Fortunately, the wound on Jiang Luo’s nose bridge wasn’t deep. It scabbed over within a couple of days, and by the time the National Day holiday began, the scab had fallen off, leaving only a faint reddish mark. Jiang Luo was quite careful to avoid scarring, sticking to a bland diet during those few days.
On the day the holiday started, Jiang Luo and Cheng Jiashu headed home together, taking the same high-speed train. Cheng Jiashu’s father had arranged for a driver to meet them at the station, and after they arrived, Cheng Jiashu invited Jiang Luo to ride with him, but Jiang Luo declined.
“I still need to go to the school to pick up Xiaochen,” Jiang Luo said.
“Let’s just go pick him up together,” Cheng Jiashu insisted. He told the driver the name of the school and added, “Uncle Wu, let’s go pick up Jiang Luo’s brother first.”
Uncle Wu smiled and said, “Sure.”
With the long holiday starting tomorrow, the evening rush hour was exceptionally congested. When they arrived at the school, Jiang Chen was still in his dorm packing his clothes. The weather had turned cold, and he needed to bring his summer clothes home. Jiang Luo went to the dorm to find him, and Cheng Jiashu tagged along.
As soon as they entered the campus, Cheng Jiashu sighed: “I haven’t seen so many young faces in a long time. Youth, oh youth…”
Jiang Luo laughed: “You say that like you’re so old.”
They were only twenty, still very young. Jiang Luo’s face looked even younger; standing among these high schoolers, you couldn’t tell the age difference at all. If he put on a school uniform, he’d look just like one of them.
When they entered the dorm, Jiang Chen was crouching on the floor, stuffing things into a suitcase with his back to the door. Just as Cheng Jiashu was about to speak, Jiang Luo made a “shh” gesture, signaling him to be quiet.
Jiang Luo tiptoed behind Jiang Chen, made a gun shape with his hand, and pressed it against Jiang Chen’s back: “Stick-up! Don’t move!”
Jiang Chen paused, then couldn’t help but smile, calling out, “Brother.”
“This is a robbery,” Jiang Luo said with a straight face. “Be serious.”
“What are you planning to rob?” Jiang Chen asked. “I’ve got a suitcase full of clothes here. You can take them.”
Jiang Luo couldn’t hold back his laughter: “Alright, pack them up for me, and I’ll rob you later.”
“Okay.”
Cheng Jiashu stood at the doorway laughing: “I really have to hand it to you, you couldn’t get any more childish.”
Jiang Chen turned to look at Jiang Luo, his expression suddenly freezing as he stared at the scar on his nose bridge. Jiang Luo had fair skin, so the faint scar was quite noticeable on his face.
“Brother, what happened to your face?” Jiang Chen stood up and turned to look at Jiang Luo. “What happened to your nose?”
Jiang Luo touched his nose bridge and said: “It’s nothing. I accidentally got hit by a shuttlecock while playing badminton a few days ago.”
Jiang Chen frowned.
“It’s really nothing. A small injury. Look, the scab is already gone, it’s just a tiny mark.”
“Be more careful when you play ball from now on,” Jiang Chen said, still frowning.
“Alright, I’ll be careful.”
Jiang Chen looked at Cheng Jiashu at the door: “Brother Jiashu.”
“Hey,” Cheng Jiashu replied. As Jiang Chen stood up, his height became apparent—he was tall and thin. “You’ve really grown fast, Xiaochen. How long has it been? You seem so much taller.”
They had just measured their heights in PE class last week, so Jiang Chen nodded and said: “Yeah, I grew a bit.”
“It’s not just ‘a bit’,” Cheng Jiashu laughed. “Last time I saw you, you only reached my neck.”
“Why did you come too, Brother Jiashu?” Jiang Chen asked.
“I just brought your brother over. You two will ride in my car back home later.”
“Oh, thank you, Brother Jiashu.”
Jiang Luo looked at Jiang Chen’s suitcase: “Anything else you need to pack?”
