Sep 28, 2024

Chapter 11: Reliving our first meeting


After getting the props, the two began to reenact the scene of their first meeting written by Lu Yiwei.

Scene 1: At a shopping mall opening ceremony, Mu Zhengqing was singing on stage as a guest. Lu Yiwei, who was shopping, was attracted by his singing and stood below the stage listening. The two looked at each other across the crowd.

Scene 2: In the restroom, Mu Zhengqing, who was washing his hands, looked up and saw Lu Yiwei in the mirror. Just as Mu Zhengqing was about to turn and leave, he suddenly felt unwell and vomited on Lu Yiwei.

Scene 3: In a coffee shop, Mu Zhengqing and Lu Yiwei sat on opposite sides of the sofa. Mu Zhengqing handed his newly bought clothes to Lu Yiwei. After Lu Yiwei took the clothes, they began to introduce themselves.

Thus, their first meeting ended.

During this process, Mu Zhengqing really remembered some things from the past.

He had participated in many shopping mall opening ceremonies, but the one that impressed him the most was the first time. At that time, he was singing on stage, and there were hardly any audience members listening below the stage.

In his memory, only one person listened to his song from beginning to end.

However, that person stood a bit far away, and since his eyesight was a bit nearsighted, he couldn’t clearly see the person’s appearance, only remembering that the person was very tall.

That was his first time performing on stage in his life. At that time, he only had ten yuan left, and the 300 yuan he earned from that performance helped him get through the most difficult month of his life.

Afterwards, he was discovered by a talent scout and entered the entertainment industry, beginning his idol career.

He had always been grateful for that performance. It was not a stain on his life but a turning point.

‘It turns out I can make money with my voice, and it turns out that someone would stop to listen to my singing, even if it was just that one person.’

Now, he was very grateful to his hardworking self. His efforts had allowed more people to hear his songs and see his dance. That person should have heard it too, right?

After completing the task, it was dinner time. Mu Zhengqing opened the refrigerator and found it full of food.

His hand hesitated over the meat for a second, but he ultimately chose eggs and noodles.

Hmm, egg noodles were very delicious, and he liked them a lot.

Just as he was bringing the water to a boil, Lu Yiwei walked over and asked, “Can I join you for dinner?”

“You’re going to eat this?” Mu Zhengqing asked uncertainly.

He wasn’t asking because he didn’t want Lu Yiwei to join him, but because he had noticed from previous meals that Lu Yiwei put a lot of effort into his food.

Whenever he had time, he would cook, and he didn’t mind making dishes that took a lot of time.

Of course, those dishes were all very delicious.

With just plain boiled noodles, he was afraid Lu Yiwei wouldn’t be used to it.

“Is it okay?” Lu Yiwei asked, looking at him.

Why wouldn’t it be okay? He had joined him for meals so many times before. If Lu Yiwei wanted to eat, he could cook noodles for him every day without any problem.

Since Lu Yiwei wanted to eat together, Mu Zhengqing went to the refrigerator and took out more noodles and eggs.

Then he stood about a metre away from the gas stove, throwing the noodles into the pot with one hand holding the lid and the other hand holding the noodles.

The reason his cooking skills weren’t good was that he was afraid of the water or oil splashing everywhere when it boiled.

Although it wouldn’t hurt too much if it splashed on him, the process made Mu Zhengqing very scared.

Just as he threw the noodles into the pot, Lu Yiwei appeared out of nowhere and shielded him from behind.

“What are you doing here?” Mu Zhengqing asked in confusion.

“I’ve never cooked noodles before, I want to try,” Lu Yiwei said seriously.

“Your cooking skills are so good, and you say you’ve never cooked noodles?” Mu Zhengqing clearly didn’t believe Lu Yiwei.

“Yeah, I only learned to cook dishes, never tried this,” Lu Yiwei said calmly.

“Alright then, let’s do it together,” Mu Zhengqing said, popping his head out from behind Lu Yiwei.

Although they said they would do it together, Mu Zhengqing only moved his mouth to direct Lu Yiwei, without moving his hands at all.

In the livestream, when Lu Yiwei’s fans heard him say he had never cooked noodles, more than half of them logged off. The remaining ones didn’t make any noise.

After about five minutes, Lu Yiwei’s fans started collectively sending bullet comments. It was unclear if they had coordinated, but the content was surprisingly consistent: “A man’s mouth is full of lies”(1).

“You’ve never cooked noodles before? Then who was it that cooked noodles for an unknown person’s birthday celebration on set? Do you have a twin brother or something?”

Of course, Lu Yiwei’s fans only dared to say these things in their hearts. This matter must not be known to Mu Zhengqing’s fans.

They would never admit defeat. Mu Zhengqing must love their idol more.

Since Mu Zhengqing had put too many noodles in, even after each of them had a bowl, there was still a lot left.

Mu Zhengqing, believing that food should not be wasted, planned to finish his bowl and then eat the rest from the pot, even though it might cause him to eat too much and have trouble sleeping at night.

However, before he finished his bowl, he saw Lu Yiwei taking his bowl to the kitchen.

When Lu Yiwei came back, he found Mu Zhengqing looking at him. He asked in confusion, “Are you still hungry?”

“Is there any left in the pot?” Mu Zhengqing asked, touching his stomach.

“It’s all gone. If you’re still hungry, I can share half with you,” Lu Yiwei said.

“No need, I’m full,” Mu Zhengqing replied, feeling a bit embarrassed.

He didn’t expect Lu Yiwei to have such a big appetite. Previously, when they ate together, their appetites were about the same.

After finishing his meal, Mu Zhengqing sat still, waiting for Lu Yiwei to put down his chopsticks before getting up to clear the table.

The reason he didn’t clean up before was that Lu Yiwei said a housekeeper would come to clean. But now that they were recording a show, the housekeeper couldn’t come, so they had to do the cleaning themselves.

Since Lu Yiwei cooked today, it was reasonable for Mu Zhengqing to handle the cleanup, even though he didn’t like the greasy feeling when washing dishes.

“There are strawberries in the fridge, go wash them,” Lu Yiwei said, taking the bowl from Mu Zhengqing’s hand.

“Alright, just leave it there and don’t touch it. I’ll clean up later,” Mu Zhengqing said, then went to wash the strawberries.

When he finished washing the strawberries, he found that Lu Yiwei had already cleaned up.

“Didn’t I say to leave it for me?” Mu Zhengqing said, looking at the neatly cleaned table and kitchen.

“Actually, I have OCD. Whenever I see something dirty, I want to clean it. It gives me a great sense of accomplishment,” Lu Yiwei explained, looking at Mu Zhengqing.

“Then why did you hire a housekeeper before?” Mu Zhengqing asked, puzzled.

“I was busy with work and didn’t have time. Now that I have time, I want to indulge myself. Maybe my OCD will get better someday,” Lu Yiwei said seriously, though he was clearly making it up.

“As long as you’re happy,” Mu Zhengqing replied.

Everyone has different preferences, so he didn’t comment.

However, he had heard that people with OCD can get very tired, and he was glad he didn’t have it.

In the livestream, Lu Yiwei’s fans fell silent again.

“When did you get OCD? How come I didn’t know? Could it be a new symptom?”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. As long as Lu Yiwei doesn’t mess up, we won’t lose to Mu Zhengqing’s fans.”

“Hang in there, we can win… right?” Lu Yiwei’s fans comforted themselves.

Footnotes:

  1. 男人的嘴騙人的鬼 (nánrén de zuǐ piàn rén de guǐ) - a man’s mouth is full of lies




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