CH 57

November 7, 2021kaychandra

Chapter 57: Visiting the Set

The rain hit the ground with a crashing sound. Gongxi Qiao turned around and walked quickly downstairs. When he arrived, there were already a lot of people standing in the hotel’s not-so-large lobby.

Xi Qing walked into the hall. The people present automatically made way for Xi Qing to pass.

“Big boss.” Producer Zhou gave a towel to each of the bodyguards carrying the stuff. “You’re here to visit the set?” He took a look at the things carried out of the cars. It was all fruits and vegetables, as well as vacuum-packed meat preserved with ice. Everything needed to cook hot pot was included.

However, why did the boss come to visit the set? Why didn’t anyone tell him?

“I heard that you guys are filming very hard. This just happened to be on the way, so I stopped by.” Xi Qing wiped his hands with a towel. His eyes scanned the room, and finally met Gongxi Qiao’s smiling eyes. “Are there any empty rooms over here? I’ll stay for two days.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go arrange it right away.” Producer Zhou counted the people Xi Qing brought here. Including Xi Qing, there were nine people in total. At least five rooms had to be prepared. He didn’t know if so many rooms would be available.

“I don’t want to be a bother. I’ll just squeeze in with Xiao Qiao,” Xi Qing said after exchanging pleasantries with the crew. He walked over to Gongxi Qiao and took a closer look before saying, “It looks like you’ve gotten tan and lost weight.”

“It’s normal to get a little tan from being in the sun every day.” Gongxi Qiao smiled at the rest of the crew before saying, “Let me take you back to the room.”

Xi Qing’s aura was out of place in the humble hotel building. However, Gongxi Qiao couldn’t see any dissatisfaction from him. Even after seeing the accumulated water on the balcony because of the heavy rain, there was no reaction.

Mi Yue and the others who were watching from the balcony had long since gone back to their rooms, so there were only the two of them on the balcony.

“The accommodations here aren’t very good, but the room is still clean.” Gongxi Qiao pushed open the door of his room and turned his head to Xi Qing who was following him. “It’s been raining so hard the last two days. Why did you come here?”

“I was just passing by.” Xi Qing walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. The bed wasn’t soft enough, and the white casing of the air conditioning unit on the wall was yellowed because it had been in use for too long.

Could you get to a place like this by just passing by?

Gongxi Qiao poured water into his usual water glass and put it where Xi Qing could grab it. “The road conditions here aren’t very good. I see a lot of mud on those cars outside.”

“It was okay.” The room was a little hot. Xi Qing unbuttoned two of his shirt buttons. “The day before yesterday, you told me on the phone that you wanted to eat hot pot. Today, I just brought over some ingredients for hot pot and other food. I’ll have someone cook hot pot for you later.”

Gongxi Qiao’s heart was slightly touched. He smiled and said, “Great, our whole crew is already craving it. Now that you brought this to us, our livelihood depends on you.”

Xi Qing pulled up the corners of his mouth and listened to Gongxi Qiao tell the interesting things that happened during the shooting in the past 20 days or so. Only after Gongxi Qiao had said almost everything did he suddenly say, “How is the injury on your hand?”

“It’s healed.” Gongxi Qiao didn’t expect Xi Qing to suddenly bring up this issue. It was a week ago and he didn’t even put much thought into it himself.

“Can you show it to me?” Xi Qing frowned slightly, his eyes fixed on Gongxi Qiao’s right hand.

“It’s really nothing.” Gongxi Qiao put his hand in front of Xi Qing. “Take a look.”

The hand was gently held. Xi Qing looked at the not-so-obvious scar on it and couldn’t help but say, “Did it hurt?”

“Such a small injury is nothing for a grown man.” Gongxi Qiao let Xi Qing grab his hand. His eyes widened slightly. “You didn’t come here because I mentioned on the phone the day before yesterday that I wanted to eat hot pot, and that I had a small injury on my hand a week ago, right?”

“No.” Xi Qing put down Gongxi Qiao’s hand and said in a calm tone, “The company is preparing to do a development project in a neighboring county. I just stopped by.”

Although he had just imagined some unrequited love[1], Gongxi Qiao didn’t feel embarrassed. Instead, he smiled and stopped mentioning the topic and talked to Xi Qing about other things.

In the lobby on the first floor of the hotel, Director Jiao and Producer Zhou sat in chairs and watched as the bodyguards brought by Xi Qing began unpacking boxes of ingredients and then occupied the hotel’s kitchen in a cool pose. In no time at all, the sound of clanking and chopping came from inside.

“Producer Zhou, the bodyguards of your company’s president are also good at cooking?” Director Jiao looked a little dumbfounded. This was the first time he had ever encountered a big shot of this caliber visiting a set, and doing so with such flair.

