Far away in Magic City, Mu Li, who was diligently writing new songs, suddenly sneezed. “Is someone talking bad about me behind my back?”
In Star City, inside the “I Live Alone” studio, everyone was watching the edited life segments of the five celebrities.
As Mu Li was the contestant with the most popularity, the production team naturally saved his segment for last, starting with the lives of the other four celebrities.
This type of observation show had been produced many times, and the content was largely similar, having almost formed a fixed pattern.
From the first episode, they would introduce their daily lives. Then, some celebrities would choose to introduce their family members, while some with better connections would invite other celebrity friends to increase their viewership. Of course, occasionally, they would also invite some ordinary friends.
New hosts like Mu Si introduced her daily life and the inner workings of the television station, which satisfied many people's curiosity about TV stations.
Actress Ai Jing, on the other hand, showcased her life in the film and television city, and also introduced the lifestyle of actors in a film crew.
Similarly, Jin Zhong and Ming Yu did the same.
Although Jin Zhong had not yet joined a film crew, he displayed the preparations he was making for his upcoming TV series, such as daily high-intensity workouts, eating fat-loss meals, and engaging in combat training.
Ming Yu was preparing for his solo concert, practicing from morning till night, as well as the anxieties before ticket sales, and even insomnia. All these aspects of his life were well-edited into the life segments.
Perhaps being in the same industry, and with the viewers of these life segments being relatives of celebrities, everyone seemed to empathize more with the hardships behind the seemingly glamorous lives of these stars.
Especially the two mothers, Jin Zhong’s mother Luo Yushu and Mu Si’s mother Zhou Yan, they couldn’t help but secretly wipe away tears when they saw these children practicing non-stop from morning till night.
In fact, this is the current situation for most celebrities. Celebrities with work wish they could work 365 days a year, while those without work are almost constantly looking for jobs. A celebrity represents not just the celebrity themselves, but an entire team, and even a company.
The same goes for Mu Li now; he is just one part of the studio. Behind him are Liu Yun, Wu Yao, Yang Yitong, and even the newly hired receptionist, finance, publicity, editing, and so on. All these people depend on him for their livelihoods.
This also means that for most celebrities, they do not have the capital to be willful; they can only continuously work without rest.
After watching the videos of the first four, everyone was deeply moved, and the entire studio was immersed in a rather somber atmosphere, especially when these relatives revealed some things unknown to outsiders.
For example, Ming Yu’s leg almost became disabled due to excessive dance practice, and Jin Zhong almost fell from a building due to an accident during the filming of an action scene.
However, even so, Xu Ming felt that many viewers might not empathize with these celebrities, as even though they seemed to suffer, they earned too much.
In this atmosphere, everyone opened Mu Li’s segment.
However, what appeared first was not Mu Li’s segment, but five staff members wearing masks on screen.
Everyone couldn’t help but wonder why these staff members appeared in Mu Li’s segment.
“What was your first impression of Mu Li?” the production team asked from off-screen.
“Dangerous!”
“Terrifying!”
“Horrifying!”
“Brutal!”
…
The five staff members answered one after another.
Hearing their responses, everyone was momentarily stunned.
This content had not appeared in the live broadcast; it was material obtained from subsequent interviews by the production team.
Immediately after, Xu Yunyi’s interview segment appeared, and the production team asked the same question.
“A Li? A Li is a very good person!” Xu Yunyi laughed. “He is polite, talented, but not ostentatious, and quite humorous.”
The same question was asked to Chichi.
“A Li is amazing!” Chichi replied. “We met playing games online. His gaming skill is very high, but he never looks down on us for being bad. He’s also very loyal.”
This made everyone curious, and they all looked at Mu Li’s friend, Xu Ming. Xin Fei Yu also promptly asked, “We just heard everyone’s evaluations of Mu Li, and they varied greatly. But what kind of person is Mu Li in real life?”
Xu Ming was also a bit surprised at this moment. “I’m also very curious why those staff members commented on Mu Li like that? But Mu Li, I think his biggest characteristic is being laid-back. To use a better adjective, he’s open-minded.”
“Oh? How so?” Everyone looked at Xu Ming with curiosity.
“I met Mu Li after entering university. He’s the kind of person who can do anything well, but doesn’t know his own goals,” Xu Ming simply described the Mu Li he knew.
“His academic performance in our school was also top-notch, including his athletic performance and so on. Basically, no one could surpass him. If it were anyone else with his achievements, they would definitely go to the student union, clubs, and other places to gain some honors, but he didn’t care at all.”
“Every day, besides attending classes with us, he basically just played games in the dorm. But even when playing games, he was definitely among the top players.”
Xin Fei Yu asked curiously, “How are you so sure?”
