Chapter One

1.

My adversary, Gu Yiliang, a second-rate fresh meat, was blessed with a face that was on par with an idol, as well as superb acting talent. Regardless of whatever movie or drama he acted in or whatever roles he got, whether it was the main male lead, the second male lead, or a side character, he was always gilding the lily. Film critics will write a thousand-word review to flatter him sincerely while the company will give him earth-shattering praise through the press. The comments on his Weibo would always be filled with flower emoticons and likes whenever you loaded his posts.

I, Wei Yanzi, a third-rate fresh meat, was blessed with a face that was on par with an idol, as well as acting skill similar to an egg yolk. Regardless of whatever movie or drama I acted in or whatever roles I got, I was always a crested dogstail, always on the brink of withering and drying up. I didn’t even deserve to be kept in a vase.

He was the one who could speak frankly with assurance regarding the psychological development of the character in the plot during interviews, and was able to receive acknowledgement without hiding the fact that he was working hard to strive for the golden award. Yet, when I accepted interviews, I was always asked about the scandals and gossips that revolved around me. I don’t even dare to self-proclaim I’m an actor before the camera.

To explain in a non-exaggerated manner, in the vast environment of the entertainment industry, he was the moon in the clouds, and the flowers beside the pond, while I was just a little yellow cabbage on the ground.

2.

Never think that both Gu Yiliang and I were only separated by one celebrity tier. In the industry, it was the same as being separated by a thousand ravines and gullies. So, regardless of how far I crane my neck, I’ll never reach the top of his back.

3.

Then how was I fortunate enough to become an adversary to Gu Yiliang?

It was actually very simple. We were of the same age and worked under the same company. We even debuted in the same period, but since we weren’t that familiar with each other, the company never intended to package us as brothers who were deeply infatuated with one another. Therefore, this led to the issue of allocating resources——

……

Fine, the more I delved into it, I couldn’t think of any particular reason since his skills were obviously on a different calibre than mine. We didn’t have the same image, so our resources didn’t really conflict with one another. I, too, have no idea. How did he become my adversary?

4.

We have debuted and known each other for three years already, yet we didn’t talk much, let alone add each other on Wechat. Whenever we met in person, we communicated fully with a 3-in-1 package—our eyes, smiles, and nods.

If it weren’t for the fact that someone would appear every so often to stir up shit in the Weibo comments section, I wouldn’t have known that I, a tepid little third-rate, would actually have an adversary with a glorious pathway to stardom as well as a bright future.

I’m terrified!

How am I even worthy?!

5.

Regardless, I feel very honored.

Being caught up with such an adversary did help me enrich myself as well. My short-lived popularity was also gradually looking up.

I won’t be getting the short end of the stick either way.

6.

So what does the term ‘adversary’ mean?

It precisely meant this in the eyes of his fans：

When I smiled at Gu Yiliang, I’d have a hidden a dagger behind them.

When I brushed shoulders with Gu Yiliang, I turned a blind eye to his existence.

When I lowered my head in the same frame as Gu Yiliang, I felt deeply upset in my heart.

When I turned to talk with others happily in the same frame as Gu Yiliang, I was showing attitude.

I was wrong regardless of whether I was standing or sitting.

So, how do I put it? Unless I were Wei Yanzi himself, I would almost believe them to be true.

Which is to say in the eyes my of fans:

When Gu Yiliang smiled at me, it was a silent provocation.

When Gu Yiliang brushed shoulders with me, he felt I was beneath him deep down.

When Gu Yiliang lowered his head in the same frame as me, he was feigning loftiness.

When Gu Yiliang turned to chat with others happily in the same frame as me, he was being contrived and deliberate.

In any case, he’s always in the fault whether he’s active or quiet.

So, how do I put it? Unless I were Gu Yiliang himself, I would almost believe them to be true.

7.

If we happened to wear the same brand of accessories, that meant we were competing to be a brand ambassador.

If we happened to wear similar clothing, that meant we were copying each other’s taste in fashion.

If we happened to be wearing the same outfit, that meant we were screwed. In time, the fans would nastily argue until they split a hole open about who wore it best and who was the most stylish and most sophisticated to the extent that a rainbow would spout out thousands of miles across the sky.

8.

If you were to ask why I knew so much about it…

9.

Pinching my nose, I returned the phone back to my new personal life assistant, Little Chen. “Don’t show me the forum posts anymore. It’s killing my mood.”

