CH 35

Chen Chen told him to say hello to everyone, so Gu Qingchi really did end up saying hello to everyone. He was focused on the camera and wanted to step forward to get closer. Meanwhile, Chen Chen subconsciously stepped back.

Once Chen Chen’s back hit the wall, he couldn’t retreat any further. Gu Qingchi finally stopped as well. 

Both of them did it unintentionally, but it was very exciting for the audience behind the screen.

[Ahhh! Senior, pick me!]

[It’s a critical hit! Senior, hello!]

[Chen Chen, please put down the camera and stay away from him. You don’t deserve it, okay? I’m sorry. I’m just jealous.] 

[What’s this shitty angle? What’s this garbage lighting? How does he still look so good!?]

[All of you are busy screaming. Meanwhile, I’m the only one who’s realized that this is his natural face! Fuck! How can someone look that good in real life!?]

Gu Qingchi looked at the camera with one hand against the wall.

“Sorry, I won’t be able to help you.”

Chen Chen was only about 175 centimeters tall. Gu Qingchi was a whole head taller than Chen Chen. Plus, Chen Chen was holding the camera to his chest.

Gu Qingchi had his head lowered. The ends of his hair were still wet and sticking to his neck. He dressed very casually at home. The two uppermost buttons of his shirt were left open.

Since he was so close to the camera, everything was crystal clear. Even the tiny logo on his white towel could be seen.

After saying what he wanted to say, Gu Qingchi felt that this had nothing to do with him anymore. He straightened up, picked up his towel, and started wiping the water dripping from his hair. 

Then, he turned around and went back inside.

The only one still squatting by the door was the cat. It was vigilantly watching Chen Chen. Its whole body was tensed up, its whiskers trembling.

Gu Qingchi stood next to the door with one hand on the doorknob. He looked down at the little cat crouching by the door.

“Come back.” 

The cat immediately stopped trying to pick a fight and pranced back over to Gu Qingchi’s feet.

Although it returned to Gu Qingchi’s side, it didn’t forget to shoot a glare towards Chen Chen.

Chen Chen held the camera rather firmly in his hands.

In Gu Qingchi’s eyes, the cat was always looked super dumb and stupid. 

However, the cat was actually quite beautiful.

Its fur was rather dark, and its body had grown a lot. It was no longer a fluffy little ball. It now had long, slender limbs and little striped patterns beneath its eyes.

Whenever it stood there, it seemed to possess a natural wildness within it.

This was the image it left within the camera lens. The lighting was a little bit dark, but, because it was at a close distance, everything was very clear. 

Gu Qingchi stood there very casually, full of indolence and indifference. The cat by his feet had its back arched. It looked back, its vertical pupils looking straight ahead.

Ktfc, atf vbbg kjr mibrfv.

Ktf mjwfgj rabqqfv atfgf obg j ktlif. Ktfc, la olcjiis rtbbx j ofk alwfr jcv mbwqifafis yijmxfv bea.

Vbwfbcf fcvfv eq qbralcu atja ijra rmfcf bcab Qflyb. Pa kjr atfc rffc ys j kfii-xcbkc jgalra. Vtf revvfcis tjv j yegra bo lcrqlgjalbc jcv vgfk j rfglfr bo qlmaegfr yjrfv bc atf mja jcv Xe Hlcumtl. 

Each artwork followed the same style. They were fanarts of Gu Qingchi interacting with the cat. All of them had a dark color theme.

She also made several references to the clothing Gu Qingchi had worn before. She paid special attention to the punk-style outfit with the open waist. There were three pictures with this theme. In one of them, Gu Qingchi was leaning against a table and looking down. The cat was standing next to him and looking up. One human and one cat tacitly made eye contact with each other.

There was also a picture of Gu Qingchi with cat ears and tail. There were a total of eight fanarts. The last picture was an actual photo of Gu Qingchi and his cat that had been widely circulated online.

This artist was a well-known bigshot within this circle. She was known for her beautiful and delicate painting style. Her followers were all otakus. They were huge face-cons, and they weren’t really interested in real-life people. The artist even stated on her account that she would not accept commissions to draw real people. 

There was a line of text accompanying this post.

[Ahhh, this is exactly how I imagined Ami to look like. Also, I want to make it clear that I am not an otaku. I am a functioning member of society.]

This caption was immediately debunked by her own followers.

