APCF – Chapter 122 Don’t Take It Off

In late May, after more than a month of investigation, the chairman who had absconded with company funds was finally extradited back to the country. In order to meet him face to face, Qi Xingchen took special leave to return home.

As a public figure, showing up at a police station wasn’t ideal—but Qi Xingchen didn’t care. He couldn’t be bothered to disguise himself, so he walked in openly and confidently.

What bothered him most was the news he had received beforehand: although the criminal had been brought back, the money hadn’t been recovered.

In other words, the Qi family’s shipment had ultimately gone down the drain.

After greeting the officer on duty, Qi Xingchen followed the standard procedure into the visitation room. Inside, a man in his forties was already waiting. Qi Xingchen sat down across from him and greeted him politely: “Chairman Li, a pleasure to meet you.”

“A pleasure,” Chairman Li responded, his expression somewhat numb. “You’re from the Qi family, aren’t you?”

Qi Yunxiao had visited earlier. The two brothers looked very much alike—it was impossible to deny. Qi Xingchen nodded.

“Sorry for the losses I caused your family,” Chairman Li apologized. “Let the court sentence me however it sees fit—I’ll plead guilty to everything.”

When Qi Yunxiao had questioned him earlier, he’d had the same attitude, merely saying that the company’s performance had been declining, and he feared going deeper into the red. On a rash impulse, he’d taken investors’ money and fled.

Most economic crimes stem from greed. In this case, neither the Qi family nor the police could say much. Qi Xingchen couldn’t either, though he suspected there was more to the story. Unfortunately, he had no solid evidence.

“Well, since that’s how it is, my family will just take the loss,” Qi Xingchen said softly. “Ah, what a pity.”

Chairman Li scoffed. “Pity what? My career? That I’ve ended up in prison at the prime of my life? Your brother already said all that. Thanks for the concern.”

“No,” Qi Xingchen shook his head. “I’m an actor, not a businessman. I don’t understand much about the business world. What I pity is your family. At your age, your child should be in middle school, right?”

Chairman Li fell silent.

“I have a younger brother too. One of his classmates is a fan of mine and even asked him to get my autograph recently,”

Qi Xingchen sighed. “Kids these days are really competitive. Now that you’ve been imprisoned, your child’s status has plummeted from being a rich kid to… well. Their classmates will probably start to exclude them. And if they find out their father is in prison for economic crimes, who knows? They might even bully or mock them.”

As he spoke, Qi Xingchen closely observed Chairman Li’s expression. When he mentioned the child being excluded, there was a brief flash of stiffness on Li’s face.

That was enough for Qi Xingchen to know that he had hit the mark.

Chairman Li had a child—and he cared deeply for them.

That was enough for a first meeting. Saying more would seem too deliberate. Qi Xingchen put on a look of regret and stood up. “Well then, we’ll wait for the court’s judgment. I have other matters to attend to, so I won’t stay long. Goodbye.”

Before Chairman Li could respond, Qi Xingchen had already turned and left the visitation room with calm decisiveness.

Back when he had needed Tao Xuan’s injury report opened, Qi Xingchen had visited the municipal bureau, and the bureau chief had treated him very well, offering a lot of help. Now that he was here again, it would be rude not to drop in and say hello. He went up to the top floor, and as he stepped into the chief’s office, Director Jiang immediately spotted him.

“Well, well, my dear nephew,” Director Jiang called out warmly. “Come in, have a seat! When did you get here?”

“Just arrived not long ago,” Qi Xingchen smiled. “It’s been a while since I visited—you look even more energetic than before.”

“Haha, don’t tease your old uncle. I’m nowhere near as dashing as you young ones.”

Qi Xingchen offered a few flattering compliments, making the director laugh heartily. The bureau was busy, and given their respective identities, it wouldn’t be appropriate to linger too long. After about five minutes of chatting, Qi Xingchen excused himself, declining the invitation to dinner, and prepared to catch the red-eye flight back to Film City.

Just before he walked out the door, Director Jiang suddenly slapped his forehead. “Oh right, nephew—lately someone’s been digging into Xu Sheng’s case. They even asked to see his file. Are they from your side?”

…Xu Sheng?

