CH 65

November 11, 2021kaychandra

Chapter 65: Being a Guest (Part 2)

Gongxi Qiao was a little confused when he woke up. He held the blanket for a moment before remembering that this wasn’t his home, but Xi Qing’s villa.

He sat up from the sofa and didn’t see Xi Qing. He was about to stand up and find someone when he saw Xi Qing walking out from the kitchen with a fruit plate in his hands. “You’re awake?”

“What time is it?” He reached out and stabbed a piece of kiwi fruit from the fruit plate with a silver skewer and put it in his mouth. Gongxi Qiao rubbed his eyes.

“It’s already one in the afternoon. Go wash your hands and get ready for lunch.” When he saw him skewer another piece of kiwi fruit, Xi Qing couldn’t help but say, “Don’t eat too much fruit, or you won’t be able to eat later.”

“Oh.” Gongxi Qiao nodded while skewering another piece of fruit and putting it in his mouth.

Seeing this, Xi Qing smiled helplessly and turned to indicate to a maid in the corner that they could have lunch.

The table in the dining room was very luxurious and beautiful, but in Gongxi Qiao’s opinion, such a large table was a bit empty for Xi Qing to use alone. So, when he was seated, he chose the seat directly next to the head of the table rather than the one opposite Xi Qing at the long table.

A total of eight dishes and two soups were served. Although all of them were just home-cooked dishes, they basically smelled, looked, and tasted great. It was clear that the chefs of the Xi family were masters.

The only thing that was a little out of place was a shiitake mushroom and choy sum[1] dish. Probably because the fire was too hot when it was fried, the color of the choy sum was green and black, and it was soft and droopy, and mixed with the shiitake mushroom slices, it didn’t look good at all.

Noticing that Gongxi Qiao’s eyes fell on his own failed dish, Xi Qing said uncomfortably, “First try the dishes, to see what suits your tastes.”

Perhaps considering that he had a cold, the dishes on the table weren’t spicy, but they tried as much as possible to make them to his taste.

The chef certainly didn’t know what kind of dishes he liked to eat, so the chef could only make these dishes because Xi Qing, the master, had specially ordered them.

After drinking a small bowl of soup, Gongxi Qiao began to pick up his chopsticks to taste test the dishes. The first one he put his chopsticks on was the shiitake mushroom and choy sum dish that was furthest away from him.

It was too overcooked, a little bit mushy in the mouth, not salty enough, and a little bland and tasteless, but even so, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he picked up another bite with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth before starting on another plate.

“Is the shooting going well?” Xi Qing noticed that Gongxi Qiao had already taken his fifth bite of the shiitake and choy sum. The discomfort on his face slowly disappeared and he began to find topics to chat with Gongxi Qiao about.

“It’s okay. The crew are all experienced seniors in the circle. I’ve learned a lot,” said Gongxi Qiao after swallowing the rice in his mouth and taking a sip of his warm milk. “But seeing the crew’s attitude of striving for excellence, it should cost a lot of money. How much money did you actually invest in this drama?”

Xi Qing thought carefully. “The finance department has a professional budget, so you don’t have to worry about running out of money.”

Gongxi Qiao:……

The focus seemed to be a little off.

Noticing that Gongxi Qiao’s expression wasn’t right, Xi Qing asked, “What’s wrong?”

Gongxi Qiao shook his head, “No.” The real tycoon was here. He was just a small-scale tycoon in comparison.

“When is ‘The Greatest Warrior’ going to be released?” Xi Qing remembered that Xiao Qiao had invested tens of millions of yuan in it. If the box office wasn’t good after it was released, it would be Xiao Qiao’s money that was lost.

“It might be a few months. I heard from Director Wang that he seems to be planning to participate in a foreign film festival.” As a hands-off boss, Gongxi Qiao didn’t bother with the post-production editing of ‘The Greatest Warrior’ and there were professionals in charge of the publicity, so if the production crew didn’t report to him regularly, he might not even know how the post-production of the film was going.

Although he wasn’t too interested in the domestic film and television industry, Xi Qing also knew that the international recognition of domestic film and television pieces wasn’t great. Therefore, he was a little surprised to hear that ‘The Greatest Warrior’ was going to participate in a foreign film festival. “Which film festival?”

“It seems to be…… Iris Country’s Golden Leaf International Film Festival[2].” Gongxi Qiao thought carefully. “I think that’s the one.”

Compared to the Little Golden Man International Film Festival in Midi Country[3], where it was almost impossible for Flower Country to win prizes, the Golden Leaf Film Festival in Iris Country was much friendlier. At least Flower Country had gotten some good awards at that film festival. However, the Golden Leaf Awards preferred Flower Country’s films with themes about suffering. A martial arts work like ‘The Greatest Warrior’ might have some difficulty in getting a prestigious award.

Xi Qing also knew this, so he didn’t keep talking about this topic. He was worried that the greater Gongxi Qiao’s hopes were, the greater his disappointment would be.

Xi Qing, who wasn’t a big talker at the dinner table, just finished a meal with Gongxi Qiao talking and laughing, and finished off half a bowl of rice and half a bowl of soup more than usual. It was obvious that a familial small-talk style of eating was good for the appetite.

