CH 12

Following his instructions, the following shot assistant took out his phone and tapped on the record button.

Only to see the cameraman shouting once more: “Xingxing!”

“En?”

“Wait for me, I can’t catch up with you!”

“No way, I’m racing.”

Two people: one was on this side of the street, one was on the other side of the street. Maybe Qi Xingchen’s voice was too loud; it scared off a group of pigeons at the street corner. He even said “sorry” to the pigeons in Danish.

The cameraman was unable to withstand it, taking a deep breath, “Xingxing, you are recording a programme, not participating in a sports competition. If I can’t record you, you would have no footage during this segment when the show is broadcasted!”

“It’s alright. The competition first, the programme second,” Qi Xingchen declared seriously1, “Ge, you need to exercise more.”

Right after he said that he increased his speed and rushed off once more.

“……” The cameraman’s face filled with anxiousness, then he slapped his forehead, and could only continue chasing.

The following shot assistant finished recording and sent this clip to the director. The director and assistant director watched it till they were howling with laugher, and the director mused with much regret: “This material is full of punchlines, unfortunately, it was shot with a phone, what a waste​​2.”

“Not necessarily,” The assistant director said, “Don’t we just happen to have no footage for the teasers3 to maintain the heat? If we make Bo Ye’s side exert themselves, the amount of effort put in4 would be too high, we might as well use this footage ba.”

The director mulled over it and felt it was indeed the case. He told the following shot assistant to shoot another video of his state when he reached the finishing line, then informed the post-production crew5 to be ready to cut the video.

During the second half of the journey, the cameraman was out of breath and panting, and Qi Xingchen slowed down a little. The end result was obvious, considering he cycled fast and chose a short route, he was the first to arrive.

The cameraman who was finally able to stop felt as if his soul was escaping to the heavens6. His eyes showed confusion, already forgetting what day it was today or where this place was, and his mouth could not stop muttering something.7

Following the director’s instructions, the following shot assistant took out his phone to ask the cameraman: “Li-ge, what did you say?”

“……How much have I sinned in my previous life, that I just had to enter this profession?……” The cameraman wiped away the mess of bitter tears, “If I have a next life, laozi8 definitely would not enter the media industry!”

And Qi Xingxing, who forced the industry’s elite to retire entirely through his own strength, knew nothing about this. He unhooked the earbud from the bicycle’s handle and was still boasting about how awesome9 his idol’s voice was. It was all thanks to his idol that his bicycle was able to fly.

Bo Ye, who had been standing at the alley entrance for 5 minutes and waited for Qi Xingchen to reach the finishing line before continuing to pedal forward, showed a puzzled face.

—Were his capabilities that advanced???

.

On the female’s side, the first was Tao Tao. As the winners, Qi Xingchen and Tao Tao rightfully won the large meal.

They found a restaurant that looked pretty good. After ordering their dishes, Qi Xingchen got up to wash his hands.

Pushing open the door of the washroom, he was caught off-guard when he saw two familiar faces — The manager and vice manager of the Qi family’s wine cellars had finished their lunch, and they were facing the mirrors as they tidied their appearances while chatting.

“Second Young Master!” At the same time, they had seen him. Surprised and enthusiastic, they rushed up to greet him, “What brings you10 here?”

Hearing this address, Qi Xingchen immediately said: “Shhh!”

“Oh oh oh, sorry Second Young Master,” The manager lowered his volume, “Are you11 here for an inspection?”

Qi Xingchen looked around. Luckily the cameraman was completely wiped out and did not have time to come over to film him. He heaved a sigh of relief and answered: “No, I’m here to record a programme.”

Pausing, he added on ambiguously: “I don’t want anyone to know my identity, so from now onwards, just pretend you’ve never seen me, and don’t talk to me ah!”

Qi Xingchen did not have any power in the Qi Group, but every employee of the Qi Group, no matter from a local or overseas branch, all knew that this Second Young Master was the apple of the Qi family’s eye12, he was the treasure that the entire Qi family was afraid of dropping if they carried it in their hands, or afraid of dissolving if they held it in their mouths.

Hence they did not dare to disobey, both of them covering their mouths and transforming into mutes. Qi Xingchen gave them a satisfied look, then left after washing his hands.

After he had gone away, the vice manager glanced at the manager: “Although Second Young Master gave the orders, are we really going to pretend we never saw him?”

“Did you f*cking13 eat onions14 till you became stupid?!” the manager slapped the assistant manager hard on the head, “If Chairman Qi knows of this, he will surely scold us for not taking good care of the Second Young Master. Let’s go, we’ll see what the Second Young Master is eating.”

The two people stealthily tiptoed to the door, and peeked in with only one eye, only to see an inexpensive set meal placed in front of Qi Xingchen and Tao Tao, while the rest of the group were even more wretched, with only a main course each.

“……What kind of sh*tty show is this?!” The manager panicked, “ How can you give this to the Second Young Master to eat? You, go and call the owner of the restaurant here.”

The vice manager went to call the owner over in response. The manager whispered a few words into the owner’s ear, then stuffed him with a stack of money. The owner could not stop nodding his head happily.

After cycling for the entire morning, the crowd was extremely exhausted. Once he had cooperated with the programme team to show a winning face, Qi Xingchen beamed: “Come on, let’s all eat together.”

Due to the high prices of food in Denmark, to save money, as well as being the losers, the rest of them had ordered vegetable dishes.

Luo Qiuman said: “Can we really do that?”

Qi Xingchen and Tao Tao confirmed that unanimously, hence the crowd cheered and began to eat liberally.

Halfway through their meal, the restaurant’s owner and a waiter suddenly carried a big tray over, lightly coughing, “Ahem, excuse me, could we disturb you all for a moment?”

The owner’s English was heavily accented15, hence the guests took a while before they responded: “Sure, what do you16 need?”

“Today is our restaurant’s anniversary, and I would like to give the highest prized dish,” the owner pointed to the tray, “to the best-looking person in the restaurant.

All the guests had originally thought the owner had recognised one of the stars and came over to ask for an autograph. They did not expect him to actually give a dish, and all their lines of sight fell onto the tray. Without saying, it was really the highest prized dish — fresh fish roe and all kinds of seafood meats, there were even two blue lobsters17.

The owner was standing beside Liu Ziyu, Liu Ziyu analysed impassively: The owner was a man, so the dish must be for a woman. And among the three women, Luo Qiuman was too old, Tao Tao on the other hand was pure and innocent-looking, and only she had beautiful looks and an alluring figure.

These complimentary dishes were most likely for her.

Liu Ziyu sat upright and pressed her lips together to rub18 at the residual lipstick on them: “I see, it turns out that the best-looking person in the restaurant is at our table! Thank you19 for your hospitality, and we also have to thank the person who traded their looks for a feast for us.”

“You are welcome,” the owner bowed courteously20 and directed the waiter to serve the food, “It is my honour to serve you21, Mr Qi Xingchen.”

The author has something to say:

Qi Xingxing: My idol can hypnotise, can encourage bicycles to speed up, can……

Bo Ye (petty): Oh, then why didn’t you sleep in the same room as me22?