CH 70

October 26, 2022kaychandra

Chapter 70: I’m a Hypocrite

“This is what you call a good idea!” Bai Zhong threw the weekly entertainment magazine in his hand in front of his men, anger still on his face.

The weekly magazine was printed with a large color page in which Gongxi Qiao was wearing a hat and dining with Xi Qing with his head bowed, and the news headline was ‘Qiao Shao fearlessly dines with Master Xi’. His subordinate dared not read the content of the report. However, as it stood now, his previous provocation methods were of no use at all.

Why was this different from what they expected? Not to mention a rich second generation with status like Gongxi Qiao, even ordinary people, after this happened, would avoid suspicion a little. Why did Gongxi Qiao act like nothing happened, but instead publicized his brotherly relationship with Xi Qing? 

“This kind of tactic is good for intimidating fake-virtuous poor and pedantic people. This kind of upstart nouveau riche family won’t fall for it.” Bai Zhong sulked, “You’re not digging a hole for Xi Qing, you’re helping him pursue his man.”

His subordinate also had some grievances in his heart. Although he was earning his living at the hands of Bai Zhong, he wasn’t a dog to be scolded by him. Bai Zhong’s attitude was treating him like a lackey.

“All right, you don’t need to concern yourself with this matter. If you can’t handle the small things well, how can you handle the big things? Withdraw.” Bai Zhong waved his hand, very suspicious of this man’s ability to do things. His words showed a bit of contempt.

“Go do it yourself if you can, I’m not serving you anymore!” The man grabbed the entertainment weekly magazine on the table and stuck it on Bai Zhong’s face, “Every day, you watch the Xi Group, but it’s a pity that Xi Qing ignores you. You only know how to take out your anger on us employees, you stupid ****.”[1]

After cursing, the man tugged on the bow tie around his neck, turned around and rushed out of the office. In the hallway, he ran into Bai Qi, who was wearing glasses, and just grunted, and left without looking back.

After a subordinate stuck something on his face, Bai Zhong’s expression was very ugly. He took the weekly magazine off his face and threw it to the ground, stomping on it.

“What’s wrong with you, cousin?” Bai Qi walked to the door and looked at the magazine that was stepped on by Bai Zhong with a smirk, “Who made you angry?”

When Bai Zhong noticed that it was him, the anger on his face intensified and his eyes were full of coldness and mockery, “What are you doing here?”

As if not noticing the emotion in his eyes, Bai Qi walked into the office and sat down on the leather chair, smiling, “Anger hurts your body. It’s not good, cousin.”

“You don’t need to be concerned about how I’m doing,” Bai Zhong said with a cold snort, “If you have the energy to come here, it’s better to spend your time playing with the little pretty boy that you’re keeping.”

“How can some showboy[2] who’s not fit to be seen with in public compare to my cousin……” he said with a smile as he looked around the opulent office, “how can he be more important than my cousin?”

Bai Zhong’s face sank as he looked at him, and the coldness in his eyes became more and more obvious.

After the weather entered autumn, the ‘Cultivation’ crew felt much more relaxed. At least the amount of sunscreen used by the artists was significantly reduced, not to mention the not-so-good-tasting heat protection soup.

For the sake of authenticity, the crew spent nearly ten days filming the fight scenes between the Demon Sect and the Immortal Sect. Because of Director Jiao’s obsession with perfection, even if one of the main actors was only seen in the background of the shot occasionally, the real person was required to be on camera and no body double could be used.

The good thing was that the crew was well-funded and could tolerate such torment, so although the shooting was a bit tiring, everyone had no problem with it.

“Xiao Zhao ah, be serious and pay more attention.[3] Qian Qian fought with Chen Yi in front, and you were lazily kicking around in the back. What does that look like?

Zhao Yikun made an apologetic gesture toward Chen Yi and Ma Qian, and had to raise his sword and try to make his fight with the bit-player a little more intense.

It wasn’t easy to play a cold and ruthless villain, ah.

After one scene, everyone was tired and gasping for breath. The assistants handed out water and towels, and Xiao Yao even thoughtfully slipped a cell phone into Gongxi Qiao’s hand.

Gongxi Qiao took a look at the phone. There were two unread text messages in it. They were from Xi Qing, saying that he would be picked up in the afternoon to go back to the estate for dinner.

“By the way, Qiao Shao, just now Aunt Luo called and said that she can return to work at your villa this afternoon.” Xiao Yao said, “She also told me to tell you thank you for your help.”

Gongxi Qiao’s hand pressing the screen paused for a moment and he returned the call to Aunt Luo.

“Aunt Luo, is uncle feeling better?” Gongxi Qiao said in a gentle tone, “In that case, take care of him at home for a few more days. It just so happens that I have an appointment to stay with a friend for a couple of days recently, so I won’t be there when you return to the villa.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, uncle’s health is important.” Gongxi Qiao hung up the phone, looked down and opened his text messages and replied to Xi Qing with the word “okay”.

