Don’t Be a Kept Man

Chapter 62: Only Antis for Him on the Internet

Recently, it has been very trendy to do “reality” shows, depicting celebrities and their “real” personalities on their daily routines. And so Starlight Entertainment capitalized on that trend, using every effort and resource they had to create a new variety show called << I Came From Far Away >>, where celebrities experience what it is like to live and work in a small village. 

There were a few big name celebrities participating and ever since the show started broadcasting, the ratings have only been rising. Especially recently when a certain guest had joined, making it shoot up onto the “trending” and “HOT” charts.

This certain guest was called Chen Yi. Although he was a B list actor, he had never lacked fame, or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say, he was known for his notoriety. Since he first debuted, numerous gossip magazines and tabloids have all been writing him up for how conceited he was, having no respect for staff and seniors. Before he was even known in the eyes of the public, his reputation had already gone down the drain, with more anti-fans than anyone else in the entertainment industry.

For the show to chart well on the ratings, the production director, PD, went crazy, using every lead and connection he had in order to make Chen Yi appear on the show. And the result was that Chen Yi did not disappoint. 

Just after broadcasting for three days, his mouth and actions caused more controversy than could be kept up with. He wouldn’t move nor would he help, causing all the other guests on the show to run around in circles, trying to complete and cover his share of the work. The audience also worked their hardest, for the chance to ridicule and belittle him, sending the show straight to the top in the ratings for its time slot.

But there had been a bit of a break these few days, what with the certain guest being sick. With the temperature suddenly dropping, and the fact that the filming location was quite remote, Chen Yi had been hit with a burning fever for an entire night. Because of that, he was sent to the hospital and needed to step down from the program temporarily, which finally caused a break in the toxic comments online.

Gloominess and rain covered the sky outside the window, and it didn’t paint a pretty picture of the outside. Due to a lack of upkeep, the hospital grounds were very unkempt and messy. With this kind of environment, and the subsequent shadows caused by it, the roomy hospital room was painted in a layer of darkness. 

Chen Yi chomped on his lollipop as he was being administered with an IV. Strongly biting onto the stick with his eyes slightly lowered, he emitted a very unpleasant and hostile aura.

His chubby and short manager, Zhou Ming, was standing beside his bed, and he looked quite like an honest man. But in reality, his mind was sharp and shrewd. Zhou Ming flipped through his agenda as he said, 

“I’ve already asked the doctors and they said that you should be able to check out of the hospital by today. After your IV drip is finished, we will have to catch a ride quickly to make it for the recording. You better not cause any more trouble for me this time.”

Seeing that Chen Yi was still not paying attention, displaying a very careless attitude, he hooked up his mouth and switched to a different topic, 

“Although this program is a bit hard on you, I had already told you the day you were admitted into the hospital. I am not saying that you cannot drop out of the program… that investor Chen-Jie1 does quite like you. If you are willing, I can still arrange a meeting for you two……”

[ Ding! No no! Reject all instances to become a kept man, starting from me! ]

“Shut the fuck up.”

Chen Yi suppressed that annoying system and then raised his eyes. His hawk-like eyes narrowed at Zhou Ming, making the latter step back from the intensity. Only after Zhou Ming was at a more acceptable distance away from him did he retract his eyes and say impatiently and frostily, 

“No.”

His face was of a very devilish type, seemingly surrounding him in an atmosphere of evil; his eyes were more slanted than the average person, with them being longer and narrower. When he looked at you, his eyes seemed quite big as the sclera, or the white of his eyes, occupied quite a large surface area. This made those who he stared at feel a pressure, as if something cold and evil was strangling and tightening around them.

Zhou Ming only reasoned this as Chen Yi being unhappy because of the comments online, and he thought to himself, how still very young and immature. Squinting his eyes, he said, 

“If you aren’t willing, then obediently follow my directions in the program. Don’t let that scowling face of yours come off. The blame is not on the company, for creating this personality for you. You wouldn’t have ever been able to be as famous as you are now without this as your backing, so take that toxicity and bad reputation to your grave and you will be able to at least earn some money.”

“Listen to me. In this kind of society, you either become famous by being better, or you become the scum of this earth. The worst is when you are in-between, because time will grind down on your hot-bloodedness and will. When you are old, even if you wanted to, you wouldn’t even be able to get famous by being despicable.”

Chen Yi didn’t speak, and his apathetic attitude remained unchanging. Zhou Ming began to steel himself, 

“Your contract is not up yet. If you don’t want to pay the fee for breaking the contract, you will follow that script. You’ve already gone so far in this act, so why are you bothered now? What kind of world would allow you to have the cake and eat it too?”

And then he looked towards the bag of fluid Chen Yi was hooked up to. Seeing that it almost reached the last of its droplets, he rang the call bell. With his face stern and brows furrowed, 

“I’m going to sign the paperwork to get you out of the hospital. The camera’s just going to be right outside, so make sure you’re ready when you walk out that door.”

