"On this special day, we welcome the 52nd Golden Dragon Awards ceremony, which is being held at the Longwan City Film and Television Memorial Hall. The long-awaited event has finally begun..."
The awards ceremony was incredibly grand, with dazzling lights and celebrities in attendance dressed in their finest. High-intensity spotlights shone down from the ceiling, and through the lighting designer's artistry, they transformed into a luxurious spectacle.
The artists sat quietly in this interplay of darkness and light, row after row, extending to the back. In the first row sat venerable old artists, while behind them were various new-generation heartthrobs.
They didn't know what would happen at this ceremony that could determine their career status.
...
Would they leave empty-handed, or reach the pinnacle and enjoy the utmost glory?
"The competition for Best Actor this time is quite fierce. The nominated works are evenly matched, and to choose the Best Actor from among them—that is, the king of this film festival—is difficult. I really can't guess who it will be," said the female host in an elegant gown, smiling confidently. She tilted her head towards the man beside her who was co-presenting the award and casually asked, "What do you think, Gu Yanzhou?"
The man had a clean-cut hairstyle and wore a simple black suit that seemed almost too plain for his appearance.
Presumably, he didn't want to outshine the others.
Even though he wore a common style and ignored the playful banter from the female host beside him, simply reading the script word for word without any flair, he was still eye-catching.
Because who was he?
He was Gu Yanzhou.
Gu Yanzhou had won the Golden Dragon Award for Best Actor three years in a row, forcing the jury to change the selection rules. They awarded him a lifetime achievement award and permanently removed him from the competition.
In other words: We're crowning you the eternal king of actors, so you don't need to participate in the selection anymore. Give others a chance... otherwise, our award might as well be nonexistent. Who would still care about it? Where would the suspense be?
...
It sounded particularly infuriating.
But no one dared to deny that he was the eternal king of actors, the unparalleled legend of the entertainment industry.
The award ceremony continued.
Female host: "Gu Yanzhou, aren't you even a little curious about who this new talent inheriting your mantle might be?"
Gu Yanzhou took the microphone. His face had distinct features that stood out particularly under the spotlight. He smiled faintly, cutting off the host's forced attempt at drama, and simply said, "I'm sure everyone is very curious. Please look at the big screen."
The cameraman finally moved the lens away from Gu Yanzhou and aimed at the big screen. An edited version of "Drug Bust" appeared, immediately grand and eye-catching.
"Drug Bust" was this year's classic work, winning both at the box office and in critical acclaim. It told the story of a narcotics officer, without excessive fight scenes, focusing instead on depicting the daily lives of drug enforcement officers, showing how they endure hardships to minimize the impact on their families. This glory and hardship were vividly portrayed through the protagonist's performance.
"I believe once 'Drug Bust' appeared, everyone already guessed who this person is," the female host led the atmosphere to its climax. "The winner of the 52nd Golden Dragon Award for Best Actor... everyone, let's shout his name together!"
The crowd erupted in an instant.
"—Shao Si!"
"Shao Si!"
...
'Snap'.
Li Guangzong stared at the laptop that now lay silent on his knees.
Just a moment ago, an arm had lazily reached out from behind and mercilessly closed his computer.
He could hardly believe it and turned around, saying, "Shao Si, what are you doing?!"
"What am I doing? I should be asking you what you're doing."
Shao Si had been curled up in the back seat of the van, sleeping under his coat. For the past week, he had averaged only three and a half hours of sleep per night. He had finally fallen into a deep sleep when his manager's chattering, screaming, and intermittent fanboy-like laughter invaded his ears.
Even the most patient person wouldn't be able to bear it, let alone Shao Si, whose temper wasn't exactly known for being good.
"It's been almost half a year since this happened, and you're still watching it? What's the point?" Shao Si had just pushed off the coat covering his face and lazily woken up. He might have had a slight cold, as his voice was a bit husky. "If you must watch, can you at least not laugh like a pervert?"
Li Guangzong: "Fine, I'll be more careful... but what do you mean by pervert? What are you implying?"
Shao Si: "I know I looked exceptionally handsome at the awards ceremony, so it's normal for you to be obsessed. Be good, I'm right here in front of you every day. You can stare at me all you want, just don't be an idiot hugging that stupid recording like it's your lifeline."
If they weren't in the car, Li Guangzong swore he would risk losing his job to fight Shao Si.
Even if this guy was the most successful star he had ever managed, even if he couldn't afford to offend him... he still wanted to fight!
How could there be such a shameless person in this world!
"Who's looking at you? I'm watching Gu Yanzhou!" Li Guangzong almost jumped up. "That's my idol! The legend of the entertainment industry! Who's obsessed with you!"
Shao Si was very familiar with the title "Gu Yanzhou," and knew he was a big name in the entertainment industry. However, he had always been face-blind, and colleagues he hadn't worked with were basically just a blur of pixels to him.
So he rubbed his temples, squinting his eyes, and asked, "You mean that Gu... Gu..."
What was it again?
"Gu Yanzhou."
Li Guangzong had calmed down by now. After serving this master for so many years, he had developed a set of skills to avoid being angered to death.
