Chapter 65: A Script That Seems Promising, A Prize That Seems Useless

A few words were enough to settle Zhang Shuo, and Li Shixin returned home.

These days, Zhang Ying had taken on a small project and was working overtime every day. With his beloved daughter out of the house, Li Shixin was in no mood to cook for Zhang Shuo, that little rebel always scheming to drive him out of the family.

Back in his own room, Li Shixin entered the system.

Today's audition, along with singing a bass version of "Red Mountain Blossoms" for a crowd of old fans at the midday gathering, plus various other accumulated events, had caused his Cheers Points, which had dropped to double digits in the morning, to bounce back a little.

User: Li Shixin.
Remaining lifespan: 45 days.
Physical age: 63 years, 237 days.
Current Cheers Points: 42,113.

Seeing that he had once again accumulated enough for twenty consecutive draws in a single day, Li Shixin felt a surge of excitement.

"If I draw again before my remaining lifespan is above a hundred days, I'm a damn dog!"

(￢＿￢)

Recalling the harsh oath he had sworn, Li Shixin shifted his gaze away from the tempting red button on the lottery page.

"Dad! You auditioned all day, then ran around all afternoon. You must be hungry! Wait, I'll cook you some noodles right now! Want a poached egg?"

Outside the door, Zhang Shuo, who had followed him back from apartment 502, called out with an ingratiating tone.

Heh.

Li Shixin chuckled softly.

Look at that, how affectionate he sounded.

In this world so driven by material desires, the older one gets, the less anyone forgives your poverty and incompetence.

When he first came home, lying on the hospital bed waiting for a stent, even his own son acted like a stranger.

And now?

Faced with a cushy job, this brat who constantly plots to push him out of the family is suddenly calling him "Dad" with such warmth?

Forget it!

Draw!

Thinking of his two ungrateful sons, Li Shixin barked like an old dog and poured his points into the lottery.

Beep!

Obtained [Spittoon] x1. Description: It has no gold rim, but its generous belly can hold all your phlegm for a day and thirteen nighttime urinations.

As an elderly man plagued by frequent night-time urination, a veritable Ten-Times-a-Night King in the realm of bladder control, Li Shixin accepted this spittoon, worth a day's lifespan, in silence.

Again!

Beep!

Obtained [Three-Wheeler] x1. Description: You have your Mercedes, I have my three-wheeler. You laugh at my poverty and age, saying I'm unworthy of love; I laugh at your seductive passenger who aborts behind your back! Ride this simple, honest tricycle and you'll never get stuck in traffic! (Note: Large item, do not retrieve indoors)

What's wrong with this system today?!

It keeps giving me these things that are clearly useless but somehow touch my heart.

Trying to infuriate me, old man?

Again!

Beep!

[Walking Cane] x1...x2...x14...

As the reminders for "third legs" popped up one after another, Li Shixin's old face darkened.

Until, with his last two thousand points, the system suddenly offered something different.

Beep!

Obtained [Voice Changer] x1. Description: Online romance, little brother? Cute loli voice...

WDNMD!

If the system had any substance, Li Shixin would have smashed this likely NetEase-produced piece of junk and lain down to await his end.

Infuriating!

Suppressing his anger, he shut down the system and walked out of his bedroom with a grim face.

Seeing Zhang Shuo humming a tune while boiling noodles, Li Shixin decided to eat two extra bowls tonight.

Otherwise, how could he swallow the resentment of forty thousand points wasted?

......

After dinner, Li Shixin returned to his bedroom. He turned on the desk lamp and opened the script given to him that afternoon by Jiao Chendong.

"Flying Against the Wind" was adapted from the famous gymnast Qiao Hong's autobiography from the 1980s. Li Shixin had never read the book and didn't know how much the script had changed from the original.

But after quickly reading through it, he was quite satisfied.

The story opens with a deliberate injury case.

Mid-1970s.

Due to her mother's surname, Jiang, little Qiao Hong suffered constant bullying at school. One day after class, unable to bear it any longer after her classmates put a frog in her school bag, Qiao Hong fought back. The parent of one of her classmates, partial to their child, slapped Qiao Hong in front of the whole school.

Her father, who had come to pick her up, witnessed the scene. Overcome with rage and years of repression, he fought with the parent and accidentally inflicted a serious injury. Realizing he had committed a crime, he fled in panic and disappeared.

From then on, Qiao Hong not only carried the nickname "mongrel," but also became known as the daughter of a fugitive.

Police officers would come by the alley from time to time to investigate, causing the neighbors to avoid this "troublesome" family. Her classmates stopped bullying her, but instead completely ostracized her. Childhood friends were warned by their parents to stay away from her.

In such an environment, Qiao Hong and her mother depended on each other, growing up in loneliness and discrimination.

One day, she saw gymnasts on TV, standing beneath the red flag, receiving applause and admiration from the crowd and viewers at home.

A seed was planted in her heart.

When the provincial gymnastics team came to her small town to train, Qiao Hong secretly ran out of the house.

By then, she was already in seventh grade, her bones set, and past the optimal age for gymnastics training. Coach Liu Wenshan, leading the team, saw a child with zero chance of success and understandably refused her. But after persistent requests, Coach Liu decided to give Qiao Hong a chance.

The so-called "chance" was actually a torment—endure the agony of stretching her legs and count to a thousand.

Having never trained or stretched before, Qiao Hong endured ligament-tearing pain, using tears and stubbornness to pass the test and earn her only pathway to the light.

Though moved by the girl's tenacity, Coach Liu still seemed unimpressed, almost ignoring her efforts during every training session. After six months on the team, Qiao Hong realized the gap between herself and others. A new wave of inferiority grew alongside her self-assumed rebirth.

Eventually, the gymnastics team, almost a replica of her cramped alley, with no praise, no affirmation, no recognition, became unbearable. Qiao Hong sought out Coach Liu to express her feelings, only to receive a cold "if you can't bear it, leave" in reply.

Disheartened, Qiao Hong packed her bags, but was stopped by a boy on the team who scolded her for her pessimism and cowardice.

That precious friendship strengthened Qiao Hong's resolve.

In the days that followed, Qiao Hong trained silently, worked hard, and grew quietly, like a wildflower.

After the incident, Coach Liu began to truly pay attention to her. The two drew closer through arduous training. When Qiao Hong experienced her first period, the elderly, reserved coach carefully marked the relevant section in a physiology book and slipped it into her backpack. Qiao Hong also learned from her teammates that the day she was about to leave, it was Coach Liu who sent someone to persuade her to stay.

Later, when Qiao Hong was barred from competition due to her family's political background, Coach Liu did everything he could to support her.

Lucky to meet a second father figure in her life, Qiao Hong gave more than anyone could imagine.

At last, at a national sports meet—joining the team as an overage member, passing political review three times, once written off by all—Qiao Hong won her first medal, driven by dreams of the gymnasium, applause, and flowers.

Her father, on the run for three years and surviving by scavenging, finally saw his daughter's angelic image on television. Just to tell her "I'm proud of you," he turned himself in.

The story was not especially dramatic, nor full of conflict, but every character was weighty and substantial.

After finishing the script, Li Shixin closed his eyes deeply.

Coach Liu's lines and persona slowly took shape in his mind.

He felt that, if he could portray this character well, it would add significant weight to his acting career.