Another Lunar New Year’s Eve has arrived. Qi Xi spent it at the sanatorium with Fu Yanchuan and Lin Xianjing. Although she still couldn’t remember them, her condition had improved greatly this year. She even went with them to set off fireworks.
Due to review and approval issues, the animation missed the National Day slot but caught the Spring Festival release.
Qi Xi had already seen the film, but he still planned to see it with Fu Yanchuan on opening day. However, Fu Yanchuan pulled him around recklessly that night, draining his strength. As a result, he couldn’t get up in the morning and even missed breakfast.
When he woke up, he realized that this wasn’t the bedroom he was familiar with. He slowly scanned the room and asked in a sticky voice, “Fu Yanchuan, what time is it?”
Fu Yanchuan pressed up against his back, hugging him tightly and lightly biting the back of his neck. “It’s still early. If you want to sleep, sleep a bit more.”
The curtains were drawn tightly, and almost no light came through. He couldn’t tell the time, but it was definitely not early. Thinking about going to the movies, he suddenly sat up.
The blanket covering Fu Yanchuan was also pulled off. Lying there, he looked at the back of Qi Xi’s head and said, “We can watch the movie later.”
“No! I have to support it the moment it’s released! Get up, hurry!”
Fu Yanchuan didn’t get up. Instead, he pulled the person who was about to get out of bed back in one motion. He pressed him onto himself, pulled the blanket back over them, and said, “Xixi, Happy New Year.”
Qi Xi immediately thought of last night. He didn’t know if Fu Yanchuan had wished him a happy new year at midnight. He only remembered being messed with until his mind went completely blank. He smiled and cupped Fu Yanchuan’s face. “Fu Yanchuan, Happy New Year! We made it through another year happily and blissfully.”
Suddenly, Fu Yanchuan hugged Qi Xi tightly, burying his face in Qi Xi’s neck. Many times, he could feel Qi Xi growing up—no longer the homeless boy who hugged a cat by the roadside.
But when he thought back, he realized that he had changed a lot, too. Qiu Yizhou said he was becoming less and less like a robot. In fact, he had noticed it himself. Following Qi Xi, he experienced feelings he had never felt before. Yet, he also became increasingly unable to leave Qi Xi.
Time hadn’t cured his separation anxiety. Instead, it had grown worse. Even when Qi Xi was right by his side, Qiu Yizhou couldn’t help but think about what he would do if Qi Xi ever left him.
Qi Xi was already used to Fu Yanchuan acting cute with him. He patted Fu Yanchuan’s hair and said, “Be good, Yan Yan. Shall we go watch the movie?”
“Xixi, say you love me.”
Fu Yanchuan always seized any chance to make him say it. Qi Xi pushed Fu Yanchuan’s face up. He had wanted to complain about how annoying Fu Yanchuan was, but when he saw his face, which still looked like a manga protagonist’s, he shamelessly confessed, “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
In the end, they played around on the bed until almost noon before finally getting up. They ate lunch with Lin Xianjing first, then left.
On the way back, Qi Xi realized that both Qi Zhounan and Xie Hui had asked him to watch the animation he made. Even Fu Zhen said he wanted to watch it.
He suddenly said to Fu Yanchuan, “How about I invite them all to go together?”
Fu Yanchuan tightened his grip on the steering wheel and asked, “Who are they?”
“Xie Hui and Qi Zhounan, Fu Yi, and Fu Zhen.”
His reflex was to object. He would never be able to like Xie Hui in this lifetime. Qi Zhounan was too annoying. Fu Yi and Fu Zhen clung to Qi Xi even more than Qi Zhounan did, making him worry that Qi Xi might suddenly decide to have two kids one day.
But then he met Qi Xi’s expectant gaze and agreed, replying, “Okay.”
Qi Xi immediately responded to Xie Hui and Qi Zhounan, setting a meeting place. Then, Fu Yanchuan drove to pick up Fu Yi and Fu Zhen.
The two kids had grown quite a bit taller over the year. They were in elementary school this year and had many ideas of their own.
Since it was raining and cold outside that day, and Fu Yanchuan didn’t want to waste time driving into the garage, he parked the car at the gate and went in alone to get them.
