26 Chapter 25 – Spicy Crispy Skin Fish 3 (2/2)

This was where Toupai had grown up and lived while he was still a student?

As she carefully observed the area, Mo Qingcheng called out to her. She turned around. Mo Qingcheng's dark eyes that looked as if they had been dabbed with ink were looking at her. ”Take down my mobile number. If it's too crowded and we somehow get separated, it'll be easier to find each other.”

Gu Sheng gave an ”okay” in reply, pulled out her mobile phone, and input a string of numbers into it.

And then… After hesitating briefly, she dialed the number.

Very soon, the ringing sound of a mobile phone was heard beside her. When her call came in, he pulled out his phone and quickly typed in the two characters, ”Sheng Sheng” to save the number … She, however, wavered when it came to the step of entering his name. Toupai? Qiang Qing Ci? Mo Qingcheng? It seemed the last one was the safest. With the first two, if someone happened to see it, his mobile phone number would immediately be compromised.

Mo Qingcheng. Mo Qingcheng…

She suddenly remembered what Jue Mei had said. 3-D world. It was better to address him by his 3-D world name.

Right now, things… truly were happening in the 3-D world.

And so… she and Toupai had now exchanged all of their contact information. She even knew which community compound his parents lived in ( ⊙ o ⊙) ...

This was her first time at an anime expo. When she first stepped through the doors, the huge throngs of people caused her head to spin. Taking off her jacket and hugging it close to herself, she blindly followed after Mo Qingcheng's footsteps while taking in these fresh new surroundings. Mo Qingcheng also glanced around, and due to his height advantage, he could completely disregard ninety percent of the people. Before long, he was asking her what she was particularly interested in seeing.

She thought about it briefly. ”The Legend of Qin. I've been catching up with this one lately.”

Mo Qingcheng smiled as he looked at her and said in a low voice, ”What a coincidence.”

Coincidence? What was a coincidence?

Gu Sheng did not have time to ask before he was already leading her towards that display booth. It seemed this particular one was especially popular of late, and they possibly would not even be able to squeeze their way up to the booth. Mo Qingcheng looked out over the hordes of people surrounding the display area. Just as he was considering how he was going to bring Gu Sheng over there, someone beside the display booth who was about to do a performance noticed Mo Qingcheng. Immediately, that person's eyes brightened, and he squeezed his way out through the crowd.

Since that person was actually cosplayer, Mo Bai [White Ink], the people who were looking at the display soon forcefully created a way for him so he could gruelingly, but successfully pass through … But even as he was charging through, the pathway would immediately close up tightly behind him …

”Oh my, oh my!” Mo Bai was exhilarated, but he still managed to control the volume of his voice. Acting furtive, like he was a thief, he blissfully put his hand on Mo Qingcheng's shoulder. ”Oh my, oh my! You actually bestowed us with your presence…”

Gu Sheng stared at this exquisite-looking and famous cosplayer, Mo Bai, feeling like a little unknown person watching the excitement from the sidelines as one big god met another big god…

”I happened to have some time today, so I came to look around.” Mo Qingcheng's gaze shifted over towards Gu Sheng, and seeing that she had been forced back half a step by the crowd already, he very naturally wrapped his arm around her shoulders and fished her back from amid the mass of people.

Toupai's… His…

Toupai's… hand… was resting on her shoulder…

Gu Sheng exhaled discreetly, feeling the weight of his hand on her.

She stood there beside him, feeling as if her entire shoulder did not belong to her …

Mo Qingcheng did not even seem to notice anything. With a smile at Mo Bai, he said, ”This is–”

All of a sudden, background music started playing. The display booth's performance was beginning.

”Sheng Sheng Man, right?” Mo Bai completed the sentence for him in a lowered voice. His eyes were turned up in a smirk as he teased Mo Qingcheng, ”You've kept yourself low key forever, except this one time where you've gone high profile. The whole world knows…”

Suddenly, there was a burst of squealing.

Mo Bai grinned and whispered to Gu Sheng, ”Your man's voice acting part is starting.”

Sure enough, from the sound system on the stage, Toupai's spoken lines for this performance echoed out. ”How many Qixi[3] nights have passed? Alone, I liberally drink dukang wine[4], melancholy beneath the moonlight…” The low, forlorn voice rang out from the speakers.

Gu Sheng's cheeks and ears burned bright red from Mo Bai's words …

She remembered this song, ”Qi Han” [Seven Cold Nights] was an old song. At one point, she had also loved the arrangement of the musical accompaniment for it… She had never expected it would be chosen to be used in a special program at this event. Neither had she expected that Toupai would personally do the voice acting for this event…

Toupai's fingers moved slightly, as if he was trying to find a more comfortable position as he encircled her shoulders.

Gu Sheng did not dare move in the least bit. She felt completely like her soul had detached from her and flown off somewhere.

Many of the people surrounding the booth were Toupai's ever-faithful fans. Sounds of ”Shh, be quiet. Listen to the spoken lines,” continually could be heard. These were good, well-behaved fans who would put a stop to each other's squeals and who supported their idol with solemnity. However, they did not know that this idol of theirs was openly standing right there with them …

Mo Bai immediately grinned and gave her a look.

The meaning behind it: You see? Toupai's fans are all surrounding this place. You'd better be careful, Sheng Sheng Man …

[1] 师兄 ”shi xiong.” This is how one would address a senior, male fellow student.

[2] 师妹 ”shi mei.” This is how one would address a senior, male fellow student.

[3]七夕. The Qixi Festival falls on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar. Also called Double Seventh Day or Chinese Valentine's Day. It celebrates the yearly reunion in Chinese mythology of Niulang, a mortal cowherd and his wife, Zhinu, a fairy and daughter of the Jade Emperor of Heaven, who are separated by the Milky Way and can only see each other one night a year, on Qixi.

[4]杜康. A wine with ancient origins in China, dating back thousands of years. It is said to have been invented by Du Kang. However, since Du Kang is regarded as the forefather of wine making, any good wine may sometimes also be called a ”dukang.”