The whole birthday banquet was lively. When Mr. Yuan and his wife went around toasting everyone, Yan Xi lifted her wine glass, glancing around the room. Almost everyone wore bright smiles, appearing genuinely happy to celebrate with the hosts.
In business circles, sincerity is often a mixture of truth and falsehood, but everyone here was adept at socializing. Each wore a pleasant smile, aiming to network with fellow guests. Yan Xi could somewhat understand why her parents eventually chose divorce. Her father was a practical businessman, while her mother was a quiet artist. In the end, letting each other go instead of continuing to torment one another was the best choice.
Her father, when he was younger, had also been quite the handsome guy; otherwise, he wouldn't have won over her mother back then. Unfortunately, time had been unkind; the once-handsome man had put on weight and now looked more like a big pumpkin. Her mother, on the other hand, was still an elegant and refined beauty even before she passed, with a grace that could enchant any woman.
"Brother Song," the tall, thin man sitting beside Song Hai glanced at Yan Xi, "I heard your daughter is a graduate student in media studies?"
"Yes," Song Hai replied proudly. "She even won a scholarship at school."
"Not bad, not bad," the tall man thought for a moment. "Our station is planning a new show called The Stories Around Us. If your daughter is interested, perhaps she could host it." The man was merely the director of a local TV station in the capital, not a satellite channel, meaning their viewership was limited. Now, with so many online streaming options, people could access hundreds of channels, and only the more nostalgic locals occasionally tuned in to their channel.
Song Hai had previously collaborated with this station for advertisements, and the director owed him several favors. Seeing that Yan Xi had both the looks and the relevant skills, he thought it'd be a nice gesture to offer her a chance. Even if her hosting skills weren't top-notch, it wouldn't matter muchâhardly anyone watched their channel anyway.
"Yan Yan, this is Director Jin of Channel 8 here in the capital, a good friend of your dad's." Song Hai didn't agree right away but turned to introduce the tall man to Yan Xi.
Song Hai's words made it sound like the two were close friends, but Yan Xi could tell that their relationship was more likely driven by mutual benefit. She smiled politely at Director Jin. "Thank you, Uncle Jin. I'll think about it carefully."
Channel 8 in the capital... I didn't realize the capital had so many local stations, Yan Xi thought.
"If you agree to join, you'd be doing Uncle Jin a huge favor," Director Jin said with a beaming smile. "It's not easy to find talented, attractive hosts nowadays. You must help me out."
His words were flattering, yet even though Channel 8 was hardly popular, it was still a TV channel, and plenty of people dreamed of getting in.
"She's just a young girl; it's you who'd be doing her a favor by guiding and supporting her," Song Hai replied with a smile, deftly shifting the conversation back to Director Jin. Yan Xi, seeing that he wanted to befriend her father, quietly lowered her head and focused on her meal.
It was, after all, a high-society birthday banquet, and the food's flavor was impeccable.
Midway through the meal, the hosts came around with drinks, thanking everyone for attending. Yan Xi had expected such an elite family to treat their guests with a sense of aloofness, but instead, their courtesy was surprisingly thoughtful.
It was likely that the Yuans barely knew anyone at this table, but Yan Xi detected not the slightest hint of arrogance or disdain in their manner.
Surrounded by eloquent businesspeople, Yan Xi only needed to smile, lift her glass, and look pleasant. As she lowered her head to take a sip, she happened to lock eyes with the Yuan family's eldest son, who gave her a slight nod of acknowledgment.
This composed, polite gestureâtypical of noble familiesâmade even a simple nod feel like an honor.
After lightly wetting her lips with the wine, Yan Xi noticed the Yuan family had moved on to the next table. She sat down, and Song Hai, knowing she disliked the taste of alcohol, ladled a bowl of soup for her to help wash down the wine.
Yan Xi smiled at her father, lifting the bowl to take a sip.
"What are you looking at?" Yuan Bo, noticing his brother hadn't followed, looked back at him.
"Nothing," Yuan Yi replied calmly, pulling his gaze away. "I just thought I saw a familiar face among the guests."
"Maybe you did see them before," Yuan Bo patted his shoulder. "Come on."
Yuan Yi followed quietly, his slightly downcast eyes making even the serving staff step aside, wary of upsetting him.
When the banquet ended, the Yuan brothers stood at the hotel entrance, sending off guests while receiving endless compliments and well-wishes.
