“Porter” Chu Xingxing
Inside the neighboring conference room.
Although the two conference rooms were structured exactly the same, the atmosphere inside couldn’t have been more different.
Inside, seventy-year-old Ai Minli, a singer once hailed as a national treasure with a golden voice who hadn’t appeared in the public eye for at least two decades, was passionately belting out a tune into a karaoke microphone shaped like a dinosaur egg —
“Spring leaves before the mirror, flowers; autumn comes, the moon in the water. Turns out, I am just that, a drunk butterfly~~~”
Ai Minli’s voice was clear, sweet, and very distinctive. Just listening to her, you might think she was a young woman in her early twenties.
She started her career singing folk songs, and later, in the 80s, her album “The Moon and the Stars” became a nationwide hit. She became a regular guest performer at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, excelling in both folk and pop music.
After the year 2000, for various reasons, Ai Minli gradually faded from the stage.
The song ended.
Ai Minli raised her hand to take off the reading glasses she used to look at the lyrics, instantly snapping out of the song’s mood. Her expression turned aloof and elegant as she sat down with a straight back.
Immediately after, a sprightly little old lady with delicate makeup and a playful expression squeezed in and sat right next to her.
She wrapped her arm around Ai Minli’s: “One more song, Sis Li! It’s my turn to pick one. I want to hear ‘There’s a Rain-Made Cloud in My Hometown’!”
“Yaoyao, why are you listening to such old-fashioned songs?” Ai Minli, whose musical taste had always been avant-garde, sighed helplessly. That song “The Drunk Butterfly” was already pushing the limits of her tolerance.
“Oh, it’s not old-fashioned, it’s nostalgic!”
Jiang Yao hugged Ai Minli’s arm tightly and rubbed her cheek against it affectionately: “This was the first song you taught me to sing. That year at the Golden Million Awards ceremony when I won Best Actress, this is the song I sang.”
This lively little old lady, who didn’t act her age of sixty-six at all, was named Jiang Yao. She was a former winner of the Best Actress award.
Jiang Yao studied opera as a child but later gave it up for acting due to her outstanding looks. She played the role of the good wife in many period dramas and emotional series. In her early years, major newspapers called her the “Nation’s Little Wife” in their entertainment sections, and later, the “Nation’s Mother-in-Law”.
Unfortunately, even with the honor of being a Best Actress winner, Jiang Yao hadn’t received any acting roles for at least a decade due to changes in the overall environment of the industry.
As the youngest of the four old best friend, and the only one who was single and hadn’t started a family, she was doted on by her three older sisters, who affectionately called her Yaoyao.
“Alright, since it’s for Yaoyao, I’ll sing it one more time.”
Ai Minli’s tone didn’t carry much emotion, but a flicker of fondness passed through her eyes as she gently tapped Jiang Yao’s forehead with her finger.
Just then, another woman squeezed in on Ai Minli’s other side. She was a wealthy grandmother decked out in high-end luxury brands, carrying a Himalayan Birkin bag.
The bejeweled grandmother spoke gently but with a thick Northeastern accent: “Oh my, Ali, can my song, ‘California Hotel,’ be after Yaoyao’s?”
“Let’s do Sister Xuelan’s favorite song first,” Jiang Yao offered, taking a step back.
The glittering grandmother, Wen Xuelan, was sixty-eight years old. She was Jiang Yao’s senior in the acting world and the youngest actress in Chinese-language cinema to win the “Three Golden Awards” (Best Actress).
Back in that era, the entertainment industry had a very strong hierarchy; TV actors simply couldn’t compare to film actors in terms of status. Even though they were best friend of many years, Jiang Yao always felt a bit insecure around Wen Xuelan.
However, Wen Xuelan chose to retire at the peak of her career to focus on her family. A few years ago, her husband passed away from a heart attack. Wen Xuelan’s children, who lived in the U.S., took her abroad to live with them. Recently, she had returned to China alone to film a variety show.
Ai Minli looked troubled as she spoke: “An English song? I need to get familiar with the lyrics first…”
SMACK!
A crisp sound rang out.
A slightly plump grandmother with a head full of woolly perm curls and an undeniable aura slammed her palm on the table. Her voice boomed like a bell: “Enough singing! We sang one to liven up the atmosphere, that’s enough. Sisters, don’t forget why we overcame all those difficulties to get together. We should quickly finalize our travel plan!”
“Ah…” Jiang Yao immediately nodded obediently: “I was wrong. I’ll listen to Sister Sheng!”
Sheng Shuwen, dressed in an orange silk Tang-style suit, nodded approvingly.
