APCF – Chapter 51 Why

“He disappeared for a while because Director Shang took him to Tao Tao’s room to discuss the theme song for Heart of the Ocean.”

Qi Xingchen repeated the sentence twice in his mind, and with each word, a small spark in his heart flared up a bit more.

Eventually, the spark reached the top of his head, completely igniting the fireworks in his heart. Joy blossomed layer by layer, climbing to the corners of his lips, his eyebrows, and even his eyes, which had originally carried the salty scent of the sea.

But then, Qi Xiao, the little comrade, quickly composed himself, clenched his fist again, and said, “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Bo Ye looked confused. “Tell you what?”

“You went to Tao Tao’s room to discuss the theme song!”

“Isn’t it normal for Director Shang to invite me to write a song?”

As he said this, Bo Ye suddenly realized that the real issue for his little fan didn’t seem to be the “theme song” but rather “Tao Tao’s room.”

This realization finally cleared up all the doubts he’d had recently. Seeing that other people from the crew were still around, Bo Ye grabbed Qi Xingchen by the collar and whispered, “Come with me.”

So, Qi Xingchen was dragged back to the room like a little chick. He stood in the middle of the living room with his feet together, glaring at Bo Ye fiercely.

Bo Ye first handed him a bottle of milk, then sat down on the opposite sofa, raising an eyebrow. “You haven’t been replying to my messages lately—was it because of this?”

“…No! I’ve been busy filming and didn’t have time to reply to messages!” Qi Xingchen defended himself stubbornly.

“Alright.”

Bo Ye rubbed his forehead helplessly, “I’ve only worked with Tao Tao on Let’s Budget Travel, and this time I’m writing a song for Heart of the Ocean out of respect for Director Shang. It has nothing to do with her.”

Qi Xingchen said, “…I didn’t say it had anything to do with Tao Tao.”

Bo Ye replied, “I don’t like Tao Tao.”

“I never said you liked her…” Qi Xingchen’s defiance instantly softened.

“So don’t overthink things, okay?”

Qi Xingchen muttered, “I’m not overthinking it.”

Bo Ye couldn’t help but laugh at his little fan’s firm denials.

However, there was indeed an issue with him in this situation. Since his second year in the industry, nearly everyone who knew him had asked him to write songs. He had become numb to song requests and no longer paid attention to them.

And in his mind, he had only gone to Tao Tao’s room with Director Shang to study Tao Tao’s vocal range. The discussion had mainly focused on the atmosphere and feelings Director Shang wanted, and Tao Tao had only poured them two cups of water and occasionally answered questions. There had been no other interaction.

Misunderstandings needed to be cleared up. Bo Ye tilted his chin toward the opposite sofa, saying, “Sit.”

Qi Xingchen supported his knees and sat down.

Bo Ye leaned forward, took the milk back from him, and handed it to him again. “Drink.”

Qi Xingchen’s stomach wasn’t feeling well, but he wanted to drink milk. He lifted his chin and drank the 250ml in one go.

Bo Ye was worried he might choke, so he waited for Qi Xingchen to put the bottle down and wipe his mouth before speaking, “This time, it was my fault.”

After all his earlier persistent questioning, hearing the sincere apology made Qi Xingchen feel a sense of shame.

There was no need for him to explain all this.

Qi Xingchen mumbled, “It’s… it’s fine.”

Bo Ye added, “Next time, if I need to go into a woman’s room, I’ll try to text you first.”

Qi Xingchen was taken aback. He hadn’t expected such a big concession from Bo Ye.

He wanted to be generous and say, “No need, it’s fine, go ahead,” but after struggling for a few seconds, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Instead, he pretended to fiddle with the milk bottle, tearing off the label with a “rip” sound, crumpling it in his hand to vent his excitement.

“So,” Bo Ye asked, “Are you busy with filming tomorrow?”

Qi Xingchen thought for a while before realizing Bo Ye’s meaning.

Earlier, he had used being busy with filming as an excuse to avoid replying to Bo Ye’s messages.

“I’m not busy,” he said honestly, “I have some shots to reshoot tomorrow and then a scene change, but I’ll have time in between to reply to your messages.”

Bo Ye, anxious to deliver the demo to Director Shang, stood up and left.

Qi Xingchen was strangely relieved to find that his stomach didn’t hurt anymore, and the feeling of weakness had disappeared. He flopped onto the bed, kicked the blanket around for a while, and fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke up, two words echoed in his mind:

Oh my god!

Oh my god, what did he do last night, fueled by alcohol?

He punched Bo Ye…

Yelled at Bo Ye to explain the situation…

Forced Bo Ye to apologize…

Was this something a normal person would do?

