A Slight Smile is Very Charming

Part 13: He isn’t me

The video player is set up to play the video on loop. While Wei Wei is still entranced, the player has already started playing it again, the lively flute music starts, the figure of the heroine in red dazzles on screen, and is just about to charge down the mountain on her horse in matchless grandeur.

Wei Wei quickly closes it. Now that she knows the ending, it is a bit depressing to watch the spoof in the beginning. She doesn’t have any desire to watch it again.

Wei Wei opens the minimized game and sends NaiHe a message: “I finished watching it. It was really good.”

After she insipidly types out these words, Wei Wei has nothing else to say. Actually, her mind is clearly filled with thoughts, but she doesn’t know how to verbalize them. Can she actually say that it almost drew her to tears?

That seems pretty foolish, sigh = =

Looking for something to say, she asks: “You changed the ending?”

Just as she sent the message, NaiHe’s name lights up and with great speed, his reply comes back. “Uh-huh, I changed it. Otherwise, the length would not have been long enough.”

“You’re back ^_^~~length? What length?”

Wei Wei is a bit puzzled. Is he talking about the length of the video? But from her recollection, there isn’t a length requirement.

NaiHe: “In the detailed rules and regulations for the competition, it says that, if the length of the video exceeds half an hour, the experience and other rewards will multiple if it wins.”

NaiHe: “Since we already made it, then we should take all that there is.”

Wei Wei feels silly. Indeed, she didn’t notice this rule, but….classmate Great Master, how are you so certain that we will win…

But, but, this isn’t the main point. The main point is, according to what the Great Master said, can it be that the plot at the end that almost made her cry is actually added on because he wanted to increase the length of it?

As she gets to this point in her thinking, Wei Wei can’t help but open the video to check. Sure enough! The video isn’t too long or too short. It is exactly 30 minutes, not even a second more.

……

Even though the cruel facts are now placed in front of her, Wei Wei Still carries a bit of hope: “Then…how did you think up the ending? It’s a lot better than the old ending.”

NaiHe: “The old ending was also fine, adding flashbacks during the walk to the jump off the cliff can also make 30 minutes. But it made it too obvious.”

@[email protected]

Playing flashbacks? He means to play the previously played, ready made parts? How come this sounds like what you call adding extraneous padding…Wei Wei remembers that there seems like there is still a lot of these flashbacks in the current ending. With much difficulty, she asks: “Then the current ending…is actually made for showing flashbacks?

“Pretty much.”

Wei Wei has nothing to say.

So the great master didn’t just add to the length, but to add to the length, he inserted a ton of flashbacks. The Great Master’s ending is completely the result of procrastination and laziness. What’s that about being touching, what’s that about life and death being boundless, they are all fleeting clouds on the horizon…

>o<

Wei Wei suddenly feels that the her who was extremely moved was truly too idiotic…

Presently, with a complicated feeling, Wei Wei puts up the video on the official website. As to why she is putting it up and not the Great Master, it is of course because the Great Master is too lazy to register >_<

After posting up the video, Wei Wei and NaiHe goes to do quests. After doing the quest, she browses the forum post and is immediately shocked by the number of views and replies.

How can there be so many replies?!

Some replies were actually written within a second of her posting it up. In such a short time, they, simply, could not have watched the video. But once she sees the contents of the replies, Wei Wei understands.

In the end, it is still affected by LittleRainYaoYao (LittleRainEnchantress) having to take down her video and refilm, and ASmileNaiHe (WhyNotJustSmile) challenging RealWaterIsScentless. These two things not only set their own server abuzz, it was also an extremely hot topic on the forum. Even now, it is still a hot topic. So as soon as Wei Wei’s video came out, a whole bunch of people immediately came over to check out the excitement and surprise — Unexpectedly, ASmileNaiHe and ReedWeiWei (HumbleReed) also entered the competition! Is it to compete with LittleRainYaoYao? Clearly it is! Some people even guess that there will be LittleRainYaoYao’s character in the video, of course, she will appear as a villainous character.

After Wei Wei sees all this, she can’t help but make a silent “tsk” sound in her mind! Some people are really narrow minded, commenting randomly before even watching the video. A random, inexplicable third (romantic) party wouldn’t appear in her video!

Besides, her and the Great Master are such a magnificent and brilliant image, who needs a third party to set things off >o<

Wei Wei flips through the pages. When she reaches the fifth page, she finally sees a comment on the actual video itself. It is a female who replied. She put a few crying emoticons one after the other, wailing that she actually cried from watching.

Hehehe, she cried. Wei Wei is happy now.

That’s great, she isn’t the only one who was tricked by the Great Master!

After seeing a succession of replies with people saying they were crushed, Wei Wei happily returns to the game and tells NaiHe: “Have you seen the forum replies? Many people say they cried from watching it. But I’ve been made the scapegoat by you. In the video, you wrote that I am the screenwriter. Everyone’s saying I’m very twisted…”

Indeed, if a story filled with laughter in the beginning, hilarity in the middle, and tragedy at the end, is not called twisted, then it must be called infuriating.

NaiHe: “I didn’t look. Tell me when the results come out.”

