Ji Ning didn’t know what was more surprising, that Gu Chen was here, or that he had actually recognised him. He said, with a mixture of excitement and surprise, “Long time no see, Senior Gu.”
“Are you here by yourself?” Gu Chen glanced around. When he saw there was no one following behind Ji Ning, he smiled and said, “Why don’t you come and sit with me?”
“I came alone, but is that okay?” Flattered, Ji Ning asked with some uncertainty, “Won’t I be disturbing Senior?”
Gu Chen shook his head, “No you won’t, I’m just filming nearby. Now that my work’s finished I came here to relax, so if it’s convenient for you we can chat.”
“Of course it’s convenient.”
Ji Ning nodded vigorously, the depressed feelings from before dissipating due to his chance encounter with Gu Chen. He didn’t dare to make Gu Chen wait so he hurried to the counter and ordered a milk tea before coming back to speak with Gu Chen.
“How have you been these past few years?” Gu Chen took off his sunglasses and leaned back in his chair. His legs were long and he looked very elegant whenever he moved, “You’ve grown a lot taller than you were before. You look good.”
“Thank you Senior. You too, you’re even more handsome than before.”
Ji Ning felt a little embarrassed. He had his growth spurt late, so when he was in junior high school he was pretty short. When he stood next to Gu Chen, he was a whole head shorter. “I’ve been doing fine the past few years. I got accepted into university and I’m now in my second year.”
“Would that be the university next door?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s a prestigious university, it seems your grades are still good.” Gu Chen smiled, “Are you still interested in acting?”
“I still like acting, but I don’t often go on stage. I’m the vice president of our university’s theatre group so I’m mainly responsible for bringing in new people and teaching them how to act.” Ji Ning said.
“You’re talented and good looking, it would be worthwhile to develop in that direction.” Gu Chen said, “Have you ever considered it?”
Ji Ning shook his head, “I’ve never really thought about it, acting has always been a hobby for me. I’m not as talented as Senior is and I don’t have any connections…”
“If you’d like, I can introduce you.” Gu Chen offered, “Why don’t we exchange contact information? You can send me a message anytime you like.”
“Okay.” Although Ji Ning had no intention of entering the entertainment industry, he was happy to exchange contact information with Gu Chen.
As soon as he unlocked his phone, several missed calls and unread messages flashed up on his muted phone, all of which were from Ying Qianqiu and Qin Ruwang, asking where he was. As for Huo Wuling, he hadn’t sent him a single text.
Thinking of Huo Wuling, Ji Ning felt bitter in his heart. Of course he hadn’t tried to contact him. He sent messages to his other roommates, telling them he was in a nearby shop and would return to the dormitory a little later, so they shouldn’t wait for him.
Ji Ning and Gu Chen exchanged contact information. When Ji Ning pulled out his phone, the broken pendant came out as well. He would have to repair it later.
“Your phone pendant is unusual.” Gu Chen glanced at the silver pendant, “It’s very pretty.”
“Ah…yes, my friend made it for me.”
Ji Ning held the pendant with the broken string in the palm of his hand, a pang of loss aching in his chest for a moment.
The silver pendant was in the shape of a chubby robot. It was a movie character he’d liked when he was a child. Jiang Che knew that he always liked that robot, so bought him this custom pendant a few years ago. Ji Ning had loved it a lot and had always carried it with him.
Today, the pendant had broken unexpectedly. Fortunately he’d noticed, or he might have lost it. Thinking this, Ji Ning put the pendant back into his pocket, deciding he would keep it at home in the future and not carry it with him.
“That friend of yours,” Gu Chen quietly watched Ji Ning put away the pendant before asking, “Is it Jiang Che?”
Ji Ning paused, “Senior remembers his name?”
“Of course I do. The two of you were inseparable back then, it would have been harder not to notice him. How is he doing now?” Gu Chen asked.
“He…passed away.”
