Mr. Yuan is Always Unhappy - Chap 86
CH86 – THE GRAND FINALE
The program currently broadcasting live on TV was a public charity show from a local television station. There’s one episode every week and in each episode, a certain company or corporation would donate money to public funding or designated recipients in need.
The donor of today’s episode was a foreign company. Since it just happened to be Christmas, the show arranged a segment involving street interactions. The on-field hostess would randomly select a pedestrian. The more balloons this pedestrian blew up and popped within three minutes, the more this company would donate. One balloon represented 10k yuan.
The countdown time on the bottom right corner of the tv screen has already passed 2 minutes. Yuan Rui blew up and popped 7 balloons, pretty much exhausting his entire lung capacity. His face was already somewhat unsightly. When accepting the 8th balloon, even his movements were sluggish; he was also gasping for air.
The hostess said encouragingly: “80k yuan! Come on!”
The bystanders, who were standing around recording videos, also shouted: “Do your best! Do your best!”
With a face of death, Yuan Rui puffed up his cheeks and started to huff huff huff again.
Watching the TV, Zheng QiuYang picked up the cellphone. He wanted to give Yuan Rui a call, but then recalled that this was a live broadcast. Right now, Yuan Rui definitely wouldn’t be able to answer the phone. Therefore, Zheng QiuYang had no choice but to put the phone down. He was vaguely worried that Yuan Rui would be vilified by people again.
Ever since the video incident, the number of Yuan Rui’s antis grew several times. Even though his shows and drama series have not been broadcasting on television lately, nor did he participate in any job promotions, everyday there were people leaving insults for him under the official Weibo of <> and his own Weibo. The lightest ones criticized him for acting gay for publicity and not being an exemplar idol to young people. The nastiest ones were all humiliating insults that were too unbearable to look at, almost as if Yuan Rui had dug up their ancestor’s graves or something.
“Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!” The observers started to count down on TV.
To the side, the hostess said: “100k! Pop this one and it’ll be 100k!”
However, this balloon was struggling on the edge of popping and not popping. It was clear to see that Yuan Rui didn’t have enough air.
The hostess and everyone counted down together: “Three! Two! One! Time’s up!”
Two seconds after these words, the tenth balloon finally exploded with a ‘bang–‘.
The hostess said regretfully: “Only a few seconds away and you could have reached 100k. That’s really too unfortunate. However, we must still thank Yuan Rui for contributing to this episode’s public donation!”
Everyone clapped their hands correspondingly.
The hypoxic Yuan Rui looked like he was about to cry.
The hostess gave him an apple that was both huge and red and wished him: “Merry Christmas!”
Yuan Rui accepted the apple. The hostess held up the microphone in front of him. He was still out of breath and his voice was still somewhat hoarse, however he said” I wish everyone a happy holiday.”
Actually, the view could have cut back to the studio at this point, but the hostess asked hopefully: “You must still have some words to say to the audience in front of the television, right?”
Yuan Rui felt dizzy from blowing the balloons. Right now, he only wanted to return home as soon as possible. Without any hesitation, he waved his hands and said: “No, I don’t.”
The hostess was somewhat disappointed. She had no choice but to turn around and face the camera on her own, saying: “With Yuan Rui’s assistance, the on-field recording raised a total of 90k yuan for public funding this time…….”
The crowd suddenly let out a ‘wah’. The hostess turned her head in surprise and saw that Yuan Rui actually broke free from the crowd and ran off!
In the live broadcast, there was only the view of Yuan Rui’s back moving farther and farther away.
Zheng QiuYang: “……”
He gave Yuan Rui a call. It took half a minute before the other side picked up. Out of breath, Yuan Rui said: “I’m almost home!”
Zheng QiuYang: “……. I know.”
Yuan Rui said rapidly: “Talk more when I get home!”
Zheng QiuYang said: “Stop running. They’re not chasing you…… I’m watching the live stream right now.”
Yuan Rui was extremely shocked: “Ah?”
