APCF – Chapter 60 Who is he?

When Han Qing first saw Qi Xingchen’s schedule, as a trainee, he wasn’t that surprised. However, he was taken aback by how packed it was—there was almost no personal time except for sleep.

After the first day of lessons, Han Qing and Qi Xingchen collapsed on the floor, thinking to himself, “Let’s see how long Xingchen can last.”

After the third day of lessons, Han Qing and Qi Xingchen collapsed on the floor again, thinking, “Xingchen seems even more exhausted than before.”

After the fifth day of lessons, Han Qing and Qi Xingchen collapsed on the floor, with no thoughts left in their minds.

Soon after, it was time for the “Sea Monster” commercial shoot.

After five days of intense training, Qi Xingchen had lost a small amount of weight. With more sweat, his skin condition improved, and the product manager, Camille, was even more pleased when she saw him, praising herself for making the right choice.

The shoot involved outdoor scenes with a water entry shot, and the photography team decided to start with the studio shoot. The studio shoot was mainly for promotional photos, and the theme for the shoot was “Under the Sea.”

To match the theme, the interior was decorated with light blue and dark blue glass, creating a shimmering, dreamy palace. Qi Xingchen had never seen such a set before and found it quite fascinating.

While he was admiring the set, the stylist ran over and said, “Darling, come with me for makeup!”

The voice was sweet, but it belonged to a man with a rough tone, which startled Qi Xingchen.

The stylist pouted, smiling brightly, and said, “Don’t be in a daze, darling. If you don’t get your makeup done, it’ll be too late~”

With that, he pulled Qi Xingchen toward the makeup mirror.

When the stylist switched on the lights around the mirror, he gasped, “Wow! Look at this skin, not a single pore! Darling, what skincare products do you use? I can feel your face, and there’s no filler or thread-lifting. Have you had some cosmetic work done?”

“…No,” Qi Xingchen replied, forcing himself to answer, “Maybe I’ve been resting well lately.”

“You should just say you’re naturally beautiful,” the stylist laughed, “Don’t worry, I don’t mind. Then I won’t put foundation on you; it could affect the skin’s translucency and texture.”

“Okay, thank you.”

While complimenting him, the stylist began applying makeup. The look was very simple —shaping the eyebrows, using light contouring to define the face.

Since Qi Xingchen had monolids, makeup could make them look messy, so the stylist used a unicorn-colored, iridescent eyeshadow, lightly blending it on the eyelid and the outer part of the eye to emphasize a shimmering wave effect. Then, using a deep blue eyeliner pencil, the stylist created a delicate flick at the outer corners of the eyes.

The hair was styled to fall naturally, with a few strands of black hair gently framing the eyebrows and eyes, not making the hairstyle the focus but instead drawing all the attention to the face.

Once it was done, the stylist clasped his hands together, eyes full of hearts, “Oh my god, darling! The style I gave you is so risky, but your face is perfect! It fits the theme perfectly… Tsk tsk tsk, you are truly my most perfect creation this week!”

Qi Xingchen had never worn such a style of makeup before, and he was completely flustered by the compliments. He turned around and asked An Ran, “Does it really look good?”

An Ran nodded vigorously.

“…Please wait for me a few minutes,” Qi Xingchen said thoughtfully. “I’ll go to the bathroom.”

Before the stylist could answer, Qi Xingchen grabbed his phone and ran into the bathroom. He stood in front of the mirror, looking at his face from left to right.

Hmm, it really doesn’t look bad.

Then he ran to the farthest cubicle, locked the door, opened the front camera, and pointed his phone at himself.

“Click—” He took a picture.

He found Bo Ye’s profile picture and clicked to send it.

Bo Ye was in Beijing attending an event and had just gotten off the plane. Feeling his phone vibrate, he handed his luggage trolley to Allen and opened the message.

Xingchen: [image]

Xingchen: [Isn’t the après look a bit weird?]

Bo Ye opened the image. The first thing that caught his eye was the boy’s clear, innocent face. The next moment, he noticed the large floral tiles behind him, along with the toilet flush handle and tissue box.

Xiao Man, who was standing next to Bo Ye, couldn’t help but see the photo as well and clicked her tongue. “Wow, Little Xingxing went to the bathroom just to take this photo for you, huh?”

“Just to?” Bo Ye raised an eyebrow. “He probably went to the bathroom and took it casually.”

