GRMFBS CH152

Zhan Yan held his cat while comforting his clingy boyfriend.

The little cat, having not seen Zhan Yan for over a month, missed him terribly. It jumped onto Zhan Yan’s chest and stubbornly refused to get down, determined to sleep with him tonight!

Zhan Yan: “Get down! You can sleep with me, but you can’t press on my chest! You’ve gained weight, you’re too heavy!”

The gossip system’s upgraded animal communication ability was very useful. Now that Xingxing could understand him, communicating was much easier.

On the other end of the phone, Gu Jiancheng asked, “Is that Xingxing?”

Zhan Yan: “Yeah, it’s him. I was gone for too long, so he’s unhappy.”

Xingxing stopped lying on his chest and instead pressed against the pillow, meowing and cooing to express its dissatisfaction with Zhan Yan for leaving it for so long.

Gu Jiancheng: “What does it like?”

Meeting the parents starts with winning over the boyfriend’s cat!

“He likes to eat, but he’s super picky. He loves doing parkour on the cat tree at home…” Zhan Yan was halfway through his sentence when the disgruntled Xingxing started pawing at his phone. “Xingxing, don’t mess around. I have to go to school; I had no choice but to leave.”

The little cat didn’t understand what “school” was. Zhan Yan explained it as a form of hunting.

Xingxing: “If you went out hunting, why didn’t you bring me back any good food!”

Zhan Yan: …He would make cat food for Xingxing tomorrow.

Without needing his explanation, Xingxing came to its own logical conclusion. It must be that Zhan Yan’s hunting skills were too poor, which is why he didn’t bring back any treats. That’s okay, when it grew up, it would practice its hunting skills hard to provide for Zhan Yan.

Gu Jiancheng: “Xingxing is so clingy with you.”

“Yeah, he’s the first cat that wasn’t afraid of me,” Zhan Yan said, unable to stop smiling. He remembered that because Xingxing was so clingy, he had wanted to name him “Little Gu.”

Gu Jiancheng started pestering him, asking what he was laughing about. Zhan Yan wouldn’t say.

After hanging up, Zhan Yan saw Xingxing looking at him with a confused expression.

The child was too young to understand what “dog food” (a term for public displays of affection) meant.

“Alright, time for bed,” Zhan Yan said, turning off the light.

In the dark, Xingxing’s round eyes were wide open, and it remembered to continue its complaints: “You left me with a bad person who rations my food all day!”

Zhan Yan listened for a while and understood. Xingxing thought of his brother as a villain.

During the time he was away, Xingxing had been fighting against the villain’s oppression every day. Although it was always suppressed by the villain, Xingxing was very brave and unyielding.

No wonder his brother was so skilled at picking up the cat.

Zhan Yan: “He’s not rationing your food, that’s just the level of his cooking skills.”

The little cat didn’t understand what “cooking” was.

Zhan Yan: “It’s like hunting. That’s his hunting skill level; he can’t find any better food. The food he eats himself is even worse.”

Xingxing: “Meow?”

“Really?”

Zhan Yan: “Of course, I wouldn’t lie to you. In a few days, I’ll find some of his food and let you try it.”

Xingxing agreed and obediently curled up, ready to sleep.

Zhan Yan closed his eyes, thinking about how Xingxing’s language and comprehension skills had skyrocketed in the past month.

Just like humans, for small animals to learn to understand and express themselves, they need more exposure to others’ expressions and more interaction. During his time away from home, the person Xingxing spent the most time with was his older brother, Zhan Jinli.

Could it be that his socially anxious brother becomes a chatterbox with small animals when at home?

Zhan Yan drifted off to sleep. The next day, he was about to teach his brother and sister the fitness exercises he hadn’t managed to teach before, but the two of them rushed off right after breakfast, looking very busy.

Zhan Yan: …

Zhan Suiru, seeing her little brother’s pouty face, ruffled his hair. “I’ll cut your hair for you when I get back and bring you some cookies.”

Her brother had been away for a month, and his hair had grown long enough to be tied up again.

“Okay,” Zhan Yan said, then held up his phone and made a request to Zhan Jinli, “Brother, can you bring back some of the pastries you make today?”

Zhan Jinli and Zhan Suiru both stopped.

The siblings’ eyes met.

Zhan Suiru: See! Your weird taste for sweets has definitely rubbed off on our little brother!

Zhan Jinli: …

He looked down and quickly typed: “What do you want pastries for?”

Zhan Yan: “To let Xingxing try.”

Zhan Suiru subconsciously asked, “Did Xingxing do something to offend you?”

Zhan Yan: “…No. Xingxing thinks our brother is rationing its food. It’ll understand once it tastes them.”