“Qiao Shao, this child is really……” Aunt Luo hung up the phone and looked back at her old husband. He said he had an appointment to live with a friend, but it was probably only to avoid making things difficult for her.

Sometimes, a person’s appearance was so perfect that even if he told the truth, others would automatically add a beautification halo to him.

Gongxi Qiao didn’t know that Aunt Luo had created such a wonderful misunderstanding. After he handed his phone to Xiao Yao, he lay back in his chair and closed his eyes to recuperate. The explosive incident a few days ago didn’t bring him much impact. Instead, it let a lot of fans know that he had a good relationship with Ji Yuming, and Ji fans kept apologizing under his Weibo because of the previous misunderstanding.

Luckily, he and Ji Yuming had a good relationship and didn’t let this mishap affect their feelings. On the contrary, they became a bit closer. Even when Liang Li, Ji Yuming’s family member, came to visit the set, they invited him to be a guest in their home.

Now the whole crew loved to joke about Gongxi Qiao and Ji Yuming, saying that Gongxi Qiao shouldn’t call Ji Yuming brother, but uncle.

“Why are you sleeping again?” Zhao Yikun walked to Gongxi Qiao’s side and reached out to take away the script that was covering his face, “I think all you do besides filming is sleeping. How can you memorize your lines?”

Gongxi Qiao opened his eyes and looked at him lazily, “Because I have a high IQ.”

Zhao Yikun:……

“Has no one ever told you that you should be humble?”

Gongxi Qiao snatched back the script from Zhao Yikun’s hand and put it on his stomach, yawning slowly. “Could it be that people often tell you that?”

“I said, how can you still sleep?” Zhao Yikun saw his lazy appearance and boiled with anger. He held his breath for several moments before lowering his voice and saying, “The Bai family is trying to deal with you, so take care. When the time comes that you’re humiliated and depressed, I’m going to laugh.” He was the eldest young master of Ringstar’s high-level family, and more or less heard some gossip. So although he “didn’t like Gongxi Qiao”, he still squirmed and ran to warn him.

Gongxi Qiao saw Zhao Yikun look like “I’m not warning you out of kindness” and couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you for the special warning, I’ll pay attention to it.”

“Who’s warning you? Don’t put gold on your face[4],” Zhao Yikun snorted, “Bai Zhong is impulsive and ruthless. Since you have a good relationship with the head of the XI family, don’t run around these days. Go live at the Xi home, no one will dare to touch you. When the time comes, if you really have bad luck, I won’t sympathize with you anyway.” After saying this, the great young master Zhao made a soft sound, turned around and walked away with a cool self-satisfied look.

Gongxi Qiao looked at his back and let out a light laugh. He put the script on his stomach to the side and lowered his head to hide his frown. The Bai family’s behavior of bullying the weak made him somewhat unhappy.

He had heard of the Bai family’s feud with the Xi family, and in the last six months, the Bai Group had ignored the laws of the market economy for the sake of their personal interests, and had worked together with foreign companies to plunder the money of domestic enterprises.

He had always felt that using unscrupulous tactics to compete was a matter of ability, but if they were collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country, they were worse than pigs and dogs. Even in his previous life, the factions in the imperial court were at each other’s throats, but in the face of other countries, they were always united.

It was fine to fight with your own family behind closed doors, but if you collude with outsiders to damage your own family’s interests, you must be ruthlessly killed!

“Qiao Shao, what’s wrong?” Xiao Yao noticed that ever since Zhao Yikun spoke to Gongxi Qiao, Gongxi Qiao’s face was a little ugly, so she worriedly asked, “Did Zhao Yikun come to provoke you again?”

As a qualified black-hearted lotus, it was necessary to make others think that he was being bullied even if he was the one doing the bullying.

So after Xiao Yao saw Gongxi Qiao’s bad face, she subconsciously thought it was Zhao Yikun who came to provoke Gongxi Qiao again, rather than the other person kindly coming to warn him.

“No, he came to warn me,” Gongxi Qiao shook his head and didn’t tell Xiao Yao what Zhao Yikun had said. But he had an idea in his mind.

The Bai family considered themselves to be very powerful, and looked down on an offspring of a nouveau riche family like him, so he had to send the other party a big gift in return.

Being a large family, there must be a lot of internal power struggles. Bai Zhong stood out among his cousins not only because he was the eldest son of the head of the family, but also because he had a good marriage partner. The man was arrogant, but his image on the outside was really good. He wasn’t a womanizer, nor was he a drinker or gambler. However, Gongxi Qiao learned from a well-connected journalist that Bai Zhong kept a young mistress, his first love, behind his fiancée’s back.