10.

“There’s still more an hour left until they start shooting the next scene. I was afraid you’d be bored sitting here on your own.” Little Chen stuck out his tongue, his hand working on fanning me with a fan. “Don’t actors search their own names on the web?”

After going through a post about myself, I corrected him out of fear after the trauma I received. “Don’tdon’tdon’t! Don’t say you so politely! And don’t call me an actor.”

“Oh, then um, Brother Wei.” Little Chen accepted it and changed his form of address without hesitation. Taking out a bottle of water, he inserted a straw into it before handing it to me. “Don’t you search for your name on the web occasionally?”

Chewing on the tip of the straw, I replied, “Why would I do that? They hyped up their dirt on me like crazy. It’s so frustrating to look at them.”

Head tilted to the side, Little Chen looked towards me. “Then why don’t you try and search for your adversary’s name? Won’t you feel better that way?”

I was rendered speechless by his suggestion.

11.

This kid was a motherfucking genius!

12.

Although I don’t personally harbor any enmity towards Gu Yiliang, I still feel a slight distaste by the trashy posts his fans made about me. So to be fair, there would be nothing wrong with me taking a peek at his blackmail material to calm me down.

I’ll consider it as doing a kind deed for him!

Full of joy and expectations, I fished out my phone and opened Weibo to search by typing in his name, ‘Gu Yiliang’.

13.

Like Ge You, I sat paralyzed on the chair, my hand raised against my chest as I attempted to calm my fluctuating mood from seeing the multitudinous praises and good reviews they showered Gu Yiliang with.

I’m very fragile, and I could no longer withstand any more traumatic events.

14.

I had only just tapped on the red ellipsis symbol at the top of the comments section and it notified me that a dozen more new messages had been posted. I tapped on it to skim through it again with my dead fish eyes. Most of the comments were pointless praises and declarations of love, but one of the weird-looking comments instantly caught my attention.

@Pink_NiangziArmy: [heart][heart][heart][heart] GROSSSOBBING our boys are spreading the love again! sobbssss what’s the big day today pls pls get married already!!! hurry up and register now!!! [kneel][kneel][heart][heart]

And the attached picture was an image with a white ‘PLS GET MARRIED NOW’ text on a red background.

15.

Was this an advertisement from the matrimonial agency?

Confused, my desire to know more made me tap into this NiangziArmy’s Weibo account.

16.

Do you think a new world opened itself to me?

No, I probed and saw a whole new universe.

Chapter Two

17.

I witnessed a beautiful and thriving new world radiating with positivity.

In here,

When I smiled at Gu Yiliang, I was making eyes at him.

When I brushed shoulders with Gu Yiliang, it was because I didn’t have the heart to look back.

When I lowered my head in the same frame as Gu Yiliang, I was being shy.

When I turned to talk to others happily in the same frame as Gu Yiliang, our hearts were still connected internally.

In here,

When Gu Yiliang smiled at me, he was overcome with the need to talk to me.

When Gu Yiliang brushed shoulders with me, he’d hate to leave my side deep down.

When Gu Yiliang lowered his head in the same frame as me, he was trying to restrain his love for me.

When Gu Yiliang turned to chat with others happily in the same frame as me, he was faking it to avoid suspicion.

It was love regardless of whether we were standing or sitting, moving, or staying still.

If we happened to wear the same brand of accessories, that meant we were openly being lovey-dovey.

If we happened to wear similar clothing, that meant we were secretly being lovey-dovey.

If we happened to be wearing the same outfit, that meant we were screwed. The fans would speculate and discuss when we’d get married, how many tables did we get, as well as how many babies we’d adopt, to the extent that they could be used to build a Babel Tower capable of puncturing a hole in the sky.

All in all, the things we did dripped with all kinds of honey and sugar in this wonderful world. After a few brainwashing posts, I was almost diagnosed with diabetes.

So, how do I put it? If I weren’t Wei Yanzi who also happened to know Gu Yiliang, I would almost believe that we were already married.

18.

The only thing was that Niangzi [1] sounded absolutely terrible as a ship name.

19.

