Climbing these dunes and sliding down them is more tiring than lifting weights at the gym! But... it's worth it!"
Then she stood atop a sand dune, with a river winding like a golden ribbon in the distance, and the setting sun hanging on the horizon, dyeing the sky in a gradient of orange-red, pink-purple, and deep blue.
Zhou Yuji didn't speak, she just stood there quietly, the wind lifting the hem of her clothes and strands of her hair.
The scene is breathtakingly beautiful.
Then she suddenly turned around, grinned at the camera, and said, "How about it? Pretty, right? But I'm even more beautiful!"
The video ends with a freeze-frame of her turning around and smiling in the afterglow of the setting sun, accompanied by the chorus of "Your Answer".
After watching the video, Su Xiaoxiao's first reaction wasn't admiration, but rather—
"Zhou Yuji!" She gritted her teeth and dialed her best friend's number. "Didn't we agree that you'd show me or Wang Bo a preview before posting these poetic videos? What if Wang Bo can't come up with a poem after this surprise attack? His 'talented scholar' persona has just been firmly established!"
The phone rang seven or eight times before being answered. Zhou Yuji's panting voice came from the other end: "Feed... Xiaoxiao... I'm... climbing the sand dunes... the signal... is bad..."
"Don't pretend with me!" Su Xiaoxiao said irritably. "What's with the video call? Didn't we agree to discuss this beforehand?"
"Oh dear, I forgot again!" Zhou Yuji said matter-of-factly. "I got so excited when I saw this scenery that I didn't think about anything else. Besides, Xiao Wang is so talented, does he really need to prepare in advance?"
"Screw you!" Su Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes. "He's on the rise right now, so many people are watching him. What if he doesn't write well this time? Won't those haters seize the opportunity to trample him to death?"
"Relax, relax," Zhou Yuji laughed on the other end, "I have faith in Xiao Wang, he'll definitely write some earth-shattering, tear-jerking poetry... Ugh, this sand dune is so hard to climb... Anyway, I'm going to chase the sunset!"
The call was disconnected.
Where is the sunset in the middle of the morning?
Su Xiaoxiao stared at her phone, her chest heaving with anger.
That spendthrift woman, no wonder her company loses money!
She took a few deep breaths, forced herself to calm down, and opened the comments section.
Sure enough, the video received over a thousand comments in less than an hour after it was released.
"Rain Princess is so beautiful, it's breathtaking!"
"This view is amazing! I need the location!"
"The background music is 'Your Answer.' Sister Yuji, you're Wang Bo's number one fan, right?"
"Waiting for Wang Bo to write a poem! I've already set those two lines from last time as my signature!"
"+1, I can't even eat today without reading any new poems!"
Su Xiaoxiao became increasingly anxious as she read on.
The persona of a talented individual is a double-edged sword; if it holds up, it can be a plus, but if it doesn't, it becomes a laughing stock.
She glanced at the time, grabbed her phone and coat, and rushed to the recording studio.
In the recording studio, Wang Bo and Chen Mo were discussing the arrangement details of the first song for "The Voice of China".
"Here, the drumbeats could be a little softer," Wang Bo pointed to the screen. "I want that ethereal feel, not a powerful one."
Chen Mo nodded: "I understand, it's about appearing calm on the surface while harboring turbulent undercurrents, right?"
"Yes, like..." Wang Bo was about to explain when the recording studio door was suddenly pushed open.
Su Xiaoxiao burst in, her high heels clattering on the floor, her face showing an unusual anxiety.
Chen Mo was so startled that his hand trembled, and he pushed the clipper too far, causing a piercing noise to come from the monitor speaker.
"Wang Bo!" Su Xiaoxiao walked straight up to Wang Bo, shoving her phone in front of his face. "Yu Ji posted another video, look!"
Wang Bo paused for a second, took the phone, and opened the video.
Looking at the woman smiling brightly in the desert sunset on the screen, he couldn't help but smile: "Sister Zhou is living a really carefree life."
"You're still laughing!" Su Xiaoxiao glared at him. "She didn't tell us beforehand, she just posted it! Now the whole internet is waiting for you to write a poem, are you ready? Do you have any inspiration? What if you can't write anything?"
Wang Bo blinked, looking innocent. "President Su, I just saw it too."
"So you weren't prepared?" Su Xiaoxiao's heart sank.
"Do we need to prepare anything?" Wang Bo asked in return.
Su Xiaoxiao: "..."
Chen Mo timidly raised his hand from the side: "Um... President Su, it seems that Wang Bo's poems are all impromptu..."
"Even improvisation can go wrong!" Su Xiaoxiao turned to Wang Bo, her tone serious. "Wang Bo, it's not that I don't believe in your talent, but this situation is special. Yu Ji's video is so visually stunning—the desert, the long river, the sunset, the lone smoke... the audience's expectations are very high. If your writing is mediocre, they will be disappointed; if it's poorly written, the haters will say you've run out of ideas."
She paused, then lowered her voice: "You're the face of Xiaoyi Culture now, I can't let you take this risk. Here's what we'll do: think it over first, then show it to me. I'll release it only when I think it's ready."
Wang Bo felt a warmth in his heart when he saw Su Xiaoxiao's anxious yet concerned expression.
This seemingly strong woman was actually always thinking of him.
"President Su," he said gently, "please wait a moment."
As he spoke, he picked up his phone and tapped on the screen. Su Xiaoxiao leaned over to look, and Chen Mo also curiously peered over.
Wang Bo typed a line of text.
Su Xiaoxiao was stunned.
Chen Mo's mouth dropped open.
The recording studio was silent for a full ten seconds.
"Just...that?" Su Xiaoxiao asked hesitantly, "Two sentences?"
"Hmm." Wang Bo nodded. "Two sentences are enough."
Su Xiaoxiao looked at the ten characters again and recited them softly.
She didn't fully grasp the meaning the first time she read it.
When she read it a second time, her eyes widened slightly.
When she read it aloud for the third time, she gasped.
These ten words are absolutely brilliant!
Without flowery language or complicated rhetoric, it is just the simplest description, yet it accurately captures the essence of the desert scenery, creating a vivid image!
Moreover, the vast, desolate yet magnificent artistic conception perfectly matches the scene in Zhou Yuji's video!