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As he was yelled at by a customer Wang Yi tried to remember why he kept working at this damn boba shop.
It wasn't for the pay. Rock was far too much of a cheapsake but at least Wang Yi was being paid better than the delivery drivers and actor. He didn’t want to do an interview ever again. It was a little bit for the hours. He needed the flexibility, and he needed to be off by two to pick up Nuonuo from her daycare. Right, that was the reason.
Wang Yi nodded accidently giving into the customer’s demands to do... something. He would figure it out. Probably. He didn't really care either way.
His wife was still at work as a social media assistant at DOS so sadly Wang Yi was not able to text her and (like him) she needed an hour of not talking after work. It was the second Friday of the month, so his in-laws were out on a date.
He would be looking after Nuonuo alone tonight.
It was strange but Wang Yi found himself if not liking at least relaying on Zhang Lan's parents and not completely hating living above them.
Wang Yi was reasonably confident that his Mother-in-law did not like him and at first this was mutual. She was far too loud and seemed to say everything she thought of even when no one needed to hear it, but she was also able to get Nuonuo to go to sleep and stop screaming so distaste quickly gave way to reverence. She accepted his cooking.
His Father-in-law was happy to sit four feet away from him in absolute silence at the crack of dawn all to gut some fish and weirdly never stopped inviting Wang Yi to do this with him.
It was all an acceptable state of affairs, especially as they were good with Nuonuo. Wang Yi was not good with children even when he was a child, he was never sure why and was starting to suspect that this was part of the problem.
He hoped he could learn, after all, he was a father now. It was a daunting task and one of the few things that shook his confidence. It was a constant series of compromises.
He couldn’t set up play dates, but Zhang Lan could through the parenting groups she joined, and he could drop Nuonuo off and sit silently in the corner until the entire affair was done.
He ended up fleeing the room when he heard Nuonuo cry. But his mother-in-law laughed at his struggles, told him to ‘man up’ and provided noise cancelling headphone and earplugs. So, he could hold Nuonuo when she was distressed. To a degree. It was still a struggle.
He could prepare food and supplies since Zhang Lan rarely had time to.
He couldn’t provide adequate socialization or chatter to the child like Zhang Lan’s parenting book recommended, but he could sit in silence around her while the radio played.
The greatest trial was this: to be a good parent you had to communicate, you had to listen, and Wang Yi was bad at that, awful really. He still couldn't stand the noise. So, as he picked up Nuonuo, he shakily signed hello and that it was nice to see her. Maybe. His sign language was insufficient.
She mimicked him.
Wang Yi nodded seriously and pulled out his notebook and added that to the section on milestones. By all evidence she was progressing well for a two-year-old. Suspicious.
Nuonuo giggled and raised her arms up in the universal sign to be picked up. Wang Yi complied and made sure she had her rather oversized bunny rabbit. The last time that was lost she cried for hours. Never again.
Luckily Nuonuo always seemed tired out after running around in daycare and Wang Yi was equally tired out by his shift. They sat quietly in the park as Nuonuo successfully dozed off. Wang Yi enjoyed it while he could. He sent a photo to his wife. She liked it.
Nuonuo still didn't like gummies which was bad because Wang Yi didn't like them either and at this rate they would never be eaten. She did like applesauce. A lot. Wang Yi made a note of this. They had the same soup to make it less likely for her to try to taste his food. It was a good meal. He only had to put in earplugs halfway through.
Wang Yi decided to keep them in and was debating putting on his earphones as well not because it was particularly noisy now but because he knew it would be soon.
Despite the jumbled shrieking of a crowd of children every other Friday he took Nuonuo to the E-Soul play
It was routine. It was surprisingly good and Nuonuo had fun. It taught valuable lessons to kids like don't steal, kill, and that E-Soul was very cool.
Wang Yi was admittedly a bit of a fan of E-Soul ever since the hero saved his life as a child.
Despite this Wang Yi never wanted to meet his hero. Even if he could get out words Wang Yi had a tendency to be misunderstood especially in person and as a child, he sent a letter expressing his gratitude. That was sufficient. He much preferred staying silent and if not cheering at least observing from the sidelines and taking notes.
