CH 44

TL: Hua

Qi Xiaoyu glanced at Xun Qian in surprise. He could naturally see Xun Qian’s changes in the past few days.

In other words, he has been aware of Xun Qian’s change since the morning after waking from a high fever on New Year’s Eve.

Qi Xiaoyu felt a little unexplainable in his heart. He was also not sure what Xun Qian meant. Did he start to regard him as a friend? This is……

But no matter what, Qi Xiaoyu’s belief in interpersonal relationships is that he will treat others the way they treat him.

Xun Qian was kind to him, and he would reciprocate in equal measure.

In fact, as early as the night when Xun Qian brought him back from Kang Qitao’s house, or because of Xun Qian’s various overt and covert help during this period, he was very grateful to Xun Qian and regarded him as a good friend.

Qi Xiaoyu rolled down the window and waved to Xun Qian, “It’s cold outside. Third Master, please go back quickly. Remember to take medicine every day.”

****

At the airport, the number of people coming to send him off has almost doubled compared to the number of people picking him up at the end of last year.

“Eating Light on the Road” is Longjiang TV’s main variety show this year, and it was replayed several times during the Chinese New Year.

Longjiang Satellite TV has good ratings to begin with. During the New Year holiday, most families sit down together to watch the show. In addition, this variety show is generally relaxing and suitable for all ages, attracting Qi Xiaoyu a large number of fans.

On top of this, the banana milk commercial with Xue Qingchu was also heavily advertised everywhere because the brand wanted to boost sales during the Spring Festival, which gave Qi Xiaoyu a lot of exposure.

The first trailer for “The Legend of the Tang Dynasty Empress” was also promoted during this spring festival, adding another layer of popularity.

Of course, with the rise in popularity, Qi Xiaoyu also gained a new batch of anti-fans.

They said he wore too much makeup in costume dramas, that he only relied on filters in the short film and variety show, and that he relied on photoshopping for advertising photos. They also dug out photos from when he first participated in competitions, saying that he had gotten plastic surgery.

Even if Qi Xiaoyu’s fans showed pictures of him being picked up at the airport during the Chinese New Year, they still don’t believe it. They even criticized and said that Qi Xiaoyu’s pathological weight loss was the aftermath of plastic surgery.

After all, black fans are like crayfish. They can pick on anything.

****

For the flight to New Zealand today, both Yu Xiaosheng and Li Kun came to the airport, bringing two or three bodyguards with them.

Seeing Qi Xiaoyu, both of them were very excited.

Li Kun immediately took over Qi Xiaoyu’s luggage.

Yu Xiaosheng put his arm around Qi Xiaoyu’s shoulders as they walked in. “I heard from Li Kun that you were sick during the recording of the show last year. How are you now? Are you feeling better?”

Qi Xiaoyu nodded. “Everything is fine. I’m resting well at home these days.”

“Really? You went home?” Yu Xiaosheng showed a surprised expression. He had never heard Qi Xiaoyu mention the word “home” in the long time he had taken care of Qi Xiaoyu. He also heard that his father and stepmother were pretty much no good and had kicked Qi Xiaoyu out a long time ago. He guessed that these parents, seeing Qi Xiaoyu become famous now, would come together to get a share of the pie.

“No, a friend’s home.”

“Oh, that’s what you meant… But it’s good. I’m worried that no one at home will take care of you. I wanted to take some time to see you on the second and third days of the new year, but it turned out that there were too many bullshit things going on in the company, giving me so much trouble that I can’t even have a good time during the new year.”

Qi Xiaoyu has been working too much recently and hasn’t returned to the company for a long time. He rarely contacted Ren Fei, so he asked, “What happened to the company?”

Yu Xiaosheng smacked his mouth and lowered his voice slightly. “Didn’t I mention it to you before? The company’s financial situation is not good. After your popularity went up, you brought some resources to the company. Especially after this variety show became hot recently.

Old Ding was thinking about packaging the remaining few good-looking ones into a boy band and promoting them.

What he was thinking was naive. It’s not like he didn’t know how difficult it is to promote a boy band nowadays. Just like the program you participated in last time, the boy band called Ten, created by Zhou Zheng and the others, was gone in less than a few months. I heard that even Yu Zhou is now looking for acting gigs…”

When Yu Xiaosheng said this, he probably felt that what he said was too verbose, so he took the initiative to interrupt himself.

