The gift that flashed across the screen was too dazzling to be ignored, and not long after, bullet comments came in one after another apologizing.
--I’m sorry!
--I misunderstood the streamer in the past, I’m sorry.
--My mom just asked me why I’m apologizing on my knees!
Zhuang Yan’s dark expression improved after seeing these bullet comments.
Xie Ning turned his head slightly to look at him. “Why do you look like you’re angrier than I am?”
Zhuang Yan raised his brow and glanced at him, saying, “That’s because you don’t know how to be angry.”
Zhuang Yan thought it was weird before, because no matter how much he toyed with Xie Ning, he had never gotten truly mad.
He thought that Xie Ning had a good temper, but he realized now that it was because he completely lacked a temper.
He was able to treat being accused of tracing, as nothing more than a passing wind. It wasn’t because he was generous or tolerant, but because he was too indifferent.
Most of the tens of thousands of comments on that slanderous Weibo post were ridiculing Xie Ning. Even as an outsider, Zhuang Yan’s mood turned foul after reading some of them. If he wasn’t worried for Xie Ning, he would have torn them all apart already.
Xie Ning posted the video of the livestream onto Weibo, and copied the text he had typed on the livestream into the body of the post.
After doing these things, he turned to look outside the window. It was dark outside, and no lights could be seen.
Zhuang Yan looked at the time and asked, “Are you hungry? Should we go eat a midnight snack?”
Xie Ning did feel a little hungry after hearing Zhuang Yan ask. He hesitated, and said, “It’s a little cold outside…”
Zhuang Yan: “It’s fine, I’ll drive us there.”
“It’s too late.” Xie Ning looked down at the clothes he was wearing, thinking that it was too much trouble to change out of them. “Let’s go next time when we have time.”
Zhuang Yan continued to ask, “Are there still vegetables in the kitchen?”
Xie Ning nodded.
Zhuang Yan smiled. “Should I make a midnight snack for you, then?”
Xie Ning was surprised. “You actually know how to cook?”
Zhuang Yan lifted his eyebrow. “My skills are much higher than yours.”
Doubt was written all over Xie Ning’s face. Zhuang Yan thought it was funny, and wanted to give his cheeks another squeeze.
Seeing his hand move slightly, Xie Ning looked at him as if he knew what he was about to do.
Zhuang Yan could only suppress the thoughts in his heart. “I’m not lying, since I’m the one that adjusted Auntie Chen’s skills and craft.”
Xie Ning believed him even less. Zhuang Yan headed directly to the kitchen, saying that he’d show him some of his skill.
Midnight snacks shouldn’t be too hard to digest for the body. Zhuang Yan opened the refrigerator to look at the available ingredients, and in the end, made him a bowl of hot and sour soup with noodles.
“It seemed like your palate favors spicy and sour, so try this?”
The noodles in the bowl looked chewy, there were a few greens on top of the soup, and the green onions were crisp and tender. Zhuang Yan had also found an egg in the refrigerator, and sprinkled some more green onion on the top. Without factoring in its taste, the noodles looked to be quite solid.
Xie Ning asked, “How did you know I like to eat spicy and sour things?”
Zhuang Yan brought the bowl of soup noodles to Xie Ning’s spot, and said, “I guessed.”
Xie Ning tasted a spoonful, and his eyes widened.
The soup was flavorful and rich, and once he started, it was hard to stop. He thought that Zhuang Yan was all bark and no bite before, but now he knew that he wasn’t lying.
His cooking skills were truly quite good.
Zhuang Yan asked him, “Does it taste good?”
Xie Ning nodded, bit into the noodles, and curiously asked, “Have you learned how to cook before?”
Zhuang Yan smiled. “Do I not look like I have?”
Xie Ning said, “No, you don’t.”
Zhuang Yan looked down. “I’ve been picky since childhood. Once, the chef asked for a few days off, so my mom, who seldom cooks, made us a meal. I was very young at the time, and was harsh with my words, saying that the meal she made tasted bad. It made her so angry that she gave me a beating, and said if I want to eat something good, then I should make it myself. It’s one thing to talk and have a big mouth, but getting it done is another matter.”
Xie Ning laughed out loud.
