Peninsula: My mentor Kim Tae-yeon

Chapter 110 A Quarter of Life (6.4k)

As Su Xia and her second brother finished their performance, the countdown to the new year began, and everyone in Su Xia's group joined in the countdown.

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The screen was flooded with "Happy New Year" messages, and the members who had been lurking also popped up at this time to send their New Year's greetings.

In fact, the Korean New Year had already passed by an hour, but they still tacitly followed the Chinese time and celebrated the arrival of the New Year with Su Xia.

Seeing this, I smiled and opened the function to send red envelopes.

Kakao's red envelopes are called "sprinkling money," and a single "sprinkling money" can send up to two million Korean won.

Su Xia also sent out a red envelope with the maximum amount.

Happy New Year! Sprinkle money!

Immediately afterwards, a series of notification sounds for claiming red envelopes popped up on the screen.

Haiyuan Street: Thank you, boss!

Caiyuan Street: Thank you, boss!

Ahn Yu-jin: The boss is generous; the boss will never die!

Su Xia switched to another screen, opened her music player, looked at the video that was posted at midnight on January 1, 2025, and forwarded it to the group.

Group owner, your idol forwarded the video "Catching the Tail of the Year of the Dragon - Heaven and Earth Dragon Scales".

Your idol: A song I collaborated on with my second brother. Give it a listen.

As she spoke, Su Xia didn't forget to project the video onto the TV screen.

"This is a song I collaborated on with Leehom Wang," Su Xia said to her family, pointing to the TV screen.

After finishing the recording on Bilibili, he and Wang Leehom took some time to meet a few times and recorded this studio version of "Heaven and Earth Dragon Scales".

There was no music video produced, nor was it a high-budget production. It was simply footage of the two meeting in the recording studio and recording the song that was included in the video.

It's simple, but it returns to the essence of music—it sounds good.

"This song is great!" Su Dong's eyes lit up. "Why wasn't it performed at the New Year's Eve concert?"

"We won't allow any online platform to perform this song across the night," Su Xia said with a smile.

"Oh—how stingy."

The moment the grand and majestic prelude began, Su Dong stopped talking and focused intently on this song that many people regretted watching during the Year of the Dragon Spring Festival Gala.

Taking advantage of the break, Su Xia refreshed the video.

Actually, he was a little nervous. His previous style was all related to K-pop, and even the artists he collaborated with were all K-pop artists. This time, without any promotion, he suddenly released a collaboration video with his second brother. He didn't know if the market would accept it.

But then, Su Xia breathed a sigh of relief.

The video had only been released for less than two minutes when its popularity began to soar, and the number of comments in the comment section had quietly exceeded one thousand. This rate of increase was even faster than that of "Under the Flying Clouds," a collaboration with NMIXX.

It seems the video might turn out quite well?

Ding dong.

Su Xia looked at the pop-up message; it was from Jin Qiutian.

Open the message.

Senior Autumn: Attorney Su, the birthday gift we prepared for you should have been delivered to Assistant Kim by now. Please check it!

SuXia: Was it mailed over?

Autumn-senpai: Yes.

SuXia: I'll record an unboxing video after I receive it.

Autumn-senpai: Okay.

Autumn Senior: Also, Liz was called away by Xueyun and Kura Unnie to play Overwatch, so I'm informing you of that.

Is it necessary to explain this specifically?

SuXia: I understand.

So Liz plays Overwatch too?

Could this kid have caught the internet addiction from those two internet-addicted girls?

With that thought in mind, Su Xia found Lao Jin's number and dialed it.

"Happy New Year, boss," came Lao Jin's voice.

"Yeah, Happy New Year," Su Xia replied casually. "IVE just messaged me, do you have my birthday present?"

"Yes, boss, are you coming back tomorrow? If not, I'll deliver it to you."

"Send it over now."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Old Jin immediately agreed. Although it was the middle of the night, as an assistant, he still had to get things done.

"Okay, I'll wait for you at home."

After hanging up the phone, Su's father's voice rang in my ears.

"What do you want someone to deliver so late at night?"

"My friend gave me a birthday present, and I asked him to bring it over now," Su Xia explained.

"It's so late, why bother them?" Su's mother said, frowning.