Growing impatient, Yuan Yi took a deep breath, glancing back at the entrance. More guests were coming out, so he straightened up.
"Take care," he said with a forced smile.
"Thank you for the wonderful evening," said a jolly-looking middle-aged man at the front, his cheerful smile quite endearing. Yuan Yi's gaze swept to the young woman on his arm, and he offered a polite "You're welcome."
This man was easily old enough to be her father.
The young woman lifted her head and smiled at him. With her arched brows and almond-shaped eyes, she had a delicately straight nose, giving her an almost vulnerable appearance. Yuan Yi suddenly remembered where he'd seen the pairâat the boutique last time when they'd picked up their custom outfits.
An older man with a young wifeâa flower planted on cow dung. What a pity.
As for whether they were together for love or money, Yuan Yi couldn't care less. May-December romances or older women with younger men were just games the wealthy liked to play. He found it hard to muster any sentiment about it.
As the pair descended the stairs, Yuan Yi noticed how carefully the older man supported the young woman, treating her with obvious affection.
"Big brother," Yuan Yi glanced at the time, "I'll leave this to you."
Yuan Bo glanced at his watch, aware that his brother's bedtime was approaching, and nodded. "Let's head back. Most of the guests have left."
His brother had a peculiar habit of needing to sleep before eleven at night, or he'd suffer from a headache the next dayâa quirk their family had long accepted.
Once Yan Xi got home, she deliberately turned on the long-neglected TV, searching until she found Channel 8, which was currently playing a drama with unfamiliar actors. Midway through, an ad suddenly interrupted, accompanied by an over-the-top and grating male voice.
"Good news! Great deals on electronics on the second floor of Huali Plaza..."
The ad had a layout style from a decade ago, voiceover techniques from fifteen years ago, and a crude visual quality. Yan Xi began to doubt if anyone actually watched this channel.
When that over-the-top ad ended, another ad appearedâthis one for her father's company's product, with a different grating female voice as the voiceover.
She had a rough idea of what kind of show Life Around Us would be: most likely centered around trivial, everyday topics.
"Yan Yan, would you like to be a host?" Song Hai pointed to the ad on the screen. "This channel has the lowest ad fees, and I know the management well. If you work there, no one will dare mistreat you."
Of course, it was the cheapest because the channel had almost no ratings. Finding advertisers was already a challenge.
Yan Xi had no intention of entering the entertainment industry, and her childhood dream of becoming an astronomer had long faded. Now that she was at loose ends, a low-profile, easy job at such a channel seemed appealingâat least she wouldn't be sponging off her father.
With that in mind, she agreed.
When Song Hai conveyed Yan Xi's interest to Director Jin, he was delighted and immediately invited her to a meet-and-greet dinner with her new colleagues, mentioning he would introduce her co-host.
Most of Channel 8's programming consisted of little-watched dramas. It aired a 40-minute midday news segment, retransmitted national news at 7 p.m., and then continued with dramas until it went off-air around 1 a.m.
Due to recent calls for innovation in TV programming, Director Jin had come up with Life Around Us, slated for the 8 p.m. time slot.
"Director, is the new host really a graduate student from Haida's media department?" The cameraman asked with a serious expression. If that were true, she'd likely be the most qualified person on the team.
"Not only is she a Haida graduate student, but she's also the daughter of businessman Song Hai," Director Jin reminded them. "She's young, so I expect you all to be supportive and willing to share your knowledge."
"Director, you're too polite! We're self-taught compared to her," the show's director chuckled. "Don't worry, we're not going to make things hard for the young lady."
Director Jin's words were clear enough; everyone knew what attitude to take.
"Her last name is Yan, not Song," Director Jin laughed. "The girl took her mother's surname."
Though curious why a wealthy businessman's daughter didn't share his surname, they knew better than to pry.
Yan Xi arrived at the agreed locationâa decently decorated hot pot restaurant. She knocked on the private room door, and it opened immediately to reveal a woman in her thirties.
"Is this our long-awaited host?" The woman beamed. "I'm Chen Pei, the show's director; just call me Sister Chen." Then, she turned to Director Jin. "Director, where did you find such a lovely young woman?"
Everyone chimed in, joking that Director Jin must have tricked her into coming.
Listening to her new colleagues' playful compliments, Yan Xi silently acknowledged that nothing was easy in this world; they'd probably racked their brains for ways to praise her.
Praise for her father, who had provided her with a life backed by connections.