The eight dishes and two soups weren’t very lavish to serve guests, but after all, there were only two people eating. So, when the meal was finished, except for the shiitake mushroom and choy sum dish, which was mostly eaten, none of the other dishes were more than half-eaten.

After eating, the two had nothing to do, so they simply made a pot of tea and headed to the greenhouse to drink tea and chat.

The Xi family’s greenhouse was huge, and there were many rare varieties of flowers inside. However, looking at Xi Qing’s appearance, he didn’t seem too interested in flowers and plants.

Noticing that Gongxi Qiao seemed to be interested in these flowers and plants, Xi Qing poured the brewed tea into a cup and explained, “My father was a lover of flowers. These flowers were all treasures he collected when he was alive. After he passed away, I hired someone to take care of them. If there’s something you like, I’ll have someone send it to you.”

Hearing Xi Qing mention his parents for the first time, Gongxi Qiao withdrew his attention from the flowers and plants and sat down next to Xi Qing. “These flowers are well taken care of. If they were left with me to raise, and they died, it would be a pity.” He was now an entertainer. Sometimes he would go out on location and simply didn’t have enough time to take care of these flowers.

“That’s fine. Whenever you want to see them, you can come over.” Xi Qing pushed the teacup towards Gongxi Qiao. “To me, these flowers are just a bunch of flowers whose names and varieties I don’t know. If you come to look at them when you have time, they won’t be wasted.”

In Xi Qing’s few plain words, Gongxi Qiao could hear the hint of loneliness. He reached out his hand to take the cup, paused distractedly for a moment, then smiled and said, “Okay.”

At this time, his personal cell phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and saw that it was a call from Chen Ke.

Chen Ke gave him good news. It turned out that the public service announcement he had made with the National Station was going to be broadcast in full on more than ten National Station channels tonight. It was a great opportunity for him to raise his status now.

After hanging up the phone, Gongxi Qiao picked up his cup of tea and took a sip. It was delicious and refreshing, a rare good tea.

Xi Qing didn’t ask what the matter was about, but Gongxi Qiao briefly described it.

“I used to think about something very seriously some time ago.” Xi Qing put down his teacup. There was a bitter smile on his face that Gongxi Qiao had never seen before. “What kind of person would be worthy of someone as good as you?”

“Did you come to a conclusion now?” Gongxi Qiao turned the teacup in his hand, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

Xi Qing looked up at him, shook his head and nodded. “I came to a conclusion that’s not really a conclusion.”

Gongxi Qiao didn’t ask him what his conclusion was. He just said, “In fact, as good as I am, whoever looks at it, you’re many times better than me. I should be the one to express such a sentiment.”

“If you were me, you probably wouldn’t be worse than me. But if I were you, I probably wouldn’t be better than you.” Xi Qing shook his head. “Those people don’t know you, so they don’t know how good you are.”

“Those people don’t know me?” Gongxi Qiao raised his eyebrows, smiling. “Do you know me better?”

The expression on Xi Qing’s face was a little uncomfortable. He looked at Gongxi Qiao and hesitated for a moment, then honestly shook his head. “I don’t know you well enough either, but I want to know you better.”

“Sometimes friends grow distant from knowing each other too well.” Gongxi Qiao held his chin in one hand. “Maybe when you understand me completely, you’ll regret having me as a friend.”

“No,” Xi Qing said while looking at him, “because I know myself.”

Gongxi Qiao gave a smile with an unknown meaning. He picked up the teapot on the table to refill Xi Qing’s tea and slowly refilled his own. “Haven’t you ever thought that I might use your identity to seek benefits for me and for my family? You know in your heart that although fans call me Qiao Shao, in reality, my family’s small wealth is like a mosquito leg in the eyes of you prestigious families, not worth mentioning.”

Xi Qing looked deeply at him. “Sometimes, I actually hope that you could get closer to me because of this. I have nothing. All I have is the identity of the head of the Xi family.”

There was a moment of silence in the greenhouse, which was broken by Gongxi Qiao’s laughter. “What makes you say that about yourself?”

“What I have, you don’t lack. What you have, I don’t necessarily have.” Xi Qing lowered his eyelids, looking at the undulating tea leaves in his cup. His voice was calm and devoid of any emotion. “Perhaps, this status as the head of the Xi family, for that matter, has no value.”

Sometimes when you like a person, you couldn’t help but notice everything about him, unwilling to let go of even a small action. It was said that Qiao Shao was gentle and courteous. However, he was clear that the person sitting next to him, under the flawless skin, wasn’t such a gentle soul.

Xiao Qiao’s words and actions were thoughtful and courteous to the noble sons of the prestigious families, and not a trace of negligence could be picked out. However, he could feel that deep inside Xiao Qiao’s heart, those noble sons of the prestigious families weren’t much different from passersby on the street.

Because he had the ability to let himself live the same privileged life, he wasn’t a bit envious of what others had. He wouldn’t condescend to please Xi Qing. His courteous manners were just a matter of his code of conduct.

T/N: