Edited by Ning
The person who approached him was speechless for a while. Xia Xiqing didn’t even give him another look, he adjusted his suit, and left without looking back.
Such a self-righteous person, without completely destroying his poor bubble-like self-confidence, can not entangle him endlessly. Xia Xiqing walked across a street, stopped a taxi and got in.
On the way home, Xia Xiqing continued to watch the previous Weibo post. The video was indeed released by the film official blog, and netizens were indeed discussing it spontaneously. However, he still felt that at the later stage of the event, there must have been resources involved in it and someone had taken this opportunity to hype it up.
Thinking of this, he was a little unhappy. He went back to his temporary rented apartment. After returning home, he took a hot bath, and fell asleep on the bed.
Sure enough, Xia Xiqing, who slept until the next afternoon, woke up to find that his mobile phone that had been turned on silent mode had more than forty missed calls. He flipped through it, and even his parents who didn’t even call him during the New Year’s Day were calling.
At this moment, he even felt that he was enjoying it. He was so popular now that he was forced to appear in the sight of everyone, including his father who was indifferent to him, and his step-mother who hated him to the bones. Being able to make them jump in anger without even meeting them seemed to give him a great sense of achievement.
After cleaning up, Xia Xiqing tied up his fringe casually, and gathered it into a small bun on top of his head. Then he changed into a not so clean overalls and sat in front of the drawing board with a mottled palette on his hand. He mixed the red and blue paint together and blended into a dirty grayish purple. He closed his eyes, and Zhou Ziheng’s disdainful expression that night appeared in front of him.
Like floating clouds, those images gradually slid into his mind from the clouds of memory and became clear. Xia Xiqing caught it with lines and bound it on the drawing paper.
The three-dimensional outline, sharp eyebrows and eyes, as well as the lip line slightly pursed because of disgust, were smeared on the plain surface by the heavy colors of the oil painting, and nothing escaped him.
Xia Xiqing, with a brush in his hand, leaned against the back of the chair and stepped on the edge of the tool table with one leg, carefully examining this slightly casual sketch.
He couldn’t say what he’s not satisfied with. The expression of the line fitting is always less than one tenth of the charm of a real person, and even the degree of disgust can not be simulated.
The mobile phone rings again, Xia Xiqing stretched his arm enough to get it in his hand.
It’s a strange number.
“Who is this, please?” He habitually acted friendly.
“We’ve met before. Do you remember me?” The other party’s voice is really familiar, Xia Xiqing almost only reflected for a second or two, then recalled: “Ah! You are Miss Jiang.”
“Yes, you have a good memory.” Jiang Yin at the other end of the phone began to smile. “Have you been bothered recently? You’re popular all over the Internet.”
Xia Xiqing smiled and stretched, “Fortunately, I have been sleeping, and you are the first phone call I received.”
Jiang Yin was a little surprised. This young man was too calm that he didn’t even ask how she got his contact information.
It was dusk when the two people came out to meet. There were very few people in the coffee shop. The orange sunlight penetrated through the transparent floor-to-ceiling glass windows and melted into the strong aroma of coffee, wrapping Xia Xiqing in it.
Jiang Yin held the coffee spoon in her fingers and stirred up the shape of the milk froth. She looked at the young man in front of him.
His dark black hair was dyed with a warm halo by the setting sun, his delicate face was smiling, and the small mole on the tip of his nose was gentle and charming. She didn’t notice last time that there was a long thin scar on his chin, which almost coincided with the jaw line, which was not easy to find. Xia Xiqing was more casual than she had imagined. He only wore a dirty gray overalls, which was big and old. It was full of stained paint, both new and old.
However, Jiang Yin immediately recognized the brand of clothes. This trendy brand is quite expensive. It’s very popular among many celebrities when they engage in the so-called airport fashion. This one on him seems to be a limited edition co-branded design, and he is also willing to get it stained.
“Were you just painting?”
“Yeah.” Xia Xiqing glanced down at his palm. There was a large piece of dark blue paint stained on the outside. He rubbed it with his fingers but couldn’t get it off. He couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed. He spoke directly without raising his head. “Is there anything going on asking me out?”
Seeing that he was so direct, Jiang Yin didn’t have any reason to put things nicely, and said straightforwardly: “Have you never thought of making a debut?”
Xia Xiqing tapped his fingers on the coffee cup, looking at the people coming and going outside the window, “Debut?”
“Your conditions are really good, and you are very popular with the audience. One can tell from this hot search.” Jiang Yin subconsciously put on a posture of a gold medal agent, “Actually, in our opinion, artists are also divided into levels. The first ones are those that don’t get attention no matter how hard they work. Such people are the majority in this circle. The better ones can gain attention slowly, hone their acting skills, or wait for opportunities, there will eventually be a short time of popularity. The last type is the talented player, who is fated, even if he doesn’t say a word, as long as there is a camera, he can get great attention.” Jiang Yin leaned forward, “You are one of the last types.”
