On the Thousand Postures Reconstructed by the Scumbags

The system was like a stumbling block on the road to success. It usually remained silent, but would suddenly pop up from time to time, and it was as annoying as swallowing a fly. What was even a good transformation or to become a new person? Xi Nian never took all this to heart.

He glared at the blue ball of light floating in mid-air and squinted silently, “If you’re really bored, go find a prison on your own.”

It wasn’t a day or two since Xi Nian had tried to kill it.

The system had become accustomed to it, after all, it was common for the service industry to be looked down upon. It was just afraid that Xi Nian would not be able to resist the temptation, undoubtedly, the colorful world had always been charming. Still, its body quietly disappeared into the air.

Xi Nian looked away, only to find that Lu Xingzhe was looking at him. He raised his hand and pressed the latter into the quilt, then turned off the desk lamp, and said in the dim darkness: “It’s getting late, go to sleep.”

Lu Xingzhe didn’t have the habit of turning off the lights when he slept. He pursed his lips, opened his eyes, and looked at the ceiling in the dark. Lu Xingzhe suddenly recalled that he was bullied and locked into the utility room in the orphanage when he was a childv一his eyes were dark and turbulent, and his face was expressionless as he closed his eyes.

Lu Xingzhe leaned into Xi Nian’s arms, he was silent for a while, and suddenly whispered: “Can you hold me?”

Xi Nian did not have the habit of cuddling others to sleep, and Lu Xingzhe never made such a request in his previous life. Upon hearing this, he quietly opened his eyes in the darkness, without speaking or making any movements. He couldn’t understand why so many changes had occurred in this life, whether it was people or things.

“…”

He didn’t move, and Lu Xingzhe didn’t say anything, as if he was asleep.

The wall clock on the wall was ticking, and the moonlight shone on the floor, giving off an icy brilliance. After some time, Xi Nian suddenly moved. He quietly turned over and then reached out to slowly embrace Lu Xingzhe into his arms, a tightly knit and airtight warm embrace.

They finally started to learn to adapt, whether it was the people around them or this night without a light.

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Early the next morning, Lu Xingzhe woke up in Xi Nian’s arms. He unconsciously rubbed against the man’s shoulder, and the black hair tip lightly brushed over Xi Nian’s chin, causing a faint itch.

Xi Nian knew that he was about to wake up, and was about to pull his hand out. But, who would have thought that someone would grab his wrist halfway.

Lu Xingzhe buried his face in the pillow, the corners of his lips curled slightly, and he said lazily, “Tsk, so heartless? Hugging more will not make you lose a piece of meat.”

Hearing this, Xi Nian only felt that he was too easy on Lu Xingzhe yesterday. He lifted the blanket and sat up from the bed, took out his phone, and glanced at the time, saying, “Today I’m going to the company to sign a contract so I’ll be leaving later.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Xingzhe opened his eyes and instinctively released him. He wanted to get up after him, but as soon as he sat up, he couldn’t help but take a breath of cold air. Then he covered his waist and bared his teeth: “Damn…”

Xi Nian turned his head and raised his eyebrows with a subtle expression. He got up and walked into the bathroom to freshen up, with a faint smile on his lips that was too fast for anyone to catch.

Lu Xingzhe only felt that his waist was almost broken. He struggled to get up from the bed and then cursed and squeezed into the bathroom. Xi Nian was brushing his teeth, and when he turned around, he saw Lu Xingzhe standing behind him, weakly leaning against the door, with his eyes raised, looking carefree.

Xi Nian looked away, rinsed his mouth, and washed his face, then found a disposable toothbrush and handed it to Lu Xingzhe: “Wash yourself.”

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Lu Xingzhe muttered: “It’s not like you would help me wash if I didn’t wash myself.”

Xi Nian reminded him: “Who helped you take your shower yesterday?”

Hearing this, Lu Xingzhe raised his eyebrows slightly, looking a little smug, and without saying a word glanced at him with a smile.

Xi Nian was a very down-to-earth star. He had no assistants and no savings, and Lu Xingzhe couldn’t understand how there could be such a miserable artist. After he got dressed, he saw a black peaked cap in the closet and took it out to try it on, coincidentally, it was just the right size.

Xi Nian watched from the side, seeing that Lu Xingzhe covered his face tightly again, even his mother wouldn’t be able to recognize him. So, he raised his hand and took off the hat from his head: “Why are you dressed like this, you want to rob a bank?”

Lu Xingzhe was taken aback when he heard the words and then realized that he told Xi Nian yesterday that he no longer needed to be a paparazzi, and subconsciously said, “I’m just used to it.”

After staying in a dark corner for a long time, it was inevitable that he would feel a little uncomfortable when he suddenly wanted to get rid of the familiar identity. Xi Nian looked at Lu Xingzhe’s dark eyes, and for some reason, put the hat on him again. After a pause, he said, “If you want to be a paparazzi, keep doing it. Just don’t take pictures of me.”