As he left the room to do as he said, Zhou Ming slammed the door with a “bang” and the hospital room immediately quieted down.

He should actually be grateful that he ran away pretty fast and Chen Yi’s hands were still poked with a needle as otherwise, his head would have been burst open by now.

Global Entertainment was very harsh on the artists it signed on, being as cutthroat as a business could be. Those that could hold on to their fame were pushed to the spotlight as much as they could be; those who lost their fame were immediately used to the very brink of their value, to the very last drop, even if it meant creating headlines and situations that were bad for the artist. 

They didn’t care about the future of their artists, only their short term value, and so many artists were ruined by this kind of management. But compared to the sky high, impossible amount of money required to pay in accordance for breaking their contract, most of their artists could only choose to swallow down their cries and suffer through whatever the company wanted to force them through.

Ling Dang, Chen Yi’s assistant and make-up artist, was a scrawny thin girl, who looked like she just graduated from university, especially so when she was holding a suitcase that was way too big for her. After the nurses removed the needles and the tubes from Chen Yi, Ling Dang wanted to follow Zhou Ming’s orders to beautify him, but Chen Yi didn’t let her.

Ling Dang sighed and said, 

“Xiao Yi-Ge2, don’t try and go against Zhou-Ge. No matter what, you should think about your family. Your sister still owes a lot of money from her surgeries and treatments, and this program will be giving you a pretty penny for your appearance. You just might be done with your debt after you finish the recording for this program.”

And that was when Chen Yi finally remembered, the original host’s blood-related sister had gotten into a car accident about two years ago, and she was injured very badly. She had been in the intensive care ward, receiving and going through surgeries nonstop, and only recently did she seem to have eased off on the treatments and had her health going in a good direction.

Ling Dang said, 

“It’s about three hundred thousand yuan to break off the contract, and your bank account only has sixty thousand and eight. Even if you were to sell your kidney, it wouldn’t be enough. Just endure it for now…. you’ll almost be there in a year and a bit.”

Chen Yi: “……”

He was unwillingly changing his clothes when his phone suddenly rang. The caller ID displayed the name “Xiao Meng” and he unconsciously frowned, his whole body expressing rejection. But the ringing was nonstop and so he picked up his phone to answer it, 

“……Hello?”

There was a female voice transmitted to his ears and it was very soft and meek, as if the person on the other line was just recovering from a long term illness, 

“Big brother, it’s me…… I’m not disturbing you, am I?”

Chen Yi didn’t know what to say and just hummed out an acknowledgement instead.

The girl kept speaking, 

“I just wanted to let you know, my surgery is done and the doctors say I’m looking really good. From now on I can rest at home and just have occasional checkups. You don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

Chen Yi still didn’t know what he should say and uttered an “Ok.”

It was silent on the other side for a moment and then the voice became more bouyant, 

“……Big brother, the doctors say that since I’m on the mend, it’s a good sign; my future looks bright, with no foreseeable major issues. When I’m fully healed, I can go out and work. You don’t have to play the villain to earn money anymore, and you don’t have to care about the people who only despise you……”

Her light hearted tone hid a layer of hidden emotions, a not so easily detected layer of pain and suffering. Only her slightly shaking voice exposed her broken composure.

Obviously she had seen all the numerous spiels of hate from the anti-fans.

Chen Xiao Meng didn’t say anything else and Chen Yi wasn’t really listening carefully, feeling like this phone was a hot potato in his hand. 

What a fucking nightmare.

The car was waiting outside, as the rain sprinkled down, falling onto his face in a cool mist. The program was being filmed in a very remote location, and it was not easy to get there, especially with the millions of small roads to traverse through and to do so while it was raining. The car rocked and rumbled throughout the entire trip there from the hospital, making it a very unpleasant ride. The man tucked up his collar, hiding most of his face, and his black inky bangs hid the deep contemplative look in his eyes.

Chen Yi had transmigrated here when the original host of the body was admitted into the hospital. In a blink of an eye, he was here with that “manager” rambling on nonstop, even wanting him to accompany some investor, to receive some endorsement deals. He hadn’t even been able to reply when that blasted ghost “system” popped out…….

[ Ding! This system is the galaxy’s strongest self-sufficient system. Not a blasted ghost system! Please dear host, continue to do your best and reject being a kept man. Rely only on your own hardworking efforts to reach the peak of this world! ]

Chen Yi, in his past life, was born from a martial arts family. Down to his DNA, he was wild and aggressive, and not to mention his temper was on the worst end of the scale. Hearing this, he lifted his eyes and raised his eyebrows as he mockingly said, 

“A kept man? What the fuck are you on about? This man right here has never done such a thing since he was born. Go back to wherever you came from.”