Wang Yi made the motions of applause as Not E-Soul took the stage. While he wasn't a great actor or that athletic, he at least had an excellent costume and was far better than the last two that took this part.
Hopefully this one won't vanish or be murdered under mysterious circumstances. It was quite annoying to adjust to a new coworker.
The sets, costumes, and villains were all mismatched, but the kids seemed to really enjoy it, and that was what mattered. Through his almost nonexistent hearing, it was interesting to try and decipher the dialogue. Wang Yi lifted Nuonuo onto his shoulders for a better look and after a moment Wang Yi decided he was enjoying himself even if he never smiled.
Nuonuo was clapping for both of them.
After the villain of the week was defeated, the play was done, and most of the children and various guardians dispersed before Wang Yi approached the actor. He gave a small nod as Nuonuo waved wildly which sadly knocked down his noise cancelling headphones. Just the earplugs were insufficient to block conversation. He turned away.
"Hey! Um... Wany Yi do you want to go to Lucky Cyan's concert with me?" Not E-Soul blurted out, "I uh notice you play her music during breaks, and I listen to her music too, so do you want to go?"
Wang Yi blinked feeling like he lost his footing somewhere and did not understand how he reached this conversation. It was true that he listened to Lucky Cyan. For half a year it was the only music Nuonuo would go asleep to, and it had been strangely comforting to Wang Yi ever since. He did not realize the actor had been paying attention.
After a moment Wang Yi pulled out his notebook and wrote, 'Sorry but I dislike crowds.'
"But you always attend these shows?"
'Yes.'
"Oh. Do you want to meet after work? The E-Soul Anniversary Event is coming up, and I want to practice in front of someone. I get stage fright."
Wang Yi never noticed but he could never properly hear the dialogue anyway.
"If I make it to the end I can meet E-Soul and bring guests! So, if you want to..."
Wang Yi nodded, wrote his number on the actor's hand and walked away with Nuonuo leaving Not E-Soul stuttering and questioning why he did that.
It took a moment for Wang Yi to recognize his own motives too.
He didn't give his number to people, but it was getting late and he had to be efficient. While Wang Yi had no intention of speaking to E-Soul he wouldn't mind an opportunity to observe the hero in person. And as a new parent, he sensed something valuable in the actor: the opportunity for cheap babysitting.
Yes, his actions were logical and made sense. Wang Yi nodded. He considered texting his wife about the update to his schedule but thought better of it. Zhang Lan was trying to decrease her phone usage. He would write a sticky note.
And so, every Tuesday he joined Not E-Soul in preparing for the Anniversary Event. Not E-Soul needed the help.
Wang Yi had never realized this before, but the actor was rather bad at delivering lines, the physical choreography was... okay but not like E-Soul. He was a touch unprepared for the actual event. Luckily, his suit was excellent. One of the best cosplays Wang Yi had ever seen really it had superb working electrical components.
Not E-Soul reacted strangely to that compliment, rambling about his degree and internship at Glimmer Labs.
The actor also rather nervously complimented his knowledge of E-Soul. Apparently, it was extensive. A compliment which made sense and didn’t. Because as one of the main editors of E-Soul's fan wiki page he did know quite a lot about the hero to a degree that was ‘stalkerish’ according to commentors who made the criminal mistake of being wrong about E-Soul online.
It was nice to be complimented.
He should probably learn Not E-Soul's name; it was getting awkward, especially as Nuonuo liked him. Apparently, he had cool books.
Wang Yi nodded seriously at the statement.
As the Anniversary Event approached Wang Yi was worried about taking off work, but Rock liked Not E-Soul and was supportive which was perhaps unsurprising as his business was somehow connected to the E-Soul performances and MG. It was probably a funding thing. It didn’t really matter.
As Zhang Lan teased him about being excited and Wang Yi found that was true which might be why it was disappointing to find that Not E-Soul was not feeling up for preforming.
Wang Yi set Nuonuo down in her carrier and approached where Not E-Soul was vomiting in an alley trash bin. Nerves or illness there wasn't much difference.
Wang Yi rapped his fingers on the side of the metal trash bin and raised a note, 'You okay.'
