After Ji Nuo mistook him for a psychological counselor, to avoid mutual awkwardness, Han Cheng had originally planned to handle it as a software bug.
However, since Ji Nuo’s messages around the psychological counselor were continuous, this explanation wasn’t very thorough. Coincidentally, Han Cheng had the experience of losing his phone and being unable to log into WeChat. So he planned to treat it as a temporary phone card malfunction preventing WeChat use, meaning he never received the messages.
As a beautiful, friendly lie, it could also be fabricated more perfectly. And the people around him weren’t the talkative type. With just a warning, Xu Li, Qian Lei, and the others wouldn’t even probe deeply.
His phone had issues on the “West Wind” film crew set. He went straight to Jade Mountain Town for the kid variety show’s live recording. He flew back to Cloud City on Tuesday, finding time to deal with it then. So his original plan was to delete the chat logs tonight and then pretend nothing happened, bringing it up to Ji Nuo as if by chance.
Then he received Ji Nuo’s declaration of reporting…
Han Cheng was about to explain when the app lagged, then immediately jumped to the login screen, with a huge prompt box at the top:
【This account has been temporarily restricted from logging in due to multiple user reports involving suspected fraud, scamming, and other illegal content. Please log in again after 7 days to lift the restriction. Since your account holds assets, you can tap “Confirm” to withdraw or transfer your assets.】
Han Cheng: “…”
Han Cheng sat still in his study for quite a while, having to face this misunderstanding that had completely run off course.
It wasn’t just about his account being temporarily banned. The terms “scammer,” “reported,” “surrender” seemed to be reminding him that the situation was far more complicated than he imagined.
Probably Ji Nuo found a psychological counselor online. Now it seemed the other party was a scammer. Mentioning surrender probably involved monetary transactions too.
Han Cheng decided to clear things up with Ji Nuo. But when he opened his WeChat alt account and faced the familiar “jn,” he fell silent again.
He truly had never encountered such a bizarre situation of misunderstanding upon misunderstanding. Thoughts churning in his mind, he couldn’t help pondering why it turned out this way?
It seemed the whole chain began with his reply, “Okay”… He indeed had a psychological counselor certificate, but after filming “The Psychologist,” this certificate had virtually never reappeared in his life.
He had never used his identity as a psychological counselor to help others with psychological counseling, nor did he feel his current skill level was sufficient for it. Yet, when Ji Nuo proposed it, he had a strange moment of impulse and agreed. What was he thinking at that time?
Was it the chaotic reunion over a month ago? Or learning about the various hardships Ji Nuo faced after entering the circle—gossip, scandals, a tide of negative reviews—and that night with the spiked drink in Ji Nuo’s cup, and the good-for-nothing wastrel Ji Nuo had disabled…
In that moment, he didn’t seem to think too much. It seemed like a subconscious reaction, wanting to know what kind of psychological predicament this formerly frail, beautiful young man had fallen into after enduring these unbearably harsh tribulations.
But he never imagined that a spur-of-the-moment “Okay” would open an unimaginable Pandora’s box for him, linking his WeChat ID to a fraud case where sums exceeding three thousand were enough for criminal charges…
Han Cheng took a deep breath and decided he should speak to Ji Nuo face to face. Though he felt it was a misunderstanding, and he couldn’t possibly be taken into criminal custody, he was just afraid of any rumors leaking out. Xu Li wouldn’t handle that easily.
~
Just as Han Cheng decided on a face-to-face talk, Ji Nuo had already tucked the washed-up pufferfish cub into bed.
Ji Nuo was just about to return to his room to check online comments and feedback. After all, no matter how much he resisted, the moment to face it would eventually come. He had already dragged it from morning to night. Any longer, and it would be time to go to the island for the second phase of filming.
Just as Ji Nuo headed toward the guest bedroom, the adjacent master bedroom door suddenly opened. “Xiao Nuo.”
Ten minutes later, the awkwardness on Han Cheng’s face from half an hour ago smoothly transferred to Ji Nuo’s. “What? e is your WeChat ID?!”
“I-I didn’t know, I thought it was the psychological counselor… When did your account malfunction?”
Ji Nuo was so nervous that the tip of his nose was sweating. Thinking about everything he had said to that account, his toes couldn’t help wanting to start construction work.
