Chapter 98.2: Connection Ends, Burial Begins
[I always thought this “Director Shi” with the baby voice sounded weirdly familiar. Now I’m wondering… have we heard that voice on some other show before?]
[I’ve already taken screenshots of all the photos and videos the paparazzo released and uploaded them to Weibo. As long as the voice, height, and body shape match, it’s definitely Director Shi!]
[Guys… I finally remembered a name: Shi Buwen. Do any of you remember him? From Better Days of Youth—the same season Duan Mingfei was in. He was the one with the baby voice who got eliminated and later fell into depression and… died by s**cide.]
Fans of survival shows come and go, but it’s usually the same crowd cycling through.
Most of the viewers who followed Youth Unstoppable from start to finish had also followed Better Days of Youth back in the day—a show that went viral for its bizarre moments.
Fans who remembered the events from back then began reminiscing about that season of the show in the comment stream.
As the words scrolled by on screen, the memories that had long been buried began to surge back, overwhelming Shi Buwen.
Depression, s**cide, isolation, extremism…
Those words, strung together, made Shen Xiu’s brows knit unconsciously.
Feeling like he couldn’t breathe, Shen Xiu dropped his gaze—he didn’t dare keep reading.
After everything Shi Buwen had been through, the fact that he could still smile each time they met spoke volumes about his mental fortitude and resilience. No wonder he’d been able to become a director.
If I become a director one day, Shen Xiu wondered, will I be that strong, too?
Xiang Yueting glanced over at Shi Buwen, his guilt now crushingly heavy.
Mu Zhenchu and a few others suspected that the reason Shi Buwen had never wanted to appear on camera before was probably because of this incident.
Shi Buwen sat cross-legged on a chair, frowning hard at the screen.
The longer he read, the deeper the frown. Finally, unable to take it anymore, he snapped:
“What s**cide?! I didn’t commit suicide!”
Why was it that after all these years, no one believed him?
“I just ate some undercooked mushrooms and started hallucinating. I thought the riverbank looked like my bed, so I tried to climb onto it to lie down—and fell into the river, that’s it!”
Since then, no matter how tasty mushrooms were, he hadn’t dared eat them again.
Shang Yu: “…”
How was this any different from just admitting he was Shi Buwen?
The paparazzo: “!”
He was used to people eating melon in his livestream room. This was the first time he was on the other side, watching it unfold in someone else’s livestream—and it felt amazing!
[…It really is Shi Buwen! 😭😭 I always liked you back then… And then there was just no news of you for so many years. I thought you were… Thank god you’re still here!]
[+1111 Ugh, I hate those Ming fans. They always spread rumors that Bu Bu is dead, and even say that Duan Mingfei is the ‘Purple Star,’ and that anyone who goes against him will be punished by the heavens. So disgusting.]
[Off-topic, but what kind of mushrooms did Bu Bu eat to start hallucinating and fall into the river?]
[I finally understand now why, during Youth Unstoppable, everyone participated in Crossing the Primeval Forest, and why they treated Duan Mingfei that way on the show…]
[What a massive, long game this was!]
[Bu Bu, hold tight to your revenge script—let’s send him off together!]
Seeing the barrage of comments from netizens, Shen Xiu looked at Shi Buwen with a newfound sense of admiration.
No wonder he’s a director—what a powerful man!
As the livestream’s tone became increasingly chaotic and he got dragged into it, Shi Buwen was caught off guard. His mind was a mess, and he had no choice but to pause the broadcast.
“Sorry.”
Shi Buwen spoke just one word, and everyone understood.
As the team leader, Shen Xiu felt he should set an example. He raised his hand and waved at the camera, smoothly reciting the familiar sign-off line he used before: “Sorry, that’s it for today’s livestream. See you next time.”
The other team members followed suit, waving and smiling as they said goodbye.
“Bye-bye.”
“See you later~”
“Next time we meet, we’ll have evolved into ‘TG’~”
…
Once everyone had finished saying goodbye, Shen Xiu clicked to end the livestream.
[Wuwuwu goodbye, darlings—make sure to comfort Bu Bu well~]
[Being able to direct such a unique boy group survival show like Youth Unstoppable shows just how much Director Shi must’ve endured back then. The behind-the-scenes drama must be even worse than we imagined. Paparazzi, hurry up and dig—what are you waiting for!]
The moment the livestream cut to black, Xiang Yueting abruptly stood up and walked swiftly toward Shi Buwen to apologize.
Before ending the stream, the paparazzo, questioning his own life choices, sighed to the audience in the livestream room:
“You probably won’t believe this, but we didn’t set out to film Duan Mingfei at all. It started because a netizen posted a photo online, recognized Shen Xiu, and we specifically went to film Shen Xiu.”
“Who would’ve thought we’d end up filming Duan Mingfei, then catch Shen Xiu and the others gossiping while following Duan Mingfei, and during the livestream link-up, it got revealed that the chief director of Youth Unstoppable was Shi Buwen, and that there’s bad blood between him and Duan Mingfei.”
“This is honestly the first time I’ve seen something like this!”
“Maybe this is what they call a ‘melon chain reaction’—pull on one and you get a whole string of juicy drama!”
—
While the two livestreams were linked, Xiao Gong received a call from Qinghe Entertainment.
Du Heng, who hadn’t managed Duan Mingfei for a long time, was frantically trying to call him. When he couldn’t get through, he called Xiao Gong instead.
“Get Duan Mingfei out of there, now!” As soon as the call connected, Du Heng’s furious voice came through.
Unable to reach his boss, with Duan Mingfei’s phone turned off and even the boss’s driver unreachable, Du Heng pinned his hopes on Xiao Gong.
After receiving the call, Xiao Gong quickly turned the car around and sped toward Yulin Banxia.
