CH 63

TL: Hua

When Qi Xiaoyu woke up the next day, Xun Qian was no longer in the room.

Hotel Manager Zhong personally brought someone to deliver breakfast, saying that Xun Qian had left for work.

Qi Xiaoyu didn’t have time to think much. He didn’t know whether he was too tired yesterday or too excited. He had a lot of romantic dreams at night, and he overslept and got up late in the morning.

Zheng Peizu sent him a message saying that he had arrived and asked him when he would arrive.

He replied, then hurriedly got up to wash and eat… He was naked and worried about his underwear, thinking that it was a good thing that Xun Qian had left for work.

It was all because he let himself go in the dream yesterday that he made a mess.

He was struggling with whether to wash and dry it and then wear it or buy a new one when he suddenly saw a large wardrobe with four doors in the bedroom.

He originally thought it was just a wardrobe for people to put clothes in temporarily, but when he opened it, he found that it was full of clothes and accessories—from woolen coats to cuffs and bow ties, pajamas and home clothes—everything was available; even underwear and socks were neatly arranged in a whole drawer.

Qi Xiaoyu pulled out a few clothes out of curiosity and took a look. They were not Xun Qian’s size, but they were all prepared according to his size.

This place, from the decorations to the clothes, looks completely tailor-made for him. What does Xun Qian want to do?

His phone rang twice again. Qi Xiaoyu guessed that it was to urge him to go over quickly, so he didn’t have time to think about anything else. He closed the wardrobe door, changed into clean underwear, and went out.

Zheng Peizu has arranged the meeting at a Sichuan restaurant.

When Qi Xiaoyu arrived, the others were already seated.

The main creative staff of “The Turmoil in Mangchuan,”  from the director to the actors, are very young, about 20 to 30 years old.

They were obviously very reserved when they saw Qi Xiaoyu.

Even though Qi Xiaoyu was about the same age as them, or even younger, they all said, “Hello, Teacher Qi.”

Qi Xiaoyu came over, greeted Zheng Peizu first, then pulled out a chair and sat down, smiling, “Sorry, I’m late.”

Then he started from the person closest to him, stretched out his hand to introduce himself, “Is this Director Lu? Hello, I’m Qi Xiaoyu. You can also call me Xiaoyu.”

The director named Lu Zuo couldn’t help but be surprised that Qi Xiaoyu could call out his name at a glance.

Lu Zuo had a full beard and a head of thick hair that was unkempt and looked a little messy. He was not tall, about 160 cm, and wore a pair of black-framed glasses. He gave off the temperament of an artistic person.

He was the oldest among the crew, but he was only 30 years old. He started making movies in college and has been working hard for almost 10 years. Having seen all kinds of human warmth and coldness, all his sharpness and arrogance have been worn away. In order to make movies, he couldn’t even afford steamed buns when he was at his lowest.

When he came to see Qi Xiaoyu today, the image he had in mind was an investor and a popular traffic star, so even if he was a bit condescending, it was a matter of course.

But he didn’t expect Qi Xiaoyu to have such a gentle personality and sincere kindness; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to call his name at a glance.

Lu Zuo quickly stood up and shook Qi Xiaoyu’s stretched hand, “Hello, Teacher Qi.”

Qi Xiaoyu smiled and exchanged a few words with Lu Zuo, praised his talent in movies, and then greeted and introduced himself to the other people at the table one by one.

He could basically call out the names of everyone present.

This is actually not a difficult thing to do. There are only two people behind the scenes, one Lu Zuo and one screenwriter, and they are both signed in the title.

The other three or four were the main cast. He had seen them all when he watched the sample film, and he took note of everyone’s name.

But such an action of his was very good at winning goodwill.

When these young, unknown actors shook hands with Qi Xiaoyu, their hands were obviously shaking with excitement and nervousness.

The entire crew had not yet become famous.

They gathered together purely for their dreams, but along the way, they suffered setbacks and frustrations.

All the money they had collected before was spent on the venue and equipment, but the funds were still not enough, and they even had to stop the shooting for a while.

They were treated coldly in other places, let alone in front of an investor like Qi Xiaoyu.

So when Qi Xiaoyu came late, no one dared to say anything.

They were all prepared to have a meal with the investor in fear, never expecting it to be a pleasant one instead.

Zheng Peizu sat next to them and gave them a calm smile, as if to say, see, I told you not to worry. The investor I brought to you guys is very reliable.

After the introduction, Qi Xiaoyu carefully asked about the progress of their filming and the publicity arrangements after encountering difficulties.

He also talked with Lu Zuo about filming.

He had learned a lot of filming techniques from Wang Mingge before, and recently read relevant books. When he talked about this with Lu Zuo, he didn’t feel like an amateur at all.

He carried himself very humbly, but not excessively, which only made people feel respectful and more friendly.

Speaking of which, Qi Xiaoyu actually had his own plans. When Yu Xiaosheng told him that Star Entertainment was about to fail, he was thinking that after he had enough money, he would buy Star Entertainment and start his own company as a boss.

Since he had entered the industry, he had carefully calculated the ratio of the money he earned on his own from each activity to the company’s share and had observed the ratio of the entertainment company’s inputs and outputs on the artists.

There’s only so much money he can make on his own, no matter how hard he works. He had to be his own boss and invest appropriately in financial management.

He had seen how his master managed a troupe and learned some skills. If he learned from Xun Qian and Zhang Han, managing a modern company should not be a problem.

Compared to running an entertainment company, the more difficult part is how to recruit potential artists.

Except for Ren Fei, he has looked at the other artists at Star Entertainment and found that none of them have the qualifications to develop long-term or become popular in the entertainment industry.

