CH 11

Ever since 6G became widespread, there were increasingly more live variety shows broadcasted by the major streaming sites. 

Thus, Guokong TV introduced an upgraded gift system into the live broadcasting platform. Fans were also very willing to use such means to support their idols. 

Hence, it wasn’t rare for someone to spend a thousand dollars for a series of fireworks. 

What was rare, was the taunting content, and an ID that attracted haters. 

As such, when the comment first appeared on the bullet screen, Gu Yanshu’s fans, Shen Jue’s fans, and “Jue Jue Shu” fans immediately started turning on their mics in a furore – who was this idiotic anti-fan posing as a fan! Drag him out! 

Yet, the idiot was still feeling good about himself, and he continued to diligently play his role as a Renminbi player [1].

Chen Ran’s fans were livid, and they bought a few consecutive rounds of fireworks to push that comment down. In the end, the accusation remained on the screen for less than three seconds, before it was swiftly covered by a flood of densely packed fireworks. Peeved, so they bought it again, then it was covered. This went on over and over again…

Fuck! They were broke! 

Mblu olal lhld xsal rkpple dso.

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Xdl sq vbspl kd iwlpvksd, Dkys Qw, alxykdle kxryppkhl yp wpwyz, yp vbswtb bkp lxsvksdp oswzed’v cl yqqlnvle cu yduvbkdt.

The second person, Xiao Shen, lay on the sofa and mindlessly played with his phone. When he felt the strange gazes around him, he absent-mindedly looked up and followed the line of everyone else’s sight. 

He squinted slightly and stared at the pompous ID floating on the screen, then sighed and cocked his head in Gu Yanshu’s direction, glaring calmly at him. 

Gu Yanshu was somewhat annoyed by that stare. “What are you looking at me for?” 

Shen Jue chuckled, “Looks like we’re still a match made in heaven.”

“Pak —” 

There was a dreadful snap. 

That was the sound of the breaking of the chopsticks in Gu Yanshu’s hands. 

The expression on his face when he turned to look at Shen Jue could only be described as murderous. 

How fierce. 

I’m so scared. 

Shen Jue retracted his gaze in indignation. He continued to toy with his phone, as though he was just casually making a joke just then and didn’t really mean it. 

Yet, the fireworks war on the screen was tipping in their direction. 

As the mood became even weirder, Xia Qingqiao made a timely shout, “The voting results are going to be revealed soon! I’m so nervous!” 

“I’m nervous too!” 

Xu Fangfang displayed her acting skills, cooperatively shouting, trying her best to alleviate the situation. 

Yet, internally she felt that there was nothing to be nervous about. Sister Shuang’s level could completely overpower Chen Ran’s challenge. 

However, in the next second, the emcee’s voice travelled from the speakers, “Let us congratulate Chen Ran, who’s successful in his challenge!” 

Xu Fangfang: “……” 

That was f*cking ridiculous. 

The bullet screen instantly exploded, and everyone started accusing the production crew for playing dirty. However, Chen Ran’s fans said that since online votes contributed to fifty percent of the final result, this outcome was the result of their voting. 

Each side had their own views. 

Xu Fangfang and Xia Qingqiao felt aggrieved and dejected, but because they were still in front of the cameras, they couldn’t show it. Thus, they could only turn back to look at Shen Jue and Gu Yanshu. When they noticed that the pair didn’t seem surprised, their hearts felt even more lost. 

Fortunately, Sheng Ping was experienced, so he consoled them, “It’s fine. It’s not the elimination around anyway. They’ll still have to collate the votes from the next round. We need to show confidence in Sister Shuang.” 

Xu Fangfang and Xia Qingqiao nodded. 

Yet, they felt resentful, hence their enthusiasm was lacklustre throughout the rest of the show. When the show ended, they bade one another goodnight, then went back to their rooms to rest. 

The heating on the third floor was already on, so Gu Yanshu changed into a loose-fitting white t-shirt and flax-coloured joggers. He covered himself with the woolen blanket and snuggled into bed. 

Shen Jue was showering in the bathroom. 

As he listened to the water splashes coming from the bathroom, Gu Yanshu took out his phone and started surfing. 

As expected, the trending list was filled with tags linked to “The Strongest Stage.” 