"No, I really don't feel up for preforming. But you could!" And then Wang Yi was treated to a rambling bizarre explanation of how he knew the part and how he could manage even if he didn't speak all as Not E-Soul took of his armor all for Wang Yi to wear.
He really should shake his head and dismiss this terrible idea, and Wang Yi would... after he tried on the armor. It was heavier than he thought and did actually fit.
"You look..." Not E-Soul stopped, his eyes widened and Wang Yi turned at Nuonuo's scream.
For a moment, he didn't understand. They hated kids. Why would those annoying delivery drivers be taking his daughter?
They were taking his daughter!
It took a precious moment for Wang Yi to realize that he screamed and then he took off running. They had a car. He didn't. A bike didn't make much difference, but he wasn't going to stop.
He didn't realize he could move this fast or think so quickly or make that jump or-
God, it hurt to make that jump and as the car crashed next to the river something in him (maybe a kidney?) ached to realize that Nuonuo wasn't buckled. She was still screaming. Good. She was still alive.
Wang Yi hit the ground again as the younger brother punched him. Two on one. He was unlikely to win. He was always unlikely to win.
It was annoying to adjust to living in an orphanage.
Too many people, none of them right. With hindsight he had been bullied for quite someone time, but Wang Yi didn't notice until they stole his E-Soul figure. His parents got him that. They weren’t going to give it back; they kept asking what he was going to do about it. Wang Yi looked at them, nodded, walked away, came back with a kitchen knife, and chased them through the halls until they gave it back. His expression never changing.
Knives were such useful things. His father in-law got him one for fishing.
Collapsed on the ground, it was rather easy for Wang Yi to grab the eldest brother's leg and slit his achillies tendon. He screamed.
The other turned back horrified and infuriated and kept away from his daughter and the car. Even as his ribs ached and face split, it felt like a victory.
Something was flying overhead. He didn't care.
Wang Yi kept his grip on his knife as he stabbed down again and again and- they stayed down? Wang Yi looked uncomprehending from a sparking knife in his hand to the collapsed bodies of his daughter's kidnappers.
It would be so easy to slit their throats.
Their spirits might curse him for it, but Wang Yi found that he didn't care. They should never be allowed to speak again. They took his daughter! His daughter who was still screaming
Wang Yi turned away.
Screams turned to sobs as Nuonuo clung to him and through her soft hair Wang Yi could feel a tender bump. He was never ever going to put her down again. She needed a doctor. He tried to bounce her like Zhang Lan did and kept holding her close as he walked away from the drivers.
They wouldn't get up soon and he would find them again if they did, besides it felt wrong to kill someone in E-Soul's armor.
Apparently, he had to talk to the police. Annoying. Wang Yi tried to remind himself that it was necessary as he wrote his statement.
Nuonuo was checked out and was alright aside from a few bruises and a concussion. He should have killed the kidnappers. According to the doctors he had broken ribs, but they were healing fascinatingly quickly. His trust was rising.
Zhang Lan franticly texted him confirming that Nuonuo was okay, and yes, the fight was caught on video, and she was on her way to the hospital. Not E-Soul was in the waiting room too. Weird. Luckily, he had Nuonuo’s rabbit. That was important for a reason that felt rather foggy.
"Are you okay?!"
"Is Nuonuo-"
Wang Yi nodded, exhausted, and held up his daughter as evidence not caring that she tugged at his hair.
Zhang Lan nodded passed him a pair of spare earplugs and took Nuonuo out of his hands while he put them in. As he collapsed onto a shitty hospital couch Wang Yi vaguely recognized that they were having a conversation something about kidnapping motives.
"-don't have any money. I don't understand why Nuonuo would be targeted."
Not E-Soul nodded, "So, um, this is an awkward question but how are you related to Nuonuo and Wang Yi?"
"I'm his wife. Nuonuo's our daughter."
"What- but, no, he's too young!"
His voice was too loud and there was a ding as Wang Yi texted him a photo of their wedding and Nuonuo's birthday as well as a short text, 'I'm 22.'