Zhan Suiru: …

Pfft.

Zhan Jinli agreed.

After the siblings left the house, they instinctively stopped before going their separate ways and turned to look at each other.

Zhan Suiru: “You’re coming back every day these next few days, right?”

Zhan Jinli typed: “Of course.”

Yan Yan was rarely home. It was one thing for their parents not to be able to come back due to work, but the two of them, being freelancers, couldn’t possibly leave their younger brother home alone.

Zhan Suiru was very satisfied with Zhan Jinli’s response; there was no need for a sibling war.

In this family, their parents were so loving they didn’t need anyone to worry about them. The three siblings were all adopted. Zhan Suiru herself was a transmigrated adult, so these things didn’t affect her much. Although her brother Zhan Jinli was socially anxious, from her years of observation, her brother was very self-consistent and at ease in his own world, the type of person who could adapt anywhere.

Only Yan Yan. Zhan Suiru still remembered what he was like when their parents first brought him home as a child. He stood there, a tiny figure, desperately wanting to get closer but not knowing how.

Yan Yan’s curly hair had always grown fast. When they were little, their parents took them to the barbershop. He would sit there extremely stiff, so later, their parents stopped taking him to barbershops, and their mother learned to cut his hair for him.

After Zhan Suiru became close with Zhan Yan as kids, he once quietly told her that at the orphanage, the auntie would always pull his hair painfully when cutting it.

Later, when Zhan Suiru cut his hair, she also pulled it by accident when she was first learning. But Zhan Yan was still very happy.

He wasn’t afraid of the pain of having his hair pulled, but rather of not knowing how to face the “you’re causing me trouble again” look of annoyance from others, which made him feel embarrassed and helpless.

Even now, Yan Yan was still a bit lonely. He seemed to get along well with everyone, but after they parted, the connection would naturally fade.

Zhan Jinli thought his sister had asked a strange question.

The Linyuan Ghost King, who liked to lie alone at the bottom of a cold pond, couldn’t understand loneliness, but he could see that his younger brother wanted company.

So just go home and accompany him, what’s there to discuss?

He gave Zhan Suiru a “You stopped just to say this?” look, and then left.

Zhan Suiru: …

Hmph.

Zhan Yan had to go to the company today, but he didn’t need to leave as early as his brother and sister. Sister Luoluo said he could arrive at ten; there was no point in going earlier.

So Zhan Yan made cat food for Xingxing. Xingxing ate with great satisfaction and clung to Zhan Yan’s leg as he was leaving.

Are you coming back after you leave? I don’t want to eat food from a terrible hunter anymore!

Zhan Yan promised the little cat he would be back today.

Upon arriving at the company, Zhan Yan was taken directly to the styling room by Luo Luoluo.

“Shoude Company” didn’t have this kind of business, so the styling team was borrowed from “Mingtang Film and Television Company” by Zhan Yunkai. There were even two little demons among them.

The makeup artist was a flamingo demon, who was gossiping with the peacock demon photographer via telepathy.

“So this is His Majesty Chongming’s kid?”

“He’s quite cute.”

“We’ve always heard His Majesty Chongming say how good-looking his kid is. We finally get to see him today.”

“Aren’t there two others?”

“Probably won’t see the other two today.”

“What a pity.”

Zhan Yan watched the live broadcast of them gossiping about him in his gossip system.

The flamingo makeup artist had Zhan Yan sit down, first studying his face and praising, “Youth means good skin. Your features really fit the character; a little makeup will give you a lot of flair.”

Zhan Yan: ?

What flair?

He hadn’t read his character’s profile!

But the flamingo makeup artist had already started working on his face, not allowing him to make any expressions.

Zhan Yan had to wait, closing his eyes when the makeup artist told him to, and smiling when told to smile. On the surface, he was obedient, but secretly he was using the gossip system to listen in on the two bird demons’ gossip.

The peacock demon said there was a young calf demon in a herd of bull demons on the prairie who was very interested in human society. After playing in human society for several years, he couldn’t find his herd when he went back. He eventually found them through the hotline of the Wan Yao Alliance—his herd had forgotten to tell him they had migrated.

The flamingo demon said that a while ago, a rabbit demon came frantically looking for a doctor, saying he had turned yellow. He knew at a glance it was from eating too many carrots. This was something they flamingos were familiar with. He then passionately praised a certain brand of carotenoid supplement, which he relied on to get his bright feathers and find a wife.

The two bird demons then started discussing feather care cream.

The gossip didn’t delay their work. Zhan Yan felt various small brushes swiping across his face, along with small scissors and various pencils.