But he had to admit, he felt… surprisingly refreshed!

Qi Xingchen jumped out of bed and went to the balcony to stretch. Half an hour later, An Ran came in to call him while making honey water, asking in surprise, “Xing Xing, what happened last night? You look so happy!”

Qi Xingchen responded, “Do I look happy?”

“Yes!” An Ran nodded emphatically.

“Can you tell just by looking at me?”

“Mm,” An Ran sighed, “You’ve always been calm, but your mood has been up and down for two days straight. Of course, I can tell.”

Qi Xingchen choked up and didn’t say anything.

An Ran expertly prepared the honey water and brought it to him on the balcony, smiling as she asked, “What’s making your mood swing so much? Tell me, I’m super curious.”

…Yeah, what was it?

For the first time, Qi Xingchen felt confused about his own emotions.

He was somewhat confused about himself.

Seeing his silence, An Ran assumed he was too embarrassed to speak and guessed, “Is it because you saved Tao Tao Jie?”

“…Yeah, that’s it.” With the stairs right there, he directly took the opportunity to climb down.

When Tao Tao was mentioned, Qi Xingchen suddenly remembered something else.

In the setting of Night Peach, the male protagonist saves the female protagonist and they spend the night together, which leads their relationship to the next stage. But because of his involvement last night, Xu Sheng was taken by the police, and Tao Tao was sent to the hospital by Shang Yuliang. Not only did the hero saving the heroine scene get ruined, but the chance for the male and female leads to spend time together was also gone.

Moreover, last night, Bo Ye clearly told him he didn’t like Tao Tao. It was his unintentional interference that changed the emotional trajectory of the leads. Could it bring about… other, more negative changes?

Thinking about this, Qi Xingchen’s excitement finally settled down.

After finishing the honey water, while walking to the set, he received a call from the director’s assistant.

“Xing Xing, did you go to the set?”

“I’m on the way,” Qi Xingchen replied.

“Oh no, I should have told you earlier… Just go back to the hotel. You have the morning off today.”

“Time off?” Qi Xingchen asked curiously, “Is everyone too drunk to get up?”

“No, Director Shang went to the hospital this morning to see Tao Tao. She’s not in a good condition and needs to rest for the whole morning.”

Given the circumstances, no girl would recover quickly. Taking a morning off was already quite professional of Tao Tao.

Since Qi Xingchen was in the Heart of the Ocean crew, and he had personal connections with Tao Tao, there was no way he would really turn back to the hotel at this moment.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “I’ll go to the Sixth Hospital to see Tao Tao Jie, and I’ll bring breakfast for you all. Ask Director Shang what he wants.”

“You don’t need to come,” the assistant immediately refused. “Tao Tao’s situation isn’t the problem. Her brother, you know, he fell into a coma again this morning. Tao Tao didn’t even pull out the IV, she rushed straight to the hospital to see her brother. Oh, you know the person who bullied her brother? He’s really evil. It’s really been making Director Shang mad…”

Since joining the crew, Qi Xingchen had been making an effort to build relationships with all the staff, following the principle that more friends meant more paths to follow.

So, the director’s assistant treated him like an insider and was happy to share everything with him as long as it didn’t involve Director Shang’s private matters.

The assistant continued ranting on the phone, but Qi Xingchen wasn’t really listening, feeling his mood sour.

He motioned for An Ran to open Weibo.

An Ran didn’t understand, but did as told and opened Weibo. Qi Xingchen grabbed her phone, searching for Shang Yuliang.

Five minutes ago, he had posted something.

—Shang Yuliang: “Today it’s someone else’s brother lying here, tomorrow it could be my own child. Resist campus violence, starting with you and me. By the way, if any hospital has a kidney source, please contact me or Tao Tao. Thank you.”

[Image]

The picture was of Tao Xuan’s arm, covered in needle marks, rolled up to the sleeve, with the words “Jingan Hospital” and “Tao Xuan” embroidered on it.

On the first day Qi Xingchen arrived, he had been lying in that hospital bed.

In the comments, a fan of Tao Tao, who also knew Tao Xuan, had recognized him and passionately revealed Qi Jiaze’s “evil deeds.”

Fortunately, as a TV director, Shang Yuliang’s following was small, so the post didn’t have much impact. Only Tao Tao’s fans, who had seen the post, were sharing the comments.

Qi Xingchen quickly came up with a plan. After finishing with the director’s assistant, he called Qi Yujie.

Qi Yujie was clearly still asleep, yawning as she said, “Xing Xing, you woke up really early.”