Not E-Soul's face looked weird at that. Wang Yi didn't know what to do about that and couldn't find the energy to try. His ribs were broken, and his daughter wasn't kidnapped, and he had to give a statement, and he could feel the lights flickering. Maybe if he was still enough no one would talk to him ever again.
As Not E-Soul was muttering something, Zhang Lan nudged him holding up a note and their daughter who had her bunny, 'Let's get out of here.'
Wang Yi nodded and let himself be dragged away.
A shower, three hours of undisturbed silence in the closet, an hour of watching E-Soul's subtitled speech on a loop, a full night's rest, and an okay breakfast with his in-laws later Wang Yi felt okay enough to go into work. And then Nuonuo cried that he was leaving, and maybe his shift wasn't that important.
Zhang Lan laughed, kissed him on the forehead, and did end up leaving for work.
Wang Yi ended up spending the day with his mother in-law because while she was chatty, she was good with Nuonuo which was important today. Luckily, she was pretty quiet when they played mahjong, so the day was okay. Better than dealing with customers.
Sadly, he did need to deal with customers and get paid because, money, so despite Nuonuo's crying he did drop her off at daycare and did end up going to work. It was awful.
First, his boss tried to talk to him. Unpleasant. Then a child recognized him as the Not-not E-Soul. Bad. Then their friends recognized him to and wanted a handshake. Terrifying. Then their parents insisted and his boss didn't let him hide in the back. Horrific. Wang Yi did end up shaking the loud brat's sticky hand and delt with more customers than they had in weeks.
This was hell.
He barely lasted two hours before fleeing. Wang Yi didn't care if Rock fired him frankly that would be a blessing. Sadly, the attention did not stop. Nuonuo's daycare recognized him to.
The fact that Wang Yi got through the day without electrocuting someone (because he could do that now) was a miracle.
Zhang Lan eventually found him hiding under the covers as Nuonuo played with blocks on top of him. She sat down next to him and texted, 'Bad?'
The typing icon appeared and disappeared.
Eventually a short message popped up, ‘bad’
Zhang Lan waited and actually got a longer response about his very bad day talking to people. Huh. Zhang Lan frowned while she knew her husband was going viral, she didn't expect him to be so recognized out of costume especially at work. This needed to be delt with before it got any more momentum.
Sadly, she didn't have the resources for a social media campaign or the ability to create something to distract the public with or-
Zhang Lan smiled and pulled out her phone, 'Congrats ur going to meet esoul'
'?!?!?!?!!!'
There was a tug on her leg as Zhang Lan found the contact details of E-Soul's team and manager. After a moment she decided it was easier to speak, "If anyone wants and can help the public forget about you it's E-Soul or rather the team behind him."
Wang Yi slumped back down breaking Nuonuo's tower and was still as she shrieked and put it back together one block at a time, eventually he typed, 'Ok.'
He rarely if ever wanted to talk to people but sadly it was necessary. This couldn't go worse than the job interviews as even when Wang Yi was able to get through them his employers had a tendency to overestimate his skills to a strange degree. It was weird. Hopefully this conversation wouldn't go bad and if it did, at least his wife was with him.
Nuonuo was not of course and Wang Yi resisted the urge to check on her. His in-laws were watching her. She was safe... Why did he still want to check his phone?
Wang Yi tried to focus on anything else, but the board room E-Soul's manager asked them to meet in was rather dull.
Zhang Lan was playing candy crush. She really was anxious.
Still eventually the door slid open and there was E-Soul! In full armor and everything, he was even breathing rather unevenly; his left armguard was chipped, and he was silent as he observed them. So cool.
There was also a manager in a pink vest that was talking and that Wang Yi should pay attention to. Annoying. Still he should focus. "Why do you even want to diminish the people's trust in you? Many would consider this a blessing." The manager asked
Wang Yi raised up a prepared note, "I would have to talk to people. E-Soul gives speeches, kids have already tried to shake my hand."
The manager didn't seem to what to say about that.
Zhang Lan cleared her throat, "Yes so you see we have a common goal here, stop Wang Yi from going viral and redirecting all trust back towards E-Soul."
"Huh didn't think it would be that easy." The manager seemed to smile, "The best thing to do to stop accumulating trust is to stop appearing as E-Soul and give the public nothing to talk about."
