Chapter 216

To prepare for Ye Zheng’s birthday celebration event, Tang Mingxi had been busy for quite a long time. She coordinated with the birthday event planning team to contact illustrators and writers within their circle, discussed the giant celebration display screen with the mall management, and organized the offline celebration activities at the café.

Tang Mingxi had already applied to a university overseas and was currently in the stage of waiting for her admission results. She’d finally found time to do the things she enjoyed. Her friend Li Yixin, meanwhile, still had to prepare for the domestic college entrance examinations and didn’t have nearly as much freedom as she did.

【No way, I seriously have to ask for leave just to attend the offline birthday café event. I already told my mom this is a once-in-a-lifetime request!】

【Anyway, I already saved you a spot. If you don’t show up, I’m seriously gonna hit you. Just appreciate the fact that the organizers are giving you special treatment.】

Tang Mingxi replied to her friend with a smug laugh. Right afterward, she clicked open the new message notification from the event staff group chat. It was discussing the arrangements for the venue decorations.

The number of people registering for the offline birthday event far exceeded Tang Mingxi’s expectations. Just reviewing all the applications had already kept her overwhelmingly busy. After ticket sales opened, countless people complained on the homepage that they couldn’t get one. There were even scalpers reselling second-hand tickets at outrageous prices on Xianyu. Quite a few people in the group chat said they were coming from other cities and had already bought train tickets for that day.

[T/N- Xianyu is China's version of E-bay ,owned by alibabagroup]

The café event was limited to one hundred attendees. It didn’t sound like a particularly large number, but since this was Tang Mingxi’s first time organizing an event like this, as Ye Zheng’s birthday drew closer, she became so nervous and excited every night that she could hardly sleep.

She’d been busy nonstop to the point that it wasn’t until Friday evening that she suddenly remembered the manga was updating.

The plot from last week, along with the public reaction it caused, had infuriated her. The story revealed that Sykes’ actual birthday happened to fall on the same day as Ye Zheng’s. The Sykes fans had also been scrambling to organize birthday celebration events. Although their preparation time had been rushed, the momentum behind it was still incredibly strong. The anime adaptation had brought Sykes an enormous amount of popularity.

Recently, the anime adaptation of Throne of the Aberrant Realm had been getting more and more popular. Even the stationery shop near her school had started selling pirated merchandise, though only the anime characters were featured. Tang Mingxi had quietly gone inside to take a look before, yet there was still no trace of Ye Zheng anywhere.

…Who the hell cares about those ugly anime versions anyway, especially the pirated ones? Tang Mingxi casually grabbed a pack of spicy strips, paid for it, and walked out.

It was actually a good thing Ye Zheng still hadn’t appeared in the anime yet. At least she wouldn’t end up becoming some trendy commodity for elementary school kids, and there wouldn’t be so many people flooding in just to “flip merch.” The prices of manga merchandise for several characters who’d already appeared in the anime had skyrocketed recently.

Especially Sykes. With all the buffs from being the protagonist’s fated rival, combined with his cold personality, overwhelming strength, and ridiculously handsome character design, it was basically the perfect combination. Li Yixin had told her that characters like this often became even more popular than the protagonist himself.

And on top of that, after the manga released its newest tragic storyline, anime fans started labeling Sykes as “beautiful, strong, and miserable” the moment they heard about it. Marketing accounts only needed to vaguely hint at the manga plot before they immediately began dragging Ye Zheng through the mud. A ton of Sykes fans who’d never even read the manga started putting “Landmine: Ye Zheng” in their profiles.

Tang Mingxi blocked every single one she came across. She never wanted to see those tasteless elementary school brats ever again!

Based on the manga’s popularity alone, Ye Zheng had already been crowned “Hot Zheng” within the merch community. The prices of her merchandise simply refused to drop. Tang Mingxi didn’t even dare imagine how explosively popular Ye Zheng would become once the anime finally reached her storyline.

Tang Mingxi kept refreshing her phone while waiting for the newest manga chapter to release. Last week, Sykes had received an invitation from Ye Zheng. She’d said that on the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, she would help restore his memories.

Just thinking about that guy showing up at Ye Zheng’s birthday already irritated her. Still, since Sykes had received the invitation, that meant the coming-of-age ceremony arc would definitely be drawn. That old uncle really was meticulous when it came to suppressing Ye Zheng, while remaining completely devoted to his own son.

This was simply the miserable fate of us mothers of two-dimensional female characters. Their precious Zheng only ever got screen time when she had scenes together with the male supporting characters. No one had warned her before entering the fandom that stanning a female character in 2D got you the exact same treatment as chasing after a green-card idol in the entertainment industry.

[T/N- green-card idol basically means someone who is out of circle of idol Talent pool , most of the time overseas.]

