Chapter 52

Chapter 15: Golden Memories

“Hair metal headbangers…”

Uncle He’s eyes flickered with a few mysterious emotions, but he quickly suppressed them, revealing a hearty smile: “That was many years ago. I followed the village chief’s advice and came to the city from the village, entering a factory to work.”

Yuan Xiaoling nodded.

It was identical to the data compiled by Qiao Lili, almost as if it came from the same template.

“There weren’t many people I knew in the city, and I couldn’t understand all those urban things at all. Low wages, no idea what to do, so I could only chat idly with the workers around me. Even though I didn’t know them, we were all from the villages—just not the same one—and after some back-and-forth, we got familiar quickly.”

Uncle He’s face showed a hint of reminiscence: “One day, a coworker pulled us aside and said he had something cool. When we left the factory, we found out it was a green mohawk wig. We all laughed, marveling at it for quite a while. Then he took us to watch TV programs, where singers wearing these wigs sang on stage while holding guitars. Though we couldn’t understand the foreign gibberish they were singing, it was exhilarating, and they looked so happy.”

Yuan Xiaoling nodded, understanding this as the ‘unknown yet impressive’ effect, similar to how Martian language was born and became popular.

“And then you guys also wore the wigs?” she asked.

“Yes, under peer pressure and curiosity, each of us bought one—it wasn’t expensive,” Uncle He chuckled. “I bought a red one, which stood out fiery red under the sunlight, like it was burning.”

Yuan Xiaoling continued nodding; it made sense, she’d seen it on QQ Space.

“That was such an amazing thing. After putting it on, we felt more connected, as if we became a special family,” Uncle He recounted slowly. “Even strangers online, once they wore the wig, seemed closer somehow.”

Having social connections makes you feel alive.

“Those days were really fun. We eagerly awaited our time off. We played car-racing and dancing video games together, went to karaoke, held cheap second-hand guitars like the people on TV, shouting foreign lyrics with bad pronunciation—not knowing what we were singing—but truly enjoying ourselves.”

Uncle He took a deep sip of his fruit tea, as if it were beer: “If there was any place for us in the city, it was probably the internet cafes and KTVs.”

Yuan Xiaoling waited a moment until his emotions stabilized before continuing, “Then later, why did you stop?”

“Later… well, that’s life.”

Uncle He put down his fruit tea, speaking vaguely: “We all grew up, had our own things to do, and it wasn’t good for our image anyway… so… we just stopped.”

“I see.”

Yuan Xiaoling tightened her little face, feeling that Uncle He was hiding something, but since it involved his personal affairs, it wasn’t appropriate to press further.

As for that girl with the yellow wig, since Uncle He didn’t mention her, Yuan Xiaoling didn’t want to pry either. But since he didn’t say anything, maybe they broke up later and didn’t want to talk about sad memories.

“Thank you, Uncle He. My thesis topic is sufficient,” the blonde-haired maiden waved her small hand, “we’ll chat again next time.”

“Alright.”

Yuan Xiaoling got up and walked towards Tianhai Tower. She needed to probe for information at Yunhai Company.

What she didn’t know was that after finishing his fruit tea and putting away the mini fan, Uncle He followed her upstairs.

Yunhai Company still looked the same, with complete and elegant decoration and facilities, but there was no sense of serious game development going on. When Yuan Xiaoling arrived, the few people inside were chatting while enjoying the air conditioning, occasionally bursting into strange laughter.

“Hey, Teacher Yuan Xiaoling, you’ve finally come,” the supervisor stood up immediately, “we’ve been waiting for you for days.”

“You’re not working?” Yuan Xiaoling blinked her eyes, “just sitting around waiting?”

“Of course, we’re working while waiting.”

“Haha, Teacher Yuan Xiaoling is as witty as ever.”

The blonde-haired maiden tightened her little face.

Not bad, they’re more prepared this time, not as surprised as last time.

“Since everyone’s busy, let’s get down to business,” Yuan Xiaoling glanced at them, “is the new script ready?”

“It’s ready.” The supervisor stood at the door of the recording studio, “please come in.”

Though it felt a bit odd, if invited, she would go. Yuan Xiaoling confidently strode inside.

Behind her, the supervisor exchanged a glance with someone sitting at their desk, who gave a thumbs-up sign.

The equipment was running normally.

“The new script, oh here it is, let me check… Hmm, the design is decent, slightly better than last time, but there’s still room for improvement.”

As always, Yuan Xiaoling was bold and brash. The supervisor stood behind her, nodding humbly, agreeing profusely, acting so polite it felt like there might be a trap.

There aren’t any second-tier spiritual energy manipulators here, so even if there’s a trap, so what?

The blonde-haired maiden didn’t realize that both above her head and beneath her feet, there were several pinhole cameras installed.

Outside Yunhai Company, a man dressed in work clothes leaned against the balcony, his eyes showing a hint of hesitation.

This is fine, as long as I don’t do anything, the plan will proceed smoothly.

With Yuan Xiaoling’s relationship with that person, if she gets caught in those photos, it would certainly escalate into fierce violence, dragging the whole seaside area into chaos, giving him the opportunity he’s been dreaming of.

But… the man looked at the spinning mini fan in his hand, his expression somewhat dazed, a streak of golden hair surfacing in his memory.

“I can only buy this color, the hairstylist Johnny at the salon said they can’t achieve that natural gold look.”

“They have it in fancy city stores, but it’s too expensive.”

“This is fine, the photos will make it look golden.”

“Big Brother Huo, I heard city ladies have golden hair, do I look like one?”

After a long pause, a sigh echoed from the corner of the balcony. A bundle of scorching heat mixed with the summer sun quietly crept into the room, like a breeze blowing into the delicate electronic devices.

Crackling, the electronics emitted slight sparks, but no one heard—because Yuan Xiaoling’s voice-over was too loud.

“Ahhh! I want… wait, no, reading these words feels wrong, doesn’t sound like a voice clip for being attacked.”

Yuan Xiaoling frowned, looking at the supervisor and earnestly saying, “Just focus on making the game properly, stop resorting to dirty tricks.”

Scenes like this “educational moment” had happened multiple times during the dubbing process. The supervisor and others endured being scolded in the face by the blonde busty girl, yet still maintained smiles on their faces.

“Yes, yes, Teacher Yuan Xiaoling is absolutely right.”

But inwardly, they thought fiercely, just let her keep being arrogant, soon she’ll regret it.

After the dubbing session ended, Yuan Xiaoling paused briefly and said, “That’s it. I’m approaching my final exams, so I won’t be coming anymore. We’ll talk when I have time.”

These people could endure even this, perhaps they were plotting some grand conspiracy. Xiaoling felt a little uneasy inside, it’s better not to come anymore.

The supervisor didn’t try to retain her, merely saying, “Teacher, please walk safely.”

Once Yuan Xiaoling truly left, he returned to the hall excitedly, exclaiming, “Quick, bring up the footage, let me enjoy it.”

The bespectacled man who was sitting at his workstation earlier raised his head, sweating profusely.

“Supervisor, the camera… it’s broken.”