On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Li Xun set off for the capital with a suitcase full of local specialties.
That morning, his father, Li Luyuan, walked him to the village entrance to wait for the bus. The villagers they met along the way treated the Li family father and son very differently from when Li Xun had returned home before the New Year.
That video call from the little shop at the village entrance had spread through all of Lijiawan Village at lightning speed.
"Have you heard? The best program at the Spring Festival Gala—the one called Where Did the Time Go—was written by Li Xun from the Li family!"
"Don't talk nonsense. On New Year's Eve, that song had our whole family in tears. A song that good was written by Li Xun? It even made it onto Xinwen Lianbo! Have you ever heard a song so good that they played it on Xinwen Lianbo?"
"Look, you don't believe me, do you? Last night, at the little shop by the village entrance, that singer—a huge celebrity—had a video call with Li Xun! If he hadn't written the song, why would a star like her give him the time of day?"
"Is that true?"
"Of course it's true! And I heard she likes Li Xun, too. Last night, right in front of Li Xun's mother, she cried and begged to marry him. But Li Xun wasn't interested!"
"What? He wasn't interested? That girl's a hundred times better than the Xia family girl, isn't she? Have you ever seen another celebrity whose song played on Xinwen Lianbo?"
"So what if she's a hundred times better? Isn't there an old saying? Love is blind!"
"That's true. Anyone with eyes can see how much Li Xun likes the Xia