Chapter 61: The Little Shark Prince
“If our Tangtang put on a fishtail, he would definitely be the cutest little merman immortal in the whole show!”
“I choose Gu Tang!”
Zhu Xu really deserved his reputation as a trumpet player.
He had strong breath support and an even stronger voice.
With that one shout, he snapped Young Master Gu out of his wandering thoughts.
After dreaming about it so many times, Gu Qinian wanted more than anyone to see what Gu Tang would look like with a beautiful swaying fishtail.
But if that happened, then the little mermaid from his dreams—his Gu Tang, the one who belonged only to him, with that pearl-colored fishtail—would also be seen by everyone else…
The desire in his heart and his possessiveness began clashing, the two sides fighting each other.
Gu Qinian’s eyelid twitched nervously.
His brows gradually furrowed.
At that moment, Xie Qian said, “Although I could also play the Merman Immortal Prince, Gu Tang is definitely more suitable. I’m voting for him. Old Song, what about you?”
Song Chen glanced at the president at the side, who clearly did not know what he was thinking about, then touched his nose. “I’m choosing Gu Tang too.”
Zhu Xu raised his hand. “Me! Our whole art class voted for Tangtang!”
“Who doesn’t want to see Tangtang wearing a fishtail?!”
Gu Qinian: “…”
Suddenly he had the feeling that he was surrounded by Cao thieves.
These damned people.
Every single one of them was coveting his treasure.
But there was no helping it. When it came to Gu Tang being adorable, everyone’s opinions were astonishingly united.
Except for Gu Tang himself.
“I voted for Niannian!”
When Gu Tang returned to the dormitory and was asked who he had voted for, he blushed and said, “Niannian is so good-looking. If he dressed up as the Merman Immortal Prince, he’d definitely be very, very beautiful!”
When they were little, Young Master Gu had even played Snow White once!
His skin had been so pale it was like snow itself, his lips red enough that he had not even needed makeup, and with those dark lashes, dark eyes, and high nose bridge, he had looked as beautiful as a doll.
Now that he had grown up, Young Master Gu was no longer as androgynously beautiful as he had been in childhood.
But he was still a cold, exquisite little fairy of a boy.
The Merman Immortal Prince lived underwater all year round, so his skin was also very fair, and as an immortal, of course he was beautiful too. Young Master Gu matched all of that perfectly.
Not only that, but Young Master Gu was also good at swimming. Even if he did not actually go into the water, he would definitely imitate swimming movements more gracefully than anyone else. If he played the Merman Immortal Prince, it would be effortless for him.
The more Gu Tang thought about it, the more he felt Gu Qinian was the perfect fit.
After hearing Gu Tang’s enthusiastic recommendation, the corner of Song Chen’s mouth twitched slightly. “…The president doesn’t like smiling. He’d probably scare the audience, wouldn’t he?”
“Ah, well…”
Gu Tang frowned in distress.
When Young Master Gu had played “Snow White” in kindergarten, he had worn such a cold little bun-face that he scared several classmates who were playing dwarfs into tears.
The one who suffered the most was the classmate playing the prince.
He had been too frightened to approach Snow White…
But so what?
As long as he was pretty, that was enough!
Ignoring Song Chen, Gu Tang resolutely opened the voting section on the school forum.
Then he put a check mark next to Young Master Gu’s name.
Sorry.
He was Young Master Gu’s diehard solo stan.
After voting, Gu Tang did not know what exactly he had thought of, but suddenly he became inexplicably restless and started pacing around the dormitory.
He moved over to Gu Qinian’s side, plopped down to his left, and muttered to himself, “I want to see Niannian play the Merman Immortal Prince.”
The boy was sitting very close, so every word was perfectly clear.
Gu Qinian: “?”
Before he could ask, Gu Tang stood up again, moved over to the right side, sat down once more, pinched his throat to change his voice, and said like he had split into another personality, “So annoying. If Niannian dresses up as the Merman Immortal Prince, he’ll look too good, and so many people will see him. So annoying, so annoying…”
Gu Qinian: “…What are you doing?”