Tang Mingxi glanced at the time and realized it was already eight o’clock in the evening. It was supposed to be time for the manga update, yet even after refreshing the page several times, there was still no sign of the new chapter.

She entered the forum and ignored the trending posts like 【Discussion: Has Emperor Sykes Returned to the Peak of Popularity in Throne of the Aberrant Realm?】 and 【Predictions for Sykes’ Future Plot Development (Slightly Sykes-Centric, Landmine Warning)】. She quickly discovered that plenty of other readers were also unable to refresh the newest chapter.

So it wasn’t an issue with her internet after all. The official release simply hadn’t uploaded the new chapter yet.

How weird. Throne of the Aberrant Realm had always updated with almost obsessive punctuality. The author had never once gone on hiatus before, the art quality stayed consistently stable, and the chapter lengths were always generous. It was one of the very few respectable traits that old uncle actually had.

Readers immediately flooded the official account with complaints and questions. It wasn’t until an hour later that the account finally posted an explanation.

【Throne of the Aberrant Realm Manga Official V: We sincerely apologize to all readers. Due to the author feeling unwell this week, the update has been postponed until next week. We once again offer our deepest apologies.】

Tang Mingxi frowned. She’d been eagerly waiting for this Friday’s update of the coming-of-age ceremony arc so she could make some new Ye Zheng images for the fandom and print additional birthday freebies to hand out at the offline event. She never expected the author to suddenly fall sick this week and delay the update instead.

What the hell was this supposed to mean? That old uncle really knew how to pick the absolute worst timing to get sick. Did he seriously hate Ye Zheng’s coming-of-age ceremony that much?

Tang Mingxi puffed out her cheeks, thinking very stubbornly and completely unreasonably.

She exited the forum and returned to the group chat, which had already exploded to 99+ unread messages. She continued discussing the event arrangements with the other Zheng fans who were helping organize the birthday celebration.

✦✦✦✦✦

“Li Yixin! Over here! Over here!”

The café had been decorated with incredible care and was already packed wall to wall with people. At the entrance stood several life-sized standees: long-haired Saintess Zheng, Papess Zheng, and modern-suit Zheng. Countless people were crowding around them, taking photos with Ye Zheng merchandise and standees. It was hard enough just trying to squeeze inside.

Wearing her dark blue school uniform, Li Yixin followed the familiar voice through the crowd and finally spotted Tang Mingxi, who was currently busy distributing handouts.

Tang Mingxi wore an organizer-exclusive staff badge around her neck, complete with a Ye Zheng ID-style photo printed on it. Someone nearby was even asking whether the badge was being sold separately.

“Your mom actually let you come out?”

Tang Mingxi stared at Li Yixin in surprise. Standing there in her school uniform, she drew quite a bit of attention.

Today was Wednesday. Normally, university students would be the ones with more free time, but besides them, there were also quite a few working adults who’d shown up. After chatting with everyone for a while, Tang Mingxi realized the composition of Zheng’s moms was unexpectedly diverse.

Even though Tang Mingxi had told Li Yixin, “If you don’t come, you’re dead,” she knew her friend had been under a lot of pressure lately and had always been the obedient, rule-following type. So she’d only been joking and hadn’t actually expected Li Yixin to show up.

“I asked the teacher directly for leave. I said I had period cramps and needed to go home and rest, so she let me leave.”

Li Yixin scratched her head awkwardly, looking a little embarrassed. She really did have mild cramps today, but they weren’t serious enough to keep her home. She’d simply had a sudden burst of inspiration and used it as an excuse to skip evening self-study.

The moment she walked out through the school gates, her stomach stopped hurting and her whole body felt refreshed. Sure enough, the school’s feng shui was toxic.

[T/N- Feng Shui Literally means Wind with little taosim(?) tone, here basically means atmosphere.]

“Old Tan’s pretty understanding. Anyway, I’m glad you came.” Tang Mingxi leaned close to Li Yixin’s ear and whispered, “Order whatever you want to eat. My treat today.”

Hearing the unmistakable delight in Tang Mingxi’s rising tone, Li Yixin quietly smiled as well.

Her family usually kept her on a very tight leash. This was Li Yixin’s first time attending an offline event like this. Ye Zheng was a character who had given her a great deal of encouragement lately, so she didn’t want to miss her birthday celebration.

More importantly, this was Tang Mingxi’s first time organizing an event like this. Every time she talked about it, she’d get so excited that she couldn’t stop herself.

She would be going abroad in August. The amount of time the two of them could spend together like this would only become less and less… so they should create more beautiful memories while they still could.