Zheng QiuYang said in both amusement and exasperation: “Yuan Xiao Rui, what’s up with your luck?”
Yuan Rui had already run very far away. Looking back, he saw that, sure enough, no one was chasing him. Finally, he felt calm enough to walk slowly. He said while panting for breath: “I’m so unlucky! If I knew it was a live broadcast, I should have run off at the start!”
Zheng QiuYang said to him: “Can’t you directly refuse to play the game?”
Yuan Rui said: “But she said this is a public charity show. The money is donated to left-behind children.”
Zheng QiuYang had nothing to say to that: “Just now I saw you were practically asphyxiating from blowing the balloons. Are you still dizzy right now? Do I need to pick you up?”
Yuan Rui said: “No need. After the corner, I’ll be at the gates……. Aiya, LingLing-jie is calling. I’m hanging up.”
He ended his call with Zheng QiuYang and took a breath before finally answering Li LingLing’s call cautiously. He thought to himself, now he was really going to receive quite a scolding.
Li LingLing said loudly: “Yuan Rui!”
Yuan Rui hastily acknowledged the errors of his ways and said: “I was wrong.”
Li LingLing cursed: “Is your head messed up! Why the fck did you run! You finally managed to get on television after so many months. Why did you run? The anti’s are going to call you a fake poser again. The people from the TV station are going to be called your fellow conspirators as well!”
Right now, Yuan Rui grudgingly passed level 4 of Shanghainese and could understand a general idea. Li LingLing wasn’t blaming him for secretly sneaking on the subway and getting caught by the live broadcast program. Instead, she was only reprimanding him for running away?
“The new commercial that you filmed for YunChang will premiere around 8pm on CCTV. Although this <> is a small tv station, it’s also broadcasted via satellite.” After Li LingLing finished getting angry, she started speaking mandarin again. With utter satisfaction, she said: “Let’s who still dares to say that you’ve been blacklisted after this!”
Yuan Rui: “……Hehehe.”
He was open-minded and indifferent. However, Li LingLing had almost broken down out of worry during the previous period. Other than dealing with the director, media, and advertising companies, she had to occasionally endure ridicule from other agents who had been jealous of her for managing Yuan Rui. However she was so used to being a strong woman that she never displayed anything in front of others. Despite looking composed and unaffected outwardly, she had been grinding her teeth internally and suppressing her anger. She was just waiting for the day that Yuan Rui returned to the big screens so she could have those guys, who enjoyed throwing stones at someone who was down, take a good, long look.
Yuan Rui, who didn’t receive a scolding, returned home happily. Zheng QiuYang stood in the living room, making a phone call. Seeing him enter, he spoke rapidly into the phone: “Enough nonsense, just strike accordingly. When you’re done, give me a price. That’s all, I’m hanging up.”
He threw the cellphone to the side. Blocking his eyes with one hand, he acted like he was being blinded and yelled: “Ah! The Balloon Hero!”
Yuan Rui: “Hahaha”
Zheng QiuYang said: “I still didn’t ask you, what did Li LingLing say to you? Did she scold you?”
Yuan Rui said sulkily: “She thought I was dumb and said I shouldn’t have ran, that I finally managed to get on a live broadcast, I should have filmed a bit more.”
Zheng QiuYang cursed: “Not wrong at all. You’re indeed dumb, why the heck did you get on the subway?”
Yuan Rui felt even more wronged and said: “Such a terrible traffic jam, I wanted to come back as soon as possible to spend Christmas eve with you.”
Zheng QiuYang feigned anger with a stern face, but actually, he felt extremely pleased internally.
Yuan Rui then asked: “Did I seem extremely dumb on the live broadcast just now?
Zheng QiuYang said deliberately: “When are you not dumb?”
Yuan Rui said dejectedly: “That’s true.”
Zheng QiuYang: “……not that stupid. This charity show is not bad, pretty interesting.”
Yuan Rui became happy again and said: “I originally could have blown ten, but the smog negatively impacted my performance. My lung capacity is actually pretty large.”