Seeing that only Fu Yanchuan had come, Fu Yi crossed her arms, pinched her chin, and thought for a long while before asking, “Uncle Yan, did you and Uncle Qi have a fight? Do you want us to help you make up with Uncle Qi?”
Fu Yanchuan flicked her on the forehead. “You just want me to fight with your aunt, don’t you? We will absolutely never fight. Stop hoping for it!”
Fu Yi didn’t believe him and replied, “Impossible. Fu Zhen and I fight, and Uncle Yun and Uncle Chen fight with their wives too!”
“When do you and Fu Er not fight?”
Fu Yanchuan was unhappy that Fu Yi compared him and Qi Xi to those cousins. At that moment, Fu Zhen came over with his backpack and said eagerly, “Uncle Yan, I’m ready! Let’s go!”
Fu Wanyi and the nanny chased after them. Fu Zhen tried to run out immediately, but Fu Yanchuan grabbed him with one hand. Fu Wanyi went over, opened his backpack, and took out a rabbit—alive.
Ever since seeing Dasheng, Fu Zhen had been begging to keep a cat. Fu Wanyi didn’t agree, so all kinds of small animals appeared in his room. No one knew where he got them.
“Where did this come from?”
Fu Wanyi grabbed the rabbit and asked. However, she didn’t know how to hold it properly. As soon as the rabbit struggled, it slipped out of her hands, jumped to the ground, and ran off.
She and the nanny hurried to catch the rabbit. Fu Zhen sighed regretfully and turned to Fu Yanchuan, saying, “Erlang Shen can’t watch the movie with us anymore. Let’s go, Uncle Yan.”
Disgusted, Fu Yi moved several steps away from Fu Zhen. “Don’t tell me. It stinks.”
Fu Zhen grinned, threw his backpack over Fu Yi’s head suddenly, turned around, and ran. Fu Yi took off the backpack, glared at Fu Zhen, and chased after him. “Fu Er, you’re dead!”
Fu Wanyi failed to catch the rabbit and was panting with anger. Seeing Fu Zhen run off, she shouted, “Fu Er, bring the rabbit back!”
Fu Zhen dove straight into Fu Yanchuan’s car. Seeing Qi Xi inside, he said, “Uncle Qi, hurry up and go! A monster is coming to catch us.”
The monster, Fu Yi, stood outside the car door. She smiled at him through the glass. The door opened, and Qi Xi heard someone beg for mercy.
“Sister, I am your slave. Please forgive me. I won’t dare do it again.”
As usual, Fu Yanchuan sat in the driver’s seat, leaned over to the passenger seat and asked Qi Xi, “Did you miss me?”
Qi Xi was more curious about what had happened. “What did Fu Zhen do this time?”
“Why do you only care about him?”
Fu Yanchuan pinched Qi Xi’s cheek in dissatisfaction. Then he sat back and ordered, “Fasten your seatbelt and sit properly.”
The two siblings answered in unison, “Yes, Uncle Yan.”
When they arrived at the cinema, they saw that Xie Hui and Qi Zhounan had already arrived. They also couldn’t stand each other and sat at the same table, disliking each other mutually.
Fu Yanchuan realized that almost everyone there had trouble getting along with each other, except Qi Xi, who got along well with everyone. The more he thought about it, the unhappier he felt, especially when he saw Xie Hui. Qi Xi showed no restraint and rushed over to Xie Hui, hanging onto him.
Whenever he voiced any objections, Qi Xi would respond by saying that he and Xie Hui were already like this before he knew him, leaving him speechless and further unable to reconcile with Xie Hui.
“Xi Xi.”
He pulled Qi Xi back from Xie Hui’s arms, hugged him as if to declare ownership, leaned close to his ear and said, “Come with me to buy tickets.”
Xie Hui replied, “I already bought them. We’re entering in ten minutes.”
Qi Xi had never seen the movie tickets for the animation he made. He immediately pushed Fu Yanchuan away and walked toward Xie Hui. “Let me see.”
Fu Zhen didn’t care what it was and squeezed over too. “I want to see, too.”
The three of them crowded together to look at the tickets. After looking for a long time, Fu Zhen asked in confusion, “Uncle Qi, what are we looking at?”
