Lucheng had tons of places to play and wander, like Wuzhizhou Island, Luhuitou Park, Yazhou Ancient City, and the Coconut Dream Promenade. Even so, Xiao Qi picked the Tianya Haijiao Scenic Area first.
It was famous, a well-known 4A spot. But honestly, once you bought the ticket, you were basically there to look at three big rocks.
They had the carvings "Tianya," "Haijiao," and "A Pillar of the Southern Sky." If you went in with low expectations, you wouldn't be disappointed. Xiao Qi had high hopes though, so she felt a little let down.
She'd heard all those love legends about "to the ends of the earth and the corners of the sea," vows as deep as mountains and seas. In reality, there wasn't much romance in the air, mostly seniors taking photos and kids running wild.
Since it was Christmas, the park had set up a few Christmas trees, and the staff wore Santa hats.
Little Bunny, whose real name was Shen Hailian, stayed at her side. When he noticed her disappointment, he said, "At least we've seen Tianya Haijiao, and the scenery's pretty nice. Let's just enjoy the view."
He secretly pinged his friends too. They'd bought tickets earlier and had already set everything up. Shen Hailian tamped down his nerves and stuck to the plan.
There were folk legends about the Tianya and Haijiao stones, but Xiao Qi didn't want a history lesson. The two of them just strolled hand in hand along the beach.
"There are so many couples taking wedding photos. Picking this place for that is actually pretty great," Xiao Qi sighed. "It feels nice. What do you think, Xiao Hai?"
"It's not bad," Shen Hailian said, then pointed. "Look over there. Is that a movie screen on the beach?"
She felt a flicker of disappointment at the subject change, but when she followed his finger, her attention snapped to the strange setup.
Right on the sand, there was a big screen like they were about to screen something. Staff were bent over, working hard, clearly arranging a grand scene.
"Let's go take a look," Shen Hailian said, squeezing her hand as they walked over.
Workers rolled out a red carpet. Xiao Qi tried to guess what it was for, never noticing the two people filming nearby with a camera on a tripod.
"Wow, it's a proposal," Xiao Qi blurted, her voice and face full of envy.
The scene came together quickly. Red carpet, balloons, and champagne roses framed the space.
A man who looked a little familiar to her stepped up. She felt like she'd seen him somewhere before.
A crowd gathered fast, a few dozen people already.
A slim man in a suit with single-lidded eyes held a wireless mic. "Someone else is proposing today. Who could it be?"
He suddenly pointed straight at Shen Hailian. "It's that handsome guy over there."
Xiao Qi instinctively turned. She saw her boyfriend holding a microphone, staring at her with all the tenderness in the world. Her mind went completely blank.
🎵"Sitting back to back on the carpet, listening to music, talking about dreams, you hope I'll be gentler and gentler, I hope you'll keep me in your heart."🎵
🎵"You said you wanted to give me a romantic dream, thank you for letting me find my heaven…"🎵
Shen Hailian's tone wasn't perfect, a little husky, but the feeling was raw and real. His love for her poured out, line by line.
Xiao Qi slowly came back to herself. She'd never imagined he'd propose, and in such a romantic way. Champagne roses on both sides, all those admiring eyes, the sweet scent and the heat of the moment rushed at her together.
Happiness flooded her, and the lyrics kept building.
🎵"The most romantic thing I can think of is growing old with you slowly. Until we're so old we can't go anywhere, you'll still hold me like the treasure in your palm…"🎵
"Whoa,"
"Nice,"
"He can sing,"
"I've never heard this song,"
the crowd cheered. People everywhere loved a good scene.
Almost everyone held up a phone to record. Whatever happens, you've gotta capture it on your phone, that's just how people live now.
Xiao Qi heard a voice she knew and glanced around. Her parents were there too. Her father stood out like a lighthouse, the tallest guy with a receding hairline.