If the other party hadn’t brought him up, Qi Xingchen would’ve nearly forgotten that person even existed. He shook his head. “No, my family stopped paying attention to him a long time ago.”

“Then it’s probably his father, Xu Changlin, trying to pull strings to get his sentence reduced. I’ll look into who it is. No worries—take care on your way, nephew.”

As a father, wanting to do whatever he could to lessen his son’s sentence and help him get out earlier was understandable. Qi Xingchen didn’t overthink it and took the red-eye flight back to Film City that night.

Thanks to the increasing chemistry between him and the female lead, filming for Red Sun was nearly ten days ahead of schedule. His one-day leave hadn’t delayed anything. During makeup in the morning, the director even came to see him personally.

“Xiao Qi, I heard you took a red-eye back last night,” Director Zheng said. “No need to do that next time. Get a proper night’s rest. A few hours won’t hurt us.”

“It’s alright, Director Zheng. I already feel bad for taking a day off. I can’t afford to delay things any further.”

Director Zheng clicked his tongue. “The young idol from my last film went missing for two weeks for another shoot. Half a day is nothing… Oh right, we’ve got a guest star joining for Scene 36 today. You know her. Should make the shoot go smoother. Let’s get it done quickly—she’s gotta rush back to the next set after.”

You know her?

Qi Xingchen gave an “OK” gesture. “Alright, I’ll go over the script again.”

Scene 36 was a dramatic interaction between the male lead, Wu Jingtong, who had been wounded, and a nurse in a battlefield hospital. The dialogue was minimal, but the emotional intensity needed to be high.

To simulate a leg injury, Jiang Jiang cut a small slit in his pant leg and added fake blood. Once everything was ready, Qi Xingchen mentally repeated to himself, I’m lame, I’m lame, while mimicking the limp of an injured leg to quickly get into character.

He limped out of the dressing room—and saw who Director Zheng had meant by “someone you know.”

It was Tao Tao.

They hadn’t seen each other since visiting Tao Xuan’s hospital room on New Year’s Day. Even when he had hired a private detective to track Tao Tao, nothing suspicious had turned up.

Director Zheng thought they were close, but in truth, their friendship was as flimsy as plastic.

“Alright, actors to positions,” Director Zheng’s voice blared through the loudspeaker. “Xiao Qi, Tao Tao—let’s aim for a one-take pass!”

Qi Xingchen glanced at Tao Tao, then led the way to lie down on the hospital bed. Tao Tao didn’t say anything either—she picked up the prop tray and stood outside the hospital room.

The clapperboard snapped shut: “Red Sun, Scene 36, Take 1. Action!”

It was midday. Harsh sunlight streamed through the broken windows of the battlefield hospital, shining onto Wu Jingtong’s unconscious face. His eyelashes trembled. The pain in his leg and severe blood loss made his eyelids feel like they were weighed down by boulders—no matter how he tried, he couldn’t open them.

After a moment, he finally struggled to open his eyes and looked around in confusion.

—Where is this?

“Commander Wu, you’re awake,” said the nurse, walking in with a tray of medicine. “I’m going to change your bandages. It might hurt a little, so please bear with it.”

As she spoke, the nurse unwrapped the gauze on his leg, cleaned the wound, and sprinkled disinfectant powder. The sting made Wu Jingtong frown almost imperceptibly. “Comrade, am I in a hospital?”

“Yes. Last night your leg was hit by a bullet. Your comrades carried you here.”

“How’s the front line?” Wu Jingtong asked. “Did we win last night’s battle?”

“I’m not sure of the details. I heard the enemy got reinforcements. Seems like the fighting is still going on.”

At that, Wu Jingtong abruptly sat up, swinging his legs off the bed barefoot. In doing so, he knocked the tray to the floor—bottles clattered and rolled across the ground.

The nurse rushed to stop him. “Commander Wu, lie back down—your leg can’t take any strain!”

“I can’t! The brothers in 2nd and 5th Company need me!”

The nurse panicked. “But your leg is injured—going back won’t help!”

“I have to go! The enemy already outnumbers us two to one—now they’ve got reinforcements! Every extra gun counts!!”