Under the admiring gazes of her three old sisters, Old Madam Sheng expertly connected her tablet and projected the screen. Confidently and steadily, she began to elaborate on her travel plan book.
As the only “non-celebrity” among the four old best friend, Sheng Shuwen was seventy-one years old. Whether in terms of age or overall strength, she was undoubtedly the leader of the best friend group.
She was the Chairman of the Beijing Shengshi Group, and its former CEO. She was also the most mysterious and low-key female entrepreneur, philanthropist, and collector in Beijing.
Of course, the Shengshi Group was now managed by her eldest grandson, Sheng Luzhi, allowing Sheng Shuwen to enjoy a semi-retired life without the stress. Apart from some major decisions, most matters were handled by Sheng Luzhi.
Sheng Shuwen, Ai Minli, Jiang Yao, and Wen Xuelan – these four grandmothers had been incredibly close friends since their youth. Their friendship had lasted forty or fifty years.
Although their “boat of friendship” had nearly capsized countless times over the past few decades, it didn’t stop these four women from being the most important friends in each other’s lives as they approached the age of knowing their fate.
When they were young, the four grandmothers had made a promise: every year, the four of them would find time to travel together, even if it was just a short two-day, one-night trip.
But who knew everyone would get busier and busier – busy with careers, busy with families, busy with children… The annual trip became harder and harder to organize.
Occasionally, when they finally managed to get together, someone would inevitably have to bring their children or spouse along. This greatly disappointed Sheng Shuwen, who valued principle. It changed the whole meaning of the trip for her.
Eventually, Sheng Shuwen proposed that they wait until everyone was retired to have a “leave the family behind” overseas trip together to celebrate. This idea received an enthusiastic response from everyone.
Now, everyone had been retired for many years, but Sheng Shuwen’s travel plan kept getting postponed. After all, plans always changed faster than circumstances.
Then, six months ago, after a routine medical checkup, Sheng Shuwen decided she couldn’t delay it any longer.
Sheng Luzhi, the eldest grandson who had grown up by her side, had always known about his grandmother’s wish.
Around that time, the Shengshi Group was secretly planning to acquire a significant stake in CBM Entertainment as a “white knight” to help the Jiang family fend off a hostile takeover. Sheng Luzhi used this as leverage to make a request to Jiang Haidong, the Chairman and CEO of CBM Entertainment: he wanted CBM to allocate one of their New Year variety show slots to create a customized travel show for his grandmother’s best friend group, tailored for elderly women. There would be no budget limit – Sheng Luzhi would cover all expenses personally.
The name of the show was coined by Old Madam Sheng herself – it was called Floral Grandmas.
At that moment, Shengshi Group was like a savior to CBM Entertainment. What couldn’t they agree to? At that point, even if it meant asking the nearly fifty-year-old Jiang Haidong to kneel before the twenty-six-year-old Sheng Luzhi and call him “dad,” he would have done it.
Whether the tasks Jiang Haidong assigned to his subordinates were carried out seriously was another matter entirely…
Using filming a show as an excuse for the trip served two purposes. One was that Sheng Shuwen understood her best friend’s situations. For some of them, without a formal work invitation, it was very difficult to detach from their families and find the time to travel.
The other reason was Sheng Luzhi’s personal wish. His grandmother was his most important family member, and her three friend, each with a distinct personality, had treated him like their own grandson since he was little. Sheng Luzhi wanted to use cameras to document this long-awaited reunion of the four elderly women, to record every moment of their journey – the joys, the surprises, the disappointments, the melancholy. This trip would become one of the most unforgettable memories of their lives.
—
In the corridor outside the conference rooms.
Chu Xingxing had slowly moved away from her previous meeting room and was now edging closer to the one where the singing had just been coming from.
“Chu Xingxing, this is your final notice. If you don’t sign, there are plenty of others who will jump at this prime opportunity. The company has tons of trainees more talented than you who are begging for a spot on Let’s Travel Together.”
Chen Dong’s mouth was practically worn out from talking. Afraid she might pull another stunt, he had followed her, holding out the contract, urging her to sign.
“I’m not going.” Chu Xingxing shook her head like a rattle-drum. She was already standing at the door of the other conference room.
She pointed to the room behind her and said firmly, “I want to be on Floral Grandmas.”
Chen Dong: ?!?
He was genuinely heartbroken.
How did he end up with such a difficult, unknown little star? It was true – Gen Z really does disrupt the workplace!
Chen Dong was so angry he stammered: “You… you’re crazy, completely crazy, Chu Xingxing! You’re turning down a perfectly good show with top-tier celebrities to ruin your future by joining a completely unknown, failed senior citizen show?”
