APCF – Chapter 33 Recording

Qi Xingchen was forced to accept the gift.

He couldn’t refuse, as his father had already bought it. Without the boss’s orders, the marine animals might starve.

“Second Young Master, this is the control center, here is the visitor center, and over here is…”

“Don’t call me ‘Second Young Master.'”

Qi Xingchen interrupted the manager, who was holding a map and rattling off the introductions.

“Okay, Mr. Qi,” the manager continued, “This is the bird park, and this is the marine pavilion… Oh, Mr. Qi, next week, a film crew is going to use the white whale pavilion in the marine pavilion for filming. It will last for a month, so the white whale pavilion will be closed for a month. The upper management has already discussed it with your father.”

Qi Xingchen: “I know about that. And don’t call me ‘Mr. Qi.'”

The manager looked a bit wronged. “Then what should I call you?”

Qi Xingchen thought for a moment and didn’t want to make things too difficult for them, so he said, “Just pretend you don’t know me in public, and call me whatever you like in private.”

“Understood, Mr. Qi!”

After completing the handover, Qi Xingchen asked the manager to take him around the white whale pavilion, since that would be the place he’d be staying for the next month.

He was playing the third male lead, a college student working part-time at the marine pavilion during the holidays. After spending a lot of time with the female lead, he falls in love with her. It’s a setting akin to that of a “puppy dog.”

To fit his character, during the afternoon’s photoshoot for official stills, the costume designer consulted him: “Mr. Qi, your current image is too soft, not ‘A’ enough. Do you mind if I redesign it for you?”

Of course, he was okay with that. Qi Xingchen nodded, curious, “What does ‘A’ mean?”

“Well… it means looking very handsome, very manly, very cool. It’s a term from ABO novels.”

Qi Xingchen understood what “A” meant, but a new term popped up that he didn’t understand. “What are ABO novels?”

“…” The costume designer blushed. “You can search it up yourself. I won’t explain it.”

After that, the designer signaled the hairstylist to help him dye his hair. Since the dyeing process took a while, Qi Xingchen was bored and switched to his secondary Weibo account.

— Yearning Through the Entire Night: “Anyone got any ABO novels? Let me see.”

During the latter half of <<Let’s Budget Travel>>, he had continued to operate his secondary account, occasionally posting so-called “Bo Ye behind-the-scenes photos.” He controlled the frequency well, and it hadn’t attracted Bo Ye’s attention yet.

Getting such close-up photos of a top-tier celebrity was only possible if it was someone from the production team or people close to the idol. The account quickly gained twenty thousand followers, reaching the basic standard for a big fan account.

When he posted this Weibo, fans immediately thought it was a beautiful photo and clicked on it.

But instead, it was a request for fanfiction! When someone was in trouble, help came from all directions. Baidu Drive links and extraction codes flooded into private messages!

【Ancient ABO “Master is Hard to Please”】

【Modern ABO “Unable to Resist Your Pheromones”】

【New drama “The Struggle of Marriage [ABO]”】

【Yesterday’s Stars fanfic ABO “General, Let Me Go”】

Hiss, what are these titles even about? Wait, no, it seems like some weird stuff mixed in!

Qi Xingchen, who had followed stars for seven years, was naturally familiar with fanfiction. His role in Night Peach was based on an alternative fanfiction.

But he didn’t expect that one day, he and Bo Ye would become the subjects of fanfiction!

His curiosity peaked, and he opened the Baidu Drive link and entered the extraction code.

A piece of text appeared before him:【”General, please mark me, I can’t take it anymore!”

The empire’s youngest general, known as the Empire’s Eagle, Bo Ye, slowly crouched down and looked at the squirming boy on the ground.

The boy had red lips, white teeth, and exuded a sweet pheromone scent. Bo Ye deeply inhaled the scent from the back of his neck, pinched his chin, and forced him to look up: “When you dumped me three years ago, why weren’t you acting like this?”

Qi Xingchen bitterly smiled, unable to speak. That was a misunderstanding that had to be buried deep inside.

“Fine, if you’re not going to say it,” Bo Ye’s hand moved to the soft lips, “If you want me to mark you, beg me.”

Qi Xingchen: “B-Beg you.”

“Beg me for what?”

“To…to…”】

Qi Xingchen: “!!!”

The rest of the description was unfit to be seen. Qi Xingchen nearly threw his phone across the room.

What is this?! How could the fans write… how could they write such embarrassing stuff?!

It’s too scary! A lot of the Night Sky fans are minors! Looking at this will affect their growth and mental health!

Qi Xingchen quickly pressed the “Report” button!

After reporting it, he was still shaken. Just then, the hairstylist came over to check the hair color, and accidentally saw Qi Xingchen with red, swollen lips, eyes full of water, and a flushed face.

Especially his lower lip, which was red and swollen from being bitten, leaving clear teeth marks. The hairstylist was surprised: “Mr. Qi, what… what were you doing just now?”

“Nothing, nothing, I was just sitting here.”

“Then why do you look so flushed?”

“…Maybe I have a slight fever. It’s fine, just keep going.”

“Low fever” Qi Xingchen was pressed into the chair by the hairstylist and makeup artist for a series of treatments. When the makeup was finished, all the girls in the room gasped in unison.

“Oh my god, I can’t take it anymore,” the makeup artist said, holding her heart, “Mr. Qi, you must not post selfies tonight. If you do, your fans definitely won’t sleep!”

“Is it that exaggerated?” Qi Xingchen stood up and leaned in front of the mirror to check his reflection.

To match the student identity, the hairstylist had cut his medium-length hair in half and dyed it black. His bangs were swept back, revealing a smooth, full forehead.

