Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Public Execution

Although Huang Zongchao was extremely self-confident, he was not arrogant, so he responded to Han Leng very tactfully. He said that Zhao Youyue was indeed a student in the school that qualified to be directly recommended to the Capital University, but she did not take the initiative to apply for it herself. Among the applicants, he was the best. Thus he received the recommendation.

Such a response made people even more curious about Zhao Youyue’s performance in school. Therefore, many of them went to look things up, one after another.

Originally, in everyone’s eyes, Lady Ah Yu was brilliant and versatile. In at least two areas, she was already so much better than countless people. One was gaming, and the other was music.

However, it was precisely because she was particularly prominent in these two aspects, while coupled with her identity as a female live streamer, many people subconsciously thought that the Zhao Youyue in school was probably lacking in the academic field…

After all, a person had a limited amount of energy. Since she was doing well in some other fields unrelated to academics, when it came to learning, she had to fall short, somehow. It was impossible for someone to be that perfect, right?

However, from how Han Leng and Huang Zongchao spoke about her, it seemed like Lady Ah Yu was also excellent in her studies!

In the Information Age that housed the Fifth Estate, if anyone wanted more information about just about anything, they could always get their hands on it – as long as they put their hearts into searching. Nobody was stopping them. It was not like Zhao Youyue’s academic performance had been banned from the internet.

The school officials believed that this was another good opportunity to promote the school. A new batch of students was soon bound to graduate from junior high school. To attract more excellent students, the school officials took the initiative to publicize Zhao Youyue’s godlike stable results. In several mock exams before the college entrance examinations, she had managed to maintain the first place in the entire school!

Following this, the female live streamer Ah Yu once again soared with popularity on the internet in such a way – that no other female live streamer could ever imagine happening to themselves. Such a perfect female actually existed. Seriously?

It was no wonder that even someone as arrogant as The Great Scholar Han admired her so greatly…

Netizens started expressing their acknowledgement of her as the new wonder of the world —- —-

“In the beginning, I thought that Ah Yu only knew how to play games, that she was some girl who was addicted to the internet. Moreover, because she did not ever show her face, I did not think that she would look remotely beautiful. Later, I learned that this girl was really rich, because she spent a huge amount of money on games. Then, I discovered that her musical talents were incredibly superior and she was also the voice actress of an anime. Finally, when she showed her face, at last, her beauty was out of this world! However, I never expected that this wasn’t all that she had. She was also a super elite scholar! What else is she hiding? Now, even if you tell me that she’s training to become an immortal, I’d believe you!”

“Actually, I’ve previously heard rumors about Ah Yu being an elite scholar. However, there’s a difference between a real elite scholar and an elite scholar. To me, those that are able to maintain their position in the top ten in their class are already elite scholars. Those who constantly maintain their position in the top ten position of the whole grade, they have definitely surpassed the level of an elite scholar. How about those who stay at the top forever? I can’t even wrap my head around that!”

“It’s no wonder that even an extremely confident guy like Huang Zongchao did not dare say that he is definitely better than Ah Yu. She really is brilliant!”

“Even the good-for-nothing Han Leng with unbelievably high standards has acknowledged Ah Yu’s brilliance. Compared to Han Leng’s talent in writing, Ah Yu’s musical talents are not inferior. It’s a pity that she’s way more low profile than Han Leng…”

“Now that you mention it, quite a number of Ah Yu’s compositions were based on Han Leng’s “Beautiful April.” She was roleplaying Chu Luoxun. Without her songs, Han Leng’s book could not possibly get so popular. What’s the relationship between the two of them?”

…

When Lady Ah Yu became popular on the internet once again due to her amazing academic achievements, the netizens who loved to gossip filled the internet with various guesses about the relationship between Ah Yu and Han Leng.

Someone also swore that he had once seen Ah Yu and Han Leng going out on a date privately. It was likely that they were a couple!

As for how the two of them crossed paths, it was, of course, really simple. Ah Yu had already made it clear that she was a loyal reader of Han Leng’s “Beautiful April.” Why else would she write so many songs from that book?

Wasn’t it normal for authors to hook up with their pretty female fans?

