CH 8

February 22, 2021kaychandra

Chapter 8: Exclusive Interview

Translated and Edited by KChandra

Gongxi Qiao’s second appearance at Red Light TV was treated differently than the first time. The difference between an ordinary customer and a VIP customer was the one-person dressing room, the best makeup team, and if Gongxi Qiao wasn’t dressed very appropriately, they would’ve had to prepare even his outfit.

The contrast between the cold treatment suffered a few days ago and the enthusiasm now was so great that He Peng, as an assistant, was a bit uncomfortable.

On the contrary, Gongxi Qiao felt that this was just human nature. The last time he came to the TV station, the staff here were not enthusiastic about him, but they were polite enough. To be able to do this was already considered good. Compared to the snobs he had seen in his previous life, this practice of the Red Light TV staff was nothing at all.

Everyone liked to respect the strong. It was human nature. So only by putting yourself in the right perspective could you look at things more objectively.

Liu Xue was originally a little worried that Gongxi Qiao would have a negative impression of the TV station because he wasn’t received warmly last time, which would result in not being too cooperative during the interview. But it seemed that the other party didn’t take the previous matter to heart and had no opinion on the station’s content.

Seeing that he looked normal, Liu Xue couldn’t help but ask once more, “Do you have any opinion about the script content?”

“It’s fine,” there were no unnecessary questions in the script, so Gongxi Qiao smiled as he closed the script and gently put it aside. “Except for the question and answer segment, am I free to act?”

Liu Xue nodded and the smile on her face became two parts more genuine as she stood up and said, “Let’s go to the studio now then?” She had seen a lot of young people who were proud of their fame, and had long been accustomed to the various conditions that could arise. Now suddenly there was such a person who had no conditions and was on top of things, and she actually felt a little uncomfortable.

“Daily Face to Face” was a talk show on Red Light TV that featured entertainers, experts from all walks of life, and people involved in some of the biggest events of the day. The ratings weren’t quite in the top three, but it had a certain popularity and a relatively stable viewership.

The original host of this program was another hostess, but the previous two weeks, because the hostess was about to give birth, it was hosted by Liu Xue instead. These few episodes of the show, unfortunately, the audience’s acceptance of her wasn’t as high as Liu Xue had expected.

The comments from the audience were clear in her mind, but she couldn’t show it on the surface. If the leaders of the station knew, she feared that even her position in the variety show world would be affected.

At the beginning of the recording, she introduced the identity of the guests as usual, and then gradually brought the topic to the audience’s interest.

“Some netizens commented that you are 360 degrees handsome without any dead angle, what do you think about this statement?”

“Hmm?” Gongxi Qiao’s face showed a slightly embarrassed and shy smile. Just like many newcomers facing the camera, he had a lot of uncomfortable moments, “I think the only thing that can achieve universal praise is the Yuan of Flower Country. I’m still too far from the Yuan’s charm.”

Liu Xue smiled lightly, with some flirtation in her tone, “I thought you would say ‘thank you to everyone, in fact, I’m not that handsome.'”

“A thousand people have a thousand Hamlets in their eyes.[1] I will thank those who say I’m handsome, and those who say I’m not handsome, I can’t help it because my looks are given by my parents and I can’t change them.” Gongxi Qiao rubbed his nose and said with difficulty, “But in comparison, I still like people to praise me as a handsome man.” After saying that, he clasped his hands together to the camera.

“It seems that Xiao Qiao prefers pure natural looks?” Liu Xue brought up the sensitive topic of the entertainment industry, “Then if your future girlfriend has plastic surgery, would you accept it?”

“It’s not that I’m promoting pure and natural. I think plastic surgery is quite painful and it’s quite remarkable to have the courage to do it,” Gongxi Qiao reached up and touched his face, “When you meet the right person, it doesn’t matter if you look good or not so whether you have plastic surgery or not, it’s also not important.”

“It seems that Xiao Qiao is an open-minded boy. There must have been many girls who liked you in school before,” Liu Xue said. “I heard that you just graduated and came to participate in the filming of ‘Princess of the Closed Moon’. What kind of reason made you engage in an acting career that’s completely different from your degree?”

“Try something if you like it,” said Gongxi Qiao with a smile, “My father told me that young people should try what they like, not wait until they’re old and then regret it. As long as I don’t do things that harm society, he and my mother are willing to support it.”

“It seems you are very happy to have such enlightened and caring parents,” Liu Xue’s eyes had some warmth. It was unclear whether this emotion was for Gongxi Qiao or for his parents.