"His boss made him basically do a hand shaking event so photos of that are already floating around."
"Yes, I've seen...."
As they both started discussing plans Wang Yi was satisfied to find that there was no real place for him to speak. E-Soul also wasn't talking. His metal fingers were tapping again his armor making a not entirely unpleasant clinking sound. He must be rather loud moving around. Wang Yi likely was as well when he borrowed Not E-Soul's armor and bike.
He hadn't heard from Not E-Soul in a while; they recently quit their job as an E-Soul actor and sent an oddly emotional message when drunk. It was for the best. Rock was not paying him enough and-
His phone dinged.
Wang Yi immediately picked it up. It was just a text from his mother in-law, a photo of Nuonuo eating peas. Good. She liked peas.
E-Soul turned towards him, "... You seem relieved."
Wang Yi blinked and eventually nodded showing the hero the photo.
"Is that your daughter?"
Another nod.
Wang Yi exited the app and pulled up his photos. He had taken quite a lot of photos of his daughter, he didn't know why especially since he didn't tend to share any online or with strangers. He wanted to show E-Soul. It was odd and perhaps the most natural thing in the world, since even if E-Soul didn't remember he was the reason Wang Yi was here and had a daughter at all. That eclipsed all other acts of E-Soul's heroism.
And so, Wang Yi started to flip through photos.
Nuonuo eating ice cream on her second birthday. Nuonuo reading bedtime stories with Zhang Lan and listening to Lucky Cyan on repeat. Nuonuo trying to pet her grandparent's cat. Rock showing off the new boba tea flavor, Zhang Lan agreed that the color was ridiculous, and no one should order it. A video of Nuonuo signing-
"Go back."
Wang Yi frowned but nodded.
"Who is that." E-Soul asked passing him another pad of paper to write on.
'Rock, my boss.'
"Can I borrow you phone for a moment." E-Soul turned away at Wang Yi's confused nod showing the photo to his manager.
"Why is Yan Mo in an apron and a Hawaiian shirt?"
"Apparently this is Wang Yi's boss as well. Strange, isn't it? Almost as odd as his entire behavior surrounding this affair and frankly most of my marketing. It's strange for someone with such a reputation for control to be so hands off."
"It could just be a doppelganger or a relative, or a bizarre hobby, but I'll look into it." The manager sighed pulled out a check and wrote a number that made Zhang Lan's eyes widen, "Please do not return to work Wang Yi and we might need to talk again, Zhang Lan after I confirm somethings."
With that the manager was on the phone and out the door. E-Soul was still with them. Wang Yi had no idea what that was about and it probably wasn't any of his business. He still had a lot of photos to show E-Soul.
Two hours later he was mostly done, and E-Soul seemed weirdly happy when Zhang Lan informed him that he once saved Wang Yi as a kid.
Three hours later Wang Yi was able to confirm that Nuonuo still wasn't kidnapped as they picked her up from her grandparents. Five hours later he was able to comprehend the amount of money E-Soul's manager maybe bribed them with and immediately quit his job.
Three days later there was news of some drama surrounding MG's CEO and five days after that there was news of him having a weird basement and something about fleeing the country or dying. Wang Yi didn't care to know more.
A couple months after that Wang Yi was able to find a far better job. A very desperate restaurant owner hired him to make bread very early in the morning and he didn't have to even see customers and the only other person there didn't talk to him after the first week. It was amazing.
Nuonuo turned a year older and kept progressing well for her age.
A few years after that E-Soul retired leaving behind a long untarnished legacy as a hero.
Wang Yi immediately updated E-Soul's wiki page as he walked to go pick his daughter up from school. She had a science event she would want to talk about. He would listen.
Life could be worse.
Ever since he was a kid Yang Cheng really wished he was better at dealing with knives and flesh and killing animals.
Sadly, the first time he was trusted to butcher a pig the animal just looked too sad and he ended up trying to beg his parents to spare the animal and let him keep it as a pet or something. Which was ridiculous now. It was three-hundred pounds of prime pork.
He was a terrible butcher and wouldn't be able to carry on the family business and was an embarrassment to everyone or at least that's how Yang Cheng felt at eleven. Now at eighteen it was kinda fucked up that his parents expected him to do that so young, right?
