Chapter 115: A Family of Four

Reuniting with Dad and Mom—such words felt as unreal as a dream to Luo Quan.

She remembered how many years ago, when she was still in elementary school, the whole school was dismissed early because of an earthquake. But for safety's sake, every student had to be picked up by their parents in person.

Luo Quan and her classmates waited obediently on the playground for their parents to pick them up.

Soon, parents arrived at the school to pick up their children, while Luo Quan just sat quietly on the swing by the playground, watching her classmates jumping, happy, and leaving the school holding their parents' hands.

In the end, only she and her homeroom teacher were left on the playground.

The homeroom teacher asked where her parents were.

Luo Quan replied: I don't have parents.

She grew up in an orphanage since she was a child, and the director was her guardian. She had used the homeroom teacher's phone to call the director, but no one answered.

The orphanage's landline was rarely answered, and the director was outside most of the time.

Finally, the homeroom teacher, knowing the truth, sighed and drove Luo Quan back to the orphanage. When leaving, she encouraged Luo Quan to be strong and to be full of hope for the future.

To be honest, Luo Quan had never felt disappointed with life.

Having no father or mother since she was a child, she had long ago learned to be strong and let go. The identity of an orphan had never been a burden to her.

From another perspective, at least she grew up safely in the orphanage and didn't fall into the hands of human traffickers or starve to death in a garbage dump.

However, when seeing her classmates being picked up by their parents one after another, Luo Quan still felt a wave of bitterness in her heart.

Perhaps it was jealousy, or perhaps it was sadness. At that moment, she felt as if she had been abandoned by the whole world.

Fortunately, this state didn't last long; her heart had always been big.

Later, she dropped out of middle school and hung out in society with a bunch of bad friends until her life restarted.

"Quan Quan? Are you still listening?"

Hearing no sound from her daughter for a long time, Aunt Luo Ni thought the signal had been cut off.

"I'm listening." Luo Quan quickly responded. The words "Dad and Mom" had actually made her feel a bit dazed. "Going to Tasmania, right? I'll go check the flight booking time later."

Aunt Luo Ni corrected: "Not Tasmania, it's the United States."

"The United States?" Luo Quan was stunned.

"Your dad only went to Tasmania for a trip. He has been living in the United States all these years."

Luo Quan muttered: "In the United States..."

"By the way, there's something I haven't told you." Aunt Luo Ni's voice suddenly became hesitant.

Luo Quan was taken aback: "What is it? Don't tell me I'm not your biological daughter?"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Her daughter's playful remark left Aunt Luo Ni unable to laugh or cry. "It's your dad. He has another son in the United States, one year younger than you..."

"Wait!" Luo Quan suddenly interrupted. "I remember you said my dad left you when I was one year old, and this cheap younger brother of mine is exactly one year younger than me? Doesn't that mean he found a new love right after leaving you?"

Aunt Luo Ni muttered in a low voice: "What can I do? He was such a playboy back then..."

"Pah, scumbag!"

Aunt Luo Ni quickly explained: "He's not like that anymore. He feels very guilty toward you and me now, especially you. He's always wanted to find an opportunity to make it up to you."

"It really is 'the wife follows the husband's lead.' You waited bitterly for him for eighteen years, and you forgave him after just a few months?"

"What can I do? I've fallen into your dad's hands in this life. I'm actually quite afraid that you still resent him in your heart."

Luo Quan smiled helplessly: "I don't care. The most important thing is that you are happy. But then again, since he feels guilty toward us, why hasn't he come to find us?"

"Your dad said he thought about coming to find us, but because he left so suddenly at the time, he was afraid we wouldn't forgive him if he came back now, so he never dared to come to us."

"Plus, the situation in his family is a bit complicated, so it ended up like this..."

"A family? So he's a young master of some British nobility?"

"It is said that his grandfather's grandfather was once a side branch of the British royal family. Anyway, he has some royal blood, but it can only be said to be the edge of the edge. It can't be considered royal family long ago, but he is also a nobleman in the UK. Anyway, he is quite rich."

Luo Quan curled her lips: "Nonsense, could he be so wild without money?"

Aunt Luo Ni chuckled and didn't speak.

"By the way, is my younger brother's mother still in contact with my dad?"

"She died... passed away early."

"Then does this cheap younger brother of mine know about you? What's his attitude?"

"We've chatted via video before. He seems to have a pretty good impression of me, and he was very happy to hear he had an older sister."

Luo Quan was pleasantly surprised: "That's not bad."

"Yeah, this time in the United States, our family of four can have a good reunion."