Zhuang Yan glanced at him, and continued, “Thinking back on it now, the fact that she didn’t chase me outside proves that I’m indeed her son.”
Xie Ning asked, “So did you do it?”
“I wasn’t convinced then,” Zhuang Yan said. “Later on, I asked a famous chef to teach me how to cook. After he taught me, I became even more picky. Auntie Chen’s cooking skill in the beginning was just average, and I taught her the rest.”
Xie Ning swallowed the noodles he was eating, and asked, “If you know how to cook yourself, why did you want to eat at my place?”
Zhuang Yan looked at him, and didn’t say anything.
He obviously couldn’t tell the truth. Was he to say that he had other thoughts, and coming to Xie Ning’s place to eat was so they could interact more?
“Too busy,” he said. “I don’t have the time.”
“So that’s why.”
Zhuang Yan said, softly, “I won’t take advantage of you. In the future, when I have time, I’ll cook for you and show you more of my skills.”
Xie Ning didn’t think too much about it and nodded, replying, “Okay.” After a pause, he said, “I’m not at a disadvantage either. Didn’t you give me a disc as compensation?”
Zhuang Yan lifted his eyes to look at him. “It’s not something that precious. I thought you had a cook here, which is why I asked to come over for a couple meals.”
Xie Ning was confused. “Is there a difference?”
Zhuang Yan smiled. “Of course it’s different, since you cooked the meal yourself.”
During the time it took him to eat a midnight snack, Xie Ning’s Weibo clarification post had spread out to nearly thousands of people.
The previous long Weibo post about Xie Ning’s works had been spread quite widely across the artist circle. The curious, gossiping crowd came to fan the flames some more, but were shocked into silence.
The clarification video was very clear. Even people with no background in art were able to tell that Xie Ning was truly skilled.
Especially because of the end, where the upside-down outline was overlapped with the original work, viewers felt as if they had taken a slap to the face, and they wildly commented 666.
To Xie Ning, the matter was over and in the past.
However, Zhuang Yan didn’t think the same.
“Actually, I’ve wanted to ask for a while now, but did you offend someone online?” Zhuang Yan asked.
Xie Ning shook his head. “I don’t think so.” He normally didn’t even check Weibo.
Zhuang Yan raised his eyebrows and said, “Don’t you think this incident was rather strange? Why would a Weibo account with not a lot of followers suddenly get slandered?”
Xie Ning understood what he was implying, and responded, “So you’re saying that someone is targeting me?”
“Your copied works were posted years ago. If they weren’t targeting you, why would they compare your copied works to the original, superimpose them, and then make a long post about how you traced with such gusto?” Zhuang Yan pondered some more, and said, “Other than people on the Internet, who else have you had a quarrel with lately?”
The first person Xie Ning thought of was Xu Qing.
But he quickly refuted that thought.
Xie Ning almost never quarreled with others, and was also confused.
Zhuang Yan saw how puzzled he was, and smiled, saying, “If you can’t think of anyone, that’s okay. You don’t seem like someone who would fight with others.”
Or, he could be hated by someone one-sidedly, and not realize it.
After hearing him say this, Xie Ning really did stop thinking about it. He didn’t plan to spend too much time on this matter anyways, and if it wasn’t for Zhuang Yan, he probably wouldn’t have even posted the clarification video, thinking it too troublesome.
“It’s late,” Zhuang Yan said. “Get to bed earlier.”
Xie Ning accompanied Zhuang Yan to the door, and was going to say “Be careful on the road”, but remembered that Zhuang Yan was basically a neighbor, and there wasn’t much road to travel. So instead, he said, “Good night.”
The cold wind blew in from the door. Zhuang Yan stepped to the side to stand in front of Xie Ning and block the wind, and, looking at his reddish face, smiled. He replied, “Good night.”
……
Yan Xi originally thought that Xie Ning had mostly ignored the post that was slandering him, letting others say what they wanted about him.
He was a little angry and regretful, but also helpless.
Xie Ning’s personality was just like this.
Who knew that he would find that the situation had turned on its head when he checked Weibo the next day?
Looking at the clarification Weibo post, Yan Xi was shocked.
Was this the Xie Ning he knew?
On the phone yesterday, he clearly said that he didn’t want to clean up this mess.