"My assistants are on call 24/7. I rarely ask them to come at night, but that doesn't mean I have to spend money and consider their feelings when I need them." Su Xia shook her head.

He is just tolerant of his team members, but that doesn't mean he will let their feelings affect his decisions.

"You're the boss, you're right about everything." Su's mother shook her head, not arguing with Su Xia. "The show's over, the electric blanket's warm, time to go home and get ready for bed."

"Let's go, let's go." Father Su also stood up.

"Then I'm leaving too!" Su Dong sprang up in a flash.

Since everyone's gone, Su Xia won't stay here either.

The air conditioner and lights in the living room were turned off, and everyone went back to their rooms.

While waiting for Lao Jin, Su Xia browsed back and forth on Bilibili, Yin Fu, and Kakao. After the New Year's Eve gala, Su Xia's Bilibili follower count, which had been stuck for a long time, began to surge.

At the same time, the data for "Heaven and Earth Dragon Scales" released by Yin Fu is also soaring.

The timing of the card was brilliant. It was the early morning of the first day of 2025, when most young people were not resting but were active on the internet.

Su Xia's videos primarily target young people, and they happen to be released during the time when young people are most active, resulting in very clear feedback on the videos.

And kakao————

I was just watching the girls chat in the group.

Liz, Sakura, and Xueyun, three internet-addicted girls, went online to play games after celebrating the New Year.

But the two most prolific chatters, Oh Hae-won and Ahn Yoo-jin, are still in the group. The former has moved into the group, while the latter either doesn't show up at all, or when she does, she chats endlessly.

Led by the two of them, a dozen or so people chatted amongst themselves about the New Year's Eve gala and Su Xia's newly released video. Lily

They are also frequently pulled out to act as teachers, replicating tonight's performance.

Around 1:00 PM, Lao Jin finally arrived, accompanied by Xiao Li. The two of them each carried a huge box that looked like a Mario "?" prize, and it was quite heavy inside; no one knew what was inside.

After the two people put down their things and left, Su Xia prepared the camera and her phone.

"Should I start a live stream?" Su Xia looked up at Kim Tae-yeon and asked.

"There's no need. What if they sent something we can't tell anyone?" Kim Tae-yeon shook her head and said, "You can record it on video and send it to IVE, or you can just video chat with them directly."

Upon hearing this, Su Xia immediately sent a message to Jin Qiutian.

I wonder if Liz is still playing games. I'll ask Qiutian.

The reply came almost instantly, along with Jin Qiutian's agreement and an invitation to join the group chat.

Upon entering the group, I discovered that besides myself and Jin Qiutian, all the other IVE members were also there.

Autumn: @SuXia, let's start a video call here.

SuXia: OK.

I turned on the DJI drone on the table and then used my phone to initiate a video call in the group chat.

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

A series of video call notification sounds rang out, and everyone in IVE entered the video call.

Each person had their own frame. Liz was wearing headphones and was intently looking at the computer screen; the phone could only capture her profile in the photo.

"I'll log off after this game," Liz said to Sakura and Xueyun. If it weren't inappropriate to quit directly, she would have already left.

Watching unboxing videos is more important than playing games!

"Liz has been corrupted by Seol-yoon and Kura unnie," Ahn Yu-jin said with a smile.

"Ha~ Liz, hurry up, I can't wait." Zhang Yuanying rubbed her eyes and urged.

"Right away!"

"When are you guys coming back?" Su Xia asked, glancing at Liz who was still "fighting".

"We'll start releasing EP teasers tomorrow, and the pre-release single will be released on the 13th. After that, it'll depend on what the company arranges." As the leader, Ahn Yu-jin knows her group's schedule by heart.

"Could you send me the pre-release track?" Su Xia asked, glancing at Kim Tae-yeon.

Kim Tae-yeon has mentioned this song more than once. Although she didn't go into details, Su Xia guessed that the song must be of quite good quality, otherwise Old Deng wouldn't keep mentioning it.

"Sure, just a moment." Ahn Yoo-jin lowered her head, picked up her phone, and started searching for the audio source.

Su Xia's gaze swept across the faces of the others.

"Hey? When did Rui Bao dye her hair? It looks so good!" Su Xia's gaze sharpened as she noticed that Li Rui had dyed her hair a pinkish-purple curly color at some point.

