Although he looked a little more mature than he had at eighteen, he still seemed only about twenty-five or twenty-six—not at all like a thirty-five-year-old man.
Perhaps it was because of the system's influence.
The moment the audience saw Wang Yi appear, they erupted into thunderous cheers and applause that went on and on.
Guo Degang hugged Wang Yi, then joked, "You're even more popular than me on my home turf. You got louder applause than I did. I'm heartbroken."
Wang Yi laughed. "Maybe you heard wrong. Or maybe you showed up too early."
With that, the two of them sat down.
Wang Yi glanced at the show's name behind him. "Guo's Show? Aren't you called Guo Degang?"
Guo Degang answered with a smile:
"Guo's Show is my childhood nickname."
Wang Yi already had a bit of a knack for humor, and Guo Degang went without saying—a master of crosstalk and of the art of language.
When crosstalk performers chatted, they made sure never to let a line fall flat.
Take Yu Qian, the Empress of Crosstalk. He was so seasick he could barely stand, yet he still instinctively played the straight man.
In just a few exchanges, the two had the audience doubled over with laughter.
Next, Guo Degang said to Wang Yi, "As a globally renowned basketball star, you have more than two billion fans around the world, and you've appeared on plenty of shows over the years."
"But our show is different from the others. We don't talk about ideals or life or anything like that. We just have a casual chat about everyday things. Say whatever you want."
Wang Yi said, "I want to say, 'It's time. I should go home and get some sleep.'"
The audience burst out laughing again.
Guo Degang laughed, too. "Anything