Yan Xi smiled and shook his head, happy yet curious. He didn’t know what made Xie Ning change his mind.
Once his morning meeting was over, he took the opportunity during his lunch break to call Xie Ning immediately.
Xie Ning never kept anything from Yan Xi, and told him what he and Zhuang Yan had discussed last night.
Yan Xi’s expression was complicated, and said, “This Mr. Blue Whale…”
Xie Ning, hearing his tone, asked, “What?”
Yan Xi had mixed feelings about this, but shook his head and said, “...Nothing.”
He couldn’t persuade Xie Ning in the past no matter how he said it, but this new neighbor, with just a few sentences, was able to change Xie Ning’s mind.
Yan Xi decided to pay more attention to Mr. Blue Whale, thinking that when he had time, he must meet this man at least once.
Recently, Xie Ning didn’t seem to be separating himself from others anymore. It used to seem like he and others were separated by a glass wall, only able to look at one another, but not communicate.
It’s a good thing, Yan Xi thought.
Maybe after a little longer, Xie Ning would be able to walk away from his past self and walk into his world instead.
Yan Xi didn’t speak for a while, and Xie Ning, confused, asked, “Hello? Did the signal die?”
“I’m here,” Yan Xi said. “I was thinking about something just now. Right, have you still not asked Mr. Blue Whale for his name? Isn’t it strange to always call him like that?”
Xie Ning paused, as if he had just thought of this problem. “I forgot to ask.”
But Mr. Blue Whale also hadn’t asked for his name yet.
Yan Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and said, “Seriously, how do you guys communicate?” Was this in fact the way to properly communicate with Xie Ning?
Xie Ning didn’t care too much about this. “Names aren’t important in the first place. What you call someone is pretty much the same, anyways, since the person won’t change.”
Yan Xi: “Alright then, if it makes you guys happy.”
Yan Xi was more worried about the person targeting Xie Ning.
He was used to protecting his offspring, so naturally, he wouldn’t allow someone to bully Xie Ning right in front of him. Luckily, this matter wasn’t too hard to get to the bottom of, and Yan Xi found out everything last night.
“Do you know QianFan GuoJin?” Yan Xi asked.
Xie Ning thought this name sounded familiar, but couldn’t remember after thinking about it for a short while.
Yan Xi continued, “The Weibo account that tried to slander you was obviously an alternate account, and when I looked it up, I found out that the user’s main account was one of QianFan GuoJin’s followers.”
“Who’s QianFan GuoJin?” Xie Ning asked.
Yan Xi replied, “A very popular doujin artist. When <Record of Mountain and Sea> exploded before, she gained a lot of fans by drawing PiXiu fanart.”
As he was talking, Xie Ning suddenly remembered, and said, “The person who made her own post about the long Weibo post, and was shared thousands of times?”
“Yes,” Yan Xi said. “That’s her.”
Xie Ning was even more confused. “I have no connection to her, so why were her fans trying to defame me?”
Yan Xi sighed, saying, “Do you remember the Christmas poster you drew for <Record of Mountain and Sea>?”
“Was there something wrong with the poster?”
“There’s nothing wrong with the poster.” Yan Xi lowered his voice as he revealed what he found. “The artist FeiFan Games hired before was QianFan GuoJin.”
Normally, it was rare for game companies to hire a doujin artist for a project, but the PiXiu that QianFan GuoJin had drawn was very popular. Her style was also suitable, so FeiFan wanted to try hiring her for the poster.
Unexpectedly, after revising the draft several times, the result was still not satisfactory and up to standard. FeiFan Games’ art director then seeked out Xie Ning to rescue them from the situation.
Xie Ning remembered how QianFan GuoJin’s fans had condemned his poster below in the comments, and seemed to understand a bit. “That...still has nothing to do with me, right?”
Yan Xi snorted. “She’s someone who doesn’t say what she’s thinking. Most of her fans couldn’t accept what had happened.”
In the fans’ hearts, their favorite artist’s art is obviously the best. The anger they felt when FeiFan didn’t use QianFan GuoJin’s art and instead used Xie Ning’s, was naturally unloaded onto him instead. It wasn’t hard to understand.