Zheng QiuYang randomly nodded his head and thought to himself, Large my ass. Who’s the one that gets dizzy after kissing for too long?
Yuan Rui then recalled another important matter and asked: “Isn’t that new product you designed selling today? How’s the sales going?”
Zheng QiuYang said modestly: “It’s okay. Several of the branch stores have sold out completely. Because of the limited number, each store only has a few on display.”
Yuan Rui said in awe: “So impressive! Your big brother must regret it alot now. If he had made you the head designer earlier, he could have become rich several years ago. Then he wouldn’t have needed to quarrel with his mom and even move out to rent a place to live.”
Actually, how could there be such a correlation here? Zheng ShaoYang rented a place because his house was newly bought after getting married. He didn’t want his pregnant wife to live in a house with formaldehyde. Therefore, he rented a place temporarily.
However, Zheng QiuYang didn’t explain all of that. He loved to listen to Yuan Rui praise him. He pointed at the dining table and said: “Look. All ready for you to return and cook the steak. I even mixed the salad.”
Yuan Rui turned his head and looked at the candle and fresh flowers on the table. Instantly he said happily, face beaming with a smile: “You’re so romantic!”
Zheng QiuYang smugly gave Yuan Rui’s butt a smack and said: “Stop flattering me. Hurry and go cook the steak.”
Yuan Rui went eagerly.
Zheng QiuYang closed the lights in the living room, lit up the candle, and then rearranged everything once again. At last, he leaned against the frame of the kitchen door and stood there watching.
The steak made a sizzling sound as it cooked.
Yuan Rui wore a thin sweater. The strings of the apron tied fittingly around his mid-back. His waist was slim and his butt was perky. Just by looking at this person from the back was enough to feel that he was extremely good looking.
Zheng QiuYang felt somewhat infatuated with the view. Enduring slightly, he asked: “Are you still recording the show tomorrow?”
Yuan Rui said: “Yes, there’s still one more day.”
Zheng QiuYang was unhappy.
Yuan Rui turned his head to look at him. He asked: “When I entered the door just now, were you calling your colleague to talk about work? They still have to work overtime during Christmas eve?”
Zheng QiuYang said: “No, That was a friend of mine who works in marketing. I bought a water army for you.”
Yuan Rui: “……Ah?”
Zheng QiuYang explained: “Your balloon blowing just now entered hot topics again. I’m afraid people might vilify you so I purchased some preparation ahead of time. If anyone dares to vilify you, I’ll just command the water army to throttle him.”
Yuan Rui was only concerned with one thing— “Was it expensive?”
Zheng QiuYang said: “Not too expensive. We’re friends so he gave me a friend discount.”
Zheng QiuYang gave a quote. Yuan Rui felt such pain in his heart that he was about to cry. He said: “Can you return the order? If they want to slander me, then just let them. Famous people always get vilified anyways. I’m not afraid.”
Zheng QiuYang refused and said: “Do famous people rightfully deserve to be vilified? Those people can randomly babble nonsense and create an entire basin of shit. Right now, netizens also lack the ability to make their own judgments and are always getting pulled around by their noses. Your company is also just as stingy as you are. Such crappy online public relations management. By the time they respond, normal bystanders would have already been dragged into the ditch by those antis a long time ago. Let me give you an example. In today’s news, a private express delivery company in overseas shipping announced that customs raised the tariff on cosmetics from 10% to 50%. The internet was completely filled with insults towards the nation, the government, and customs. However, the fact is that cosmetics have always been 50%. By just moving their fingers and searching Baidu quickly, people would be able to find this information, yet so many still believed it. It’s not enough that overseas shipping has been taking advantage of this for years, now they even want to throw the blame onto the nation. If the relevant departments were willing to buy a water army for 50 cents/soldier, how hard would it be to debunk a rumor? Am I right?”
Yuan Rui nodded his head seriously, a sense of civic duty developing spontaneously. He said solemnly: “Just in time then. Let’s command the water money we just bought to comment under this news and teach others the basics, that tariff on cosmetics has always been 50%.”
