Ever since Xie Rong had learned that her beloved Great God was gay, she had resolved to support him wholeheartedly. She deliberately bought wigs and corsets from the Internet, and even took pains to acquire a set of menswear. Truly, she was touched by the depth of her own love.

Switching over to her alternate Auntie Washing Railways account, Xie Rong finished making her usual advertisements and sighed sadly.

After that handsome little boy had been towed away that day, she had crept up behind them and watched. The two had sat in the car, talking about who knew what. Left to herself, Xie Rong spent the next five minutes imagining the fragrant situations that might currently be occurring in the car, then finally witnessed the younger guy leaving, his face red and his breath fast.

Xie Rong's brow trembled. Ahh, how bold and unrestrained those who have lived abroad are.

 

However, what had really happened that day was--

Fang Cheng Ran had dragged Yang Ming into the car and smiled at him in a charming manner. "Sorry, I just used you as a shield."

Mad, Yang Ming sneered, "You could have been a film emperor!”

A smile still hung on Fang Cheng Ran’s mouth. “Let me treat you to a meal as best actor.”

“If you were best actress, I might consider it."

Fang Cheng Ran was silent a moment, then said regretfully, "I'm afraid this movie only has a male lead."

Yang Ming: "..."

He angrily made to open the door and leave, but felt his wrist suddenly captured by Fang Cheng Ran: "Wait."

Though Fang Cheng Ran still seemed to have something to say, Yang Ming shook him off as if he were an infectious disease. Fang Cheng Ran chuckled. "Don't be so nervous, I'm quite straight."

Yang Ming snorted, "As charming as I am, you might suddenly change your orientation."

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

He drew near all of a sudden, lashes lowered over his lovely peach blossom eyes. "When you say it like that... it feels like it might just work out if it was with you..?"

"...You mad bastard!" Yang Ming slammed the car door open and fled.

Grinning, Fang Cheng Ran started the car. When the Maserati drove past Xie Rong, she shrank into the corner.

 

That night, Fang Cheng Ran returned from his blind date and was inevitably scolded. Who knew what Sun Ying Ying had said to her father, but it had caused Father Fang to sincerely begin worrying about his son's sexual orientation.

Meanwhile, Sister Fang had laughed so hard that her face cramped up.

Two days later, Fang Cheng Ran, still insisting on living decadently, was playing games in his room when his phone rang. It was his sister. He thought about it for a while and finally decided to take the call. "What's up, Sis?"

There was some background noise on the other end. According to his professional judgment, the other party must be at a bar.

Sure enough, his sister said, "I'm at Qingnan Lane. Come have a drink?"

Fang Cheng Ran’s mouth twitched. "Does my brother-in-law know that you're frequenting nightclubs?"

"I didn't invite you, Miss Sun Ying Ying did."

His eyes widened. "And why are you two together?"

Sister Fang turned her back and in a low voice said, "She already knows that you pretended to be gay to get out of the blind date. Dad wanted you to ask her to dinner to make amends, but who knew that this lady's pretty open-minded? She went straight ahead and asked you out for a drink."

Fang Cheng Ran raised an eyebrow. A few thoughts floated through his eyes. "It's nine already, I need to go to bed. "

His sister had a good laugh. "Are you making fun of me? It's not even evening in the eyes of the master of the game of love. You'd better hurry up, she brought a man here to wait for you."

"A man?" Fang Cheng Ran quirked a corner of his lips. He turned off the computer. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

He opened the cloakroom and chose a dark purple suit, then matched a tie to it. Changing into it, he ran gel through his hair and examined the mirror from a different angle.

Sure that he could be the Queen of tonight's nightclub if needed, he picked up the car keys and left.

 

Xie Rong was wearing her chest-binding for the first time and having some trouble with breathing. As she was trying to adjust the position of the buttons, she saw her family's Great God come out the door.

Purple was a selective colour. One could dress up in it and look like a nobleman, but if done wrong, it could look like absolute shite.

But her family's Great God was definitely a noble among nobles!

It was probably the darkness of the night that gave him that mysterious sexiness. Right at this moment, in Xie Rong’s eyes, Fang Cheng Ran was like a real! Night! King!

Her maidenly heart was bursting out of her chest. God, what should she do?! She really wanted to ravish him!

Just as she was immersed in her own manic emotion, Fang Cheng Ran drove off into the night in his Maserati.

Xie Rong hurried to give chase.

As his trail led her to Qingnan Lane, Xie Rong began feeling a little embarrassed. She knew this to be a famous bar street in A City. Though she admitted that she might be a little perverted, she was still a pure lady who immersed herself in her studies and worked hard to make progress every day. She had never even been to a nightclub!

However, her family's Great God had already made his way into a bar with an understated signboard. She could only bite the bullet and enter.