Of course, Yan Xi recognizes that, but Xie Ning didn’t yet. “They targeted me because of that?”
Yan Xi: “All in all, that was the cause and effect.”
Xie Ning: “...Oh.”
In Xie Ning’s heart, this matter was over with, and making a clarification video already exceeded expectations.
Asking him to spend energy on the mess that’s the Internet?
Impossible.
If he had that time, he might as well draw a couple more original film and television pieces to show Teacher Yang Rui.
Oh, right, he still hadn’t started the scene redraw from <The Monologue> that he said he would draw for Mr. Blue Whale.
Hearing the tone of his voice, Yan Xi knew that he was just going to disregard it again.
But this time, Yan Xi didn’t try to persuade him otherwise, and only said, “Leave the future matters to me.”
Xie Ning didn’t ask him what he was going to do, and immediately said, “Okay.”
……
The number of comments under his clarification post had already reached five digits, and the number of shares on this post had exceeded the number of shares on the slanderous post.
Most people came by to express their reverence for him.
Out of those artists who originally questioned and accused him, some deleted the post that they shared, some pretended to be dead, and some publicly apologized.
Of course, most of them pretended to be dead.
These people don’t take responsibility for their remarks. No matter how many people they misled or how much harm they caused to others, as soon as they delete it on Weibo, it’s like nothing happened.
After some time has passed, nobody will remember what they said in the past, or if they apologized or not.
Even QianFan GuoJin, who was the most embarrassed, just deleted her Weibo post and drew new fanart of PiXiu, still sought after by her followers.
Some people even began to suspect that Xie Ning had orchestrated the whole matter.
--This XN was just a little no-name before, so who’d go and make a ruckus about him? It must have been for self-promotion.
--How many followers did he gain from the situation turning in his favor? He could have just done this to gain more followers.
--I think it’s also self-promotion. Who even knew of him before? Nbcs.
Yan Xi laughed coldly when he saw these, and was relieved Xie Ning didn’t like to use Weibo and couldn’t see these comments.
Even though he probably wouldn’t care if he saw them.
That night, the official Weibo account of <Mobile Phone Lovers> uploaded a post.
Mobile Phone Lovers Mobile Game V:
As the New Year is approaching, we are respectfully introducing the main concept artist of <Mobile Phone Lovers>, Teacher XN@XN_zxcvbnm. Attached are the original conceptual drafts of the characters, and some favorite scene pictures, which are all Teacher XN’s works.
[Nine Picture Grid]
<Mobile Phone Lovers> is a currently popular mobile game, known as the game that single-handedly rescued a company from bankruptcy. Countless players marveled at the art style, saying that “I play this game and spend money on it solely for the art.”
--I finally found the culprit who made me spend money on a game!
--Teacher XN’s works are too good! My wallpaper has been this the whole time!
--Those of you saying it was for self-promotion, get the fuck over here! Does the boss need to self-promote?!
At the same time, a personal account confirmed to be the “FeiFan Games <Record of Mountain and Sea> Project Art Director” shared Xie Ning’s clarification video.
Drawing Makes ZhaoZhao’s Head Hurt V: Inverted copying 666, I bow to Teacher XN. It’s very difficult to hire this teacher. The PiXiu, QiongQi, ZhuQue characters Teacher designed for <Record of Mountain and Sea> are all very good. I wonder when Teacher has time to produce another work?
Someone commented below: !!! Teacher XN also designed PiXiu?
Drawing Makes ZhaoZhao’s Head Hurt V: Yes, Teacher XN is the original designer and artist for PiXiu.
------------------------------------------------------
Translator's Notes:
666 - chinese equivalent of "you're doing great, sweetie!" or "awesome!", especially in internet spaces
offspring - a reference to when others called yan xi a mother protecting its offspring; he's just repeating their words here
doujin - i know this is japanese, but it's the most well-known word to use here LOL donjons are self-/fan published works of official series/intellectual properties. (its used often to describe nsfw works as well, but not here for sure)
nbcs - chinese internet slang for "nobody cares", based off of english!
V - a V next to the usernames on weibo means that they are a verified account
[nine picture grid] - this is just a placeholder for where the pictures <mobile phone lovers> would have been attached. the maximum number of pictures you can upload at a time to weibo is 9!
