Chapter 54: Exclusive to Jinjiang 2/2

Song Fuzhi intends to put the remaining papers back in the envelope and throw it away, but he suddenly stops.

Because underneath, a corner of another piece of paper is peeking out, revealing a colorfully printed photo.

With a hidden suspicion, Song Fuzhi pulls out the paper, and his expression becomes vivid.

It’s a cosplay from one of Shi Zhang’s earlier works.

Song Fuzhi looks at a few more; some are official photos from Shi Zhang, and others are taken from a bystander’s perspective. In any case, most of the photos Song Fuzhi has seen on Shi Zhang’s Weibo.

There are a few new ones in the back, where Shi Zhang is probably sitting in a chair, half-made up, putting on a wig.

The intention behind this photo is clear; it suggests that these flamboyant and fancy styles are the work of Shi Zhang himself.

Seeing these photos, Song Fuzhi can’t help but smile faintly, but as he continues, he loses the smile.

His father sent evidence of Shi Zhang’s childhood fights along with his cosplay photos. This means that, in Shi Zhenglin’s mindset, cosplay and fighting are both Shi Zhang’s “stains,” things that can provoke Song Fuzhi.

It’s not hard to guess how Shi Zhenglin approached educating Shi Zhang during his early years.

But fortunately, Shi Zhang persisted enough and lived well independently, and Shi Zhenglin couldn’t be bothered by his adult illegitimate son.

Otherwise, there might not be today’s teacher, Zhang Octopus.

It’s also not hard to understand why Shi Zhang didn’t want to reveal his past as a cosplayer and retired from the community shortly after getting married.

Presumably, he was afraid that Song Fuzhi would be as disgusted with the world of anime and manga as his father is.”

Song Fuzhi’s heart is filled with mixed emotions. If he is a thirty-year-old adult who finds it difficult to accept the world of anime and manga, finding out that his husband used to engage in such activities even before their marriage would probably be repulsive.

However, reality is peculiar, and the “evidence” sent by Shi Zhenglin not only fails to make Song Fuzhi doubt his husband but instead raises his affection for him to the maximum.

Song Fuzhi keeps the cosplay photos of Shi Zhang and shreds the remaining papers with Shi Zhenglin’s cunning tricks using a paper shredder. Their tactics are too low-level and can’t harm them in the slightest.

Song Fuzhi almost immediately makes a decision.

That evening, it’s Song Fuzhi’s turn to take care of the Red Falcon family.

In reality, they don’t need much care anymore. The Red Falcon babies have grown into handsome and fierce-looking fledglings, almost unrecognizable from their initial round-ball appearance. However, some still have a bit of fluffy down on their heads, resembling little adults.

As usual, Song Fuzhi takes photos and videos to send to Shi Zhang. Shi Zhang mentions that they should be ready to fly soon.

“The little birds are learning to fly,” Song Fuzhi tells Shi Zhang.

Shi Zhang smiles on the other end, asking Song Fuzhi to help keep an eye on the little birds since he is busy with experiments and can’t come.

Song Fuzhi reassures him, saying, “It’s okay,” and adds, “The little birds will surely take one last look at you before flying away.”

Yet, Song Fuzhi still follows Shi Zhang’s advice, sitting on the sofa and watching the chicks flutter their wings.

The awning that was opened to shelter them from the rain last time is still not retracting. Song Fuzhi recalls that day, including the cosplay wardrobe just a few steps away.

He no longer needs to go in; after all this time, Song Fuzhi seems to have finally adapted to the fact that his husband is Professor Zhang Octopus.

Song Fuzhi calls Luoluoli.

Luo Luli takes a while to answer, her voice lazily saying, “What’s up?”

Song Fuzhi: “Am I bothering you?”

“Not really,” Luo Luli says. “I’m doing a spa.”

“Okay, while you’re at it, let me ask you something.”

Luo Luli hums casually, indicating that Song Fuzhi can go on.

Song Fuzhi asks, “How many cosplay outfits do you think I can create within three months?”

“Huh?” Luo Luli seems to have not heard clearly. “What did you say?”

Song Fuzhi repeats the question slowly. After a few seconds of silence, Luo Luli suddenly raises her pitch: “Are you finally considering cosplaying? Fufu, your account is almost gathering dust!”

“I just have a little idea,” Song Fuzhi says earnestly.

Luo Luli gets excited: “What does ‘within three months’ mean? Are you planning some kind of challenge? How many cosplays can you speedrun in three months?”

“No,” Song Fuzhi clarifies. “It’s because Professor Zhang’s birthday is in about three months.”