Wu Jingtong dragged his injured leg forward. In the struggle, his wound tore open again, seeping with fresh blood. The nurse chased after him in alarm. “Commander Wu! If you don’t rest and heal properly, your leg will be crippled!”

Crippled?

Wu Jingtong suddenly turned back, letting out a cold laugh. “What’s the big deal about a crippled leg?”

He dragged himself back in front of the nurse, eyes bloodshot, and stared at her as he spoke each word clearly and forcefully:

“Do you know how many men were in 2nd and 5th Company combined?”

“Three hundred and twenty-six soldiers.”

“Do you know how many made it across the river?”

“One hundred and fourteen. The remaining two hundred and twelve… are now buried in the earth and beneath the river.”

“That’s two hundred and twelve lives. And I—just lost a leg. What does that matter?!”

Wu Jingtong’s lips trembled as he clenched his teeth. “I’m telling you, even if I’m left with only one arm—I’ll still fight to the end!!”

Tao Tao: “……”

“Cut!”

Director Zheng hadn’t expected Tao Tao to make a mistake like that. He called for a stop and awkwardly said, “Uh… Tao Tao, did you forget your lines? Take ten minutes to rest—we’ll shoot again in a bit. Don’t be nervous.”

“……” Tao Tao lowered her head, her face dark, and walked toward the temporary rest area.

Still immersed in the scene, Qi Xingchen took a deep breath, wiped his eyes, and returned to the lounge to have Jiang Jiang touch up his makeup in preparation for the next take.

He could tell—Tao Tao hadn’t forgotten her lines. She just hadn’t been able to match his acting.

Tao Tao adjusted fairly quickly. After two more takes, they finally nailed it on the fourth.

She was filming her own drama, and had only taken the morning off to help Director Zheng as a guest cameo. Once her scene was done, she exchanged a few polite words with Director Zheng, gave Qi Xingchen a quick greeting, and rushed back to her own crew next door.

When she first worked with Qi Xingchen, Tao Tao had been the female lead, and he’d been the third male lead—still green and inexperienced. He used to practice a single scene until midnight in front of a mirror before he could get it right.

Now, Tao Tao couldn’t keep up with his acting anymore. This proved that effort never goes to waste. If you don’t get results, it means you haven’t worked hard enough.

The afternoon scenes were more emotional and dialogue-heavy, taking place earlier in the timeline, before Wu Jingtong was injured. Qi Xingchen changed into a clean military uniform and spent the whole afternoon filming romantic scenes full of patriotic angst with the female lead.

After a cleverly staged kiss scene, Director Zheng gave a thumbs-up and nodded at Qi Xingchen with a knowing look. “Xiao Qi, I think someone’s here for you.”

The rest of the crew exchanged teasing glances and muttered, “Tsk tsk tsk.”

Who was here for him? And what was with those reactions?

Qi Xingchen looked blankly in the direction Director Zheng pointed.

…And then spotted Bo Ye, standing at the edge of the set in sunglasses and a fisherman hat.

Two big characters instantly flashed in Qi Xingchen’s mind: Oh. Shit.

Oh shit, did Bo Ye see the kiss scene?!

Oh shit, why did he come at the worst possible moment?!

Just a few days ago, Bo Ye had promised to visit the set. Qi Xingchen thought it would be a while—he didn’t expect him to show up so soon. Without even bothering to change out of costume, he hurried over and whispered, “Did you just get here?”

“No, I’ve been here for a while.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“You looked really into that kiss scene,” Bo Ye said coolly. “Didn’t want to throw off your groove.”

Qi Xingchen was on the verge of tears. He’d specifically told the director he couldn’t film real kiss scenes, so all the kissing and bed scenes were shot using camera angles and stand-ins. And yet—Bo Ye had still caught him red-handed.

Seeing his pitiful expression, Bo Ye turned to his assistant. “A-Lun, go buy some crayfish, crabs, that kind of thing, and send them to the crew. Add a few dishes. You decide.”

Once he gave the instructions, Bo Ye went to chat briefly with Director Zheng before coming back to “collect” Qi Xingchen. He raised an eyebrow. “Commander, take me to your place for a bit.”

…Dead. A strong sense of doom washed over Qi Xingchen as he drooped his head and led Bo Ye to his nanny van.

