Extra 06

Big Cucumber’s update speed lately? Slow. Really slow. After finishing “When the Starry Sky Falls into Your Arms,” her daily 3,000-words grind dropped to a weekly 3,000-words pace.

Fang Ying had this strong, nagging feeling—he was about to lose Big Cucumber. That feeling gnawed at him so much he couldn’t eat or sleep. One bright, sunny afternoon, he finally messaged her.

He didn’t beat around the bush—a straight-up complaint: “Madam, you’ve been way too lax these days!”

Big Cucumber, still that internet-addicted fangirl at heart, replied lightning-fast: “Huh?”

Fang Ying said, “I get you’re busy shipping Fang Ying, but you can’t be that busy that you forget your fanfic updates!”

Big Cucumber was quick to defend herself: “I’m not forgetting... I’m stuck in a writer’s block.”

Fang Ying shot back: “Lies! You never got stuck when writing LuoZong fanfic before!”

Big Cucumber fired back some cold truths: “Sis, I’m glad you’re wall-hopping with me, but in this CP world, it’s brutal. LuoZong are ten-year besties who never actually got cast together. I could write twenty schoolboy romance fics just fantasizing about their love-hate decade! But LuoYing is different.”

Fang Ying caught the slight sadness in her tone: What are you trying to say? That Xu Qiuluo and I don’t get enough sugar?

The variety show was long done, Feng Yue Dao had left theaters months ago, and both of them had new projects. Shared events where they appeared together had grown fewer and fewer.

Big Cucumber was quiet—a silent yes.

Fang hung up in frustration, hastily typed a Weibo draft: “Resting today! So hungry, gonna find Luo Ge to eat~ @Xu Qiuluo”

Just before sending, common sense kicked in and he pasted it to his manager instead: “Bro, can I post this Weibo?”

The reply was cold: “Not advised, Fang Ying. You two haven’t worked together recently—no need to keep interacting. Also, there’s some bad wind about you online. Unless Xu’s side initiates first, you should cut down on your side.”

The manager didn’t spell out the “bad wind,” but Fang knew exactly. After they became a couple, the two couldn’t resist dim-shading each other in comment sections. When they had joint projects, fine—later, with none, fans started calling Fang Ying a lame leech clinging to Xu.

Fang once saw some nasty Weibo posts dunking on him on Big Cucumber’s side account homepage. The fandom world was messy—not all girls were as reasonable as Big Cucumber. Some even recognized his cuteness, wall-hopped to support him. But many harbored bone-deep hatred for Fang, blaming him for all evil simply for being Fang Ying.

Fang wasn’t immune to hurt, but as a pro artist, he’d mastered looking bulletproof despite being riddled with holes inside.

Like now—not sad, just disappointed.

The manager’s words were company policy. Fang sighed and deleted every word of his draft Weibo, then posted a Moment instead: “So tired... thinking about retiring to raise pigs.”

Within minutes, his close friends bombarded him with laughter and teasing emojis. No one really knew his true feelings. Fang joked with a few buddies before logging off his side account for some sleep.

But the moment he opened Weibo again, his private messages were flooded.

All from Big Cucumber.

She exploded: “OMG OMG OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!! Sugar!!!”

“Huai!! After a month, our adorable CP is finally outing some sugar again!!!!”

“Sis, my tooth hurt badly!!! Is the world crazy??? Why does even the air smell like strawberries?????”

“I feel my old back pain gone, my ancient cold legs healed!! I’m about to streak outside the State TV gates!!!”

“Blocked again!!! I’m about to write 300,000 words RIGHT NOW!!!!”

“Fuck, Xu Qiuluo is too smooth, I order him to knock whoever’s knocking on the door right now down to the floor!!!”

Fang: … calm down, what’s happening?

Big Cucumber fired back: “Calm down my ass, you better go see Luo Luo’s Weibo RIGHT NOW!!! Let’s see if you can really behave! No more chitchat! Writing time, bye!”

She dropped off instantly.

Fang switched accounts and refreshed his main. Front and center was Xu Qiuluo’s latest photo.

Looks like it was taken during a break filming—the sun was shining, and Xu sat wearing costume, sword resting by his legs, and cradling... a piglet.

The baby pig was calm in his arms. Xu smiled warmly at the camera.

Xu Qiuluo V: New favorite on set! A little piglet~ They entrusted it to me to raise, but I think isn’t this Fang Ying’s favorite? [Question] When do you have time to visit and help me take care of it! @Fang Ying V

In Xu and Fang’s episode of Nothing Going On, Fang got punished to feed pigs. After it aired, Fang’s fans edited that scene and it went viral, making “raising pigs” a running joke about him. Xu tagging Fang with this in a post sparked no weird jokes—just a wave of wholesome, happy comments.

“HAHAHA ENOUGH! Momma Fang doesn’t wanna remember the day Xiao Ying got bossed around by pigs!!!”

“Damn! Xu Qiuluo is such a sneaky devil hahaha!!”

“2333333 Luo Luo bullying the kid daily 1/1!!!”

“Now Fang asks, when can I get to eat some meat?”

“HAHAHA THAT comment upstairs, why is it voiced?? Did Fang Ying himself reply??”

“That lunch scene was hilarious!! Poor Ying, subsisting on plain buns for a whole week! Watching pigs eat made him drool!!! Later when Luo Luo tossed him an orange, those tears, oh my god! I’ve followed him 4 years and never saw him cry that much!!!”

Fang: …

These girls! Is there one with a conscience?! And Big Cucumber! Calling that sugar??? You seriously don’t know what sugar means, do you?!

Fang bit down on his front tooth, and quietly messaged Xu Qiuluo: “Please, just give me a break, Luo Ge…”

His message quickly went viral and drew tons of laughing responses from fans. Watching the well-meaning replies, Fang smiled and prepared to log off for a good sleep.

Suddenly, a WeChat message popped up—from the only contact he’d pinned at the top: “Free tonight? Come over, I’ll cook for you.”

Fang’s sleep instantly fled. He pressed the phone to his lips and gave it three quick kisses, then shyly replied: “You just wrapped filming and still want to cook? Aren’t you too tired? Maybe another day, or we go out?”

Xu answered fast: “Tonight only. No going out. Cooking for other people is tiring, cooking for my boyfriend isn’t.”

Fang stared at the three words boyfriend over and over in disbelief as his screen dimmed, then tossed the phone on the bed and flopped after it.

Aaaaaaaaah!!! My boyfriend is so smooth!!! Xu Qiuluo, you are officially the happiest human alive!!!

Fang bounced twice, then happily sent Big Cucumber a private message: “Sis, you seriously don’t know what real sugar is.”




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