APCF – Chapter 57 The Luminary

Apologies for the Delay
I’m sorry for missing recent updates as my laptop broke last night. I managed to arrange a temporary system today after work. I’ll be updating today’s chapters now and will continue with the temporary system until my laptop is fixed. Thank you for your patience and understanding! 🙏

During the recording of Let’s Budget Travel, Qi Xingchen had a phone call with Liang Jing. His intuition told him that Liang Jing seemed off, and he subconsciously wanted to refuse Qi Yujie’s request.

However, just as he was about to say that he didn’t want to go pick up Liang Jing, Qi Yujie persuaded him, saying, “Xingxing, it’s been so long, don’t be mad at Xiao Jing anymore. Besides, whether he goes or not isn’t something he can decide. The school is making him go to the lab, and he has no say in it.”

After Liang Jing returned to China from Harvard, where he was studying immunology and had been recommended to stay for further research, he was sent to the China-Sweden Joint Laboratory for a project within a month. He left in a rush, and Qi Yujie wanted to send off the Original Owner, but was rejected.

So, she had always assumed that the Xingxing was upset that Liang Jing had left so suddenly without discussing it with them first.

But Qi Xingchen clearly knew that it wasn’t the real reason.

As for the specifics, he had no memory of it. After arriving in this world, he only inherited the memories that were related to the plot, while everything else was very vague.

“You two were so close before. There’s no need to hold a grudge over something so small, right?” Qi Yujie tried to play the peacemaker.

What else could Qi Xingchen do? In the end, he agreed and, two days later, woke up early in the morning to go to the airport with his sister.

In the car, on the back seat, Qi Yujie looked at him in his sportswear and clicked her tongue. “Tsk, Xingxing, you look so casual.”

“My identity is different now,” Qi Xingchen dodged the question. “If I dress too flashy, I’ll be easily recognized.”

“Why didn’t you worry about being recognized when you wore perfume that day?” Qi Yujie didn’t believe his excuse at all.

Qi Xingchen ignored her thoughts, leaning back against the seat while secretly tapping on his phone behind her back.

Since the day before yesterday, when Qi Yujie said that he liked Bo Ye, he hadn’t replied to Bo Ye’s messages.

To be honest, because Bo Ye looked exactly like his true idol, with the same professional skills, the same voice, and a particularly good personality who was especially attentive to him… There were a thousand and more reasons why he genuinely liked Bo Ye.

And through Qi Yujie and Qi Jiaze, he realized that the plotline wasn’t entirely set in stone, which made his natural antagonism toward Bo Ye, as the male lead, diminish a lot.

If they could continue down this path and reach the end of the plot, that would be the most perfect outcome.

He didn’t dare to have any other extravagant hopes, after all, they were from two different worlds.

Thinking about this, Qi Xingchen felt inexplicably irritated and frowned as he stared at the chat interface.

The last message was from Bo Ye, sent yesterday morning, asking how he was resting after getting back home.

It had been 24 hours, and he only replied now: “Finally able to sleep through the night.”

However, after sending the message, he waited for over ten minutes, and still no reply came from Bo Ye. This only made Qi Xingchen more frustrated.

“Xingxing, we’re almost at the airport. Do you want to disguise yourself a bit?” Qi Yujie pointed at his mask and hat, reminding him.

“…Mm,” Qi Xingchen was used to doing this, and in just two or three movements, he covered his face until only his eyes were visible, then followed Qi Yujie out of the car.

Liang Jing entered the country through the VIP passage, and the H City airport VIP passage led directly to the parking lot elevator. Therefore, they didn’t need to go to the crowded arrival area; they just had to wait at the guest exit next to the elevator.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows next to the guest exit, they could see the runway. Qi Xingchen leaned his left hand on the railing, his eyes following the planes flying in and out. His right hand was in his pocket, tightly gripping his phone.

His phone still hadn’t vibrated.

After a while, he heard Qi Yujie excitedly exclaim, “Xingxing, Xiao Jing is here!”

Qi Xingchen instinctively turned to look at the guest exit. The moment his eyes landed on it, he quickly identified Liang Jing from the group of five or six tourists.

