ALWARFC Chapter 55

The show «Another Side of Family Life» has been intense this season from the very beginning. Every frame seems packed with dramatic moments. Houses are either collapsing or being rebuilt every day, and viewers constantly have their perceptions overturned.

It truly lives up to its name, «Another Side of Family Life», because if the public saw this other side, it would be horrifying.

When the latest photo from Su Ran’s album was released, it immediately sparked chaos within fandom circles.

【This must be Photoshopped!】

【Oh my! Lu Huanjin admitted that the dialogue is real…】

【Lu’s fans: The evidence is undeniable. Su Ran, this disreputable artist, is once again bullying a former group member.】

【Lu’s fans: Let’s educate outsiders on the scandalous deeds of a certain Su Ran.】

Seeing Lu’s fans launching a fierce offensive, insulting Su Ran while exposing his negative record and accusing him of playing the victim to garner sympathy, Su Ran’s fans, nicknamed “Little Sparks”, were naturally unwilling to back down. They geared up, ready to counterattack with equally harsh words.

But just as they were preparing for action, they discovered that their prominent fan, Pearl’s Pearl, had already stepped forward without consulting the group. When the Little Sparks heard this, they were about to rally in support, but then they witnessed the following exchange:

【Lu’s fans: We call for a ban on the disreputable artist Su Ran!】

【Pearl’s Pearl: Your idol said, ‘Let Su Ran take the lead.’】

【Lu’s fans: It’s incomprehensible that garbage like Su Ran still has fans.】

【Pearl’s Pearl: Lu Huanjin is the bottom, Su Ran is the top. Your idol personally confirmed it, you know.】

【Lu’s fans, furious: Is your side crazy, dragging this into a CP direction? How disgusting!】

【Pearl’s Pearl: So what? My side is on top, your side is on the bottom. From that perspective, we’ve already won. Ran Bao is amazing! Ran Bao is making us proud!!!】

【Lu’s fans: …】 Shut up! Blocked!

Bystanders witnessing this were stunned. Truly, this is the hallmark of a top-tier fan, such eccentric logic and relentless competitiveness, perfectly mirroring the idol they support! It’s as if they pull the opposing side down to the same elementary-level reasoning, then use their wealth of experience to crush them.

Other “Little Sparks” began to reflect.

Aren’t we supposed to be exclusive fans of Ran Bao? Why are we acknowledging the existence of a CP? No, it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether it’s a real CP or a fake one, anyway, in this pairing, our Ran Bao is on top. Ran Bao is amazing. We’ve won!

Ran Bao defeated Lu Huanjin, and we, the “Little Sparks”, have also conquered Lu’s fans!

The “Little Sparks”, living up to their idol’s influence, quickly banded together to deploy this same logic to crush their opponents. No matter how much Lu’s fans spread rumors or insult Su Ran, the “Little Sparks” would only respond with proud expressions: “Our side is on top, and your side is on the bottom!”

Lu’s fans fell into the trap of this flawed logic and were utterly defeated, until one of their prominent fans had a sudden epiphany. What the “Little Sparks” were claiming was that Su Ran is “on top” and Lu Huanjin is “on the bottom”. But who’s to say it couldn’t be navel orange[mfn]I learned this from a reader of MMLDU. From what they understood, it is like the slang word for “riding” to pass the censorship. ‘脐橙’ (qí chéng), meaning navel orange, is a homophone for ‘骑乘’ (also qí chéng), which means riding.[/mfn]? Isn’t that plausible?

Thus, they joined forces with LuSu CP fans to steer public opinion and shift the narrative: How about considering a cunning top and a fiery, defiant bottom? The kind of haughty top-tier bottom we’re talking about here!

In the end, the matter escalated to the point where it no longer mattered whether anyone was “straight” or not. All that mattered was whoever was on top wins.

The neighboring “Guan Liu” fandom is also experiencing an earthquake, but unlike the intense infighting of their rivals, this side appears united and harmonious.

A trending post on a forum: 818[mfn]From what I found, 818 is used to express “talking gossip”. Correct me if I’m wrong.[/mfn] How many faces does our Guan Liu “big sister” have?

Topic: How can two girls possibly be together? Turns out, Gu Shuangshuang and Su Anyao can’t be together, but it’s perfectly fine for them to each find a wife and engage in GL?

1L: Su Anyao: We’ll be sister-in-laws in the future. Oh, so being sister-in-laws means you both marry one personality layer of the fictional Female Emperor character?