Li Rui, who hasn't even graduated high school yet, dyed her hair this color, which gave her a stunning look like she stepped out of a comic book.

"Hehe, I just dyed it. It's the theme for this comeback. I'm just trying it out first, and I'll dye it again before the comeback." Seeing that Su Xia noticed his hair color and gave him such high praise, Li Rui smiled happily.

"Is this a short hair highlight in autumn?" Su Xia also noticed another person who had changed their hair.

"Mm." Jin Qiutian nodded with a smile, reaching out to grab a few strands of hair. "Dye it black and white highlights."

"The chestnuts were also dyed, but it's not very noticeable in the photos."

Upon hearing this, Su Xia looked at Liz's screen.

"It changed from gold to light gold?" Su Xia asked uncertainly.

"You have good eyesight," Ahn Yoo-jin's voice rang out. "I sent it to you, please check if you received it."

Su Xia picked up the phone from the side.

"Received, I'll listen in a bit, I'm almost done grinding the chestnuts."

As Su Xia finished speaking, Liz, in the scene, said goodbye to Xue Yun and Sakura and took off her headphones.

"Okay, then I'm going to unpack them!" Su Xia clapped her hands, stood up, and revealed two boxes behind her that were as big as her upper body.

"Which one should we dismantle first?" Su Xia asked, looking at the camera.

"The red one," Liz pointed to the red box among the two boxes, one red and one white.

"Okay." Su Xia walked over, unpacked the red box, opened the lid, and the first thing she saw was a tray of blind boxes?

"What is this?" Su Xia asked curiously.

"Hehe, 500 won for a blind box, they have these kinds of blind boxes outside our school," Li Rui said with a grin. "I suggested doing it!"

"Ruibao is so great." Su Xia's coaxing tone made everyone in IVE burst into laughter. However, Li Rui, the person in question, didn't realize anything was wrong. Instead, she thought Su Xia was praising her and looked silly with a grin.

"Should I scan 500 won?"

"Scan me! Scan me!" Ahn Yu-jin excitedly pulled out her phone, but someone else showed off their payment code faster than her.

"Hey! Won-young!" Ahn Yoo-jin shouted in dissatisfaction.

Ding.

Jang Won-young looked happily at the 500 won that had been deposited into her account.

"Received! Attorney Su, you can open one blind box now."

Su Xia looked down at the blind box with six empty slots.

Which one should we demolish?

Where IVE couldn't see, Su Xia waved to Kim Tae-yeon.

Kim Tae-yeon rolled her eyes.

"You open the blind boxes yourself and I have to choose them for you." She complained, but her eyes couldn't hide her smile.

He pointed to the second row on the left.

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The layout of the pyramids did not choose the tallest one, but started from the middle.

"This one will do." Su Xia poked open the empty space that Kim Tae-yeon was pointing to and took out a card that looked like a scratch card.

"What is this? Do I need to shave it?"

"Yes, yes, there are numbers inside when you scratch it open."

Amidst the anticipation of everyone at IVE, Su Xia removed the coating, revealing the number five underneath.

"Are you looking for Gift Number Five inside?" Su Xia stood up and asked.

"Yes, number five might be in the white box. Please take a look." This time it was Zhang Yuanying who spoke. Obviously, she was probably the one who prepared the gift number five.

Su Xia rummaged through the red box and found only 136, then opened the white box.

"Wow, it's so big?" Su Xia exclaimed in surprise as she took out the No. 5 gift box, which took up half of the box.

"Hehe, hurry up and open it!" Zhang Yuanying smiled broadly, seemingly already anticipating Su Xia's expression when she opened the gift box.

They opened the gift box that Zhang Yuanying had prepared, revealing the gift inside.

"I'll blanch it?!"

Su Xia stared blankly at the contents of the gift box, completely stunned.

Kim Tae-yeon also looked at the contents of the gift box with a shocked expression.

Zhang Yuanying gave him a pre-assembled Lego model. If it were just an ordinary model, that would be fine, but the key point is that this model is a replica of the scene Su Xia performed on the MAMA stage!

"Haha! Do you like it?" Zhang Yuanying saw the expression she wanted to see and immediately laughed happily.

"I love it!" Su Xia looked at the model with shining eyes.

Zhang Yuanying's model gift was really something—

very good!