The gift that flashed across the screen was too dazzling to be ignored, and not long after, bullet comments came in one after another apologizing.
--I’m sorry!
--I misunderstood the streamer in the past, I’m sorry.
--My mom just asked me why I’m apologizing on my knees!
Zhuang Yan’s dark expression improved after seeing these bullet comments.
Xie Ning turned his head slightly to look at him. “Why do you look like you’re angrier than I am?”
Zhuang Yan raised his brow and glanced at him, saying, “That’s because you don’t know how to be angry.”
Zhuang Yan thought it was weird before, because no matter how much he toyed with Xie Ning, he had never gotten truly mad.
He thought that Xie Ning had a good temper, but he realized now that it was because he completely lacked a temper.
He was able to treat being accused of tracing, as nothing more than a passing wind. It wasn’t because he was generous or tolerant, but because he was too indifferent.
Most of the tens of thousands of comments on that slanderous Weibo post were ridiculing Xie Ning. Even as an outsider, Zhuang Yan’s mood turned foul after reading some of them. If he wasn’t worried for Xie Ning, he would have torn them all apart already.
Xie Ning posted the video of the livestream onto Weibo, and copied the text he had typed on the livestream into the body of the post.
After doing these things, he turned to look outside the window. It was dark outside, and no lights could be seen.
Zhuang Yan looked at the time and asked, “Are you hungry? Should we go eat a midnight snack?”
Xie Ning did feel a little hungry after hearing Zhuang Yan ask. He hesitated, and said, “It’s a little cold outside…”
Zhuang Yan: “It’s fine, I’ll drive us there.”
“It’s too late.” Xie Ning looked down at the clothes he was wearing, thinking that it was too much trouble to change out of them. “Let’s go next time when we have time.”
Zhuang Yan continued to ask, “Are there still vegetables in the kitchen?”
Xie Ning nodded.
Zhuang Yan smiled. “Should I make a midnight snack for you, then?”
Xie Ning was surprised. “You actually know how to cook?”
Zhuang Yan lifted his eyebrow. “My skills are much higher than yours.”
Doubt was written all over Xie Ning’s face. Zhuang Yan thought it was funny, and wanted to give his cheeks another squeeze.
Seeing his hand move slightly, Xie Ning looked at him as if he knew what he was about to do.
Zhuang Yan could only suppress the thoughts in his heart. “I’m not lying, since I’m the one that adjusted Auntie Chen’s skills and craft.”
Xie Ning believed him even less. Zhuang Yan headed directly to the kitchen, saying that he’d show him some of his skill.
Midnight snacks shouldn’t be too hard to digest for the body. Zhuang Yan opened the refrigerator to look at the available ingredients, and in the end, made him a bowl of hot and sour soup with noodles.
“It seemed like your palate favors spicy and sour, so try this?”
The noodles in the bowl looked chewy, there were a few greens on top of the soup, and the green onions were crisp and tender. Zhuang Yan had also found an egg in the refrigerator, and sprinkled some more green onion on the top. Without factoring in its taste, the noodles looked to be quite solid.
Xie Ning asked, “How did you know I like to eat spicy and sour things?”
Zhuang Yan brought the bowl of soup noodles to Xie Ning’s spot, and said, “I guessed.”
Xie Ning tasted a spoonful, and his eyes widened.
The soup was flavorful and rich, and once he started, it was hard to stop. He thought that Zhuang Yan was all bark and no bite before, but now he knew that he wasn’t lying.
His cooking skills were truly quite good.
Zhuang Yan asked him, “Does it taste good?”
Xie Ning nodded, bit into the noodles, and curiously asked, “Have you learned how to cook before?”
Zhuang Yan smiled. “Do I not look like I have?”
Xie Ning said, “No, you don’t.”
Zhuang Yan looked down. “I’ve been picky since childhood. Once, the chef asked for a few days off, so my mom, who seldom cooks, made us a meal. I was very young at the time, and was harsh with my words, saying that the meal she made tasted bad. It made her so angry that she gave me a beating, and said if I want to eat something good, then I should make it myself. It’s one thing to talk and have a big mouth, but getting it done is another matter.”
Xie Ning laughed out loud.