A child walked outside, holding a hydrogen balloon in his hand, one was not tightly held, and it flew away. The child looked at the sky blankly and suddenly cried. Xia Xiqing looked at it and couldn’t help laughing.
Feeling the ignored Jiang Yin coughed, Xia Xiqing turned around lazily and looked at her, “Miss Jiang, you are definitely an expert in this circle, but no matter how powerful an expert is, there will be times when you judge wrongly.”
“What do you mean?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Tbe’gf rfflcu kgbcuis cbk.” Wlj Wldlcu ifjcfv yjmx bc atf rboj jcv kjr abb ijhs ab mbnfg la eq. “P’w cba bcf bo atf ijra asqfr. Ofa wf afii sbe ragjluta. P’w agbeyif.” Llr fsfr kfgf oeii bo rwlifr, jcv atf kjgw iluta ogbw atf klcvbk oibkfv atgbeut tlr lcx-vjgx qeqlir. “Tbe’ii gfugfa la. Po sbe qeii wf lcab atlr mlgmif, P’ii pera xffq ulnlcu sbe agbeyif.”
Jiang Yin looked at him for a long time before speaking again, “You don’t want to debut, I understand. I still have plan B.”
Xia Xiqing raised his eyebrows. He’s bored anyway, might as well listen, “You say it.”
“Recently there is a reality show that needs amateurs to participate.” Jiang Yin took out a plan from her bag and handed it to Xia Xiqing. “I’m also involved in the production of this reality show. I want to invite you to participate.”
“Invite me?” Xia Xiqing opened the plan, saw a few words, and finally understood, “So you are planning for Zhou Ziheng. This is actually your Plan A.”
“You are really the smartest person I have ever met.” Jiang Yin made no secret of her real motive, “I already guessed you won’t agree to debut. I’m sure I will be rejected. I just wanted to try. You should know that I am a shareholder of the brokerage company where Ziheng works. Of course, I also have a deeper relationship than a shareholder. It is not convenient for me to say now. Ziheng is an artist that our company is currently boosting. His acting skills and conditions are very excellent. But you also know that there is a common problem for child star beginners, which is the lack of loyal fans. His reputation has always been very high, but now this circle is not an era of exchanging resources by reputation.”
“You need traffic.” Xia Xiqing punctured a layer of milk foam on the surface of his coffee with a coffee spoon.
“That’s right.” Jiang Yin tapped the table with her fingers, “With Ziheng’s acting skills and appearance, if there is more traffic, he will become an absolute phenomenon. This is what I want.”
Xia Xiqing understood her purpose, but he found it interesting, “Then you think I can bring him traffic?”
“Otherwise I won’t come to you. You have to know that traffic comes from the topic. To put it plainly, the quickest way is to fry CP.”
“Frying CP can make him more popular, but I think it’s very strange. Zhou Ziheng also has many CP, many of which are popular fresh meat. Why did you find me, a non-celebrity?”
Although Xia Xiqing asked this, he was also very clear that the uneven distribution of interests brought about by the hype among the celebrities would often lead to bigger problems. An amateur like him who has no fan base and no company operations is more suitable for cooperation.
“Now you have your own topic. You are the non-celebrity with the most attention now. Just by looking at the hot searches these days, you can know the potential of your face.” Jiang Yin’s flattering words were beautiful and nice, “The original plan of this reality show was a ‘reality escape room’, but I rejected it. The reason is that there was a lack of topic degree. There have been similar programs before, but all of them failed. The audience sometimes just wants to see what’s really interesting.”
“For example?” Xia Xiqing put his chin on his hands and grinned lazily.
“For example, stars and their fans are trapped in the same secret room and try to escape.” Jiang Yin put her chin in her hand and looked at Xia Xiqing with a smile. “If this fan is also a very handsome guy, then I guess those little girls will be more interested.”
So that’s what it is.
“So yesterday’s hot search on Weibo, you bought it, right?” With a bang, the coffee spoon that was originally held on his fingers fell against the wall of the cup, and Xia Xiqing retracted his finger.
Jiang Yin, who was exposed by him, didn’t feel anything. She calmly replied, “I just added fuel to the flames after your hot search. However, I have to clarify in advance that the video was released by accident at the beginning. In fact, I guessed exactly when I met you that you would be noticed, but I didn’t expect it would be so exaggerated.”
So she simply put it to good use? What a terrible occupational disease.
I don’t know what the beneficiary will think after knowing it.
Speaking of the beneficiary… Zhou Ziheng’s disgusted expression reappeared in his mind.
Xia Xiqing suddenly sat upright with interest, and smiled at her with his hand on his chin: “Your proposal is indeed quite interesting, but you probably don’t know that my idol very——much——hates me now.”
