We’ve reached Chapter Thirteen which seems to be a weird number to celebrate but by my count, we just pa.s.sed the 20% mark in the novel. Gu Man’s chapters get longer and longer so there are more good things coming up!
Also, thank you for all your comments. I read all of them, but I feel awkward replying when you guys only say thank you. Say hi or ask me something and I will reply. n.o.body has commented on it so I hope you guys are fine with the way I’m translating and keeping some pinyin in there.
Melanie, you get your answer here! Wei Wei gets some blinders taken off. This chapter… … when I read it the first time, I stopped and stomped around in exasperation.
[1] 注水: adding water. It refers to an underhanded tactic used usually to sell meat by injecting water into the meat to make it look fresher and become heavier, therefore selling it for more. The meaning is the product is less substantial in the end.
Chapter Thirteen He Is Not Me.
The player was on repeat, and during the time Wei Wei was off in her thoughts, it had restarted the video. The cheerful flutes sounded and on the screen, the female bandit was in bright red again, on top of the horse making a strong ride down the mountain.
Wei Wei quickly closed it. Knowing the ending, the satirical scenes in the front made her depressed. She didn’t want to see it a second time.
Opening the game, Wei Wei sent Nai He a message: “I watched it, it was very good.”
After writing down only this much, Wei Wei had nothing else to write. She had so many feelings, but didn’t know what to say. Unless she wanted to say she almost cried?
That sounds very dumb ＝ ＝
So without any more topics to write about, she asked; “You changed the ending?”
After the message was sent, Nai He’s name turned bright. Quickly, his message came back. “En, changed it. Otherwise the length wasn’t enough.”
“You came back ^_^ ~~Length? What length?”
Wei Wei was confused, where they talking about the video length? But she remembered that there had been no limits.
Nai He: “In the contest regulations, if the video reaches half an hour and wins, the experience they reward multiplies.”
Nai He: “Since we are actually doing it, what is deserved should be given.”
Wei Wei jiong. She hadn’t noticed this rule in the legalese, but … … Da Shen, you are this certain we can win … …
No No, this wasn’t the important bit. The point was, according to Da Shen, the bits at the end that almost made her cry was because he wanted to add more time?
Wei Wei thought about this and reopened the video. Of course! The video was perfectly thirty minutes, not a second over or under.
… …
Even if the reality was so clear and cruel, Wei Wei still held a small hint of hope: “Then you … … how did you think of the ending? It was so much better than the original one”
Nai He: “The original ending was also good, but using flashbacks to extend time with that ending would have been too evident.”
Flashbacks to extend time? So repeating the scenes? It sounded like the rumored tactic of adding water [1]. Wei Wei remembered that this ending also had flashback, so very hesitantly asked: “Then this new ending … … was because it was easier to add flashbacks in?”
“Pretty much.”
Wei Wei was defeated.
So Da Shen wasn’t just trying to lengthen the video, he was also adding a lot of water. His ending originated from the viewpoint of cheating and being lazy. What emotional impact, what live and die together, that’s all just fake.
>o
Wei Wei realized that getting emotionally moved earlier was too dumb … …
Immediately, Wei Wei, suppressing her complicated feelings, sent the video to the contest for submission. And as to why she was doing it and not Da Shen? Well, that’s because Da Shen was too lazy to register >_
After uploading, Wei Wei and Nai He went to do quests. Wei Wei refreshed her post once they finished their quest and was shocked by the number of hits and replies.
Why were there so many replies?!
Some of the replies were within one minute of her posting. That little time, it wasn’t enough to even look at the video. But after reading the posts, Wei Wei understood.
In the end, it was still affected by the incident of Xiao Yu Yao Yao and Yi Xiao Nai He challenging Zhen Shui Wu Xiang to a duel. It wasn’t just popular in their server, even the forums and other servers had been discussing it. That was still a popular topic now. So the moment Wei Wei sent out her video, there was a very eager and large audience that came to be spectators. Even Yi Xiao Nai He and Lu Wei Wei Wei were partic.i.p.ating in the video contest! Was it to fight it out with Xiao Yu Yao Yao? Definitely! Some people were also guessing that a mock-up of Xiao Yu Yao Yao would be in the video, to act as a bashing target.
Wei Wei couldn’t resist side-eying them in her heart! Some people were just nasty people, spreading rumors without looking watching. Her video wouldn’t have any sort of third wheel!
And back to the point, with her and Da Shen’s shining reputation, they didn’t need another third wheel to set themselves off >o
Wei Wei flipped through page by page. It wasn’t until page five until there was an actual response to the video itself. It was a girl replying. Her response was several crying emoticons, yelling that she had actually cried.
Hehehe, she cried. Wei Wei was happy.
That was good, the number of people that had been tricked by Da Shen wasn’t just herself now!
After seeing several replies of people falling into emotional angst, Wei Wei happily went back into the game to tell Nai He: “Have you seen the responses, so many people say they watched and cried. But I’m now the scapegoat. On the video, you put that I wrote the script in the credits, everybody is saying I’m very s.a.d.i.s.tic and evil.”
And it was true. If a story had a hilarious opening, then the middle was comedic but the ending was tragic, then the scriptwriter either was devious and evil or really was in need of a beating.
