NGSB Chapter 7

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Chapter 7

A flash of surprise flickered through Lin Xi’s mind, but he was in no mood to pay attention to the main hall now. Instead, he quickened his steps to catch up to He Shushan, who was heading for the parking lot. Meanwhile, the crowd he left behind had gone beyond the realms of amazement and doubt that this of all men would come to Qi Wenyuan’s funeral.

Pan Lun’s eyes widened towards the assistant currently greeting guests, only to get a shake of the head in exchange. He seemed dumbfounded about the new arrival too. Pan Lun only felt perplexed…he remembered he hadn’t sent this man an invitation, so why had he suddenly shown up?

While he was pondering, Ou Nuo had already entered the room. He was dressed in a black, custom-made trench coat that still carried the chill of the autumn wind from outside. His long, slender legs carried his travel-worn figure into the hall, but the aura emanating off his form eclipsed his dusty state in a halo of nobility and magnificence. Without pausing in his steps, his dark eyes swept over all of the assembled company. They rested briefly on Ji Chengshu with a nod before continuing forward. A few strides took him to Pan Lun’s side, where he stood calmly nodding at the blank-faced man. Before Pan Lun could react, he was already heading for the coffin.

Here he stopped with his giant bouquet of fresh white roses glistening with dew. Their sweet fragrance scattered and spread in the air. Ou Nuo’s eyes lowered to look quietly upon the black and white portrait and its dazzling smile. It was a long time before he moved. Around him was only silence as everyone held their breaths with wide eyes, wondering what he’d do next. That beautiful, handsome face was completely expressionless beyond meeting gazes with the man in the photograph. It seemed as if he was really trying to talk to him. Soon enough, Ou Nuo abruptly shifted. His hands raised the bouquet of 17 white roses in his arms and rested them on top of the dark coffin. The contrast between black and white was sharp and piercing.

Ou Nuo clenched his fingers, and the thorns from the rose stems pierced his skin to leave tiny stab wounds. He knitted his brows briefly, but quietly clenched his hands again in a way that no one could see until the thorns fully stabbed into his palms. Still, his expression didn’t change. In the end, he only gave the portrait one last, long look before his mouth moved to say a few unclear words.

Then he abruptly turned around and stalked out of the hall.

The whole thing lasted less than three minutes. Before anyone could react, Ou Nuo had shown up and left as if he’d never come at all. Ji Chengshu stood rooted in place, feeling puzzled. Isn’t Ou Nuo currently shooting on set in New Zealand? When did he come back?

Meanwhile, all of the reporters were figuratively wringing their hands. They’d finally gotten the rare chance to see Ou Nuo, but they just let him run away! Leave just like that!

—

Lin Xi chased He Shushan all the way to the parking lot before he caught. Although the singer had wiped his eyes dry, those bloodshot irises still pained Lin Xi’s heart. He Shushan forced a smile, his voice choked with sobs. “Lin Xi, did you need me for something?”

Lin Xi’s throat dried up at the words. He wanted to speak, but didn’t know how. He Shushan seemed to read his mind, because he only chuckled. “If it’s about Wenyuan, don’t worry. I believe that he’s not that kind of man.” After a pause, he grew more determined. “Wenyuan definitely wouldn’t murder anyone. I’ll find the truth for sure and restore his innocence.”

It felt like a hand had clutched Lin Xi’s heart in a vise-like grip. He looked at He Shushan pretending to be strong and wanted to tell him the truth, but didn’t want to drag the man into the messy quagmire between him and Pan Lun. It was enough…if he himself shouldered the burden. A slag like Pan Lun should be destroyed with his own hands.

“Lin Xi?”

After debating with himself, Lin Xi managed a smile and said, “I just wanted to tell you, Shushan, that I think brother Qi’s been wronged, too. But at the same time, I don’t think he would want to see you like this.”

He Shushan gave a start before he understood his words. Faintly he said, “Thank you, Lin Xi.”

Lin Xi looked at his friend’s wan smile and felt extremely uncomfortable. But it was impossible for him to express it in words.

White roses, a pure and innocent love. Those were his favorite flowers as Qi Wenyuan, and a symbol of his former devotion and expectations for Pan Lun. When his friend appeared before the coffin with those flowers in hand, he almost wanted to tell the whole world the truth. But when he saw Pan Lun’s stormy face, he swallowed the urge back down. Before he saw to Pan Lun’s destruction, he wouldn’t cave in so easily.

…Shushan, I’m sorry.

Once I’m back at the top of the throne again and crush Pan Lun beneath my heel, I’ll tell you everything about the truth.

But before then…please forgive me for not wanting to drag you into the abyss.

