"What wind is blowing today?"
Stelle was dragging Su Chen along, not even turning her head.
"Say something! I was still gaming just now, and you burst straight into my office, grabbed me, and dragged me out—and you haven't said a single word up to now."
Su Chen shook off Stelle's grip on his arm. "At the very least, tell me where we're going and what I'm supposed to do."
"Sigh…" Stelle stopped walking and let out a long breath. "Guinaifen is about to be done for."
Su Chen jolted. "Huh?!"
"She hasn't streamed at all lately. Someone who has 'grow followers' engraved in her DNA suddenly goes silent? You're telling me that's normal?"
"Don't gasp like that mid-sentence—my heart can't take it." Su Chen quietly let out a breath of relief. "For my sister's sake, just tell me what actually happened. I'll help you sort her out."
Stelle began explaining the whole story. "A few months ago during one of Guinaifen's streams, I sent her a Star Rail Express superchat gift. She said she could fulfill one specific request from me.
So I thought—hey, I've grown up this much and still haven't seen sword-swallowing in real life. I asked her to demonstrate sword-swallowing so I could see it with my own eyes."
Heh… Su Chen silently shook his head. "And then?"
"And then she said sure—and she's been dragging it out ever since."
"Well yeah, that's not really on her. There are rules for streaming. A performance like sword-swallowing, at Guinaifen's scale—if it gets reported, her whole account could get nuked."
"I know that. So I figured I'd just meet her offline and have some fun with it, and then… sigh…"
Su Chen pressed a hand to his forehead. "Please don't talk like she's about to keel over tomorrow."
"Guinaifen is really, seriously off." Stelle stared straight into Su Chen's eyes. "She used to be so optimistic about life. Even when she only had a few dozen fans, she was bursting with energy. But now she's just giving up. I really don't know what happened to her."
"I get it. You should've just said so earlier. I think I already know where Guinaifen's problem lies."
"Little bro~" Stelle pinched Su Chen's cheek. "I knew you'd have a way! As expected of my absolute best little brother! I want to see sword-swallowing!"
"Ow! Stop! That hurts!"
…
Sixth Street Café.
Guinaifen rested her cheek on one hand, staring blankly out the window while mechanically stirring her coffee.
At that moment the café manager approached. "Hello, Miss Guinaifen. Is the coffee not to your liking? If needed, I can prepare a fresh cup for you right away."
"Sorry, sorry… I'm just a little preoccupied." Guinaifen took a sip of the coffee. "Cough cough cough cough cough cough…"
"Miss, are you alright?" The manager gently patted her back.
"I clearly added sugar—how did it turn into salt?"
The manager quickly grabbed the small jar on the table and tasted it. "It really is!"
Suddenly, something occurred to him.
Yesterday Himeko had come by as usual to practice her coffee skills. He remembered assigning her to refill the sugar jars on the tables.
Could Miss Himeko have accidentally filled them with salt?
"My deepest apologies, Miss Guinaifen. This is entirely my fault. I'll replace your coffee free of charge right now and refund it immediately."
"Cough cough…" Guinaifen coughed lightly a couple more times and felt a bit better. "No, no need, Manager. I don't think I can drink anymore right now."
"Here. Drink this to quench your thirst." Su Chen placed a bottle of mineral water in front of Guinaifen.
"Boss! How did you find me here?"
Su Chen gave a small smile. "Of course I keep an eye on my outstanding employee. What have you been up to lately?"
"Uh… mm!"
Not long after.
After Su Chen paid for the coffee, he used "going for a walk" as an excuse and invited Guinaifen to join him.
The two walked along the street like that.
Su Chen was the first to speak. "I heard you've run into a bit of trouble recently?"
"No, no trouble at all." Guinaifen avoided Su Chen's gaze.
"There's no need to shoulder everything alone. As your boss, it's only right for me to care about your situation—especially when so many good sisters like Stelle and Huohuo have already told me. Bottling it up by yourself isn't going to help."
"I'm sorry, Boss Su Chen. I've caused you trouble." Guinaifen looked genuinely apologetic.
"Then can you tell me what's actually going on?"
"It's actually very simple. Everything started from that day I entered your office."
Guinaifen began recounting slowly.
It was the day she, Sushang, and Belle had all gone to Su Chen's office together.
Bubble happened to be there too.