So that was why they'd told her they couldn't travel together, using the excuse, "Your third grandpa's grandson is getting married, we have to attend." They'd lied. Xiao Qi understood all at once, and the happiness on her face couldn't be hidden. It was spilling over.
When the song ended, Shen Hailian said, "Xiao Qi, today's our 913th day together. From the moment I first saw you, I was hooked, already plotting how to marry you."
"We've had a few small squabbles, but no big fights. I think we're a great match." He smiled. "I've also got a surprise for you today."
The big screen lit up. On it was Xiao Qi's idol, Chu Zhi.
More precisely, it was a split screen, a singing lesson video.
"Back to back, pay attention to the enunciation on 'back,' keep going."
"Don't press the consonants too hard. Let's look for that sighing feeling, that's how you slide the note down."
"Right, 'on the carpet,' the word 'on' needs a clear upward glide, send the sound up."
"On 'The Most Romantic Thing,' remember to breathe here."
The quick edit covered the twenty-plus days of video lessons. Xiao Qi clapped a hand over her mouth as tears streamed down. Drops hung from her lashes. She was crying because she was moved, because she was happy.
"Hello, Little Fruits. I'm Chu Zhi. I wrote The Most Romantic Thing after hearing Mr. Shen talk about your love story. He's been studying hard. I wish you two all the happiness in the world," Chu Zhi said.
Her idol had written the song, and the person she loved most used that song to confess to her. It was a double chef surprise.
Then the video switched to photos of Shen Hailian and Xiao Qi together. The editing was simple, just basic PPT fades, but the impact on the two of them multiplied tenfold.
"Xiao Qi, will you stay with me forever? Please marry me." Shen Hailian went down on one knee and held out the ring.
With a roar of applause around them, Xiao Qi held out her hand. They were in sync, and the proposal was a success.
Shen Hailian's friends were the perfect hype crew, popping streamers. They didn't use glitter since it's a pain to clean up afterward.
Among the onlookers, a few were Little Fruits, or casual fans at least. They were just as excited, pumping their tiny fists and eating melon like they were inside the moment.
"He wrote a song, then taught a fan to sing it, I'm crying."
"My maiden heart can't take it."
"This is too romantic."
"I'm done, this single life just took a critical hit."
After the celebration, Shen Hailian led Xiao Qi off with her parents. The MVP friends cleaned up under the staff's supervision. The crowd posted what they'd recorded to their feeds. Everyone had a great time, except the cleanup crew, who had a busy time.
One more note about what Xiao Qi felt earlier, that "double chef surprise." It means two things you love crossing paths and appearing together. The term often gets explained wrong on Chinese internet. People say "chef" and "middle schooler" sound similar in Japanese, and the latter was a slang insult that later morphed into the meaning of "xx-chū," as in "xx-obsessed." Over time, "double chef" came to mean being a fan of two things that collide in a perfect crossover.
The pronunciations of "厨" (chú) and "中坊" (zhōng fāng) [romaji: chūbō] aren't worlds apart, but they aren't actually connected either.
"中坊" (zhōng fāng / chūbō) is short for 中学和尚 (zhōngxué héshang, romaji: chūgakusei o-bōsan*), basically "middle school monk," once used as a label for delinquent students. Later, it shifted into meaning "ridiculously obsessed with something."
The switch to "厨" (chú / chu) as "-fag" or "-stan" came purely from a mistranslation on 2ch (ni channeru / 2ちゃんねる).
Little Bunny, whose real name was Shen Hailian, proposed a little after ten. By lunchtime, the whole thing was already fermenting online.
#ChuZhiHelpsAProposal
That hashtag slid quietly up the hot search.
Since tons of bystanders had uploaded clips, there were multiple angles. The clearest cut was the one Shen Hailian's designated "tool friend" recorded.
"I wanna take singing lessons from brother Jiu too, sob sob."
"When I saw the headline I thought it was some huge scandal. Turns out it's envy launching me into a spiral. Little Fruits, you two better be happy."