[ Ding! My dear host, you have not passed the judgment from the galactic jury yet so this system is unable to release the contract at this moment. Please, my dear host, continue to keep your senses with you and become a self reliant, self sufficient man. If you break the system’s rules, there will be an electrical shock warning ]

Chen Yi: “Go ahead. If you can shock me to death, I will believe you are not shit.”

[ Ding! If the rules are broken again, there will be life points deducted! My dear host, please heed the warning! ]

Chen Yi: “Take it away. If you have the ability, kill me.”

[ …… ]

The system only just discovered now, this host is not just a common pretentious asshole.

Zhou Ming did not give Chen Yi any time to rest, and he was rushed to move before the sun even rose, arriving at the directed filming scene just as the misty rain slowed to a stop. The sky was just turning bright, with the sun shining upon the clouds and leaves, layering the ground with a gleam of gold.

The filming location was set in a tiny farmer’s house. Many unknown flowers were planted around it and up the cobblestone steps, you could see a few heads of napa lettuce planted within the courtyard. 

The guests who were invited and accepted into the program all lived here. Everything from washing clothes to making food had to be done all by themselves, which was quite a test for these big name stars who were used to having people wait on them.

The moment Chen Yi stepped out of the car, the cameras were already rolling. Zhou Ming, who was standing nearby, gave him a discreet look, hinting at what he should know to do.

Most, if not all, programs have a script to determine what happens. Zhou Ming only has one request for Chen Yi: slander. Slander himself, slander the others; make anyone, everyone and especially himself the worst of the worst, until even eighty year old grandmothers will start to swear at him.

Chen Yi shrugged it off, as there was no pressure to act as himself. He had already asked his assistant, Ling Dang, about it, and as long as he finished filming for this program, he would be able to receive quite a hefty sum of money. No one doesn’t want money, especially for free.

<< I Came From Far Away>> was a program that live streams its entire process and all of its events. After some editing and processing, it will then be reuploaded to its major streaming platform. Thanks to its high ranked position on the trending charts for the past few days, it has enticed quite a few people to become curious about how celebrities live and what they do or how they dress on a daily basis. 

And so, the stream was only increasing its viewers, never decreasing in number. And it was in this kind of setting that Chen Yi appeared on the screens of that audience, immediately blowing up the chat on screen.3 

[Fuck me!!!! Why did Chen Yi come back again? Didn’t the hospital keep him there ]

[ And I thought he already stepped off the program. It’s only been a few days. Does he only care about money instead of his life?! ]

[ This program really is shrewd. For the ratings to be higher than other tv stations, they dare to invite all sorts of people. My poor idol ]

[ I don’t even have words. My heart’s already dead. ]

Evidently, the PD had already notified all the celebrity guests about Chen Yi coming back after his stay at the hospital, and so no one was surprised.

The country’s sweetheart, Zhao Ke Yi; a well known good singer in the entertainment industry, Ah Qi; a femme fatale persona, Li Si Lu; a new, not very well known idol that debuted not very long ago, Fu Xiu Nian; and with the addition of Chen Yi, this anti-fan collector, filled up the cast of the program.

There was smoke billowing out of the chimney from the kitchen as Chen Yi walked in the courtyard. Zhao Ke Yi was a beautiful lady with a sweet and cutesy voice, and so it was understandable why she was labeled as the country’s first love. With her hair tied up in pigtails, she was picking vegetables by the front entrance. Seeing Chen Yi walk in, no matter what she thought in her heart, she was up to par on showing the surface courtesies. Smiling, she said, 

“Chen Yi, congratulations on getting out of the hospital. Do you feel better now?”

Zhou Ming was standing behind the cameras, by the PD team, locking his deathly stare on Chen Yi, as if he was a ghost with a vengeance.

Chen Yi’s eyes calmly passed over him and then stretched out his body, pretending to be the original host. He lazily said, 

“Not bad. A low fever.”

This kind of halfhearted answer was easily able to rile up anyone.

And so, the livestream was filled with hate comments once more.

[ Do you not show some gratitude to other people caring about you? What kind of attitude is that, with a face like someone who owes him money? I’m running away with my OK mei mei4 wu wu wu ]

Zhao Ke Yi’s name sounded very similar to “Ok”, and so her fans liked to call her OK mei mei. 

[ Is there a point to find a parasite for experiencing life in the countryside? Everyday just making useless headlines, going up on the charts for the tiniest things. Who knows how much money he used to buy himself a place up there ]

[ What the fuck! Does he fucking think he’s some stupid rich prince? Zhao Ke Yi and Ah Qi are both from well off families and raised up so very well, able to at least clean or cook. Chen Yi is from a common family, with no mom or dad since he was young, who could reel him in ]

[ Hey, that previous comment, sure you can shit on him, but don’t go over the line ]

[ There are some people who think they can do everything, but in reality, they’re like a piece of paper, unable to achieve anything but believe it’s because they just don’t care about it. ]5

[ I write a petition in my blood to get Chen Yi off this program! ]6

[ + 10086 ]7

Zhao Ke Yi calmly turned her gaze away and continued to pick her vegetables, ignoring him. Ah Qi was just chopping up some logs and only gave him an acknowledgement before continuing with his assigned duty. The both of them didn’t seem to pay much attention to Chen Yi, as the kind of person who became notorious for all his infamous deeds.