2L: Let me educate everyone as a fan of otome games; the pillow in question is a limited-edition collaboration between “Above the Court” and a luxury brand. Only ten were sold nationwide. The current resale market price has skyrocketed to seven figures. That explains why they’re sharing a single pillow as part of the wedding ceremony…

3L: The Female Emperor is insanely popular!

4L: Incredible. So, when people say Gu Shuangshuang went on a trip with her “husband”, it actually means she took the pillow with her, right? LMAO!

5L: The “pure and innocent flower” image of our big sister has shattered. But honestly, knowing she’s a GL enthusiast who only loves fictional female characters makes it even more appealing.

6L: Isn’t this another version of a happy ending for the Guan Liu pairing?

7L: Please don’t bring up Guan Liu anymore. Whenever I see those words, I think of the “Liu, Guan, Zhang: Peach Garden Oath of Brotherhood”. It’s just too brainwashing!

8L: LOL. Poor Yaomei spent the whole evening trying to find a hole to crawl into and hide her embarrassment. Does Shuangshuang, currently on vacation, even know that her public persona has been completely shattered?

Late at night, after recording had wrapped up and the crew had gone to rest, the guests gathered for a small meeting in the eastern wing’s living room. Among them was Su Ning, who had rushed over in a hurry.

Su Ran sat alone in a corner, furiously typing on his phone. He was trying to brainwash the most influential fans in his fandom.

Su Ran: 【How could this screenshot being leaked be a social death for me? Isn’t it a shared honor for all of us? I’m on top, which clearly shows I’m better than Lu Huanjin. Of course, it also proves you’re more awesome than Lu’s fans, right? Listen to me, we absolutely must win this public opinion battle today!】

What? They’re saying I’m a ‘navel orange’? Nonsense! That’s pure slander. Can you just stand by and let them spread lies about me, the ultimate dominant force? Absolutely not!

Pearl’s Pearl: …But, Ranbao, with your cute and stubbornly prideful demeanor, you really don’t seem like the ultimate dominant force.

Su Ran was fuming with anger. Just as he was about to continue convincing his nearly mutinous fans, a shadow loomed over him. Lu Huanjin’s voice sounded close by, “What are you doing?”

The top star hastily shoved his phone back into his pocket, glaring warily at him. “Stay away from me!”

Lu Huanjin chuckled. “Ran Bao, I haven’t even settled the score with you for leaking our conversation today…”

Su Ran stiffened his neck and retorted, “That’s a separate matter!”

“Quiet.” Su Weisheng, seated at the head, tapped the table softly, and the room immediately fell silent. He turned to Su Anyao, who appeared lost in thought, and asked, “So, you and Gu Shuangshuang have a very close relationship?”

“Ah, yes.” Su Anyao snapped out of her daze, clutching the little black bear in her arms. Feeling a bit awkward but remembering that the meeting was supposedly about discussing serious matters related to Gu Shuangshuang and given how her public persona had already crumbled earlier during the livestream, she decided to embrace her fate and replied honestly, “Although the internet is all about calling close friendships fake, Shuangshuang and I are genuinely best friends who trust each other with our lives.”

As she said this, she scratched her head, feeling a bit embarrassed. She continued to explain: “I admit that both of us have a bit of a ‘dream girlfriend’ tendency when it comes to game characters. Back in university, we met because we both shared the same favorite character, Zhang Nianyi, rather than the assumption from online users that we became friends through acting together.”

“In the toughest times, when we couldn’t land any acting gigs and were struggling to make ends meet, we would spend every day cooped up in a small one-bedroom apartment playing games together. We made a pact that if either of us ever successfully ‘romanced’ Zhang Nianyi in the game but still hadn’t landed any acting roles, we’d quit the industry together and retire in a small town.”

She smiled, and a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes as she spoke softly: “Later on, we didn’t manage to unlock the happy ending with Zhang Nianyi, but instead, we got cast in that small-budget ancient costume drama, which turned out to be a big hit.”

Su Ran was touched and said, “Maybe it was destiny for you two to succeed.”

Su Anyao responded earnestly: “No, it’s because I later found out this damn game had insider tricks. If your spending bar doesn’t exceed ten thousand, you can’t unlock the hidden happy ending.”

Everyone: “…That’s possible?!”

Su Ning’s expression grew increasingly perplexed as he listened, even beginning to doubt reality. He turned to Su Weisheng and asked, “Great-grandfather, so when you said their marriage prospects weren’t tied to real people, you weren’t talking about summoning spirits, but rather fictional characters?”

