APCF -Chapter 31 (2)

He nodded to the driver and signalled for him to open the door. The driver and the assistant couldn’t help but open their mouths wide in surprise.

“Oh my god,” the assistant was in plain disbelief, “I thought you were especially good-looking when I watched 《Budget Travel》, but I didn’t think that you would look several times better in person than on screen…… Oh oh oh pardon me, I forgot to introduce myself! I’m An Ran, older than you by 3 years. I’ll be your assistant from now on, please do guide me in the future!”

Qi Xingchen silently calculated her age. If she entered the entertainment industry ever as a fresh university graduate, she would have only worked for a year, and her experience was obviously still not rich enough.

However, as long as it wasn’t an intern, he was already counting his blessings. After all, he could do most of the things well by himself, and there was actually very little use for an assistant.

The driver, on the other hand, was older. He was surnamed Qin, a man with a simple and honest personality. After their mutual introduction, An Ran handed Qi Xingchen his breakfast  ——the egg whites of two poached eggs and a small box containing a mixture of purple sweet potatoes, cherry tomatoes and boiled vegetables.

The food he ate last night was too greasy, hence he just happened to crave for something light this morning. Qi Xingchen took it and asked, while seeming unintentional, “Is this a dieting meal Xin-jie asked you to bring for me?”

“It isn’t,” An Ran smiled, “I looked over your profile yesterday and thought that your weight was okay, but your body fat ratio was not, so I made this for you myself.”

Very attentive. Qi Xingchen finished his silent evaluation and asked again: “Then what’s the arrangement when I arrive at the company later? Do I meet up with Xin-jie first, or do I go straight to do my makeup and hair?”

As he asked this, he watched An Ran’s expression closely.

An Ran answered very naturally: “Did you both not discuss it? If so, I’ll call her now to ask, wait for a moment.”

Qi Xingchen’s heart became completely at ease.

The purpose of asking those questions was to know the relationship between An Ran and Du Lanxin. Generally, managers earned from commissions while assistants were employed by the company. The two were under different systems and gained no benefit from being in contact with each other.

However, there was no shortage of managers using benefits to groom assistants to become their trusted aides, in order to keep an eye on their artiste’s movements at all times.

If An Ran was a trusted aide of Du Lanxin, his movements would be restricted and many things would not be easy to do.

Fortunately, they did not have a firmly-established relationship. Qi Xingchen ate his breakfast in peace.

.

At eight o’clock, Qi Xingchen arrived at Noah, and Du Lanxin was waiting for him in the dressing room.

Seeing that he was wearing a simple and dignified black suit, Du Lanxin tsked, “Seems like you’re still quite knowledgable.”

One must be dressed formally and solemnly when participating in official media interviews, this was common sense to anyone with a little experience in society.

Qi Xingchen couldn’t be bothered with her, as he knew that she wouldn’t be able to stay around for much longer. He had long since recorded the calls between him and Du Lanxin, but as he had few fans and little attention, he didn’t have the ability to set up his own business. Hence, he had remained patiently still.

Now that he had more than a million fans and the majority of them were live fans, there was no way he would let this pimp thing continue to be complacent.

He said lazily, “I’ll start on the makeup and hair, show me the script while I’m at it.”

Du Lanxin was obviously not happy with his attitude and slapped an A4 sheet of paper onto the makeup table in front of him.

On the paper were the questions the journalist wanted to ask, none other than why he was performing on the streets of Odense, why did he choose to learn acrobatics back then, what changes did Chinese traditional culture bring to his life, what he planned to do moving forward from here, etc.

This kind of questions could be said to be easy to answer, yet they can also be difficult to answer. He had to keep in mind to always promote a positive energy and display his role as a role model of the youth group.

After he typed out the complete draft, his makeup and hair was almost done too. He picked up his phone to check the time.

By accident, he saw Bo Ye’s reply.

Bo: 【I only landed past midnight yesterday】

Qi Xingchen fell silent for a moment, feeling that there was something left out at the end of that statement.

——You landed after midnight, was it because you were afraid of disturbing my rest hence you didn’t reply me, or was it because you didn’t see my message as you were tired and went to sleep and hence you didn’t reply me?

Why is he not making this clear?

Is he waiting for me to guess?

Qi Xingchen raised an eyebrow, and before he could release his cold huff, two more message notifications popped up.

Bo：【The signal here isn’t good, I didn’t finish sending my message just now】

Bo：【I guessed that you were already sleeping since it was so late and didn’t reply in time】

…Oh, so that’s how it is. Qi Xingchen lowered his eyelids and prepared to keep his phone away.

“Teacher Qi!” The makeup artists suddenly shouted at him at this moment.

“Ah?” Qi Xingchen switched his display off in a panic.

“I’m doing your lips now, don’t smile!”

“Oh, oh, who’s smiling, don’t wrongly accuse people, I- I didn’t smile ah…”

…

With the answers he prepared in advance, the interview proceeded smoothly.

When asked for the reason behind his street performance in Odense, since 《Budget Travel》 had already broadcasted, there was nothing to hide. He spoke honestly: “Back when the programme was filming, there wasn’t enough travel funds, hence I thought of earning a bit of money via performing.”

“You were in a foreign country and there were so many strangers watching, did you not feel shy?”

“I didn’t feel shy,” Qi Xingchen smiled as he said, “I used my own sweat and hard work to earn that money, I didn’t even have the time to feel proud of it.”

The reporter nodded and seemed very pleased. Qi Xingchen silently thanked Bo Ye.

In less than an hour, the interview ended. After grandly escorting the reporter back to their vehicle, Qi Xingchen collapsed spread out on the sofa, only realising then that the back of his clothes was drenched.

Du Lanxin also saw this and pursed her lips, “The first time you face official media, being nervous and scared is normal, your behaviour was pretty much perfect just now. Qi Xingchen, I didn’t expect that other than your face, you’re still a bit useful for something else.”

This statement was akin to an affirmation of his capability. It wasn’t easy to get positive comments from her, and Qi Xingchen smiled without saying anything.

“Alright, you’ve rested almost enough. Read the script.”

“Mn.” Qi Xingchen took the script handed to him and flipped to the first page.

The next second, the protagonist’s name came into his view, and Qi Xingchen’s mind was filled with a “buzz”.

【 Screenplay title：《Heart of the Ocean》】

【Starring：Tao Tao, Feng Qingyuan】