His eyebrows were shaped into clear sword-like brows, which balanced the childishness brought by his single eyelids. In contrast to his narrow jawline, his face looked smaller, and the contour was sharper.

Not bad, really good looking. Qi Xingchen nodded in satisfaction and walked into the photo studio.

As the third male lead, he only had two sets of photos for the official stills: one in a marine pavilion work uniform, and the other in sportswear, pushing a bicycle.

After the photoshoot, he posted two photos of him pushing a bicycle in the <<Let’s Budget Travel>> group.

Instantly, the camera operator remembered the fear of being dominated by a bicycle.

[“Next Life, I Won’t Be a Photographer” has left the group chat.]

The group chat, which had been dead silent since the end of the show, came alive again because of him.

Director Zhao: [“You little rascal, that was the best photographer in my team! I won’t let you off easily!”]

Qiu Man: [“Hahaha, Xingxing, you scared the cameraman to death!”]

Ning Ning (follow cam operator): [“Xingxing, how have you been? Big sister misses you!”]

Zi Yu: [“Oh wow, Xingxing, is this your new look? So cool and handsome! Big sister’s heart is fluttering for you!”]

After Liu Ziyu’s comment, everyone noticed his new hairstyle. Crew members and assistants flooded in to praise him, even Zhang Yunfei, who was super busy in Hengdian, chimed in with a complimentary emoji.

Only Bo Ye remained silent.

Qi Xingchen stared at the screen for a long time, then quietly put away his phone.

The roles of the male and female leads in Heart of the Ocean had already been announced yesterday. Tomorrow, the second leads would be revealed, and the day after, it would finally be his turn as the third male lead.

This kind of urban drama with no major stars didn’t attract much attention, so even the official announcements wouldn’t stir up much excitement. Qi Xingchen wasn’t in a hurry.

Besides, he had something important to do tonight.

At 8 PM, the official Weibo account of the Communist Youth League posted a five-minute short video.

– Communist Youth League Central: #PositiveEnergy #IdolSpotlight! Performing abroad and capturing international attention. @Qi Xingchen says he’s not afraid, because the fruits of hard work are the most glorious!

Clicking on the video, it featured clips from Qi Xingchen’s interviews and news broadcasts. The young actor spoke sincerely and earnestly on screen.

As an account with 12.5 million followers, the post quickly gained millions of views.

Netizens who had never heard of Qi Xingchen were curious to see who this was. When they clicked in… they were greeted by a handsome young man?!

A quick search of his profile revealed hilarious clips from variety shows—too funny and charming to resist. Many clicked “follow” to get their dose of happiness.

Others, who recognized the name but hadn’t paid much attention, remembered he was the guy who wore out a cameraman with his cycling antics. Impressed by his acrobatics and skills, they decided to give him a follow too.

Meanwhile, parents scolding their kids about school noticed the #PositiveEnergy tag and clicked in to check. After watching the video, they jabbed their kids on the head.

“Look at him! He’s even made it onto the news for his acrobatics. If you don’t study harder, you won’t even measure up to someone doing stunts!”

After lecturing their children, they thought the young man seemed genuinely inspiring and gave him a follow as well.

Through reposts and shares by fans and curious viewers, Qi Xingchen, who had been stuck at 1.6 million followers since Budget Travel, finally saw a visible increase.

He broke through the 2-million-follower milestone!

Fans celebrated the milestone, nearly rushing to demand a celebratory post from their idol. But then they thought better of it—asking for a post at 2 million followers seemed a little too low-key.

So, without further ado, they quietly waited for their idol to repost the Communist Youth League’s post to show his alignment with the official sentiment.

When a celebrity gets publicly recognized by an official account, they usually respond quickly—especially for someone like Qi Xingchen, a certified positive-energy idol. He should have responded swiftly to show his gratitude.

But one hour passed—no response.

Two hours passed—still nothing.

Impatient fans couldn’t take it anymore. They sent private messages:

[“Is this account managed by your agent or is it you? Please repost the Communist Youth League post, pretty please [crying emoji]!”]

Still, there was no response.

Fans were growing as anxious as ants on a hot stove.

“You’re still a small-time celeb! You need to be more self-aware! How can you ignore the official account? You’re not Bo Ye, you know?”

They refreshed his profile every ten minutes, waiting for any sign of activity.

Finally, at midnight, their idol posted—not just one update, but two!

The first was the long-awaited repost of the Communist Youth League’s post, putting their minds at ease.

But then, the second post sent their emotions into a tailspin.

It was an audio recording.

In the recording, a man and a woman could be heard. The man’s voice was familiar—it was their beloved idol.

The woman’s voice, however, was unfamiliar:

[“What are you dreaming about? Take a good look at yourself and know your place…”]

[“If newbies want to climb up, they have to give something in return…”]

[“Serving a rich woman isn’t a loss for a guy like you. Be thankful I didn’t push you toward some twisted perverted gay men…”]

The more the fans listened, the angrier they became. Flames of rage burned as they slammed their keyboards:

[“What the heck?! So the reason our Xingxing didn’t repost earlier was because he’s being controlled by this lousy agent!”]

[“He seems so happy and sunny on the surface, but who knew he was suffering so much behind the scenes—constantly dodging sketchy dinner parties. My heart aches so much for him!!”]

[“Oh, so you want to clip my idol’s wings? I’ll burn your whole castle down! You greedy agent, dreaming of raking in a year’s worth of his income? Keep dreaming in hell!”]

[“Alright, everyone calm down. This is going to be our toughest battle yet. Put everything aside, start spreading the recording, dig up dirt, unleash the netstorm, and send wreaths! We won’t stop until we destroy this woman named Du!”]