The lights inside were dim. Raucous voices and loud music blasted over Xie Rong. She shrank herself into a small ball, like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Gardens¹from the famous classical novel 'Dream of the Red Chamber', and followed her family's Great God in with a mixture of curiousity and fear.

Fang Cheng Ran found his sister in front of the bar. From afar, Xie Rong watched him sit and managed to find an empty seat nearby.

The handsome bartender smiled at her. "What can I get for you?"

Xie Rong cradled her handbag and said cautiously, "Juice, thank you."

"Please wait a moment."

Beside Fang Cheng Ran and his sister appeared Sun Ying Ying, dressed seductively in a mini skirt, a style very different from when they had first met.

"Young Master Fang, how do you do?" Sun Ying Ying raised the bloody Mary in her hand to make a toast. Fang Cheng Ran smiled at her. "I hope you're well, Miss Sun."

Sun Ying Ying was unwillingly bedazzled by his smile for a moment. In fact, it wasn't only her affected by it. In the short time since Fang Cheng Ran had appeared, countless eyes had intentionally or unintentionally tracked him across the room.

He was like a star in the sky, and the night could only make him even more dazzling.

Then she remembered how he had pretended to be gay last time. Smiling faintly, she pulled a man to her side and introduced him. "This is Qiao Feiyu. Don't you think he's pretty handsome?"

Fang Cheng Ran looked him up and down, then back at her. "Are you introducing him to me, Miss Sun?"

Sun Ying Ying smiled. "Yes indeed, I thought it would be a good idea for you two to get to know one another."

Sister Fang was sitting to the side with the expression of a woman enjoying a good play. Meanwhile, Fang Cheng Ran's smile slowly widened, like a blooming peach. "There is already someone for me."

This sentence sounded particularly pleasant coming from his mouth, such that the world might envy that unnamed person.

Sun Ying Ying felt a little uncomfortable. She remembered the handsome boy from the cafe and took a sip of her wine. "It’s impossible for someone like you to be so devoted."

"Oh? And Miss Sun is so sure?"

Sun Ying Ying did not reply, but instead switched positions with Qiao Feiyu, as if matchmaking. "You two should first get to know each other."

The most straightforward way to get to know a stranger at the bar is to drink. Even more so if one got drunk.

Therefore, Qiao Feiyu proposed, "Should we compete?"

Fang Cheng Ran thought a moment, and then countered, "I used to stay abroad. Drinking games there are quite a bit different. Let's play something more global."

"What?" Qiao Feiyu asked curiously.

"Rock, paper, scissors."

Qiao Feiyu: "..."

The two really did play rock paper scissors, and to Sun Ying Ying surprise, Qiao Feiyu never won even once!

Sister Fang, sitting and watching, wet her lips with wine, the smile on her mouth invisible. If one said that other people's children grew up in the library, then her younger brother had grown up in a bar.

The reputation of the little prince of the nightclub, famous for being able to move the rivers and lakes, was not a hollow one. It had been a mistake for Sun Ying Ying to bring him here.

Qiao Feiyu was soon drunk. Since it was their first meeting, Fang Cheng Ran couldn't humiliate him too badly, and so smiled at Sun Ying Ying. “Your friend seems drunk. Let's call it here today.”

Sun Ying Ying frowned, looking at Qiao Feiyu. Her heart was unwilling. "Fang Cheng Ran, didn't you claim to be gay? I'll believe you if you kiss him."

Fang Cheng Ran laughed. "Miss Sun, even gay men have principles."

Sun Ying Ying held his eyes stubbornly. "I don't care! If you don't kiss, I'll never believe you! "

Though he smiled outwardly, Fang Cheng Ran cast his eyes down. This was one of the killing moves of a bratty young lady. How vexing.

Although Xie Rong had been trying to eavesdrop, the bar was noisy enough that she hadn't heard anything. All of a sudden she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning, she saw a handsome young man who looked as though he had a little foreign blood.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

His Mandarin had a light accent to it. Looking at him, Xie Rong smiled in embarrassment. “I don’t drink.”

The handsome man sat down beside her and set down the bottle of wine in his hand. "How can you come to a bar yet not drink?"

Xie Rong wondered if she was being hit on. But she was dressed as a man at the moment. If he wanted to hit on her, then surely she should be dressed as a woman?

Her thoughts a little messy, she was calmed herself and deliberately lowered her voice. "I'm a man."

The handsome boy smiled. "I like that you're a man."

Xie Rong: "..."

She seemed to suddenly come to an understanding. Great God was gay, and so a bar that he frequented would also be...

Yeek! ! ! !

Xie Rong now only had hope that she could faint and get out of this situation.

