Chapter Seventy-One Sing a Song

  Although Jester's grandfather's hotel was only three-star, it was quite luxurious in the eyes of these foreign students.

  There aren't many mainland Chinese students in Los Angeles, but there aren't few either. Most of them arrived early to set up the scene before the party. Actually, Jie thought that although they were enthusiastic about cheering for their motherland's Olympic athletes, perhaps more of them came because they could get a free and rare big meal.

  Otherwise, Jester saw that some students actually walked more than 30 kilometers to get here, and they hadn't even eaten before coming, which was really hard for him to understand.

  Jester's grandfather was also supposed to come tonight, but something came up at the last minute and he couldn't make it, so he had Jester's little sister come in his place.

  Jester's grandfather has a high reputation among these overseas students. He privately has a scholarship fund, and every year he takes out $30,000 to provide financial assistance to these students who come to the United States to study, especially those studying on the West Coast.

  Many people have received kindness from Grandpa Jester.

  And his younger aunt came mainly to announce the new list of funding on behalf of her grandfather.

  The venue was decorated with a strong domestic flavor, and the decorations were all deliberately purchased from Chinatown. The tables used were also traditional large round tables that could seat ten to twenty people, which are commonly found in China. The chefs were also brought over from Jestar Grandfather's chain of Chinese restaurants. In short, everything made these overseas students feel as if they had returned home.

  In fact, they have never seen such scenes in their own country.

  There were still a lot of people coming tonight, with nearly two hundred international students and Chinese overseas Chinese, about half of the athletes would come to participate, plus some other miscellaneous personnel, totaling almost four hundred people.

  The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics was the first privately organized Olympic Games in history, so to reduce expenses, this session of the Olympic Games did not have any new venues built, nor a newly built Olympic Village, but instead rented several university dormitories for athletes and team officials to live.

  And there were also many sponsors, reaching hundreds of households, Jest's grandfather was one of them.

  However, this also has its benefits, as Jester's grandfather received six opening ceremony tickets from the organizing committee, and they were all in the best locations.

  Jester also got two tickets and planned to invite Qin Shuyi to watch the opening ceremony with him after the party.

  This Olympics pioneered the recruitment of Olympic volunteers, in other words, due to insufficient funds, they wanted to find some free laborers. Unexpectedly, this was warmly welcomed by Americans, especially many college students, who spontaneously organized themselves to serve the Olympics for free.

  However, the most criticized aspect is that this Olympic torch relay was sold to outsiders, with a clear price tag of $3,000 per mile. The Cory Fien Sports Economic Company even consulted with Jest about whether to participate in this relay when it arrived in California, but Jest directly refused after learning that this relay was so nakedly tied to money.

  Although he likes sports, especially football, and is not opposed to the commercialization of sports, he cannot accept such a blatant model.

  Of course, if this Olympic Games were not so commercialized, it would not have been possible to make a profit of $225 million with an investment of less than $500 million in just half a month, turning the Olympics from a money-losing event that everyone abandoned into a gold mine that every country wants.

  Jest is still very famous in the Chinese community, not because of his grandfather's prestige in the West Coast Chinese circle, but because of the huge success of Firestar Entertainment in just two months.

  Slapped those media and experts who have been saying video games are dead in the face.

  And there are also rumors circulating quietly that Jest is now America's youngest billionaire.

  So some Chinese people who came to the party scene, as soon as they saw Jester Li, enthusiastically surrounded him, all wanting to get close to him.

  Jester's recent acquisition of the struggling Clement Paper Company has also spread throughout the Chinese community, basically making Jester a rich spendthrift and a fool.

  The venue was already set up by Jester's grandfather, and these people only needed to eat.

  But now it's not time for dinner yet, and people who have arrived at the banquet hall are chatting in twos and threes with those they know.

  Jie Si Te finally managed to deal with those Chinese people who came to surround him and was able to relax.

  He glanced around and soon found Qin Shuyan's location, she was chatting and laughing with the four international students who came with her and some people of similar age.

  It's probably an acquaintance from school.

  Jie Si Te thought so and then walked over directly.

  Qin Shu saw him coming and smiled, waving at the people around her: "Li Jie, also known as Jest Li in English, is also the grandson of Old Man Li and the second largest sponsor of our party tonight."

  There are international students who often follow the news, and they also recognized Jest. After all, Jest and Huochebang Entertainment have been too hot, especially after Jest was nominated as a candidate for Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the American Collegiate Entrepreneurs Association, which has received great attention. To know that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Bushnell, the founder of Atari, had also won this honor in their early years.