This kind of interaction and relationship was what the producers really wanted to see. To have a rocky relationship means there will be lots of opinions on it. Opinions means lots of buzz, which translates to high ratings, which is the root of what this program wants to achieve. Ratings were everything.

Chen Yi was not someone who cared about sticking his face onto cold shoulders. He dragged a chair to sit by the door to rest, and in the midst of everyone busy with their duties, he was an eyesore with his relaxed posture.

Li Su Li had just finished her makeup, and she was making her way slowly out of the house. When she saw Chen Yi, her first reaction was a “Ah Oh”, and then she swayed her body over to him, 

“Chen Yi, do you feel better now? Your face’s all pale, too pale. Don’t force yourself for this program.”

If it was said that Chen Yi was the worst of the bunch, the poisonous deadweight, so to say, of the male celebrities, then Li Su Li would be that of the female celebrities. She debuted by relying on her seductive face and hot body. With no actual meaningful work to her name, all she was was a “flower vase”, a literal eye candy. 

The rumors of having plastic surgery, being a homewrecker, and aborting babies left and right was permanently associated with her name. Every time she joined a variety program or otherwise, she was always high-pitched, speaking in pretend-cutesy tones, and her antis could be on the same level as Chen Yi.

The variety show pairing these two “poisonous deadweights” together was quite particular, but it cannot be said that they do not create a buzz, as news about them have always trended. And during the car ride from the hospital to here, Zhou Ming had ordered Chen Yi over and over again, 

“Li Su Li also walks the same path, relying on being infamous. You must not let that old hag beat you, and you must be more vicious and despicable than her!”

The appearance of Li Su Li exploded another bunch of lurkers. She had debuted for more than seven to eight years now, and it was very evident that her level of infamy might even be higher than Chen Yi’s by a large margin.

[ Ugh, I want to throw up. Is she not tired from pitching her nasally voice like that. Does she think all the viewers are her rich and wealthy sugar daddies, liking her in all sorts of positions? ]

[ Look at the others who are busy and doing their jobs and now look at her. What’s she doing? Putting on makeup. No matter how much she cakes her face, it’s totally fake anyway, ugly, a snake monster ]8

[ These two pieces of shit can just die right there right now for me ]

[ What a miracle. How did the heavens create these two curious cases of shit ]

[ Does she not know her pointed chin can poke open her breasts? And she even dares to hook men daily ]

Li Su Li came closer and lay on the chair behind Chen Yi, pretending to be close to him, and pinched the tip of his nose. The latter immediately turned his head away, but she was not mad. She continued, 

“Ah, your bare face is this handsome huh. They say online that your whole body has been fixed. I wonder if it’s fake or not… but I think that you must have done it; it’s just not very obvious.”

Chen Yi’s face was a devilish looking face, but it cannot be said that his face was not easy on the eyes. It was a face out of this world, with his nose bridge high and his eyebrows long and thin. There were numerous rumors online about him having plastic surgery to achieve this face, and so these words from Li Su Li were very on point in stirring up the controversy once more.

Chen Yi understood then that she must have purposefully come to disgust him. He dusted off his pants and said with a half truth, 

“It’s true. Besides not changing my gender, I fixed everything from head to toe.”

Li Su Li did not expect him to say that and her eyes widened, but she quickly smiled again, 

“Ah, no worries. You are a hundred times stronger than those who hide that they did plastic surgery.”

[ Is she talking about herself…… ]

[ Chen Yi was so obvious in his joke, but she continued it seriously. Isn’t that too underhanded ]

[ Hahahahaha fuck that no gender change. One look at Chen Yi and you can see he’s a man alright ok ]

[ Perhaps Chen Yi did get fixed, his face is much slimmer than before ]

When Ah Qi finished chopping, he saw Li Su Li chit-chatting away and furrowed his eyebrows, 

“Li Su Li, hurry up and sweep up all the leaves on the ground. It’s almost time for lunch.”

Since the show began, everyone had clearly been assigned to their own share of work. Ah Qi was in charge of chopping the logs, Zhao Ke Yi of the vegetables, Fu Xiu Nian with cooking and Li Su Li had the easiest job of sweeping. But she was obviously not willing and hearing Ah Qi, she took her sweet time to bring out that bamboo broom and didn’t move one bit for a long while.

Seeing Chen Yi sitting there and doing nothing, her eyes quickly caught on and pitched her voice high up, begging in a nasally tone at him, 

“Chen Yi, I just did my nails and they’re a bit long, so it’s not really suitable for doing this kind of work. Can you help me sweep the grounds?”