Su Weisheng helplessly shrugged and responded leisurely, “I was trying to encourage you to think in another direction. You insisted on a conspiracy theory and even scared Sunny, but I was only guessing and didn’t explain everything clearly.”

Sunny, who was frightened and couldn’t sleep all night, broke down: “Then what was that about seeing you in the room at night, performing rituals and muttering something about being able to sacrifice them?”

Su Anyao was startled by this accusation and appeared somewhat flustered: “How did you even see that?” After saying this, and noticing everyone staring at her, she quickly cleared her throat and explained in a serious tone: “It’s nothing. You can just think of it as me playing games. Yes, all of this is just specialized jargon from the anime and gaming world. It’s hard to explain in a short amount of time!”

“Oh…” Sunny truly didn’t understand the anime and gaming terms, and could only nod along in confusion. Realizing that he could finally go back to rest tonight, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, everything seemed perfectly reasonable.

Su Ning continued asking, “Do you know where Gu Shuangshuang went for her vacation?”

“Mt. Qixing in F City, the mountain that inspired the hidden forest storyline of Zhang Nianyi in ‘Above the Court’.”

Su Anyao answered effortlessly, explaining, “A few years ago, we rented a plot of land at the base of the mountain. The lease is for 50 years, and we built a small holiday house there. Every year, we go there to celebrate our birthdays. However, this year is quite special. Just a few days ago, her relatives started pestering her to borrow money, bothering her endlessly. Frustrated, she said she was going to retreat to Mt. Qixing for a week to relax.”

At this point, she spoke with deep resentment: “Not only did she leave me behind, but she also snuck away with our limited-edition pillow. That’s her husband and my wife! What a scoundrel!”

After she finished, Su Ning immediately sent a message to Su Qian, instructing them to head to Mt. Qixing to investigate.

Su Weisheng casually pulled a talisman from his pocket and tossed it to him, saying, “Give this to your people. Place it on Gu Shuangshuang’s belongings. It might help locate her current situation.”

“Alright.” Su Ning took the talisman and replied solemnly, “I’ll handle it personally and provide you with results as soon as possible.”

Hearing this, Su Anyao felt a pang of anxiety and nervously asked, “Great-grandfather, could it be that something’s happened to Shuangshuang?”

Su Weisheng gave a brief nod and replied flatly, “She’s dead.”

“Oh.”

His tone was so casual that no one reacted immediately. It wasn’t until the meaning of those two words sank in that shocked cries began to erupt one after another.

“What?”

“She’s dead?!”

“This can’t be!” Su Anyao immediately stood up, frowning as she said, “Great-grandfather must be joking, right? This isn’t a joke to make lightly…” Yet, when she saw Su Weisheng’s calm and completely unperturbed expression, she couldn’t help but feel a sinking sensation in her heart. She frantically pulled out her phone to try to contact Gu Shuangshuang, but unfortunately, she had no success.

She quickly began making calls everywhere, attempting to arrange for trusted people to head to Mt. Qixing to confirm the truth.

Moments later, Su Anyao rushed back into the room. She said, “I’ve already asked my manager to head to Mt. Qixing to check the situation. Tomorrow morning, I’ll contact the nearby villagers to take a look, too. But I still think your prediction might be off this time. Shuangshuang can’t possibly be in trouble.”

“We go there every year and stay for a while. The house’s alarm system has been reinforced to be extremely secure, and it’s in the middle of the village. If something had truly happened to her, someone would have reported it. You must have made a mistake.” Her firm insistence sounded less like denying Su Weisheng and more like trying to reassure herself.

Everyone else simply felt that the unfolding drama was increasingly surreal, especially Su Ran, who nervously approached Su Weisheng and asked, “Great-grandfather, you’re really not joking? Gu Shuangshuang is dead?”

Just moments ago, Su Anyao had been enthusiastically showing off her close friendship with her sister-like bestie, and now she was being told that said friend was already gone. It was absolutely chilling.

Su Weisheng calmly fiddled with the beads in his hand, only glancing briefly at the screen of his phone before saying, “Let’s wait for news from Su Ning.”

He was so calm that everyone was left stunned, exchanging bewildered glances and unsure of how to react.

Time ticked by, moving from 11:30 to midnight, then to 1:00, and finally to 2:00.