  Several media outlets, including Steps ABC, wanted to do an exclusive interview with Jester, but were all rejected by him. Since participating in an interview last time, Jester completely lost interest in various media interviews, and he is not a high-profile person who doesn't like to show off.

  Although these overseas students knew Jester's identity, they didn't want to get too close either. Firstly, their ideas might be different, and secondly, their identities were vastly different, they were basically not people from the same world.

  They just exchanged a few words and excused themselves to leave, not wanting to have too much contact with Jester, and these people could also see that Jester was looking for Qin Shuyi.

  There was only one person who showed some hostility towards Jester when they first met, a foreign student named Yu Yunlong who had a secret crush on Qin Shuyi. He was somewhat annoyed by Jester's arrival, but seeing that his classmates and friends were all making excuses to leave, he didn't want to reveal his own feelings for Qin Shuyi either, nor did he want people to think he was trying to curry favor with the young capitalist, so he reluctantly went elsewhere.

  However, his gaze would always sneak a peek in the direction where Qin Shuyi was, and whenever he caught Jester's eye on him, he immediately shifted his gaze elsewhere, then put on an nonchalant expression.

  Jester just smiled and didn't make sense of it.

  In his opinion, Qin Shu Yan was such an excellent girl, it was only natural that someone would like her.

  However, apart from Qin Shu Yan, there was another overseas student who also stayed behind.

  Jester looked at the young man in front of him and felt a difference between him and those international students. He didn't have their guard up or keep his distance, seemingly intentionally trying to get close to himself.

  "He's Sun Zeyun, the grandson of one of my grandfather's comrades-in-arms. We grew up together when we were young." Qin Shuyi introduced him to Jester like this.

  After listening, Juste nodded and understood that this was also a dignitary from the mainland.

  However, the dignitaries on the mainland are not worth much nowadays. Jester has seen a lot of things in this world and is no longer as naive as when he was just reborn. He simply shook hands with this young man named Sun Zeyun and quickly parted ways.

  "I heard from Shu Wei that you are going to invest and do business in the country. I have many friends in the country who can help." Sun Zeyun's attitude was very proactive and enthusiastic.

  Jester just smiled and nodded, but didn't say anything specific.

  His investment of tens of millions of dollars, even high-ranking officials at the ministerial level have to meet him in person, so there is no need for those friends to help.

  Qin Shu listened with some disdain, she seemed to be very familiar with this Sun Zeyun, made a face and said in a sarcastic tone: "What about your gang of friends, which one is capable? All day long they only know how to rely on their elders' reputation to cause trouble everywhere."

  Sun Zeyun didn't think much of it and continued to speak enthusiastically with Jester: "Mr. Sun, actually I'm also a student at UC, but I just finished my language prep course and will be starting freshman year after the summer break."

  "Congratulations then, UC is a great university." Jester said with a smile and a nod.

  The three of them chatted for a few more sentences, then Sun Zeyun also noticed that Jester seemed to be interested in Qin Shuyi and not himself. In order to maintain his image in front of Jester, he also found an excuse to leave.

  "I'm really sorry, I didn't think they would be so distant to you." Qin Shuyi said with some embarrassment when she saw that there were only two people, herself and Jester.

  Jester smiled indifferently and, to be honest, he wasn't interested in getting too close to these exchange students. He was willing to get to know them only because of Qin Shuyi's face. If it weren't for Qin Shuyi, Jester wouldn't care who they were. So they didn't take offense, which suited Jester just fine.

  To know, billionaires' time is not that cheap.

  "No way, isn't this someone we just met?" Jester said with a glance at Sun Zeyun who was already on the other side.

  "Uh-huh."

  Qin Shu saw that Jester's expression was as usual, and she didn't take her previous classmates' sluggishness to heart, which was a relief. After all, the matter was also because of her, and she hadn't explained the situation to both parties beforehand. When she mentioned Sun Zeyun to Jester, a hint of a smile appeared on her delicate face. She smiled as she spoke, "He, his grandfather used to be a bodyguard for my grandfather, and he's from the same hometown as me. We grew up together when we were young, and he was particularly mischievous. I remember one time he put a caterpillar in my hair and scared me to tears. Then I went to tattle on him, and as a result, his father spanked him twenty times, and for an entire week, he didn't dare sit down, even eating meals had to be done while kneeling, it almost made me laugh to death."

  When Qin Shu Yan talked about the interesting things in her childhood, Jester couldn't help but laugh out loud. Then he also recalled many interesting things from his childhood based on his true memory as Jester Lee, which made Qin Shu Yan's laughter continue to ring out.