Gu Tang was both honest and calm. “Struggling.”
Gu Qinian: “???”
With a pained expression, Gu Tang pointed at his little head. “There are two me’s fighting in here.”
“One says he wants to see Niannian play the Merman Immortal Prince, and the other says he doesn’t want anyone else to see it. Just letting me see it alone would be enough.”
“Is there something wrong with me?”
So he had imagined himself as two separate people, each saying one of his thoughts out loud.
Then he would see which one he wanted to beat to death more.
The one he wanted to beat was the wrong one.
Which meant the other one was the one he truly wanted to choose.
However, before he had even finished struggling, he had already cast his vote.
It was very obvious that the little person in his head who wanted to see Niannian play the Merman Immortal Prince had won.
Gu Qinian had never expected that Gu Tang would have exactly the same trouble as him.
And on top of that, say it out loud so boldly!
He also had two little people in his heart. One screamed that he wanted to see Gu Tang wearing a fishtail, while the other had gone completely mad and wanted to hide him away so that no one else could see him.
Watching Gu Tang sway his head back and forth like a little mushroom, looking troubled and conflicted, Gu Qinian suddenly was no longer bothered.
Maybe Gu Tang’s awakening was not as slow as he had imagined?
Lifting his eyes, he glanced around. Everyone else in the dormitory was busy with their own things, and no one was paying attention to them.
A thought stirred in Gu Qinian’s heart. He lowered his head and lightly kissed the side of Gu Tang’s forehead.
Be good. Grow up quickly…
The little “mushroom” who had been shaking his head suddenly froze.
Gu Tang blinked.
A faint sense of foreboding rose in Gu Qinian’s heart.
After blanking out for two seconds, Gu Tang suddenly turned his head. “Niannian, you bit me again!”
“Are you trying to get revenge for childhood again?!”
Gu Qinian: “…”
Forget it. In the end, he had given his feelings to the wrong person.
This little block of wood Gu Tang was not just slow to awaken—he could not even tell the difference between a kiss and a bite…
Three days later, the final voting results were finally announced.
As expected, Gu Tang ranked first in votes.
What surprised everyone, however, was that Gu Qinian had tied with Gu Tang.
This could not really be blamed on the teachers and students of Jiang City No. 1 High School. Some liked the cute and lively type, while others liked the cold beauty type. On top of that, it was an anonymous vote, so everyone was just following their own personal tastes…
Getting this kind of result was actually quite normal.
According to the school’s usual custom, the deciding power now fell into the hands of the student union.
To ensure fairness, neither Gu Tang nor Gu Qinian would appear at the final voting meeting.
This time, the script and direction for The Merman Immortal Prince were handled by the Arts Department.
And the head of the Arts Department was Ye Xiao.
Without even thinking, Ye Xiao chose Gu Tang. Her official reason was simple: “The Merman Immortal Prince is bright, lively, and kind. From his looks to his personality, Gu Tang fits the role perfectly. There is no need to think about it.”
“It should be him.”
As for her unofficial reason, that was even simpler—
Ye Xiao was one of Gu Tang’s “mom fans.”
A real one.
The kind officially registered with the fan support club.
Ever since they had gone out together for the school magazine photo shoot, Ye Xiao had developed a strong affection for Gu Tang.
This affection was the kind that made her want to dote on him like he was her own child. If it were not for Gu Qinian always clinging to Gu Tang like a dragon hoarding treasure, she definitely would have brought food for Gu Tang every single day and raised him like her precious baby.
At first, Ye Xiao had worried there might be something wrong with her.
It was only after Gu Tang became explosively popular for playing the Ninth Prince and a fan support club was formed that she finally found her people there.
So it turned out she was not the only one who felt this way.
Among Gu Tang’s fans, quite a few treated him like a precious child to be doted on.
