CH 9

“…What is this?” Zou Shun on the other end of the phone sounded dumbfounded and confused. “Can you say it again?”

“Super School, Story, Love Story… something,” Fang Mo felt awkward. “Ai, I suddenly can’t remember it clearly.”

“Never heard of it,” said Zou Shun. “What is it?”

”It’s a donghua film,” said Fang Mo, “It’s the kind that’s very brilliant, exciting, and good.”

“Ah?” Zou Shun was at even more of a loss. “Is this a movie? You want to watch it and can’t find anyone to watch with?”

“No, no,” Fang Mo cleared his throat. “Let me ask you, are you interested in… cosplay?”

The other end of the line was silent for a moment.

“Cosplay,” Fang Mo boldly explained, “When people dress up as fictional characters, it’s very cool!”

“I know what cosplay is,” Zou Shun said. “But why are you suddenly asking me this?”

“It’s… that… he wants to ask you for a favor… “

~

Xu Xiran said that in his school, there is a society called “Postmodern Art Development and Reform Exchange Seminar”, and he was a member of it.

The name sounded quite pretentious, and it stunned Fang Mo for a few minutes.

But later on, from being acutely aware of Xu Xiran’s words, he realized that this was essentially an animation club.

The Postmodern Art Development and Reform Exchange Seminar signed up for a cosplay competition that was coming up in two months, but they still lacked a male cosplayer.

Xu Xiran said that they couldn’t find this type of guy in their club. When they tried to look for a girl who could cross-dress, they couldn’t find anyone either. After all, the gender ratio in this animation club was very skewed, and there were not enough girls. Compared to unremarkable and uncool male protagonists, girls were more willing to choose handsome and attractive characters if they were to cross-dress.

What was considered ordinary in the animation world was far more beautiful than the average person in the real world.

“I think that Zou Shun is very fitting. The more I look at it, the more he looks alike,” Xu Xiran held Fang Mo’s hand when he said those words, with a sincere expression on his face. “Can you help me ask him? We can provide all the costumes and props. Although there’s no payment, this kind of event in itself is very interesting!”

~

“Really, it’s especially fitting for you, almost as if the character was designed for you,” Fang Mo said. “As soon as I saw the picture, I knew you were the only one for this.”

“……” Zou Shun was silent.

“All the clothes and props will be provided for you and all you have to do is be there,” Fang Mo continued.

“But… I’m not interested in this kind of stuff…”

“Just because you’re not interested now doesn’t mean you won’t be interested later,” Fang Mo guided with patience. “Maybe it’s because you never touched this kind of stuff, so you think you won’t like it. This kind of event is very interesting. Why not try something new? Maybe it’ll open a new door for you!”

“Are you crazy?” said Zou Shun.

“I’m not, I just feel from the bottom of my heart that you should try it.”

“Do I get paid?” Zou Shun asked.

Fang Mo hesitated for a moment, then asked, “How much do you want?”

“You want to lose profit?” Zou Shun immediately guessed what he was thinking. “Can you calm down for a bit?”

“I’m already being this sincere, just try it, it’s not like you’ll die!” Fang Mo shouted.

“You’re not being sincere to me,” Zou Shun shouted back, “I really can’t tell, this man is so handsome, but is he a die-hard otaku?”

“What are you talking about,” Fang Mo tried to correct him, “Everyone has their own interests and hobbies, and they are not differentiated by reputation. If someone likes donghua it means this person… uh, has a childlike innocence! How wonderful!”

“You sure it’s childlike innocence?” Zou Shun asked.

Fang Mo was sure that it wasn’t childlike innocence. Childlike innocence would not have unstable and unrealistic boobs that put gays in a dizzy spell. But if he honestly admitted the subtle seduction in this animation, he would not be able to speak at all.

Of course, in Xu Xiran’s words, this was an animated film with a lot of meaning and depth.

When he was facing Fang Mo, who had expressed genuine interest with a curious expression, Xu Xiran was very excited and spoke nonstop.

He said that on the surface, this work was just a simple delusional otaku harem donghua, but under its seemingly superficial appearance, it was actually extremely hardcore. The storyline had an in-depth exploration of human nature, interpersonal relationships, sociology, ethics, and even the meaning of life. Every character that appeared in the story had flesh and blood, the plotline was rich and three-dimensional, and every minute of each of the twelve episodes had essence, which was worth analyzing and reflecting deeply upon. With its excellent production, it could be regarded as one of the best masterpieces in recent years.

After returning to his dorm, Fang Mo tried to search using keywords and found the encyclopedia entry for the film. The synopsis wrote: This story is about an ordinary male protagonist who enters the fantasy academy in which 99% of the student body are girls by fate and is surrounded by all kinds of beauties.

In the detailed plot summary below, it described that a useless high school student who couldn’t do anything was suddenly kidnapped one day and taken to an unknown mystery school. He then encountered all types of beautiful girls with various hair colors and chest sizes, who all fought over him and got jealous of each other. This kid took advantage of everything and struggled for twelve episodes, and in the end, chose no one, waiting for the second season.