Shao Si fumbled for a bottle of water under the seat, twisted it open in a few turns, tilted his head back for a few gulps, and was screwing the cap back on when his expressionless manager reminded him: "The one who presented you with the award at the ceremony."
Shao Si wracked his brains, thinking and thinking, but finally gave up: "Even if you say that, I still..."
Li Guangzong took a deep breath, opened his laptop again, ready to show him his idol's face.
He really needed to recognize this face properly, otherwise, if they met at work in the future and Shao Si put on his big-shot 'who are you' act, it would inevitably spread and might add to some negative rumors about him being disrespectful to seniors and arrogant.
He was about to say 'Look carefully, memorize his face, yes, this face, remember it well,' but before he could get the words out, he saw Shao Si click twice on the touchpad, and Gu Yanzhou's face on the screen flashed by, leaving only an afterimage. The progress bar jumped directly to the part where Shao Si was holding the trophy and giving his acceptance speech, in a close-up shot.
Shao Si looked at himself on the screen with satisfaction: "Handsome."
Li Guangzong: "..."
Li Guangzong looked at Shao Si, thinking, let the rumors be rumors. It would be abnormal if this idiot didn't have any negative press.
I give up.
Shao Si basked in self-admiration for a while, then curled back into the back seat to continue his nap. He had just closed his eyes when he realized this nap was destined to remain unfinished.
[Hey, partner.]
[How have you been living lately?]
The cold, machine-like voice in his head wouldn't go away. Shao Si didn't open his eyes, just slightly furrowed his brow.
He knew others couldn't hear this voice; only he could communicate with it. It was quite fantastical, really. Things like systems seemed to only exist in dreams, how could they possibly be encountered in reality?
[... Get lost, I'm about to die from lack of sleep if I don't get some rest. Don't bother me.]
After Shao Si replied, the system giggled, unfazed: [You won't die. You still have two years of life left.]
[You're very free today?] At the mention of lifespan, Shao Si finally opened his eyes. [Does it feel good to remind a dying person every day that they're about to die?]
[Young man, don't be so hot-tempered. Cool down. I'm just reminding you not to forget your tasks,] the system advised kindly. [That Yang Yinyin, how have you been keeping an eye on her lately?]
[I've been very busy, so I hired a private detective to watch her. They say she hasn't left the house in recent times.]
[Don't you find it strange? A Golden Dragon Award-winning actress at the peak of her career, cancelling all her appointments and staying at home for a full month.] The system's voice became increasingly eerie, as if providing its own ghostly sound effects, complete with BGM. [Why?]
[...] Shao Si had no time to think about that "why". [I want to sleep, I'm serious.]
His unfortunate connection with this system probably started back in elementary school.
He had a weak heart since childhood. In the doctor's words, how long he could live was up to fate. Back then, he was a skinny little thing, often bullied by classmates. Although even the doctors advised that in his condition, it would be better to rest quietly at home, Shao Si refused. He didn't want to be alone in a big house, with only nannies and private tutors coming and going. He wanted to go to school, make friends, and play with kids his own age.
Such willfulness soon led to an accident.
One day, Shao Si had an attack, and the medicine in his drawer had disappeared. Maybe some classmate was playing a prank on him again, hiding his medicine to watch him frantically search for it.
Children, what did they know about heart disease?
They thought everything was just for fun, including that bottle of white pills.
Shao Si quickly felt he couldn't breathe, like a fish out of water, struggling helplessly on the shore. Even gasping for air didn't help; his entire respiratory system seemed to shut down...
It was then, as he collapsed at the entrance of the stairwell, that a voice spoke to him from the void: "Buddy, do you desire life?"
...
Later, he read various popular web novels about systems, but the relationship between him and his system was different from what was written in those stories. They weren't a system and host; if anything, they were more like partners. So sometimes the system would jokingly call him 'partner'.
As for why they had this relationship...
...Because this system was a broken system.
Literally.
It was a half-disabled system that had been forcibly scrapped after developing problems.
[My job is to control human life and death according to the data released above, to maintain ecological balance.]
This was all Shao Si knew about the system's background. He had asked why it was forcibly scrapped, but the system only briefly replied that it had violated regulations.
Shao Si secretly speculated whether this broken system had engaged in some forbidden romance with someone.
In any case, if they wanted to survive, they had to stick together.
Although half-paralyzed, the system still had the ability to absorb energy and transform it into lifespan.
And Shao Si had to provide this energy for it.
...After all, he was stuck with a half-disabled system.
Just as Shao Si was about to fall into deep sleep in his daze, his phone in his pocket vibrated twice.
It was a text message.
It simply read: Yang Yinyin has gone out.
Shao Si squinted, his vision blurry, typing four characters by feel alone: Where did she go?
He even began to hold his breath in anticipation, until the other party replied with four characters:
— To the market for groceries.
...
— Bought carrots, two yuan per jin.
— Also cauliflower, this one's a bit expensive. Didn't know cauliflower was so pricey? Seems it's imported.
— Oh, mantis shrimp!
— Wonder how the award-winning actress's cooking skills are.
Shao Si expressionlessly turned off his phone, starting to consider whether he should change private detectives. This one didn't seem very reliable.