A member of the Niangzi Army even poured in their utmost effort into compiling a long Weibo post containing information like some sort of a huge timeline, the possibility of us staying in the same city, fan MVs, fanfictions, and the likes. All the hyperlinks were listed together, so all I needed to do was tap on one after another. I had already memorized all my lines, so I was very free. I felt more relaxed and content reading all these than the trash posts I saw earlier, so I tapped on a few of them to read them in passing.

20.

Here were the activities inside my brain for the next half hour:

Whoa, this MV is just too beautiful and sad!

Whoa, this photoshopped picture looks too real!

Whoa, this fanart is just too cute!

Whoa, this fanfiction is just…

…too smutty and abusive that I can’t finish it.

For a few milliseconds, I almost screamed “Niangzi is rio (real)! ” internally.

I quickly put a stop to this sudden impulse.

21.

Pray tell, when the entire internet indulges in bickering about the non-existent enmity and hatred between you and your adversary, what does it mean when a minority of them persevere in believing the romance and love that was completely non-existent between you and your adversary? Just what exactly does that mean?

This was a declaration of righteousness and love! This meant that only goodness and beauty existed in their hearts!

So long as everyone devoted a little love, the world would turn into a wonderful place!

Finally, someone believed that I wasn’t a vicious person, always plotting how to steal resources from Gu Yiliang, as well as a venomous fiend who only knew how to cause problems for him in secret!

Although that was an overstatement, I was still practically on the brink of crying in joy.

22.

I had this feeling that my state of mind had probably been shattered by the trashy posts Little Chen kept sending me to read over the last three days.

23.

But I’m totally sailing on this ship.

24.

I still hadn’t figured out what they meant by “our boys are spreading the love” in my comments section. After I returned to my own Weibo page, I suddenly discovered that I slipped a finger while searching for Gu Yiliang and liked this one post.

It was mainly about the Song of Waves production team. They finally announced the mysterious casting of the second male lead, which was Gu Yiliang of course.

The rest of the words were just usual braggings and praises about how capable Gu Yiliang was, which I didn’t have much patience for.

25.

My train of thought suddenly stopped.

Wait a second.

Isn’t Song of Waves the production team I’m in right now?

26.

Can you guys believe it? The first thought I had in my mind after realizing it was:

Are our boys going to spread the love again!?

27.

With a darkened expression, Little Chen pushed and entered through the door with heavy steps before massaging my shoulders.

I was surprised by his sudden action. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Brother Wei…” His expression was laced with bitter anguish. “Your adversary is going to be in the production team soon…”

Before I could tell him that I already knew about it, he quickly leaned down and asked in a low whisper, “Should I go and prepare some croton scissors and wire cutters…”

“Stopstopstop! Stop right there! This instant!” I glared at him. “Make sure you give your brain a good scrub when you take a shower tonight. What kind of nonsensical things do you keep in there?!”

Heaving a long sigh of relief, he replied sincerely, “Okay then. Murder is illegal in this world anyway.”

28.

Say, even my personal assistant thinks I’m a vicious wretch. Without this ship to balance my villain-like image, what would my life look like?

29.

I lazily waved my hand to dismiss Little Chen to get a cup of bubble tea. Shrinking back into my chair, I couldn’t help but load another fan MV to watch.

30.

This scene was where Gu Yiliang appeared in his debut movie. His acting skills then still looked young and inexperienced, but it was still a shit ton better than mine where I was also edited into the same frame.

I acted in that one in the first half of the year.

Thanks to the editor’s godly hands, they harmoniously ironed out my awkward acting.

As I stared at Gu Yiliang donning a period costume in the screen, I had to admit this was a job that was especially made for him. From his face to his capabilities, there was simply nothing to nitpick about. This didn’t fall into the same category as being graced by God to be adept in this line of work. God would’ve had to pelt his body with a sumptuous banquet to achieve this effect.

31.

I watched in all seriousness, suddenly realizing that this was the first time that I was seriously admiring his work.

—in a fan-edited MV.

—where I held the title of the other main character.

32.

Somebody was knocking on the break room door. Assuming it was Little Chen, I answered, “Please enter,” without raising my head to look.

33.

The door was pushed open. Noticing that there wasn’t any sound momentarily, I glanced over and saw the man I had been watching on the little screen. He was standing at the entrance looking very much alive, eyeing me with a strange look on his face.

Translator Notes:

[1] Niangzi （娘子) is a play on their names: Gu Yiliang (Niang) and Wei Yanzi (zi). Niangzi can also mean wife, lady or girl.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two