“No.” Jiang Chen crouched down to close the suitcase and zipped it up.
“What about your bed sheets and quilt cover? Did you take them off? Bring them home to wash.”
“I took them off.”
Cheng Jiashu leaned against the doorframe, shaking his head and clicking his tongue: “What a trouble-free kid.”
Jiang Chen looked at him: “I’m only four years younger than you, Brother Jiashu.”
Cheng Jiashu was amused: “Alright, alright. Brother Jiashu used the wrong word. What a trouble-free youth, is that better?”
Before Jiang Chen could react, Jiang Luo had already started laughing. He picked up the suitcase and patted Jiang Chen on the back of his head: “Let’s go, youth.”
Jiang Chen muttered an “Oh.”
That evening, Jiang Luo sent Gu Shiyue a WeChat message: Senior, are you coming to the anime convention on the 3rd?
They hadn’t seen each other since that dinner, and they hadn’t been in contact for days. Gu Shiyue had once said he would go if he was free, but Jiang Luo wasn’t sure if he would actually show up. If he did, they might be able to meet before Jiang Luo’s autograph session started.
Gu Shiyue was working on a fluid simulation on his computer and hadn’t been checking his phone. It wasn’t until just before bedtime that Jiang Luo received a reply. Gu Shiyue had to attend an exchange meeting with his advisor on the 3rd and wasn’t sure when it would end.
Gu Shiyue: Busy, didn’t check my phone. Gu Shiyue: I have something to do that day, not sure if I can go. Jiang Luo: Oh, I see. Gu Shiyue: If it ends early, I’ll go. Jiang Luo: Okay, go do your work. Important things come first. Gu Shiyue: Is your injury healed? Jiang Luo: Just a tiny mark left, should be gone in a few days. Gu Shiyue: Hmm.
Gu Shiyue didn’t reply again, and Jiang Luo put his phone down, rolled over, and went to sleep.
For this National Day convention, Jiang Luo was bringing Jiang Chen along. Jiang Chen wasn’t interested in ACG (Animation, Comics, and Games) at all; he was just going to be his brother’s little assistant. The convention was on the third day of the holiday, and since it was in a different city, Jiang Luo had to travel there the night before. The organizers had arranged a hotel for Jiang Luo. Cheng Jiashu was also going to the convention and wanted to travel with Jiang Luo, so he booked the same hotel and arrived a night early as well.
The morning of the second day of the convention, Jiang Luo got up early to apply his makeup and get dressed. Jiang Chen, having brought his homework, sat quietly at the desk doing practice papers. He didn’t understand anything about cosplay makeup, so he couldn’t help his brother much. Jiang Chen was fast with his English papers; after finishing one set, he turned around to look at his brother.
It was still early—only 7:30 AM. Jiang Luo had originally wanted to book a separate room so Jiang Chen wouldn’t be woken up by his early start, but Jiang Chen refused, so the brothers stayed in one room. When Jiang Luo got up, he moved softly, afraid of disturbing him, but Jiang Chen opened his eyes the moment Jiang Luo got out of bed. Jiang Chen had woken up on his own; he washed up, got dressed, and sat there doing his homework.
The boy who usually had trouble getting out of bed had no trouble at all today—he was waiting on the sidelines, ready to help his brother with anything he needed.
“Brother, is there anything you need help with?” Jiang Chen asked, sitting there.
Jiang Luo was putting a rivet choker around his neck and asked with a smile: “Did you finish your papers?”
“No, just finished one set.” Jiang Chen spun the pen in his hand.
“I’m thirsty,” Jiang Luo said.
“Mhm.” Jiang Chen got up, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to him.
Jiang Luo took the bottle and took a sip. His cosplay makeup was mostly done. He turned to look at Jiang Chen: “How is it?”
Jiang Luo only had the makeup on; he hadn’t put on the wig yet. The scar on his nose was covered by his foundation—it was completely invisible. Jiang Chen stared at his face. With his “straight-guy” perspective, he couldn’t appreciate the intricacies of the eye makeup; he just felt that his brother didn’t look much different from before. Either way, he looked just as good; only his aura seemed slightly different.