By this time, Han Cheng had fully regained his composure. “Probably a few minutes after adding me as a friend… Because the malfunction caused messages for a period to disappear, I’m not entirely sure of the exact time. My impression is that after replying ‘Okay,’ I was kicked offline directly.”
Ji Nuo slowly exhaled a breath. Great!
Though it was already deep into the night outside the window, the sun in his heart had risen!
Ji Nuo immediately apologized to Han Cheng. “I’m so, so sorry! I thought you were the temporary worker provided by the Orange App shop…” He paused, feeling it unnecessary to mention his own illness.
If he hadn’t signed the variety show contract early, he planned to quietly disappear. Now, though he had to cooperate with the kid variety show and stay two more months, he still didn’t want to tell others about his illness, especially Han Cheng.
Han Cheng had already helped him enough. They weren’t relatives, and it was only because they’d exchanged a few lines in a play four years ago. He really shouldn’t let the other party give so much. Once the terminal illness was revealed, Ji Nuo truly didn’t want Han Cheng, out of pity, to give even more.
Ji Nuo raised his head, the apologetic, fawning smile on his face deepening. “Actually, it was just that I felt a bit unwell because of the negative news online at the time. I happened to see an online counseling free trial recommended on Orange App. I didn’t expect the shop to be run by scammers. They scammed many people into topping up annual cards and then ran off. Now the scammed clients are banding together to collect evidence… I never imagined it would coincide with your phone having issues.”
Han Cheng nodded slightly. “No need for formal address. Follow whatever we use on the show in private. You are my boyfriend right now.”
Only then did he say, “I’ve already appealed to the human customer service. It should be fine. But I’ll need you to tell them to remove my account number, to avoid other problems.”
Ji Nuo immediately nodded like a chicken pecking rice. “You can rest assured, I added the volunteer’s friend. I’ll tell them right now… Sorry, will the account being unusable affect your work?”
Han Cheng smiled faintly. “It’s fine. It’s been broken for a long time. I’m used to using my alt account, it’s very convenient.”
Though Ji Nuo knew Han Cheng was mostly comforting him, he had added Han Cheng’s alt account through Xu Li a few days ago. He felt maybe it was indeed the case. If the main account often had issues, one had to rely on the alt. But Ji Nuo still quickly contacted the volunteer.
After all, he had previously heard from the volunteer that because the amount involved already fell into the “huge” category, the police had filed the case early on.
These materials weren’t just posted in threads to prevent others from being scammed again. Reporting and reporting to the police were progressing in parallel. He suspected Han Cheng’s account was the result of the volunteer’s side processing things in batches, maybe having some fast-track channel.
After they’d said what needed saying, Han Cheng originally wanted to get up and leave. But thinking of the online hate comments Ji Nuo had mentioned earlier…
Even knowing it was a pretext the other party used to avoid embarrassment, before leaving, he still added a sentence. “Right now, there are many people online who like you and Ao’ao. You are very good. You shouldn’t be maligned by hate comments, and even less should you be swayed by them.”
Ji Nuo was halfway through sending his message. Hearing this, he looked up and met Han Cheng’s earnest gaze directly. His heart trembled lightly, and in that very first moment, he only registered that low, deep “You are very good.”
After Han Cheng had been gone for a while, his phone buzzed, jumping with many replies from the volunteer. Only then did Ji Nuo abruptly snap out of it and quickly start replying.
Volunteer: [/crying laughing/crying laughing/crying laughing]
Volunteer: [Such a coincidence could actually happen in this world!]
Volunteer: [I’ll try on my end for the WeChat unban. Because customer service only opened a fast submission channel for us, but for unbans, we haven’t tried yet…]
Ji Nuo sent a string of grateful emojis. jn: [I’m so sorry, didn’t help much and even made you guys help me resolve this /facepalm]
jn: [Never imagined the scammer customer service wouldn’t even arrange a scammer care worker to add me… /spitting blood.jpg]
jn: [It’s truly a huge coincidence. The Gold Medal Nurse I chose then was called Oranges. My friend’s nickname and account are coincidentally both e. After he added me, his account malfunctioned, then he used an alt to add me…]
The volunteer replied after five minutes: [hahahahahaha oh my god this coincidence of yours could be a novel. Speaking of which, your friend isn’t also a Han Cheng fan, is he?]
