Chapter 114: You Have Given Birth to an Exceptional Daughter
Kyoto People's Hospital.
In an ordinary ward.
The ward was somewhat noisy.
Looking around,
a room of less than thirty square meters held four beds, each occupied by a patient—all critically ill.
Family members busily wiped their bodies and changed the bed linens.
Only one bed was quiet and empty.
On that bed,
a middle-aged man’s lips trembled as he tried to speak but couldn’t form a complete sentence. Only a nurse sat beside him. After checking his condition, she replaced his IV drip with a fresh one.
“Mr. Wang, if the weather’s nice tomorrow, I’ll push you out for a walk.”
“I... want to... watch... TV...”
His voice was faint and broken.
The nurse leaned closer, puzzled. “Mr. Wang, what did you say?”
The man bit his lips, trembling, unable to speak.
Seeing this,
the nurse sighed.
How pitiful!
More than twenty years ago, this man on the bed was one of the top stars in the entertainment industry. Many parents’ generation had listened to his songs. Although those songs now seemed a bit outdated and old-fashioned, they were memories of an era.
Who could have imagined?
A once shining young star reduced to this state.
“Mr. Wang Jiawei, speak louder.”
The nurse brought her ear closer to Wang Jiawei’s lips.
“Te...le...vi...sion...”
After struggling for a long time, he managed to say two words.
Though the stage accident years ago didn’t take his life, it severely damaged his nervous system, leaving him paralyzed in all limbs, incapable of walking normally. Over time, his ability to speak steadily declined.
Now, Wang Jiawei could barely speak, let alone sing.
The nurse understood. Wang Jiawei wanted to watch television.
Each ward had a TV, though they were seldom used.
The nurse found the remote and turned on the TV. “Mr. Wang, what program would you like to watch?”
This time,
Wang Jiawei spoke much more clearly.
“Star Road.”
Surprised, the nurse pressed the remote repeatedly, switching through more than a dozen channels until she finally found the live broadcast of Star Road.
Wang Jiawei’s emotions stirred.
“What’s with the TV noise? It’s so annoying!”
“Just listening to my husband’s groans is irritating enough; now we have to endure more noise.”
“What’s so good about that old TV? When he’s better, there’ll be plenty of time to watch at home.”
...
Other patients’ family members voiced their complaints.
Everyone was tense.
After all,
having a sick family member was stressful enough; on top of that, they had to exert effort to care for them, making their mood even worse.
They might not hate the TV sound itself.
They just needed an outlet for their frustration.
Hearing this,
the nurse felt awkward but didn’t turn off the TV. Instead, she aimed the screen toward Wang Jiawei and lowered the volume.
“Dear family members, please understand. This patient just wants to watch a program; it’s not an unreasonable request.”
If other patients asked to watch TV, the nurse would do the same.
Because
watching television was one of the few diversions available to patients.
Upon hearing the nurse’s gentle explanation, the other family members muttered softly but said no more.
On the TV,
a familiar sponsor ad played.
Gradually,
the other patients and their families quieted, their eyes fixed on the screen, passing the time.
...
Besides being broadcast on a fixed TV channel, Star Road was naturally streamed live online.
“The handsome guy from Zhejiang and Shanghai is here!”
“The scene is packed! So many people, just a sea of heads.”
“I can’t even imagine how satisfying it would be to throw a grenade into the crowd.”
“@Kyoto Chief Inspector, come quickly, there’s a criminal here!”
“Just kidding, just kidding.”
“This episode has a high star quality; even the lowest ranks are third-tier singers, and the best include young kings and queens of pop. The production team really splurged.”
“Why didn’t they invite An Tinghan? I wanted to relive the ‘Cold Defense’ duo’s chemistry.”
“I heard only original songs are allowed, so I, Chen Fang, won’t pretend. Everyone here is my junior.”
“Chen Fang is nothing! Aren’t those young kings and queens a hundred times better?”
“Wang Situ didn’t team up with any celebrities but chose to pair with Chen Fang. That’s bold. I wonder how they’ll fare in the fan voting segment.”
Not many viewers supported Chen Fang and Wang Situ.
After all,
this episode’s lineup was too luxurious.
Chen Fang had some fans.
But Wang Situ was a complete novice with no fanbase.
Such a new duo would suffer greatly during fan voting.
Nevertheless,
most admired Wang Situ’s boldness.
To disregard fan support entirely and rely solely on Chen Fang’s songwriting ability was something other contestants wouldn’t dare to consider.
Chen Fang’s original songwriting skills were indeed strong.
But the stars teaming up with other contestants weren’t to be underestimated either.
Chen Fang was self-reliant.
Those stars, backed by companies, could afford to hire famous musicians for their songs, making things much easier than Chen Fang alone.
Who could Chen Fang rely on?
His future career?
Anyone with eyes could see that the future career depended on Chen Fang, not the other way around.
In the green room,
Xi Yuanyuan scrolled through the live comments.
Chen Fang remained composed.
Having faced many storms before, the petty insults and mockery in the comments were trivial.
Wang Situ, still young, was visibly annoyed by the barrage, her mood souring.
“Just sing our song well.”
“Don’t worry about anything else.”
Chen Fang said softly.
Wang Situ nodded.
Suddenly,
Chen Fang had a thought.
“Situ, will your father watch today’s program?”
Wang Situ worked so hard to deliver the perfect performance on this stage precisely so that Wang Jiawei could see it.
“He probably will,” she replied uncertainly.
She had only casually mentioned it when caring for Wang Jiawei in the ward.
A smile bloomed on Wang Situ’s face, free of any sorrow.
“Even if he doesn’t watch live, I can watch the recording with him later, showing him how dazzling his daughter looks on stage—just like he was back in the day!”
Very confident!
Chen Fang liked confident women.
Speaking of which,
Chen Fang hadn’t yet visited Wang Situ’s father in the hospital.
Out of decency and kindness, he should pay a visit. After all, Wang Situ was the one he’d brought into the future career, and Chen Fang was curious about what the young star from over twenty years ago had been like.
“Wang Jiawei, you’ve raised an outstanding daughter.”
Chen Fang thought to himself.
Wang Situ was exceptional.
Even without Chen Fang’s involvement, Wang Situ could have carved out her own place in the music world—it was just that Chen Fang had greatly shortened the time she needed to struggle for success.