The group, exhausted and yawning, slumped in the living room. Su Anyao paced back and forth anxiously with her phone in hand. Since Su Weisheng hadn’t left, they all stayed in the living room instead of going to bed, waiting for the next development in the unfolding drama. Yet, as time passed, doubts about the truth of Great-grandfather’s words began to creep in.

Beep…

No one knew how much time had passed when Su Weisheng’s phone lit up. Everyone eagerly leaned forward, waiting for the latest update.

Su Ning: Found Gu Shuangshuang in the basement of the house. The body is already decomposed with no external injuries. Police have been contacted.

Su Ning: 【Photo】

Su Anyao glanced at the photo. Perhaps due to the overwhelming shock, her vision went black, and she fainted. The others were also caught off guard and took a while to recover from the shock.

They placed Su Anyao on the sofa and then exchanged helpless glances, unsure of what to do next.

“She’s really dead…”

“It definitely couldn’t have been suicide, right? Did this girl have any enemies? Being targeted like this is just too tragic.”

“For someone to track her down to their holiday house and kill her, it’s very likely someone close to her!”

The group huddled together, discussing in hushed tones. Some even pulled out their phones to search for information on Gu Shuangshuang’s friends and enemies, debating who might be the most suspicious and who could be so heartless as to harm a young woman.

The phone screen continued to light up.

Su Ning: Great-grandfather, the talisman you gave me is very effective. There are traces of Gu Shuangshuang’s lingering spirit nearby, but the presence is already faint. I’m following the direction indicated by the talisman.

Su Weisheng replied briefly, then looked up at the group and asked curiously, “Why aren’t you all asleep yet?”

“Uh…” Su Ran blinked. “If great-grandfather isn’t sleeping, of course I’ll stay up to keep you company.”

Su Weisheng glanced at him. You’re just too scared to sleep.

Lu Huanjin, with a natural expression, chimed in, “Judging by your tone, there might be more developments. We want to stick around and see.”

Su Weisheng lazily stretched his legs and said, “Suit yourselves.”

The clock ticked forward, and another half hour passed. The group was gathered around, trying to console the now-conscious Su Anyao, urging her to take care of herself. She was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath.

Su Ning: The lingering spirit seems to have been taken away by something. It already left F City.

Su Weisheng stared at the coordinates for a while, growing increasingly puzzled. Suddenly, he turned to Su Anyao and asked, “Did you delay your filming schedule to come here as a temporary guest?”

Su Anyao, her voice hoarse from crying, paused for a full two minutes before snapping out of her daze and answering sluggishly, “Yes, I was filming in A City at the time, with only two weeks left until wrap-up. Director You invited me last minute, so I negotiated with the production team and came here.”

She thought to herself, if she hadn’t come to this show, how much longer would it have taken for her to discover that Shuangshuang had already been murdered? The thought made her want to slap herself.

Seeing this, the surrounding people hurriedly urged Su Anyao not to get too worked up.

Su Weisheng nodded thoughtfully, checked his messages on WeChat, and noted that Su Ning’s coordinates were still moving and had not stopped. Opening Baidu Maps to calculate the distance, he seemed to reach some sort of conclusion.

Meanwhile, Su Anyao continued crying uncontrollably. “If only… if only I had delayed my schedule to accompany her! We always went together before. It’s because I let her go alone this time that she ended up in trouble. I never thought that would be the last time I saw her. From now on, I’ll never see her again… My plans for the future always included both of us. Now that she’s gone, what future is left for me to look forward to?”

This was undeniably harsh. Everyone looked at her with faces full of pity.

Out of the blue, Su Weisheng calmly inserted, “No worries. You’ll see her today.”

This sentence had a chillingly eerie quality to it, sending shivers down everyone’s spine. Even Su Anyao’s tears froze on her cheeks as she stared at him in shock. “W-What do you mean…”

Dong… Suddenly, the sound of a clock echoed from nowhere.

Su Weisheng stepped out of the living room. Standing in the dense darkness of the night, he gazed outward. A gust of cold wind scattered the fine strands of his hair. His breathtakingly striking face took on an ominous, ghostly aura in the shadows, and his pitch-black pupils resembled bottomless whirlpools.

Moments later, a talisman in his fingertips ignited, the flames disappearing into his palm. The ashes, carried by the cold wind, swept into the house, causing everyone to cough repeatedly. Su Weisheng suddenly turned back and made a silencing gesture. A faint smile slowly spread across his lips, his voice growing softer and softer: “She’s here for you.”

One sentence—a spine-tingling terror.