Nai He: “Didn’t read, tell me the result when it comes out.”
>_
It was his work and results, but he wasn’t even excited one bit. Wei Wei said: “En en en, I will report to you everyday ^_^”
In the following days, whenever Wei Wei was free, she was standing guard and refreshing the post.
The video became more and more popular, but this time it was based on the virtues of the video itself and not the power of gossip. A few people praised the skill of the editing and after finding out it was Yi Xiao Nai He, was even more amazed. One player said: “This video is just amazing! Yi Xiao Nai He is too strong, not just with fighting. His technical skills are just this good. All around perfect.
More people were discussing the plot, especially the ending and the choice that the musician had made.
There was a lot of discussion around it, so much that Wei Wei herself started struggling and had to ask Nai He: “Why did the musician have to kill the female bandit.”
Nai He went silent for a while and intelligently replied: “This plot point, I’m sure it was you who wrote it.”
Wei Wei: “… …”
Wei Wei: “>o
But she had been fooling around.
Wei Wei still struggled: “But if it had been you, would you kill the female bandit?”
The moment she sent the question, Wei Wei immediately realized that something wasn’t right. The question shouldn’t have been asked that way, it seemed like asking about somebody’s inner thoughts. But … … she wanted so much to know … … that line “Rather than letting her live and hate me, better to have her die” kept floating in and out of her mind in the past days. She really wanted to know if the real Yi Xiao Nai He was the type of person to say something like that.
It seemed that Nai He didn’t mind her nosiness, and quickly replied: “Not me”
Wei Wei: “En?”
Nai He: “He is not me, I wouldn’t have gotten that far.”
Wei Wei blanked out and then uncontrollably and for an unknown reason, the corners of her lips started to rise.
During this time, Xiao Yu Yao Yao and Zhen Shui Wu Xiang’s new video came out, but the popularity wasn’t as high as before. Neither their plot nor their editing was as good as Wei Wei and her groups’.
Very quickly, the submission period ended and the voting period began. Wei Wei and Nai He’s video was the leader by a very large margin, throwing the second place, Zhen Shui and Xiao Yu, by a large margin. Even Wei Wei, who was usually very modest, felt that their chances of winning were very high.
However, on the day before the results came out, Wei Wei received a strange message from Lei Shen Ni Ni.
“Wei Wei, I have a question to ask you.”
“What?”
“You promise not to get angry and I’ll ask.”
Wei Wei jiong, if you want to ask just ask. Promising wasn’t necessary but she still said: “You ask, promise not to be angry.”
“Please don’t get angry. Really I’m just the messenger. If, I’m saying IF, somebody would give you a large amount of money, would you be willing to back out of the contest?”
Wei Wei blanked. She recovered quickly: “Zhen Shui Wu Xiang?”
Lei Shen Ni Ni: “Wei Wei you guessed it!:
Wei Wei: “No need to guess.”
Wasn’t it obvious? If she back out of the contest, who would receive the benefit directly? And who else did Lei Shen Ni Ni know?
Lei Shen Ni Ni: “Xiao Yu Yao Yao really seems to like that set of clothing so Zhen Shui Wu Xiang is keeping her in the dark by getting me to ask you. He probably was too embarra.s.sed to ask you directly. Wei Wei, are you angry?”
If Wei Wei said she wasn’t, then it wasn’t true. But it wasn’t worth it to be angry. It was normal in the game to sell and buy stuff so this wasn’t anything special. But to take money directly to back out of the contest? That was out of the line!
Wei Wei rested her fingers on the keyboard, thinking of what to reply with.
Of course she had to refuse, but when faced with people who used money to solve problems, using reasoning to reject them wasn’t very satisfying. That wouldn’t affect them. The best way was to have more money than them, and p.i.s.s them off! But even though Wei Wei didn’t have any money … … but she could fake it! It was across a screen, she wasn’t afraid of being caught.
So Wei Wei, who came from a middle-cla.s.s farming family, started to aggressively type: “Not angry, just found it hilarious. There’s actually people who want to bribe me! Too funny, he thinks he has more money than me?”
“How many houses does his family have around the world? What car does his servants drive while buying groceries? What’s the bloodline of his cat? His family … …”
Wei Wei threw out multiple lines of comparisons, until she couldn’t think of anymore. At the end, she very grandly wrote her last line: “If he isn’t on planning to spend a few ten thousands to bribe me, tell him not to embarra.s.s himself.”
Lei Shen Ni Ni was in shock. A few ten thousands! Zhen Shui wouldn’t spend that much. From his tone, he seemed to be thinking at max just ten thousand. Looks like Lu Wei Wei Wei really had money. The suffix she used was ten thousand!
“Wei Wei, so your family is rich, I couldn’t really tell!”
Wei Wei: “>o
Lei Shen Ni Ni: “Then it’s fine. Wei Wei, sure you aren’t angry? I didn’t really want to help him ask but I felt he really loves Xiao Yu Yao Yao. Got a bit soft-hearted.”
Before Wei Wei could reply, she sent another message over: “Did you know? They’ve met, and they are a couple now in real life.”