Gu Ran had an exceptionally happy New Year. During the day, she would play cards or chess with Ji Heyuan, occasionally meeting a few visiting relatives. In the evenings, she watched the various TV stations' Spring Festival galas, sometimes even going live with her fans to poke fun at the show content.
Ji Shiyu was a bit busier than Gu Ran, occasionally going out to handle some matters, but most of the time he was at the old house watching Gu Ran and Ji Heyuan play chess.
Gu Ran was terrible at video games but surprisingly skilled at chess, sometimes even managing a draw against Ji Heyuan.
After playing chess with Ji Heyuan for a few days, Gu Ran suddenly even figured out her own career development plan. In a rush, she made a video call to Ding Ze, who had returned to his hometown and officially become "Er Gou" from the village: "I know what I'm going to do in the future."
"No, I know what I'll do if I can't make it in the looks-focused streaming category."
Ding Ze: "Huh?"
Gu Ran: "If I can't make it in the looks category, I'll switch to streaming in the chess and card games category. I've discovered there's a huge audience of middle-aged and older viewers in this area, and the market gap is particularly big."
Ding Ze, confused, looked at Gu Ran's face on the screen—still unfairly stunning even under the distorting effect of the death-by-front-camera angle—and asked, "What makes you think you won't make it in the looks category?"
Gu Ran pouted upon hearing this: "Didn't you say that me going public with Ji Shiyu is a classic plot of going back to an ex and having a frustrating happy ending with a scumbag, and that I should be prepared to be criticized and chased off the internet?"
Ding Ze: "..."
He felt he might have exaggerated a bit and scared her: "Actually, um, it probably won't be that bad."
"It's not like it's a crime or goes against public decency."
Gu Ran wrinkled her nose at the camera: "Hmph."
Ding Ze looked at Gu Ran on the screen and suddenly said seriously, "President Ji is a good man."
Gu Ran responded with a slightly haughty tone: "Of course I know he's good, otherwise why would such an awesome streamer like me go public with him?"
Ding Ze smiled.
After the New Year holidays, Gu Ran resumed her streams. As the day of the announcement drew closer, she thought she would be nervous. Surprisingly, perhaps because she had already secured a backup plan to switch to the chess and cards category, her mood was very zen and calm.
It was Ji Shiyu, this man, who seemed unusually busy lately, not even replying to WeChat messages promptly.
Gu Ran let out a "hmph" at the WeChat message from Ji Shiyu that took half an hour to arrive, mentally deciding to make this man keep his hands to himself for the next few days.
At 9 AM on the fourteenth day of the first lunar month, as previously arranged, the famous Cat's Paw female streamer posted on both Weibo and the Cat's Paw platform to announce her relationship with Ji Shiyu, CEO of Xinbo.
Ji Shiyu reposted it immediately.
Gu Ran looked at her relationship announcement post.
The caption and everything were written for her by Cat's Paw's internal team after meetings and discussions. The 9 AM timing was also set by Cat's Paw. Only the photo below was chosen by herself.
It was a selfie she took during the New Year while watching the Spring Festival gala with Ji Heyuan. At that moment, Ji Shiyu was watching TV, and she leaned against him, taking a peace sign selfie.
Gu Ran knew Ji Shiyu didn't really like appearing in public. The only time he participated as a lucky male fan in a show, he wore a mask the entire time. If it weren't for the accidental live stream mishap, people probably still wouldn't know what he looked like. So, she specifically chose this photo where he wasn't looking at the camera and his face wasn't clearly visible.
Although the timing was carefully chosen, the buzz after the relationship announcement was still much higher than Cat's Paw had anticipated, with the topic dominating the front pages of various entertainment and gossip forums.
Gu Ran deliberately avoided browsing the reactions and comments to her announcement. She put on headphones and played games all afternoon, then started preparing for her evening stream.
Ji Shiyu was working overtime today.
The best way to handle a relationship announcement is to normalize it, to just carry on as usual. Today was just an ordinary day.
The only not-so-ordinary thing was that Gu Ran's streaming location today was different.
There was a New Year fireworks show on the A City Bund tonight.
In recent years, A City's regulations on fireworks had become extremely strict. Fireworks and firecrackers were not allowed to be sold or set off within the inner ring. The last time the A City Bund held a fireworks show was over a decade ago.
Therefore, once the news of this fireworks show was released, it attracted immense attention. Both residents and tourists held great anticipation and enthusiasm for this long-awaited event.
The Cat's Paw official live stream platform set its location at the Bund tonight, specially inviting its most popular streamer, Gu Ran, to enjoy the fireworks with everyone.
After doing her makeup, Gu Ran was picked up by Ding Ze and taken to tonight's streaming location.
When she arrived, the entire Bund was already packed and bustling, with traffic police busy directing order. Everyone was looking forward to tonight's fireworks.
Cat's Paw's streaming spot was a separately cordoned-off area with the best view, surrounded by staff, with the backdrop being the rolling river water reflecting the lights of the major commercial buildings across the way.
Night had already fallen. The Cat's Paw official live stream began.
Gu Ran took a deep breath and sat down in front of the streaming camera.
She had just announced her relationship this morning.
Gu Ran first introduced herself to the camera, saying how happy she was to watch the fireworks with everyone tonight.
In reality, the entire Bund was packed to the brim, and the number of viewers in the official live stream room continued to climb. It was hard to tell if people were here for the fireworks or for Gu Ran.
Gu Ran had spent the whole day after her announcement playing games and hadn't looked at the outside world's reaction. Now, sitting in front of the familiar streaming camera, she had no choice but to see it.