The chaos of the outside world meant nothing to the mom fans. All they cared about was whether their baby had eaten well, slept well, and was living happily every day.
Unfortunately, Gu Tang was still young and not a full-time artist, and he did not maintain a public presence in daily life. Even his Weibo account was only being managed by Xinglin Media.
This left the mom fans full of love with nowhere to pour it, and they were practically suffocating from holding it in.
Compared to the others, Ye Xiao had it much better. At least she could still see Gu Tang often at school.
So no matter what, she had to fight for the role of the Merman Immortal Prince for Gu Tang.
There was also a whole group of starving fellow fans in her fan group waiting for her to share pictures of Little Merman Tangtang!
After casting her vote for Gu Tang, Ye Xiao deliberately added, “Little Merman being played by Gu Tang is the most suitable choice. Everyone here can imagine it—if Gu Qinian played the merman, then who would play the River God?”
“Who in our school could possibly overpower the president in terms of presence?”
The moment she said that, the whole room fell silent.
That really was a problem…
The students who had voted for Gu Qinian earlier had only done it because they liked his face. None of them had thought carefully about the story or the fit of the role.
After one year of internship, Fang Chi had now become one of the key members of the Publicity Department. He was responsible for filming this performance and therefore also had a say. Raising his hand, he said, “I also vote for Gu Tang. Mainly because…”
At that point, he suddenly became hesitant, and a faint flush spread over his cheeks.
Song Chen, as vice president, was sitting at the main seat on behalf of the absent president. Seeing Fang Chi acting like that, he urged, “If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Stop dragging it out.”
Embarrassed, Fang Chi rubbed his nose. “Mainly because Tangtang is cute and lovable. It makes people want to abduct him…”
Smack—
Song Chen slapped the back of Fang Chi’s head. “I knew it! Your thoughts are not pure at all!”
Fang Chi cried out, “Injustice!”
Actually, quite a few people present had the exact same thought as Fang Chi.
Only a soft and adorable little merman like Gu Tang would make the River God change his mind after one look—not kill him, but instead abduct him home and hide him away.
If it were their president instead…
Even if the River God had that kind of thought, he would probably still be pinned down and beaten in the river by their president.
In the end, the members of the student union unanimously chose Gu Tang to play the Merman Immortal Prince.
A world where only Gu Tang was hurt was successfully achieved.
Gu Tang protested unhappily, “I wanted to see Niannian wear the fishtail!”
But unfortunately, as one of the competing candidates, he had no voting rights.
And even if he had, one vote would not have made any difference.
Once the role of the Merman Immortal Prince had been decided, Gu Qinian voluntarily proposed that he would play the River God.
Ye Xiao was extremely surprised by this.
Their president had never been interested in anything. For him to actively ask to participate in a performance was genuinely shocking.
Song Chen, however, was not surprised at all. He gave Ye Xiao a small reminder: “Isn’t it because the one playing the merman is Gu Tang? Just change the person and see if the president is still that enthusiastic.”
Ye Xiao immediately understood.
Given how possessive Gu Qinian was of Gu Tang, ideally there should not even be a living creature within a five-meter radius around him, much less some random “River God” appearing out of nowhere to kidnap him.
“The problem is, the legend says the River God is ugly and vicious. The president really doesn’t seem suitable…”
Ye Xiao said worriedly.
Song Chen did not think this was a problem. “Can’t we just use makeup?”
Ye Xiao thought of their president’s face and shook her head with difficulty. “He’s too good-looking. No matter how much we ruin it, it’ll still be hard to make him ugly.”
There was no choice. Since Gu Qinian insisted on playing the role, they could only put his name on the candidate list
and wait for another vote from the whole school.
Then something unexpected happened—Gu Qinian’s vote count shot up all the way, skyrocketing wildly and overwhelmingly into first place.
He left second place far behind.
Ye Xiao could not understand it, so she went onto the campus forum to check the related posts and saw people saying—
[Watching two ultra-handsome guys act opposite each other—how exciting is that?!]