“Movie tickets.”
Fu Zhen seemed to understand, yet also not to understand. He scratched his head and suddenly turned to look for Qi Zhounan. “I want to eat popcorn. Can you treat me?”
Fu Yi immediately jumped over and slapped Fu Zhen. “Mom said we’re not allowed to eat out!”
This year, they often went to Fu Yanchuan’s house to hang out. Qi Zhounan often went to visit his brother, too, so they all became familiar with each other.
Qi Zhounan didn’t really want to play with kids, though. Every time, Qi Xi ignored him, making him feel superfluous. To avoid looking superfluous, he had no choice but to play with them.
He took the two kids to buy popcorn, and Fu Yanchuan finally succeeded in squeezing between Qi Xi and Xie Hui.
Xie Hui hadn’t come back for the New Year last year, returning only near the end of this year. They had only met once before the New Year. Qi Xi asked across Fu Yanchuan, “Xie Hui, didn’t you say that day that you were planning to return to the country?”
“Yeah, but it’ll take another two years. I want to gain more work experience so that it’ll be easier to find a job when I return.”
Fu Yanchuan glanced at Xie Hui sideways. “What’s your major?”
In fact, he had already researched Xie Hui’s school and internship company and found out if he had ever had a girlfriend.
Xie Hui suddenly stared at Fu Yanchuan. He didn’t know that Fu Yanchuan had investigated him, but he had also investigated Fu Yanchuan to the best of his ability. He replied, “Finance. President Fu, are you going to introduce me to a boss?”
“I do know people near your school. I can introduce you. The prospects will definitely be better than returning to the country.”
Xie Hui felt that Fu Yanchuan was almost telling him not to return. He answered, “My parents are all here. Back then, I chose to go abroad because I couldn’t get into a top domestic university. I never planned on immigrating.”
Qi Xi immediately used Xie Hui’s words to lecture Fu Yanchuan. “Exactly. Xie Hui has been abroad for so many years. We only see each other once or twice a year. If he comes back, we can see each other often. Isn’t that good?”
Xie Hui agreed, “Yeah, could it be that President Fu doesn’t want to see my Qi Xi?”
Fu Yanchuan knew this would be the result. He reached out and ruffled Qi Xi’s hair. “The movie is about to start. Let’s go.”
Qi Xi easily changed the subject and hurried to watch the movie. Fu Yanchuan held his hand and followed him, satisfied.
Xie Hui looked speechless and disgusted at Fu Yanchuan holding Qi Xi’s hand. After Qi Zhounan bought popcorn, he didn’t see his brother. He also glanced at Xie Hui in disgust and hurried to chase after Qi Xi.
Holding the popcorn her mom didn’t allow her to eat, Fu Yi ate as she spoke to Xie Hui: “Do you want popcorn? It’s very sweet. If you eat some, you won’t feel sad.”
Xie Hui laughed. “Where do you see that I’m sad?”
“They’re all ignoring you. Aren’t you sad?”
Xie Hui was suddenly hit right in the soft spot by a child. He took out the movie ticket and said, “In this society, only those who control resources have a voice. Understand?”
Fu Yi didn’t understand, but when several people stopped at the ticket check and turned back to call to Xie Hui, she seemed to understand.
There weren’t many people coming to watch the movie in the afternoon, but not too few, either. The occupancy rate was about half. All of them, big and small, sat in one entire row.
Fu Yanchuan was actually seeing a movie in a theater for the first time. Before it started, the extra people kept pestering Qi Xi with endless questions. He made an example of Fu Zhen by pushing him back into his seat. “Sit still. You can’t talk in the theater.”
Qi Xi followed with a shushing sound. “You’ll understand after watching. I guarantee I drew it really well!”
A few minutes later, the lights dimmed and the movie began.
Fu Yanchuan had seen Qi Xi’s drawings and had also watched clips of the animation. He even knew the general outline of the story. He had never been interested in fictional stories and had only come to accompany Qi Xi.
But as he watched, he unconsciously became absorbed in the story, immersing himself in the protagonist’s journey.