Ji Ning’s voice was very quiet. He didn’t know what was going on today, but he kept being reminded of Jiang Che. After Jiang Che’s death, he’d never wanted to talk about the past.
“I’m sorry.” Gu Chen apologised, “I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay.” Ji Ning shook his head and gave Gu Chen a faint smile. It wasn’t Gu Chen’s fault that he didn’t know. He wasn’t like Huo Wuling, who’d deliberately poked at the pain in his heart, so he wasn’t upset.
“You must have cherished him a lot…You still carry the gift he gave you.”
The handsome man gave him a deep look, then glanced out the window. People had started to gather on the street and the milk tea shop was getting more crowded. People had heard the news that Gu Chen was nearby and had come searching for him.
“Let’s get out of here first.”
Gu Chen stood up and smiled at Ji Ning, “Would you stay with me a bit longer?”
“Ah…okay.”
Ji Ning blinked a few times, then agreed. He picked up his unfinished coffee and followed Gu Chen. Because there were so many people crowding the entrance, they asked one of the workers if they could leave through the back. After bribing them with Gu Chen’s autograph, they left the shop.
Once they were outside, the two walked away from the commercial street and toward a relatively quiet riverside. As it was early spring the sky was already growing dark, which made it harder for people to recognise Gu Chen.
“For you.”
Gu Chen handed another copy of his signature to Ji Ning. Ji Ning happily thanked him and carefully put it away. The two strolled by the riverside for a while, but the temperature was cool and Ji Ning was still underdressed. Before long, his body that had been warmed up by the coffee had started to get cold again.
“Are you cold?”
Gu Chen noticed that Ji Ning’s ears were red from the cold. He took off his scarf and wrapped it around Ji Ning’s neck, “Is that better?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Rb, cb, cb, Vfclbg, tbk mbeiv P ajxf sbeg rmjgo…”
Ktf rmjgo mjgglfv j ojlca wjif qfgoewf, atf rjwf rmfca atja Xe Jtfc kbgf. Pa kjr j clmf rwfii. Cr rbbc jr tf atbeuta atlr, Al Rlcu’r ojmf yegcfv gfv, tf rtbbx tlr tfjv ab ufa glv bo tlr ragjcuf atbeutar jcv delmxis abbx boo atf rmjgo.
“It’s fine, I was the one who asked you to come out with me. I should apologise to you.”
Gu Chen bowed his head slightly and gently wrapped the scarf back around Ji Ning’s neck.
Gu Chen’s fingertips inadvertently caressed Ji Ning’s face and earlobes. His touch was softer than the night wind, but the temperature of his skin made Ji Ning’s face grow hot. Suddenly he didn’t dare to meet the actor’s deep, dark eyes.
Senior Gu really deserves to be such a famous star, Ji Ning thought to himself, how could anyone resist such a charm?
“Good.” After Gu Chen finished adjusting the scarf, he seemed to remember something. He pulled out his phone and looked at the notifications he had muted.
He scanned the messages he’d received before showing a helpless smile. He shook his head lightly and said, “I should go back, otherwise my agent will bully me.”
“Ah, your scarf…”
Ji Ning was going to take off the scarf he’d just received, when Gu Chen touched his hand, “It’s cold. You go back with it today and return it to me later.”
Ji Ning was taken aback. Before he could think about how he was supposed to return it, Gu Chen said, “I said earlier that I’m filming nearby and the crew will be here for about a week. I’ll text you the address and you can come and find me later.”
“Is that a good idea?” Ji Ning still felt a little hesitant.
“It’s fine, I’d like it.” Gu Chen raised the corners of his lips and ruffled Ji Ning’s hair, “Okay, you should go back now, be careful of catching a cold.”
“That’s good…thank you Senior Gu.” Ji Ning felt very embarrassed. A blush spread across his face as he asked, “How are you going back Senior?”