There were tags purchased by the production crew, and those bought by individual groups. The immortals fought, the world came to watch, as usual, but the top three tags stably belonged to Chen Ran.

#Chen Ran Accident#

#Chen Ran’s successful challenge#

#Chen Ran vs. Electric Mouse#

It wasn’t clear if someone was intentionally stirring things up, but coincidentally, the fourth position belonged to the tag, #Gu Yanshu’s Pikachu busking#

The caption was deliberately inciteful. 

Clicking the link, true enough, someone had made a video comparison. 

On one side was a fan video of Gu Yanshu in the day, wearing his Pikachu mascot outfit and singing “The Snowball Bush in Bloom”, with a screenshot of a comment from a Chen Ran fan: “Why should one concede to an electric mouse? All of you…. You might as well just look forward to Chen Ran’s “The Strongest Stage” performance tonight.” 

On the other side was Chen Ran’s terrible live performance, with the special comment from @XiaoShenXiaoGuTianShengYiDui: “Some people boasted about ‘The Strongest Stage’, but in the end, he couldn’t even compare to an electric mouse.” 

Initially, there were quite a number of bystanders who didn’t understand the reason for those provoking fireworks showers. Now, they finally realised why; it turned out that Chen Ran’s fans needed to be taught a lesson. 

“The one who started this first is the shameless one. If they went to KY [2] at another idol’s video, then they can’t blame the rich fans of that idol for giving them such a gratifying face slap.” 

“I have to say, there’s a reason why Gu Yanshu is famous. His ability far surpasses Chen Ran by eight hundred streets.”

“Keke, Gu Yanshu isn’t any good either. The fan ID is so outrageous, the celebrity must be intentionally provoking matters, aren’t they just shameless?”

‘What a joke, how is the fan’s actions the fault of the idol? Does that mean that Gu Yanshu has to check all his fans’ IDs everyday, otherwise it’s his fault and he has overstepped his boundaries?”

“I don’t care whether Gu Yanshu has overstepped his boundaries or not, I’m just concerned about how Chen Ran actually managed to get into ‘The Strongest Stage’.”

“It’s fine if he went, but how could he have succeeded in his challenge? He must have some secret relations with someone from the U.N. management! Otherwise, why would his resources be better than Gu Yanshu’s?” 

“Chen Ran, get out of ‘The Greatest Stage’; Chen Ran, get out of ‘The Greatest Stage’; Chen Ran, get out of ‘The Greatest Stage’. We should repeat important matters thrice!” 

…

Gu Yanshu casually slid his fingers over his screen, feeling bored. 

Actually, Chen Ran’s ability wasn’t as bad as his performance today. When he was competing to debut, his vocals were among the top three amongst his batch. Otherwise, Ding Yun would have never handed this resource over to him. 

It was just that since Chen Ran debuted two years ago, he had occupied with filming dramas and variety shows, taking on endorsements, and stirring up all sorts of promotional topics. With the exposure and increasing popularity, he didn’t have the time to sit down and improve his industrial abilities, hence his poor performance tonight. 

Furthermore, the masses had a natural bias against idols, and criticising idols had, to some extent, become a form of political correctness. Hence once a mistake was made, the netizens would seemingly go into a upheaval with their criticism. 

Gu Yanshu had experienced all of these before, so when he read the comments, he didn’t feel elated at all. 

Because he had gone through a period  where the insults had been hundreds of times worse. 

If it was him from that time, what type of choice would he make now? 

The lids of Gu Yanshu’s eyes drooped slightly, as his fingers subconsciously twitched, refreshing the page. 

Chen Ran had updated his Weibo. 

“@ChenRan: Had a fever today, and I performed so badly. I’ve let everyone down, I’m truly sorry. But I will surely work harder and show you a better me in the next stage!” 

The attached picture was Chen Ran with an IV drip in hospital. The youth didn’t have any make-up on, and the rims of his eyes were red, making him look extremely likeable. 

The comments were filled with fans’ consolation and support, and some comments which pitied and protected him. 

Gu Yanshu felt that Chen Ran had made a rather good choice. 

When someone knew perfectly well how to make use of the reasons why others liked him, he would forget about the basis for his existence in this world. 