Jiang Luo was wearing light blue contact lenses. Jiang Chen looked at his eyes and gave a blunt evaluation: “Your eyeballs are quite eye-catching.”
Jiang Luo laughed: “What kind of review is that?”
Around 8:00 AM, they left the hotel and hailed a taxi to the exhibition center. Because Jiang Luo had to sign autographs, he had to get there early. Cheng Jiashu was still at the hotel and didn’t go with them. The taxi driver, a man of the world, didn’t even blink when the handsomely dressed cosplayer got into his car; he had already lost count of how many cosplayers he’d picked up that morning.
The autograph session officially started at 10:00 AM, but Jiang Luo arrived at 9:00 AM. He used a special entrance, so getting inside was seamless.
The area in front of the booth was already packed. When Jiang Luo walked out from backstage, the crowd in front of the queue went silent for a second, followed by a sudden burst of huge cheers.
Those at the back heard the commotion and realized that Luo C had finally arrived.
This was Jiang Luo’s first offline event, and the enthusiasm of the fans caught him off guard. Jiang Chen was startled by the sudden screams and nearly had his eardrums shattered.
Jiang Luo waved to the fans in line, triggering another round of enthusiastic cheers and screams. The girls at the very front of the line were going crazy, their faces flushed with excitement as they held up their phones to snap pictures.
“Oh my god, he’s too handsome! He’s actually this handsome in person!” “I’m dead, I’m actually dead, he’s too handsome…” “Oh my heavens… he’s even more handsome than his photos…” “Is that his assistant next to him? He’s so handsome too!” “The assistant looks so young? Oh my god, how come even the assistant is this handsome?” “Luo doesn’t look that old… didn’t he already start college? Is he really a college student?” “He is a college student. I have a friend who goes to the same school as him; she says he’s even better-looking in his natural state, very delicate features.”
Jiang Chen frowned slightly. He didn’t actually like these kinds of occasions—nothing in particular, just that it was too noisy. He knew it would be crowded before he came, but he didn’t expect it to be this chaotic. Jiang Luo turned to look at him, smiled, and whispered: “I told you not to come, but you insisted. Regretting it now?”
“Not regretting it,” Jiang Chen sat straight beside him. “If I don’t come, who’s going to be your assistant?”
Jiang Luo would adjust his temperament according to the character he was cosplaying, trying his best to stay in character so he wouldn’t go “OOC” (Out of Character). Since he was cosplaying today, he didn’t interact with the fans as his “normal self.” It was actually quite difficult for him to keep a cool, aloof expression because he had “smiling eyes”—the corners of his eyes would naturally curve whenever he smiled.
He couldn’t go through the autograph session without smiling at all, especially since Jiang Luo was naturally a cheerful person. Whenever he smiled, his eyes would curve, bringing a natural, sweet charm.
The girl who had just reached the front of the line was holding her phone with trembling hands. She covered her mouth and choked out: “Teacher, you look so good when you smile…”
Her voice was trembling so much it was almost breaking. She was clearly very excited and nervous. After signing the poster, Jiang Luo looked up and smiled at her: “Don’t be nervous.”
Her voice remained shaky: “It’s hard not to be… I… Teacher, you…”
The staff member nearby reminded them that the interaction time was ending. The girl was so anxious her words were stuttering, but she managed to get a photo with Jiang Luo in the final ten seconds.
There were socially anxious fans, but there were also socially bold fans. Those who weren’t nervous could chat directly with Jiang Luo like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time.
The morning passed quickly. Jiang Luo took a short break at noon and was soon back at the booth. Around 3:00 PM, Jiang Luo checked his phone during a break, but didn’t see any messages from Gu Shiyue.
Gu Shiyue had said he had things to do and might not be able to come. It was already this late, so he probably really wasn’t going to show up.