“Forget it; let’s not talk about this anymore. As I said, you are getting better and better now, so plan more for yourself. Think about your future. If this shabby company continues like this, it will collapse sooner or later.”

“Yes.” Qi Xiaoyu nodded thoughtfully, and then he heard bursts of cheers and screams reaching his eardrums.

“Happy New Year, Xiaoyu,”

“Have a safe journey, Xiaoyu.”

“Xiaoyu, pay attention to your health.”

“Xiaoyu, mommy loves you.”

…

Fans’ shouts came from all directions.

Qi Xiaoyu and Yu Xiaosheng, who were talking, looked up and found that they were at the airport in a blink of an eye, surrounded by fans seeing them off.

Qi Xiaoyu’s current fan base has reached a certain scale, becoming more numerous and larger than before.

A unified fan name was decided: fish balls [yú wán].

Mfn: Because the nickname they gave him is Littile Fish [xiǎo yú]. Everyone calls him this except Xun Qian.

The support color was also decided: primrose-yellow.

Now the airport is filled with primrose-yellow banners or glow sticks.

Occasionally, there are banners for several other celebrities. At a glance, there are Jiang Sicheng, Xue Qingchu, and an unknown celebrity named Fang Qi.

Yu Xiaosheng and Li Kun protected Qi Xiaoyu from left to right, followed by several bodyguards. They passed through the layers of enthusiastic fans and sent him through the security checkpoint.

Qi Xiaoyu waved to the fans who came to see him off at the security checkpoint, took off his mask, and waited patiently for them to take photos before entering.

Now that the Spring Festival holiday has come to an end, everyone is basically returning to S City for work from their hometowns or various tourist attractions. There are very few people going out from S City, so no one is queuing up at the security checkpoint, and the whole place is empty.

From outside the security checkpoint, looking in unobstructed, you can faintly see the security check inside.

Although Qi Xiaoyu patiently waited for the fans to take enough photos before going in, the reluctant fans still stayed outside with their mobile phones to watch him walk in.

After Qi Xiaoyu entered, at the request of the security inspector, he took off his beret and his brown corduroy jacket.

He came out of Xun’s house today without any makeup at all. His hair was not styled and hung softly and smoothly in front of his forehead.

He was wearing a loose khaki short sweater and brown plaid overalls.

When he raised his arm to hold his hat for the security inspector to inspect, his sweater jumped up, revealing a fair and slender waist under his suspenders.

His outfit was originally full of retro youthfulness, but now it’s in a very relaxed and natural state. No matter how far away or from which angle the photo is taken, he looks as good-looking as the models in the old pictorials.

In addition, in the past few months, Qi Xiaoyu has slowly adapted to the life of this era, gained money and status, made friends, and gained recognition. His calm and collected temperament, which he has accumulated in the opera troupe for many years, has also begun to be unleased. His condition is getting better and better. It was indeed incomparable to him when he first appeared in “Let’s Debut, Trainees.”

In one of the videos, the camera turned sideways on Qi Xiaoyu and just caught him turning around under the command of the security inspector, looking down. His facial features were exquisite, his sweater was lifted up, and a thin waist popped out. He didn’t have any more movements, but he had a calm and unique aura, combining a beautiful shell and an interesting soul.

After this video was uploaded to Weibo, it quickly became a trending topic. There was also a hot search for #QiXiaoYuAirportPhoto#, which countered all previous criticisms of Qi Xiaoyu’s appearance by anti-fans. After all, he was already this good-looking, even going out in the morning to go to the airport.

And this style of clothing also left people speechless.

Star Entertainment is a small company, and everyone has already discovered that even the makeup artist is shared by everyone. It’s impossible for them to have the money to hire a separate styling team for Qi Xiaoyu. Compared with other artists in their company, these combinations could only be made by Qi Xiaoyu himself.

It’s not easy for celebrities to have a good aesthetic and fashion sense, or else there would be a bunch of monsters and demons coming in and out of every fashion show.

On the other side, Qi Xiaoyu, who had no idea he was on the hot search, had just passed the security checkpoint when he saw Jiang Sicheng and Xue Qingchu buying drinks at a coffee shop.

Xue Qingchu was playing with her mobile phone with her head down, while Jiang Sicheng was talking alone. Looking at his expression, he seemed quite happy talking to himself.

