Three days passed by very quickly and, in the blink of an eye, the day arrived for the appointment with Lu Yiwei.
Mu Zhengqing didn't sleep in carelessly like last time, but instead got up early to wait for Lu Yiwei's message.
He had a feeling that Lu Yiwei wouldn't easily agree to divorce him.
But why? They were clearly not a good match.
This "not a good match" wasn't just his own opinion, but the consensus of the vast majority of netizens.
The reason was that not long after he and Lu Yiwei parted ways, he had received a call from his agent, Gu Da.
The reason Gu Da called him was that a video of him and Lu Yiwei going to the civil affairs bureau had been posted online by netizens.
Fortunately, both of them were wearing masks in the video, causing their voices to sound different from their usual speaking voices; unfortunately, the content of the video was precisely the two of them discussing a divorce.
The netizen who uploaded the video originally just wanted to share the fact that they had encountered two handsome guys getting a divorce at the civil affairs bureau. However, unexpectedly, the video was seen by Lu Yiwei's fans.
The more the fans watched, the more they felt that one of the handsome guys resembled their idol. Word of mouth spread(1), and more and more of Lu Yiwei's fans began to forward the video of the person who looked like their idol.
Before long, Mu Zhengqing's fans, like Lu Yiwei's fans, felt that the other person resembled their favourite idol.
Through the joint efforts of both fan groups, they successfully sent the video to the top of the trending search.
When Gu Da called him, the video had just reached the top of the trending search.
"You've not only lost the battle but also lost the woman(2). Not only did netizens find out that you were married to Lu Yiwei, but you'll also never be able to get rid of the label of a scumbag," Gu Da sighed.
"Scumbag? Where am I being a scumbag?" Mu Zhengqing asked in confusion.
"Look at your attitude in the video. If I didn't know that person was you, I would have wanted to join in and call you a scumbag too," Gu Da explained impatiently.
After listening to Gu Da's words, Mu Zhengqing seriously watched the video again.
In the end, he concluded that it wasn’t that he was a scumbag, but rather Lù Yìwéi’s resistance to the divorce made him look like one.
“Do you think this is a trap set by Lù Yìwéi to make a clean break from this marriage and establish himself as a deeply affectionate person?” Gǔ Dá started to speculate when he didn’t hear Mù Zhèngqīng’s voice.
“Not very likely,” Mù Zhèngqīng replied, thinking about Lù Yìwéi’s behaviour.
“That’s good. You should quickly contact Lù Yìwéi and see how to handle the video situation,” Gǔ Dá finally remembered the purpose of his call.
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” Mù Zhèngqīng commented as he opened the comment section.
Top comment: “What nonsense, there’s no one born yet who can make Mù Zhèngqīng, this noble young master, come down to earth.” 1.08 million likes.
Second top comment: “Come on, there’s no one born yet who can melt Lù Yìwéi, this iceberg.” 1.08 million likes.
Third top comment: “If this is really Mù Zhèngqīng and Lù Yìwéi, I’ll eat x standing on my head.” 1 million likes.
Fourth top comment: “It really just looks similar. If my brother could talk so pitifully, I’d know I was dreaming even in my dreams.” 890,000 likes.
The subsequent comments were surprisingly unanimous: the two people in the video could be anyone, but they definitely couldn’t be Mu Zhengqing and Lu Yiwei.
Even the usually unrestrained gossip paparazzi said that the people in the video only resembled Mu Zhengqing and Lu Yiwei, and there was no value in digging deeper.
Due to this trending topic, Mu Zhengqing and Lu Yiwei were even awarded the title of the Most Unsuitable Pair to appear on stage together.
The reason was that both of them looked like they had a cold personality. If they were really together, life would be utterly joyless. [T/N: lmao, Cnetz are ruthless]
After reading the comments, Gu Da remarked that the netizens seemed to have grasped the truth, but not entirely.
Mu Zhengqing played with his phone while waiting for Lu Yiwei’s call. At ten o’clock, Lu Yiwei sent him a message asking if he was awake and if he wanted to come over for a meal.