The boy was still pressing her to drink. Xie Rong’s head swam with bloody news headlines, like those about female college students being drugged and murdered at bars...

Shuddering like a chill had hit her, fear emerged in her heart. Only her family's Great God was familiar to her in this strange environment, and so all unthinking, she flew into Fang Cheng Ran's arms. "Great God, save me!"

Caught off guard, Fang Cheng Ran grabbed onto the person in his arms.

The person was soft and supple. Fang Cheng Ran looked down. It was a handsome boy, no, wait...

He smiled ever so slightly, and to Sun Ying Ying, he said, "Miss Sun, you're overly optimistic."

He exerted a little strength to draw the person into his arms. Then he bowed his head and covered her mouth with his.

Xie Rong was scalded!

What just happened?! Why did he suddenly kiss her?! There seemed to be something wrong with the script!

Meanwhile, Sun Ying Ying was standing there stupefied. Even Sister Fang was a little surprised.

Fang Cheng Ran merely touched Xie Rong's lips lightly before separating. He looked up, smiled at everyone, and escorted Xie Rong out. "Well then, I have something to get to. You both have fun."

Xie Rong's soul remained wandering until the slam of the car door hit her ears.

Fang Cheng Ran eyed her. "I must apologize for just now. Are you alright?"

"No...I..." You can do it again if you like.

"What happened before that?" he asked with a smile. "Why did you suddenly rush over?"

Xie Rong was in some sort of trance. Great God was smiling at her! How gorgeous!

"Someone was pressuring me to drink and I got a little scared."

Fang Cheng Ran nodded with understanding. "You look like you're still a student, why come to the bar so late?" And dressed as a man?

Xie Rong paused a moment, then grabbed onto Fang Cheng Ran's hand. "Great God, I'm your reader, Auntie Washing Railways!"

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

Seeing that he was lost in thought, she hurried to explain, "'Auntie Washing Railways means 'I love you' in Japanese!"

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

He bent his mouth into a smile. "The one who posts little advertisements on my chapters every day?"

"You remember me, Great God!" Xie Rong exclaimed, a little excited.

"And why do you post all these advertisements?" he asked, still smiling.

"To send fifty cents²The 'Fifty-Cent Party' in China are people paid to post comments online, and originated as a way of describing people paid to hype up the ruling government. The term carries a connotation of ridicule. Anyway, Xie Rong is saying here that instead of being paid 50 cents to post, she's sending 50 cents to the author by doing the work for free.."

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

He opened the car door, a slight smile still lighting up his charming eyes.

"Get out."

Xie Rong: "..."

Standing at the entrance to the alley, watching the Maserati speed away, she lamented the fickleness of life.

 

Upon arriving home, Fang Cheng Ran turned on his computer and scrolled to his own story chapters. Sure enough, there were the little advertisements posted by Auntie Washing Railways.

Worried about not having money to read novels? Upset that you can't throw gold to your beloved? Join us! Everything you want is here!

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

Who writes these advertisements?!

He did not delete the comment, but instead replied to it.

Author: Yesterday was for Tiangou³heavenly dog, today for Tianmao⁴heavenly cat! How many jobs are you working at the same time? Do your bosses know about all your flip-flopping?

 

There were several other people sitting on their beds and playing with their computers when Xie Rong returned to the dormitory. Silently, she washed and climbed into her nest.

What with the sudden kiss today and the equally sudden abandonment on the street corner, she was a little bit at sixes and sevens and planned to go straight to sleep. However, as soon as she closed her eyes, a different girl screamed, "Holy shit! Wait for Three More Minutes came back from the dead!"

Xie Rong really did bounce out of bed as if coming back from the dead. "Another chapter?"

"No, he replied to a reader's comment, it seems to be......... an advertiser."

Xie Rong's eyes lit up. Though there were several people who posted advertisements in the chapter comments, she was definitely the most diligent of the lot! The Great God must be replying to her!

Turning on her computer with trembling fingers, she scrolled down to find that her little advertisement, once always deleted, was now a skyscraper of comments due to the author’s reply.

"Damn, if I'd known that posting advertisements could make the author reply, I'd have done it too!"

"I foresee that all the comments underneath the chapter tomorrow are going to be advertisements [bye bye]"

"Great God, if you have time to reply to advertisements, please update! [laughing crying]

"I'm coming forward to say that these kinds of ads are all deceptive, my loved ones have experience with them."

"I'm just here cause I wanna know how Great God's single doghood is going [doge]"

Xie Rong glanced over them all quickly, then began typing, her mood rippling.

[33rd Comment] Reader: Auntie Washing Railways
Great God, the content of the advertisement isn't important! What really matters is my name! Every advertisement is a confession of my love for you!

Fang Cheng Ran: "..."

This love... was a bit too suffocating.