It was simple—Liang Jing’s appearance was too striking.

And at the moment their gazes met, for some reason, Qi Xingchen’s heart felt like it was pricked by a needle, aching sharply.

Liang Jing was wearing a simple shirt and trousers, with a long coat over it. His features were sharp, but not as harsh as Bo Ye’s—on the contrary, they were much softer.

Perhaps it was because he was wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

Qi Yujie spoke first. “Xiao Jing, Uncle Liang and Aunt Liang went out on a research trip, so they asked us to pick you up. Are you tired from the journey?”

The driver took Liang Jing’s suitcase, and after Liang Jing thanked him, he smiled. “I’m fine, not tired.”

After saying that, he turned to Qi Xingchen. Qi Xingchen couldn’t stay silent and replied in a perfunctory manner, “What do you want to eat? I’ll make a reservation at a restaurant to welcome you.”

“No need. I’m already very happy that you came to pick me up.”

Liang Jing raised his hand, as if to pat Qi Xingchen’s head. Without thinking, Qi Xingchen immediately dodged. Liang Jing’s arm stopped for a moment before he patted him on the upper arm.

“Xingxing, long time no see.”

Liang Jing said there was no need to book a restaurant, so Qi Xingchen didn’t. But Qi Yujie, fearing that Liang Jing would be hungry when he got home, had a sudden idea and insisted on taking him to the Qi family’s house, where she would cook a few dishes for him.

The Liang and Qi families had an excellent relationship. When the original owner was in school, they often went to the Liang family’s house to eat, drink, and stay. To express her gratitude, Qi Yujie always treated Liang Jing like a younger brother. In fact, aside from the original owner and Qi Jiaze, Qi Yujie was the one who cared most about Liang Jing.

When she mentioned cooking, the other two passengers in the car simultaneously furrowed their brows. Qi Yujie caught their reaction and immediately placed her hands on her hips, exasperated. “Hey, what’s with that expression? Do you think my cooking is bad?”

Qi Xingchen froze for a moment, and Liang Jing quickly smoothed things over. “No, it’s very good. I haven’t had Chinese food in a long time, I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Is that so…” Qi Yujie was easily appeased and happily began asking Liang Jing what dishes he wanted.

Qi Xingchen wasn’t in the mood to listen to their conversation, nor did he have the energy to think about the natural chemistry between Liang Jing and him. He lowered his head, lost in thought.

— Why hasn’t Bo Ye replied to him? Is he busy, or… is he angry?

He really had been too unreasonable the whole day, not speaking or explaining anything. Was it too late to fix things now?

No matter if it’s too late, he decided to give it a try. He pulled out his phone…

Just then, Liang Jing called out to him. “Xingxing?”

“Mm?” He quickly tucked his phone back in.

“Yujing asked what you’d like to eat.”

“Oh, anything is fine,” Qi Xingchen paused for a moment, “but I don’t really want soup.”

He still remembered the fishy soup from last time.

When they arrived at the Qi family’s house, Qi Yujie, wearing an apron, rushed to the kitchen and handed the task of entertaining Liang Jing to Qi Xingchen.

She arranged it this way intentionally, one because the two childhood friends must be missing each other, and two because their awkward situation needed to be resolved—it was time to give them a bridge.

However, the reality was that sitting across from Liang Jing, the atmosphere was extremely awkward.

Qi Xingchen wasn’t the original owner, and he had no idea where to start the conversation. In the end, it was Liang Jing who spoke first.

“Xingxing, you’ve lost weight,” Liang Jing took off his coat and draped it over the back of his chair. “Haven’t you been eating well these past six months?”

“Maybe because I’ve been busy with filming lately.” Qi Xingchen knew the more he said, the more mistakes he’d make, so he gave a vague response.

“Do you have any work lined up?”

“No plans at the moment, but…” Qi Xingchen thought for a moment, “I plan to recharge, art is a discipline that requires careful study.”

The reason he said he needed to recharge was because he feared Liang Jing would visit him often.

After all, Liang Jing had mentioned on the phone that he would “pamper” him once he returned.