The prestigious families may disdain using this kind of gossip news as a means to combat their opponents, but Gongxi Qiao prided himself on being a villain in both his past life and present life. When he cheated others, he was never embarrassed about not using open and honest means.

Anyway, in his opinion, if a person had a true love in his heart, he should live a good life with his true love. This kind of behavior of playing a good and faithful man in front of his powerful fiancée, while also keeping his true love as a mistress, was simply an insult to the word “love”.

So that afternoon, he asked someone to pay a high price to purchase Bai Zhong’s “golden house hiding a mistress”[5] photos from a reporter. Gongxi Qiao immediately asked someone to put them all on the Internet, and was kind enough to send a copy to Bai Zhong’s fiancée’s email address.

That very night, Bai Zhong’s good man disguise was ripped off. Although the Bai Group acted quickly to block the news stories, it seemed as if someone was against him. When one internet news site deleted them, they reappeared on another internet news site. Many people jumped out to express their sympathy for Bai Zhong’s fiancée who had wanted to spend the rest of her life with such a man.

There were also people who said that Bai Zhong’s fiancée’s family wasn’t good either. They knew Bai Zhong was such a man, but they still let their daughter marry him. They were downright sexist and didn’t treat their daughter as a human being.

Then someone posted Bai Zhong’s fiancée’s academic qualifications and photos. Once everyone took a look, it turned out that she was a first-class beauty, and also had a double doctorate. For such a good girl to marry Bai Zhong, it would be a pity.

The internet was becoming more and more noisy. This kind of wealthy family scandal was always popular among the people. The Bai family couldn’t suppress it even if they wanted to. Even some other people of the Bai family who had lovers outside and fathered illegitimate children were also exposed. The whole Bai family was disgraced by public opinion, their refinement was swept away.

A day after the news broke, Bai Zhong’s fiancée said on Weibo that she broke off her engagement with Bai Zhong and then prepared to travel abroad and leave this sad place.

This gesture from Bai Zhong’s fiancée drew the sympathy of countless people, many of whom wished her well on Weibo, saying that she would definitely find her own happiness.

Gongxi Qiao, who had pitted Bai Zhong, was in a good mood sitting in the garden of the Xi estate drinking tea. Bai Zhong probably didn’t expect that he would be pitted to this point by an entertainer he disdained.

Through observation, Gongxi Qiao discovered long ago that Bai Zhong’s fiancée also had a side-account on Weibo. Although the tone of her Weibo content seemed calm, it vaguely revealed her dissatisfaction with the status quo, especially her dislike of marriage, and often advocated the topic of female independence.

How could a beautiful and capable woman become a man’s appendage without complaint? So, it wasn’t that surprising that she took this opportunity to change her fate of becoming a trophy wife.

As it seemed, Gongxi Qiao was right. Bai Zhong’s fiancée really was a smart woman. Not only did she free herself from the fate of being controlled, but she also gained a bunch of sympathy. It was no wonder that by the end of the day, the topic was so incredibly hot that Gongxi Qiao suspected Bai Zhong’s fiancée was secretly pushing behind the scenes as well.

Saving an innocent woman from Bai Zhong’s misfortune, Gongxi Qiao considered it a great virtuous achievement, so he was in a better mood and the smile on his face even brightened up a bit.

When Xi Qing found Gongxi Qiao in the garden, he saw him with a cup of tea and a smile on his face, so he walked faster and sat down in front of Gongxi Qiao, “What happened that put you in such a good mood?”

Gongxi Qiao poured him a cup of tea, smiling, said, “I dug a pit for someone who’s not pleasing to my eyes, so I’m in a good mood ah.”

Picking up the cup of tea and taking a sip, the tea tasted light, but it was indescribably refreshing. Xi Qing hesitated for a moment and said, “the news about Bai Zhong’s golden house hiding a mistress, did you have someone expose it?”

The smile on Gongxi Qiao’s face remained unchanged as he looked up into Xi Qing’s eyes and said, “It was me, why?”

Xi Qing slightly hooked up the corners of his mouth. “This method is really good. Originally, the Bai Group was already in a frenzy because of the prosecution of the president of the foreign company, and now the family scandal has been exposed, losing a lot of face. Bai Zhong may not be able to keep the position of family head.”

“The Bai Group is internally rotten, and Bai Zhong isn’t the only one to blame,” sneered Gongxi Qiao, who had little affection for the Bai Group, “They’re just using him as a pretext to mask their own failures and uselessness.”

“You’re right.” Xi Qing put down his cup of tea. “I was worried that Bai Zhong would continue to scheme against you, but it seems that I thought too much.”

“He is a villain and I am a hypocrite,” Gongxi Qiao laughed, “When I want to retaliate against someone, I don’t care about the means.”

“There is no true gentleman in the world.” Xi Qing took his hand. “Moreover, in my eyes, you’re not a hypocrite.”