“Someone will come and pick me up, I’ll just wait here.” Gu Chen said, “Go back and rest early, you can contact me later.”
Ji Ning nodded, thanked him again, and left with his signature in his pocket. Gu Chen stood silently in the dark, watching his retreating back as the smile on his face slowly faded. His thin lips drew into a line, his eyelashes lowering as his expression darkened.
Once again he was acting.
In his life, he had played many roles and when he was filming, he would live as another person. He knew that every character he played was fake, but he’d never imagined that his own identity was just as made up.
He was just a slither of a dead person’s consciousness. Everything he had experienced was just a made up story, like the characters he’d played. It turned out he was a ‘fictional character’ as well, he just hadn’t had any self awareness.
Even now, he was still acting. He acted as the ‘Best Actor Gu Chen’ in front of Ji Ning. Acting had almost become his instinct. He could play the character perfectly, but deep down he knew that he actually wanted to resist.
He didn’t like acting in front of Ji Ning. He hoped they could get along with each other without any pretences.
In the previous world, he had been the focus of Ji Ning’s mission. Ji Ning was acting as an arrogant and indifferent genius in front of him. He was attracted to Ji Ning, but he hadn’t known at the time that he had never seen Ji Ning’s true nature. It wasn’t until these strange things started to happen that he suddenly realised he’d been kept in the dark this whole time.
He’d felt lost, confused, and even hurt, but he later understood that all of them had been deceived and it was only Future who knew the full truth.
Now, in order to get Ji Ning’s love, they had all entered this virtual world to pursue Ji Ning in their own way. Gu Chen had been given a new identity and his and Ji Ning’s roles had been reversed. Now it was him who had to deceive Ji Ning in order to gain his favour.
But Gu Chen didn’t like it. He’d acted out so many lives and now it turned out even his own had been fake. But in front of Ji Ning, he wished there didn’t have to be any lies.
Even if everything else was an illusion, his feelings for Ji Ning were real.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this, coupled with the fact that his personality was similar to Jiang Che that Gu Chen wasn’t as repulsed as the others were by the identity of ‘Jiang Che’.
After seeing Jinag Che’s memories, he knew what kind of relationship Jiang Che had with Ji Ning. Although Jiang Che hid some of his emotions in front of Ji Ning, he would never deceive Ji Ning, and Ji Ning always showed Jiang Che his truest and most relaxed state.
He actually envied Jiang Che, the person he used to be.
If he could…
Gu Chen slowly closed his eyes. The car that had come to pick him up had arrived. He got into the car, lowered the window halfway and watched the campus pass, lit up by stars and street lamps. Soon the car faded into the night.
Ji Ning returned to the dormitory, blanketed by the cold air. When he pushed open the door he saw Qin Ruwang and Ying Qianqiu sitting at one of the desks. The three of them chatted for a bit and Qin Ruwang gave Ji Ning some cafeteria food, which he was very grateful for as he hadn’t eaten yet.
Ji Ning put the damaged pendant into a safe place along with Gu Chen’s signature. After hurriedly eating dinner, he turned on his laptop and started revising his thesis.
Yun Yuan had looked at it very carefully and picked a lot of faults in it. The dense red markings filled Ji Ning with shame. Resigned to his fate, he started to edit the document. Halfway though, he needed a reference book, so he stepped on his bed’s ladder to grab it from his shelf.
From this height he could see that Huo Wuling, who slept in the bed opposite, was also in the dormitory. The boy was lying on his bed, and silently playing with his phone.
Catching sight of Ji Ning, Huo Wuling stopped playing and stared at Ji Ning for a few seconds. Then, without saying a word, he pulled his duvet over his head, refusing to communicate with Ji Ning.
Ji Ning was so angry he wanted to kick him, but for the sake of the dormitory’s peace, he held back. He picked up his reference book and continued to revise his thesis in a bad mood.