Luo Luli doesn’t understand. “Uh, what’s the connection? Wait a minute—what do you mean, you want to use cosplay works as a birthday gift for your husband? But does he like that?”

“He likes it,” Song Fuzhi says confidently. When saying this, his lips curve up high.

Luo Luli is delighted. “Is it true? Professor likes anime? Have you two reached that level of communication? Oh my god, he looks so serious, I thought his biggest hobby was tasting various herbs.”

Song Fuzhi laughs directly: “Ah, yes.”

“Then what characters are you planning to cosplay, and how many sets?” Luo Luli asks.

Song Fuzhi has thought about this, telling Luo Luli, “I want to choose some characters that Professor Zhang has cosplayed before. Professor has been in the circle for about twenty years, and I initially thought about picking one representative character from each year. However, I feel that three months is not enough, so I’m thinking of selecting five or six. But it still feels very rushed.”

He said a long string of words, and Luo Luli clearly didn’t understand. She interrupted him, “Stop, stop, stop. I haven’t understood anything since the beginning. Why are you choosing characters that Professor Zhang has cosplayed? Why not pick characters you like, or what characters does Shi Zhang like?”

“Actually, I am choosing characters that Shi Zhang likes,” Song Fuzhi continues to smile.

Luo Luli is completely confused and a bit impatient. “You…!”

Song Fuzhi finally decides to spare her and confesses, “Because Professor Zhang used to cosplay for a long time, and his pseudonym is Octopus.”

“…”

There is suddenly silence on the other end of the phone.

Song Fuzhi wisely moves his phone farther away from his ear, and as expected, after ten seconds of silence, his eardrums are greeted with a deafening scream of ten thousand decibels.

Luo Luli’s voice distorts and becomes sharp. “You—said—what?”

Through the phone, Song Fuzhi calmly announces, “Shi Zhang is coser Octopus.”

There has been silence on Luo Luli’s end for a long time. Then a series of clanging sounds is heard, and Luoluoli asks in a very frustrated tone, “Where the hell are you? I’m coming to find you.”

Then she says again, “Save the essential oils for next time, thanks. I have urgent business to beat someone up.”

After a while, the two meet at a barbecue stall. Luo Luli sees Song Fuzhi from afar and rushes over, almost delivering a punch directly to him: “Song Fuzhi, you better not be joking. When did you find out? You can’t be this calm!”

“At that time, something else happened, and I didn’t find a chance to say,” Song Fuzhi explains.

Seeing Luo Luli so excited, Song Fuzhi, who initially thought he had accepted this matter calmly, easily recalls the astonishment and shock he felt when he first saw Shi Zhang’s room full of cosplay outfits.

Song Fuzhi’s heart rate speeds up. “I saw a lot of cosplay costumes at Shi Zhang’s house, all characters from Octopus, and they’re even in order. At that moment, I really wanted to scream; I couldn’t believe it.”

 “Why is it like this? How can it be like this?” Luo Luli really wanted to grab his collar and tear him apart. “Why can your two-dimensional husband directly become your real husband??”

Jealousy distorted Luo Luli’s face: “Why doesn’t such a good thing happen to me?”

Song Fuzhi smiled with pursed lips. “I’m sorry.”

Luo Luli was about to be furious.

“Wait a minute.” Luo Luli suddenly widened her eyes, her gaze carrying a hint of ambiguity. “You fantasized about Teacher Octopus so many times before, and now—well, how does it feel in reality? Is it as satisfying as you imagined?”

Luo Luli’s choice of words was too straightforward, making Song Fuzhi feel embarrassed by the sudden question.

After careful consideration of his words, he finally said, “Teacher Octopus is really awesome.”

Luo Luli immediately wanted to flip the table and leave. It was really too much; why did she have to rush to eat this cross-dimensional dog food?

Luo Luli grabbed Song Fuzhi’s hair and went crazy for half an hour before finally returning to the main topic.

“So, Teacher Fu, do you plan to cosplay a series of characters that Teacher Octopus has portrayed as his birthday gift?”

Song Fuzhi nodded.

Luo Luli raised an eyebrow and said, “Listen to my advice; just cosplay as his favorite little fairy, hide under the covers, and wait for him. Why make it so complicated?”

“What on earth?” Song Fuzhi laughed.

This was too much; Professor Song couldn’t bring himself to do something like that.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

Song Fuzhi not only wanted to choose characters that Zhang liked, but he also wanted to tell him—

“I like what you like—your scars, your past, your persistence—I like them all.”