NOVEL NEXT Chapter 255: A Collaboration of Epic Proportions
Chapter 255: A Collaboration of Epic Proportions
The lingering warmth of summer had barely faded when October arrived, bringing the onset of autumn. Just a week before the annual Autumn Arts Festival, Mei Fang and Lin Youxi faced the preliminary selection exam for the NOIP. Support the translator by reading @
The NOIP preliminaries are in the form of a written test, focusing on basic computer knowledge and programming skills. Support the translator by reading @
For ten-year coding veterans like Mei Fang and Lin Youxi, these types of questions were child’s play. They breezed through the exam without spending much time on it, and as they walked out of the exam hall, they jokingly complained to each other:
“To be honest, do you think we might have over-prepared for this?” Support the translator by reading @
“It’s fine. It’ll probably come in handy during the finals…” Despite Nido’s insistence that it was better not to force them to rest when they wanted to work, I still made them promise to absolutely not overdo it, keep an eye on those around them, and forcibly make anyone looking unwell take a break. But their enthusiasm was immense.
Between the preliminary and final rounds of NOIP was the Autumn Arts Festival. This year, Xia Yuan and Mei Fang went public with their relationship, and at the opening ceremony Xia Yuan dropped a bombshell—she performed and released her latest single, A Little Sweet, at the same time.
A Little Sweet is one of the signature songs of Wang Sulong[1], one of the “Big Three” of QQ Music in Mei Fang’s previous life. Like Bare Face, it is also a duet love song, a sweet tune filled with affection, perfectly capturing the current romantic vibe between Xia Yuan and Mei Fang. Although Mei Fang didn’t have much preparation, it wasn’t a difficult task for him. To attend the entrance ceremony, both Yukino and I were dressed in the uniforms that had arrived a few days ago. The designs were different for boys and girls, but the blazers were predominantly maroon and white, with a shiny new silver badge on the left lapel.
Releasing a single at the Autumn Arts Festival was essentially Xia Yuan revealing her true identity as Yuanbao to the public. Instead of letting someone else spill the beans, Xia Yuan decided to do it herself to gain popularity.
With the help of newly inducted core members Wan Chaoxiong and Xiang Bingbing, the latest edited video of the festival was uploaded and featured on the homepage of C Site for promotion. The single, coupled with the live performance at the Autumn Arts Festival of Jiangcheng NOHS, where both Yuanbao and Fangbao appeared on stage together, was a huge surprise for Yuanbao’s fans. The steady traffic on C Site, which Lin Youxi was proud of, was overwhelmed to the point of crashing, forcing Lin Youxi and Mei Fang to work overnight to maintain the website.
【This song is so sweet!】【Is it embarrassing to enjoy listening to this kind of song at my age?】
【This song is great, I’m going to use it to make a meme video of Wang Lang!】[2]
【What kind of pervert are you?】 From a very young age, his little sister was incredibly quirky and mischievous but also possessed an intellect far beyond her peers. Even the reborn Mei Fang, sometimes found her difficult to handle.
【Wang Lang: I’ll pluck an apple and give it to my beloved Zhuge.】[3]
【Whoa! So they really are students at Jiangcheng NOHS! Good-looking, great singers, and top students—what kind of divine characters are they?】
【It’s true! I was there in person! Yuanbao is a girl from the class next to mine!】 From a very young age, his little sister was incredibly quirky and mischievous but also possessed an intellect far beyond her peers. Even the reborn Mei Fang, sometimes found her difficult to handle.
【She and Fangbao have known each other since kindergarten—they’re childhood sweethearts!】
【No way, is this for real? Are such perfect couples really out there? This sounds like something straight out of a novel!】
【Liu Cixin: Cool】
【Who’s that person mentioned above me?】 Support the translator by reading @ gemnovel(dot)com
【Haven’t you read the sci-fi novel The Three-Body Problem? It’s 2012; I won’t allow anyone not to have read The Three-Body Problem!】[4]
【So this is what Yuanbao looks like! Even cuter than I imagined, amazing!】
【Could someone please Photoshop that guy next to Yuanbao out? He’s really an eyesore.】
【What’s wrong with Fangbao? I think Fangbao is good-looking too!】
【Exactly! I think Fangbao’s collarbone is really sexy.】
【It’s shot from so far away—how can you even see his collarbone…】
【Don’t you dare say anything bad about my Fangbao! Come and fight me IRL!】
【I hereby declare Yuanbao as the nation’s first love!】
【Huhu, does nobody care about our Xibao? Huhu…】
【I still think Fangbao doesn’t deserve Yuanbao—unless he’s the C Site’s Young Miss!】
【No way, no way! Are there still people doubting that Yuanbao is the Young Miss of C Site in 2012?】 The reception room was a private room for the lord to entertain guests. It didn’t originally exist in this mansion, so we refurbished one of the empty rooms on the second floor instead. I had the servant trio purchase and deliver some furniture from the capital on their way back. The furniture were inexpensive pieces unworthy of a noble’s fortune, but perfectly suitable for this small mansion.