Zhuang Yan glanced at him, and continued, “Thinking back on it now, the fact that she didn’t chase me outside proves that I’m indeed her son.”
Xie Ning asked, “So did you do it?”
“I wasn’t convinced then,” Zhuang Yan said. “Later on, I asked a famous chef to teach me how to cook. After he taught me, I became even more picky. Auntie Chen’s cooking skill in the beginning was just average, and I taught her the rest.”
Xie Ning swallowed the noodles he was eating, and asked, “If you know how to cook yourself, why did you want to eat at my place?”
Zhuang Yan looked at him, and didn’t say anything.
He obviously couldn’t tell the truth. Was he to say that he had other thoughts, and coming to Xie Ning’s place to eat was so they could interact more?
“Too busy,” he said. “I don’t have the time.”
“So that’s why.”
Zhuang Yan said, softly, “I won’t take advantage of you. In the future, when I have time, I’ll cook for you and show you more of my skills.”
Xie Ning didn’t think too much about it and nodded, replying, “Okay.” After a pause, he said, “I’m not at a disadvantage either. Didn’t you give me a disc as compensation?”
Zhuang Yan lifted his eyes to look at him. “It’s not something that precious. I thought you had a cook here, which is why I asked to come over for a couple meals.”
Xie Ning was confused. “Is there a difference?”
Zhuang Yan smiled. “Of course it’s different, since you cooked the meal yourself.”
During the time it took him to eat a midnight snack, Xie Ning’s Weibo clarification post had spread out to nearly thousands of people.
The previous long Weibo post about Xie Ning’s works had been spread quite widely across the artist circle. The curious, gossiping crowd came to fan the flames some more, but were shocked into silence.
The clarification video was very clear. Even people with no background in art were able to tell that Xie Ning was truly skilled.
Especially because of the end, where the upside-down outline was overlapped with the original work, viewers felt as if they had taken a slap to the face, and they wildly commented 666.
To Xie Ning, the matter was over and in the past.
However, Zhuang Yan didn’t think the same.
“Actually, I’ve wanted to ask for a while now, but did you offend someone online?” Zhuang Yan asked.
Xie Ning shook his head. “I don’t think so.” He normally didn’t even check Weibo.
Zhuang Yan raised his eyebrows and said, “Don’t you think this incident was rather strange? Why would a Weibo account with not a lot of followers suddenly get slandered?”
Xie Ning understood what he was implying, and responded, “So you’re saying that someone is targeting me?”
“Your copied works were posted years ago. If they weren’t targeting you, why would they compare your copied works to the original, superimpose them, and then make a long post about how you traced with such gusto?” Zhuang Yan pondered some more, and said, “Other than people on the Internet, who else have you had a quarrel with lately?”
The first person Xie Ning thought of was Xu Qing.
But he quickly refuted that thought.
Xie Ning almost never quarreled with others, and was also confused.
Zhuang Yan saw how puzzled he was, and smiled, saying, “If you can’t think of anyone, that’s okay. You don’t seem like someone who would fight with others.”
Or, he could be hated by someone one-sidedly, and not realize it.
After hearing him say this, Xie Ning really did stop thinking about it. He didn’t plan to spend too much time on this matter anyways, and if it wasn’t for Zhuang Yan, he probably wouldn’t have even posted the clarification video, thinking it too troublesome.
“It’s late,” Zhuang Yan said. “Get to bed earlier.”
Xie Ning accompanied Zhuang Yan to the door, and was going to say “Be careful on the road”, but remembered that Zhuang Yan was basically a neighbor, and there wasn’t much road to travel. So instead, he said, “Good night.”
The cold wind blew in from the door. Zhuang Yan stepped to the side to stand in front of Xie Ning and block the wind, and, looking at his reddish face, smiled. He replied, “Good night.”
……
Yan Xi originally thought that Xie Ning had mostly ignored the post that was slandering him, letting others say what they wanted about him.
He was a little angry and regretful, but also helpless.
Xie Ning’s personality was just like this.
Who knew that he would find that the situation had turned on its head when he checked Weibo the next day?
Looking at the clarification Weibo post, Yan Xi was shocked.
Was this the Xie Ning he knew?
On the phone yesterday, he clearly said that he didn’t want to clean up this mess.