Or perhaps Chan Ran’s move was correct. In contrast, the decisions he made back then appeared foolish in everyone else’s eyes. 

After all, if there was a bright path that one could easily tread, why should that person take the dangerous deep abyss and walk out covered in blood? 

If there wasn’t someone by this side back then, he might not have survived it. 

If there wasn’t someone……

There was someone. 

Gu Yanshu didn’t know why, but he suddenly thought about the low chuckle from Shen Jue back in the living room, “Let’s see if we are truly a match made in heaven.” 

Shen Jue’s vocal range was lower, and his intonation sometimes carried the Beijing accent with it. When he spoke, there was a laziness that was between that of a hedonistic second-generation rich person and that of a mature man. When he chuckled in a gentle voice, one would have the illusion that he was pampered and spoiled by Shen Jue. 

In the past. Gu Yanshu had been appeased countless times by his smiles and coaxing. 

Later on, when Gu Yanshu saw him on TV or online, he would always have an undisciplined and arrogant look, carrying an air of arrogance and impatience. Gu Yanshu had almost forgotten about his ability to placate others. 

So, was that low chuckle just now Shen Jue’s attempt to coax him? 

Was Shen Jue worried that he might be uncomfortable because of that ID, or worried that he was angry? 

No matter what, Shen Jue’s reaction made him look like he wasn’t repulsed at all. 

Furthermore, while that ID might be exaggerated, the user had spent cold, hard cash to protect him. Otherwise, no matter how terrible Chen Ran’s performance was, others might not have thought to praise Gu Yanshu. 

However, looking at the way the user was splurging, Gu Yanshu wondered if it was some immature young lady who was squandering her parents’ money. 

As Gu Yanshu thought about it, he clicked on the Weibo search bar, then typed in the username, @XiaoShenXiaoJueTianShengYiDui. 

True enough, this user existed. 

He launched the Weibo profile page.

The first post was an automated sharing from Guokong TV. 

“@XiaoShenXiaoGuTianShengYiDui: I gave away a fireworks show on Guokong TV. Everyone, come collect your fortune bags!” 

Gu Yanshu touched the screen with his finger, then scrolled upwards, scrolling past a hundred messages before he noticed another Weibo post. 

It was posted in the wee hours last night. 

“@XiaoShenXiaoGuTianShengYiDui: repost//@HarvestMasterLiXiaoRen: Specially curated video for the seventh anniversary of Jue Jue Shu’s debut. BE [3], heartbreaking, cars involved, proceed with caution.”

Before his mind could process what this line meant, his fingers had already clicked on the video. 

A line of words appeared on the screen suddenly. 

“He went to watch his concert”/Shen Jue x Gu Yanshu/ To the youths who split up but are still in love” 

Gu Yanshu instinctively wanted to throw away the strange thing playing on his phone. 

However, he was still too late. The background music had started playing, and the image showed two youths. 

One was skinny, and had a faint smile on his face. The other was of a larger build, with deep-set eyes. They were wearing identical outfits, standing at the centre of the stage. They were surrounded by a sea of flowers, and all attention was on them. The taller youth then carried the other person beside him and circled the stage once, laughing flamboyantly and wilfully. 

Subtitles were added to the image. 

“They debuted on 30th November 2017. At that time, apart from each other, they had nothing.” 

After that, across multiple filters, under the romantic background music, the two men hugged, gazed at each other and smiled, and then they ran hand in hand under the setting sun. 

Then, they kissed, intertwined with each other, and started taking off each other’s jackets….

It seemed as though in the next moment, they were going to fall into bed, and their hands were going to grip the bedsheets tightly. 

Suddenly, a voice sounded from atop his head, “What are you so engrossed with?”

Feeling abashed, Gu Yanshu’s hand trembled, and the phone dropped to the floor. 

He regained his senses, and hastily went to pick his phone up. 

However, before his fingers could touch the phone case, a soft moan sounded from his speaker. 

“Brother, be more gentle. It hurts.” 

“……” 

“……” 

[1] Renminbi (RMB) player refers to someone who spends money to buy upgrades and tools in games/apps.

[2] KY – Abbreviation for Japanese term “kuuki ga yomenai”, which translates as “unable to read the mood”. Refers to inappropriate actions. 

[3] BE – Internet abbreviation for “bad ending”.