On the contrary, he thinks the newcomers in “The Turmoil in Mangchuan” are not bad. They have not signed a contract with a company yet. He thought it would be best to sign them over if he bought Star Entertainment in the future.

They had a two-hour meal.

When they left after dinner, the actors of “The Turmoil in Mangchuan” were much more relaxed and invited Qi Xiaoyu to attend the movie premiere.

Lu Zuo, in particular, almost regarded Qi Xiaoyu as his confidant and mentor. He reluctantly said to Zheng Peizu and Qi Xiaoyu, “Since I entered the industry, the luckiest thing for me, Lu Zuo, is to meet Mr. Zheng and Mr. Qi.”

After meeting the main creators of “The Turmoil in Mangchuan,”  Qi Xiaoyu concentrated on other trivial matters, such as several interviews with the crew of “The Legend of the Tang Dynasty Empress” and some variety shows, all of which were arranged to be completed within a few days, leaving more than ten days to prepare for the audition of “The Departed.”

The background of the story of “The Departed” is set in a period of foreign invasion and warlords fighting.

The story told the different choices, destinies, and paths of the common people under such a turbulent background.

According to the news, Tang Yuning has been determined to be the male lead.

After reading the script, Qi Xiaoyu chose the second male lead, a declining aristocratic son, who was conservative, dandy, morbid, and greedy for pleasure, and finally died along with the cannon fire in his homeland. Not an outright bad guy, certainly not a good guy.

Qi Xiaoyu chose this role because he remembered that in the original book, this role was named and played by someone else.

He felt that he had changed some things in the original book, but he was not sure if everything could be changed, especially the things related to Tang Yuning, or whether he could change them completely.

In addition, Ma Weiye was involved in this matter, and it was estimated that he had ulterior motives.

He asked Zhang Han to check Ma Weiye’s background before, and he found out that he was really just a photographer.

This made Qi Xiaoyu confused and worried, so he could only wait until he joined the crew to slowly find out.

When Qi Xiaoyu was at home, he carefully studied the script while accompanying Xun Qian in rehabilitation.

It could be said that his career was going smoothly now, and his life in Xun’s house was also comfortable and happy.

But Xun Qian’s rehabilitation has never improved, which is the most worrying thing for him.

He called Song Yue, and the other party was full of doubt and helplessness, “We have tried all kinds of methods in the past half a month. It stands to reason that even if the Third Master can’t stand up, his legs should be getting better, but the current situation… is a bit abnormal.”

Qi Xiaoyu’s heart tightened. The rehabilitation mentioned in a few sentences in the original book turned out to be so difficult to experience.

Song Yue paused for a moment and then suggested, “Mr. Qi, can you take him to a psychological consultation to see if it’s a psychological problem. If he suffered psychological trauma when he was injured, it may also lead to difficulties in later rehabilitation.

Also… he seems to be under a lot of pressure recently. Can you help him relieve the pressure… It’s not good for his body if he’s stressing himself out.”

Qi Xiaoyu agreed, “Okay, I’ll try my best.”

But Xun Qian has been especially busy lately, only coming out of her room during meals. Zhang Han had also been coming in and out with documents.

He was so busy that he couldn’t even find time to go to rehabilitation as usual. He only went there twice intermittently, not to mention seeing a psychologist.

Judging from Zhang Han’s expression, it’s all urgent.

Qi Xiaoyu knows a little about the current situation of Xun’s family.

Xun’s family business is so big. There are people outside eyeing it covetously, and there are moles inside making trouble; it’s not so easy to clean up.

Xun Qian usually doesn’t tell Qi Xiaoyu about work, so he knows not to disturb Xun Qian. After thinking about it, he can only start with what Song Yue said to help him relieve stress.

He studied for a while and found that there were still twenty days left for Xun Qian’s birthday.

He remembered that on his birthday, Xun Qian traveled thousands of miles to New Zealand to prepare a surprise for him.

He also remembered their promise to celebrate their 27th birthday well.

So while preparing for the audition, he carefully thought about how to celebrate Xun Qian’s birthday.

He thought about it for a while and decided to call Kang Qitao and ask, “Teacher Kang, is it convenient to rent your recording studio for a day?”

Xun Qian should like “A Dream of Spring Boudoir” very much.

He planned to record the most classic choruses of it and make a disk for him.

The phonograph was always in Xun Qian’s room, so he could listen to it anytime he wanted.

Hearing that Qi Xiaoyu wanted to borrow the recording studio, Kang Qitao thought that he was going to release a song and said in surprise, “Xiaoyu, do you want to record songs and prepare to release an album? Why didn’t you tell me in advance? How is the progress now? I’ll help you check it out.”

Qi Xiaoyu knew that Kang Qitao had misunderstood and answered generously, “I’m not releasing an album myself; I want to record a song to give to someone.”

Kang Qitao immediately understood, thinking that Qi Xiaoyu really didn’t listen to his advice last time. He felt a little melancholy, a little disappointed, and sighed, “You put in so much effort. I hope you won’t be let down.”

After saying that, Kang Qitao probably felt that this sentence was a bit too much, and smiled, “Which day do you want to use it? Just tell me, I’ll ask someone to arrange it.”

Qi Xiaoyu thanked Kang Qitao, considered the time they had already arranged, and decided to go record next Wednesday.

After deciding on this, he searched for a lot of recipes in advance, looked through all the cuisines from all over the country, took into account Xun Qian’s taste and the combination of dishes, and carefully selected ten dishes to prepare for Xun Qian on his birthday.

He also calculated the work arrangements before and after Xun Qian’s birthday. If he successfully passed the audition, he would probably have to film with the crew during that period, and he would have to discuss it with the crew in advance.

Although there were so many things to do, Qi Xiaoyu didn’t feel tired at all when he thought about the arrival of Xun Qian’s birthday, and he was even full of expectations.