There wasn’t much progress in his work, so his attention was easily distracted when he received a message from Fu Ji on his laptop, asking him how his rehearsal with Ark went.
After hesitating for a while, Ji Ning replied:
To be honest, it wasn’t good. He’s not in the right state of mind today.
As he typed this, he remembered what Ark had said to him earlier and felt a little agitated. If he hadn’t fainted, Ark might have actually confessed to him. He hoped Ark would think about it more, otherwise he didn’t know how he was supposed to get along with his little Junior.
That sounds right, I thought there was something wrong with him today. He was super absent minded when we ate.
Ji Ning knew Ark and Fu Ji had a good relationship. They’d been friends even before they entered university, so Fu Ji would notice quickly if there was something bothering Ark.
Fu Ji sent another message:
I asked him what was wrong but he didn’t say anything, just ate with his head down. I joked that he must be having relationship problems, but this kid just walked off. I couldn’t see his face, but his ears were red. Maybe he really does like someone.
‘…’
Ji Ning’s fingers stayed frozen on the keyboard for some time, not knowing how to reply. Luckily Fu Ji was a chatty person, even if Ji Ning didn’t say anything he could speak enough for both of them.
Of course, I’m desperate to know what’s up with him, but he would rather die then tell me. There’s really nothing I can do.
Fu Ji typed out at a rapid speed:
So I wanted to ask you. The kid likes you a lot, if you talk to him as the vice president, he might tell you.
He should ask? Ji Ning was stunned for a moment, before he quickly replied:
Isn’t that inappropriate? This is Ark’s private affairs. As an outsider, I shouldn’t interfere.
Although that’s true, whatever he’s dealing with has really affected our production. You don’t want the show to go badly, right?
Fu Ji responded quickly, as if he’d anticipated Ji Ning’s reaction.
But if he asked, the situation would only get worse…
Ji Ning felt slightly helpless, he couldn’t tell any of this to Fu Ji.
But Fu Ji was right. They’d been preparing for this production for a long time and couldn’t afford for there to be any mistakes at this point. Anyway, he wasn’t even certain that he was the person Ark liked.
Okay.
He finally replied to Fu Ji:
I’ll talk to him tomorrow.
Then it all depends on you. Fu Ji joked.
By the way, the appointment with Mr. Zhou Rin has been set for six o’clock in the evening the day after tomorrow, but the location isn’t yet determined. Does that work for you?
That’s fine, I can go.
Ji Ning said.
Good, I’ll message you when the location is confirmed.
After speaking with Fu Ji, Ji Ning received a message from Ozer and started chatting with his brother for a bit. By the time they finished, it was late and almost time to turn the dormitory lights off, so Ji Ning stopped revising his thesis and went straight to sleep after taking a shower.
Ji Ning dreamed. He didn’t know if it was because he’d heard Jiang Che’s name so many times during the day, but he dreamed about the day Jiang Che gave him the pendant.
It was Ji Ning’s sixteenth birthday. In addition to celebrating with his family, every year he would go out to dinner with Jiang Che. After they’d finished eating, Jiang Che had given him the pendant.
“Where did you get this from?”
The unusual gift surprised him, “How come I’ve never seen something like this before?”
“I had it made it for you.”
Jiang Che slightly raised the corners of his lips. He seemed to like seeing Ji Ning’s surprised expression, “I also helped to make it, I engraved its eyes. What do you think, they’re pretty good, right?”
“…” Ji Ning pinched the robot’s round body, before laughing suddenly, “No wonder I thought that everything looked good except for the eyes. They’re so ugly, you ruined it.”
“Ugly?” Jiang Che raised an eyebrow, “If you think it’s ugly, that’s because the character is ugly in the first place. Even the shop owner said I carved it very well, it’s not my fault if it’s ugly.”
“You’re not allowed to call it ugly, it’s much prettier than you.”