Chen Yi lifted his eyes and then hesitated before rising up. Seeing this, Li Su Li smiled and was prepared to pass the broom over to him, but she did not expect that Chen Yi didn’t accept it and instead patted his pockets for a while. In the end he felt out a nail clipper and passed it to her.

Chen Yi said, 

“You can cut them. Never have to worry again.”

Li Su Li, stunned by his action and words, was shocked out of her mind.

The comments were going crazy with laughter: 

[ Puh HAHAHAHAHAHAHA yeah that’s right, you can cut them ]

[ Wow at that Chen Yi, carrying nail clippers on him wherever he goes ]

[ Holy shit, that dumb look of Li Su Li is sending me rofl. What a competition to see which rat poo is more disgusting to look at ]

[ LOLOLOLOL of course you can only cure poison with poison ]

[ Can’t work because of your nails and you ask me what to do? You can cut them then puh ahahahahahaha ]

Li Su Li gritted her teeth and glared at Chen Yi. She turned her back against Chen Yi and, still huffing, went to sweep the floor. It was at this time that Fu Xiu Nian walked out of the kitchen and said, 

“Everyone, go wash your hands. Lunch’s ready.”

Fu Xiu Nian was a newbie, but his starting point was high. His first work, his debut, was a role in the world known director, He Ning’s, historical movie, << A Thousand Years >>. Following the end of that filming, he immediately joined << I Came From Far Away >>. 

Although he was not that well known, everyone with eyes could see he was unhindered in his future. After this program finished filming, his net worth, his “rank” as a celebrity would no doubt shoot all the way up.

But as his starting point was so high, it was hard to escape from rumors and gossip. Some say that Fu Xiu Nian has a powerful sponsor behind him, but no matter how much the paparazzi tried to dig, they couldn’t find a hint or sniff out a trail of anything, and so it was still a mystery.

Li Su Li immediately threw away the broom after Fu Xiu Nian’s announcement and went to wash her hands. Ah Qi and Zhao Ke Yi followed right behind as well. Chen Yi, however, did not move as he sat there and no one cared about him from beginning to end.

The sun was slowly rising and it was shining brightly with a toasty and cozy feeling. Chen Yi crossed his arms as he leaned back on the chair, as if he was ready to sleep. His dark and high collared fur coat hid most of his face, and he was emitting a cold aura, as if he was his own lonesome entity, far away from the crowd of people.

Seeing him like this, Fu Xiu Nian paused in his footsteps and turned back into the kitchen to fill up a bowl of rice. He carried the bowl with him as he walked towards Chen Yi and said, 

“Chen Yi, it’s time for lunch.”

With the sun blocked in front of him, a dark shadow was cast upon him. Fu Xiu Nian was wearing a casual hoodie and his face was clear and youthful. His hair was the most natural black and his aura felt clean. When he smiled, there would be two tiny dimples that showed up, making it very easy for others to let their guard down.

The bowl was a bit hot, and so Fu Xiu Nian was switching the bowl from the left hand to the right, the right to the left. In the end, Chen Yi finally accepted it, but he didn’t even say a word of thanks. Fu Xiu Nian didn’t really mind it though and went to fill up a bowl of rice for himself.

The dishes were very basic, and there wasn’t a wide variety of seasonings in the kitchen. In addition to that, there was no one in the group who knew how to cook, so naturally the flavours wouldn’t have been able to be any good. Zhao Ke Yi was eating quite well, however, and in contrast to her, Li Su Li was poking her chopsticks at her bowl the entire time and made a face in the end. 

“This dish is so salty and this rice is so hard.”

In the past, Ah Qi was always on trend, a cool type of man, but these past couple of days, every laborious work fell onto his shoulders, and so he had been dulled and worn out quite a bit. Fans were laughing that he was turning as black as coal, so one could see how hard it had been for him.

Ah Qi slightly frowned when he heard Li Su Li, but as she was a woman, he couldn’t really say anything.

Fu Xiu Nian paused, but he was a gentleman and so he didn’t really take it to heart, 

“Sorry about that. I have never cooked before, and as it’s my first time, my hands weren’t quite used to the work. Next time, I will put less salt in.”

The comments were furiously scrolling again: 

[ Where did Li Su Li get that bitchy attitude. She does nothing and still gets this picky. I really want to spit in her face until I can’t see it anymore ]

[ Oh my god. Besides Ok mei mei and Ah Qi, Fu Xiu Nian is the only one that is the most acceptable. He’s been cooking in the kitchen for the entire day! ]

[ What a rare personality type. He’s not only so nice but also so hot. He hasn’t even gotten angry at that nuisance of a woman Li Su Li despite her bullying him these past few days. Wu wu wu wu wu I’m a fan, I’m a fan now ]

[ I really can’t stand it anymore. I really really hate her AHHHHHHH! Going to set this program on fire, blow up this stupid fucking program ]

[ What the fuck did you say was easy? If you have the ability you should do it yourself ]

[ I’m going to blast through this monitor and strangle her!! ]

Chen Yi quickly finished his food and then used a napkin to wipe his mouth. He disinterestedly said to Li Su Li, 

“Your cooking skills must be better than him, so you should cook the next meal.”