Volunteer: [Nickname e, account ID e1, this has to be a first-generation fan level. Now, e+number combos with special meanings were long ago snapped up by the Orange Fans.]
jn: […He probably isn’t, it’s just a coincidence. But I indeed chose the Oranges Care Worker because of being a Han Cheng fan. /facepalm]
Hearing Ji Nuo was truly an Orange, the volunteer became even more enthusiastic, like meeting a long-lost relative. Learning that Ji Nuo was an early-generation fan who started following Han Cheng right from his debut, the volunteer’s ecstatic tone carried a hint of respect.
They also asked Ji Nuo’s age, discovering they were the same age, both in the summer break of their junior year, giving them even more to talk about.
The volunteer assumed Ji Nuo was a patient’s family member and even remarked they were lucky not to fall for the scam. Their non-profit had taken on many such fraud cases, and the number that could recover money was extremely rare. It was truly heartbreaking, etc.
However, even while chatting enthusiastically, the volunteer didn’t delay handling the account issue.
They quickly told Ji Nuo: [The application to unban the WeChat account has been submitted. But this situation is a bit slow, perhaps requiring 48 hours. Besides this post, I’ve also removed the account from the list. The content in the group album has been deleted. Fortunately, you reacted quickly; I hadn’t yet passed the new materials to the police. So now just wait for your friend’s unban, and it’ll be okay!]
Ji Nuo was thanking them so profusely he was almost prostrating himself. The volunteer said it was nothing. Ji Nuo, who hadn’t lost money and actively cooperated, was already a rare good Samaritan. A mistake was just a mistake, nobody could help it. But just before ending, the volunteer couldn’t help asking Ji Nuo:
[Your friend’s account ID e1, any desire to sell it for a high price? I know the chance is small but I still wanted to ask. You know, this is just way too attractive for the Oranges!! /wide noodle tear.jpg]
Ji Nuo completely understood this fan mentality. It was as if using various methods to have a connection with Han Cheng could bring them one step closer to their idol. He also quite wanted an account like that… but Han Cheng himself probably wouldn’t want to sell.
And what if one day fans found out the account she bought belonged to Han Cheng himself? Such news didn’t seem very suitable to happen with Han Cheng either. So Ji Nuo directly declined and comforted the other party a bit.
It was deep into the night when they ended the chat. Ji Nuo flattened his pillow, lay down, and fell straight asleep.
~
While Ji Nuo slept soundly, he had no idea what a stir had been caused in the Cloud Lake property owners’ group chat by a strange video.
It started when an owner living on the side near the park sent a video to the group, claiming they had captured clear footage of ball lightning near the outermost plastic running track around Cloud Lake Park.
They even @’d the group owner, Cloud Lake Property Manager, demanding the property management handle it. After all, ball lightning was highly dangerous. It could float with air currents and even drift indoors. Upon hitting obstacles, it was prone to explosion.
[Although these things linger for a while and then disappear, if conditions around here are suitable for ball lightning to form, couldn’t it suddenly appear again in the future? That would be too dangerous!] The filming owner spoke earnestly, warning the property and owners to be vigilant of hidden risks.
Because the time it was sent was relatively late, the on-duty property manager could only record the situation temporarily. They’d report it to the relevant authorities after they opened the next day, to see how to eliminate future risks.
The owners’ group chat thus exploded over ball lightning. Many people were on high alert. Some recounted thrilling tales of their friend’s friend’s friend encountering ball lightning.
Others jumped in to refute it, saying ball lightning rarely moves close to the ground. That widely circulated video of one zipping along railway tracks was debunked years ago as CGI. They also said the two fluorescent yellow spheres in the video didn’t match.
~
When Ji Nuo woke up the next day, Sister Li was in the kitchen shelling soybeans and happened to tell him about this incident.
“Ball lightning?” Ji Nuo took a sip of water with a puzzled expression. He seemed to have heard of this phenomenon before, but had no particular impression.
Sister Li wiped her hands clean and showed him her phone. “Good thing you’re all going out to film again soon. If this thing isn’t dealt with properly, it’s really unsettling. They say it explodes when hitting obstacles, scares a person to death!”
Hearing it was so dangerous, Ji Nuo immediately felt much more alert. He was about to suggest Sister Li also go home and stay for a few days until it was safe, when he saw the video auto-playing on the phone screen.