“I don’t know.” Producer Zhou coughed dryly, then said, “Maybe the bodyguards the big boss brought over this time all happen to know how to cook.”

Director Jiao nodded in understanding. The family heads of the big prestigious families must have professional bodyguard teams around them. A bodyguard who was liked by the head of a family had to have some special skills. It was only proper. It was just, the thought of Xi Qing coming to visit the set in person made him feel a bit flattered. It was incredible.

But he also knew in his heart, if it weren’t for Gongxi Qiao being in the crew, Xi Qing certainly wouldn’t have braved the rain and come to suffer here in the boonies[2]. He looked at Producer Zhou with some doubts, “Everyone outside says President Xi is uncaring, but I think he’s very considerate.”

Knowing what the crew lacked, they brought over everything they needed. Even the bodyguards who came with them were good at cooking. How could such a considerate family head be described as uncaring?

“Then you haven’t seen his vigorous and resolute state at work. No one who ever tries to play on his feelings in front of him has ever succeeded.” Producer Zhou had a good relationship with Director Jiao, so he was willing to talk to him more. “The big boss took over the company when he was only twenty-four. His parents died when he was a teenager. Within a few years, his grandfather, who had been supporting him, also died of illness. He was a young man, and he managed to shoulder the Xi Group and make it grow better and better. Such ability isn’t something that ordinary people can have.” At this point, Producer Zhou lowered his voice and said, “I heard that when he first took over the Xi Group two years ago, many people from the side branches of the Xi family wanted to kill him. If he didn’t have sufficient skills, I’m afraid he would have been reunited with his parents by now.”

Director Jiao sighed when he heard these words. In that case, this Xi family head wasn’t living a good life. There wasn’t a single family member who treated him sincerely, and those who were sincere to him had all passed away. Now he had become the envy of everyone, but how many people really cared about him?

It was no wonder that he seldom heard any romance news about him. He was afraid that such a person wouldn’t easily trust people who approached him, because wouldn’t know what purpose those who approached him had, and whether they wanted his money or his life.

Thinking of this, Director Jiao lamented, “It’s not easy for Gongxi Qiao to become friends with him.”

Producer Zhou nodded in agreement. Although he didn’t know how these two people with completely different personalities came together, he was sure that the big boss valued Gongxi Qiao very much.

In the room, Xi Qing had already fallen asleep. Gongxi Qiao sighed softly as he looked at the dark circles under his eyes. He adjusted the air conditioner temperature and covered the person on the bed with the blanket. He took the script and sat down by the window, listening to the sound of the rain outside, with some mixed feelings.

He opened his right palm and looked at the scar on it. He laughed a little.

Although it wasn’t clear whether Xi Qing really came to visit the set on the way to somewhere or not, he was sure that before rushing over, the other person hadn’t had a good rest for a few days. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be sleeping so heavily now.

Turning a page of the script, the first sentence at the beginning was the dialogue between the Venerable Immortal Yunheng and his senior brother.

“All things in this world begin with karma, grow with the heart, and determine their end according to fortune. All suffering is just self-seeking trouble and the inability to see through karmic origins.”

After savoring these words, Gongxi Qiao gently scratched his chin with his index finger and laughed softly.

The rain didn’t seem to be stopping. Gongxi Qiao was more able to calm down in this atmosphere and read the script quietly until there was a knock on the door.

He glanced at Xi Qing who was sleeping on the bed, then got up and opened the door. The person who came knocking was a bodyguard, carrying a suitcase in his hand.

“Hello Qiao Shao, this is the boss’s suitcase.” The bodyguard noticed that Xi Qing was sleeping on the bed, so he kept his voice low, put the suitcase in the corner, and left.

Gongxi Qiao looked at the suitcase and smiled, continuing to sit back and read the script.

Xi Qing opened his eyes and saw the young man sitting by the window looking down at the script. Even though the other person was just wearing an ordinary T-shirt and jeans, in his opinion, the picture was incredibly beautiful.

“You’re awake?” The young man sitting by the window suddenly turned around and gave him a gentle smile that felt like it had broken into his heart, causing his heart to start to heat up.

“Yeah.” Xi Qing sat up, looked at his wrinkled shirt, and frowned.

“You can change your clothes first, then we’ll go down for dinner.” Gongxi Qiao was looking forward to it. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had hot pot, I miss it.”

Xi Qing opened his suitcase and took out a large bag of snacks and put it on the bed, then took out a set of clothes.

The bathroom for each room of the hotel was very small, just a square meter of space. When Xi Qing changed his clothes he felt a bit constrained.

“Did you bring these snacks just for me?” Gongxi Qiao’s voice came from outside the bathroom.

Xi Qing’s hand holding the shirt gave a slight pause and he said uncomfortably, “Before I came, I heard your father say you like to eat these, so I brought them here for you.”