Zheng QiuYang: “…….”
Before the start of the candlelight dinner, Mama Zheng made a special call over to ask Zheng QiuYang what’s going on after she received the update one step slower and saw the news of Yuan Rui blowing balloons in the subway station on TianYa.
Zheng QiuYang explained to her everything that happened. On the other side of the call, she said: “I was just saying, with how dim-witted he is, where would he find the IQ to collaborate with a tv station to hype himself up. In this thread, there are people obstinately insisting that it’s all an act. This truly showcases the saying ‘you can’t wake up those who feign sleep’.”
Zheng QiuYang: “…… Don’t tell me, you’re arguing with people on TianYa again?”
In the past, his mom had already argued a few times with others on TianYa. If she won the argument, that’s good. If she lost, she’d be so angry she wouldn’t even eat.
Mama Zheng said: “What argue? I’m just teaching young people how to speak properly.”
Zheng QiuYang: “……”
Yuan Rui was already done cooking the steak. Seeing Zheng QiuYang hang up the phone, he finally dared to ask: “Why does Aunty know about me blowing the balloons. What did she say?”
Zheng QiuYang feigned a sigh and said: “Didn’t say much. She’s too busy waging war with your antis.”
Stunned briefly, Yuan Rui smiled from cheek to cheek: “Aunty is too cute! How can she be that cute!”
Zheng QiuYang also gave a faint smile, burying his accomplishment silently.
The candlelight and the red wine swayed together. The wonderful atmosphere persisted from the dining table to after the meal. The two people went together to wash the bowls and dishes. After scrubbing halfway, they couldn’t finish. Throwing the plates aside, they kissed passionately like an unstoppable wildfire in front of the sink.
The small-sized kitchen really wasn’t spacious. The two people embraced each other and returned to the bedroom like conjoined twins.
Falling into the bed and entangling together for a moment, Zheng QiuYang suddenly stopped and said: “Wait a second.”
Yuan Rui: “???”
Zheng QiuYang took out a small, pale-gold box from the inside of the bedside drawer and said with a smile: “Almost forgot it.”
Yuan Rui was still laying there. Seeing that the shape of the box was clearly a ring box, he instantly opened his eyes wide and sat up with a face of anticipation.
Zheng QiuYang opened the box and held it before him. There was a ring inside.
Yuan Rui looked at Zheng QiuYang, heart overwhelmed by emotions.
Zheng QiuYang asked: “Does it look good?”
Yuan Rui nodded vigorously.
Zheng QiuYang gave him a smile and said: “Give me your hand.”
Extremely nervous, Yuan Rui stammered: “Left hand or, or right hand?”
Zheng QiuYang grabbed his left hand and placed that finger on his ring finger.
Yuan Rui was so excited that the rims of his eyes were red.
Still holding his hand, Zheng QiuYang said: “Look at the outline of the decorative part of the ring. Can you tell what it is?”
Yuan Rui was able to tell with just one look. However, afraid that he guessed wrong, he said tentatively: “The su…sun?”
Zheng QiuYang smiled and said: “Yuan Xiao Rui, this ring represents me. When I first started learning jewelry design, I was already thinking, when I find my other half in the future, I’d make a sun shaped ring to help me capture him.”
Yuan Rui felt a bit happier and said: “At that time, you wanted to capture a beautiful woman, right?”
Zheng QiuYang said with a smile: “Now I’ve caught a big, handsome guy. It’s still very worth it.”
Unable to contain his delight, Yuan Rui then asked: “What kind of gem is embedded here?”
Zheng QiuYang said: “It’s red tourmaline.”
Yuan Rui opened his mouth and then swallowed his words back down again.
Zheng QiuYang said with a smile: “Not expensive.”
Yuan Rui smiled even happier and held up his hand, looking at it nonstop. Then he used his cellphone to take a picture, opened Weibo, and forwarded the photo to Fang ShiQing. Then he sent it to Bai Tu. Unfortunately, everyone was spending the holidays at this time. They all ignored him.