I carefully placed the model aside, ready to open the next blind box.

"Who's coming this time?" Su Xia asked, holding her phone, eager to pay the 500 won.

Swish!

All six QR codes for receiving payments lit up at the same time.

"Come on, let's see who gets selected by the system." Su Xia opened the payment app and distanced herself from the system.

Ding.

"Yay, I received it!" Lee Rui shouted happily, as if it were five hundred US dollars, not five hundred Korean won.

Kim Tae-yeon pointed to the empty space at the very bottom center.

Su Xia reached out and poked it open, taking out the card inside. This time it was the number 2.

"If it's number two—" Su Xia went back into the white box and took out the palm-sized number two blind box.

"What is this?" Su Xia asked, holding it up to the camera in confusion.

"This is what I prepared." Naoi Rei smiled sheepishly. "I didn't know what to prepare, so I prepared a gift that everyone would like."

Her words piqued the curiosity of both Su Xia and Kim Tae-yeon.

A gift that everyone will love?

Filled with curiosity, Su Xia opened the gift and saw a roll of US dollars inside.

Su Xia: "?"

Kim Tae-yeon: "?"

"Hahahaha! I knew Attorney Su would have this expression!" Ahn Yoo-jin couldn't help but laugh.

Liz and the others covered their mouths and chuckled. Su Xia's stunned expression was even more pronounced than when she saw the model Zhang Yuanying had given her.

"This is indeed a gift that everyone would love." Su Xia smiled helplessly. Naoi Rei really is—no doubt about it.

This roll contains at least ten hundred-dollar bills, which is at least a thousand dollars, and it's definitely to my liking.

"Thanks, Rei." Su Xia said, placing the roll of US dollars aside. It would be just enough for Su Dong's living expenses for the next few months.

"Next one, next one."

The 500 won that was swept up this time was from Kim Tae-yeon. Following the direction Kim Tae-yeon pointed, Su Xia opened the top one.

Number 1.

"Could it be chestnut?" Su Xia wondered as she took out the number one blind box from the red box.

"There's no need to guess anymore." Su Xia looked at the number one blind box in her hand. This square box was obviously a shoebox to anyone with eyes.

As expected, after opening it, it really was a pair of sneakers.

"These are what I prepared!" Li Ruixing said excitedly. "Attorney Su, you exercise frequently, so I prepared two pairs of sneakers. I didn't know which brand you preferred, so I prepared one of each!"

"Not bad, quite practical." Su Xia praised with a smile. He certainly didn't lack sneakers, but sneakers not given by a relative were a first for him.

"Thank you, Ruibao."

"Hehe, I'm glad you like it!"

Su Xia drew number 3 in the fourth draw.

I took the third gift box. It was a square box, and when I shook it gently, I could hear the distinct sound of a picture frame inside.

"Yoojin, did you prepare this?"

"Huh? How did you guess that?" An Youzhen asked Su Xia in surprise.

"Because it sounds like a photograph."

As he spoke, he opened the gift box, which indeed contained practice room photos of the other IZ*ONE members.

"To help you gather these photos, Yoojin unnie specifically found Minju and Hyewon and tricked them into coming to our practice room to take them on the spot," Liz said with a smile, explaining the origin of the photos.

Su Xia could already picture Ahn Yoo-jin pinning Kim Min-joo and Kang Hye-won to the practice room floor and forcibly taking photos.

To be honest, this person is capable of doing such a thing.

"Thank you, Youzhen." Su Xia put away the photo that had been specially framed and thanked her.

"I have to keep my promises; that's something I learned from you," Ahn Yoo-jin said with a smile.

Su Xia smiled and nodded, then opened the second-to-last space.

Number 6.

Su Xia took out the last gift box from the white box. The packaging wasn't large, but it was very heavy. She wondered what was inside.

"This is what I prepared," Liz said with a smile. "Go ahead and open it!"

Upon hearing that it was prepared by Liz, Su Xia also opened it up, revealing the contents inside.

A watch box with the Vacheron Constantin logo printed on it.

"Su Xia oppa, you're very sensitive to time and often check the time. When you wear formal attire, it always feels like something's missing if you don't have a suitable watch with you, so I prepared this watch for you. I hope you like it," Liz's voice came through.

"Giving a clock as a birthday present?" Kim Tae-yeon was stunned.