[Who cares if the folk tale says the River God is ugly? So many artistic works get beautified now. We just want to look at pretty people!]
[Love at first sight, forced possession, locked-room plot… I can already picture it, ahhh!]
The person who posted that last comment was muted immediately after.
Ye Xiao: “…”
As a mom fan, she had never truly understood the thoughts of CP fans.
Although Gu Qinian won the role of River God by an overwhelming number of votes, there was one person who was not very happy about it.
Inside the Publicity Department office of the student union,
Gu Tang looked at the voting results publicly posted on the campus forum, his little face scrunched into a ball. “Why are the students voting so randomly? Why should Niannian be made to play the villain?”
In the story of The Merman Immortal Prince, the River God was the only true big villain.
Not only did he bring disaster and suffering upon the common people, but in the end he also forcibly imprisoned the kind-hearted merman. Whoever played him would definitely get cursed out.
“He asked for it himself.”
Song Chen happened to be passing by the Publicity Department office to deliver materials. Hearing Gu Tang grumble angrily, he told him the truth.
Because the River God role required someone ugly,
their president’s name had not even been on the candidate list to begin with.
The man had insisted on playing it himself, and somehow he had really been chosen.
Gu Tang did not understand. “Why?”
Song Chen was even more confused than he was, and gave him a puzzled look. “You don’t know?”
Gu Tang: “???”
Know what?
Inside his heart, Song Chen cursed out an entire row of plants.
Was their president even human?
He had already done all those things to Gu Tang…
And in the end, Gu Tang was still some innocent little fool who knew absolutely nothing?!
Looking closely at Gu Tang’s expression, it was too pure. If he really knew nothing, then of course his eyes would still be this clean and clear.
Like some little animal untouched by the world…
For a moment, Song Chen hesitated again.
Could it be that he had misunderstood something?
Or maybe his corrupt imagination had seen things the wrong way?
Song Chen was cautious by nature. If he had doubts, he would simply say nothing.
Since he could not get an answer out of Song Chen, Gu Tang lowered his head again and continued searching online for the legend of The Merman Immortal Prince, wanting to see if there was any possibility of clearing the River God’s name.
His family’s Young Master Gu was the male lead, the future powerful Mr. Gu.
He was absolutely not playing a villain!
Effort did not betray him—he really did find something.
Excited, Gu Tang hugged the materials he had found and ran to the head of the Arts Department.
At that moment, Ye Xiao was also torturing herself over the script.
Anyone from Jiang City had heard the story of the Merman Immortal Prince at least ninety-nine times, if not a hundred.
In fact, many different versions of the folk tale were circulating among the people.
But a story background alone was not enough to support an entire performance. They still needed a complete script.
Ye Xiao was a literature student and also the head of the Arts Department, so naturally she had become the person responsible for the script.
“Senior, sorry to bother you.”
When Gu Tang arrived at the Arts Department office, even though the door was already open, he still lightly knocked twice.
The moment Ye Xiao saw that it was him, the tiredness in her eyes instantly brightened. “Come in, quickly.”
Then she immediately took snacks out of her bag and piled them in front of Gu Tang at lightning speed.
Scratching his head shyly, Gu Tang said, “Thank you, Senior.”
Before, he had thought Senior Ye Xiao was the cold and hard-to-approach type. But after getting to know her, every single time it was like she had already been prepared, taking out all kinds of delicious snacks for him.
Even more interestingly, she would only watch him eat, never eat any herself.
When he asked, she would always say she was dieting.
But if she was dieting, why was she preparing so many snacks in the first place?
What Gu Tang did not know was that the first time she had given him snacks in the car, it had only been one small bag, and she had not felt satisfied feeding him. Ever since then, she always deliberately kept snacks with her, waiting for any chance to stuff them into Gu Tang’s hands.
Tilting her head, Ye Xiao gazed lovingly at Gu Tang, whose cheeks moved as he ate snacks like a little hamster.
Waaah, their little baby was just too adorable!