Dead friends did not die poor people1一he would never have said that before, but now, Xi Nian suddenly felt that he didn’t care as much about some things as he thought he did.

Lu Xingzhe didn’t want Xi Nian to feel that he had broken his promise, so he lowered his head and said, “As I said, I won’t lie to you.”

Xi Nian thought to himself: you were the one who was deceived by me before, so how could you have had the opportunity to deceive me.

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The two went out together一Xi Nian intended to go to the company to sign a contract, while Lu Xingzhe had some things to finish一with different directions and different paths to take.

When Xi Nian sat in the driver’s seat, Lu Xingzhe stood outside and bent his fingers to tap on his car window. His handsome and youthful eyebrows and eyes were exposed to the sunlight without any obstruction, which made people unable to look away.

Xi Nian lowered the car window and saw Lu Xingzhe with the warmth of the sun shining on his face for the first time: “What’s the matter?”

Lu Xingzhe didn’t speak, just reached out his hand and quickly touched Xi Nian’s face. After teasing Xi Nian, he wanted to slip away. However, when he tried to retract his hand, his wrist was quickly grabbed by Xi Nian.

It was early in the morning, and there were not many pedestrians on the street. Lu Xingzhe tried hard to withdraw his hand, but he wasn’t able to even twitch it for a long time, so he could only be forced to lean against the car door in that position, the chicken was not stolen but a handful of rice was lost.2 He said with some embarrassment: “I just touched you a bit, no need to react so strongly.”

Xi Nian remembered how Lu Xingzhe looked like a hooligan when he touched his face just now, and his hold on fingertips relaxed, but he didn’t let go: “If next time you dare to be a hooligan, you will bear the consequences.”

Lu Xingzhe thought that Xi Nian was just a big iceberg and mensao3 and he wished that Xi Nian would just use those means to straighten him up. Upon hearing this, he leaned slightly into the car window, smiling with a blushing and heart-throbbing smile, and asked in a low voice: “How about I let you touch me back?”

Before he could finish speaking, a slight stabbing pain suddenly came from his fingertips, with warmth mixed in the damp moisture. Lu Xingzhe was slightly stunned and it took him a while to realize that Xi Nian had bitten his fingertips. His ears turned red uncontrollably and he said, “You…”

Lu Xingzhe’s adam’s apple twitched, he stuttered and couldn’t speak.

Xi Nian glanced at him with a half-smile, then released the hand that clasped his fingertips and said: “I’m going to the company.”

Lu Xingzhe stood on the spot, watching his car go away. For some reason, he put his hands behind his back, subconsciously hiding his fingertips secretly.

As early as the game video about Xi Nian was broadcast on the Internet, he had already become a favourite player to win the 《Star Movement Association》. Other fans joked that the other contestants were clearly accompanying the Prince to read and join the fun4. And Xi Nian lived up to expectations, advancing all the way, defeating his opponents in the fourth knockout round and the finals. Finally, he successfully won the championship in the men’s archery area.

And the happiest among everyone was the fans, who watched with their own eyes how Xi Nian went from the bottom to first position up to today, step by step. Support groups began to be established in an organized way, and the members gradually grew. The only regret was that Xi Nian had too few exposure shots in front of the media and there were not many materials available for editing.

At this moment, someone leaked the news that Xi Nian would participate in the fourth season of 《Decoding the Chamber of Secrets》. The news circulated widely and quickly spread throughout the entire network, causing a heated discussion for a while.

Nowadays, variety shows were rampant in China, but there were not many that could generate high internet traffic, while 《Decoding the Chamber of Secrets》 was one of those few. Apart from a few regular team members, the program tended to invite current popular idols to participate in every episode. To be honest, those who did not have a spot meant that they really did not manage to make their name.

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Although Xi Nian had dominated the Star Movement Association, in the eyes of netizens, he was only a rapidly rising little star with no foundation or representative work, let alone national popularity. Apart from being good at archery and being handsome, he inevitably gave people a feeling of not having enough weight.

Especially this time, it was said that the guest the program team had originally planned to invite was the film emperor5 Yan Du, but inexplicably changed to Xi Nian. Therefore, some people subconsciously believed that he had snatched Yan Du’s spot, and inexplicably started a fight.

[I really want to know why the program group invited Xi Nian. There are so many people who have become popular these days, so can everyone be on the program?]

[Who is Xi Nian? I don’t know him. I heard that he shoots arrows very well. Did the show crew invite him to shoot arrows? (dog head6)]

[There is no representative work and only acted in a youth film before. I ran to see it, the acting skills were really average. I guess it is another vase7 that relies on the face to make it big]

[“Decoding the Chamber of Secrets” is so brain-intensive, can Xi Nian play it well? Yan Du is a top student who graduated from S University. What did the program team think, just let a newcomer take the position of Yan Du, right?]