In the meantime, Cheng Jiashu had stopped by to see how the autograph session was going. Seeing the long queue of people—a dense sea of heads—he took out his phone and snapped a photo with a smile. After that, he left immediately; there was no point in staying—it was too crowded.
Gu Shiyue didn’t arrive at the exhibition center until nearly 4:00 PM.
He didn’t know which area Jiang Luo was in, and since he didn’t get a reply to his message, he called Qi Xueying directly.
“Hello? Brother?”
The surroundings were noisy. Gu Shiyue found a quieter corner to speak: “Are you at the anime convention?”
“Yeah, I am.” Qi Xueying was confused: “How did you know I was here?”
“I am too.”
“……Ah?” Qi Xueying froze.
“Do you know which exhibition area Jiang Luo is in?”
“Wait a second…” Qi Xueying was completely baffled: “I’m a little confused. Could you explain a bit more?”
Gu Shiyue explained the situation to her. Because Jiang Luo hadn’t been sure Gu Shiyue would definitely show up, he hadn’t mentioned it to Qi Xueying. She had no idea Gu Shiyue would come today, let alone that he would actually show up—he was a “normie” with absolutely zero interest in ACG culture.
And since he was arriving at this hour, he clearly wasn’t here to browse; he was here specifically for Jiang Luo.
“Brother, where are you?” Qi Xueying asked. “Send me your location on WeChat, just the real-time location sharing.”
Gu Shiyue shared his location, and Qi Xueying realized he wasn’t far from her: “We’re pretty close. I’ll come find you. Stay where you are, and I’ll take you to where Jiang Luo is.”
Gu Shiyue said: “I’ll come to you. Don’t move.”
“Alright then, I’ll wait for you here.”
Gu Shiyue arrived very quickly. With his long legs and brisk pace, he had a good sense of direction. Qi Xueying didn’t have to wait long before she saw his figure in the distance. She waved at him.
Qi Xueying was with a companion. Gu Shiyue walked up to them. Seeing him in an environment like this felt surreal to Qi Xueying. Her brother stood there, surrounded by cosplayers walking back and forth; the visual was incredibly incongruous.
She laughed: “I wouldn’t have believed you’d really come here if I hadn’t seen you with my own eyes.”
“If you’re looking for Luoluo, you probably can’t see him right now,” Qi Xueying said. “The autograph session isn’t over yet, and there’s still a line over there—it’s all people.”
Jiang Luo’s autograph tickets had been released online. This was his first session. Qi Xueying had tried to snatch one and luckily succeeded. Her ticket number was quite late in the queue, and she was just about to go wait in line.
A bold idea occurred to Qi Xueying. She thought about it, fished her ticket out of her bag, and tried asking Gu Shiyue: “Why don’t you take my ticket and get in line? My number is pretty late, so by the time it’s your turn, there won’t be many people left. If you head over now, it should be about right, and you shouldn’t have to wait too long.”
Qi Xueying blinked and smiled: “Didn’t he invite you? He must be looking forward to you coming. If you suddenly appeared…”
The autograph session was ending at 4:30 PM, and the line wasn’t that long anymore.
Jiang Luo had been signing names and interacting with fans all day, but he was still fully engaged. He knew it wasn’t easy for these friends to come all this way just to see him, so he tried his best to make them feel like their trip was worth it.
During the photo session, the fan who was next in line didn’t ask for a photo with him; she wanted to use her camera to take a solo shot of Jiang Luo. Whenever he took photos, Jiang Luo would enter character mode in a second. He put away his smile and looked into the lens, his expression cold and detached, with a touch of lazy arrogance.
He was still in character after the photo, sitting there with his beautiful, cold face. Somehow, a wave of distinct commotion appeared in the crowd watching from the side, accompanied by murmurs and chatter. The atmosphere at the venue seemed to be ignited again in an instant—noisy and restless.
As the fan left, a tall figure suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision. Jiang Luo’s gaze couldn’t help but shift upward. The moment he saw that face, he instantly froze.
Jiang Luo tilted his head back, staring blankly at Gu Shiyue, who was standing right in front of him.