“What am I then?” Gongxi Qiao looked down at Xi Qing’s hand and didn’t move his own hand.

“The most important person.” Xi Qing said with a bitter smile, “sometimes I wonder, you’re excellent in calligraphy and painting, outstanding in appearance, smart, and no one else can scheme against you. What exactly would I have to do to move your heart?”

Gongxi Qiao looked at him and didn’t say anything.

“I even thought a little despicably that it would be better if you weren’t so good. At least it would seem like I have more merits and it would be easier to impress you,” Xi Qing’s grip was a little heavier, “but you’re so omnipotent. I always worried that before I could tell you my feelings, you would have a favored person.”

“But I’ve figured it out now,” Xi Qing said with a smile at the corner of his mouth, “you are you and I am me. I will love you with all my heart, whether you are excellent or perfect, hypocrite or true villain. As long as I can ensure that you aren’t hurt, I’m willing to become the villain who accompanies the hypocrite, as long as the hypocrite doesn’t dislike the villain.”

Gongxi Qiao was silent for a moment and suddenly laughed softly, even the corners of his eyes were smiling.

“Even if you want to become a villain, I still won’t let you.” Gongxi Qiao raised his eyebrows. He didn’t want to let the person he fancied turn into a villain. His man loved him dearly[6]. “It’s better to be a hypocrite like me, through and through[7], what do you say?”

Xi Qing carefully touched the back of Gongxi Qiao’s hand. “In fact, I was a hypocrite already. A hypocrite and a hypocrite, they’re a natural pair.”

“Hmm.” Gongxi Qiao grunted meaningfully and turned the topic to the Bai family, “If Bai Zhong steps down, then who is likely to be the next head of the Bai family?”

Xi Qing had some regrets. He felt that the conversation could have continued just now. However, he only dared to think about this silent protest in his heart, but his mouth was very cooperative with Gongxi Qiao, “In all likelihood, it will be Bai Qi.”

“Him?”

Gongxi Qiao had an impression of Bai Qi. At the time of Xue Chong’s birthday dinner, he was at the same table with this person and even said a few words. Although this person was outwardly civil and polite, in Gongxi Qiao’s opinion, this person’s scheming wasn’t shallow.

“He may have a deeper mind than this cousin of his,” Gongxi Qiao sneered, “otherwise, how could the Bai family have been unable to suppress the topic I promoted this time?”

It wasn’t that the Bai family couldn’t really suppress it, but there were people from both sides who wanted to see Bai Zhong’s downfall.

It was impossible for a big prestigious family like the Bai family to fall down easily. Even if one family head fell down, there would be countless other family heads standing up. And Gongxi Qiao had no intention to really go against the Bai family, he was just giving Bai Zhong a tooth for a tooth.

“Bai Qi, this person……” Xi Qing frowned and didn’t have much affection for Bai Qi in his tone. “Because he was fostered in his maternal grandfather’s house when he was young, he seems to be a gentle person but he’s actually somewhat cruel. He’s not the same as us.”

“You don’t appreciate him?” Gongxi Qiao smirked and asked rhetorically.

“I’ve never been friends with him, so I can’t say whether I appreciate him or not,” Xi Qing still tugged at Gongxi Qiao’s hand, “The Xi family has never had a good relationship with the Bai family, and I’m worried that you’ll be involved because of me.”

“So you have to protect me,” Gongxi Qiao pulled out his hand and patted the back of Xi Qing’s hand, “At least you’re my thigh, so be more dedicated, okay?”

Xi Qing stared blankly at the back of his hand and couldn’t help but nod his head a few times.

For some reason, he had no pride in being a big thigh at all.

Master Xi, who was admired by countless people, somewhat cruelly discovered the truth that he was actually of little use to the male god.

T/N:

1. ****: This word was censored in the raws.

2. Showboy: The word he uses here is 戏子 xìzi, a derogatory term for an actor, originally referring to Chinese opera performers. There isn’t a derogatory term for actor in english so I just translated it literally.

3. Be serious and pay more attention: 你要走点心 Literally this means something like “You’re demanding to get snacks.” This idiom doesn’t make any sense to me, but when I looked it up the meaning is basically, chastising somebody for being lazy.

4. Put gold on your face: Bragging to make yourself sound better than you are

5. Golden house hiding a mistress: this is an idiom that comes from “The Tales of Han Wu”, used when a rich man is keeping a mistress in another house.

6. His man loved him dearly: 自己的人自己疼 – Not sure if this is correct, I did my best to translate it. Apparently 疼 can mean pain (noun) or love dearly (verb). That’s quite the double meaning. Other translation suggestions were “his own person hurting themselves” or “I love my own person”…. 

7. Through and through: 面子里子都有了 it couldn’t really make sense of this, I just tried to approximate the meaning