“For me, they’re the best parents in the world,” the smile on Gongxi Qiao’s face became much more sincere, “I am very happy to have them in my life.”

On one side, the “Daily Face to Face” program was being recorded, and on the other side, Zhou Huaisheng sent out photos from his phone.

“When will it be released?” He considered for a moment and said to the person on the other end of the phone, “Tonight around eight o’clock at night, there are a lot of online users at that time. The more people there are the more lively it is.”

After hanging up the phone, he sneered. Chen Wen wanted to drag a newcomer to compete with him, but it wasn’t that easy. A little backstage support was nothing. In this circle, who did not have a little backstage support?

A newcomer who hadn’t yet emerged, stepping on him would be a simple matter, so let him learn how to behave.

“Huaisheng, do you really want to send that photo out?” Zhou Huaisheng’s agent looked at the photo on his phone. Because of the distance, the photo was a bit blurry, but it was enough to identify the person preparing to get into the car as Gongxi Qiao. The middle-aged man sitting in the car only showed half of his face, so even if the photo was exposed, no one would recognize who he was, and it wouldn’t offend the big shot.

“Send it! Why not send it?” Zhou Huaisheng lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth, looking somewhat intoxicated and took a puff, “Let me, a senior, teach him what modesty means.”

When the agent saw his insistence, the corner of his mouth twitched, but thinking that Gongxi Qiao was just an insignificant newcomer, he swallowed the words that were on his lips.

Towards the end of the recording of “Daily Face to Face”, Liu Xiu said, “I heard from Director Zhang that you are very good at playing the guqin, and you don’t need a body double at all when filming. If you don’t mind, can you perform a piece for us?”

“Actually, I’m not that good at it. I can barely play a song. Director Zhang has flattered me,” Gongxi Qiao turned his head and saw that the staff had already set up the zither stand at one side, even the guqin was already set up, so he smiled and stood up, “Then I’ll just have to make a fool of myself.”

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Gongxi Qiao only needed to take a look at the arrangement of the zither stand to know that the program team had taken great care in preparing the props, and the quality of the zither was much better than that of the “Princess of the Closed Moon” crew.

Playing the guqin wasn’t just about the technique, but also about the mood. Gongxi Qiao knew in his heart that his own slight level of play was only considered self-amusement. Compared to a colleague in his previous life who was skilled in the art of the zither, the difference was a hundred thousand miles.

Liu Xue didn’t know how to play the guqin, and she didn’t know what the tune Gongxi Qiao played was called, and she didn’t know if it was difficult or not, but she knew that the tune was beautiful, like someone was fishing by the river, and she was the one sitting by the river enjoying the scenery.

Relaxed and at ease, frank and comfortable.

After the song, Liu Xue stood up and applauded with the audience. She sighed: “I now believe the fans that, Xiao Qiao, you really are 360 degrees handsome. If one day someone tells me that you are proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, I will definitely not be surprised.”

Gongxi Qiao’s index finger lightly touched the string, smiled lightly and did not say anything.

After the recording of the program, Gongxi Qiao took a group photo with several staff members of the TV station before saying goodbye, and went downstairs to see his dad waiting outside the TV station again.

“Dad,” Gongxi Qiao quickly stepped forward, pulled open the car door and sat inside, “Didn’t you say you were going to negotiate a business deal today. Why did you have time to come over?”

“I just happened to finish negotiating with them, so I stopped by to see you,” Gongxi Xiong asked the driver to start the car, and then said, “Just now your mother called and asked when the program you recorded today would be broadcast, so she could keep an eye on the TV.”

“I heard from the program director before I left, if the editing and post-production catch up, it will be broadcast tonight at 8:30,” Gongxi Qiao said, smiling, “I even talked to the host today about you and mom.”

Gongxi Xiong tried to act as if he was full of concern and said, “What is there to say about me and your mother?” Only the twinkling eyes and the slightly red ears betrayed him.

“Why not talk about you and mom? You’re the most important people to me. If not you guys, who should I talk about?” Gongxi Qiao said with a smile, “If those people know that my dad is so rich and capable, they’ll be envious and jealous.”

“Cough, what nonsense,” Gongxi Xiong coughed dryly and unnaturally turned his head to the side, “Go home and rest well, we’ll watch TV together tonight.”

The driver glanced toward the rear view mirror and mentally wiped his sweat in silence. Boss, if your face wasn’t so red and your eyes weren’t so expectant, it would probably be a little more convincing.

T/N