Superstars of Tomorrow

Panda Novel

While Fang Zhao was on Planet Yin, there had been no shortage of topics regarding him on the Internet. Discussions over the Poseidonsaur fossil exhibit still continued, even if the excitement had died down somewhat. Various museums and collectors wanted to find Fang Zhao for a collaboration but were unable to find any trace of him. This time, even Nanfeng had become uncontactable.

When Nanfeng finally returned online, he received an explosion of messages. There was no way he could go through all of them.

Nanfeng was highly motivated to begin this work and promised Fang Zhao he would finish all his tasks.

As long as his performance was good, he would once again receive another salary raise!

Aside from the Poseidonsaur fossil exhibit, another hotly discussed topic online was regarding Fang Zhao’s music.

A singer who purchased Fang Zhao’s graduation concert copyrights had released a revised version of this song.

This single soared to the very top of the music charts on release.

A high quality revised piece was a surefire way to rise to the top of the charts.

When fans checked out the new song’s information, they discovered that the original tune belonged to Fang Zhao?

Pure music enthusiasts were delighted. However…

When they searched for the original tune, they found no results.

After varying their search, they finally found a hit. However, the page only displayed: A work from Fang Zhao’s concert. Playback unavailable due to copyright.

They searched again!

But, there were only results from the graduation concert!

Generally, in this sort of situation, nobody knew how long it would be before the original tune could be made public. It could take a few months, a couple of years or even longer. It all depended on the copyright holders.

For example, the raw theme songs used in Planet Baiji and Planet Bu’s recruitment videos were not available. Those who wished to listen to the song could only watch the recruitment videos. However, the videos also contained engine sounds, cannon fire, wind and even the roars of some alien beasts. While those added sounds complemented the video well, there were those who preferred the raw music. Since Planet Baiji and Planet Bu weren’t willing to release the original music, some people resorted to extracting the music from the video.

Meanwhile, two music circles veterans had also recently released new songs. They were both revised pieces from Fang Zhao’s graduation concert. The rearranged songs had a completely different style, which made people curious about the original.

Thus, Fang Zhao, who had disappeared from the public eye, was once again mentioned.

Yanzhou’s so called paparazzi king, Wang Tie, was once again dragged into the conversation.

“Wang Tie! Come out to take our abuse!”

“It’s time to work! Do you know that Fang Zhao is missing!”

“Teacher Wang, I’m not scolding you. Could you reveal some hot news regarding Fang Zhao?”

However, Wang Tie was still the same as before, unmoved by force or persuasion. He either pretended to be dead or dug up other matters to divert the general public’s attention. He would never release any information regarding Fang Zhao’s movements.

Wang Tie was bitter deep down. I know where he went, but I can’t reveal it! I still want to live!

Wang Tie didn’t want to offend Fang Zhao. He was even more afraid of Planet Yin. Who would dare test the tolerance of a military strategic base? It really wasn’t an exaggeration. If he were to expose information today, he would definitely be on his way to a foreign planet for labor reformation before the day even ended.

At the retirement home for former officials in Yanbei, Great-grandfather Fang hadn’t gone online much recently without any of Fang Zhao’s updates. Thus, he was more listless nowadays and could only find other old fogies to chat with.

Great-grandfather Fang twirled two walnuts in one hand and held a walking stick in the other. He was sitting down, complaining to a bunch of retired veterans.

As families grew, they would naturally have some less outstanding or good-for-nothing descendants. The descendants whom grandparents talked to most often weren’t necessarily outstanding either.

An old man was rambling irately about his disappointing little grandson. “I’ve already walked with him along this path. He can’t make it himself yet blames me for not supporting him? He’s already 30 years old! I’m so pissed I lost all my appetite!”

The retired veteran by his side placated him while mocking himself. “I’m not as capable as you guys. I can’t help them much in their career, so all of them just eye my little bit of pension!”

Of course, calling it that “little bit of pension” was being modest. Based on their past contributions and rights to enjoy such a retirement, their monthly pension was also considered rather high for most.

Another retiree chimed in, “Totally! But, I think I’m slightly luckier compared to you guys. At least I still have a granddaughter and a great-grandson doing somewhat better. They don’t cause me worry and bring me some comfort. As for the others, forget it. A bunch of good-for-nothings. And they blame me for being biased. Hmph!”

Great-grandfather Fang felt the need to say something.

“Tsk, look at you bunch of bitter old fossils. You brought all of this on yourselves!” Great-grandfather Fang twirled his walnuts calmly. “I dare say that before you guys retired, every one of you was shrewd and resourceful. But now? You guys can’t even handle your little brats? At the end of the day, you all aren’t ruthless enough! You need to be firm!! Unlike you guys, I am different. I help whoever I feel like helping and share my pension with whomever I feel like. What right do a bunch of little brats have trying to control us elders? Be more forceful!! Look at me! In my family, if I say something, none of my descendants would dare say otherwise…”

Grand-grandfather Fang was interrupted before he was done. “Stop bragging. You were so meek in your call with Little Zhao that time.”

Great-grandfather Fang blushed. “How is that being meek? That’s showing care. It’s love, get it?! I’m just afraid to disturb his work!”