The third night after Qi Wenyuan’s death, various media outlets gave reports on his grand and majestic funeral. There were all sorts of pictures posted online, both of the solemn, respectful funeral hall and the various celebrities and stars than showed up at the ceremony. Qiandu Web reporter Li Feng[1] had snatched a good seat in the funeral hall as soon as the whole thing began–a front row spot closest to the coffin. Here, he had a clear angle to take pictures of every visitor’s expression as they offered up their flowers as well as access to wide-screen shots of the entire hall.

He was already happy at the prospect of big headlines when Zhu Qing showed up, but then he spotted the recent online hit, Celestial Fairy Lin coming in behind Ji Chengshu. He quickly snapped photos as he thought of an appropriate lead for his article. Soon afterwards, He Shushan walked it, looking weak enough to faint at any second. He abruptly grew displeased with the company-issued HD lens camera, wishing he’d brought a video camera with his instead. When Ou Nuo walked in after that, his intestines all but turned green with regret…

Who said only one camera would be enough for today?! Who said that Qi Wenyuan’s death was a source of controversy so most of the people would just avoid attending his funeral service at all? I’ll choke you to death on salt soda water!

Despite this, he was still happy to see that the editor in chief had pushed his painstakingly edited series of photographs onto the home page. Thank goodness everyone avoided going to the funeral hall yesterday because it was “trash news.” Now he was entertaining fantasies of getting a promotion, becoming a CEO, or even wedding a beautiful girl after gaining so much merit for the website…

Qiandu Web’s promotion of the photo story matched Li Feng’s expectations. The article attracted all sorts of viewers when it was published that night. For members of the “pretty ppl ahh” friend group, one photo in particular caught their attention and howls.

[Little Double Seven]: hey heavenly king zhu went too! wahhhhhh my house was so close to that funeral hall ah, i should’ve stolen a peek from a distance ahhhhh
[Lotus Yolk Pastry]: hmph, my celestial fairy went too. he’s so pretty even in black, did you guys see? so pretty when he cries ahhhhhhh
[Loli Blossom[2]]: how could celestial fairy be so beautiful! ur so pretty~ ur so pretty~ ur so preeeeeetttty~~ *lick~!*
[Singing Brush]: aye, qi wenyuan passed away just like that…i was still waiting for part 2 of his Verses in Attraction…

Singing Brush’s lament was quickly buried in the flood of “licking” texts in the chat.

Once all of the media outlets had determined Qi Wenyuan to be an attempted murderer, many of his fans had changed favorites or turned into anti-fans. Their numbers dropped successively until only the ones who loved his works held on. As the saying went, the tea turned cool when people leave–feelings fade when people were gone–and the monkeys scatter when the tree topples. But the fans weren’t wholly to blame. From a legal standpoint, they couldn’t stand against majority opinion, but only bear it silently…

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Han Xiaonan had already watched one movie and drama series that had Lin Xi ten times over just for his scenes. She studied everything from the hair on his head to the shape of his toes to avoid missing a single detail. But truly, the number of works under his belt was pathetic. He didn’t even have any advertisements, posters, or even a photograph. Really, nothing was available! Han Xiaonan had already printed the last picture of him off Huli Web and plastered it on the head of her bed, ceiling, and cupboard so she could watch him before she fell asleep. The very thought moved her heart.

Hmph, that stupid movie actually casted my Celestial Fairy as a dead crown prince! Dirty production! Definitely dirty! What kind of crappy drama series was that too, they didn’t give my Celestial Fairy any lines! It was probably unwritten rules at work! Definitely someone’s unwritten rules!

….Miss, it really was a dirty production and unwritten rules, but…the problem is that your Celestial Fairy was the one breaking them to get in the back door…

Han Xiaonan was full of indignation as she opened up Qiandu Web’s promoted article, but shrieked as soon as she saw the pictures, startling her mother into nearly dropping the soup ladle in her hands. Meanwhile, Han Xiaonan quickly shared the findings of the article on Weibo, generating a flurry of likes and retweets from the action. In less than two days, a so-called “Celestial Fairy Companions” fan club sprouted into existence on Weibo. Like a locust entering the scene…no, like a flood drowning the masses, it overwhelmed all of the hot search lists. The origins of their fervor came from nothing more than–

Less than 10 seconds’ worth of footage in a movie clip, less than a minute’s worth of various spliced shots from a certain drama series, and a single photograph. Now a new picture of a certain person shedding tears was added to the mix and spread like a whirlwind online. Its overwhelming momentum carried it to various hard disks around the web as it once again overtook the hot searches on Weibo.

