12: Earning money with your skills

With a small fortune in his pocket, Lu Qingyu was very happy; these 200 were the lodging money for tonight.

The small road leading to the fishing spot was sparsely populated. When the car was halfway there, they suddenly saw a man in black clothes on the side of the road, looking under sixty, holding up his hand to signal for a car to stop and help him.

The Program Production Team was live-streaming, and the audience was watching, so they naturally couldn't ignore someone in need of help.

The driver drove up to the man and slowly stopped. Rolling down the window, the driver asked:

"Sir, is there something you need?"

The man carried an erhu case on his back. Seeing that a car had finally stopped, he immediately said: "Driver, I am going to Aiye Village. Could you give me a ride?"

The fishing grounds and Aiye Village were in the same direction, so since it was on the way, there was no reason not to give him a lift.

The directing team gave instructions to the driver, and the driver said: "It just so happens to be on the way, come on up, sir."

The man was overjoyed: "That is great, thank you, driver."

After getting into the car, the man found that there were only three people besides the driver. A handsome young man was sitting in the back, and in front of him were two people holding a machine, filming him. Oh, he had run into an internet celebrity.

The man was from Tieling, a pure Northeasterner, used to being outgoing, not afraid of any situation, and able to chat with anyone.

"Young man, I see you are quite handsome. Are you an internet celebrity?"

Lu Qingyu gave the man a thumbs up: "You have a good eye, sir."

The man laughed: "I can tell you are an internet celebrity; nowadays, everyone who looks good is an internet celebrity."

Lu Qingyu smiled:

"Sir, what are you in such a rush to do?"

The man said: "I work in funeral services. An old person in Aiye Village has passed away, and I am going to join the band to play music."

After saying this, the man specifically looked at Lu Qingyu's expression. Some young people nowadays were superstitious about this, and he was afraid Lu Qingyu would look down on him.

"Do you have any taboos regarding this? Should I sit a bit further away from you?"

Lu Qingyu immediately retorted: "Sir, what are you saying? It is just a profession, a normal job. There is nothing to it."

Lu Qingyu had never attended a rural funeral before, so he asked the man to explain the process of rural funerals.

The netizens watching the live stream were also incidentally educated about it.

By the end of the conversation, Lu Qingyu asked curiously.

"Sir, how much do you make a day?"

The man did not hide anything at all:

"I make six hundred yuan for three hours."

The car went quiet for a moment. Not only Lu Qingyu, but even the Cameraman Brother could not help but turn the machine to give the man a shot.

A flash of inspiration crossed Lu Qingyu's mind, and he decisively stood up and sat down next to the man.

"That high?"

The man shook his head slightly and said with a tone of lament: "It is the off-season; this is the normal price."

The audience in the live stream had already gone crazy when they saw the man say six hundred yuan for three hours.

"That's not high? I make three thousand yuan a month, working 22 days a month, eight hours a day. On average, that's 17 yuan an hour. This guy's hourly wage leaves me in the dust."

"I was going to say the guy was humble-bragging, but after seeing that brother above, I feel like you are the one humble-bragging. I make three thousand a month, working 26 days a month, 12 hours a day. On average, that's only 9.6 yuan an hour!"

"Sir, do you take apprentices? I want to work part-time."

"Sir, can you elaborate? Is overtime required?"

"I think I chose the wrong major. Is it too late to switch now?"

Lu Qingyu: "There is a peak season for this?"

The man said to Lu Qingyu: "During the peak season, it's twelve hundred yuan for three hours, and I have to rush to two or three events a day."

Lu Qingyu: "Then when is the peak season?"

The man said honestly: "SARS, COVID-19, and now the flu counts too."

Lu Qingyu: !!!

Lu Qingyu: "Sir, are you still short on people?"

"We are short, yes. We are short a player of the Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument. Nowadays, there are fewer people holding these traditional funerals, and fewer people who know how to play the instruments. In and around the village, there are only two people who can do this. I had agreed to take a job with Old Zhang this morning, but his daughter came back suddenly. Old Zhang didn't dare to come out, afraid his daughter would scold him."

When Old Zhang was young, he relied on this craft to support his son and daughter through university. Now that the children were successful and sent him money every month for his retirement, Old Zhang couldn't stay idle and wanted to take on some jobs whenever he had nothing to do.

His children thought this job was not good and wouldn't let him do it, so Old Zhang could only do it secretly. Whenever his daughter came back, he wouldn't take any jobs.

Lu Qingyu's eyes lit up slightly. The Cameraman Brother filming him suddenly had a bad premonition. Although he had only been filming Lu Qingyu for less than three hours, he felt that his premonition was quite accurate.

Lu Qingyu: "Sir, are there any specific requirements for the songs played on the Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument?"

Lu Qingyu's grandfather was the conductor of an orchestra. When Lu Qingyu was a child, he often hung around the orchestra, so he knew a little about all kinds of instruments.

In order to practice his lung capacity, he had learned for a few months from a master of the Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument in the orchestra.

The man answered Lu Qingyu's question:

"There aren't really any requirements. That thing, the Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument, sounds the same no matter what you play. For the same song, if you play it fast, it's festive and can be used for weddings. If you play it slowly, it's mournful and can be used for funerals. Old Zhang even played a children's song before; if he hadn't said so himself, no one would have been able to tell."

Lu Qingyu's eyes brightened even more: "Sir, I can also play the Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument. Why don't you introduce me and let me go?"

The old man immediately turned to look at Lu Qingyu clearly. This young man looked very young; he wasn't joking with him, was he? "You can play?"

Lu Qingyu nodded: "Yes, yes. I learned it since I was a kid, and I play it really well."

The old man was happy when he heard this. Since Old Zhang wasn't coming, they were short on people. If Lu Qingyu knew how to play, it would be fine for him to go.

"Haha, no way. Does Lu Qingyu actually know how to play, or is he faking it?"

"He is so young, how could he possibly know how to play the Chinese double-reed woodwind instrument? Could it be that our little brother is just jealous of how much the man makes, and that's why he wants to go?"

"After all, it is a funeral; one should still be respectful. I think our little brother's approach is not very good."

"It will be very awkward if he doesn't know how to play when he gets to the scene. I'm curious, what will our little brother do later?"

The discussion in the comments of Lu Qingyu's live stream was skyrocketing.

PD Zhao was getting a bit anxious. What was going on with Lu Qingyu? Why wasn't he properly doing his tasks and running around to other places?