[I can testify that, not only is she an otaku, she’s even drawn a doujin before! By the way, I am humbly asking for more fanart with the cat.] 

[Hmph, stop struggling. I’m going to grab onto your leg and never let go. I won’t let you touch my idol.]

[Nice, we’ve gotten rid of another potential opponent. Now, it’s everyone else’s turn! I’m going to expose each and every one of you in the comments, hahaha! None of you will have a chance with him! By the way, I’m using my side account.]

Ami was a character in a modern fantasy novel, a supporting role. The character was both righteous and evil. He was mean and proud and arrogant, yet he was still very popular.

The novel was currently being adapted into a TV series. 

Therefore, the artist went ahead and tagged the production crew.

Typically, Xie Luyu would be the first to know about anything that was happening on Weibo, so long as he didn’t have anything on his schedule.

However, today was an exception.

Xie Luyu was in the dance studio. Although he was an actor, he still needed to take dance lessons. 

He had just finished with his dance lesson. He leaned against the door. His shirt was soaked, and there were strands of hair stuck to his cheeks.

Pan Xiaocheng handed him a towel.

“I thought about it, but I still felt like I should tell you. This morning, you mother gave me a phone call—”

“I already told you. Don’t bother me with this kind of stuff. Also, call her Mrs. Cheng.” 

He ran a hand through his hair.

“Every time she called me, it was always because she needed money or because she wanted me to attend an event and make her look good. Has she not gotten enough of the cold shoulder treatment?”

Xie Luyu’s family was very complicated. His mother and father were in an arranged marriage.

His mother was from the Cheng family. His father was from the Xie family. 

An unconventional artist. A free-spirited playboy.

After the two of them had Xie Luyu, they acted as if they had completed a task assigned to them. They wiped their hands of it all and went off to do their own things.

When Xie Luyu was a child, he never lacked for food and drink, but, as for everything else, he was pretty much like an orphan. There was never any adult looking after him.

Even when Xie Luyu started becoming rebellious, they didn’t do anything. Even when he abandoned his business school studies and ran off to break into the entertainment industry, he wasn’t hindered in the slightest. 

Pan Xiaocheng had been Xie Luyu’s agent ever since he entered the industry.

He knew quite a bit about Xie Luyu’s family.

In the early days, Xie Luyu may not have been very close to either of his parents, but he would still show them a bit of respect.

There was even a period of time where Xie Luyu’s mother, no, Mrs. Cheng, would take the initiative to ask about Xie Luyu. 

Xie Luyu had been incredibly moved and flattered. Their mother-son relationship instantly improved like never before.

However, the facts proved that it was still too early for him to feel flattered. Her change of heart was false. Her schemes against him were what was real.

A person who showed kind intentions for no reason was sure to be hiding something. Xie Luyu ended up getting played.

The Cheng family was a very traditional, business-oriented family. There were a lot of children in the family. Mrs. Cheng had a ton of older siblings above her and even more younger siblings beneath her. 

However, there were only so many assets to go around. It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was enough for them to fight tooth and nail.

Mrs. Cheng received dividends. The amount she received every month was enough for a small family to live off of for a year.

However, her lifestyle was simply too extravagant. Plus, she was an artist. She wasn’t just providing for herself. She was also providing for a bunch of her friends. Even so, she never had enough money.

At that time, he was currently on the rise. His position within the industry wasn’t very high or very low. All the money he earned went straight to Mrs. Cheng. 

Xie Luyu didn’t care at all. He had probably been taken in by this so-called mother’s love. As long as Mrs. Cheng said a few kind words, he would give her everything.

Xie Luyu pretty much never had any money in his hands. Even Pan Xiaocheng, an outsider, found it hard to watch, but, at the time, it wasn’t too appropriate for him to get involved. Since there wasn’t a set time for Xie Luyu’s salary to enter his account, Pan Xiaocheng secretly held off on giving Xie Luyu his salary. The longer he could hold it off, the better.

At that time, Pan Xiaocheng was still too young and inexperienced. He thought that doing this much would be enough. However, what happened later completely shocked him.

This time, it wasn’t just Mrs. Cheng. Even Xie Luyu’s father, the man who never went home, the man who practically lived at hotels, got involved. 

After that incident, Xie Luyu completely fell out with his family. In the middle of the night, he dragged along his suitcase with an ashen face and moved out of the house.

He never contacted his family again. Even if he accidentally ran into his parents at some sort of event, he would pretend as if he didn’t see them.

