Short video platforms often host all kinds of challenge events — the #TwoFaceChallenge for example, where you switch from a smiling face to a crying one in a heartbeat, or show how well you can control your expressions, shifting from kind and warm to sly and sinister.
Naturally, the Spring Festival season had its own themed event: #SpringFestivalGalaFunShare. It called for people to share funny or heartwarming stories from Chinese New Year's Eve up until the Lantern Festival. Skits, comedy clips, or simply sweet moments — all were welcome.
And, of course, these events were sponsored by Lays Potato Chips.
With extra algorithmic promotion and prize money for the winner, the number of submissions piled up higher than the air inside a bag of chips.
Han Jue either didn't notice or deliberately joined in. She ticked the #SpringFestivalGalaFunShare box, and since her clips were already top-tier content on both Bilibili and Douyin, her popularity shot up fast.
Likes and shares exploded in minutes.
"Xiao Jiu' first time performing on the Spring Festival Gala, singing "Always Go Home and Visit." Compared to his usual original songs, this one feels completely different. On the Orange Home app, opinions are split — some say the song feels out of place, not like a work from this century at all. Others think it's fine, pointing out that "Katyusha," which he wrote for the St. Petersburg Cultural Forum, feels even more old-fashioned.
Personally, I think both sides are right. Chu Zhi was born in 1998, so for someone his age to write this kind of melody and lyrics does feel mismatched — the tone is more like a middle-aged married man with kids. But if you consider Jiu-yé's life experience, it makes perfect sense."
From the way she wrote, it was clear Han Jue didn't often post long essays — a bit rambling, maybe even written in the heat of emotion.
"'Find some free time, take some time off, bring the kids, and often go home and have a look.'"
Maybe… the middle-aged man in the lyrics is actually Xiao Jiu' father, and "bring the kids" means Xiao Jiu himself.
"Mom's prepared a bit of chatter, Dad's set up a table of good food" — that could be referring to Xiao Jiu' grandmother and grandfather.
Put that way, isn't it easier to understand?
This happy picture the song paints might be normal for most families, but for Jiu-yé it's been out of reach his whole life. Xiao Jiu' parents were a firefighter and a police officer — even on New Year's Eve, if duty called, they had to go.
And once he turned eleven, the scenes in the song became impossible altogether, because by then, it was just Xiao Jiu and his grandfather depending on each other.
As for why the melody sounds like something from the 80s or 90s — this song was for his grandfather. On a night meant for family reunion and noise, he was alone… he missed his grandfather."
Whether or not people agreed with Han Jue's interpretation, there was one point no one could argue: Chu Zhi was alone.
Predictably, Han Jue's post shot to number one on the #SpringFestivalGalaFunShare trending list.
[Liu Li Bing Can]:"My god… that's a real gut punch. I'm not even a fan, and I thought his Gala performance was festive, but something about his expression didn't match. Now I know why. That joy had a shadow."
[Wei Gan Wang Nan Chen]:"Doesn't matter whether 'Always Go Home and Visit' was really for his grandfather — the thought alone is heartbreaking. He gave the happiness to the audience and kept the loneliness for himself."
[Dian Pei Fu Chen.qdcn]:"Han Yikou Xuegao might actually be right. That lyric, 'Elders don't ask their children for big achievements,' sounds like something his grandfather used to say all the time."
Han Yikou Xuegao was Han Jue's Douyin username. Clicking her profile showed she mostly watched two kinds of videos: Chu Zhi content and cats-and-dogs pet clips.
[Bu Nuoka]:"Ahhh, it's the first day of the new year, the kid's still young, and this is way too heavy for him to carry. Even if he doesn't want to, Jiu-yé should find someone to keep him company. This is just too sad."
[Only Future and Parents Cannot Be Let Down]:"Anyone else feel the same? I was listening and suddenly felt this strange sadness. Seeing this post, now I know why — he was singing for something he can never reach."
[Ji Xi]:"Bring the smile, bring the blessing… I shouldn't have been scrolling Douyin at midnight. Now I'm wide awake, Spartan mode engaged."
The post quickly spread beyond Douyin, like tossing a dozen stones into a still lake — the ripples just kept going.
Originally, Chu Zhi hadn't planned to make anyone sad, but his fans did it to themselves.
Still, for him, there was a silver lining — his song reached the grandparents' generation. National recognition often grows that way. These days, most young singers aren't even known by people their parents' age, let alone grandparents.
Even "mom fans" spending New Year's with family, like Wang Yuan, felt the pang. She read the post and her heart clenched.
"'Always Go Home and Visit'… Xiao Jiu must have been singing that to his parents from the past," she whispered, taking a deep breath.
