Really, Really Miss You

The date continues… The usual circle of friends isn’t here, but that doesn’t mean Sheng Sheng isn’t getting teased.  Sheng Sheng, you have to get Toupai’s hints this time, right?

Right now, Toupai’s fans had become as substantial to her as floating clouds …

At this moment, besides Toupai’s hand that was resting on her shoulder, to her, everything else was just floating clouds, oh, floating clouds. T.T

The spoken lines and the singers’ voices interwove amongst each other. The cosplayers on stage were acting out the story. This could be considered the opening performance to warm-up the crowd, and Toupai’s voice was being used to start the show. And that person who was the highlight… was standing beside Gu Sheng.

Mo Bai had wanted to chat and gossip for a bit longer, but his own fans were already starting to encircle and stare at him.

As a guest performer, his purpose there was to attract fans, after all. Between him and this Toupai DaRen who had opened for the event, yes, their fan numbers were equally matched, but the latter was not showing his face, eh.

Unlike him…

Mo Bai looked at Gu Sheng and whispered to her with a grin, “Golden Master DaRen, I need to go back to the event now. See ya later.” In front of this big name cosplayer, Gu Sheng really did not know how to handle his teasing. However, he was already waving to Toupai, and, bringing his cool, dignified appearance with him, he returned to the autograph and souvenir booth beside the exhibition area.

After the opening program came to an end, the crowd finally began to disperse, and people began moving toward the autograph and souvenir area where Mo Bai and another cosplayer, Mu Mu were. Mo Qingcheng was interested in their booth as well and led Gu Sheng in that direction. He looked over the souvenir booth for a while before suddenly asking, “Would you like to buy some souvenirs?”

So nonchalant…

Gu Sheng honestly wanted to act nonchalant too, but she was hot from head to toe with embarra.s.sment. She did not even dare look at Toupai’s eyes right now. She was not sure how but she somehow managed to give a little “mm-hmm” in reply. But only after her “mm-hmm” did she think about what had just happened. What question did she just answer? … Buy some souvenirs?  Buy souvenirs… Buy… Toupai was going to use his money to buy a souvenir for her?

Toupai had already reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a black wallet.

Gu Sheng hastily shook her head. “Uh, no, it’s okay, thanks. I’m actually just a casual fan of ‘The Legend of Qin.’” She saw Toupai start to pull out some bills… “You really don’t need to… I can buy it myself.” She pulled her backpack off, but even as she was unzipping the bag open, Toupai was already pointing at the cups at the back of the booth and asking the staff member, “Does this cup come in a set?”

“A set?” The worker was a young girl. She looked up at Mo Qingcheng, her eyes sparkling and her voice gentle as she asked this extremely handsome fellow, “Do you mean a matching, couple’s version?”

He replied with an “mm-hmm.”

“Yup.” The girl was very enthusiastically helpful as she looked toward Gu Sheng, who was standing behind Toupai and whose train of thought was three steps behind his. “Which character does your girlfriend like? I’ll help you guys find a couple’s set…”

Toupai looked back at her. “Which character do you like?”

“…… Shao Siming.”

Shao Siming from “The Legend of Qin”

“Shao Siming, eh?” The girl immediately laughed. “All girls seem to like her. Lots of people like to cosplay Shao Siming, too.” She quickly knelt down and pulled out a pair of ceramic cups. “You guys can even go over there and get Mo Bai and Mu Mu to sign them.”

The girl expertly packaged up the cups and pa.s.sed them to Toupai. While she was taking his payment, she could not help looking the two of them over curiously. “You two aren’t cosplayers, are you?” When she was asking this, she was also wracking her brain, trying to remember if Toupai and Gu Sheng – two such good-looking faces – were actually some well-known cosplayers who were here without their cosplay make-up to support their friend, Mo Bai…

Toupai gave an aloof smile but did not utter another sound.

The knowledgeable Qiang Qing Ci fans all shared a common understanding: Qiang Qing Ci was someone who did not really like talking to people he did not know. All these years, he had kept a low profile, and besides with people he had worked with for several years, he basically would not go out and partic.i.p.ate in any sort of meet-up events. As a result, the only people surrounding him in his life from the voice-acting circle were the few from Wanmei.

Hmm…. In truth, he simply did not like to deal with people he did not know.

The staff member very keenly pulled out a paper bag and wanted to wrap up the cups in paper but was stopped by Mo Qingcheng. In a smooth gesture, he pointed in Mo Bai’s direction. “Don’t worry about it. We still want to get them signed.”

He seemed very interested in getting his buddy’s autograph. As soon as the cups were in hand, he led Gu Sheng over to the autographing area. At first, only Mo Bai saw them heading over, and he could not resist raising an eyebrow and letting out a snicker. Then, beside him, Mu Mu, who had just finished signing something, lifted his gaze. When he saw them, his normally paralyzed-like face actually showed some sort of expression on it.