There were several pictures in the entry, all of which were full of hints.

If he hadn’t remembered the logo pattern, Fang Mo would have thought that he’d found the wrong thing. He couldn’t find the depth in this type of thing at all and felt that he really despised these so-called straight men.

“What did you say this thing was called?” Zou Shun asked, unable to wait for him to speak. “Why don’t I go and look it up first.”

“No need to trouble yourself,” Fang Mo stopped him loudly. “I’m doing you a favor, don’t waste your time. This work is very esoteric and complex. It’s all about sociology and human nature and stuff, it’s very boring!”

Zou Shun was silent again.

Fang Mo felt guilty. “Do you remember telling me before, ‘if there is anything you need help with, just say the word?’”

“Momo ah,” Zou Shun had a sighing tone, “I’m really a little…”

“What?”

“A little… getting a ‘grown girl can’t be kept at home1’ kind of feeling”

“……”

“Okay, okay,” Zou Shun sighed, “It shouldn’t take up too much time, right?”

“Don’t worry, it won’t!” Fang Mo willfully vouched.

“If you can really do it, then helping you with this is no big deal,” said Zou Shun.

His tone suddenly sounded honorable and serious, and Fang Mo couldn’t help but also become serious.

“Thank you,” he was not good at saying warmhearted words, so he was a little embarrassed, “I’ll keep it in mind.”

“I’m not worried about that,” Zou Shun said. “However, I think that… him being a straight man already makes things hard enough, not to mention that he is also a die-hard otaku. Not only does he not like men, he might not even like real-life people. I’m scared that it’s not going to work.”

“……”

“I know you won’t listen to me right now,” Zou Shun said, “Momo, you must leave some room for yourself, you know that?”

Fang Mo wanted to ask, the person you like right now, did you leave any room for yourself?

But in the end, he didn’t speak, because he finally realized that his fussy friend was actually a lot more mature than him deep down in his bones.

~

Compared to Fang Mo’s friends and family, Zou Shun was truly loyal and honorable.

He told Xu Xiran that although he had no interest in such activities, since he was Fang Mo’s friend, he will listen to Fang Mo’s wishes and do him a favor. The implication was for Xu Xiran to repay and feel gratitude towards Fang Mo.

After Xu Xiran himself conveyed those words to Fang Mo on the phone, he emphasized that he must invite them both to another meal and have them eat well.

Fang Mo didn’t refuse, but he knew that Zou Shun would definitely find an excuse to be absent when the time came, so he told Xu Xiran that he could just make it up to Zou Shun on his own. This was called the transmission of love.

After saying thanks, Xu Xiran then asked him, “Is that Liu guy in your dorm? When you went back, was he well-behaved?”

Liu Xiaochang was less than two meters away from Fang Mo. The two of them were lying on their own beds, one on the phone and the other reading, as if no one else was there.

“Don’t worry, didn’t you teach me?” said Fang Mo. “I’m not weak.”

“Not weak? You couldn’t even stably lift your own luggage,” said Xu Xiran.

Although he planned to make Xu Xiran feel sympathy and care towards him, after talking about this, he couldn’t resist the urge to be brave in front of the person he liked.

“I was just being careless, okay,” Fang Mo’s face turned red, “I’m not that weak. And… and I’m very experienced in this kind of thing, so I can handle it.”

Xu Xiran smiled, “Okay. I originally was thinking that since I’m the only one in my dorm this week, you could stay over for a few days until everyone in your dorm arrives. But since you can handle it, then that’s good.”

“……”

Fang Mo instantly sat up from his bed.

No, I can’t handle it, I’m suddenly weak.

He was in such pain and regret that he would die to go back half a minute to cover his own mouth.

He probably moved around too much, and Liu Xiaochang, who was diagonally across from him, turned around and glanced at him.

After being stared at by Fang Mo, Liu Xiaochang paid no mind and smiled back at Fang Mo.

~

Once Fang Mo hung up the phone, he felt uneasy.

People of the same kind had special radars, and the emissions of subtle details from daily life to expose himself were not few and far between. Liu Xiaochang probably had long noticed that he was also a part of the circle.

If he asked, Fang Mo would definitely refuse to admit it. After pondering for a while, Fang Mo decided to log out of the dating app on his mobile phone. That thing could see nearby registered users and also show their distance. His profile picture was a photo of himself, and if Liu Xiaochang saw it, it would become evidence that could be used against him.

After making up his mind, he quietly opened the app.

Refreshing the homepage subconsciously, he was not surprised to find that there was another user just a step away from him.

But what he was surprised by was the username that this man had.

BigAwesome1·MrLiu2

An idiom that literally means that when a girl is of age, she should be married off. Figuratively, it can also mean that one wants to leave his workplace to find another job

The original username is 大猛1·MrLiu and 大 means big, 大猛 is slang for awesome, strong or powerful, and 1 means top. So all together it means something like powerful top, strong and active top, or top who is good in bed. Kind of like big top energy