At the same time, everyone turned behind him in terror, only to see the courtyard now shrouded in white mist that had silently crept in. Amidst the haze, the staggering silhouette of a woman could be seen slowly making her way through the front gate, inching closer to them.

Her tattered dress was faintly stained with blood. Her twisted steps trudged forward with the difficulty like that of a zombie. Her blood-red eyes stared unflinchingly at the group. When her gaze landed on Su Anyao, those eyes widened even further, and her breathing became visibly more labored.

Someone recognized the face. “Gu… Gu Shuangshuang!”

An overwhelming chill seized everyone’s hearts. Su Anyao had just lamented about not seeing Gu Shuangshuang one last time, and now her ghost had shown up!

It wasn’t just a ghost—it looked like a vengeful ghost, heading straight for Su Anyao. Could her death really be connected to Su Anyao?

The apparition flickered ominously. Within the blink of an eye, she was already at the threshold of the living room.

“Oh my god!!!”

Everyone shrieked in terror and scattered in all directions. “Don’t come near us!”

“Su Anyao is right there! If you have a grudge, go after her!” someone shouted desperately while clutching a chair.

Su Anyao’s legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor. Her wide eyes were fixed on the figure of the ghost as she stammered, “Shuangshuang… is it really you?”

It was obvious she was terrified, yet it also seemed as though she was desperately trying to overcome her fear, attempting to move closer to the vengeful spirit.

The group stared at her in shock, silently thinking—if she really had something to do with Gu Shuangshuang’s death, this young woman’s mental fortitude was extraordinary. She still dared to try and steady a vengeful ghost bent on revenge?

The next second, the vengeful ghost of Gu Shuangshuang stretched out her long, slender hands and lunged at Su Anyao.

To be precise, she lunged into Su Anyao’s arms.

“Su Anyao, you wretched fool! I’m going to strangle you!!!” Gu Shuangshuang cried and cursed through her tears, pounding on Su Anyao as she yelled, “Why didn’t you stay in A City to finish filming? Why did you come to the capital? Do you know that after I died, I had to walk all the way from F City to A City on foot? I walked for three days just to find you, only to discover you had left for the capital! Then I had to walk hundreds more kilometers from A City to the capital to finally catch up with you!!!”

Forcing a newly deceased ghost to walk from F City to A City and then to the capital, what kind of madness is this? Even ghosts would shed tears of sympathy upon hearing such a tale.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a vengeful ghost seeking revenge? Why was the atmosphere made so terrifying if it wasn’t revenge at all?

Looking up at Great-grandfather, they saw Su Weisheng calmly sipping tea, completely unfazed. Clearly, he had known all along what was happening and had deliberately scared them earlier!

What a twisted sense of humor!

Great-grandfather truly had a wicked sense of humor!!!

Su Anyao was equally stunned. She grabbed her best friend’s hands in a panic and asked, “Are you worried about me? Or are you here to urgently tell me who the murderer is? Don’t worry, I’ll give up everything in my next life if I have to, but I’ll definitely avenge you!”

Gu Shuangshuang cried miserably, “I just wanted to tell you that I accidentally poisoned myself by eating toxic mushrooms. I wasn’t murdered, so when you collect my body, don’t call the police! If you report it, the police will think I was murdered, and then they’ll investigate my chat history. Wouldn’t that mean I’d suffer a social death even in the afterlife?!”

Everyone: “…”

Su Anyao: “…”

Gu Shuangshuang continued to earnestly instruct her, “You absolutely must delete all my search history on my computer, cancel all my accounts on that site I use to follow stories, cancel my gaming accounts too, and make sure to clear all our chat history. Nothing can be left behind, or we’ll both suffer a social death. I won’t rest in peace if that happens!!!”

It’s often said that the chat history and search history between best friends should never see the light of day. In Gu Shuangshuang’s case, this couldn’t be more true.

Su Anyao, initially at a loss for words, instinctively nodded in agreement when she heard “chat history” and “reading history”, nervously echoing, “Yes, yes, it all has to be deleted…”

Su Weisheng paused mid-sip of his tea, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. While he had anticipated that the disappearance of the lingering spirit and the ghost messengers’ failure to locate it might have an absurd explanation, he hadn’t expected it to be this absurd.

After her accidental death, Gu Shuangshuang had frantically traveled 800 kilometers overnight to find her best friend and delete their chat history just to avoid a social death. Incredible. It was so absurd that even the ghost messengers couldn’t keep up with her and assumed her soul had been captured by some dark sorcerer.

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