Doesn't this child know to check the taboos when giving gifts?

Who's a kind person who gives a Chinese person a watch for their birthday?

But when Kim Tae-yeon's gaze fell on Su Xia, she found that he was not unhappy at all. Instead, he happily put on the watch from the Sun, Moon and Stars series.

Kim Tae-yeon: "————?"

This rebellious disciple, doesn't he dislike wearing watches?

Her gaze shifted to Liz on the screen, and in the next instant, she understood.

What matters is never the gift itself, but the person who gives it and the sentiment behind it.

Looking at the gifts in Su Xia's hands and on the table, Kim Tae-yeon shook her head with a wry smile.

Doesn't Su Xia know about the taboos surrounding watches in China?

He knew, but he didn't care.

Even if you give the most thoughtful gift to someone you don't like, you still won't like it.

Even if the person you like doesn't give you a gift, she's still the best in your eyes.

Su Xia raised her wrist, looked at the watch that reflected the dazzling light under the lamp, and smiled.

"I will wear it."

In the future, it seems like having multiple items on your wrist isn't such a bad thing?

"Hurry, hurry, there's only one gift left for Qiu Tian unnie!" Ahn Yu-jin's urging voice rang out.

When Su Xia came to her senses, she noticed Jin Qiutian's helpless smile and An Youzhen's expectant expression.

The rest of IVE, including Liz, looked completely bewildered.

It seems that only An Youzhen knows what gift Jin Qiuqiu has prepared?

"Even though there's only one left, we still have to go through the proper procedures," Su Xia said, raising her phone.

While the others were still in a daze, Ahn Yoo-jin had already placed the QR code for receiving payments on the camera lens.

Ding, payment successful.

Su Xia took the last gift, number 4.

It feels slightly heavy when you hold it, but the weight is not too bad; it's not as heavy as the watch box.

Under the watchful eyes of Kim Tae-yeon and the six members of IVE, Su Xia opened the last palm-sized gift box, revealing what was inside—

#m

Su Xia's smile froze as she stared blankly at the contents of the box.

Kim Tae-yeon also saw what was in the box, and her pupils contracted.

The members of IVE were somewhat puzzled, but they waited silently.

After a moment of silence, Su Xia turned the box around, revealing a gold-inlaid jade bracelet lying quietly inside.

"？！！」4.

Apart from Kim Cheo-ju and Ahn Yoo-jin, who already knew about it, the other four people's eyes widened instantly upon seeing Kim Cheo-ju's gift.

"This is the birthday gift I prepared for you. In November, I met Yuqi from (G)IDLE, and she told me that in China, gold inlaid with jade is the most beautiful blessing as a gift."

A gold-inlaid jade bracelet is given to a close friend or relative as a blessing for a prosperous life, fulfillment in all things, and a lasting friendship.

"But besides that, I also have some selfish motives." As Jin Qiutian spoke, she glanced in Liz's direction, smiled gently, and continued.

"A gold-inlaid jade bracelet is a gift to a loved one, symbolizing a happy relationship and a lifetime together. I was thinking, if in the future, Attorney Su, your loved one is someone I know, could you perhaps give this gift to her?" Jin Qiutian said, giving a playful wink.

This isn't just a hint; it's a direct and explicit statement.

It was practically a direct message to Su Xia: I'm waiting for you to pass this gift on to Liz.

"Whoa~~" Following Ahn Yu-jin's lead, the others also joined in the commotion.

Liz's face turned red at a visible speed, but she didn't say anything, playing the ostrich.

"Ahem." Su Xia coughed lightly, noticing Liz's embarrassment, and changed the subject.

"Thank you, autumn, and thank you to each and every one of you. I love every single gift."

"I'm planning to post the unboxing video on YinYin. Do you want to appear in it?" Su Xia asked.

"No, thank you." Ahn Yu-jin smiled and shook her head. "The rumors will still affect us. Let's just block up the audio and video."

"it is good."

They don't mind posting videos, since they are public figures, but if they reveal their identities, things will be different, and rumors will definitely spread.

Su Xia isn't afraid of people knowing she's in a relationship, but IIVE isn't.

"It's getting late, let's call it a day."

"Happy birthday, goodnight!"

Goodnight, Yoroben.