Jiang Sicheng also saw him and waved from a distance, “This way, Xiaoyu.”

Qi Xiaoyu walked over, wished Jiang Sicheng a happy new year, and asked the other about the spring festival.

Jiang Sicheng naturally lived the life of a young master, eating, drinking, and having fun everywhere.

In comparison, Xue Qingchu was much more dedicated. During the five or six days of the Spring Festival, she participated in four shows.

Jiang Sicheng frowned when he heard this: “I told you not to work so hard. Girls should lie at home, apply facial masks, put on makeup, buy clothes, and go shopping.”

As usual, Xue Qingchu turned a deaf ear to Jiang Sicheng’s words and didn’t even look at him.

Jiang Sicheng wasn’t discouraged at all. He felt that his relationship with Xue Qingchu had become much better after participating in the show, making him extremely satisfied.

So he turned to Chi Xiaoyu and asked, “What do you want to drink? My treat.”

Qi Xiaoyu was not polite. “A cup of latte.”

Jiang Sicheng ordered an extra-large cup.

Thus, the three people waited for their coffee together.

Jiang Sicheng added, “Did you know? I heard that there will be special guests in these two issues.”

Qi Xiaoyu and Xue Qingchu asked at the same time, “Who?”

Jiang Sicheng narrowed his eyes and smiled. “I don’t know either.”

After receiving the disdainful looks from Qi Xiaoyu and Xue Qingchu, he said, “Why are you so anxious? We can see them tomorrow anyway.”

In fact, without waiting until tomorrow, on the same day, everyone met this special guest.

Qi Xiaoyu and the others had just sat down on the plane. Before they had time to fasten their seat belts, a woman who looked about the same age as Xue Qingchu appeared, dragging a suitcase.

She was wearing an A-line short skirt in winter, exposing her two straight legs. She stopped next to Qi Xiaoyu and pointed at her suitcase with her index finger. “Can you help me put away my luggage?”

Qi Xiaoyu took a look at her luggage. It was a carry-on suitcase measuring about 20 inches.

He looked at the luggage rack again. The show crew had booked them first-class seats. The luggage rack was not the kind that had to be lifted above the head. It was right at the door and about the same height as the seats.

But the lady had a pleading look on her face: “I’m weak, and it’s not very convenient. Can you…”

Qi Xiaoyu raised his eyebrows, thinking that this was not a big deal, so he helped put it away like a gentleman.

Then, this very weak lady sat down across the aisle from Qi Xiaoyu and asked, “Are you Mr. Qi?”

Then she pointed to the two positions at the back and asked, “Are those two over there, Mr. Jiang and Miss Xue?”

Qi Xiaoyu nodded politely.

The other party smiled with eight teeth and stretched out her hand towards Qi Xiaoyu. “My name is Fang Qi. I’m the special guest invited by the program team.”

Qi Xiaoyu shook her hand and said, “Hello.”

Then Fang Qi turned around and greeted Jiang Sicheng and Xue Qingchu.

Qi Xiaoyu also turned to look at Jiang Sicheng.

Jiang Sicheng was very… frustrated and asked, “What?”

Fortunately, Xue Qingchu reacted quickly and immediately took out a steam eye mask and asked tacitly, “I bought a new steam eye mask. It’s scented with gardenia. Do you want to try it?”

Jiang Sicheng hesitated and asked, “Qingqing, why don’t you give me a try?”

Qi Xiaoyu had already taken it, ripped it open, and put it on to avoid the nagging in his ears.

****

It was another ten hours of long-distance flight, and when they landed, it was already night in New Zealand.

In addition to Qi Xiaoyu and others, Zheng Peizu, Gu Meiling, and Lu Tongtong also returned to the restaurant from different cities one after another.

When everyone met, they didn’t have time to go back to the dormitory. They stood at the door of the restaurant and started chatting. They asked each other enthusiastically about the spring festival and Qi Xiaoyu’s physical condition.

Then, when Qi Xiaoyu finished speaking, Fang Qi seized the gap in the chat and took a step forward from Qi Xiaoyu, introducing herself to everyone enthusiastically.

Then, when everyone finally finished their greetings and prepared to go back to the dormitory to rest and recuperate for the official shooting the next day, Fang Qi said to Qi Xiaoyu, “Xiaoyu, can you take me to my room?”