As for Chu Zhi himself —
Was the song for the original body's grandfather? More than that, it was for a mother in another world, one he could never see again. But that was something no one knew, and no one ever would.
On New Year's morning, his body clock woke him early — seven-thirty.
Heading downstairs, he saw last night's wine bottles and empty dishes had already been cleaned away.
"Da Bai got up earlier than me?" Chu Zhi was surprised. Usually after a hangover, a few people might wake in the night from thirst, but most would sleep until noon.
Wherever Da Bai had gone, he hadn't left his makeshift pillow on the sofa.
Chu Zhi grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and gulped it down.
Then he began sending out his thirty-two batches of group New Year's voice greetings, finishing in just over ten minutes. He had done it so many times it felt effortless.
For acquaintances he barely knew, he didn't send voice messages — just text. Always considerate.
Why thirty-two batches instead of one? Because it made it feel more personal and sincere.
When he was done, a notification popped up. Yesterday he had unintentionally unlocked an achievement — [Hangover ×10] — earning him five more personality coins. His balance now sat at thirty-seven coins (ten frozen).
"First day of the year… I don't even need to check my fortune, I know today's going to be lucky. Let's go, let's go!" Chu Zhi was ready to spend some coins.
[Happy New Year.] The system spoke before he could.
"Huh? Getting proactive now, buddy? You're even sending greetings?" Chu Zhi chuckled.
[Yesterday, the host told me 'Happy New Year' before falling asleep.] In other words, the system was simply returning the courtesy.
"Alright, alright. Then let's do this — don't hold back, roll the lottery."
Checking the current prize pool.
[Title: Ma-cha Holy Bug]
[Curio: Anti-Black Sugar Pill]
[Curio: Crime of Gluttony Lollipop]
[Sound of the Angry Motorcycle]
[Album Gift Pack: Adoration]
[Album Gift Pack: Time Like Flowing Water]
The first thing Chu Zhi looked at was the most eye-catching title.
[Ma-cha Holy Bug: Legendary title. The Ma-cha bug is seductive, and the deeper the seduction, the richer the flavor. To reach the peak of seduction is to be a holy pet.
Attribute: Makes all your actions exude irresistible charm.]
"Wang Defa?" Chu Zhi stared at the ridiculous title. A legendary rank, no less. As expected, one should never underestimate how absurd the system could get.
Adoration was an album by Liang Jingru, with the most familiar song being The Pain That Breathes. Time Like Flowing Water was an album by Li Jian. Chu Zhi, who on Earth had never paid much attention to music, only realized after checking the details.
"So 'Legend' is actually Li Jian's song… I thought it was one of Faye Wong's signature tracks. Why does it feel that way?"
It was rare for this blind box to contain two curios, and both were new to him.
The Crime of Gluttony Lollipop was a miraculous medicine — no exercise, no dieting needed. Take it, and you'd healthily lose thirty jin in two months. Compared to the so-called diet products on the market, this was like fresh spring water versus rancid gutter sludge.
The Anti-Black Sugar Pill was even more outrageous. It was basically a causality weapon: if you took it, anyone who deliberately twisted your words, reversed right and wrong, or slandered you without cause would suffer terrible misfortune.
"Brother System, I really want that Anti-Black Sugar Pill." Chu Zhi hinted quite obviously.
As for the Sound of the Angry Motorcycle, it was like Sound of the First Emperor or Angel's Gospel — an emotional buff for the voice. When activated, your singing would be saturated with fury, loud and impossible to ignore, like an illegally modified motorcycle roaring through the streets.
"Heaven, Earth, God, Buddha, Laozi, all bless me." Chu Zhi opened the blind box he'd drawn and got the album gift pack for Time Like Flowing Water. Not bad at all.
Because for just the song Legend, it was already worth it.
Seeing that his balance was still plentiful, Chu Zhi decided to draw again.
This time, the reward left him slightly disappointed — Selected Poems of Dylan Thomas.
Dylan Thomas, the famous British poet nicknamed "Mad Dylan" for his intense self-destructive tendencies, had died at thirty-nine after downing eighteen whiskies in a row. Critic circles hailed him as the most important poet after W. H. Auden. His poetry often explored life and death, grand themes that later influenced certain sci-fi directors and writers on Earth. The most famous example was the poem Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night featured in Interstellar.
"The Emperor Beast's greatest talent was keeping himself calm.' He muttered to himself,
"Not bad. I haven't released a poetry collection in a while, so now I've got something new."
The best part was, Chu Zhi realized Dylan's poetry fit perfectly with his public persona.
[Da Bai, where are you?]
Chu Zhi sent a WeChat message to Su Shangbai.
Disciple of the Big Cat: [Preparing lunch. It's the first day of the new year, you should eat more.]