Mu Zhengqing hesitated for a minute, then replied that he would be there soon.
This might be the last time he would get to eat Lu Yiwei’s cooking, and he couldn’t miss such an opportunity.
Thinking about it, he and Lu Yiwei weren’t that incompatible after all. At least he really liked Lu Yiwei’s cooking.
As for whether Lu Yiwei also likes to see the food he made being eaten by others, that is not his concern.
He got up, put on his shoes, took the gift, opened the door, and knocked.
As Mu Zhengqing said, he arrived immediately, taking no more than a minute.
Just like last time, Lu Yiwei, wearing an apron, came to open the door for him.
The difference was that the gift he brought this time was a Panda plush toy.
“Thank you, I really like it,” Lu Yiwei said as he accepted the gift.
“As long as you like it,” Mu Zhengqing said, looking at the plush toy in his hand, feeling a bit reluctant.
Although he had many, many plush toys, each one was a treasure to him. Thinking that he would never see it again, he still felt reluctant.
This was the first time he had given someone a plush toy. If he had known it would feel like this, he would never have given it to Lu Yiwei.
“You hold it for me, I’ll go cook.”
Lu Yiwei glanced at Mu Zhengqing, then handed the plush toy back to him.
“Okay, I’ll hold it for you. Is there anything you need help with?” Mu Zhengqing asked as he took the plush toy.
“No, you can go play in the gaming room. I’ll call you when it’s ready,” Lu Yiwei replied with a smile.
Seeing Lu Yiwei’s smile, Mu Zhengqing was momentarily stunned. He had always thought Lu Yiwei looked the most handsome when he was expressionless, but it turned out he looked even better when he smiled.
No wonder he always kept a straight face. If he smiled all the time, his fans would be completely enchanted by him.
“Okay.” Mu Zhengqing nodded with a smile after coming back to his senses.
It turns out that smiles are indeed contagious.
Watching Mu Zhengqing’s back, a fleeting smile reappeared on Lu Yiwei’s face.
He could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, but as soon as he saw Mu Zhengqing’s peach blossom eyes, he immediately felt dizzy.
After arriving in the gaming room, Mu Zhengqing immediately started examining the keyboard.
It wasn’t easy; the thing he had done the most in the past three days was cleaning.
They say that as long as you work hard, you will get everything you want. This saying didn’t apply to him.
He downloaded countless shopping apps, making his phone lag, but still couldn’t find the same keyboard skin.
His goal today was to find the logo; he didn’t believe he couldn’t find where it was bought.
It didn’t matter if it wasn’t on the keyboard; the room’s decorations clearly came from the same place, so he could look elsewhere.
But he almost turned the room upside down and still didn’t find a single logo.
When Lu Yiwei came over to call him, he saw Mu Zhengqing sitting in a chair, holding the panda plush toy and looking dejected. He asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Who made you unhappy?”
“You… is the food ready?”
Mu Zhengqing, coming back to his senses, diverted the question.
Fortunately, he reacted in time; otherwise, it would have been awkward.
“It’s ready, let’s eat,” Lu Yiwei replied.
Following behind Mu Zhengqing, Lu Yiwei glanced around the room before leaving.
Although Mu Zhengqing had tried to restore everything to its original place, moving things always left traces. Lu Yiwei, who knew the room inside out, immediately noticed the differences.
Halfway through the meal, Mu Zhengqing felt the timing was just right and asked, “Have you thought about the divorce?”
“It’s not time yet,” Lu Yiwei replied, glancing at him.
“What do you mean?” Mu Zhengqing asked, puzzled.
If he remembered correctly, they hadn’t specified when they would get divorced when they got married.
Thinking about it, they had indeed been too impulsive back then. Even if they were in a hurry, they should have clarified the follow-up matters.
“The three days aren’t up yet; there are still three hours and twenty minutes left,” Lu Yiwei replied, looking at the time.
“Oh,” Mu Zhengqing said, stunned for a moment.
Uh… no wonder he’s a master of time management.