【I don’t accept it! Where’s Xibao? Show me Xibao right now! Xibao is the real Young Miss!】
With the massive traffic on C Site, Xia Yuan’s latest single, A Little Sweet, broke the daily play record on QQ Music on the day of its release, shooting straight to the top of the new song chart. Xia Yuan also instantly earned the title of 【Nation’s First Love】.
Xia Yuan had already become quite indifferent to such explosive popularity since last year. She would only share interesting comments with Mei Fang and Lin Youxi if she happened to come across them while browsing. There are children aged five to ten everywhere here, and Mei Ya is considered very young, but she still goes to the slides with those little boys and girls. Xia Yuan is worried about Mei Ya’s safety, so she follows along and lets Mei Fang wait for Mei Ya in the ball pit area under the slide.
In truth, Xia Yuan was still the same person as before. Apart from physical growth, there wasn’t much difference between her now and the Xia Yuan who had just started high school.
Although the original Xia Yuan was already very cute, the halo of a popular singer around her had created an unfortunate barrier between her and the students who didn’t know her well. Even when talking to Xia Yuan, they would appear very cautious.
While Xia Yuan resented being treated differently, she realized that her newfound fame had a silver lining. It acted as a barrier, shielding her from unwanted advances. It was a bittersweet trade-off. Support the translator by reading @ gemnovel(dot)com
Currently, Xia Yuan’s single release has achieved remarkable success, which was entirely within Manager Mei’s plan. Not wasting any time, Tirkus grasped the pots tightly, tucked the bread under his arm, balanced the cheese in his hand, and carefully headed back. The new recruits behind him had overheard the conversation. For them, who had once eaten pig food every day, soft and delicious bread was already a rare treat. Now, being able to enjoy cheese, drink mutton soup, and chew on bacon filled them with excitement.
The timing of this release was actually very delicate, and he didn’t intend to waste the momentum of Xia Yuan’s sudden popularity. So, riding this wave of success, they recorded a thank-you video.
Unlike the last time, Xia Yuan’s outfit this time was very casual and relaxed. Additionally, in this thank-you video, Mei Fang planned to appear on screen together with Xia Yuan. The first two minutes were led by Xia Yuan in a spontaneous monologue. Support the translator by reading @ gemnovel(dot)com
“Ta-da! Hello, everyone on C Site!”
Xia Yuan bounced into the frame from off-camera, waving vigorously at the camera held by Xiang Bingbing. “Today is the first time I’m officially meeting everyone. This is Yuanbao—Oh, should I add ‘desu’ this time? Haha… whatever, I guess.”
She scratched her head a little sheepishly. “Anyway, the new single topped the QQ Music new song chart on the first day of its release. I really didn’t expect everyone to be so enthusiastic! Thank you all so much for your support. I’ll keep writing good songs and bringing even better music to everyone!” After seeing the battle at the farm, Glaber quickly sent out the few soldiers he had left to attack the rebel forces from both sides, hoping to trap the rebels and bring the retreating Roman soldiers back to reinforce the farm’s defenses. However, just as the Romans were about to recover the routing troops, to their surprise, Hamilcar and a few hundred men arrived just in time. Although they lacked weapons, these rebel soldiers, mostly former slaves with frail bodies, carried a deep hatred for the Romans. They used their bodies to collide, their fists to strike, and even their teeth to bite, exhibiting a ferocious and frenzied appearance.
“I guess many of you already know my real identity. After my last release, there were a lot of rumors and controversy, so this time I proactively uploaded a video from the Jiangcheng No.1 High School’s Autumn Arts Festival. This is to put an end to some of those rumors or disputes, so please don’t let any unpleasantness arise because of it.”