Chu Zhi had been planning to head back to Magic City, but when he saw Da Bai's message, he thought for a moment before replying: [Da Bai, can I borrow your study?]
Disciple of the Big Cat: [Sure. It's the room at the end of the hallway on the second floor, to the left.]
At the supermarket, Su Shangbai put down his phone and continued pushing his cart. With the wet market closed, at least the supermarket still had fresh produce.
"Always come home often. Brother Jiu can create so many outstanding works because he connects easily with emotions. When he sings this song, he must have a lot on his mind," Su Shangbai thought. As an "angel investor," he didn't care about returns. The saying went: a thousand pieces of gold aren't worth seeing the master happy. He just wanted to see someone succeed.
Whether in work, study, or love, Su Shangbai only wanted to see someone pour their heart into walking the road of music to the very end.
Compared to fulfilling his own abandoned dream of becoming a singer, this mattered more.
Watching someone "walk one road to the end" also made Su Shangbai value his own life more.
This was why he invested in all of the top ten contestants from the variety show The Son of the Future, and why he later stopped — not because they failed to get famous, but because he didn't want to waste energy on artists caught up in scandals, fake romances, or empty hype.
From the start, Su Shangbai had cared deeply about Chu Zhi's health. To pull off something big, your body had to be up to it.
"Help me butcher the pigeon, thanks." Su Shangbai planned to make lotus root, red bean, and white pigeon soup. His claim about being able to drink a lot was an exaggeration, but his cooking skills were very real.
Meanwhile, Chu Zhi arrived in Da Bai's study. It was clear this room hadn't been lived in for a long time. While the rest of the house was cleaned regularly, books were harder to keep spotless.
He had two reasons for borrowing the study. First, he needed to catch up on the reading he'd missed yesterday.
After performing at the Spring Festival Gala, he had gone straight to Rose Garden without bringing any books. Da Bai's shelves held plenty of titles like Complete Annotated Taibai Yin Jing, Complete Ji Xiao Xin Shu, and Complete Lian Bing Shi Ji (including miscellanies) — all military treatises.
Chu Zhi pulled down Complete Ji Xiao Xin Shu, written by the famous general Qi Jiguang as a summary of his anti-pirate military training experience. Opening to a random page, he read: [Any officer, sentry, or captain who fails to cooperate, slanders out of jealousy, spreads rumors, misquotes orders, and causes mistakes… will be executed.] Da Bai had even written a note beside it: "Internal strife is born of jealousy; a culture of suppressing subordinates harms company management."
"So Da Bai reads military strategy every day at home? My goodness," Chu Zhi thought, feeling like he'd stumbled across a true hardliner.
Far from being outdated, much of the management wisdom in these treatises was still useful today. Da Bai's notes proved it.
"I'd better look at something else," Chu Zhi murmured, pulling another book from the shelf.
The second reason for being here was to translate the poetry collection he'd just received into Japanese. In Japan, he was known as "the poet most like a poet in the 21st century." He had never revealed his face, yet his fame there was considerable, and this collection might win him an important award.
Chu Zhi's plan was clear: if he wanted global recognition, and to make a splash when he finally revealed his poet persona, he had to win awards in Europe and America. Fame in Japan could add just a little leverage in the West — something not to waste.
But the Emperor Beast's reading plans didn't pan out, because too many people were calling to wish him a happy New Year.
"Brother Chu, happy New Year! I invented a new dish at home, my parents loved it. Once work starts, I'll definitely have you try it!"
Xiao Zhu's greetings brought back Chu Zhi's traumatic memories of durian dipped in fermented tofu — the dark cuisine world was on the move again.
"Happy New Year, Jiu-yé! I brought my fiancée to wish you well!"
Old Qian even used a New Year call to show off his relationship. Outrageous.
"You have to come to my place for a meal sometime! You promised this year's New Year you'd definitely visit!"
Zhang Ning was already urging him to drop by.
…
The books Chu Zhi wanted to read required long stretches of uninterrupted focus. With constant calls breaking the rhythm, the Emperor Beast simply put the books down and focused on chatting instead.
===
Adoration (Chong Bai) — album by Liang Jingru. Notable track: The Pain That Breathes (Hui Hu Xi De Teng).
Time Like Flowing Water (Si Shui Liu Nian) — album by Li Jian. Notable track: Legend (Chuan Qi).
Dylan Thomas (Di Lan Tuo Ma Si) — Welsh poet. Famous poem: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night (Bu Yao Wen He Di Zou Jin Na Ge Liang Ye).
The Son of the Future (Wei Lai Zhi Zi) — Chinese variety music show.
Su Shangbai's prototype comes from the short story collection Old Courtesan's Notes (Lao Ji Chao), particularly the line: "Year by year, age deepens my sorrow, yet my life grows more splendid with each passing day."