  Qin Shu Yan's admirer, Yu Yun Long, could only secretly watch all of this, watching Jester and Qin Shu Yan laughing and chatting nonstop, while his gaze towards Jester became increasingly hostile.

  His fists were clenched unintentionally.

  It was almost time for dinner, and the mainland delegation's athletes were arriving one after another. Jie Si Te wasn't very familiar with the athletes of this era. He could only recognize Xu Haifeng, who won China's first gold medal in shooting, and Li Ning, known as the "Prince of Gymnastics" and the "Tower of Strength". The others he wasn't too familiar with.

  However, Xu Haifeng did not attend because he had to compete the day after the opening ceremony and was conserving his energy. This made Jie Shi a bit disappointed. Li Ning came, but Jie Shi only took a glance from afar, and could only tell that it resembled the photos he saw later in life by the outline.

  The dinner was still very sumptuous, with the chefs being the master chefs from Grandpa Jester's Chinese restaurant. In order to cater to the different tastes of the students and athletes from all over the country, this time's dishes included not only Sichuan cuisine, which is Grandpa Jester's specialty, but also Lu cuisine, known as the orthodox northern cuisine, and Huaiyang cuisine, which is renowned for its light and delicate flavor.

  To be honest, people of this generation, especially those in the country, due to material shortages, life is very difficult. Athletes with national numbers may be slightly better off, but they won't be much stronger than ordinary people.

  Jie still remembers a story he saw, at that time Liu Xiaoqing was already a famous actress on the mainland. When Li Hanxiang's crew was filming "The Burning of Yuanmingyuan", because the Hong Kong crew members had meat to eat, but they didn't have any on the mainland, she could cry and strike directly for the sake of eating meat, which shows the degree of domestic material shortage at that time.

  So, Jest's little sister represented her grandfather and simply said a few words of hope that the athletes would win glory for their country on the Olympic field. We overseas Chinese will definitely cheer for our motherland without hesitation. After announcing the start of the banquet, the students who were studying in the US and hated to spend every penny on useful books, as well as those athletes at home who had long since lost interest in sports, immediately began wolfing down the delicious food.

  It is said that this evening party was organized by these overseas students with the assistance of the consulate, but it's just a nominal title. The real organizer of this welcome banquet is still Jest's grandfather.

  Jie's younger sister also noticed that her nephew had a crush on the little girl named Qin Shuyi, so she deliberately arranged for the two to be together.

  After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, everyone's emotions were stirred up. It was unclear who suggested singing a song, but it quickly gained unanimous approval. However, with 400 people present, not everyone could sing at once. Initially, volunteers came forward, but as the majority were introverted Chinese nationals, the number of willing participants was limited. In the end, they drew lots to decide who would sing.

  Apart from those who volunteered to sing, about twenty more would be randomly selected. With nearly four hundred people, the probability of being selected was still very small.

  But Jester never thought that he had bought a lot of scratch-offs in his past life and never won any prizes, but this time he actually won the jackpot.

  Although Jie didn't sing well, he still had the ability to go to KTV with friends and scream a song or two. So, if he won, it was just singing one song, and although his singing was average, it wasn't unbearable.

  It's not difficult to fool around.

  To avoid singing the same song as others, after getting the list of songs with accompaniment tracks available in the hotel, all those who are preparing to sing also refer to the song list and choose their desired song.

  Jester took a look, he wasn't familiar with the songs of this era, like those red songs that loved the party and the country, it wouldn't be suitable for him as a Chinese to sing them, although he could, and singing the songs from Taiwan didn't suit him either, after all, he had sprayed Taiwan as a sick cat not long ago. After selecting and choosing, he chose a very famous one that was also suitable for his identity to sing.

  "My Chinese Heart" by Teresa Teng

  The problem is that this song is too famous, too good-sounding, too deeply ingrained in people's minds, and too easy to sing, so many people want to choose it. Although it's not prohibited to sing the same song as others, singing the same one as someone else isn't very good after all.

  However, Jester's reputation was there, and his grandfather had a high prestige among the Chinese, so others saw that Jester wanted to choose this one and also expressed their abandonment.

  No need to offend Jester for just one song.

  Jester also thanked him one by one.

  Yu Yunlong was also planning to choose this song, he really liked this song, and since he heard it in the US, he couldn't help but fall in love with this song that was written straight to his heart. His voice was also very good, and he was quite skilled at singing. In the past, when he was studying in college in China, he was always the star performer at school evening parties. However, when he saw Jester wanting to sing this song, and everyone else immediately gave up, plus Qin Shuyi's affectionate attitude towards Jester earlier, a sense of injustice arose in his heart.