Yan Xi smiled and shook his head, happy yet curious. He didn’t know what made Xie Ning change his mind.
Once his morning meeting was over, he took the opportunity during his lunch break to call Xie Ning immediately.
Xie Ning never kept anything from Yan Xi, and told him what he and Zhuang Yan had discussed last night.
Yan Xi’s expression was complicated, and said, “This Mr. Blue Whale…”
Xie Ning, hearing his tone, asked, “What?”
Yan Xi had mixed feelings about this, but shook his head and said, “...Nothing.”
He couldn’t persuade Xie Ning in the past no matter how he said it, but this new neighbor, with just a few sentences, was able to change Xie Ning’s mind.
Yan Xi decided to pay more attention to Mr. Blue Whale, thinking that when he had time, he must meet this man at least once.
Recently, Xie Ning didn’t seem to be separating himself from others anymore. It used to seem like he and others were separated by a glass wall, only able to look at one another, but not communicate.
It’s a good thing, Yan Xi thought.
Maybe after a little longer, Xie Ning would be able to walk away from his past self and walk into his world instead.
Yan Xi didn’t speak for a while, and Xie Ning, confused, asked, “Hello? Did the signal die?”
“I’m here,” Yan Xi said. “I was thinking about something just now. Right, have you still not asked Mr. Blue Whale for his name? Isn’t it strange to always call him like that?”
Xie Ning paused, as if he had just thought of this problem. “I forgot to ask.”
But Mr. Blue Whale also hadn’t asked for his name yet.
Yan Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and said, “Seriously, how do you guys communicate?” Was this in fact the way to properly communicate with Xie Ning?
Xie Ning didn’t care too much about this. “Names aren’t important in the first place. What you call someone is pretty much the same, anyways, since the person won’t change.”
Yan Xi: “Alright then, if it makes you guys happy.”
Yan Xi was more worried about the person targeting Xie Ning.
He was used to protecting his offspring, so naturally, he wouldn’t allow someone to bully Xie Ning right in front of him. Luckily, this matter wasn’t too hard to get to the bottom of, and Yan Xi found out everything last night.
“Do you know QianFan GuoJin?” Yan Xi asked.
Xie Ning thought this name sounded familiar, but couldn’t remember after thinking about it for a short while.
Yan Xi continued, “The Weibo account that tried to slander you was obviously an alternate account, and when I looked it up, I found out that the user’s main account was one of QianFan GuoJin’s followers.”
“Who’s QianFan GuoJin?” Xie Ning asked.
Yan Xi replied, “A very popular doujin artist. When <Record of Mountain and Sea> exploded before, she gained a lot of fans by drawing PiXiu fanart.”
As he was talking, Xie Ning suddenly remembered, and said, “The person who made her own post about the long Weibo post, and was shared thousands of times?”
“Yes,” Yan Xi said. “That’s her.”
Xie Ning was even more confused. “I have no connection to her, so why were her fans trying to defame me?”
Yan Xi sighed, saying, “Do you remember the Christmas poster you drew for <Record of Mountain and Sea>?”
“Was there something wrong with the poster?”
“There’s nothing wrong with the poster.” Yan Xi lowered his voice as he revealed what he found. “The artist FeiFan Games hired before was QianFan GuoJin.”
Normally, it was rare for game companies to hire a doujin artist for a project, but the PiXiu that QianFan GuoJin had drawn was very popular. Her style was also suitable, so FeiFan wanted to try hiring her for the poster.
Unexpectedly, after revising the draft several times, the result was still not satisfactory and up to standard. FeiFan Games’ art director then seeked out Xie Ning to rescue them from the situation.
Xie Ning remembered how QianFan GuoJin’s fans had condemned his poster below in the comments, and seemed to understand a bit. “That...still has nothing to do with me, right?”
Yan Xi snorted. “She’s someone who doesn’t say what she’s thinking. Most of her fans couldn’t accept what had happened.”
In the fans’ hearts, their favorite artist’s art is obviously the best. The anger they felt when FeiFan didn’t use QianFan GuoJin’s art and instead used Xie Ning’s, was naturally unloaded onto him instead. It wasn’t hard to understand.