He then continued righteously, “Besides, my Little Zhao isn’t the same as those ‘little brats’!”

Great-grandfather Fang was especially spirited when Fang Zhao was mentioned.

“My Little Zhao is so good, so why can’t I be more biased towards him? That child didn’t have it easy, not at all! I even wanted to supplement him with a little bit of my pension, but he didn’t want it. Besides, he is capable himself and doesn’t need any money from me.”

Everyone believed this. The entire retirement facility knew that.

“Those billions were casually donated by Fang Zhao. It isn’t comparable,” an old man said sourly.

“Most importantly, that fellow Fang Zhao really knows how to be grateful, unlike some ingrates,” another old lady chimed in.

Great-grandfather Fang stood proudly to show that he didn’t have to worry about this problem. “Therefore, be biased to those who know how to show gratitude. As for those ingrates, leave them to their own devices! At our age, we should only need to worry about enjoying our remaining days.”

As he was saying all of this, he received a notification.

When he saw the name displayed, Great-grandfather Fang jumped up. His walnuts were sent flying, and his walking stick was chucked aside. He hurriedly answered the call.

“Hey! It’s Little Zhao! Have you returned? You are going to come tomorrow? Good, good, good… Don’t worry, we are in good health… No, there’s no need to buy stuff. We aren’t lacking anything. We have plenty of money to sustain ourselves… Don’t buy anything, just bring yourself over. I just wish to take a good look at you… Really, there’s no need. Don’t bring anything… cough… That is alright…”

Great-grandfather suddenly raised his voice. “I’ve even piloted a Guardian series warship before! That brings back memories… First generation ‘Initial’? ‘Initial’ is great. It’s the class I like the best! It’s a pity that it was decommissioned so early. During my military service time, the ‘Initial’ class had already been decommissioned.”

Great-grandfather Fang was all smiles when the call ended. He didn’t mask his glee as he flaunted to the others, “My Little Zhao is coming to see me and is even bringing a present. Want to know what it is? It’s a Guardian series ‘Initial’ class warship!”

For this generation of veterans, the Guardian series “Initial” class warship had always been something they longed for but never had the chance to experience.

“Initial”?

It was their first love!!

When their generation had come of age, a new class of Guardian series warships with various upgrades had already taken over. However, “Initial” was still their first love from their youth.

However, there were too few “Initial” models. They weren’t for commercial sale. It was very difficult to find such models.

The other old veterans watched him enviously and sucked in their breaths.

My heart hurts. I’m not coming out tomorrow!

He’s starting again. Again!

Infuriating! I don’t want to see him for the rest of the month!

At the thought of Great-grandfather Fang bragging about his great-grandson, the other retired veterans were sullen and told themselves to avoid this old fogey starting tomorrow.

However, despite those thoughts, everyone still waited excitedly for the next day.

They weren’t waiting for Great-grandfather Fang. They were waiting for the “Initial”.

It was the “Initial”!

It was the herald of their dreams for space flight!

How long had it been since they last saw an “Initial”? Just mentioning it brought many fuzzy memories back.

I’ll just take a look. One look. I won’t listen to Old Fogey Fang’s bragging.

The next day, Fang Zhao arrived at the retirement center. He would only be staying for half the day. He came to have lunch with the two elder Fangs and to drop off the present. He had too many messages and calls. He also had matters with his company to attend to, like requests for collaborations. These were matters that Nanfeng couldn’t deal with. Fang Zhao needed to attend to these in person.

The hearts of the two old Fangs ached when they saw Fang Zhao was so busy that he only had four bowls of rice. He normally had at least five in the past!

“I’ve really had my fill.”

Fang Zhao was helpless.

Why had he only eaten four bowls?

Because the bowl Great-grandmother Fang used for him was a size larger than before!

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Those four bowls contained more than five servings of the old bowls.

Actually, he could continue eating, but doing so would be overboard. It would scare others if they heard about it.

After lunch, Fang Zhao chatted with the two elder Fangs for a bit before leaving Yanbei Retirement facility and flying off to his company in Qi’an City.

After Fang Zhao left, Great-grandfather gradually returned to normal.

He hadn’t specifically asked about where Fang Zhao had been. Fang Zhao had told them he was invited to participate in a concert performance and hadn’t gone into detail. Great-grandfather Fang hadn’t pressed him for answers. However, he could guess where Fang Zhao had visited from the model.

When Great-grandfather Fang picked up this “Initial” warship model, he knew that this model wasn’t manufactured by any ordinary manufacturing company. There was even a special serial number and a design under the base of the model. All of this made it seem very likely that this model came from where the Guardian series warships had been manufactured: Planet Yin!

The warship’s exterior didn’t pale in comparison to the actual one!

The material, details and other aspects were exceptional as well!

Besides the warship’s manufacturer, who else could produce such a level of detail? Who would even dare to create a model of this level?!

While his heart ached for how tough it must have been for Fang Zhao, Great-grandfather Fang was also proud.

Our Little Fang is just brilliant!

Planet Yin!

Those who could be invited there weren’t ordinary people. How many of those invited were prominent figures?

It really wasn’t easy!

It was a pity they hadn’t been able to watch his concert live.

After his lamentation, Great-grandfather tossed his walnuts aside and carried the box with the model out the door.