"Ahhh, what kind of god-tier idol did I stan? He sang at a wedding before, now he's writing a new song and teaching the fan himself."
"I want this on music platforms within three days. If not, I, Peppa, will defeat everyone present."
News about Chu Zhi never struggles for heat, and nobody had ever pulled off a move like this. Casual viewers were jealous as hell and sent blessings to Xiao Qi and Shen Hailian.
Some people zeroed in on the song itself. Even hearing a fan sing it through phone mics, you could tell it was a lovely love song.
"This reminds me of the mysterious poet Huainan's When You Are Old. Anyone else feel that?"
"So many of brother Jiu's great songs aren't released as singles, sigh."
"Other singers would rush to drop five versions if they had a hit like this."
"Jiu-yé, please find time to record it. I wanna play it at my wedding."
It wasn't only singers grinding their teeth at Chu Zhi's habit of not releasing singles. Songwriters in the industry called it a huge waste. Count them up and you'd find at least seven or eight single-worthy tracks left unreleased. Firefly, Elopement, Orphans of a Beautiful World, and more. You could tick them off on your fingers and still run out of fingers.
A famous superfan who jumped ship after Zhou Guowu's scandal, username "Loumei Is Number One," weighed in. A "superfan" here means the kind who buys thousands of digital copies without blinking. "Hammer Girl" was a superfan among superfans, who once bought twenty thousand copies of Zhou Guowu's new album at twelve a pop.
After the scandal, Hammer Girl became one of Little Fruits, though with a slightly jaded edge.
Loumei Is Number One: "[When people talk top traffic in domestic entertainment, Chu Zhi's first, and there isn't a second, third, fourth, or fifth. This is why. Other stars don't even have time to work on their own vocal skills, never mind teaching fans. 23333 Friends, that's what a gap looks like.]"
You could call it savage, and it hit home. Plenty of traffic idols really do struggle with basic skills. Back when Loumei stanned Zhou Guowu, she often had to pay the price for her idol's weak performances.
When others "slandered" her idol, she'd scramble to find proof. Most of the time it turned into flame wars, because everybody knew many idols' "skills" were visible to fans only.
After she fell for Chu Zhi, the whole world looked different. Great public image, and top-level evaluations from the country, fan circles, and the industry alike.
Even when someone occasionally nitpicked his vocals, Loumei stayed calm. She knew it wasn't true, and most people didn't buy it anyway.
A few viewers asked why both the wedding and the proposal had Chu Zhi's fingerprints on them. Was he working as a full-time professional matchmaker now?
September Ninth News Post Station: [When will it be my turn to win the draw? If you're jealous and adorable, go speak up more.] [Image]
The image was a screenshot of Little Bunny's thank-you post in the Orang Home app, explaining why this Little Fruits got special treatment. That big V account also smartly plugged the app.
Two fulfilled wishes for Little Fruits in a row gave the Orang Home app a download spike. Maybe, just maybe, it'd keep exploding.
Once Christmas passed, the New Year vibe got stronger. Chu Zhi couldn't really feel it while he was racing between gigs, but time doesn't pause for anyone. Whether he felt it or not, time pushed him forward.
February 10, the New Year arrived.
The new house still wasn't ready. Time really doesn't wait for anything.
Since Big White Milk Candy was doing great in supermarkets across Southeast and West Asia, Su Shangbai had a mountain of work. Long story short, Da Bai definitely couldn't come back to China for the holiday, so Chu Zhi spent New Year's alone.
He wanted to step onto the balcony on New Year's Eve and watch the stars, but he was scared of getting photographed. He didn't want more candids floating online. The Emperor Beast kept the curtains closed all night.
For his New Year's Eve feast, he made a Chaoshan beef hotpot for one. The broth bubbled, and Chu Zhi swished slice after slice of beef through the rolling boil, eating meat by the mouthful.