Qi Xiaoyu didn’t answer and turned to look at the staff. “Sister Ning, the new colleague here doesn’t know where the dormitory is. Can you help guide her?”

Fang Qi pointed at the camera and stopped her pettishly. “But we’re recording now, so it wouldn’t be nice to have the staff on camera.”

When she said this, the staff, who had originally taken a step forward, were now in a dilemma.

Lu Tongtong saw this and took the initiative to step forward, saying with a smile, “The boys’ dormitory and the girls’ dormitory are separate. Your room should be next to mine. I will take you there.”

After saying that, she split them up, took Fang Qi’s hand, and walked towards the dormitory.

Jiang Sicheng, who was half a beat slower than everyone else, came to his senses, put his hand on Qi Xiaoyu’s shoulder, and asked, “Does this new guest have a crush on you?”

Qi Xiaoyu could only say, “I met her for the first time today.”

In the evening, he returned to the dormitory, unpacked his suitcase, and washed up.

Qi Xiaoyu is lying in bed. It’s morning in China now, and he has been sleeping on the plane for a long time. The time difference has not reversed yet, so he doesn’t feel too sleepy.

Jiang Sicheng, who was in the same room as him, didn’t sleep either. He was lying on the bed playing with his mobile phone when he suddenly called out, “Xiaoyu, open the group chat; everyone is looking for you.”

“oh.”

Qi Xiaoyu agreed. He had just turned on his phone when he received a message from Yu Xiaosheng.

Yu Xiaosheng asked, “Have you seen today’s hot searches?”

“You are so popular now. Any airport photos taken by fans can be trending.”

He added, “Now that you have gained a lot of fans and popularity, you need to take good care of your Weibo. You can’t be as casual as before. I had already told Li Kun about this. Take some interesting photos and selfies when you have time. Daily life photos are also fine, so do more business.”

Qi Xiaoyu agreed and then looked at the group chat that kept popping up. Jiang Sicheng seemed to be chatting excitedly in the group and kept urging him, “Qi Xiaoyu, please look at the group chat. What are you doing?”

That group was created by Lu Tongtong. There were only six of them as regular guests and no one else.

Qi Xiaoyu opened it and saw several messages @him, namely.

“Xiaoyu, be careful about that, Fang Qi. I think she’s not only interested in you but also has other ideas.”

“I can also see it. It’s way too obvious.”

“Xiaoyu, I asked around. This Fang Qi is the new host of Longjiang TV, a newcomer that they’re promoting.”

“A newcomer that’s highly promoted? I guess she has some background.”

“Looking at her, can she not have a background?”

“She just wants to hype up CP with Xiaoyu. @qixiaoyu, Xiaoyu, please don’t pay attention to her; she’s just sucking your blood.”

Qi Xiaoyu responded with a pitiful expression, asking everyone to take more care of him.

Fang Qi was a little annoying, but he didn’t take it too seriously. No matter what the other party does, he will definitely keep a distance and spend as little time with her as possible.

Qi Xiaoyu finished scrolling through the group chat and returned to the main page. He had very few friends on WeChat. They were basically colleagues he met at work and had a good relationship with. He scrolled through the group chat and suddenly remembered that he didn’t have any friends with Xun Qian.

He thought for a moment, then put Xun Qian’s mobile phone number in the “add friend” search box and looked it up.

The result shows that this user does not exist.

Qi Xiaoyu thought about it for a while. According to Xun Qian’s almost-withdrawn character, how could he use these social apps?

He checked on his Weibo again.

The name of his Weibo is “Qi Xiaoyuyuyu,” and it has not been updated for a long time. The latest Weibo was posted when he first joined the show “Let’s Debut, Trainees,” asking everyone to pay more attention to his show. This Weibo post has nearly 100,000 likes and comments.

Qi Xiaoyu scrolled for a while and then went to bed.

The next morning, when he woke up, there was a message prompt. Qi Xiaoyu thought it was time to wake up. He opened it and unexpectedly found that it was not a message but a red dot with a “1” in the address book.

He clicked on it and saw the name of his new friend, “Xun Qian.”

Added reason: “Xun Qian.”

Xun Qian added him as a friend?

He searched last night, and the user doesn’t exist. Today, he was added as a friend?

Qi Xiaoyu was a little surprised and had a strange sense of tacit understanding. If it weren’t for his personal information being kept confidential so far, he would have suspected encountering a scammer.