“Sis,” Qi Xingchen didn’t waste time, “Find someone in the company to limit the traffic on Shang Yuliang’s Weibo post from this morning and Tao Tao’s post. Don’t ask why, right now, immediately.”

Qi Yujie, seeing that her brother needed help, immediately got to work.

He then sent a message to Qi Jiaze: [What time do you have lunch break? Please reply.]

King: [11:30.]

Xing Xing: [Where is Cui Hao going to eat lunch?]

King: [He should be in the first canteen, a lot of people eat there.]

Xing Xing: [Send me the location of your teaching building and the first canteen. Whatever method you use, make sure you block Cui Hao in the teaching building around 11:50 and let him out then. Can you do that?]

King: [Simple.]

King: [Bro, are you going to make a move on Cui Hao?]

Xing Xing: [That’s right, and there’s one more important thing I need you to do, remember this… ]

Qi Xingchen typed a long message, then immediately closed WeChat and continued calling Qi Yunxiao.

“Bro, help me get a pass for Jiaze’s school.”

Qi Yunxiao thought he was going to the school to hang out with Qi Jiaze, so without saying much, he took care of it.

All morning, Qi Xingchen hadn’t eaten or drunk anything, he had been busy preparing what he needed.

Occasionally, he would check Weibo; the traffic control was working, but it was still far from a complete control. Reposts, comments, and insults were still increasing.

Finally, it was 11:20. Qi Xingchen put on his hat and mask and entered the campus through a message sent by the principal himself.

He went to the first-floor restroom to deliver something to Qi Jiaze, then took two trips through the teaching building’s path to the canteen, carefully choosing a spot with a flower bed.

Fortunately, since he wasn’t famous yet, none of the passing students recognized him. He sent his location to Qi Jiaze.

At 11:55, Cui Hao appeared at the end of the road, cursing under his breath. Qi Xingchen estimated his walking speed, timed it perfectly, lowered his head, and quickly walked toward him—

In the moment they passed each other, Qi Xingchen pretended not to see anyone, and his shoulder bumped into Cui Hao hard.

Both of them staggered backward. Cui Hao, being cautious, hesitated whether to argue.

Then, Qi Xingchen saw a dark object fly out of his pocket. The person didn’t notice and continued walking quickly until he was soon out of sight.

…What was that flying object?

Curious, Cui Hao approached the flower bed, peering over—

Oh my god, it was a Gucci men’s wallet! It was stuffed with quite a bit of cash!

“Bang, bang, bang, bang…”

Cui Hao was so nervous, his heart almost jumped out of his throat. He looked around, but there were only a few students finishing their meals, none of whom paid attention to him.

So much money, it must be at least five or six thousand. It could buy a limited-edition Switch…

The Gucci wallet seemed expensive too. The young masters in their school had one of these bags…

Anyway, since the person didn’t notice the wallet was lost, whether he or someone else picked it up, it wouldn’t make a difference. Cui Hao quickly grabbed the wallet and stuffed it into the front of his school uniform!

Just then, he heard someone call him from behind: “Good job, Cui Hao, this is the second time I’ve seen you steal something!”

Cui Hao was so scared his legs trembled, and he quickly turned around. The good news was that the person’s voice wasn’t loud, it sounded like a joke, and the passing students thought they were just chatting and didn’t pay attention.

The bad news was, what a coincidence, it was Qi Jiaze!

Qi Jiaze approached him and purposely lowered his voice: “This time, I won’t let you go. I’m going to tell the teacher.”

“You… you’re wrong! I didn’t steal anything! I was going to turn it in to the Discipline Office!”

“Didn’t steal? Then why are you stuffing it into your uniform?” Qi Jiaze sneered. “By the way, when I tossed the ball to Tao Xuan, you falsely accused me of hitting him. What were you thinking then?”

“That wasn’t slander, it was eliminating a hazard! You’re just a parasite, with money from your family, looking down on this person and that one. Pah! I can’t stand the sight of you! Tao Xuan is a star, you know? Right now, keyboard warriors are cursing you out, and the principal is too pressured to protect you. You just wait to be scolded and punished!”

After finishing his rant, Cui Hao took a breath and showed a smug smile. “Qi Jiaze, you know that the canteen’s route is not covered by surveillance, right? You have no evidence. I’ll hand the wallet to the Discipline Office, and by Monday, you’ll hear the announcement praising me. Ha.”

Qi Jiaze gave him a disdainful look, unable to hide the contempt in his eyes, then smirked evilly.

He yanked off the big pendant around his neck. “Who said there’s no surveillance here?”

_{You should read the Author Note. There are answers of questions, I didn’t think were questions. From this note, I don’t like FL anymore.}