To accommodate everyone’s schedules, the offline event had been arranged from 4 PM to 7:30 PM. After entering the café, participants could receive free handouts with their tickets: postcards, wristbands, paper bags, mini standees, badges, and more. Fans were also exchanging freebies with each other on site.

As the main organizer, Tang Mingxi stayed busy the entire time, constantly handing out small peripherals to newly arriving fans. After Li Yixin helped her out for a while, Tang Mingxi finally shooed her away to enjoy the event properly.

There were artists on site doing quick sketches of Ye Zheng in all kinds of outfits. Every table had a Ye Zheng standee placed on it. Throughout the café, people were taking photos with Ye Zheng peripherals and themed backdrops everywhere they looked. They could even take pictures together with the beautiful older sisters cosplaying as Ye Zheng. Even Li Yixin, who’d come empty-handed, received a race car driver Zheng sticker from another fan. While adding new friends, she discovered that the other person was actually a fairly famous writer within the fandom circle: “Bubble Tea, No Sugar.”

At the very end of the event, everyone placed the various Zheng dolls they had brought beside the custom-made cake. Sitting on top of the cake was a giant three-dimensional Zheng head, while the entire surface was covered with edible rice paper printed with Ye Zheng’s coronation scene. At a single glance, it looked like a complete ocean of Ye Zheng.

Everyone sang the birthday song together, cut the cake, and the entire venue burst into cheers. The camera quietly captured that lively and beautiful moment forever.

Even after the event had ended, the two of them still felt as though they were dreaming. Although Tang Mingxi had been busy the entire time, seeing so many people gather together because of their shared love under her organization made her heart feel completely full.

Tang Mingxi checked the time. It was already close to eight o’clock in the evening. She grabbed Li Yixin’s hand, and the two of them ran through the night breeze down the street before arriving at a nearby shopping mall.

The massive screen outside the mall was cycling through one advertisement after another. Quite a few people nearby were already holding up their phones, aiming them toward the giant screen as they waited expectantly.

“Ye Zheng! Ye Zheng’s up!”

As one idol-drama advertisement faded from the screen, the saccharine color palette abruptly shifted. The towering outdoor vertical display dimmed into darkness, and a figure clad in pure white nearly occupied the entire screen, impossibly striking at first glance.

Tang Mingxi and the others had debated for a long time before finally selecting this particular fanart for the billboard — Ye Zheng dressed in flowing white robes, carrying a lantern through the endless darkness of night. A faint smile lingered within her half-lowered gaze, seeming to smile and yet not smile at all, radiating both mercy and cold ruthlessness at the same time.

The pitch-black background of the display blended almost seamlessly with the night sky, as though Ye Zheng herself were truly stepping toward them with a luminous lantern in hand.

“Is that some anime character?”

Several passersby stopped in their tracks, voices filled with amazement.

“So cool. Whatever, I’m taking a photo first.”

Li Yixin tilted her head up slightly. The pale glow cast by the massive screen reflected in her eyes, making them shimmer like rippling water. When she blinked, the watery glimmer became even more pronounced.

Suddenly, an arm hooked itself around her shoulders. Tang Mingxi pulled her into a hug while lifting her phone high with her other hand, angling the front camera toward the two of them.

Neon lights flickered endlessly within the steel forest of the city. The faint click of the shutter vanished beneath the thunderous roar of passing traffic.

The two girls, together with Ye Zheng behind them, who seemed to be gazing down upon them with a gentle smile, were frozen forever within the photograph on the screen. That fleeting instant was preserved inside Tang Mingxi and Li Yixin’s phone albums and engraved permanently into their hearts.

Tang Mingxi then pulled out all kinds of Ye Zheng merchandise, from Ye Zheng chibi figurines to Ye Zheng Lying Down and several others, posing them one after another beneath the giant screen for photos. Only when her phone album was nearly packed to capacity did she finally stop, thoroughly satisfied.

As she scrolled through the countless photos in her album, warmth quietly welled up inside Tang Mingxi’s chest. Perhaps many years from now, she might no longer love Ye Zheng the way she did today, but the beautiful memories Ye Zheng and her friends had brought into her life would undoubtedly remain unforgettable experiences.

Smiling softly, she took Li Yixin’s hand and was just about to walk her to the subway station when a notification suddenly appeared on her phone screen.

【The manga you follow, Throne of the Aberrant Realm, has updated!】

The manga updated? Today?

┳⁠━━━━⁠━⁠⁠━⁠━⁠━━━⁠┳  

Authors Note  

┻━⁠━━━━⁠━━⁠━━━⁠┻  

Sorry, I overestimated myself again. The massive forum post will have to wait until tomorrow…

No-prize quiz: This chapter contains the biggest private goods I’ve smuggled in since the serialization started. Try to guess which part it is.