Or maybe not. Maybe he was just being overdramatic and pathetic.
Yang Cheng quickly severed the chicken's neck before it could look at him and started to turn it into meat. He tried not to focus on what he was doing instead concentrating on the faint conversation his father was holding with his cousin, something about his Aunt's failed pork recipes which might be a bit irreverent to talk about while butchering a pig, but it was a conversation Yang Cheng found comfort in. He shifted closer.
After all, if you could chat while doing it it wasn't such a big deal to kill an animal. And if he was focusing on a conversation Yang Cheng couldn't focus on the wet slimy feeling of raw chicken.
Gross, gross, gross.
He really wasn't cut out for the family business, was he?
Yang Cheng sighed and urg he would have to sharpen the knives again. That was always an annoying tedious task.
After his shift ended Yang Cheng considered going home but while he loved playing board games with his aunts and listening to their gossip, cooking with his mom, playing video games and listening to music with his cousins, they could all be a bit much especially when his little cousins got home and wanted to run around and chatter and touch everything. Yang Cheng wasn't interested in playing babysitter today.
He wanted to be alone and that was almost impossible at home. So, Yang Cheng walked away and decided to treat himself to quiet dinner. He did not realize he was photographed.
It was actually rather embarrassing just how long it took Yang Cheng to notice anything. Between school, work, and home he never made much time for the new FOMO app. It took his cousin teasing him about it for Yang Cheng to realize people were taking photos at all let alone just how far they spread.
It was a lot.
Yang Cheng look at the number of likes under just one post, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. He then looked at his trust value, still zero. He looked back at a ridiculously populated FOMO tag dedicated to him. He started to read the comments.
Slowly he stopped trying to figure out just how this was a prank or a practical joke just because of the sheer volume of people who thought he was hot, really hot. Like to a degree that was concerning and deeply complimentary to Yang Cheng who had largely considered himself plain. He kept scrolling.
Apparently, people thought he was deep and mysterious when he stared off into space figuring out how to make this shift end already. People also admired how good he was with knives, which he wasn’t, but it all seemed genuine. Ridiculous and bizarre and kinda creepy, but still genuine.
Yang Cheng looked down as could see his trust value go from zero to the thousands and then back down again, glitching like an old video game.
This was how he got his first point of trust?! Not from someone who knew him but from hordes of online strangers that created this image around him and... you know what. Yang Cheng would take what he could get.
He smiled as his value rose again.
If it was this easy for even someone as talentless as him to be trusted... maybe it was never that serious. Maybe he could accept this.
Two months later Yang Cheng could not accept any of their trust because none of them trusted him they trusted a cool silent stranger. Fuck! He should have talked to his weird stalker fans, but he was too nervous and thought he would say the wrong thing and ruin their trust in him and now he couldn't talk!
He wanted to talk. Not that any would listen or-
Yang Cheng managed to get out a choked scream as his trust plunged to zero but as his nerves steadied it rose and he once again couldn't speak. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This sucked. His family didn’t understand either.
There was a pounding on the bathroom door. His baby cousin needed to pee.
Yang Cheng got out and was greeted by more of his uncle and aunts than ever before and none of them really expected a response. He kept losing his voice after all. It took so long for Yang Cheng to really identify the cause, and he really didn't want to talk to them about it. The attention was nice, but they never paid this much attention before, and he never realized how much that sucked.
Yang Cheng silently sighed as he sank onto the mattress of his bunk bed staring at a business card.
Shang Chao: Treeman Corporation.
He refused the offer to be a hero before, not that that was an easy choice. Hell, it was a dream, but Yang Cheng didn't want to leave his family even if they could grate at his nerves, he needed to finish school, he had collage applications to think of, his trust value was dangerously unsteady and what kind of hero would a butcher make anyway?
No, it was ridiculous for anyone to consider Yang Cheng a hero.
But Shang Chao had asked him to call if he had any doubts, and maybe someone who worked so closely with heroes and marketing might know how to help him get his voice back.
After a moment Yang Cheng rolled over, grabbed his phone and started to text.