At the start, it was almost all fans. Her "Little Fish" fans were relatively calm, seemingly having anticipated this day for a long time. Although a bit disappointed about no longer "fishing" for that "ungrateful man," they still offered blessings like "Congratulations, Ran Ran." In contrast, the "Century Couple" shippers were more excited, frantically spamming "Ahhhhhh it's real!!!" and the line, "From today on, it's not about taking a century to get a happy ending, it's about President Ji and Ran Ran having a happy ending for a century!"
Gu Ran couldn't help but laugh when she saw the explanation "Century Couple means President Ji and Ran Ran will have a happy ending for a century!"
The fireworks show hadn't started yet. Gu Ran chatted with the fans in the stream. Gradually, more and more viewers joined the live stream.
The smile on Gu Ran's face slowly faded.
Because some people kept spamming:
[Back with that man again, forgot the pain so quickly once the wound healed, huh? You're an embarrassment to all us sisters.]
[Hope you get dumped right before every wedding~]
[Earn so much money yet have no backbone, a cheap tramp.]
[What's the point of announcing it? He won't even take a proper photo with you. Who knows if you'll even be allowed into his family.]
[These streamer types are just for playing around with until they get bored after catching them. How could the Ji family ever let a streamer in? She'd be lucky to be a kept woman on the side.]
[Of course she won't be allowed in. I heard she tried to climb up before and got dumped by JSY.]
[Ji Shiyu chased her so hard before; what he couldn't bear to part with was probably the physical services she provided, given she is quite good-looking.]
[Before, we could only say it's tragic, but now, knowing full well what kind of role she is, she still publicly gets back together with him. All we can say is she deserves it.]
[I never thought a woman could be so pathetic as to get back together with the man who dumped her before their wedding. You're not short on money now, are you? Can't you live without a man? Disgusting.]
The moderators on Cat Paw's backend were constantly banning accounts, and fans were reporting the offensive comments in droves. However, there were so many that Gu Ran still caught glimpses of these words.
Gu Ran sniffled, initially intending to stay silent. But upon hearing the cheers signaling the imminent start of the fireworks, she suddenly looked up and faced the camera.
"He didn't dump me before the wedding. I was the one who proposed breaking up with him after my own presumptuous request was rejected by him."
"I went to try on the wedding dress myself. He didn't know about it."
Gu Ran looked at the screen, her gaze clear and stubborn. "Yes, I just like him."
As soon as she finished speaking, the countdown ended. A streak of fire shot into the sky and, with a "bang," exploded into a dazzling river of stars amidst the awed exclamations of the tourists, officially commencing the fireworks show.
Gu Ran turned to look up at the sky.
It was said this year's fireworks display wasn't government-organized. Exactly who sponsored it, and why they chose this particular date, remained unknown.
However, for the Bund, which hadn't seen fireworks for over a decade, to once again be lit up by this sea of starlight and blossoms was almost unimaginable.
This wasn't something money alone could accomplish. It required approval and support from the government for filing, the Public Security Bureau, the Fire Department, and even the Civil Aviation Administration and military air traffic control.
Gu Ran also stopped speaking or hosting on the livestream. She turned and looked up, joining everyone in gazing skyward.
One after another, fireworks bloomed in the darkness, their radiant light cascading down like a waterfall woven from the Milky Way, like a romantic sea of flowers in early spring.
Everyone held up their phones to record, the crowd filled with gasps of astonishment.
Standing in the best spot to watch this splendor, Gu Ran felt all her earlier unhappiness vanish without a trace.
The fireworks show lasted a long time.
So long that when it finally ended, lingering afterimages seemed to remain in the sky.
After watching, Gu Ran felt a happy contentment in her heart, tinged only with a bit of regret that Ji Shiyu was working overtime tonight and couldn't come watch the fireworks with her.
The sky returned to darkness. Just as everyone thought tonight's fireworks show was completely over, suddenly, the lights on all the iconic tall buildings across the river in District A went out.
Everyone murmured in confusion upon seeing the lights across the way go dark, until someone screamed, discovering that after the fireworks faded, something else was twinkling as it flew over.
They were drones.
Thousands of drones flew in the sky, their bodies hidden in the darkness, their colored lights twinkling and changing like stars.
The lights on the buildings across the river also came back on, coordinating with the colors of the drones.
After the fireworks, the entire sky became a vast canvas. The points of light, amidst the stunned gasps of everyone on the ground, formed one magnificent and gorgeous picture after another: a girl in school uniform in a corridor, an aloof-looking boy, books from hurriedly passing times, a school, a diamond, a crown, a ring, flowers... as if narrating a love story. Finally, all the points of light assembled into the silhouette of two people kissing.
When they saw this final scene, all the tourists on the ground erupted into astonished cheers, rendered speechless by the romance, feeling nothing but envy.
A proposal! Someone was actually proposing tonight!
Hearing the cheers around her, Gu Ran finally lowered her gaze to look around.
She noticed the sign with the Cat Paw logo that had been behind her was already gone.
Amidst the screams, she found herself standing at the very center of the crowd, now surrounded by balloons and a sea of flowers.
Ji Shiyu walked towards her, smiling.
Gu Ran suddenly felt dazed, remembering a previous conversation where she had said, "If you proposed to me now, I would refuse." And Ji Shiyu had replied, "Okay, of course, that's fine. It's okay if you refuse."
He had smilingly planned a confession destined to be rejected.
In front of everyone.
I love you.