Seeing him so happy, Zheng QiuYang also felt happy himself. After a while, he finally asked: “Then what about my Christmas present?”
Yuan Rui’s expression, however, looked a bit evasive.
Zheng QiuYang feigned anger and said: “You didn’t prepare one?”
Yuan Rui hastily said: “I did, I did.”
Zheng QiuYang held out his hand, palm side up.
Yuan Rui smacked his hand and said: “You, you wait a second.”
Zheng QiuYang saw him take a paper bag out of the wardrobe and then dash into the bathroom. He already guessed a general idea. Showing a lewd smile, he leaned against the head of the bed and waited.
Even with the mental preparation, reality was still not quite the same as he imagined.
“I didn’t buy pink. See if black is okay?” Yuan Rui stood by the bedside, somewhat awkward: “I really look super ugly wearing pink. I’m too dark.”
Zheng QiuYang: “……”
Yuan Rui only wore a set of black lace undergarments for women. He even put on fake breasts.
Doing it like this really felt quite different.
Ten minutes or so later.
Zheng QiuYang asked: “Feeling good?”
Yuan Rui: “…….”
Zheng QiuYang rubbed his fake breasts with a deep bitterness on his face.
Yuan Rui said regretfully: “Am I too ugly like this? You’re not even that hard.”
Zheng QiuYang thought to himself, Blaming me? Why are you lying here today like a mummy in a bra?
He proposed: “How about you take it off? These two mounds look okay, but they’re too annoying to touch.”
Yuan Rui said: “I never touched real ones before. These felt pretty good. Do they seem too fake?”
Zheng QiuYang gave them two more rubs and said: “Pretty realistic.”
Yuan Rui felt Zheng QiuYang was being too picky and asked: “Then why are you annoyed? These cost me a lot to buy…… Do you dislike them for being too small?”
“That’s not it.” Zheng QiuYang said honestly: “I want to touch your pectorals.”
Without saying anything else, he took off the fake breasts and then pressed his hands against Yuan Rui’s chest to rub and squeeze. Very quickly, he started feeling it. The half-hard little bro also stiffened in an instant.
Yuan Rui said, both surprised and delighted: “You are really bent now!”
Too misunderstood, Zheng QiuYang said: “Obviously! If I’m not bent, why do I think about doing it with a gay like you everyday?”
Yuan Rui was so happy, he could practically fly. Spreading his arms and legs wide open, he actively invited: “Come on, come on then! Mr. Gay!”
Mr. Gay and Mr. Gay passed Christmas Eve in sweet harmony.
The morning of the next day, all 30 pieces of Zheng QiuYang’s new jewelry set sold within one hour of the limited promotion.
Yuan Rui, who was sleeping at home, received a phone call from Li LingLing, telling him that DaWei TV extended an olive branch to him for a New Year’s Eve party; he just needed to prepare two songs to perform. Without even thinking about it, Yuan Rui refused. He wasn’t good at singing. Within such a short period of time, it’s too late to practice. Lip syncing was something he didn’t want to do and couldn’t do. Li LingLing didn’t force him. The other side’s invitation was also very sudden. Even if they make up an excuse to refuse and skip out, they won’t offend anyone. What’s important was that, to receive this kind of job invitation indicated that the aftermath of the video incident has pretty much passed.
Yuan Rui’s unintentional appearance on the live broadcast program yesterday night was truly as Zheng QiuYang had worried. There were many people suspecting that it was a deliberate hype. However, a video appeared online that was filmed from a cell phone. The shakiness of the screen clearly showed it was filmed secretly. Wearing a hat and mask, Yuan Rui was arguing with another passenger on the subway. The reason for the argument was because that passenger had leaned against the support beam, which created trouble for other passengers. Although Yuan Rui never made his identity known during the entire event, his clothes and woolen hat were completely identical to what he was wearing in the live stream of the charity show that day. Viewers familiar with him were also able to determine that it was indeed him from his voice. This video was reblogged several thousand times on Weibo. In the first comment of the popular forum, a girl posted a joint photo of herself and Yuan Rui. She said that this joint photo was taken a few months ago on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival when she and her boyfriend had accidentally encountered Yuan Rui in the subway. This video and discussion forum created a good impression for many bystanders. There was also a fair group of people who chose to believe that Yuan Rui’s appearance on the live broadcast program was purely coincidental; after all, no celebrity would ride the subway occasionally before intentionally hyping themselves up.