It had been like this all the way up until now. Despite his young age, he was crowned movie emperor.

Xie Luyu truly lived up to his status as a business school graduate. He took to financial affairs like a duck took to water. Sometimes, Pan Xiaocheng would hand the finances over to Xie Luyu to manage. It didn’t matter if it was stocks or funds. He would never lose money. Now, Xie Luyu’s net worth was an astronomical figure. His salary alone was in the millions. Plus, he had several endorsements and other sources of income. Pan Xiaocheng couldn’t even imagine how much money that would be. 

Xie Luyu’s relationship with his parents was still tense, but his relationship with his grandparents was alright. He would still contact them from time to time, and he would also attend their birthday celebrations.

Pan Xiaocheng was just mentioning it to let Xie Luyu know that he received such a phone call. Since Xie Luyu had already made his stance clear, he didn’t bring it up again and changed the topic.

“I received an invitation from the Xilin Film Festival. The movie from last year, the one about the drug enforcement officer, was nominated for the Best Male Lead. I’ve already cleared up your schedule for you.”

The Xilin Film Festival was an internationally renowned film festival. The guests were well-known actors from all over the world—of course, there would also be various celebrities who were just there for the publicity. 

The awards handed out here were second only to the Motion Picture Association’s Golden Globe Awards.

Xie Luyu thought it was a little strange. He had already gotten through that period of time where he was working around the clock.

“I have a schedule? I don’t think I’ve picked up any work recently.”

“Don’t pay so much attention to the details. Don’t I sound more professional when I say it like that? It makes it seem like I’m doing a lot of work.” 

Ye Li was also speaking with Gu Qingchi. Gu Qingchi was at home, lying on the sofa. He was leaning against a cushion with a book on his lap.

The phone was set on speaker mode and placed on the coffee table next to him. The cat took advantage of the fact that Gu Qingchi was distracted and managed to nestle itself into Gu Qingchi’s arms. It enthusiastically started licking his chin. Gu Qingchi was focused on the phone. He didn’t pay it any attention and just lifted his chin as it licked away at him.

Ye Li had already introduced several scripts that he thought were pretty good to Gu Qingchi. There were a few roles available for second male lead or third male lead. The rest were minor, supporting roles.

The scripts that invited Gu Qingchi to play the male lead were all third-rate screenplays. They relied on melodrama in order to attract people’s attention. It was alright for actors who just entered the industry to act in one or two of these, but, if they acted in too many of them, it would cause audiences to associate them with these types of third-rate stories. 

It would be a waste for Gu Qingchi as he was now to go act in these roles.

“What do you think? Which one are you interested in?”

“They’re all fine. You can decide.”

An expected answer, Ye Li thought to himself. 

“In that case, we’ll go with the screenplay adapted from the modern fantasy novel. It’s not a top-notch role and you only appear in a few episodes, but the character has a lot of conflict.”

“Also, I have some good news.”

Ye Li seemed to be flipping through some documents.

“I received an invitation for the Xilin Film Festival. It seems that Director Wang submitted the movie to the film festival, and you were then nominated for Best Supporting Actor. I don’t think there’s any hope of winning, but a nomination’s still a big deal. You can just go for the experience.” 

Wang Haisheng submitted the movie to all kinds of film festivals and award shows out of habit.

Either way, the applications were pretty much the same. It didn’t matter if he submitted one movie or two. It would almost be a waste not to submit it.

Actually, he was also very clear about things in his heart. It was a commercial film with a simple plot and no deeper meaning.

It was a thousand miles away from what those old-fashioned snobs usually liked. At most, it would probably just win an award or two in China. 

The Xilin Film Festival had always favored films that showed the contradictions of real life.

However, he didn’t expect the Xilin Film Festival would actually give his movie a nomination.

Wang Haisheng spent a long time trying to guess why. In the end, he came to a rather unprobably conclusion.

They probably weren’t actually going to give the award to them. They just didn’t have anything better to do and gave them a nomination. They were going to let Gu Qingchi walk the red carpet and take a look at what Ke Mu really looks like along the way. 

Wang Haisheng wasn’t worried at all. He was a frequent guest at the Xilin Film Festival and had won several awards there. He actually thought it was rather interesting that this movie got a nomination this time.

He went ahead and told Ye Li about it on the phone. Gu Qingchi would walk the red carpet and let those foreigners get a good look at him.