  What makes him entitled to so many privileges? Why does everyone show such deference and respect towards him? Is it just because he has a good grandfather, or is it just because he was born in America? In what way am I inferior to him?

  He has always thought of himself as a genius, and since the reinstatement of the college entrance examination, he has been frantically absorbing all available knowledge after being admitted to Peking University from a poor mountainous area. In every exam in China, he never scored second, and when studying abroad, he also effortlessly obtained a place. Before coming to America, he was extremely proud and confident.

  After coming to the United States, he worked hard in the eyes of these Americans who looked down on him. Every time he took an exam, he was A, and none of the students at USC Business School, whether American, European or Japanese, had a better grade than him.

  He is extremely confident in his own abilities.

  He only felt a sense of inferiority when facing Qin Shuyi, because he knew her identity.

  He knew how far he was from Qin Shu Yan.

  But this banana man called Jester Lee... At this time, Yu Yunlong's mind flashed countless thoughts, and his gaze towards Jester had changed from the initial hostility to disgust.

  At this time, Jester also found Yu Yunlong not far away. He saw that the other party's eyes were staring at him with a strange gaze, and it seemed that the other party had also drawn to sing, so he wanted to ask if the other party was going to choose "My Chinese Heart" too. So, Jester walked up to him.

  While Yu Rong looked at Jester as he walked towards him, the disgust in his eyes immediately disappeared. He slightly lowered his head, trying to hide his emotions.

  "What song did you choose?" Jester asked proactively.

  Yu Yunlong put on a troubled expression and said: "I don't have many songs that I'm good at, I haven't chosen one yet, what did you choose?"

  "My Chinese heart won't collide with yours, will it?" Jester continued to say with a smile.

  "This song, huh." Yu Yunlong's face showed a thoughtful expression, but after a moment, a smile immediately appeared on his face. "No way, although I also like this song, you chose it, so I'll choose another one."

  "Thanks then, I'll take you out for dinner when I have time." Jester also smiled and expressed his gratitude.

  As Jester walked towards Qin Shu, Yue Yunlong's eyes revealed that strange and eerie gaze again, a mix of hostility and disgust, flashing by in an instant.

  "What did you choose?" Seeing Jester had chosen a good song and was walking towards him, Qin Shu also asked curiously.

  "My Chinese heart," Jester said with a smile.

  "Really! I also like this song very much, Yu Yunlong is particularly good at singing this one. He's the pillar of our overseas students and can sing many songs, all of which are sung very well." Qin Shuyi said with a smile on her face.

  "I still want to thank him, just now when I said I wanted to choose this song, he said he would change it, I didn't know he was best at this song, actually I can change to another one, no big deal." Jester's face showed a somewhat embarrassed expression, "After the party tonight, you help me contact him, in a few days I want to invite him out for dinner, to properly thank him."

  "No problem." Qin Shu Yan also readily agreed.

  Then, the singing stage officially began. This time, the songs were still relatively clear-cut, mainly domestic red songs, overseas Chinese and Chinese compatriots sang some popular Hong Kong and Taiwan songs, while international students had both.

  To be honest, this is not a professional singer, the singing is just so-so, but the emotions of the audience below are very enthusiastic, every time they finish singing, no matter how they sing, they always respond with warm applause.

  Jie Si actually found it somewhat uninteresting, chatting with Qin Shu Yan in a disjointed manner, he was only interested in this.

  "Next, Yu Yunlong!" With the guest host's announcement, a foreign student shouted, Qin Shuyi hastily pushed Jester and whispered, "You're next, aren't you going down?"

  Jie Si just smiled: "What else are you preparing? I've listened to this song 'My Chinese Heart' countless times, and I can recite the lyrics backwards..."

  Before he could finish his sentence, the prelude to the classic song that made Zhang Mingmin famous nationwide on this year's Spring Festival Gala began to echo through the banquet hall.

  Upon hearing the familiar prelude, Jester suddenly stopped speaking and looked at Yu Yunlong standing on the stage preparing to sing. He recalled the smile on his face when he said he would choose a different song earlier, and a hint of coldness flowed out from Jester's eyes.

  Qin Shu also looked at Yu Yunlong, who was about to start singing, with some shock, and then glanced at Jester, whose face was cold and stern. On one side was her classmate, on the other was her new friend. She opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

  However, she still felt a bit resentful towards Yu Yunlong and said, "How can he be like this!"

  PS2: If you don't like this plot, skip it. Writing about game development all the time is not interesting, and it's impossible for the whole book to be just developing games, releasing, developing games, releasing.