After New Year’s Day, <> aired online officially. The single-day click rate surpassed a million. The show’s creativity and post-production editing both exceeded the audience’s expectations. The only regret was that the ‘LiangYuan’ CP actually Bad Ending’d in the first episode. That day #Begging on my knees for Liang Xi’s revival# became the most popular topic.
The program team had already been feeling uneasy about Liang Xi’s drop out during the first episode. Very quickly, they decided to adjust the rules of the competition temporarily to arrange for a resurrection match during the recording of the 7th episode.
The day before the resurrection match, Yuan Rui sent Bai Tu a WeChat asking: “How’s Liang-ge’s preparations?”
Bai Tu replied: “Should be fine. Ever since he died in the first episode, he’s been watching <> everyday since his return.”
Yuan Rui: “Hahahahaha.”
Liang Xi won the resurrection match and successfully returned to the team. Yuan Rui also grudgingly recorded until the 8th episode. However, he ended up dead-last tragically and lost the opportunity to reach finals. However, the episode where he ‘died’ produced the highest click record for <>. It even surpassed the episode previously where Liang Xi revived.
After finishing this job, Yuan Rui, who gained more free time, started raising a black American shorthair cat. At first, Zheng QiuYang was very unused to this and often had standoffs with the kitty at home. Later on, he slowly got used to it; however, before papapa every time, he’d always send the kitty and kitty nest outside to avoid suddenly discovering a pair of big round eyes staring at them from the head of the bed right in the middle of excitement.
Before the Spring Festival, a well-known French perfume brand started negotiating with Li LingLing, planning to invite Yuan Rui to become the global representative for a certain cologne collection. Meanwhile, the Jewelry Design Competition also announced the qualifying products. Impressively, the ‘Scan’ that Zheng QiuYang designed was on the list.
On the night of the Lunar New Year’s, Zheng QiuYang brought his mom and Yuan Rui invited Suo JianJun and Suo Yue. The family of five ate New Year’s Eve dinner together for the first time. The atmosphere was very harmonious.
Several months later, Yuan Rui attended a business event and encountered Meng Lai. The two people politely greeted each other. Meng Lai was no longer in advertising and media. Instead, he took over his mother’s company transactions. He told Yuan Rui that Yang Lu had contracted breast cancer two years ago. A while ago, it had spread so much, she had to perform surgery. Right now she was recuperating and temporarily couldn’t continue working.
Yuan Rui didn’t know what to say. He could only provide his heartfelt well wishes.
He didn’t tell Zheng QiuYang about his coincidental encounter with Meng Lai. Although he really liked how Zheng QiuYang’s jealous look, the great designer was way too busy.
Even though Zheng QiuYang didn’t win the grand prize ultimately, his product was both extremely innovative and interesting, gaining special favor from the media. During the touring exhibitions of the qualifying products, Zheng QiuYang and ‘Scan’ received the most exposure from various media outlets, more than most of the other products. After the big competition ended, a prestigious jewelry magazine published an article, calling him “the most promising new designer of the year”, and “still glorious despite defeat”; he had pretty much become famous in one competition.
In several interviews, besides asking him the source of his inspiration, the question he received most frequently was “Why is there a photo of falling snow after scanning the QR code on the surface of the ring? Is there some kind of special meaning?”
He always made jokes and changed the conversation every time, never answering the question straightforwardly.
Yuan Rui was born on the first day of New Year’s. On that day, it was snowing very heavily. The elder of his family gave him the name ‘Rui’.
