Ch 160: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

ARC 10: Starting Out With a Divorce Certificate in Hand

“Let’s get a divorce.”

This was the first sentence Mu Xing heard upon arriving in this world.

He froze, staring blankly at the man before him.

He found it novel—being “married” was something he had never experienced before.

His expression, in Qin Song’s eyes, looked like he had been struck hard by the words.

Mu Xing liked him. Qin Song had always known this.

A trace of guilt stirred in Qin Song’s heart. He lowered his voice and said, “We had an agreement before. This marriage was in name only. After two years, we would part ways. I know it’s not good for me to go back on my word now. But I’ve met someone I truly like, and he can’t accept me being married.”

“…Oh.” Mu Xing pulled himself out of the thought of being married and about to return to singlehood, giving only that one sound in reply.

Qin Song waited for him to say something more, but the young man before him only gave that response, then fell silent.

After a while, Qin Song couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you… have anything you want to say?”

Mu Xing hesitated: “…Happy single life?”

Qin Song: “…”

Perhaps his pride won’t let him show even the slightest weakness in front of me, Qin Song thought.

He handed Mu Xing a bag. “Inside is the compensation for breaking the agreement.”

“If you agree, we can dissolve the marriage this afternoon. Later, my studio will release a statement.”

Mu Xing looked at the bag. “Compensation?”

“Yes,” Qin Song replied. “A property in the Imperial Capital, and a few resources I managed to secure for you.”

Mu Xing blinked, and at last, the storyline unfolded in his mind.

The original Mu Xing had lost his mother early, growing up abroad with his grandfather. Last year, when his grandfather passed away, he was brought back to his father’s side.

At twenty-one, rebellious and bent on opposing his father, he entered the entertainment industry out of spite.

Because of his good looks, he quickly signed with a company.

But before the company could plan his career, he debuted in the most shocking way possible—by becoming the legal husband of top actor Qin Song.

The two had never known each other before.

To be precise, Qin Song didn’t know Mu Xing.

But Mu Xing had been Qin Song’s fan since his teenage years.

So when Qin Song came to him, proposing an agreement that any reasonable adult would find absurd, Mu Xing agreed without hesitation.

This enraged his father, Mu Jiangtao, who nearly kicked him out of the family.

Not only that, but the sudden announcement of marriage was unbearable for Qin Song’s fans. In just half a year, Mu Xing’s Weibo was flooded with curses, his private life stalked by paparazzi, and fanatics even mailed him death threats.

One could say that in this marriage, Mu Xing received far more abuse than blessings.

The agreement had been for two years.

The reason it existed was that Qin Song loved someone else—Jiang Shengyu, a rising star known as the “Face of the Entertainment Industry.”

The two had had on-and-off scandals for years, with many CP fans shipping them, but neither side’s fandom took it seriously.

Qin Song loved Jiang Shengyu enough to risk his career by going public. But Jiang Shengyu’s feelings hadn’t reached the same depth.

Half a year ago, a major quarrel broke them apart.

In anger, Qin Song married someone else by contract—a move Mu Xing considered incomprehensibly foolish.

The reason Qin Song chose Mu Xing was simple: from certain angles, his profile faintly resembled Jiang Shengyu’s.

It was only a fleeting resemblance.

Oh, so there was even a bit of the “stand-in” element, Mu Xing realized.

Of course, Qin Song was foolish for coming up with such an idea, but the original Mu Xing was even more foolish for agreeing to it.

Still, humans always have reasons for doing foolish things. Qin Song had his, and so did the original Mu Xing.

They always liked to call that mind-clouding thing—love.

And now, clearly, Qin Song and Jiang Shengyu had reconciled.

So Qin Song came rushing to end the agreement early.

In the original story, Mu Xing was deeply hurt, but he still agreed.

That very night, Qin Song announced the divorce on Weibo.

His fans, who had never accepted Mu Xing, celebrated wildly at the news.

Not long after, Qin Song and Jiang Shengyu appeared together on a variety show. The two were dazzling side by side, their chemistry flawless, and countless CP fans rose in joy, screaming daily in excitement.

Later, fans noticed something: Mu Xing, Qin Song’s ex-husband, looked similar to Jiang Shengyu from certain angles.