Some people even made an audacious speculation that Zhao Youyue was the inspiration behind the iconic character – “Chu Luoxun” – created by Han Leng. Her music had stimulated Han Leng’s mind and gave him a burst of inspiration…

On the internet, there were always people with all sorts of talents and wild imaginations. Some people suddenly experienced an epiphany —- —-

“Before this, I never understood why The Great Scholar Han would write about classical music so professionally, even though he was a guy who knew nothing about classical music. He was also very familiar with the flow of various competitions. People who did not know him well would think that he was part of the music community. Now, however, the truth has come to light. He was only capable of writing so professionally because he had learned it all from Ah Yu.”

As soon as this statement was put forward, many people expressed that they too believed that as fact. Otherwise, there was really no way to explain why Han Leng could write so professionally!

Soon after, some students from their school decided to make things even bigger. They smacked the headlines, saying that The Great Scholar Han was, in fact, extremely obsessed with Lady Ah Yu. Every once in a while, he would write love letters dedicated to Ah Yu!

If he did not write love letters for a day, he would be in utmost distress!

When such news broke out, Han Leng’s character as a “clueless chick magnet” seemed to be deconstructed, by just a little. Moreover, the hashtag #HanLengWroteLoveLettersForAhYu trended on Weibo and became a hot topic

Even the contents of the love letters were exposed, because Han Leng had always been ghostwriting for his classmates —- —-

“If I love you, and you happen to love me too: When your hair is messy, I’ll smile at you, then help you fix it, and my fingers will linger, longing to feel your hair for a few more seconds. But, if I love you, and you don’t happen to love me too: When your hair is messy, I am only able to gently tell you: “Hey, your hair is a little messy.”[1]

“When I was away, your hair grew longer, and it was as if you had lived a few years more than the others; but when you smiled, I was bedazzled once again – it was as if I just went downstairs to buy a bottle of water.”[2]

“Some people think that love is sex, love is marriage, love is a kiss at 6 o’clock in the morning, or that love is having a bunch of children. Maybe it’s true, but my fellow classmate Zhao Youyue, do you know what I think? I think that love is trying to touch someone only to end up retracting your hand.”[3]

…

Fortunately, Han Leng was free from the pressure of having to take the college entrance examinations. Otherwise, considering how his current state of mind was in a total mess, he would definitely fail. He just wanted to make sure that everyone would not forget about Lady Zhao, his intentions were pure. How odd. Obviously, Lady Zhao was still as brilliant as ever. Why has the whole world recently forgotten about her? How could this be?

Now, in return, he had subjected himself to public execution[4]!

Love letters and such, it was so embarrassing he could die!

Han Leng hurriedly posted on Weibo to defend himself. First of all, he explained that the inspiration behind Chu Luoxun from “Beautiful April” was not Zhao Youyue. He also never once gathered any materials from Lady Zhao. You might not believe it, but he just had a special burst of inspiration! He was “intoxicated” back when he was writing the book, do you guys get it or not?

The most important thing was, second of all, none of those love letters were his idea. He was only a ghostwriter, and he really did not have such feelings!

Translation note :

[1] A quote from a short story titled “If I Love You” by Haruki Murakami. Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His books and stories have been bestsellers in Japan as well as internationally, with his work being translated into 50 languages and selling millions of copies outside his native country.

[2] A quote from a song titled “Blue Parachute” written by Zhou Shen and posted on NetEase Music. The quote means something like, when you see someone you have not met for a long time, you tend to think that they have changed a lot, at first glance. However, when that person smiles, you realize that they have not really changed at all. They’re still the person you once knew, and it’s like you have not been gone at all (which explains why the quote says “went downstairs to buy a bottle of water”, it refers to how you feel like you’ve only been gone for a short while the moment you see their smile, because the person in front of you has really not changed at all).

[3] A quote from the book “The Heart of a Broken Story” by Jerome David “J. D.” Salinger, an American writer known for his widely read novel, The Catcher in the Rye.

[4] Originally, “public execution” is a form of capital punishment which “members of the general public may voluntarily attend.” This definition excludes the presence of a small number of witnesses randomly selected to assure executive accountability. However, in recent times, especially on the internet in Japan, “public execution” has been known to be used to refer to how someone has been “made a fool/embarrassed in front of the public on social media.”