Liang Jing nodded, and just then, Qi Xingchen’s phone rang.

He took out his phone and was surprised to see that it was Bo Ye!

“Sorry, I’ll take this call outside.”

After saying goodbye to Liang Jing, Qi Xingchen quickly ran out the door. The leaves of the plants along the path trembled as he passed.

“Hello.”

“It’s me. I had the phone on silent during the meeting and didn’t see your message.” Bo Ye’s voice came through.

So it was because of a meeting. Qi Xingchen’s nerves, which had been a mess, immediately calmed down. “I guessed you were busy… Is it a meeting about the new album?”

Bo Ye hummed in response. “Yeah, this morning we were choosing the cover photo and color concept for the new album. If the samples come out well, we’ll start mass production next week.”

Hearing that Bo Ye’s album was about to be released made Qi Xingchen even more excited than if it were his own album.

He paced around the yard. “I hope the manufacturer does a good job and finishes quickly! I’ve been waiting so long!”

“Okay, I’ll hurry,” Bo Ye couldn’t help but laugh. “By the way, do you remember what you said?”

“I said… what?” Qi Xingchen was confused.

“You said, after we’re done filming, you’d take me to your ocean world.”

Qi Xingchen could never forget that. Seeing that Bo Ye had been busy recently, he hadn’t brought it up until now.

Since it came up now, Qi Xingchen took the opportunity to ask, “When are you free? I’ll fulfill my promise.”

“Once the samples are ready, I’ll call you in advance.”

“Okay.” Qi Xingchen agreed eagerly, but then bit his lower lip.

He also had a question he wanted to ask Bo Ye, but was conflicted about whether to bring it up.

Noticing the silence on the other end, Bo Ye tentatively said, “Xingxing, if you have something to say, just say it.”

Did he have some kind of supernatural ability?!

Qi Xingchen was shocked for a moment, then decided to throw caution to the wind!

“Um… you mentioned last month that you’d get me a gift once I finished filming…”

Bo Ye had been expecting something important, but it turned out to be about a gift.

He shook his head helplessly. “I’ll give it to you when we go to the ocean world. Don’t worry, I remember.”

Yay!!! Qi Xingchen was beyond excited, happily messing with the banana leaves.

Liang Jing stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, watching his actions and adjusting his glasses.

As expected, the food Qi Yujie made was quite awful.

Qi Xingchen didn’t know what Liang Jing thought, but he certainly acted as if it was torture. After reluctantly finishing a bowl of food through tears, he quickly escaped to his room, claiming he was going to take a nap, and drank a large bottle of water.

It was really no easy feat for the original body to have survived this long. He rubbed his bloated belly, planning to lie down and digest.

“Xingxing, are you asleep?”

Just as he had gotten into bed, he heard a knock at the door accompanied by Liang Jing’s voice.

It had only been about five minutes since he returned to his room, and pretending to be asleep wasn’t going to work now. Reluctantly, he got out of bed and opened the door.

Liang Jing had his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows and was holding a folder. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to your room. Can I come in and take a look?”

Qi Xingchen couldn’t find a reason to refuse, so he stepped aside and let him in.

As Liang Jing walked in, he casually surveyed the room. When he saw the empty water bottle on the desk, he remarked, “I remember you don’t like the taste of alkaline water.”

“…I’ve been wanting to try a different flavor lately.”

“You changed toothpaste too? Didn’t you like cherry flavor?”

“…This one was just a random purchase.”

Qi Xingchen had no doubt that if Liang Jing kept asking, he’d definitely give himself away.

He hesitated and then said, “I haven’t rested well at the film set recently, and I’ve been feeling tired and exhausted. If you don’t have anything too important, could we catch up later when I have some free time?”

“Sure.” Liang Jing agreed. “Then I’ll give you your gift now.”

With that, he opened the folder to reveal a few A4 pages written in English.

“Last winter, I went camping with a friend who studies astronomy. We came across a particularly beautiful star, and I immediately thought of you. After returning to Sweden, I bought the naming rights for that star and named it Fluophor—The Luminary.”

“I think it’s very much like you.”