[I don’t think Xi Nian can even pass the first level. Ah, ah, I’m so angry. I really want to see Yan Du!!!]

Yan Du was an old veteran in the entertainment industry. Although he did not follow the idol route, his fan base was huge and his popularity was national level. Now, some people said that a young artist, who was just a novice Xi Nian, has snatched his spot, it would have been a wonder if netizens didn’t blow up.

As soon as Xi Nian fans received the news, they took action collectively to suppress the black fans and comments. However, the crowd couldn’t be stopped by them. In addition, there were indeed no representative works that Xi Nian had made, and the only TV drama he acted in failed to leave a deep impression on people due to his young age. As a result, almost all netizens recognized him as an embarrassing vase actor.

[What? You said Xi Nian won the championship of the Star Movement Association?]

[Sorry, in the entertainment industry, I only watch acting skills and works. Good archery only works in the sports industry. Turn left when going out. Thank you.]

Xi Nian’s fan support was about to explode. Although there were many popular people, Xi Nian had only just made his debut. Even if he had to have a representative work, shouldn’t he also be given a chance first? Besides, why blame Xi Nian if someone else from the program team took the initiative to invite him??

Probably the online scolding war started on the Internet was too serious, even more, some netizens went to the program official’s Weibo to tell them to invite Yan Du instead. Therefore, the director of “Decoding the Chamber of Secrets” had no choice but to post a Weibo. He explained: Yan Du was unable to participate in the program due to a conflict in the movie schedule, so he had to change people temporarily and there was no competition for seats. We hope everyone can look forward to the next episode of the program.

Then Yan Du also liked and reposted this Weibo, confirming that what the director said was true.

Xi Nian’s fans couldn’t wait to pinch the black fan’s neck and shake: Now can you see clearly, it was because of Yan Du’s schedule conflict that he couldn’t participate in the show, don’t put any shit on Xi Nian’s head, our little muddled bean8 can’t stand it!!!
 

1

This proverb is a Taiwanese phrase and might be a little hard to comprehend, the literal translation was “Dead friends never die poor people”. This proverb means that: as long as I am good, the life and death of others is not my business. This proverb had varied translations and alternating meanings, but the stated meaning is most aligned with the context. This idiom consists of two parts, ‘dead friend’ refers to others, and ‘poor people’ refers to oneself. In other words, it also means that the life and death of others, would not benefit oneself. For a detailed understanding please refer to the source: gossipism.tw/node/shiji/2009-04-09a-t.htm

2

[tōu jī bù chénɡ shí bǎ mǐ]: Stealing chicken but losing rice/money. In other words, The chicken was not stolen, but a handful of rice was lost. It is a metaphor that someone wanted to take advantage of it but suffered a disadvantage. This phrase also be translated as go for wool and come home shorn. This also has a similar meaning as previously mentioned: Many seek to better themselves or make themselves rich, but end by losing what they already have.

3

Iceberg refers to a person who appears cold and indifferent and the Chinese buzzword called “Men Sao” refers to people who look quiet, cold, or even dull outside, but inside they are volatile, charismatic, hot, and sexy. It may also be used to describe a person’s duplicitous personality, but mostly in the eulogistic sense.

4

Accompanying the prince to study: In ancient China, the prince or princes had to learn from a young age therefore there were children who accompanied them. As scholars could not beat or scold princes or princes, the scholars had to scold their companions to alert the prince/princess. It also has the following meanings: the prince is too bored and lonely to go to school alone, and he also needs to be accompanied by classmates, so the royal family will find someone to accompany the prince to study. The purpose is not to make this person learn well but to be a companion for the prince. So people call the role of foil “accompanying the prince to study”. Accompanying the prince to study is an image of a supporting role that cannot be changed, nowadays, it is used in a sarcastic way to refer to this supporting role in someone’s successful life.

5

[yǐnɡ dì]: movie king/king of the silver screen.

6

Goutoubaosheng (Dog Head): it is a buzzword and emoji on the Chinese Internet, which is generally used for ridicule/irony. It expresses a dog with a dodging expression, the main purpose is to make the comments more hilarious, to show that ‘I am just joking’ in case they get attacked by others.

7

The term ‘vase actor’ generally refers to artists whose acting skills are null and are only popular because of their beauty. Such actors rely on their beauty to cover the lack of acting skills and serve no other purpose than to beautify the screen just like how a vase decorates the background.

8

[xiǎo hú dòu]: On the internet, this term is used to refer to idols/actors who were not popular or were forgotten by people and did get a chance yet to become popular. And are therefore poor and low-key.