“As for debuting… I’m still a high school student, and songwriting and singing are just hobbies for me right now. I plan to focus on my studies, and commercial collaborations are still too early for me, so I generally turn them down. I hope everyone will also respect my private life—I’d feel really troubled if that gets disturbed. Let’s keep the good memories on C Site and the internet where they belong!” Support the translator by reading @
“And then…”
Xia Yuan glanced at the cue card held up by Wan Chaoxiong. “Two minutes are up? Ah Fang, Ah Fang, come on! It’s your turn! Don’t be shy, hurry up and come here——” Not wasting any time, Tirkus grasped the pots tightly, tucked the bread under his arm, balanced the cheese in his hand, and carefully headed back. The new recruits behind him had overheard the conversation. For them, who had once eaten pig food every day, soft and delicious bread was already a rare treat. Now, being able to enjoy cheese, drink mutton soup, and chew on bacon filled them with excitement.
Mei Fang was pulled into the frame by Xia Yuan, their playful couple dynamic evident on screen.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Mei Fang cleared his throat softly and then smiled at the camera, saying, “We’re very grateful for everyone’s support for Yuanbao all this time. This time, topping the new artist chart was really, really unexpected for us.” This indoor roller skating rink had decent customer flow in the summer, with many elementary school students playing here. However, there were fewer middle school students, because internet cafes were already flourishing at this time.
Mei Fang rubbed his hands together, a bit embarrassed. “We really wanted to give something back to our fans, but since we’re only students and don’t have much money, after a lot of thought, we decided to give away 10,000 copies of the game we’ve recently completed as a thank-you gift!” The reception room was a private room for the lord to entertain guests. It didn’t originally exist in this mansion, so we refurbished one of the empty rooms on the second floor instead. I had the servant trio purchase and deliver some furniture from the capital on their way back. The furniture were inexpensive pieces unworthy of a noble’s fortune, but perfectly suitable for this small mansion.
“Ah Fang, you’re speaking too soon! We haven’t even introduced what we do yet!” Xia Yuan reminded him, tugging on his arm.
“Oh, right… I forgot to introduce myself to everyone. Besides occasionally helping Yuanbao by singing with her on stage, my main activity is game development. Currently, we’ve established a club at school called Ximilu Studio. Yes, that’s right, some of you might have heard of it—it’s the Ximilu Games on C Site, and I’m the producer.” Even Crixus did not express opposition to this. After all, in the situation where all the other leaders were going to battle, apart from Maximus, there was no one else who could take on this heavy responsibility.
“Actually, we’ve been working on a brand-new game recently. It’s what people overseas often refer to as an indie game. The games we’ve made before were more light-hearted and quirky, but this new project is a journey about a girl’s quest. I’ll be sharing the trailer in parts soon, so those interested can actively participate in our activities!”
Xia Yuan, swaying Mei Fang’s arm, radiated sweetness in her girlfriend-like demeanor. “Listen, listen! All the music in this game was designed by me and my friends. The game is now available on Steam Greenlight
, so if you’re interested, please check out more information about our new project at the link below the screen! And… if you’re able, we’d appreciate your support for our new work!”Within just a minute of posting the video online, a flood of comments began pouring in. However, with one shocking revelation after another in this video, viewers didn’t even know where to start expressing their surprise. An ignorant noble’s daughter who doesn’t understand a thing is playing at being lord out here in the furthest corner of the country after running away from her marital home the day after her wedding. What kind of upbringing did she even have? Lamentable. Frustrating. But due to the constraints of social status, I have no choice but to obey—I suppose this was how he felt.
【Fangbao! Is actually! The producer! Of my favorite domestic game studio, Ximilu Studio!】
【No way, I love Reigns so much!】
【Enough talk, I’m off to watch the trailer!】
【What is Steam
? And what is Greenlight?】【I can’t believe such a cute Yuanbao also makes games! My gosh, this girl is just too perfect for any guy!】
【From today on, I’m Yuanbao’s forever fan!】
【This is what you call a collaboration of epic proportions!】 Despite Nido’s insistence that it was better not to force them to rest when they wanted to work, I still made them promise to absolutely not overdo it, keep an eye on those around them, and forcibly make anyone looking unwell take a break. But their enthusiasm was immense.
Translator's Notes:
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