Ji Ning laughed, bickering with Jiang Che, until he finally restrained his teasing and tied the pendant to his phone. He thanked Jiang Che very seriously, “I like it a lot. It’s the best present I’ve received this year, thank you Jiang Che.”
Hearing this, Jiang Che’s expression softened and he ruffled Ji Ning’s hair happily. Ji Ning batted his hand away and tried to smooth his hair back down.
The happy memory gradually faded into darkness before his vision was flooded by a blood red light. It was the light from the emergency room as he sat outside the operating room. His vision was blurred, saturated by the crimson light that seemed to drench his surroundings. After the agonising wait, the last thing he heard was the doctor telling him that Jiang Che was dead.
Ji Ning sat up straight, waking up from his nightmare. His eyes were sore and swollen, the moment he opened them, tears were already streaming down his face.
“Ji Ning?”
He heard a soft voice from under the bed. It was Qin Ruwang. Ji Ning wiped away his tears and stuck his head out to see that Qin Ruwang had changed into sportswear with headphones hanging around his ears. It looked like he was going downstairs for his morning run.
“I heard you crying.” Qin Ruwang stated calmly. He raised his head to look at him and asked in a low voice, “What happened?”
“…I had a nightmare.”
Ji Ning blinked his stinging eyes and tried to smile at Qin Ruwang. He glanced at the time on his phone. It was still only half five, but he didn’t want to go back to sleep. He hesitated for a few seconds, before asking, “Could you wait for me for a few minutes? I want to come with you.”
Qin Ruwang’s handsome face showed a hint of surprise, but he nodded his head. Ji Ning didn’t waste any more time and quickly got out of bed, got dressed, and went downstairs with Qin Ruwang.
Because Ji Ning was with him, Qin Ruwang didn’t run, he just walked with Ji Ning down the road. He didn’t ask what Ji Ning wanted to do as none of the buildings would be open until half six. If Ji Ning didn’t want to exercise, he would just give him a chance to relax.
Although the sun was just starting to shine, the temperature was still low. When Qin Ruwang spoke, the heat he exhaled turned into rising mist, “Are you cold?”
“I’m fine.” Ji Ning had learnt his lesson the night before and deliberately wore thicker clothing. However, although his body was warm, he didn’t wear any gloves and his coat had no pockets.
Qin Ruwang noticed his reddening fingertips and pulled off one of his gloves, handing it to Ji Ning. He then interlocked his uncovered hand with Ji Ning’s and put both their hands into his pocket.
“Ah? Thank you…”
Ji Ning felt a little embarrassed by the intimacy and wanted to refuse, but Qin Ruwang insisted, so he put Qin Ruwang’s glove on his other hand and returned his ungloved hand to the boy’s pocket.
Qin Ruwang’s hand was very warm and he could faintly feel his pulse. With his hand inside the boy’s pocket, Ji Ning’s fingers quickly heated up.
Ruwang’s heartbeat seemed to be a bit fast…this thought flashed through Ji Ning’s mind.
But before he could think about it deeply, Qin Ruwang asked him, “What did you dream about?”
Ji Ning paused for a while, before slowly saying, “Maybe it was because I kept thinking about Jiang Che yesterday, but I dreamed about him. In my dream, he had a car accident.”
Qin Ruwang’s warm touch gave him a sense of security, and this time he felt like he was able to continue speaking.
“I was so desperate when he died. He was my closest friend since childhood and his death hit me hard. For a while, I even thought about dying with him.”
“But then sometimes, I’d have the feeling that Jiang Che wasn’t actually dead. That he’d only left me for a bit and would come back soon.”
“I switched between these two kinds of thinking which put me in a bad place for a long time and I had to have psychological counselling.” Ji Ning laughed at himself, “Actually, I’m still receiving counselling from Professor Herinos and I go to the hospital for regular checkups.”
“I thought my condition had started to get better, but I guess I’m getting too tired these days because I’m starting to suffer from these same thoughts again…”
Qin Ruwang listened to him quietly. Once Ji Ning finished speaking, the two fell into a brief silence before Qin Ruwang spoke.