After a while, the flamingo makeup artist put down his tools: “Done.”

Zhan Yan opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror.

He now understood what the flamingo makeup artist meant by “flair.”

His brows were extended downwards to the sides of his nasal bone, the inner corners of his eyes were hooked downwards, and his cheekbones were raised, suddenly giving his face a non-human feel.

Zhan Yan couldn’t help but stare for a while. He had never looked at himself so carefully in a mirror before. Looking at this altered face now, he felt a strange sense of familiarity and unfamiliarity.

He blinked, and for a moment, it seemed as if a pair of horns had sprouted from the head of the person in the mirror. He blinked again, and the illusion was gone.

“So beautiful,” the flamingo makeup artist said, greatly admiring his own handiwork and sighing in appreciation for a long time.

The peacock demon helped bring over the props and costume: “Don’t do the hair yet, or it will get messed up after changing clothes.”

Zhan Yan looked at the clothes. Inside was a sleeveless high-neck tight sweater, and outside was a very loose jacket.

After he put them on, the flamingo demon pulled his jacket down to his elbows: “That’s not how you wear it. It looks good like this, yes, the muscle lines on your arms are really nice!”

The jacket hung precariously on his forearms, leaving his shoulders and upper arms completely exposed. Just as Zhan Yan saw the flamingo demon about to reach out and pinch his arm, he hastily shrank back.

[Flamingo demon Yan Hang telepathically to peacock demon Kong Meng: “His Majesty Chongming’s kid is shy, he’s so fun to tease.”]

Zhan Yan: …

He tugged at his clothes. So this was the “flair.” Who likes to show off their feathers all day like you bird demons!

“Can you tie your hair yourself? Tie it a little lower, right here is good.” The flamingo demon handed him a rubber band, and after he tied it, had him tie a ribbon as well.

The character also had a small prop: an apple to hold in his hand.

Zhan Yan had a flash of inspiration: “Can we change it to grapes?”

Since it was for promotion anyway, if the game’s promotion became popular, could it also give “Litchi is Not as Good as Big Grapes” a boost?

This matter had to be discussed with the game designer. Luo Luoluo went to contact someone.

Qi Ye happened to be at the studio. Her boss came every day, and since she had finished her coursework at the art academy, she was free most of the time. The art studio at the academy wasn’t as quiet as it was here, so she would come over whenever she had time.

When Qi Ye received the message from “Gold-plated Mama” (a nickname for a wealthy client), she readily agreed.

She and Wan Shitong had divided the work for this collaborative game, and she was responsible for all the character designs. The character she designed just needed to hold a fruit; it didn’t matter if it was an apple or grapes. Of course, if Gold-plated Mama wanted to change it, it was fine.

The designer had no problem, but the costume and props department didn’t have a grape prop model. It wasn’t grape season either, so it would be hard to buy a bunch, and ordering one online would cause delays.

Zhan Yan remembered a place that had them: his sister’s studio.

The studio was quite empty, and Qi Ye would bring her drawing board and other things there. The last time Zhan Yan went, he saw a still life setup that included a model of grapes.

Zhan Yan immediately contacted his sister.

Zhan Suiru wasn’t at the studio, so she called Qi Ye directly.

Qi Ye happened to be there and accepted the task from her boss to deliver the grape model to her brother.

Riding her bike to Shoude Company, Qi Ye couldn’t help but think, a grape model, it couldn’t be, it couldn’t be such a coincidence, right?

When she arrived at Shoude Company, Qi Ye saw Zhan Yan wearing the character costume she had designed, waving at her happily. It fit the character perfectly!

Ah, the cub from my fantasy has walked into reality! Qi Ye’s eyes lit up as she clutched her chest.

“Cub! Here are your grapes!”

Zhan Yan: …

“Don’t just call people whatever! You’re not that much older than me.”

“You said you were making a game, it couldn’t be this one, could it?”

Qi Ye: “Yeah, yeah.”

Zhan Yan: “You’re amazing! I heard this project is quite big. I thought you were making a small game.”

Qi Ye laughed triumphantly three times: “Are you here as a part-time model? How much are they paying you?”

Her little brother looked so good in the costume; if it wasn’t too expensive, she wanted to book him for more photo shoots in the future!

Zhan Yan: “No pay. This is my mom’s company. The partner thought it would be cheaper to use me.”

Qi Ye: …

“Coconut’s Work Diary 98:
At work today, the boss asked me to deliver a prop to her brother who is modeling.
I thought the brother and I were both just workers.
Never thought, the brother works for no salary.
Because the company belongs to his family.
Today is another very sour (jealous) day!”

Support me on Ko-fi