Li Su Li glared at him, feeling that Chen Yi kept back talking her, 

“What for.”

Chen Yi pushed back his bangs, revealing an overly sharp facial structure, 

“Didn’t you think this was terrible. If it was terrible to eat, you can make it yourself.”

Celebrities need to take care of their image in front of the camera, so no matter how unhappy they were in their hearts, they would never show it on their face. Just like Ah Qi and Zhao Ke Yi, their biggest movements would be giving her the cold shoulder and not really tearing her face out.

Chen Yi was not the same, however, as he didn’t care about “face”.9 

Fu Xiu Nian stared strangely at him with this exchange, but Chen Yi didn’t look at him. The screen was scrolling fast with the comments at this scene.

[ …… Although I don’t like Chen Yi, but I must say, it’s so satisfying to see him quip back at her ]

[ Those of the same species know how to deal with their own kind. Li Su Li’s mouth needs a beating and now comes another mouth that’s even worse than hers hahahaha ]

[ Chen Yi said the same thing I wanted to, but the most important thing is that Li Su Li can hear those words. Wow. I’m so satisfied. ]

[ Li Su Li is just bullying Fu Xiu Nian because he’s new, and he’s not as famous as the others. These few days she’s been on his tail, bullying him. She doesn’t dare do the same to Ah Qi, obviously pandering to those higher than her and stepping on those lower than her ]

Li Su Li simply saw Fu Xiu Nian as an eyesore. Those who could join this program were either famous, or had a background of famous works. Who didn’t roll around in this industry and claw their way up to the top for a few years? Fu Xiu Nian as a new, new newbie, having such a good starting point just as he debuted, who would believe it when you say he has no background help.

Seeing the atmosphere freeze up, Zhao Ke Yi quickly came to disperse the tension. She smiled and changed the topic, 

“Chen Yi, when you weren’t here, the PD gave us some mission cards. When we finish our lunch, we will need to go to the village pond to catch some fish. We should hurry and finish our meal.”

Fish? Chen Yi remembered then. The script that his manager Zhou Ming gave him had written about this. It said something about him being lazy and doing nothing; just be there.

Simple.

The sun was slowly rising and the temperature was too. Chen Yi went inside to change his clothes, coming out with a simple black tee with his coat hooked casually on his finger over his shoulder. He had a long torso and a slender waist. With a sharp and manly look, he was like the hated-but-also-crushed-on bad boy from every girl’s high school era.

The program gave everyone rain boots and gloves and so everyone changed into the gear before heading towards the village pond by the entrance. Ah Qi brought a bucket with him and he sighed, 

“My face’s already turning green from only eating vegetables these past couple of days. Finally, there will be meat to eat.”

Zhao Ke Yi was jumping and skipping around, evidently very enthusiastic, 

“I have never caught a fish before. Just thinking about it makes me so happy.”

Li Su Li discreetly rolled her eyes. The pond was going to be all dirty and stinky, what was there to be happy about? After a while you’re just going to cry.

Chen Yi did not speak for the entire journey and was walking very slowly. He was kind of like  a head honcho surveying his territory. Fu Xiu Nian didn’t know why but he slowed down and walked together with him, side by side.

The pond wasn’t that deep and there were many fishes and loaches inside. If they were lucky, they might even be able to catch some small crabs. Everyone was getting prepared to head down to catch some fish, but Chen Yi was the only one to not move from the shore.

Fu Xiu Nian looked at him, 

“Chen Yi, are you not coming?”

Chen Yi crouched by the bank, biting on a lollipop he stole from the hospital, 

“My body’s too weak, and I get sick too easily. Since I came out of the hospital, my head’s been spinning and I feel awful, always wanting to throw up. I can’t go out there and bend my waist. You guys go first. I’ll go when I rest a bit.”

Fu Xiu Nian dropped silent for a moment before saying, 

“……Are you pregnant?”

Notes:

Just a note on Ah Qi and Xiao Meng – they are a bit different in their use of prefixes as referenced in the footnotes below/previously. Xiao Meng is the actual first name of his sister (Chen Xiao Meng) and Ah Qi is also the name of the celebrity versus them calling like in volume 1 where Ah Qi for Lu Qi was like an affectionate name. 