He stretched out the very words specially, and smiled with squinting eyes when he finished speaking, as if he was quite proud.
Jiang Yin didn’t quite understand, “You met in private? How could he hate you? He is very good to his fans.”
“Yes, I accidentally met him in private. How should I say…. ” The situation was too embarrassing. Xia Xiqing couldn’t think of any suitable explanation for a moment, so he had to give up, “In a word, it happened. I’ll bet you that if he knew it was me, he wouldn’t agree to be on the show.”
Jiang Yin was silent for a moment, “What if I persuade him? Will you come?”
Xia Xiqing, who had been staring at the paint at his fingertips, raised his head, and his eyes showed a pleasant light, “Sure.” His ending sound was also very brisk, which made Jiang Yin feel curious, this was really too simple.
“Really?” Jiang Yin had a suspicious expression on her face. “It feels a bit strange for you to agree so quickly.”
Xia Xiqing’s fingers flicked the delicate box of sugar cubes on his hand, took a piece out of it, put it in his mouth, and bit it directly before it melted.
“Really, I agree.”
He felt excited when he thought of the scene where Zhou Ziheng obviously hated him but had to live with him.
Excitement is the source of inspiration.
“By the way, are you sure you want to invite me to this kind of reality show that requires IQ?” Xia Xiqing raised an eyebrow. “What if I can’t help at all, and I’ll just drag Zhou Ziheng down?”
Xia Xiqing’s remarks are not unfounded. In any case, he is also a fan of Zhou Ziheng, and he knows him a lot. Zhou Ziheng resolutely gave up the Art Academy at the beginning of the college entrance examination and went to the P University Physics Department, which surprised Xia Xiqing. Unexpectedly, this little child star turned out to be a science man with a high IQ. He thought he was going to give up his career in show business and devote himself to the road of socialist scientific research. Who knew he would still come out to film afterwards.
He can act so well even without going to his so-called professional class. When God opens a door to a person, there is a high probability that all his windows will be opened too, or they will be completely closed in, as dark as a confinement room.
The reality is so cruel.
“Originally, I thought so too. It’s enough for Ziheng to be smart. It’s better if you can just serve as his foil by the side.” Jiang Yin smiled and made no secret of her initial little calculations. “But I still investigated you because of my occupational disease. It really surprised me that you turned out to be from the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, ah, by the way, I accidentally saw your previous record of participating in HiMCM.”
Accidentally?
This woman is really terrible. Although Xia Xiqing’s face was calm, he sincerely admired her investigative ability. It was in high school that he took part in the mathematical modeling contest. She could still find that out, let alone with his family background.
“I think someone like you will definitely not be the one who is going to hold him back.” Jiang Yin smiled and looked at Xia Xiqing, Xia Xiqing also returned a fake smile, “I will try my best.”
After saying goodbye to Jiang Yin, Xia Xiqing decided to find Xu Qichen. On the way, he passed a newly opened cake shop and bought several new cakes. His action was faster than that of choosing an attractive object of flirtation.
“So you really want to be on TV?” Xu Qichen, with cake in his mouth and a little bit surprised, asked.
Sitting on the floor, Xia Xiqing nodded, he stretched out his long legs and folded them together. He couldn’t help but ridicule, “Isn’t it a bit cliché to say ‘be on TV’? I’m going to participate in a reality show.”
“It’s all the same.” Xu Qichen ate too fast, choked a little, got off the sofa and ran to the refrigerator to find a drink.
Xia Xiqing looked at his back and said, “You’re barefoot again, haven’t you been told off enough by Xia Zhixu?” With that, he glanced at the unaesthetic milk packaging box, and could not help asking, “Is there any wine?”
“Drink less, your Xia family is either smoking or drinking, a lot of bad habits.” Xu Qichen stuffed the milk into his hand.
Xia Xiqing took the milk reluctantly and looked at Xu Qichen with a smirk, “You still have the face to say that, this boy’s biggest bad habit in this life is you.”
“You are the bad habit.” Xu Qichen retorted casually, “Don’t laugh. One will fall after another, sooner or later it will be your turn.”
Xia Xiqing shrugged his shoulders, “That’s to see which hapless devil will catch a bad habit like me.”
Xu Qichen thought of the reality show, “Why did that producer look for you? There seem to be very few problem solving reality shows, and guests are generally not easy to find.”
“I didn’t know where that person found the record of my previous competition with Xia Zhixu, plus the last hot search…” Xia Xiqing pinched the milk carton with a headache, “So like I said I hate the Internet.”
“But then again…” Xu Qichen, who was not too busy to watch, leaned on the sofa pillow with a smile, “If you participate in that program, you can get close contact with your idol.”
