APCF -Chapter 30 (1)

“I don’t want to climb over the wall!”

Qi Xingchen yelled as he sat up in his bed like a released spring.

Immediately after, there was a light that shone so bright that he could not open his eyes. He covered his eyes and turned to the left. Once he saw the rays of sunlight that were not blocked by the curtain, he then realised that it was already morning and yesterday night had already passed.

All thanks to the fake idol, he had the same dream all night. In his dream, the real idol kept interrogating him: “You climbed over the wall? You climbed over the wall? You climbed over the wall?”

……How could he dare to climb over the wall? He had asked the fake idol that question yesterday night because he was afraid that once he lost contact with the idol, he won’t be able to follow the progress of the plot in real time!

From the beginning to the end, he only loved Bo Ye!

Qi Xingchen crawled out of bed with his aggrieved feelings and went to brush his teeth while turning on his phone.

The screen lit up, and immediately following that a bunch of notifications popped up with a series of “ping”s. They were from over 10 WeChat messages and 3 missed calls.

One of the WeChats were from Qi Yuji, saying that she would go to the airport tonight to pick him up. Qi Xingchen replied her with an 【Okay】.

The rest were from the guests of 《Budget Travel》. Luo Qiuman was going to fly to Hong Kong, Liu Ziyu and Tao Tao were going to Shanghai for a brand event, Zhang Yunfei had gone to Hengdian World Studios immediately after, and Bo Ye was preparing to head to Washington.

Everyone’s destination and flight was different. For the fear that it would be difficult to say goodbye to each other, it was agreed amongst them to not send each other off and just say their goodbyes on WeChat.

Hence, Qi Xingchen replied them one by one, wishing them a safe journey.

Once he had settled these, he opened his missed call history.

They were actually all from Du Lanxin!

Why was she looking for him? Qi Xingchen wiped away the toothpaste foam from the corner of his mouth, then dialed back.

“Xin-jie.”

Du Lanxin’s tone seemed to be anxious: “What are you busy with so early in the morning? WHy didn’t you pick up your phone?”

“Sorry about that, I just woke up.”

“Next time, don’t switch off your phone when you go to sleep.”

Du Lanxin rambled on and on about a bunch of things, with the main gist being artistes must always be on call as no one knows if there would be a notice at the last minute, so on and so forth. However, her tone was far less harsh than before.

It was obvious that she saw his popularity increase and that his situation has changed, and she was fully prepared to treat this new money-shaking tree well.

“Mn,” Qi XIngchen responded. Du Lanxin then continued, pleased: “Come to the company earlier tomorrow. The Communist Youth League has made an appointment for you to do a short interview. I’ve also accepted a booklet for you, have a look at it.”

The Communist Youth League? Don’t even talk about the news broadcast, he actually could even trouble an government media to come down and interview him, how nervewracking.

Accepting a booklet as well…

He didn’t understand it at first, but he snapped into a realisation after 3 seconds—— Du Lanxin was referring to a script booklet.

He’s going to have a drama to film!

Nevertheless, the resources in Du Lanxin’s hands are average and chances were that wasn’t some lineup. Qi Xingchen just responded something in a casual manner, then packed his belongings and embarked on the journey home.

At 6pm, his flight landed on time.

Qi Xingchen pushed his luggage to the exit and was about to find the lift to the underground carpark when there was suddenly a girl in front who called his name: “Ahhhhhhh! Xingxing! Ahhhh!”

Qi Xingchen paused in his steps.

The girl’s voice was unfamiliar and it was neither Qi Yuji nor Du Lanxin. In addition Du Lanxin did not say that she was coming over to fetch him.

He looked towards the direction of where the voice was, only to see about 10 girls running towards him in tiny steps. In their hands were all items to show support like light signs and banners.

……His name was printed on all of them.

“Gege, we are your Starlights. You must be tired right after the flight, right?”

“Whoa you have so many things, when will your assistant come to fetch you?”

“What is your itinerary after this? Do you have any plans?”

The girls surrounded him completely and buried him under a pile of questions.

Before, when he was in Bo Ye’s fan group, as long as there was an event, the leader of the supporters’ club would arrange for fans to go to the airport to welcome and send him off on flights.

Qi Xingchen may have never done it himself, but he has seen it in action. His mind went blank and he was a bit in disbelief——

There were fans who came to welcome him at the airport!

To him, the difference between 30 thousand and 100 thousand followers on Weibo didn’t seem much as it was all virtual. But right now, with the fans standing right in front of him, he then belatedly realised that——

He was an idol.

There were really so many people, even if they have never met before, who were still thinking of him.

Qi Xingchen was stunned for a few seconds, then hurriedly moved a few steps forward: “Come over, let’s not block the exit.”

“Alright, gege.” The Starlights obediently followed beside him.

To look after the girls, he deliberately slowed his pace and chatted with them as they walked.

“I’m alright, I slept throughout the flight, so I’m not that tired.”

“My family member is coming to fetch me, they are waiting at the carpark right now.”

“I’ll probably rest for a few days before starting work again. Don’t worry, I won’t become a missing person.”

The Starlights didn’t expect his temper to be that good and even answered all their questions, and they happily skipped along.

When they got to the lift entrance, Qi Xingchen told them: “Alright, it’s time for me to go down. You guys should go back toon too, be safe on the roads.”

“Mn mn, you too.” The Starlights were very well-behaved.

“Gege,” at this moment, one of the girls took out a small box, “I have a gift for you.”

Bo Ye never accepted personal gifts from fans, only accepting letters and collective congratulatory gifts from his official fan clubs. Qi Xingchen followed his idol and instantly rejected it: “I appreciate your kindness, but I can’t accept the gift.”

“This isn’t anything expensive,” The girl said hurriedly, “It’s a felt plushie keychain that I made by myself. If you don’t believe me, you can have a look.”

To prove herself, the girl opened the gift box in a flurry.

There was indeed only a plushie key chain inside. With monolids and a sharp chin, a glance was enough to know that it was a chibi doll of Qi Xingchen.

Qi Xingchen’s heart softened in a split second, “How long have you made this for?”

“A little over a week.”

“Okay,” Qi Xingchen was moved, “Then I’ll accept it. Don’t do this in the future, use more of your time for your studies and rest. Thank you.”

He reached back to hang the keychain onto the side of his backpack, and the rest of the Starlights instantly broke out into world-shaking envious cries.