>_<

It is obviously his work, how can he not be excited at all? Wei Wei says: “Kkk, I will look at it every day and report it back to you ^_^”

In the following few days, whether she is busy or not, Wei Wei keeps watch on the computer, browsing the replies.

The video became more and more popular, this time isn’t because the power of gossip. Instead it is because of the video itself. Some people praised the high quality of the production. When they discover that the producer is ASmileNaiHe, they are even more amazed. One player says: “The quality of this video! ASmileNaiHe is truly too formidable. He not only can fight, his skills are also this formidable. He is truly an all-around skilled person.”

Even more people discuss the plot, discussing the ending and the white robed musician’s choice.

There are so many of this type of discussion that Wei Wei even becomes confused after reading them. Once she couldn’t help herself and asks NaiHe: “Why did the musician have to kill off the female thief?”

After being silent for awhile, NaiHe, with his matchless rationality, replies, “I’m certain this plot was written by you.”

Wei Wei: “……”

Wei Wei: “>o<, it was me…”

But she was just being mischievous.

The still confused Wei Wei continues to ask: “Then if it was you, would you kill off the female thief?”

As soon as she sends off this question, Wei Wei suddenly realizes it wasn’t too appropriate. She shouldn’t ask like this, it seems like she’s trying to pry into his private matters. But…she really does want to know…that line, “rather than letting her live in hate of me, it would be better for her to die,” has been appearing over and over again in her mind the past few days. She can’t help but want to know whether the real ASmileNaHei is also someone who would say such a thing?

Fortunately, it seems like NaiHe didn’t mind her overstepping and really quickly replies, “It isn’t me.”

Wei Wei: “Hmm?”

NaiHe: “He isn’t me, I wouldn’t get to that point.”

Wei Wei is startled for a bit and, indescribably, a smile gradually rises up on her face.

During this time, LittleRainYaoYao and RealWaterIsScentless’ new video is also posted up. But the popularity of it is clearly not as much as before. After all, whether it is the plot or the production of theirs, it is far inferior to the product of Wei Wei and the others.

Very quickly, the submission period ends and the voting period starts. Wei Wei and NaiHe’s video leads by a wide margin the entire time, leaving RealWater and LittleRain’s second place video far behind. Now, even the extremely modest Wei Wei feels that the probability of them winning is really high >o<

However, on the day before the results are to come out, Wei Wei receives a strange message from StormGoddessNiNi (StormGoddessGirl).

“Wei Wei, I have a question I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“You have to promise not to get angry first, before I ask.”

Wei Wei is frustrated. If you want to ask, then ask. Don’t use this tactic. But she still says: “Say it, I won’t get angry.”

“You really can’t get angry, ok? Actually, I’m asking this for someone else. If, I’m just saying if, someone gives you a huge amount of money, will you be willing to drop out of the competition?”

Wei Wei blinked and then quickly replied: “RealWaterIsScentless?”

StormGoddessNiNi: “WeiWei, you guessed it!”

Wei Wei: “There’s no need to guess.”

Isn’t this evident? If she drops out of the competition, then who will benefit from it? And who does StormGoddessNiNi know?

StormGoddessNiNi: “It seems like LittleRainYaoYao really quite likes that outfit, so concealing it from her, RealWaterIsScentless asked me to ask you. It seems like he’s too embarrassed to ask you directly. WeiWei, you’re not angry, are you?”

If Wei Wei is said to be not angry, then that is false. But if she is said to be angry, it’s also not worth it. Wei Wei’s fingers paused above the keyboard, thinking about how to reply.

Of course, she’s going to decline. But to directly reject someone who likes to use money to crush others doesn’t seem too satisfying. It doesn’t really make it backfire at him. The best method is to have more money than him. Anger him! Even though Wei Wei doesn’t actually have money…she can still pretend! They are separated by the internet anyway, and she doesn’t have to worry about being exposed.

Thus, Wei Wei, born in a worker’s family with fairly good living standards, starts ostentatiously typing out: “I’m not angry. Just amused. Surprised that someone actually wants to spend money to have me drop out. It’s too laughable. Does he think he will have more money than me?”

“How many houses does his family have in the entire world? What car does his servants drive to get groceries? What is the lineage of his family cat? What…”

Wei Wei tosses out N similar questions in a row until she can no longer invent anymore crazy nonsense before she “hmph”s and, in a very grandiose manner, throws out these last words: “If he plans on spending tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands to have me drop out, advise him not to say it out loud so that he doesn’t get embarrassed.”

StormGoddessNiNi is clearly shocked. Tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands! Is it possible for RealWater to spend tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, he sounded like he seemed to want to give a few thousand, at most ten thousand. Looks like ReedWeiWei is really too wealthy, casually saying out amounts in the tens of thousands!

“Wei Wei, so your family is actually this wealthy. I really couldn’t tell!”

Wei Wei: “>o<, I’m just low-key.”

StormGoddessNiNi says: “Then forget it. Wei Wei you’re not angry are you? I actually didn’t want to help him ask either. It’s just that I felt that he seems to really love LittleRainYaoYao, and was a bit softhearted.”

Before Wei Wei has the chance to reply to this, she sent another message over: “Do you know, they’ve met up and have become a couple in real life.”