Number one listing? Not today, at least. The news article on the funeral and various other pictures of famous stars took the first four places on the hot search from the frenzied Celestial Fairy Companions. The top-ranked listing on Weibo was a set of three photographs.

They depicted a man as handsome as a sculpture staring silently ahead, his dark eyes filled with inscrutable emotions. In his hands was a giant bouquet of fresh white roses. Everyone who saw the series of three pictures ended up clutching their hearts in pain. It was as if they could feel the abject sorrow of the expressionless man even through the cold layer of their display screens. The countless fanclub members of the Heavenly God Faction had gone a long time without a single new picture from their idol. They were content just enjoying his old ones, but who could tell them why his newest ones looked so heartbreaking?!

Their male god was constantly icy-faced, but why did he look like he was about to cry?! Who took these pictures? They’ve shot him so that…my heart feels like it’s being crushed to pieces!

Oh, male god…you alluring incubus!

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As a gold standard agent, Ji Chengshu was a frequent brower of the big media websites. Chonglang’s Weibo had naturally given him a verified account under his real name, but he had plenty of side accounts too. It was impossible for him to keep daily tabs on the trending searches, but he’d review a summary of them every few days. After coming home today, he lied down on his soft bed and opened up Weibo before the flood of notification messages nearly had him dropping his phone. He quickly read through them and…realized Ou Nuo was to blame. As CX Entertainment’s undisputed god, he was unparalleled and peerless in the Asian entertainment circles. His fanclub, the Heavenly God Faction, carried on a tradition of emulating their idol’s personality and taciturn nature, so they rarely did much than lurk online.

But today they’d gotten rowdy after Ou Nuo’s pictures at the funeral service came into light. The frenzied flood of likes and retweets were quickly combined with “@s” to personages related to the male god. Even if one out of every ten people who saw the pictures retweeted them, and one out of ten of those retweets reached Ji Chengshu, he would still end up getting ten thousands of notifications by the end! He quickly changed his settings to ignore incoming notification messages before he could browse the hot searches in peace. Just what was going on?

It was easy enough to track down the culprit. As Ji Chengshu read through the article published by Qiandu Web, he couldn’t help but sigh. Their reporter had done a good job taking those pictures. He hadn’t been able to catch Ou Nuo’s expression from where he was standing, but the photograph clearly showed everything on his face. Backlighting made for the best portrait shots, so Ou Nuo’s naturally good-looking, mixed-blood face looked even more contoured by the light. Although his expression was icy cold, it seemed to soften beneath the sun. Ji Chengshu’s sharp eyes read past the wretched wails of the Heavenly God Faction members as they commented on the photos. He had to read them thrice to make sure he wasn’t imagining things before going back to the three pictures.

“Does he really look like he’s going to cry…” he sighed. “I just see a frozen face that won’t change in a 100 years.”

The depth of perception between men and women when it came to reading feelings was as deep as the Marianas Trench!

Ji Chengshu continued to scroll down until he saw another familiar face. His eyes widened as he read through the related comments for that photo with growing surprise. Immediately, he switched to making a phone call. After ten heart-stopping seconds, someone finally picked up with a hello on the other end.

Ji Chengshu immediately blurted out, “Lin Xi, have you read the latest Weibo yet!”

Lin Xi had just finished showering and was drying his hair with a towel. Hearing the voice on the line suddenly rise an octave in pitch made him furrow his brows. He held the phone at a distance before he replied. “Huh? No, I haven’t. What happened?”

“Your popularity exploded!”

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His slim white fingers opened up the Weibo website on his computer and clicked on the hot search list as Ji Chengshu instructed. The first thing he saw were the three photographs in the number one spot, which he opened up right away. The picture of the familiar face only made Lin Xi nod. Such terrifying numbers could only come from this guy. But when he saw the white roses in his hands too, he knit his brows and began to wonder whether white roses had gotten popular as funeral flowers recently.

But that thought was soon dismissed, because he scrolled down to see the messages that had “scared” Ji Chengshu on his Weibo. Clicking a link took him to an entire wall full of “Celestial Fairy!! Lemme hug your thigh!! Licking my screen!!”

What a fright.

Hold it!

Isn’t “Celestial Fairy” the title that some magazine gave to Lin Xi to mock him? Why are all the Weibo users shouting it so…passionately?

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༺ Chapter Glossary ༻

[1] Li Feng (李峰) – Li is a surname that means “plum tree,” Feng is “high or tapered peak, summit.”

[2] Loli Blossom (童花顺) – tong hua shun, where the first two characters is literally “child flower” but could also refer to lolis (little girls) or shotas (little boys). Shun is favorable, positive. Not exactly lolicon/shotacon, as those go by 萝莉控 and 正太控 respectively. I uh…made this up, haha.