Chapter Twenty-One: I, Too, Long for This (Please Vote for Me!)
To be honest, Li Shixin was indeed quite curious about this age-reduction feature. Extending one’s lifespan was certainly miraculous, but unfortunately, he had neither the means nor the courage to test it with death. Aside from the psychological comfort it provided, the system’s function wasn’t something he could feel in any tangible way.
What was this like? It was as if, after being single for over twenty years, one day Jack Ma himself approached you and said, “Actually, I have a three-year-old illegitimate daughter out there, a girl of stunning beauty, and now I’m betrothing her to you. In twenty years, you two will marry, and I’ll leave you my entire fortune. But before then, I won’t give you a cent or tell anyone I know you; you must keep yourself chaste for my daughter and rely on your own hard work until that day comes!”
Is it wonderful? Of course it is. But does that kind of promise change the fact that you’re still single and penniless right now? Not at all.
After pouring all 130,000 points into the age-reduction option, Li Shixin sat steadily on his bed, waiting for the miraculous energy that would make him young again.
But—
Ten seconds passed.
A minute passed.
Ten minutes passed.
The ticking of the wall clock was almost mocking as it moved forward, but nothing happened.
Li Shixin frowned.
Could it be... the posture was wrong? Or did he need to do something—chant, recite a spell, or something of the sort?
“Mammy mammy hong! Age reduction!”
“Great Supreme Lord, by urgent decree, age reduction!”
“Still not right?”
Li Shixin cleared his throat, made sure the door was locked, and returned to the bedside.
“Ba... Balala energy! Little Magic Fairy Sharo Sharo, reduce my age, transform my whole self~an!!!!!!!”
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The wall clock continued its taunting rhythm, and still, absolutely nothing happened.
...
Li Shixin slowly lowered his outstretched right hand, straightened up, and, supporting his chin with one hand, pondered.
There must be some step he’d missed.
It had to be that.
Just as he was about to pull up the system interface to check for any additional instructions in the age-reduction option, a wave of overwhelming drowsiness crashed over him!
Li Shixin swore this kind of exhaustion was something he hadn’t experienced even back in middle school, after spending eighteen nights in a row at the internet cafe and then going to class. In an instant, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed onto the bed with a thud.
...
When he awoke again, the sky outside was already tinged with a layer of orange-red.
The wall clock indicated it was already four thirty in the afternoon.
He had slept for over four hours straight?
Li Shixin stared in disbelief at the time.
He had barely been sleeping at all lately—and the quality of his sleep had been poor. In recent days, he hadn’t slept during the day, and even at night, it was always a muddled, half-awake state. The slightest disturbance would cause his eyes to open involuntarily.
Almost every night, he couldn’t remember ever entering deep sleep. Even on the day of filming, when he was utterly exhausted, he only slept a little more soundly than usual.
But now, he had slept deeply for more than four hours in broad daylight!
Li Shixin felt so comfortable he almost wanted to cheer aloud.
“Wonderful...”
He sat up slowly in bed, stretching out his limbs.
Crack-crack.
As he stretched—arms and legs wide, even his fingers splayed—his joints crackled like popping beans.
Huh?
Suddenly realizing something, Li Shixin hurriedly felt his old arms and legs.
The pain in his waist was much less, his limbs felt much more flexible, and most importantly, the foggy sensation in his mind had almost completely vanished!
A reduction of 130 days in age could have such an effect?
Li Shixin thought it through and understood.
Ever since the start of the year, this body had been riddled with ailments—frequent medications, hospital stays every few days. That was also when his son and daughter-in-law had begun to show their complete disdain for him.
Now, after the 130-day age reduction, all the ailments from that period had vanished!
Solid!
Li Shixin raised his thick, graying brows.
Those 130,000 points were well spent—if he had known it was so miraculous, he would have done it sooner!
This was what living well truly meant!
He took a long, deep breath and exhaled slowly, feeling as though all the depression and suffocation in his chest over this period had dissipated with that breath. Only then did Li Shixin slowly rise from the bed and, hands clasped behind his back, pace over to the computer desk.
One must see the results with one’s own eyes.
He turned on the computer and logged into Weibo, his old heart swelling with delight.
His Weibo account, registered only a few hours ago, had already surpassed thirty thousand followers.
Such a tremendous surge in fans and the lively activity in his comment section had already attracted the first pack of wolves. Without exception, they were asking if Li Shixin would transfer ownership of the account, or trying to contact him for some paid promotions. Li Shixin wasn’t considering it for now, as he had previously stated in a video that he wasn’t interested in fame or profit.
Weibo’s official account had also sent him a backstage message, urging him to capitalize on the momentum and get verified as a Big V as soon as possible.
But getting that verification required an actor’s license, and his credentials were still being processed, so Li Shixin wasn’t in any hurry.
After closing the backstage messages, he finally had a chance to check his comment section.
It was quite lively.
Seeing that most netizens were discussing his performance in “Endgame Forbidden City,” Li Shixin realized that the production team had given him a boost. They had even included his brief cameo in the promotional trailer!
Thinking over the implications, Old Li smiled to himself.
It seemed this director and the team behind the show were no fools.
He didn’t believe that it was pure coincidence that the trailer for “Endgame Forbidden City” was released at the very moment when Liu Xin and himself had both posted videos and the on-set controversy was at its peak.
But it didn’t affect him; in fact, it seemed to be a good thing.
As for Liu Xin...
Noticing the flood of comments in his section, with netizens demanding that “Liu Xin come out and get schooled by the master,” Li Shixin simply chuckled.
...Big trouble indeed.
Yet, amidst all the prosperity, there were some discordant voices.
Clearly, the aftermath of the on-set incident had pushed Liu Xin into a very awkward position. Li Shixin didn’t need to check Liu Xin’s Weibo to know it was probably filled with ridicule, desperate damage control by publicists, and rabid fans.
Perhaps because of this, there was also a retaliatory mudslide of comments on his own Weibo.
Li Shixin examined it closely—there were probably several hundred people, all following the lead of an account with the ID “blueSky202,” whose bio read “Vice Leader of Xin’s Love Fan Club—Sky Cutie.” Under her instigation, they were flooding his comment section with attacks:
“Old geezer! If Xin says you’re faking it, then you are! Why are you pretending to be pitiful and fragile here, looking for sympathy? What a joke!”
“Good acting? Nonsense! All you did was sit there and pose. How can anyone say you’re a good actor? Ugh!”
“And all of you bandwagoners! Xin just swore to the heavens in our Xin Love Little Nest that this old man is absolutely faking it! You’ve all been fooled by this stinky old man and are helping him get undeserved praise. A bunch of idiots! Tch!”
Looking through blueSky202’s comment history, it was clear from her tone that she was a young girl.
Faced with such juvenile trolls, Li Shixin merely smiled and said nothing.
But at the same time, he became aware of a grave problem.
Fanatics—especially female fanatics—were all emotion, with not a shred of reason!
Such fans were terrifyingly combative.
Truly, they were fearsome!
Hmm...
He rather wished he had some of those himself.