After thinking for a while, Chu Zhi finally decided to ask inwardly, "Should I spend a personality coin?"
［...］
"Just joking to lighten the mood, brother, you decide," Chu Zhi quickly amended.
［Mars' marry.you, Maroon 5's Sugar, Westlife's Beautiful In White.］ The system rattled off three songs at once.
Not just one suitable song, but buy one get two free? Emperor Beast was not particularly curious. If it was for his benefit, he wouldn't ask too many questions.
Since these had appeared in the prize pool before, among the three songs only Maroon 5's Sugar fit the mood (meaning "sugar" or "baby").
［Spend 1 personality coin to see details of the three songs?］ the system suddenly asked.
Wow, right on cue.
Chu Zhi was about to try to talk his way out, but then thought the system brothers probably worked hard for money, plus his heart was still too kind. Each song should cost one personality coin, but a discount of two coins for all three was reasonable.
"Deduct one personality coin to check," Chu Zhi said.
Earning personality coins made the system a little happier. It revealed the details of the three songs.
From the info, Mars and Maroon 5 had won many awards in the West and were well known. Westlife's song was beautiful but was automatically dismissed by Chu Zhi due to their lower profile.
"I have an idea," Chu Zhi told Lao Qian.
After hearing it, Lao Qian nodded, "Good plan. Make this segment the music video. That idea is fantastic."
Sugar won MTV's Best Pop Video award, and while it did not have Maroon 5's lead singer Adam Levine's flair, Chu Zhi's singing skills and live performance were excellent. No worries there.
"First, we need to ask the person involved," Chu Zhi said.
Lao Qian said, "What's there to ask? If my idol suddenly appeared at my wedding, I'd jump for joy."
"Ultimately, putting aside my profession as a singer, we are guests. The newlyweds are the stars of the wedding. Whatever we do requires their consent," Chu Zhi said.
Emperor Beast was clear on his role. Compared to some celebrities who freeload at others' homes and act like they are doing them a favor by eating their food, the difference was like heaven and earth.
"Well then..." Lao Qian rubbed his hands, hesitating.
Was there something Lao Qian was embarrassed to say? Of course men in love were reserved. Chu Zhi spoke up: "Brother Qian, when you get married, I will definitely write a song to bless you."
That was what openness looked like. Lao Qian was socially confident but still liked being friends with someone as straightforward as Chu Zhi.
The Little Fruit's wedding date was April 14, 2022, a Thursday.
According to the Chinese almanac, it was good for weddings, travel, moving, and engagement. A lucky day indeed.
The Little Fruit Qing Si's real name was Hou Jun. Since his surname was Hou and he was quite slim, his nickname was obvious — yes, "Big Pig," mainly because of his ears. They were large but had no distinct rim, thick yet soft, and drooped a little, looking very much like pig ears.
Ancient face reading said people with pig ears were lazy, but Hou Jun had been diligent since childhood.
Hou Jun was busy confirming the process with the wedding company when suddenly he got a special WeChat message with a unique sound.
He only specially followed two people: his fiancée and recently added Qian Quxiang. The latter sent a voice message.
Hou Jun muttered, "Hope it's not bad news." As a Little Fruit, he could understand if Jiu-yé was busy. But if Jiu-yé really could not come, Hou Jun might downgrade from Little Fruit to just a casual fan. Understanding was one thing, acceptance another.
Switching to WeChat, two voice messages of about thirty seconds each… Big Pig's mind exploded and he instinctively converted the voice to text.
From the text, about the MV and singing, Hou Jun's eyes lit up. He immediately listened to the messages.
The sender went straight to the point about the artist's intention. Big Pig listened two or three times.
The idol not only would come but also sing a song at their wedding?!
"Hahaha, what kind of blueberry pie with cream was this? Such a big surprise. Sadie would definitely love it."
[Qian Ge]: Do you agree to have your wedding filmed as a music video?
Hou Jun immediately tapped the keypad to reply:
[Qing Si]:Agree, of course I agree. Having our wedding in Jiu-yé's song MV means so many people around the world will remember it. Just thinking about it is nice.
[Qing Si]:What do I need to prepare?
Typing was too much hassle, so Lao Qian preferred voice messages, feeling it conveyed things more clearly. They only needed to secretly bring the filming crew and Chu Zhi himself to the wedding without anyone seeing.
"I've thought of a thousand ways to avoid being noticed. This is easy. What else do you need me to do? There's still half a month before the wedding, plenty of time to prepare." Hou Jun said, mainly because this surprise was so huge he felt uncomfortable not helping.
[Qian Ge]:It's a surprise for your fiancée. The rest must be kept secret.
Reading the reply, Hou Jun's only thought was that idols never disappointed. He murmured softly, "No wonder I'm a fan."