—

And we are back! I hope everyone had a great end of the year, and a good start of this year so far! (^▽^) Welcome back to those who have joined us on the journey once more and hello to all new readers 

A few housekeeping things:

First of which, this volume heavily capitalizes on the mechanic of on-screen comments which is briefly explained in footnote 3, so if you usually skip footnotes, I’d advise you to read just that one if you are unfamiliar with chinese video/live streaming platorms (on scrolling comments on screen) or glance at the pictures to get a reference 

Second thing, regarding the schedule, we will most likely keep the schedule as it was for volume 2, as right now overall, it’s a bit more of an easier schedule to keep up with, with our other life commitments like my new job which requires a more regulated structured time schedule and Plum’s deep dive with their work especially after the holiday, and not feel the crunch of time (…mostly).

We have taken the schedule on a volume to volume basis as I am terrible at consistency on that I guess (´･∀･`) and really based on the circumstances/situation I (and Plum) are in which has drastically changed in a short amount of time, mostly due to the pandemic, but hopefully this will work out and something you all will be comfortable with/easy to adapt with  Thank you for all your patience! So just to recap, chapter release for volume 3 is slated (for now) Mon, Wed and Fri!

Last but not least, I’m assuming most people have continued with us on this journey from the very beginning, but as it’s been a while (which um… ??? my fledging start as a translator has almost reached the half a year mark!!!! That’s so crazy to think about. Thank you to everyone who’s reading this and for all your support and interest in this project of mine!!!), and there might be some possibly new readers who read only the specific volumes, it might seem redundant, but hopefully it isn’t too much, if you will, please count those as like a quick reminder  I’ll try to keep those really short/only once for the volume (kind of what I did in volume 2 there)

Also, if there’s anything you want to be explained further, let me know! As sometimes I think it’s so familiar to me that I just gloss over it, but Plum sometimes tell me (only when I ask hahaha whoopsies) it’s a bit of an unfamiliar concept to them.

See you all Galactic Judges on Wednesday for chapter 63! I hope you are all having a great new year so far, and a cozy start of a week! Thank you once again, for making this journey of mine (and Plum) onto almost half a year now (thank you to everyone who stuck with me as I stumbled through)!!! ʚ♡⃛ɞ(ू•ᴗ•ू❁)

P.S. Wouldn’t start out with a new volume without a wall of footnotes, now would I… ꉂ (′ ॢꇴ ॢ‵๑))

>> Added the volume title to match volume 1 

Footnotes

*1  -jie: (referring back to the volume 2) it’s a suffix that usually refers an “elder” lady but not quite that old, or if they are, whoever is saying this is trying to make the other seem younger/being more pleasant on the ears for the female being referenced

*2  Xiao/Ge: as said in a previous footnote, in a name xiao is usually used as a prefix to denote someone less in rank or as someone more familiar with you but a bit younger/looks younger or even to denote as someone to be young even if they are older (to be more youthful like -jie), and -Ge, as also stated before is as in someone more higher in rank/respectable, or like a leader of yours, or as a brother (blood-related or even more than just blood relations). But note as like above/at the very top, they can also be used as being part of actual names besides as familiar nicknames

*3 quick (but long whoops) note on the comment(s) structure of broadcasting and all that:

If you have read a lot of novels for the “entertainment circle”, and there’s a portion of it where it’s live streaming or mentioning videos of a cp (couple pairing – a couple being “stanned”, which if you have read any fanfics, it’s sort of like otp (and also stan, simp, using them interchangeably of sorts, but I’ve been formally told by my friend who is more well versed in this that simp iswas (or an alternative now… like shrimp haha) apparently only for twitch, so… well, it’s live streaming! It works!), or just any video at all, the comments being commented are usually meant as comments scrolling on screen of the video (even livestreams).

You might have known nico nico jp (it had been mostly known within my friends’ groups for vocaloid), or if you visit chinese video websites like bilibili/youku/iqiyi, it’s kind of like taking the youtube comments and instead of the comment section (which is actually there as well, but anyway!), all the comments are timestamped to scroll across the screen, so that instead of you scrolling down the page to read the comments as you listen/watch the video, you can see it right on screen the reactions of others and what they want to say (hence why there is usually no punctuation at the end). 

It’s actually pretty addicting after a while, which makes it very understandable why it was adopted right away. But here are some example images below (the comments can also be customized like the subtitles on youtube, like opacity, but depending on the video platform, there can be a bit more control like how fast and how much you want the video to be covered by the comments).

I think actually, if you have seen the livestreams on youtube, which I have not seen a lot of so don’t quote me on this, instead of it being in the corner and moving up (if fullscreen), the comments are without a background and overlayed over the entire screen.