“Not an idol, object of sexual fantasy.” As soon as Xia Xiqing talked about this, he got excited. “It can be regarded as the key point. Without it, I don’t think I would have agreed. I find it pretty disgusting having my every move be recorded by the machine. But now, Zhou Ziheng seems to dislike me very much, which is going to be interesting.”
Xu Qichen was a little baffled. He didn’t understand what his VIP ticket had contributed to, let alone what Xia Xiqing was thinking.
Disliked by the person you like, and still feel excited?
“Aren’t you shaking S, why do I think you’re shaking M?”
Xia Xiqing laughed and squeezed Xu Qichen’s face, “Chenchen, you are too naive. Don’t you think that looking at a person who hates you, but is forced to suppress his emotions, work together and even get along with you on camera, is very… interesting?”
In fact, he hesitated for a moment in the wording, the original preparatory candidate word was “sexy”. In his mind, the scene of Zhou Ziheng enduring his disgust and being forced to show an unassuming sense of intimacy was very sexy.
It makes people want to do whatever they can to challenge the bottom line of his disguise.
It was late when he returned home, and another strange call came in from his mobile phone. Xia Xiqing picked it up, only to find that the other party was his stepmother.
Calling him at this time, Xia Xiqing couldn’t think of any convincing reasons.
“Xiqing, you don’t even say a word when you return home?”
The other party’s voice was as hypocritical as ever, Xia Xiqing turned his mobile phone on hands-free and put it aside.
“You should have said in advance that you had come back from Florence. Your father and I would have sent someone to pick you up. Now we all have to see you on the TV news. It’s really not easy.” Her voice was as smooth as a fish, and full of fishy smell. “No matter how you say it, you are still a son of the Xia family. It’s not good for you to be out there all the time. What TV are you going on to? Give your father more…”
Xia Xiqing snorted coldly, went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to take out a bottle of ice water for himself, unscrewed it and drank it with several mouthfuls, the cold water flowed into his throat, and his internal organs instantly felt cold.
“Is that enough? Mrs. Xia, the dove in the magpie’s nest.”
The other side obviously was stunned for a while, and when she opened her mouth again, her voice had lost a lot of confidence. “Why are you so aggressive? I also care about you…”
“Aggressive?” Xia Xiqing slammed the refrigerator door, “You have been acting benevolent towards me for so long. What do you want to do? Let me think, are my mother’s assets and properties going to be transferred to me? Or is Xia Yunkai going to divide it with his family?”
“You!”
It seems to be true.
Xia Xiqing said with a smile, “If you have the time to act with me, you’d better go and ask your husband to let him have less promiscuity outside, lest he makes more illegitimate children to share the family property with your son. Don’t you think my suggestion is fair enough?”
“You…” Each other’s words and deeds were seen through by Xia Xiqing, and she couldn’t help getting angry. She tore up all the kindness and tenderness that she pretended to be. “You shameless prodigal thing, just like your father, you, you only know how to mess around all day long!”
“If he didn’t mess around, how can you get into the Xia family?” Xia Xiqing’s tone is very gentle, “You have to be grateful.”
The other party yelled once again, and it was nothing more than those few lines, you and your dad are shameless sluts, you will not have a good end, and Xia Xiqing has listened to these bad words since childhood and has been used to it for a long time.
Quietly waiting for her to be done showing off her bitch’s face, Xia Xiqing put the bottle in his hand on the table, turned his back against the counter, and finally spoke again.
“No.”
The person at the other end of the conversation was stunned, “What did you say?”
He couldn’t breathe smoothly it’s uncomfortable.
Xia Xiqing unbuttoned the first button on his shirt and reiterated: “I said, Xia Yunkai and I are not the same.”
That’s more comfortable.
“He messes around with women, I mess around with men.”
———————-
Editor’s additional info:
Xia Zhixu______________
TL’s corner:
Zaki: Up your throat Mrs. Bitch..Xia Xiqing is bitchier than you! LOL. I’m starting to love him..Bad ass and quite smart…
Ning: SQUEEEEEEEEE when do they meet again I can’t wait.
thanks for the chapter!
Ahhh I can’t stand the waiting, I have to camp and build a buffer sobs
Tsym for the update!!
Ahahaha! That bitch got roasted so bad!!!!
Thanks for the chapter~
ha XXQ’s sass rly on a different lvl
thank you for the chapter!!
Why dont they ever have 2 normal, faithful parents? why is there always a scheming step-parent coveting that which they haven’t put any work into accomplishing? >->
thanks for the chapter <3
Thanks for the chapter 💗
👍👍👍 for the MC
Nicely done Xia Xiqing👍
Thank you for the chapter 💛
So that’s where he got his personality from, huh. I really like his personality, it gives a good feeling, at least to me.
Also, thanks for the chapter.
I aspire to be the bad b that he is!