Unfortunately, since no one was answering, Xiao Gong was stuck outside, anxiously waiting. Just as he was reporting the situation to Du Heng, he saw a group of people storming into the complex, their faces being recognized by the security system…
——
At 3:00 PM, Shen Xiu escorted the nine guests out of the community.
Only after their car disappeared from view did Shen Xiu turn around and head back.
In the kitchen, dishes were piled high. As he loaded them into the dishwasher, Shen Xiu mentally reviewed how the whole hospitality event had gone today.
The fruit and water—everyone had some. The dishes served later—everyone had tried at least a bit of everything.
Most importantly, even with him present, everyone was still able to talk—there was no awkward silence.
Shen Xiu attributed all of this to the fact that Xiang Yueting had been sitting beside him. He happily decided that at the next gathering, he would make sure to sit next to Xiang Yueting again.
That way, even if he himself had nothing to say, just seeing Xiang Yueting would surely spark conversation from the others.
After placing the last bowl into the dishwasher, Shen Xiu finished his mental recap and quietly murmured to himself, “I’ll keep working hard next time too…”
Once he’d finished reviewing his own performance, Shen Xiu thought of Shi Buwen and sighed again in admiration: “Director Shi is amazing!”
In that kind of situation, he would’ve hidden away to cry in secret, feeling wronged. But Director Shi hadn’t even shed a single tear, not even once—Shen Xiu was deeply impressed by that.
The system peeked through the camera, silently watching Shen Xiu’s back.
Not even talking about the Shen Xiu in its memory—just the one in front of it now—the system could tell he was gradually changing, becoming less and less like the boy who had first joined the talent show.
As for the Shen Xiu in its memory… the system felt as if it were witnessing a withered wildflower sprouting fresh green shoots from its dying roots…
After tidying up the house, Shen Xiu picked up his phone, put on a mask and a baseball cap, and headed out.
The system popped back in: [Where are you going?]
Shen Xiu: “To buy clothes.”
System: [Huh???]
Shen Xiu: “The day after tomorrow, I’m taking my parents to move into their new home. I should wear new clothes.”
All the clothes here had already been worn. It didn’t feel right to wear old clothes to accompany his parents into their new house.
He remembered something his mother once said when he was in grade one, about how during housewarmings, everyone from the oldest to the youngest should wear new clothes.
System: […]
Treating going into a cemetery like moving into a new house? That’s not his home at all. It’s essentially his parents’ graveyard—just a cemetery. What new clothes is he wearing?! Shen Xiu really is something else…
The system hesitated, then finally chose to stay silent.
Well, as long as Shen Xiu is happy.
On the day he confirmed the cemetery plot, Shen Xiu had already planned in his mind to buy new clothes. While running, he even scoped out the store.
The weather forecast predicted heavy rain and strong winds the day after tomorrow, with temperatures dropping sharply compared to today. To fit the weather and minimize social interaction, Shen Xiu decided to buy the entire outfit the store’s mannequin was wearing—just confirmed the size, grabbed the clothes, and left.
Because of this, Shen Xiu spent less than ten minutes in the store and left carrying several black shopping bags.
Inside the bags were a black double-breasted trench coat, a beige mid-neck thin sweater underneath, a pair of black flowing dress pants, and matching black leather shoes.
After leaving the store, Shen Xiu took a bus to the paper goods shop he had visited last time while running.
—
In the blink of an eye, the burial day Shen Xiu had arranged with the cemetery arrived.
Early in the morning, Shen Xiu put on his new clothes and carried the various offerings he had bought to the cemetery.
The cemetery offered burial services with its own procedures. Shen Xiu had arrived too early—the cemetery hadn’t yet set up anything for the grave he had purchased.
With more than two hours before the ceremony began, Shen Xiu handed over his offerings and the written notes to the funeral director, asking him to include them in the ceremony.
After finishing his conversation with the funeral director, Shen Xiu followed his plan and went to the street nearest the cemetery, heading straight to the flower shop he had already selected.
The fierce wind carried the pouring rain, howling as it slammed against the trees and umbrellas of passersby.
…
Ren Qianyu had assumed that with such terrible weather, there wouldn’t be any customers today. She moved her eyes away from the computer, pinched the bridge of her nose, and stood up, planning to close the shop early.
At that moment, a tall figure appeared at the entrance, holding a black umbrella.
Shen Xiu closed the umbrella and stood it up by the door.
As the black umbrella folded shut, Ren Qianyu found herself staring into a pair of cool, distant eyes. The rain had filled the air with mist, making the man before her seem even colder, more detached.
Their eyes met as the umbrella closed. Shen Xiu’s voice was stiff as he greeted her: “Hello.”
That icy voice snapped Ren Qianyu back to her senses. She steadied herself and, putting on her usual businesslike smile, walked back into the shop and said: “Hello. What kind of flowers are you looking for?”
As the other person broke eye contact, Shen Xiu quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Stepping inside, he replied: “Red roses.”
“How many would you like? Would you like to include any other flowers?”
Different numbers and combinations of flowers carry different meanings—she needed to understand the customer’s intent.
“One hundred. No others. Wrap them in black paper.”
Shen Xiu stated the number that had long been fixed in his heart.
His mother had loved red roses. He hoped that in their next life, his parents could have one hundred percent good fortune—not like this life.
Even though… the idea of a “next life” didn’t quite align with the knowledge he’d learned.
“Alright.”
Ten minutes later, Shen Xiu stepped out into the storm, holding a large bouquet of vivid red roses in his left hand and raising an umbrella with his right.
Ren Qianning stepped out of a taxi and spotted a tall, black-clad figure in the distance.
Seeing that familiar silhouette made her heart race. She quickly pulled out her phone and snapped a photo.
