APCF -Chapter 4 (1)

With a “ding”, the elevator arrived.

Bo Ye shot a glance at Qi Xingchen and turned to enter the elevator car.

Qi Xingchen acted as if he did not just make a shocking remark, and very brazenly dragged Han Qing, who was still questioning life, in as well.

It was commonplace in the entertainment circle for Star A to be a fan of Star B, and there were even the winners in life who chased their idols onto their hukou.

Especially with Bo Ye’s current popularity, many acting veterans and old seniors have said they like him, hence QI Xingchen did not feel that this statement would arouse Bo Ye’s suspicion.

He said that in order to get closer to Bo Ye. He was originally prepared to plan slowly, who knew that the plot event would be brought forward this much. He could only speed up If he did not wish to die.

Furthermore, he must grasp the position in《Let’s Budget Travel!》 and must certainly not let Zhou Yu and the female protagonist meet. He needed to get closer to observe the male and female protagonists’ movements, such that he could save himself the moment anything happened.

During the elevator’s ascent, Bo Ye did not show any indication. From the reflection of the walls of the elevator, Qi Xingchen could make out faintly that he kept looking straight ahead, and was unable to guess what he was thinking.

The dance practice room was on the sixth floor. After getting off the elevator, Han Qing patted his chest, “Holy crap, that was f*cking suffocating! Since when did you like Bo Ye? Why don’t I know about it?”

Qi Xingchen felt that this statement was ambiguous, “Not that kind of ‘like’, it’s the like fans have for their idols.”

“I didn’t even say it was the other kind of like…… Wasn’t your idol James1?”

“It changed,” Qi Xingchen came up with a random excuse, “Yesterday night after you left, Senior Bo Ye just happened to walk past the practice room and gave a few pointers when he saw I was dancing incorrectly. I thought he was good-looking, had a lot of strengths, and was also caring towards his juniors, so I was immediately converted into a fan.”

“……” Han Qing felt so frustrated that he could cry. He badly regretted not staying behind yesterday night as he could have been given pointers by Bo Ye at close range.

Especially when he saw that Qi Xingchen improved by leaps and bounds, he could not stop grumbling under his breath.

“Growth has always been a lonely path. Reflection and practice are much more important compared to some pointers,” Qi Xingchen rolled up the trouser legs of his sweatpants to reveal his white slender ankles, while interrupting him, “Little Qing, play the music and dance with me 10 times first.”

Han Qing: “……” Mom, I’m going to die la!

The boys at this age are like this: if he practised by himself, his willpower would be weak and would end up slacking off easily. However, if there was someone else pulling him to do it together, he would endure it to the end just for his pride.

They danced till Han Qing felt like his soul had left his body. He could see that even though Qi Xingchen was already very proficient, he still spared no effort finding the correct angles or pinpointing positions of his arms again and again. He did not wish to admit defeat at this point either.

When the 10 rounds ended, Han Qing laid like a beached starfish on the floor: “Xingxing, were you possessed by some demon or ghost? You’re suddenly so hardworking.”

“If we don’t work hard, how will we be able to practice till proficiency?” Qi Xingchen threw a bottle of sports drink at Han Qing, “Get up, let’s do it 5 more times.”

Han Qing: “……F*ck.”

A small artiste with no activities has way too much time. For the entire afternoon, Qi Xingchen dragged Han Qing and ended up spending several hours in the piano room.

Near dinner time, Han Qing ran out to take a call. When he came back, his entire being looked radiant. He waved his handphone at Qi Xingchen: “Xingxing, after 2 months, my manager finally remembered about me la!”

“There’s an announcement?”

“Nope, it’s about the selection for 《Let’s Budget Travel!》,” Han Qing gave a sly smile, “He said that he sent my information to the producer. If I get chosen this time around, we’ll be steady from now on.”

As a matter of fact, Han Qing’s attributes are not bad;  his features can be considered as cute, and his singing capabilities are above average. He was only lacking an opportunity, if not, it would have been no problem for him to become a B or C-lister.

After Han Qing was done being happy, he asked Qi Xingchen: “Xingxing, did you receive any news?”

Qi Xingchen shook his head.

“If I can go for the selection, you definitely can go for it too. Wait for a bit longer ba.”

Unfortunately, Qi Xingchen continued to wait until 9 pm and still did not receive any kind of notice.

Unwilling to sit and wait, he dialled the original owner’s manager, Du Lanxin, directly.

No one answered the first time. When the second call was going to hang up automatically, Du Lanxin’s voice droned from the speaker, “Speak quickly, don’t delay my meal.”

“……Xin-jie,” Qi Xingchen went straight to the point, “I wish to participate in the selection for 《Let’s Budget Travel!》.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. “Are you Qi Xingchen?”

“Yes.”

“Then what are you dreaming for? Weight how much you are worth yourself first.”

Once she finished speaking, Du Lanxin seemed to feel that her words were too rude, “Qi Xingchen, don’t blame me for speaking offensively. Maimang TV’s hottest variety show is not something that you can join as you please, you know that right?”

“I know.” Qi Xingchen answered.

(CW: Some mentions of how the entertainment circle works. The very morally dubious methods.)

“Then I will also tell you frankly that the first time I spotted you at your school, your appearance had already caught my attention. At first, I genuinely wanted to groom you well, but who would have thought that you were this uncomprehending of the rules.”

She paused: “If a newcomer wishes to climb up the ranks, paying some price is a must — For example, the gathering that I brought you to last year was full of rich older women. Casually latching onto any one of them would have given you resources, yet you made excuses to run away.”

“You don’t have the life of a prince, yet you have prince syndrome,” Du Lanxin sneered, “Based on your background, the most expensive thing your entire being has is your face. Who are you pretending to be noble and virtuous for? At the very end, aren’t you the only one suffering?”

“Furthermore, you aren’t losing anything as a man if you attend to those rich women. Jiejie cares a lot about you and thus didn’t send you to perverted gays. But look at you, completely getting me wrong instead.”

“Ai, wasted all of my painstaking efforts.”

Du Lanxin then sighed pretentiously, while Qi Xingchen’s eyes darkened further and further.

Compared to the original owner who had a wealthy family background and could be rebellious enough to decide he must make a living for himself, this Qi Xingchen who had to go through all kinds of difficulties8 as a child to grow up actually understood the “grown-up rules” that Du Lanxin mentioned very well.

But—

“Xin-jie,” Qi Xingchen fought hard to suppress his anger and tried his best to let his voice sound calm, “It is not a sin to be poor, nor is it a reason to sell my body or soul. To succeed, there isn’t only this shortcut of climbing into others beds.”

Hearing the youth’s words, Du Lanxin could not help but think back to the Qi Xingchen who had called and cursed at her with “nasty b*tch”, “dead old pimp9“, “I hope you get hit by a car and die” after escaping from the banquet. She was highly sceptical and wondered if this call was made by someone else.

She smacked her lips together and taunted him: “Then what other path do you have?”

“As long as you help me sign up,” Qi Xingchen pretended to accommodate her in order to preserve himself, “I won’t keep a single cent of the money earned from variety shows this year. All of it will be given to you. Would this work for you?”

Give all of it?

One does not reject free cash. Besides, it is just sending the material to the producer’s mailbox with a flick of her hand. Du Lanxin’s mood became lively in an instant and readily agreed.