Xu Ming shrugged and said, “I’ve seen quite a few e-sports professional clubs send him offers. These were direct employment invitations, not invitations for him to be a trainee. The contracts even specified that he would be guaranteed playing time as soon as he joined.”
The mothers present didn’t quite understand, but for young people like Xin Fei Yu and Yang Jing, they naturally knew what such contracts meant—as long as Mu Li agreed to sign, he could directly become a professional e-sports player.
“So A Li refused?” Xin Fei Yu tentatively asked.
Xu Ming nodded. “That guy, a contract with a basic annual salary of several million, he didn’t even look at it and just directly refused.”
“Ah? Why did he refuse?” Yang Jing couldn’t help but interject and ask.
Xu Ming smiled bitterly and said, “He said he was too old, and would have to retire after only a few years, so he wouldn’t bother messing around in the e-sports circle.”
Xu Ming smiled and continued, “Besides being laid-back, he’s also not very active. Basically, for all four years of university, our eldest brother Li Yu brought him his meals. But his best quality is that he’s easy to feed; he’ll eat whatever you bring.”
“Haha! I know that much,” Chichi couldn’t help but laugh.
“How so? There seems to be more to that story?” Xin Fei Yu continued to ask.
“A Li being easy to feed is also out of necessity, forced by life,” Chichi explained. “Since he was a child, his parents didn’t really look after him. After he started school, he even lived directly with his teacher’s family until he graduated from high school. Even now, his parents have gone traveling abroad and haven’t been back for several years.”
“This…” Xin Fei Yu was somewhat stunned.
Perhaps to others, parents traveling abroad seems like a good thing, at least the family is wealthy enough, but for a child, without the companionship of parents, how can life continue?
Chichi also sighed. “This is also because A Li truly has no talent in cooking. No matter how he tries, he can’t cook well. In the end, he can only rely on Pokémon to cook for him and feed him. But as far as I know, his Pokémon, for some reason, directly inherited his cooking talent. The food they make can only be described as edible; you won’t die from eating it.”
“Ah? Why doesn’t he find an auntie to cook for him?” Jin Zhong’s mother, Luo Yushu, asked.
“Because no one is willing to go,” Xu Ming explained. “His home is in a very remote village in Yangcheng. It’s a house he bought with his own money, in the wilderness, and usually no one goes there. The house he lives in now in Magic City belongs to his parents.”
Xu Ming added, “Don’t think he seems to be doing well later, but his parents haven’t given him living expenses for many years. Since he was in middle school, he has been earning money to support himself.”
Xu Ming and Chichi, in a back-and-forth, directly portrayed Mu Li as someone abandoned by his parents since childhood, forced to rely on his own efforts to live.
If Mu Li knew this, he would probably vomit three liters of blood.
Although his parents didn’t look after him much since he was young, they only let go after discovering Mu Li’s strong independent living ability early on.
As for not having given him living expenses for many years, that’s because he joined the National Team, which provided food and lodging, so he didn’t need much money. And since his retirement, the country still gives him a living allowance every year.
He himself also set up a flower industry chain, completely self-sufficient, so his parents didn’t have to worry at all.
Although his parents always traveling did make Mu Li feel quite lonely, he would only long for his family’s companionship when he was feeling emo. And his parents also contacted him frequently.
As for why his parents didn’t return, Mu Li’s parents’ reason was: “If you miss us, then come see us? It’s not like you can’t afford a plane ticket? Why should we have to go back to see you just because you’re lazy?”
It must be said, that made a lot of sense.
The lonely emo in the dead of night was not enough to make Mu Li take a plane overnight to seek his mother’s embrace, which is why they hadn’t seen each other for several years.
However, the two’s descriptions indeed made everyone quite sympathetic to Mu Li, until the official segment began to play.
Before this, Xin Fei Yu also sensed the low atmosphere in the studio and quickly changed the subject. “But I’m very curious, why did the staff members comment on Mu Li like that?”
Not only Xin Fei Yu was curious, but Chichi and Xu Ming were as well.
A woman appeared on screen, Liu Yun, and the production team thoughtfully identified Liu Yun’s identity—Mu Li’s manager.
“We heard that something happened on the morning of the live broadcast, and you and several other staff members were involved. It’s said that many staff members developed psychological shadows because of what happened that morning, so we’re here to interview you,” the production team said. “What exactly happened that morning?”
“Heh heh.” Liu Yun’s mouth twitched, completely losing her strong female aura. She just shook her head. “Forget the staff, I don’t even dare to go to his house now. Do you know what the first criterion our company has for recruiting an assistant for Mu Li is?”
Liu Yun sneered, “To be Mu Li’s assistant, there’s only one requirement—not afraid of death.”
The screen froze on Liu Yun’s sneering expression, and a cartoon black question mark directly appeared on the screen: “What exactly happened that day that made Mu Li’s manager directly refuse to go to his house? And what made so many staff members tremble with fear?”