Of course, Yan Xi recognizes that, but Xie Ning didn’t yet. “They targeted me because of that?”
Yan Xi: “All in all, that was the cause and effect.”
Xie Ning: “...Oh.”
In Xie Ning’s heart, this matter was over with, and making a clarification video already exceeded expectations.
Asking him to spend energy on the mess that’s the Internet?
Impossible.
If he had that time, he might as well draw a couple more original film and television pieces to show Teacher Yang Rui.
Oh, right, he still hadn’t started the scene redraw from <The Monologue> that he said he would draw for Mr. Blue Whale.
Hearing the tone of his voice, Yan Xi knew that he was just going to disregard it again.
But this time, Yan Xi didn’t try to persuade him otherwise, and only said, “Leave the future matters to me.”
Xie Ning didn’t ask him what he was going to do, and immediately said, “Okay.”
……
The number of comments under his clarification post had already reached five digits, and the number of shares on this post had exceeded the number of shares on the slanderous post.
Most people came by to express their reverence for him.
Out of those artists who originally questioned and accused him, some deleted the post that they shared, some pretended to be dead, and some publicly apologized.
Of course, most of them pretended to be dead.
These people don’t take responsibility for their remarks. No matter how many people they misled or how much harm they caused to others, as soon as they delete it on Weibo, it’s like nothing happened.
After some time has passed, nobody will remember what they said in the past, or if they apologized or not.
Even QianFan GuoJin, who was the most embarrassed, just deleted her Weibo post and drew new fanart of PiXiu, still sought after by her followers.
Some people even began to suspect that Xie Ning had orchestrated the whole matter.
--This XN was just a little no-name before, so who’d go and make a ruckus about him? It must have been for self-promotion.
--How many followers did he gain from the situation turning in his favor? He could have just done this to gain more followers.
--I think it’s also self-promotion. Who even knew of him before? Nbcs.
Yan Xi laughed coldly when he saw these, and was relieved Xie Ning didn’t like to use Weibo and couldn’t see these comments.
Even though he probably wouldn’t care if he saw them.
That night, the official Weibo account of <Mobile Phone Lovers> uploaded a post.
Mobile Phone Lovers Mobile Game V:
As the New Year is approaching, we are respectfully introducing the main concept artist of <Mobile Phone Lovers>, Teacher XN@XN_zxcvbnm. Attached are the original conceptual drafts of the characters, and some favorite scene pictures, which are all Teacher XN’s works.
[Nine Picture Grid]
<Mobile Phone Lovers> is a currently popular mobile game, known as the game that single-handedly rescued a company from bankruptcy. Countless players marveled at the art style, saying that “I play this game and spend money on it solely for the art.”
--I finally found the culprit who made me spend money on a game!
--Teacher XN’s works are too good! My wallpaper has been this the whole time!
--Those of you saying it was for self-promotion, get the fuck over here! Does the boss need to self-promote?!
At the same time, a personal account confirmed to be the “FeiFan Games <Record of Mountain and Sea> Project Art Director” shared Xie Ning’s clarification video.
Drawing Makes ZhaoZhao’s Head Hurt V: Inverted copying 666, I bow to Teacher XN. It’s very difficult to hire this teacher. The PiXiu, QiongQi, ZhuQue characters Teacher designed for <Record of Mountain and Sea> are all very good. I wonder when Teacher has time to produce another work?
Someone commented below: !!! Teacher XN also designed PiXiu?
Drawing Makes ZhaoZhao’s Head Hurt V: Yes, Teacher XN is the original designer and artist for PiXiu.
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Translator's Notes:
666 - chinese equivalent of "you're doing great, sweetie!" or "awesome!", especially in internet spaces
offspring - a reference to when others called yan xi a mother protecting its offspring; he's just repeating their words here
doujin - i know this is japanese, but it's the most well-known word to use here LOL donjons are self-/fan published works of official series/intellectual properties. (its used often to describe nsfw works as well, but not here for sure)
nbcs - chinese internet slang for "nobody cares", based off of english!
V - a V next to the usernames on weibo means that they are a verified account
[nine picture grid] - this is just a placeholder for where the pictures <mobile phone lovers> would have been attached. the maximum number of pictures you can upload at a time to weibo is 9!