“Who takes a picture after going to the bathroom?” Xiao Man wasn’t being particularly polite. “Let me analyze this for you—”

She stretched out a finger and zoomed in on Bo Ye’s screen, “Look, his feet aren’t standing on both sides of the toilet but on one side, which means he didn’t just finish using the toilet. The tissue box hasn’t been touched, so he didn’t use any tissues. And there’s nothing in the trash bin…”

“Alright, stop,” Bo Ye didn’t want to discuss whether someone had used the toilet or not and quickly cut her off.

But according to Xiao Man, the fan had indeed gone to the bathroom specifically to take that photo.

If he didn’t say anything, the fan might feel upset.

Bo Ye took out his starry AirPods case and put the earphones in.

Qi Xingchen hurriedly headed to the photo studio and was startled by the sudden ringing.

“Hello, aren’t you busy?” He fumbled to answer.

“Just got off the plane,” Bo Ye said, “The shoot hasn’t started yet, right?”

“I thought I heard fan support sounds… The shoot’s about to start.”

“Any outdoor scenes?”

“Yes, but we’re starting with the indoor scenes first, and we’ll go to the outdoor scenes when it gets dark.”

“If there are underwater shots, make sure to take proper precautions,” Bo Ye paused and then got to the point, “I saw your look—”

“Ah, my baby, you’re finally back! I’ve been missing you so much!”

Halfway through, a stranger’s voice suddenly came from the other end of the phone. Bo Ye’s brows immediately furrowed, “Who is that?”

Qi Xingchen: “!!!”

Qi Xingchen panicked, covering the microphone and turning to the stylist, “Bro, can you please wait another two minutes?”

He then walked towards the corner of the studio while explaining to Bo Ye, “That was my stylist, I don’t know why he called me ‘baby’… I really don’t have anything with him… nothing at all!”

His tone was frantic and a bit low, sounding almost a little clingy due to the feeling of being wronged.

Bo Ye couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.

The person who came to pick him up at the airport, Ye Kong: “Ah ah ah, who the heck is hitting on my husband??!!”

All day long, Bo Ye’s fan forum was flooded with today’s airport photos.

Especially the one where Bo Ye was smiling at the phone, which had been pushed to the top.

In the comment section, girlfriend fans, wife fans, mom fans, and sister fans were all discussing it passionately:

[Damn, I’ve been staring at this for an afternoon, how can my boyfriend look so good when he smiles!]

[Me too, I’m about to wear my screen out]

[From my brother, I never knew salty faces could smile so sweetly, it totally hits my heart]

[Honestly, the last time I saw my brother smile so genuinely was at the East Orange Music Gala]

When mentioning the East Orange Music Gala, everyone started spamming some beautiful photos from the event.

Then a fan from Ye Kong commented: [Huh, I noticed Ye Ge was smiling at the front row male fans, so the male fans are really more powerful, huh?]

[I was in the same row, I saw the side profile of the male fan, his fighting power is indeed strong, maybe he could debut with packaging 2333]

[What are you talking about, the person was already an artist [goodbye]]

[It’s Qi Xingchen, I saw him when he turned around. At that time, I didn’t recognize him, but now I’m regretting it so much, regret, regret, regret]

The fans of the “Last Night Stars” CP, who had been lurking and enjoying the sweetness, suddenly discovered a treasure and hurriedly searched for photos from the Music Gala that day.

There were no exclusive photos of Qi Xingchen, but in the selfies taken from the audience’s side, they spotted his signature single eyelid.

…And he was wearing a Mickey headband!!!

The Outfit Change Play is so damn exciting!!!

CP fans shed tears of happiness, too scared to flood Bo Ye’s fan forum, so they rushed back to the massive group chat that was about to hit the 5,000-member limit, screaming:

“Chasing the old gong all the way to the scene!”

“Last Night Stars szd!”

“Last Night Stars szd1!”

Moreover, the Mickey headband sparked a surge of creativity from the literary community wives, with little yellow mosquito fanfics pouring out non-stop…

That night, all CP fans couldn’t sleep.

But Qi Xingchen had no idea. After shooting the “Siren” commercial, he was back in the devilish training again.

Ten days later, après’s official Weibo released four promotional photos for their summer new collection. The appearance of an Asian face for the first time on the poster left après’s loyal perfume fans in confusion:

[Who is this?]

