TPWNDHAYD Chapter 3

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Wu Ming always got home a little earlier than Qin Kong.

As usual, the first thing he did after getting home was to reply to Qing Kong’s latest Weibo posts one by one. In reality, it was just his own thoughts or words of agreement—comments that were more or less the same as the hundreds of others—but he never got tired of it.

Because Wu Ming knew that Qing Kong had blocke the (@), but occasionally, he would still check the comments.

Leaving a comment every day felt like clocking in at work—it gradually became a habit.

Sometimes, Qing Kong would even reply, and as a devoted fan, Wu Ming would get excited for a moment—silly mom replied to me!

Sometimes, he thought that just knowing the person he liked was aware of his constant attention was a happy thing in itself.

But he rarely reposted anything. He felt a little embarrassed having it on his own Weibo—was this just self-deception?

The other people Wu Ming followed were also voice actors (CVs) or related figures from the online voice acting community, mostly people connected to Qing Kong. With these people, he would usually just observe—no comments, no reposts. Then, after browsing Weibo, he would habitually check the online voice acting forum.

This forum had been the heart of the community for years. Most audio dramas debuted there, many CVs and staff were recruited from there, and it was the source of first-hand gossip, CP (character pairing) discussions, and fan interactions.

Of course, drama and conflicts were inevitable.

As soon as he opened the forum, he saw a hot post pinned at the top—

"Do CVs who slack off on their dramas and spend all their time singing on YY really 'take胶布'?" (By: I’m Not a Hater)

Wu Ming raised an eyebrow and clicked in. The original poster, appearing innocent and curious, asked whether these CVs were really "taking胶布" (a transliteration of a Japanese phrase meaning "no problem"). The replies ranged from sarcastic chuckles to genuine curiosity, with some veiled hints. Soon enough, the discussion grew heated—and, as expected, Qing Kong was directly mentioned.

Fame always comes with gossip. Wu Ming skimmed through the thread at a rapid pace, then silently closed it. He wasn’t interested in getting involved in such intense arguments—better to leave it to others.

Posts criticizing Qing Kong popped up every few days, some openly and some subtly, but Qing Kong remained unfazed. According to what he said in a livestream:

"Some people just have too much free time. Everyone, don’t pay attention to those posts. I have a clear conscience—I have nothing to fear."

Wu Ming nodded in agreement. Exactly.

   [People would often ask: "Silly mom, when are you going to finish your pending projects?"]

   [Qing Kong: "I’ve already submitted everything I could. Not taking new ones for now."]

Wu Ming nodded again. Right, I even heard him recording in the middle of the night.

Life went on as usual. Wu Ming got home and, as part of his routine, opened Qing Kong’s Weibo—but suddenly froze.

   [CV Qingkong:

"People keep asking if I’ll hold a birthday concert, but I think I won’t. Let’s just hang out in the voice chat as usual and help the hardworking people relax a little. [haha]"]

These days, no matter how big or small an online celebrity was, they would throw a "star-studded" birthday concert—inviting as many people as they could, taking turns to sing, and sharing a few words of blessing.

Qing Kong’s birthday was on May 1st. Last year around this time… Wu Ming thought for a moment. It seemed that Qing Kong had just sung in his own voice chat server. Even without invitations, many well-known CVs from the community had shown up, chatting and making fangirls with multiple idols feel completely fulfilled.

This year, May 1st fell on a Saturday and was a public holiday. The server would probably be packed.

On Saturday, Labor Day, Wu Ming used unfinished work as an excuse to decline his coworkers’ invitation to go out.

That afternoon, he made a huge batch of dumplings at home, then stared at them, thinking—How should I come up with an excuse to bring some to next door?

"People should eat dumplings on their birthday?" No, he "didn't know" it was Qin Kong’s birthday.

"I made too many?" He used this excuse every time.

"Celebrating Labor Day?" But there wasn’t a tradition of eating dumplings for that…

"A friend gave them to me?" That made even less sense…

Picking up his phone, he refreshed Weibo. There was a new post in Qing Kong’s updates.

   [CV Qing Kong:

[crying emoji] What do I do? What do I do? My computer fell and broke—I can’t even turn it on. I won’t be able to show up tonight…]

The post had just been sent—from a mobile device.

Scrolling through previous posts, Wu Ming saw that Qing Kong had gone out for a birthday meal at noon, went to a KTV in the afternoon, and then broke his computer when he got home. In the comments, fans were even more anxious than him, throwing out various suggestions—the worst one being to drop it again. Qing Kong had replied with a sweat-drop emoji.

Birthdays only came once a year. So many people were waiting for him tonight. If he couldn’t make it…

If only he could borrow a computer.

Wu Ming thought for a moment and commented—

   [No Name: "Silly mom, try borrowing a laptop from your neighbor. Maybe they have a spare one!"]

   [Qing Kong replied: Oh, what a bad idea! Who would feel comfortable lending their computer to others?]

   [No Name: "You won’t know until you try. Your neighbor is always nice to you. ^_^"]

Qingkong didn’t reply.

Wu Ming pouted in dissatisfaction. Do I have to go over and say: ‘Silly mom, do you need a computer?’

If he was going to do it, he might as well go all the way. Wu Ming pressed Qin Kong’s doorbell.

Inside, Qin Kong, still sighing over his broken laptop, put it down resentfully and went to answer the door.

"Hi, I made some dumplings. Want to come over and eat?" Wu Ming greeted him with a smile.

"…Sigh." Qin Kong had no appetite for dumplings and sighed.

"What’s wrong? Need help with something?"

"No…" Qin Kong hesitated, then asked, "Do you have a laptop?"

"Yeah, why?"

"My laptop just broke. I have something urgent tonight—can I… borrow it for the night?"

Wu Ming pretended to hesitate. "I do have a spare one, but…"

"I’ll return it first thing tomorrow—I promise! Just one night!"

"Alright then."

"Thank you so much!" Such a kind neighbor!

"But you have to agree to one condition."

"Huh?"

"Come over and eat dumplings with me!" A small request from a devoted fan—not too much to ask, right?

"!!!"

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