The hotel was just outside the film studio. Along the way, Qi Xingchen kept stealing glances at Bo Ye’s expression, his voice dropping to a hushed tone—way lower than usual. Once they reached the hotel, he rushed into the kitchen to grab Bo Ye a glass of water. When he came out, he found Bo Ye had taken off his hat and sunglasses and was sitting on the couch, flipping through his script that had been casually left on the coffee table.

“Um…” Qi Xingchen couldn’t help but explain for himself, “That kiss scene earlier was staged. We didn’t really kiss.”

Bo Ye responded with a simple “Mm.”

“I told the director I have a boyfriend, so I can’t do kissing or bed scenes. The director’s really considerate—he agreed to it.”

Bo Ye gave another soft “Mm.”

Qi Xingchen had finished explaining, but Bo Ye still didn’t seem appeased. Qi Xingchen had no idea what else to do. After thinking it over, he could only resort to less conventional means.

He walked over and sat beside Bo Ye, tugging on his arm. “Don’t be mad, okay? I was wrong.”

Bo Ye shook his head. “No, you weren’t. It’s me—I was the one in the wrong.”

Qi Xingchen looked confused. “What did you do wrong?”

“I knew… I knew you’d have to shoot intimate scenes sooner or later. I also knew you’d choose to use camera tricks for my sake,” Bo Ye said in a low voice. “But even so, seeing it still made me uncomfortable.”

Qi Xingchen had initially felt wronged, but after hearing that, his heart softened instead. His voice turned gentle and sweet. “Then what should we do?”

“It’s fine. I just need a moment to calm down.”

“No way,” Qi Xingchen said. He couldn’t bear to let Bo Ye stew in those emotions alone. “I’ll make it up to you. What do you want?”

The little fanboy had taken the bait—Bo Ye nearly cracked a smile. After pausing, he patted his own thigh. “Then come sit here. Let me hold you for a while.”

Hearing that request, Qi Xingchen thought it was more than doable. He straddled Bo Ye’s lap, facing him, and gently kissed the tip of his nose, the corner of his lips, and his jawline, full of apology. Bo Ye responded with a tender kiss of his own.

It started off as a comforting gesture, but somehow their tongues ended up entwined. It had been too long since they’d seen each other, and Bo Ye kissed him with a hunger that bordered on rough. Qi Xingchen couldn’t handle that kind of intensity—his heart raced faster and faster, and his mind grew foggy.

Somewhere in the haze, he felt a sudden chill on his legs. The cold helped him regain a bit of clarity. He looked down—

His military pants and shoes were gone!

Seeing the situation, Qi Xingchen suddenly realized: he’d walked right into the hunter’s trap. He lifted his chin, wanting to protest, but before he could say a word, Bo Ye’s lips closed around his earlobe.

Bo Ye murmured by his ear, “You checked for cameras, right?”

“…Yeah,” Qi Xingchen’s voice trembled as Bo Ye’s warm breath hit his ear, making his body go weak. “I used a thermal detector—it’s safe.”

“Do we have supplies?”

“Yes, in the cabinet,” Qi Xingchen bit his lip. “Blue storage bag, bottom left corner.”

Bo Ye stood up with him still in his arms. Qi Xingchen instinctively wrapped his legs around Bo Ye’s slim waist to keep from falling. They moved toward the cabinet, still entangled, and Qi Xingchen writhed slightly, the friction making him increasingly restless.

Bo Ye patted his back. “Easy. Let me find it first… You put it this deep?… Strawberry-flavored?”

Qi Xingchen: “…”

Why say that out loud?

“If you don’t answer, I’ll take that as a yes.”

“…” Qi Xingchen was too embarrassed to speak.

Bo Ye, now just as worked up from the friction, didn’t have the patience to tease anymore. He sat back down on the sofa with Qi Xingchen in his lap and shoved the bottle into his hands. “Can you prep yourself?”

Qi Xingchen: “…I—I’ll try. I’ll take off my shirt first.”

“Don’t,” Bo Ye stopped him. “I want to see you wearing it.”

“…Okay.”

_{My eyes closed. I didn’t see/read anything. While also me peaking between the fingers. Hehehehehe}