[Is après finally expanding into the Chinese market?]

[The spokesperson looks amazing! I love this perfume brand; even their choice of spokesperson is so classy [smile] [smile]]

[Let me promote my little Qi to the après fans: funny, cute, owns the entire White Sand Harbor, can perform street acrobatics or appear on news broadcasts. Doesn’t such a man make your heart flutter? Investing in him is totally worth it!]

Twenty days later, après’s new products went live, and the “Siren” commercial for the season was unveiled.

On the vast, dark ocean surface, moonlight shimmered, flowing gently with the waves. Suddenly, a slender young man emerged from the water, as if bewitched by something, stepping on the tips of the waves, tentatively walking toward the shore.

Once he stepped in, it was revealed that his bare feet were covered with shimmering, iridescent scales. He jumped off the wave crest, picking up a perfume bottle that a tourist had accidentally left on the beach.

After observing the bottle for a while with a confused expression, he lifted his forearm and brought the perfume bottle to his nose.

Then, he tilted his head, closed his eyes, and his red lips curved into a seductive smile.

The edited video was only twenty-five seconds long, but après spared no expense to make a mark in the Chinese market. The styling and photography teams were top-tier international professionals who maximized the beauty of the scenery and the model.

With the help of high-priced Weibo splash screens and advertisements, après fans and even non-fans—those who knew Qi Xingchen and those who didn’t—were all lured into buying the perfume!

Of course, the biggest contributors were the XingXing’s fans.

They knew that the brand cared most about sales effects. Those with good economic conditions bought eight to ten bottles, while those with tighter budgets combined forces with three or four people to purchase a single bottle, which they then shared so everyone could smell their idol’s scent.

Many influential bloggers also reposted and supported the campaign, including a prominent socialite blogger named “After the Rain” and her fans, who contributed nearly 10,000 bottles in sales!

By the afternoon of the second day after launch, the official website issued a stock warning!

“Damn it, why is it so laggy? My order keeps failing to submit. What should I do? I shouldn’t have gone to bed early last night. I’m such a pig, woo woo woo…”

During a break, An Ran frantically refreshed her phone screen.

A pop-up appeared: [The item you selected is out of stock.]

“Damn!” An Ran couldn’t help but curse, “I didn’t get it after all! Damn, damn, damn!”

“It’s okay, my sister bought a few thousand bottles. I’ll send you two bottles tomorrow,” Qi Xingchen waved his hand generously.

“…” An Ran wasn’t particularly eager to talk to a rich person, but she had to say, “I don’t want the perfume. I just want to support you.”

“I understand your intentions, thank you, An Ran Jie. If we can’t buy it, we won’t buy it,” Qi Xingchen said casually. “By the way, did Camille say anything?”

“What could she say,” An Ran chuckled, “The first collaboration was a huge success. They can’t stop praising your influence. They even said they’re hosting a dinner to celebrate après’s first victory!”

Hearing this, Qi Xingchen felt much more at ease. Being a brand ambassador, if the result wasn’t good, that would be a huge disaster. No other brand would dare to approach him in the future.

“Xingxing,” An Ran paused for a moment, “You have to attend après’s dinner. Once the time is set, they’ll send you an invitation.”

“…Can I refuse? ‘My Era’ is about to start recording.”

An Ran had already guessed he would decline. She shook her head and said, “Xingxing, first of all, you’re the spokesperson, one of the main guests of the dinner. It would be inappropriate to not attend. Secondly, I found out that Camille has been rooted in the Chinese market for five years and has a good relationship with social elites and various celebrities. This dinner is a networking opportunity for you. I think that’s one of the reasons Wei Qin went for the audition.”

An Ran made a good point. Qi Xingchen knew that you rely on family at home and friends when you’re out. Ultimately, he compromised: “Alright, let me know when the invitation arrives. I’ll go as long as it doesn’t clash with recording.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t clash with recording. Wei Qin is on the invite list, Camille will definitely avoid those two days.”

Since that was settled, Qi Xingchen didn’t say much more and focused on studying during the remaining time.

In mid-August, Bo Ye’s new album was released. It hit the top of Weibo’s trending topics within five minutes, topped domestic Chinese video sites and YouTube in 10 hours, and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 within 24 hours.

After that, it dominated the trending topics for an entire week.

Riding on the unprecedented heat created by the album’s launch, the first episode of My Era was officially recorded.