They pieced together a timeline with photos: Mu Xing had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, unknown before, while Qin Song’s public image had always been spotless—never a hint of a boyfriend.

His only rumored partner had always been Jiang Shengyu.

Then, gossip accounts leaked news of their fallout.

Qin Song had married in haste.

And during the marriage, photos by paparazzi always showed him and Mu Xing at a distance—never intimate, never like newlyweds.

Half a year later, Qin Song divorced, smiling brightly beside Jiang Shengyu on a variety show, clearly disproving the rumors of their fallout.

And Qin Song’s ex-husband bore a faint resemblance to Jiang Shengyu.

Damn!

Netizens felt like they had stumbled onto a massive scoop.

They spun out a sugary “stand-in” narrative: Qin Song’s true love was actually Jiang Shengyu, but since true love was out of reach, he chose Mu Xing, who bore a slight resemblance.

Naturally, in this script, Qin Song would run back to his true love in the end. As for the stand-in—who cared if he was cast aside?

Though these were just imagined stories, netizens didn’t realize that they had in fact guessed the truth.

The CP fans felt like it was New Year’s, while Qin Song’s fans—who had always looked down on Mu Xing and insulted him at every chance—suddenly decided Jiang Shengyu was not so bad after all, especially compared with Mu Xing, who seemed like a nobody dragged into the spotlight.

As for Jiang Shengyu’s fans, they never took any of these rumors seriously, knowing their idol was a career-driven workaholic.

So all three groups were satisfied—except Mu Xing, who was ridiculed from start to finish.

He had joined the entertainment industry partly for Qin Song, and partly to spite his father.

The divorce was already hard enough. Afterwards, when he appeared on a variety show, he was in no mood to smile. Viewers scolded him for being “arrogant,” “boring and humorless,” “stiff as a board,” and “petty.”

The dramas he acted in went unnoticed as well.

What’s more, Jiang Shengyu’s fans were fixated on the notion that “this newcomer faintly resembles our idol,” and every time Mu Xing showed up at an event, they would flood the comments with insults, mocking him as nothing more than a counterfeit.

The original Mu Xing had grown up spoiled under his grandfather abroad. After returning home, though he clashed with his father, Mu Jiangtao, at most he heard harsh words—never true coercion.

When he agreed to the sham marriage with Qin Song, he endured constant verbal abuse from fans. Yet, deep down, he secretly delighted in being married to the man he admired. He even fantasized that one day Qin Song might be moved by him.

But now—divorced, slandered, doxxed, branded as a pathetic stand-in—he broke down mentally, fell into severe depression, and withdrew from the industry.

Unexpectedly, Mu Jiangtao, who had always treated him coldly, didn’t scold him. Instead, he spent a fortune hiring specialists to treat him.

Then one day, while watching a program where Qin Song and Jiang Shengyu sang sweetly together, Mu Xing saw an expression on Qin Song’s face he had never seen before. His long-suppressed emotions exploded, and he dashed out of the house into a heavy downpour.

Mu Jiangtao rushed after him, not knowing what had happened. But while stepping down the stairs, he slipped.

A stroke.

Paralyzed on one side, with doctors saying he would most likely be bedridden for life.

When his older sister returned from an overseas business trip and heard the news, she slapped him hard across the face.

*

Perhaps in one desperate moment, the original Mu Xing made a powerful wish. He no longer wanted to live. He wished someone could change everything.

He wished he would no longer suffer for Qin Song and Jiang Shengyu.

He wished he wouldn’t drag his father down with him.

And so Mu Xing arrived.

Though, admittedly, a little late.

He thought, if he had come six months earlier, he wouldn’t have had to be entangled in the love affair between those two at all.

But now—

He hadn’t cared about compensation at first, hadn’t planned to take anything. Yet just as he withdrew his hand, he stretched it out again and took the bag.

He opened it.

He pulled out the deed transfer agreement for the property, and tossed the rest back.

“I’ll accept the compensation,” Mu Xing said, shaking the bag in his hand. “After all, I paid too much over the past half-year for this fake marriage.”

“As for the resources—no need.”

He had no interest whatsoever in variety shows or acting.

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