After the meal, Mu Zhengqing got up, intending to leave.
There were still three hours left; it wouldn’t be too late for him to come back after three hours.
“Let’s talk.” Seeing that Mu Zhengqing was about to leave, Lu Yiwei spoke first.
“Talk? Isn’t it unnecessary?” Mu Zhengqing refused.
They had been married for so many years and had never sat down to chat. Now that they were about to get divorced, they suddenly wanted to chat? It was too late for that.
“If someone asks me about you in the future, what should I say?” Lu Yiwei asked.
“A good person. What about you? How would you answer?” Mu Zhengqing asked curiously after giving a perfunctory answer.
“A shining star who can illuminate the path for others,”(3) Lu Yiwei replied, looking at Mu Zhengqing.
After hearing Lu Yiwei’s answer, Mu Zhengqing knew he had lost, completely and utterly.
He had been good at language arts in school, but now he regretted it.
If he had another chance, he would definitely make good use of his knowledge and strive to praise Lu Yiwei as someone who should only exist in the heavens, rarely seen on earth.
Ah, his competitive spirit always appeared so inexplicably.
“You look very picturesque when you’re thinking,” Lu Yiwei continued.
“You also look very picturesque when you’re thinking. Even the starry night sky cannot compare to the depth of thought in your eyes."(4)
“Your smile is very alluring,” Lu Yiwei continued.
“Your smile is also very alluring. The vast expanse of natural scenery cannot compare to your radiant beauty.”(5)
“You have a lot of charisma when you’re expressionless.”
“You also have a lot of charisma when you’re expressionless. All the fleeting grandeur of the world cannot compare to your icy beauty.”(6)
…
“Are you trying to get me to praise you?” Mu Zhengqing realized something was off and looked at Lu Yiwei.
“Yes,” Lu Yiwei replied without a hint of guilt.
“If you like being praised by others, you can check Weibo. I guarantee you can read compliments about yourself for a whole day and night without repetition,” Mu Zhengqing suggested.
Alright, he was out of words. If he continued, he really wouldn’t have anything left to say.
He felt sorry for all his language teachers; he had embarrassed them.
“They don’t say it as well as you do,” Lu Yiwei said.
“Thank you for your affirmation,” Mu Zhengqing said through gritted teeth.
…
Mu Zhengqing originally thought that sitting and chatting with Lu Yiwei would be very awkward.
But unknowingly, three hours passed quickly.
During these three hours, he wasn’t idle. The trash in the bin proved that his mouth hadn’t stopped, either talking or eating snacks.
Footnotes:
一傳十、十傳百 (yī chuán shí, shí chuán bǎi): Idiom, "one tells ten, ten tells a hundred" signifies rapid spread of rumours through word of mouth.
賠了夫人又折兵 (péi le fūrén yòu zhé bīng): Idiom, "to lose both one's wife and one's soldiers" meaning to suffer a double loss.
a. 個閃閃發光 (yī gè shǎn shǎn fā guāng): A shining star, guiding light
b. 能夠照亮別人前進道路的人 (néng gòu zhào liàng bié rén qián jìn dào lù de rén): Someone who shows others the way, a beacon of hope for others夜幕星河，不及若有所思的你 (yè mù xīng hé, bù jí ruò yǒu suǒ sī de nǐ): lit., "The night curtain and the star river are not as good as you who seem to be thinking about something.” It suggests that the person's thoughtful expression is more captivating and intriguing than the natural beauty of the night sky.
a. 春風十里 (chūn fēng shí lǐ): lit., "ten miles of spring breeze", a metaphor for a vast expanse of beautiful scenery or a very pleasant feeling. Here, it refers to the beauty of nature.
b. 滿面春風 (mǎn miàn chūn fēng): lit.,"a face full of spring breeze", meaning having a cheerful and radiant expression.萬世浮華，不及冷若冰霜的你 (Wàn shì fú huá, bù jí lěng ruò bīng shuāng de nǐ): lit., “Ten thousand worlds of worldly splendor not as good as cold like ice and frost you.”