This long blurb is really for me to hopefully be able to explain a bit of context on what the novel is doing as it’s a bit instrumental in the setting and kind of the mood the author sets for the particular scene that is happening (especially so as particular actions or things usually not easily spotted by the vast majority can be now seen/notified/discussed as that scene pops up when comments are not turned off)  Side note: it is pretty much (usually) regulated, with sometimes “sweeps” done, where the comments get cleaned off as due to cursing, harrassment, abuse etc. or on sensitive materials/topics which can include CPs, but it’s not usually touched upon in these settings or very briefly mentioned like reporting comments etc., so just a note

Not a shameless plug for my favourite duo ever, but here are some examples:

First Image (top left): original/comments turned off
Second image (top right): Example of comments turned on/scrolling on-screen comments
Third and fourth image (bottom): examples of customizable on-screen comments that can get pretty wild (some options are only for members of different levels)

These are taken from 我们的歌/Our Song + on bilibili (or I think season 2 they called it Singing with legends?) (which if you’re interested >:) please join me in my obsession here but only for season 1, season 2 not endorsed though!  (some have eng subs, some don’t, so here’s an official compilation of my favourite duo and their duets from that show <3) If you happen to know some chinese, I’d point you to here which is the compilation of the cuts of my favourite duo within the whole show (with some other songs that the uploader cut in as well, based on their likes). The last link is to bilibili and the rest before are youtube  You can check out the last link for more examples of the on-screen comments too, if you are interested~

*4 Ok mei mei: Ke Yi sounds like the verb, “possible/can do” but saying that particular verb in response to someone, by itself, would be like alright, that’s possible, or ok, hence the “ok” association. If you use it in a sentence like 我可以 means I can do that, that’s fine by me, kind of like good? if you think about it in that way that I’m good versus good as by itself. And mei mei means baby sister. I originally translated it as OK baby, which sort of works, but there’s a line somewhere in the later chapters where this doesn’t work out so switched it to the pinyin  (Edit: Fixed the one I left in!)

*5 Like paper… : the phrase they use is a bit more complicated than what I have condensed there… This particular phrasing came from Dream of the Red Chamber (which you may have recalled from another footnote(s), as this is one of the classics with many sayings and references, but in the context of that, it’s kind of to say that life and death is not in your own control, especially when you are born into a poor family and you have nothing, in a terrible situation to start, and unable to solve all your regrets, and so from birth to death you are very pitiful, live by being stingy, lowly, thinking you are better than everyone when in reality you are not but that is based on because you grew up in a very unsafe and no security environment, where you don’t have validation, and so you give yourself confidence, and think you have the skill (or making up lies to believe that you do). But you really don’t and your foundation/basis is very shaky because it’s empty, yet you don’t think it is. 

It’s based on a character in the classic novel, where if you take the phrase literally, it means the heart’s higher than the sky (thinking you are better than everyone else, not knowing what the situation you are in really is, as the character was a servant, but never took on the attitude that she was servant), life is thinner than paper (easily dictated by others/life is on a thin line). There’s actually quite a few topics surrounding this and deep discussion like all literary arts do, especially since this is classic literature, but a kind of meaning of what it means, with a bit of my own interpretations I guess, relevant to the situation at hand.

*6 petition with my blood: The phrasing of this actually means to write a book with their blood, which apparently came from a buddhist text, to use your blood to write teachings and understanding, but in this case, this is a phrase created from the interwebs, meaning a very strong rejection of something and wanting to do something from that/venting out that rejection, like here where they want Chen Yi to be kicked out of the program or for him to drop out, and a very strongly worded phrase to do so

*7 +10086: You might have already seen this, if you read a lot of CN novels, but it’s basically saying I’m agreeing with the previous comment(s) and as like a bazillion other people, I very much agree. I believe it started like the +1 kind of thing on like forums like add one more person to agree with the previous comment. 

For example: I like cake. next commenter: +1 (would mean I agree with your point too, I like cake too), but as something a bit meme-y, +10086 because it’s the service number for mobiles (for that basically main carrier of the country) for like knowing your bills, customer service, complaints, questions, etc. so it’s very well used/known and it became like a +1 meme, if you call it that. There are other numbers/phrases that have been used, but this is the more popular and known version, which now expands over just forum use obviously as seen here.

*8 snake monster: a face in the filters of photo apps where they apply the make up for you and it turns your face white, lips red and a pink blush and slims down your face drastically (the version that makes you overly not human, which if you try it with apps that allow you to have a slider on the makeup, it might be easier to see). Basically an overly corrected version/edited photo of someone like facetune? Apparently this came from “Calabash Brothers” or Hulu brothers of this villain (picture below). You can probably google just “蛇精” for more info/RL images.

*9 face: as you may have seen in a lot of novels and in volume 1 which I didn’t really explain about, is very briefly, like dignity, one’s self being? but a bit more than that… It’s kind of as “you” and what you represent (your family, status, what groups you belong to, etc.). Like your pride, and the “face” of the identity you have (in regards to you, and/or what you represent). In the sense of “face-slapping” then, it’s like having done to you what you have done onto others (negatively), and taking revenge on what others have done or belittled you as. In reference to yourself however, like what some of the comments said, it’s like the saying of you eating your own words, kind of slapping yourself in the face for how wrong you were (usually after being overly confident/arrogant/conceited about what you said/did)