If she were not afraid of scaring Gu Tang, she would already have taken out her phone to snap a picture and send it into the mom-fan group for everyone else to see.
It would definitely trigger a flood of screams.
Their baby was born to be loved, born to stand in the spotlight.
Gu Tang did not notice the shining light in Ye Xiao’s eyes. While eating snacks, he said, “Senior, I think this part doesn’t make sense. The River God’s change is too sudden.”
“Why does he stop killing the merman? Why does he suddenly agree to send rain?”
“What exactly causes his change?”
Ye Xiao had been forcing the plot forward the whole time, but her thought process started from the point of view of the Merman Immortal Prince, so she had not considered the River God’s side at all.
Once Gu Tang pointed it out, she became puzzled too. “That’s true… it does feel a bit abrupt…”
“Senior, look here.”
Gu Tang opened the materials he had found and showed them to her. “Could it be that—”
“The River God was never actually a bad person to begin with?”
…
The two of them focused intently on discussing the plot, and naturally their heads drifted closer and closer together.
When Gu Qinian arrived at the student union office, through the glass window he saw Gu Tang and Ye Xiao sitting very close together.
A cold, stunningly beautiful girl and a bright, lovely boy—anyone who saw them would think they were a perfect match.
But in Young Master Gu’s eyes, it felt like being pricked by needles.
He knew what type Gu Tang liked.
Gu Tang had said so before.
Among those vague preferences Gu Tang had once mentioned, if gender was not restricted, then Gu Qinian happened to fit them perfectly. But if gender was restricted, then the person who fit became Ye Xiao.
That was why Gu Qinian had always felt a very strong sense of danger toward Ye Xiao.
Back then, he had even considered blocking her from entering the student union.
In the end he had not done it, and that was because of Gu Tang.
It was one thing to think such things. But if he actually did them, then once Gu Tang found out, he would definitely get angry.
Anything that would make Gu Tang unhappy was something he would never do.
But what if Gu Tang liked Ye Xiao?
Would he let go?
Impossible!
Gu Qinian narrowed his dark and unfathomable eyes, his gaze settling on Ye Xiao.
As if sensing something, a chill ran down Ye Xiao’s spine.
She turned around and immediately met their president’s gloomy stare.
Here it was again…
That look like an evil dragon guarding its treasure had appeared again…
Ye Xiao was a smart person. She knew that if she kept sitting there, she would not only doom herself, but might also doom Gu Tang along with her.
Although she was not a CP fan, she had joined those CP groups out of curiosity before, and she had read plenty of fanfics there.
In the hands of those fanfic creators, the president used jealousy as an excuse to devour their baby who-knew-how-many times!
For the sake of the baby, Ye Xiao immediately stood up, found an excuse, and ran away in a hurry.
In any case, they had already mostly sorted out the script.
As soon as Ye Xiao left, Gu Qinian took her seat and turned to stare at Gu Tang.
The boy was fully focused on typing on the keyboard. He would type a few words, think for a while, write another sentence or two, then delete them in dissatisfaction and continue thinking seriously.
Throughout all of this, he never noticed that the person beside him had changed.
Because Gu Tang was so completely focused elsewhere, Gu Qinian’s mood improved instead.
That meant that even when Ye Xiao had been sitting beside him, this little fool had also just been busy typing and not looking at her at all.
So obedient…
Gu Qinian reached out and touched Gu Tang’s ear.
Gu Tang gave a small shiver. “…Senior?”
“Look carefully at who I am.”
Gu Qinian held his chin and turned his little head over until their eyes met.
Gu Tang blinked. “Niannian? When did you come over?”
“When you were busy out of your mind.”
Gu Qinian curved his lips slightly and leaned in to look at what he was writing. “What are you writing?”
“Ah, don’t look!”
Gu Tang wanted to cover the laptop screen with his hand, but he forgot—his hands were too small, and he could not cover it.
“The merman says to the River God, ‘You’re not bad. I believe in you. I’m willing to go with you’?”