The three of them were instantly overwhelmed by Bubble's cuteness and their girly hearts exploded. In the excitement, Sushang accidentally hit her head on the floor.
When she woke up, she had completely changed.
At first Guinaifen was thrilled—Sushang had become so much smarter, and she was genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart.
But.
In the days that followed, the two seemed to drift further and further apart. The weekend dramas they used to binge together? Sushang didn't watch anymore. The games they used to play together? She didn't play anymore. They didn't even stream together anymore.
Everything felt both familiar and utterly alien to Guinaifen.
"I think I get it. You feel like Sushang has become a completely different person, and deep down you still want her to go back to how she used to be, right?"
Guinaifen nodded, then shook her head. "I don't know. I do miss the old days, but the current Sushang is genuinely so outstanding—even Professor Ratio looks at her with new respect!
She's become excellent. I should be happy!"
"It's okay if you don't know. But I know someone who definitely does."
"Who?"
Su Chen snapped his fingers. Sushang slowly walked out from around the street corner.
"Sushang!"
Sushang gave a gentle smile. "Little Gui, long time no see."
Su Chen waved at the two of them. "You two take your time talking. Girl talk—I'd better not interfere."
With that, he slowly disappeared at the end of the street.
…
Guinaifen and Sushang found a bench by the roadside and sat down.
For a moment, the atmosphere was extremely awkward.
In the old days they would have already been laughing and chatting nonstop, but now it felt painfully cringey.
"Sushang." "Little Gui."
They spoke at the exact same time.
Then again in unison: "You first." "No, you first." "Okay then, I'll go first."
"Enough!" Sushang reached out to stop the back-and-forth. "I'll start, Little Gui."
— —
Meanwhile, on the other side.
"Hahahaha, hahahaha. These two are still so entertaining."
Sparkle held a pair of binoculars and couldn't stop laughing.
"But I feel like us secretly spying like this might not be very nice♪"
"What are you afraid of? I'm Su Chen's weak spot—no need to worry." Sparkle glanced at Elysia and felt something was off. "Hm? Elysia, why do your little musical notes sound weird today?"
"What musical notes♪"
"You know—the ones you always come with? But today they're different somehow?"
"Miss Sparkle, what are you even talking about? There aren't any subtitles here—how would you know I speak with musical notes♪"
"Fine, guess I misheard." Sparkle turned back to her binoculars. "Elysia, quick—look at this, this is gold!"
"Oh oh. Really?♪" Elysia also picked up a pair of binoculars and started watching.
— —
At that moment.
Sushang looked up at the sky. "Little Gui, do you want me to go back to being the old Sushang?"
"If I said I didn't want that, I'd be lying to you. I want to see an even more outstanding you!"
"Yeah… actually I was really lost for a while too. Back then I had no idea why Boss Su Chen arranged so many scenes for me in the Honkai Impact 3rd net drama. Even though they were all 'Li Sushang,' the personalities were completely different—night and day.
At the time I could barely read, but for the Honkai: Star Rail scripts—even without memorizing I could breeze through filming.
Even the next line I wanted to say would come out exactly like the script. I actually thought being an actress was way easier than being a sheriff.
But when I went to the Honkai Impact 3rd set, everything changed. Even the simplest one- or two-line scenes took me forever to memorize.
Everyone was really patient with me—never once scolded me. But because of me, the entire production schedule ground to a halt. Honkai Impact 3rd airs daily; the crew literally has no downtime."
"It's okay, Sushang." Guinaifen took Sushang's hand, interlocking their fingers. "I know all about it."
"And thank you for staying by my side during that time. I almost wrote Boss Su Chen a resignation letter. But somehow—ever since that day in the office when I hit my head hard—my mind suddenly became much clearer.
Most importantly, I finally feel like I can properly act as Li Sushang in Honkai Impact 3rd. My scenes are pretty much wrapped now; there might be a few reshoots later, but it's no big deal."
"Sushang… thank you for telling me all this."
Guinaifen felt a faint pang of loss in her heart. From her perspective, the fact that Sushang was explaining so much could only mean one thing—Sushang preferred her current self.
"Little Gui, do you know? These past few days I've actually been thinking about one thing."
"What is it?"