“Since I was very young, whenever I was in a bad mood, I would get up to watch the sunrise.”
After he said this, he stopped walking. Ji Ning copied him, turning east. They watched the sun rise little by little, casting light on everything around them.
“Day after day, year after year, the sun will always rise to dispel the darkness. Its beauty is all I yearn for.”
“It will take away all your sorrows.”
He turned and stared into Ji Ning’s eyes.
He wasn’t lying. When his mother was still alive, she had to get up early to serve the nobles in the court. Sometimes he would go with his mother, and whenever he saw the daylight coming from the east, he would forget all his troubles.
When death took his mother, he was full of despair and hatred. He felt like he was trapped inside an endless night. It was Ji Ning who came to light up the darkness for him.
But at that time, he hated Ji Ning and wanted to turn his face away from his brilliance. Yet at the same time, he unknowingly coveted the warmth of his light, and the emotions in his heart grew stronger each day.
He still watched the sunrise, but his mood changed as he grew older.
In the future, he would rule over the world. The sun, moon, mountains, and rivers would all belong to him. If the sky and earth were without light, then let him become the sun, the moon, the stars and the heavens, illuminating this vast world.
Later, he succeeded in his desires. He ascended the Emperor’s throne and ruled over the four seas and eight lands. Everywhere the sun shone was the land of the Emperor of Xia. To his subjects, he was the heavens, the earth, the sun, and the moon, but sat alone on the high throne he sunk into the long lonely night, and all that remained was the bone chilling cold.
It was only then that he realised Ji Ning was his sun, his moon, his stars, and all that mattered to him in this world.
Even though he knew he was just an incarnation of another person, his feelings towards Ji Ning hadn’t changed at all.
He had lived a complete life where he owned the world, but he’d still lost Ji Ning.
If he could be with Ji Ning, he wouldn’t care about who he was or what else he would lose. He didn’t care about himself, all he cared about was Ji Ning.
If becoming ‘Jiang Che’ was his only chance to truly have Ji Ning…
Qin Ruwang’s eyes darkened and his hands slowly clenched into fists. But the next second, the surrounding scene shattered, the illusory colours fading as he returned to the darkness.
Ji Ning collapsed into his arms and the figures of the others appeared. They wore different expressions on their faces, but they all turned towards Future.
“What’s wrong?”
Huo Wuling first glanced at Ji Ning, then looked over at Future and raised an eyebrow, “What’s going on?”
“I wanted to tell you that the operation is about to end.”
Future looked at each one of them and said.
“Time is running out.”
I feel so guilty now, I’ve spent the whole novel going: ‘hehe, protagonists will combine into super boyfriend for Ningning’ but the way that each of them are trying to justify to themselves that effectively killing who they were is the only way for them to have a chance with Ji Ning is just devastating. I can see how much Ji Ning loves Jiang Che and I know all the MLs are actually Jiang Che, but I still don’t want to lose them – I don’t even know what I want anymore (╥﹏╥)
AHHHH why did it have to be like this. I m gonna cry yk
btw it’s almost been a year since this novel came here right👁️👄👁️
Dang you’re probably right we’ve been her for a while-
Even I hadn’t realised it had been this long – let’s pretend that it’s a long novel, rather than that I am slow at translating~
Qin Ruwang’s part of this chapter was just.. poetic?? All the suns and moons and mountains were just nice to read! I’m sad that this novel will end soon! 😭
I really enjoyed this chapter – Qin Ruwang is so serious and sincere
Sadboii Qin Ruwang sure is poetic. 🥀🥀
Qin ruwang out here reminding us why he’s ji ning’s favourite.
And now I gotta go cry. I don’t know how this is getting resolved. They could merge into one, but they’re still within the medical equipment… Agghhh please be a happy ending