After reading a few lines, Gu Qinian suddenly laughed. “Gu Tang, are you rewriting the plot?”
Gu Tang’s face immediately reddened. He shut the laptop and muttered softly, “I’m not rewriting it. The River God wasn’t bad to begin with…”
The sunset shone through the glass windows, lighting up the boy’s flushed cheeks and turning his hair and lowered lashes into a beautiful pale gold.
Gu Qinian ran his tongue against the tips of his teeth and reached out to cup his cheek. “It’s just a role. Why do you care whether he’s good or bad?”
“But Niannian is going to play the River God.”
“If the River God isn’t bad, then all the students should know it.”
Gu Tang looked up, and under his pale golden lashes, his amber eyes sparkled brilliantly.
Like the most beautiful gems.
Gu Qinian knew people said behind his back that he guarded Gu Tang like a dragon guarding a jewel.
In a way, they were not wrong.
“You’re changing the script for me?”
Gu Qinian leaned closer, seeing his own reflection in the boy’s clear eyes.
Gu Tang nodded. “Niannian is the best, so the River God is good too.”
“What kind of logic is that?”
Gu Qinian laughed, his fingers caressing the boy’s soft cheek as though he could not bear to let go.
“Gu Tang, do you know there’s a type of muddleheaded director in the entertainment industry who will rewrite a script for a certain actor, turning the villain into a good person, and then get scolded and despised by the audience?”
Gu Tang’s eyes were as clear as spring water. “Then does that director also know that the villain actually isn’t bad?”
“No.”
With deliberate cruelty, Gu Qinian shattered his innocent fantasy. “The real situation is that the director is keeping that actor as a lover and is stuffing extra scenes in for his little darling.”
“Gu Tang, if you’re changing the plot for me, are you planning to keep me?”
Gu Tang’s eyes flew wide open.
His family’s little Gu Qinian had actually learned how to speak solemn nonsense!
But his cheeks could not stop growing hotter and hotter. Tugging lightly at Young Master Gu’s clothes, he put on the airs of an older brother and lectured the child.
“Ke… keeping… whatever, don’t say things like that out loud!”
How shameless…
Gu Qinian also knew his beloved was only capable of this much. If one day Gu Tang really found out about all his dirty thoughts, he had no idea how red with embarrassment Gu Tang would turn.
After all, Gu Tang was still young.
He should wait for him a little longer.
Leaning back against the chair, Gu Qinian asked, “You said the River God is a good person. Do you have any evidence?”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
Gu Tang immediately flipped open the materials he had found and spread them out for Young Master Gu to see.
“The River God was originally a Dragon God in Heaven. He brought plentiful rain and blessed the land, and more and more people came to worship him. This aroused the jealousy of the higher gods, and the Queen Mother destroyed his appearance on a pretext, then banished him to the mortal world to become the River God of one region…”
“Look, isn’t he pitiful?”
“And the merman was willing to go back with him because he understood him.”
Gu Qinian raised a brow. “What if it was just an act?”
Suddenly, he leaned in close. His large hand covered the back of Gu Tang’s neck, leaving him no chance to dodge, while his gaze wandered freely over Gu Tang’s lips.
In a low voice, Gu Qinian said, “What if I only pretend to be a good person in front of you so you’ll walk right into my trap, when in truth I just want to lock you away in a place with no light and have you stay only with me? Would you still be willing to come with me?”
Gu Tang’s hands had nowhere to go, so instinctively he grabbed onto Young Master Gu’s collar.
His slightly parted lips trembled very faintly.
“Are you scared?”
Gu Qinian released him and returned to his usual indifferent expression.
Gu Tang swallowed, then shook his head rapidly. “I’m not scared!”
“Niannian, you got into character so fast!”
Gu Qinian: “…”
He was not acting at all.
***
Author’s Note:
Tangtang: Acting opposite Niannian is so exciting!
Gu Niannian: I was not acting at all!