Luo Quan couldn't help but tease: "Tsk tsk tsk, look, how smoothly this 'family of four' rolls off the tongue."

"Stop being cheeky. The address is New York, USA. Just book the ticket to JFK Airport."

"Okay, after the exam, I'll handle the school affairs and fly over."

After settling things, her mother hung up the phone.

Luo Quan still couldn't calm down. Dad, younger brother—these words were once so unreachable to her, simply like luxury goods. She could see them, but felt panicked just thinking about them.

But now, they were only a Pacific Ocean away. Advanced modern technology had created a miracle for her. It only took a dozen hours to help her realize a dream she hadn't been able to achieve for over a decade.

Fate is sometimes so wonderful.

Once, she thought about it day and night, but couldn't touch it no matter what.

Now, she had long forgotten it, but it suddenly appeared right before her eyes.

On the other hand, she was also curious: did she count as a nobleman now? By the way, shouldn't nobles in the UK have their own land? When she was a child, she often dreamed of owning her own castle and lavender manor in Europe. She didn't expect that there would really be a day when it would come true.

On the night she learned about her background, Luo Quan had a beautiful dream, a beautiful dream she had been fantasizing about since childhood.

After the Komaba Festival ended, life on the University of Tokyo campus gradually became calm. There wouldn't be any large-scale activities for a long time to come.

And everything at the Philharmonic Society was basically on the right track. At the National College Student Singing Competition, the members of the Lovemusic band showed their strength to all of Japan.

Before Luo Quan went on stage, the band had already absorbed many fans, and after the third round of the competition, the band's search index skyrocketed. More and more Japanese rock fans learned about this band and fell in love with it.

Previously, the endorsements they found were all small products, but now some big brands in Japan had begun to contact them, and invitations for more popular variety shows followed one after another.

Among them, Luo Quan was the one who received the most invitations. In fact, ever since the release of "Coming-of-Age Ceremony," invitations from various TV stations and program groups had almost never stopped. They were all top-tier Japanese variety shows. Ordinary artists had to beg to have the honor of appearing once, while such program groups invited Luo Quan multiple times, promising any treatment.

And Luo Quan's response was very straightforward: considering her studies, she wouldn't accept any variety shows.

As for endorsements, even more people came to her, but Luo Quan wasn't short of money, so she refused them one by one.

To be honest, if Luo Quan really liked money, her net worth would have already taken off. Many big Japanese brands were begging her to endorse them, even if it was just a promotional tweet on Twitter.

However, so far, the only recommendation Luo Quan had made was a tweet she posted after joining Bilibili. This wasn't a commercial act at all; it was just because she liked Bilibili, so she was willing to join and even promote it for free.

Other companies and websites had never received such treatment.

Miki, as her manager, was sometimes quite confused. Why didn't Luo Quan earn so much money? There was no one in this world who would dislike earning too much money, right?

After Luo Quan found out, she asked him: "What do people earn money for?"

"Money makes money, earn more money!"

Having graduated with a master's degree in economics from the University of Tokyo, he said without hesitation.

Luo Quan replied: "Then, in the end, it's still earning money. Earning money to earn money, and earning money to earn money to earn money. People eventually become slaves to money."

"And I earn money just to achieve freedom, so that normal expenses will no longer be restricted. This is the purpose of my earning money."

There is a saying in China: "Those who are content are always happy."

And those business tycoons in the world don't necessarily lose their worries after possessing wealth that ordinary people can't reach.

As the saying goes, "Human greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant." The more money business tycoons earn, the less likely they are to be satisfied with the status quo. They will only rack their brains to earn more, by any means, regardless of family ties, and eventually even lose their humanity.

How many big capitalists who are despised and ridiculed by ordinary people had the initial dream of just earning enough money to buy a house?

Luo Quan already had enough money to buy ten houses. Even if she left it all in the bank, the interest from the current deposit would be enough for her to squander for a lifetime.

And with the use of song copyrights, her money would only increase.

Since she had enough money, why waste her limited life on endorsements and variety shows?

Would she not be famous if she didn't go on variety shows? In Japan, her popularity was only slightly lower than that of the current Emperor. In the system, her level was golden—a household name in Japan. This was an achievement that many artists couldn't complete even after struggling for a lifetime. She had achieved it in less than half a year since her debut. Looking at the entire history of Japanese entertainment, it could be called incomparably rare.

"System, when can I become a Diva? If we only talk about the Japanese region."

"Today, today!" The system replied happily in the Tianjin dialect, but soon its tone became serious: "Don't get carried away. You are still far from becoming a Diva, and what you want to be is a Diva of the world!" ===== CHAPTER 116 =====