Toupai handed the cups to them, and Mo Bai immediately took them. With a huge grin, he signed his name. Then, thinking briefly, he also drew a heart, all the while teasing, “An extra little something just for you, my bro.”

When he was finished, he handed the cup to the person beside him.

Deadpan face Mu Mu was still staring at the two of them. His reaction still half a step behind, he finally managed to say something: “Oh my G.o.d.”

behind, he finally managed to say something: “Oh my G.o.d.”

Mu Mu was wearing a silver wig, and as he lowered his head, the hair slid down along his neckline. He gazed silently at the cups for some time before lifting his head again and looking at Toupai with a serious expression. “What do you want me to write? ‘Wishing you forever happiness and harmony’?……”

“Knock it off,” Mo Bai immediately chortled. “You should write, ‘Hope you have a baby soon,’ of course.”

Mu Mu gave an “oh” and then pulled the cap off his pen, truly intending to follow the suggestion. Gu Sheng sincerely felt that she was going to cry from all this teasing. She stretched out her hand and tugged at Toupai’s sleeve, pleading to him with her eyes for help.

He cast a comforting glance at her and then spoke up to put a stop to the two men’s banter. “That’s enough. A joke should only be taken so far.”

Mo Bai let out a “pfft” of repressed laughter, completely amused by this.

Mu Mu, however, continued to speak just as frankly as before. “You’ve brought the actual person here with you already, but yet you’re not letting us say anything…” His head was lowered as he wordlessly wrote his name and also wordlessly copied Mo Bai by drawing a heart.

And so, just like that, their two cups now ended up looking ridiculously couple-y.

The staff members beside them only thought that Mo Qingcheng and Gu Sheng were good friends of these two cosplayers and had absolutely no idea that this man was the big, respected name in the voice acting world who had provided the opening monologue. These two old buddies of Mo Qingcheng, one of them was skilled in poking fun and teasing while the other was just naturally dull and would speak only the blunt truth, and now, as they played off one another, Gu Sheng felt that even her palms had started to sweat.

She and Toupai…

She and Toupai…

Gu Sheng silently took and placed into her backpack the cup that Toupai had put into a box and handed to her. Questions were flying around in her mind. She and Toupai … On this special occasion that was universally celebrated, they had gone out together, and now, were they really going to make the big step and move their relationship in “that” direction? As her thoughts turned to “that” direction, she felt her heart start to beat faster …

Mo Bai and Mu Mu were, after all, guest performers there and did not have much free time for idle chatter. Soon, they headed onstage and started their performance. Hugging her jacket to herself, Gu Sheng stood with Toupai and watched the performance for a little while. He had also taken off his jacket and draped it over one of his arms as he stood quietly to the side and watched.

Those eyes, dark and bright, were fixed on the stage. So gorgeous.

Gu Sheng’s mind was still preoccupied with thinking about “that” direction, and she honestly could not say what she was watching…

Not much time had pa.s.sed, though, when Mo Qingcheng had to take a phone call. Although he did not say much and Gu Sheng also tried her best to not listen in on his private conversation, she could still guess that it was work-related.

Sure enough, after he hung up, Toupai told her in a low tone, “I might need to leave. Something just came up.”

“Alright. No problem.” Gu Sheng nodded understandingly.

The two of them very quickly left the exhibition centre and walked to the entrance of the community compound where they had parked their vehicle. Following alongside the green belt of the compound, they pa.s.sed two buildings and strolled toward the parking area. All the while, Gu Sheng was deliberating whether she should tell him not to take her back to school so that he would not need to hold up his work. Unexpectedly, they heard someone call out from behind them, “Cheng Cheng.”

Mo Qingcheng quickly halted his steps. Gu Sheng also followed suit and stopped.

And then, she again followed suit and turned around to look at the middle-aged man behind them who had a stern expression on his face … The quality of this man’s voice was very similar to Mo Qingcheng’s … except that it was quite a bit more mature-sounding …

While Gu Sheng was still speculating, the middle-aged man had already smilingly cast a glance at Gu Sheng. “This is…?”

“Gu Sheng.” Mo Qingcheng stood next to her and very simply stated her name.

Not knowing what to say, Gu Sheng only woodenly nodded and said, “h.e.l.lo uncle.”

“Is this your girlfriend?” the middle-aged man asked with a smile.

The outer corners of Mo Qingcheng’s eyes turned upward in an obvious smile. His voice was so very real beside her, light, yet certain as he responded to the question. “Mm. My girlfriend.”

 百年好合 “bai nian hao he.” This is a blessing normally wished upon a couple at their wedding. Literally, it means “harmony until the end of one’s lives,” and is wishing the couple a harmonious and happy marriage for the rest of their life, until they are a ripe old age.

 早生贵子 “zao sheng gui zi.” This is a blessing usually given to a newlywed couple. Literally, it means, “give birth to a son soon.”