In the afternoon, Hou Jun met with his fiancée Sadie Johnson for a meal. Right away, it was kisses and hugs, heavy on the display of love.
Sadie was a black-haired beauty. Not all Americans had blond hair. Her eyes were brown and she was very attractive.
"Jojo, will your friends be coming?" Hou Jun asked in English.
"They're arriving three days earlier, and my parents arrive the day after tomorrow," Sadie said seriously. "You don't need to pick them up with me. You're busy every day."
"I thought I'd be going with your parents. How could I not go?" Hou Jun said. Then he asked, "Will your friends all come?"
"Adam and Mike are too busy. They won't come," Sadie said. "It's a pity."
No doubt, those who could attend UCLA usually came from wealthy or noble families.
Both Sadie's and Hou Jun's families were well off, and their friends were also well off. Otherwise, the tens of thousands of dollars for tickets would be unbearable.
"Too bad Jiu-yé isn't charitable," Sadie sighed. She originally planned to donate all her YouTube earnings to her idol's foundation.
"Jiu-yé donates a lot every year, and does so in fans' names," Hou Jun said. "As for a charity fund, there isn't one."
"Oh, then I'll donate in Jiu-yé's name," Sadie said.
Chu Zhi didn't develop in America, so his popularity there mainly came from local Chinese, Korean, and Japanese communities.
The U.S. census report said Asians made up about 5 percent of the population.
There was popularity, but not much.
Because more than half of Asians in the U.S. were Indian, Emperor Beast had yet to conquer this Eastern superpower.
Sadie was a genuine Caucasian who studied comparative literature and barely understood Chinese. So how did she become a diehard Little Fruit?
The story was long. To summarize — because he was handsome.
Sadie was definitely a face lover. Otherwise, why would Hou Jun's confession succeed?
Hou Jun was fairly good looking by American standards, except for the ears.
Sadie accidentally found a mixed video on YouTube of Chu Zhi in suits at various awards ceremonies, titled "The Best Asian Man in a Suit." At first, Sadie didn't care much. How good could Asians look in suits?
But the three-and-a-half-minute compilation changed her mind. The looks were stunning. Other celebrities sharing the stage with this man all faded into the background.
Sadie looked for more Chu Zhi videos on YouTube. Why did Hou Jun say his fiancée was a diehard Little Fruit?
Never underestimate the power of a face lover. Despite not understanding Chinese well, Sadie found Bilibili with her boyfriend's help.
Chu Zhi was top content on Bilibili, and for Little Fruits, Bilibili had plenty of "Jiu-ju" videos — a great place to admire his looks.
Sadie contacted the original uploaders with clumsy translators, bringing all the Bilibili content to YouTube. She had already gained over 300,000 followers and convinced her plastic sisters to become face fans too.
Earlier, when the couple talked about donations, it was a coincidence. Chu Zhi came home from a busy day because of donation matters.
Remember last year when Chu Zhi decided to donate five to ten percent of his income yearly? Last year's income was 150 million U.S. dollars. Five percent was about 45 million yuan.
Since anonymous donations of ten million yuan earned one personality coin, Chu Zhi was very "dedicated" to charity. Based on last year's income, donating eighty million this year wasn't too much. Definitely not.
Ten million yuan was openly donated at various events, and the remaining seventy million quietly…
Great idea, but the execution had problems.
"I give up. This anonymous donation achievement is a scam. With so much money, how do I donate?"
Emperor Beast was truly troubled by having too much money. He never thought one day he would be annoyed by having too much money.
Chu Zhi searched online for good anonymous donation methods. After all, great minds existed among the public. After browsing, he found that some Alipay and WeChat projects allowed anonymous donations.
He tested the limits. Almost all projects allowed donations above fifty thousand yuan. Though anonymous, the money came from Alipay accounts with identity verification.
"Brother, does this count as anonymous donation?" Chu Zhi asked.
［If most people don't know, it counts as anonymous donation.］ the system promptly replied.
Then Chu Zhi started —
［Brain-Damaged Children Nurturing Plan］,［Cleft Lip Baby Smiles］,［Sick Orphans Rebirth］,［Disabled Children Sponsorship］,［Kiss the Seedlings, Nourish One Meal］,［Abandoned Girls Sponsorship］…
After scrolling through ten or so projects, Chu Zhi was stopped. Emperor Beast forgot one thing: even though his transfer limits were high, he only had two million yuan per year.
"Tomorrow I'll go to the bank to apply for a super high transfer limit on this card," Chu Zhi muttered.
After an hour and a half of busy work, the China Charity Federation received its usual twenty million yuan donation.
Fifty million yuan more was needed to complete the Charity King achievement and gain 15 personality coins, which would let him draw three blind boxes.
The next day, Chu Zhi flew to Beijing for the Shiyi Lang opening ceremony.