He didn't want to watch the Spring Festival Gala, so he didn't even keep it on as background noise. The only sound was the simmering pot, which felt a little too quiet. He opened a playlist and hit play on Proud Youth, his own recording. It wasn't narcissism. It was just that the only things that made the Emperor Beast feel linked to this world were the songs he'd drawn from his system bro.
Xiao Zuzhi: [Happy New Year, Chu bro. Your career's gonna soar this year.]
Zheng Huo: [Happy New Year. Drop by if you've got time.]
Brother Fei: [Rest well. Our schedule's heavy this year.]
Wang Anyi: [Eat well and drink well tonight.]
Wang Yuan: [Xiao Jiu, what're you eating for New Year's Eve?]
And many more New Year blessings rolled in.
After dinner, Chu Zhi replied one by one. It finally felt like the holiday.
Until the fifth day of the New Year, the Emperor Beast didn't visit anyone. He stayed home and finalized the track list for the English album All Nations I. System bro helped a ton. He couldn't exchange for everything, of course. His custom song vouchers still had space for twelve tracks, which meant he was short by the rest.
[Chinese: Rock on the New Long March, Chronicles of the Gods, Glorious Years
English: Thriller, Beat It, Don't Cry for Me Argentina
Russian: Moscow Nights
Spanish: Despacito, Sofía, Danza Kuduro
French: Les Champs-Élysées
Japanese and Korean: IF YOU,Uchiage Hanabi
Arabic: Arabian Late Autumn]
===
"Double chef surprise" is internet slang for the joy of two personal favorites crossing over in the same scene or event.
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What's Going On With "厨" (chú/chu) and "中坊" (zhōng fāng/chūbō)?
"中坊" Origin
Japanese slang: chūbō (中坊) is shorthand for chūgakusei o-bōsan (中学生お坊さん), literally "middle school monk."
It wasn't really about monks though, it was an insult. It meant "punky middle schoolers" or "immature brats." Think "middle schooler syndrome" or "edgy kid."
Later, in Japanese online slang, it came to mean someone who's embarrassingly obsessed or cringey in their devotion to something.
Shift to "厨"
"厨" (chu) literally means "kitchen" in Chinese/Japanese.
But on Japanese boards like 2ch (2ちゃんねる), someone mistranslated/mis-typed "中坊" as "厨" because both read as "chū."
From there, "厨" (chu) spread to mean "-fag" or "-stan" in fandoms: "anime-chu," "idol-chu," etc.
In Chinese fandom spaces, "厨" became "obsessed fan" or "-stan," like "CP厨" (shipping stan), "饭厨" (food stan), etc.
Why It's Wordplay
It's a homophone accident: both "中坊" and "厨" read as chū in Japanese, even though the characters are unrelated.
This "translation error" turned into a new word.
So when Chinese netizens talk about "双厨狂喜" (shuāng chú kuáng xǐ), literally "double-chef joy," it means two of your obsessions overlap (e.g., your favorite idol sings your favorite anime theme).
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美丽世界的孤儿 (Měilì Shìjiè de Gū'ér / Orphans of a Beautiful World) – original by 五月天 (Wǔ Yuè Tiān / Mayday).
骄傲的少年 (Jiāo'ào de Shàonián / Proud Youth) – modern Mandarin pop-rock track, widely covered.
Thriller – Michael Jackson.
Beat It – Michael Jackson.
Don't Cry for Me Argentina – from Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, classic renditions include Julie Covington and Madonna.
Moscow Nights – classic Russian song, popularized in many versions.
Despacito – Luis Fonsi feat. Daddy Yankee.
Sofía – Álvaro Soler.
Danza Kuduro – Don Omar feat. Lucenzo.
Les Champs-Élysées – Joe Dassin.
IF YOU – BIGBANG.
打上花火 (Uchiage Hanabi / Fireworks) – DAOKO × Kenshi Yonezu.
阿拉伯的深秋 (Ālābó de Shēnqiū / Arabian Late Autumn) – referenced title in-text, artist unspecified in narrative.