He also couldn’t figure out why the company had even taken on such a money-losing project. What kind of entertainment value could four women in their sixties and seventies provide? The marketing department had been tearing their hair out overnight. At the project pitch fair for Floral Grandmas, they didn’t get a single taker – not even one inquiry from a business.
At first, Chen Dong had been a bit cautious, not daring to question the boss’s decision. But despite how unpopular this show seemed, it was something President Jiang himself had specifically mentioned in a meeting, instructing the company’s most experienced agent to liaise with the marketing team for Floral Grandmas.
Just yesterday, Chen Dong ran into the person in charge of Floral Grandmas in the break room. The guy grabbed him and bitterly complained about his terrible luck in getting stuck with this project. Apparently, with only two weeks until filming started, not only hadn’t they finished the script, but they hadn’t even found the two young “porters” to accompany the four main elderly guests. CBM had posted an internal notice, but none of their own artists applied. They’d reached out to artists from partner companies, but those inquiries had also gone nowhere.
This project was personally assigned by the big boss. At first, the agents and marketing team were on their toes, working hard. But later, President Jiang never seemed to follow up on the show’s progress. Soon, the entire team started slacking off… Agents at Chen Dong’s level freely mocked Floral Grandmas as a joke.
Luckily, the four elderly main guests didn’t seem to mind. They were treating it as their own personal fun project, acting as their own planners and only occasionally needing assistance from the staff.
Even though Chen Dong’s plan for Chu Xingxing was to gain attention through notoriety, she was still his artist. He didn’t want to see her ruin her future by joining a poorly run show for seniors.
Chen Dong: “I have to get Tian Mengtong to her schedule right away, and you can’t afford to waste my time! Didn’t Tian Mengtong tell you that contracts are like this? You agreed to her then, didn’t you? Don’t be ungrateful. Just sign it…”
Mentioning Tian Mengtong, her so-called “good friend,” only made things worse.
Chu Xingxing asked coldly, “I only agreed verbally at the time. And what I agreed to was signing a formal, proper contract. So you guys were all in cahoots from the beginning, planning to use me as the ‘control group’? This contract is invalid. I’m not signing.”
Chen Dong got so agitated that he flung the thick, hard-covered contract in his hand. Its sharp corner flew straight toward Chu Xingxing’s eye.
“F*ck! Chen Dong, watch it!” Jiang Changsheng raised his hand, trying to shield Chu Xingxing, but he was too far away.
Chu Xingxing deftly caught the contract with one hand just 0.3 millimeters from her eye. With a sharp movement, she tore off the hard cover and then ripped the whole thing in half, clean and precise, like disassembling a gun. She remained completely silent throughout.
Yet, Chen Dong and Jiang Changsheng both felt a strange chill run down their spines. For a split second, they sensed… murderous intent in her eyes.
“Chu Xingxing, I’m giving you one last piece of friendly advice. A show about a group of retired old ladies on a tour? What kind of traffic can that generate? Think clearly. Nobody wants to watch old women with wrinkled faces and saggy figures!” Chen Dong was frantic, his voice cracking.
Chu Xingxing silently repeated “rule of law society” three times in her head. She couldn’t just twist her agent Chen Dong’s head off like a zombie’s. Her eyes clearly said idiot as she stared steadily at him. “Chen Dong, everyone gets old. One day, you’ll be old with a wrinkled face and saggy skin, wearing adult diapers. But I hope that by the time that day comes, you’ll have learned some basic respect.”
Then, Chu Xingxing turned, her gaze sweeping past Jiang Changsheng, whose brows were furrowed in deep awkwardness. “And a friendly reminder, Young Master Jiang: maybe you should suggest to your father that the company provide some basic quality training for its agents. I recorded our entire conversation just now. I wouldn’t mind using it as evidence and letting netizens decide who’s right or wrong.”
Jiang Changsheng clenched his fists, shot a fierce glare at Chen Dong, and said coldly, “This is internal CBM management business…”
Chu Xingxing shrugged, turned back toward the door, and composed herself. Finally, one obstacle was out of the way.
Nothing could stop her from joining the Grandma Squad now! Floral Grandmas was her dream show!
Taking a deep breath, Chu Xingxing politely knocked on the conference room door. She suddenly realized it had been quiet inside for a while.
Then, a strong, resonant female voice answered, “Come in.”
Chu Xingxing gently pulled open the frosted glass door, poked her head in, and put on her best obedient, smiling face:
“Hello, is this the production team for Floral Grandmas? I’m Chu Xingxing, here to apply for the ‘Porter’ position.”