The story was about a boy who became withdrawn after losing his parents and drifting between relatives. Without proper care, his condition worsened, and he almost completely stopped communicating with the outside world. He spent all his time drawing, and his drawings became darker and more terrifying. This made the relatives who took him in dislike and loathe him even more.
Then, the protagonist’s drawings suddenly came to life. The terrifying monsters began to hunt him down, and he started an escape adventure. During his escape adventure, the hardships he faced after losing his parents were reflected.
But just as the plot became heavy and revealed the cruelty of reality, it suddenly took a sharp turn. The monsters the protagonist encountered were based on when he had drawn them, going backward in time. The monsters that appeared before him changed from dark and menacing to gorgeous, dreamlike, cute beasts, and the protagonist rediscovered the joy he once had in drawing.
Ultimately, it returned to the first drawing he ever made, which depicted his childhood dream:
—To become a painter.
The animation ended when the protagonist’s consciousness returned to reality, and he started drawing colorful pictures again. A line of words appeared on the screen:
[Do you still remember your childhood dreams?]
The cinema lights came back on. Many people didn’t leave immediately, but instead discussed their dreams with the people they came with.
Qi Xi couldn’t help asking, “So, how was it? Was it good?”
Fu Yanchuan thought Cheng Shu was smart. He didn’t impose his values on the movie, nor did he preach to society. Instead, he used a simple sentence to allow the audience to project themselves into the animation and recall their past dreams. Rather than being a fantasy animation for children, it was more like a fairy tale for adults.
He wasn’t sure how much the box office would make, but it would spark discussion in no time.
Of course, aside from all that, he felt that the highlight was Qi Xi’s drawings and the intense emotions that seemed ready to burst out from the screen. It was exactly the same feeling he had when looking at Qi Xi’s drawings.
He held Qi Xi’s hand tightly and answered sincerely, “Xi Xi, you’re really amazing!”
“Hehe, I think so too!”
After Qi Xi said that, he heard people in the row ahead praise the shocking and beautiful visuals, making him feel even more smug.
After watching the movie, Fu Yanchuan decided not to bring the kids anymore. He said goodbye to Xie Hui and Qi Zhounan, and sent Fu Yi and Fu Zhen back home. Then, he went home with Qi Xi.
As Fu Yanchuan had predicted, the animation sparked a wave of nostalgia for childhood dreams in the days that followed. Since it was an animated film, its box office performance during presales had been lackluster. However, after this surge of interest, it experienced a box office rebound. People searched for the animation production team’s name and found Qi Xi, which led to a surge in his followers. Within days, he gained over a hundred thousand new fans.
Qi Xi held his phone. Each time he refreshed, he saw that he had gained two more followers, and he couldn’t help but smile.
Fu Yanchuan had already been ignored for several days because of this. He took Qi Xi’s phone, tossed it aside, and pulled Qi Xi over. “Xi Xi, look at me.”
Qi Xi lay down next to Fu Yanchuan and found a comfortable position. Then he said, “Fu Yanchuan, I’m really happy. Now, no one calls me stupid anymore. Before I met you, I never thought I could be like this, with so many people praising and liking me.”
“That’s because you were already excellent to begin with.”
“No.”
Qi Xi raised his head and looked at Fu Yanchuan seriously. “Because you encouraged me, praised me, and told me that everyone is good at different things, I became the Qi Xi of today. You are my reborn parents, my benefactor who remade me, my—”
“Husband.”
Fu Yanchuan cut off Qi Xi. He didn’t know how many more roles Qi Xi would assign him if he continued. Raising his head, he bit Qi Xi’s Adam’s apple and said in an ambiguous voice, “I only want to be your husband.”
“Alright then.”
Qi Xi suddenly reached to undo the buttons on Fu Yanchuan’s clothes. With innocent, pure eyes, he asked, “Husband, can I blindfold you today?”
Fu Yanchuan chuckled softly. Qi Xi was the type of person who was bad at it, yet loved to play. He always ended up trapping himself but never learned his lesson.
He wondered what comic this fool had been reading recently. He pretended to be a bit reluctant and agreed. “As long as you want.”
Qi Xi kissed him to seal the deal. “Don’t worry. I won’t bully you.”
“Okay.”
You can read the full completed story here with instant full access. ✨
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