“Da Xi, thank you so much.”

The bathroom door was very poorly soundproofed, so he clearly heard the sound of unpacking the snack bags. He quickly changed his clothes. He looked up at himself in the mirror and realized that he couldn’t hide the smile in his eyes and eyebrows.

Seeing Xi Qing come out, Gongxi Qiao put down the snack bag in his hand, swallowed the beef jerky in his mouth and said, “Come on, let’s go down and see if the hot pot is ready.”

When Chen Yi and Dai Ni came out of their room, they met Gongxi Qiao and Xi Qing, who had just left the room. When they saw Xi Qing coming out of Gongxi Qiao’s room, Chen Yi and Dai Ni both froze for a moment.

“Sister Dai, Brother Chen,” Gongxi Qiao greeted them with a big smile when he saw them, “What a coincidence!”

“We heard that President Xi brought a lot of food. How could we sit still?” Dai Ni smiled politely at Xi Qing. “We’d like to say thank you to President Xi here first.”

“You’re welcome.” Xi Qing nodded and looked at Gongxi Qiao, “Thank you for taking care of Xiao Qiao.”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.” Dai Ni smiled. Chen Yi stayed two steps behind Xi Qing and they walked together towards the stairs.

Even a blind man could see that Xi Qing had come specifically for Gongxi Qiao this time. Looking at the two men walking side by side in front of her, her feelings were very complicated. She was used to intrigue. She really didn’t expect that someone would actually travel so far just to give something to a friend. Not to mention, this was Xi Qing, a big shot whose schedule was calculated by the second, who made a long and difficult journey to come to the boonies. It couldn’t be to view the scenery.

The table was set up downstairs in the hall. The electric wok was placed squarely in the center of the table, and the ingredients were placed neatly on the plates. The hot pot ingredients that were being cooked gurgled, giving off a tantalizing aroma.

Gongxi Qiao took Xi Qing to sit down. Chen Yi and Dai Ni also had the honor of sharing a table with Xi Qing because of Gongxi Qiao’s presence.

Soon the crew had all arrived. Who would dare let Master Xi wait, ah. So when Gongxi Qiao was seated, less than ten minutes later, everyone was sitting around the table.

Lin Yu, Director Jiao, and Producer Zhou were at the same table with Gongxi Qiao. With Xi Qing present, these people who were usually held in high regard by everyone in the crew, were extraordinarily polite. On the contrary, Gongxi Qiao alone threw off his inhibitions and ate till he was drenched in sweat, and Xi Qing was next to him giving him food, so he ate really comfortably.

In the beginning, everyone toasted Xi Qing, but with Xi Qing’s serious face, no one dared to drink their wine. Director Jiao and Lin Yu, the scriptwriter, were okay. They just barely had enough free rein to eat. However, the others were much more restrained.

After the tender beef rolls were cooked and swirled in the oil dish, the taste in the mouth was simply delicious.

Although Dai Ni, Chen Yi, Ma Qian and Ji Yuming all ate the meal without knowing what they were eating, they would still have been willing to share the table with Xi Qing even if they weren’t allowed to move their chopsticks.

“The seaweed slices are cooked,” said Gongxi Qiao, using a spoon to pick up a few pieces and put them into Xi Qing’s bowl with the communal chopsticks. “I remember you like to eat this.”

When he went out to eat with Xi Qing, there was an old duck and seaweed soup, and he noticed Xi Qing always picking up the shredded seaweed inside, so he guessed he would like this.

The taste of this seaweed wasn’t as fresh and tender as Bai Wei Xuan’s carefully selected ones, but Xi Qing ate it extra seriously. His heart couldn’t help but think that even if this person never liked him in his life, at least he had noticed what Xi Qing liked and cared about him, so he didn’t have many regrets.

“Want to try this one too?” Gongxi Qiao picked up a piece of yam from the plain soup. “I think it’s not bad.”

Seeing Xi Qing didn’t refuse, Gongxi Qiao put the yam into his bowl. “You sometimes don’t eat on time. You need to eat something to nourish your stomach.”

“Okay.” Xi Qing smiled.

Producer Zhou looked at the smile on Xi Qing’s face in horror, and looked at Gongxi Qiao as if he was looking at a miracle.

Dai Ni next to him looked at Gongxi Qiao and Xi Qing thoughtfully, and after a long time, she smiled and shook her head.

“What are you thinking about?” Chen Yi put a chicken wing into her bowl.

“Nothing.” Dai Ni whispered in his ear, “I’m just thinking, I think my brain is a bit weird.”

“Weird?” Chen Yi looked at her in disbelief.

Even she herself felt that this idea was really strange, so she was embarrassed to say it. Seeing Chen Yi ask, she just shook her head.

These two people, could it be ……?