"I've been remembering our old days—laughing and messing around together, shining bright in the streaming world. I miss those days so much." Sushang turned her head slightly, locking eyes with Guinaifen. "Do you know? You're not the only one who feels lonely. The memories are still so vivid, but I've completely changed—different habits, different attitude. Every night I look in the mirror and ask myself: who am I exactly? Do you know who I really am?"
Guinaifen gently shook her head. "Sushang, I've always known. You're Li Sushang—no matter what you become, you're always the best version of you!"
"No, Little Gui!" Sushang gave a soft, bittersweet smile. "Actually I figured out the answer a long time ago. I am Li Sushang—but more than that, I'm Guinevere's Li Sushang."
"Sushang…" Guinaifen could hold it in no longer. She threw her arms around Sushang and began sobbing.
— —
"Wuwuwu♪" Elysia wiped her tears. "That was so touching♪"
"Wait, this doesn't feel fun at all!" Sparkle looked at the Elysia in front of her. "You told me there'd be fun here—where exactly is the fun?"
"Miss Sushang is about to go back to her old self, right? We can watch and see exactly how Sushang is going to revert♪"
"Oh, right!" Sparkle gave a thumbs-up. "Elysia, you've really been getting more and more on my wavelength lately. The Fool salutes you!"
— —
Meanwhile.
After hugging, Sushang and Guinaifen were both stumped—how exactly could Sushang return to being her former self?
But just then.
Rappa came speeding down the street on her skateboard.
She leaped into the air, tracing a graceful arc.
But the next moment—
She found someone face-to-face with her.
"Why is this esteemed one so close to me?"
Bang—
Their heads collided as expected.
Sushang and Rappa both collapsed.
"Rappa! Sushang! Somebody help!!!"
…
"Hahahahaha." Sparkle clutched her stomach and rolled on the ground. "I'm actually dying laughing. Where the hell did Rappa come from?"
"I called her over♪" Elysia said gently.
"You called her?" Sparkle wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Elysia, I feel like you're acting really weird today. You'd actually do something like that? Shouldn't you be rushing over to hug them and cry together?"
"So that's the kind of thing Elysia likes to do♪" Elysia smiled. "That really is so very Elysia♪"
This was basically openly wolf-jumping with zero subtlety.
Though Sparkle loved causing chaos, her intelligence was always online.
"Who exactly are you?"
She quietly slipped her hand into her pocket. What was Su Chen's number again?
"I♪" Elysia gave a shallow bow. "I am Elysia♪"
Then Elysia snapped her fingers—once, twice, three times…
She kept going until the seventh snap before stopping.
"So, Miss Sparkle—what do you see now♪"
Sparkle slowly lowered her phone. "I think I see a whole lot of fun waving at me."
"Very good. So what should you say now♪"
"Only you can help me create even more fun." Sparkle gave a devilish smile. "So what do we do next?"
"Find someone♪"
"Who?"
"Kevin!"
— —
"Where… am I?" Sushang slowly opened her eyes and looked around.
Guinaifen was asleep beside her hospital bed.
Not wanting to wake Guinaifen, Sushang quietly reached for the water cup to take a sip.
"Hm?!" Guinaifen suddenly lifted her head. "Sushang, you're awake? Do you want water?"
"Uh, sorry Little Gui—did I wake you?" Sushang took the cup and drank. "By the way… what happened to me?"
"You just crashed head-first into Rappa. You know how much harder her head is than a normal person's."
"No wonder my head's still spinning."
Sushang suddenly let out a small sound. "What's this thing in my blanket?"
The next moment, Bubble poked his head out from under the covers. "Ao~"
"Waaa!!!!" Sushang scooped Bubble up and gave him a fierce sniff. "Baby! Bubble baby, how are you here? Oh Bubble~ my Bubble~"
"Okay okay, restrain yourself a little, Sushang."
"Restrain what? Restrain myself from inhaling Bubble?"
"I told you to read more books on normal days…" Guinaifen suddenly realized something—tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
"Little Gui, why is Bubble with me? Isn't he Boss Su Chen's pet?"
Guinaifen wiped the tears from her eyes. "He went to some restaurant to look for someone and asked me to watch Bubble for a few days, so I brought the little guy over."
"Hehehe, Boss should really take a long vacation." Sushang looked at Bubble with mischievous intent. "Baby, how about just the two of us spending some quality time together for a while?"
— —
"Ah~" Su Chen yawned, looking up at the signboard and reading it aloud. "Finally here—Golden Grand Hotel!"