Chapter 71: A Letter

October 27, 2022kaychandra

Chapter 71: A Letter

Two days later, the Bai Group officially released a statement to the public that Bai Zhong resigned and his cousin Bai Qi took over the position of Bai’s family head. The Bai family had recently suffered a lot of losses due to wrong decisions, and their vitality was greatly damaged. They could no longer compete with the Xi Group, which had become the number one prestigious family in the Imperial Capital.

For ordinary people, it didn’t matter much who the head of the family changed to be. The prestigious families were too removed from them. Compared with those kinds of illusory things, they were more concerned about what to eat next, whether there were any good programs airing tonight, which artist had another scandal, and which idol had been disgraced.

The National Station’s TV programs were more professional than other local stations, although they were a bit too serious. Many people liked to gather their whole family around and watch the National Station programs for a while before going to bed.

Qiao fans didn’t expect to see their own idol in a National Station documentary. In the documentary, their idol stood out among a bunch of old people with gray hair. Even the cameraman’s camera seemed to favor him, whether it focused on him or not.

The documentary was about the international art exchange. It not only introduced the identity of the representatives, but also discussed the charm of traditional painting and calligraphy. With the National Station’s lofty and atmospheric commentary, many young viewers watched it seriously.

The documentary was more detailed than the original news broadcast coverage of the whole event. Even the footage of the Flower Country delegation on the plane was shown.

Because of these details, Qiao fans also found out that Gongxi Qiao and Old Xia, the master of Chinese painting, had a good talk and that Old Xia’s attitude toward Gongxi Qiao was obviously very appreciative.

Old Xia’s status in the art world was known even to many laymen, so when they saw this scene, Qiao fans couldn’t help but feel a sense of honor with it.

When they saw Gongxi Qiao teasing the cameraman with the Longboot country’s food, they couldn’t help but hold their faces and scream in their hearts, Qiao Shao is so handsome and cute, why is my male god so perfect?

Unfortunately, just as they were getting excited to watch, the first episode of the documentary ended and the second episode would have to wait until the same time slot three days later.

“I didn’t think a day would come when I would be following a documentary,” one netizen said emotionally on the online social media platform, “I realized that the documentary’s program is too scheming. They filmed my Qiao Shao looking so meng meng[1], how could I not want to follow it?”

Some curious netizens found the video online. First, they went to watch the program because of Gongxi Qiao. Who knew that after watching it, they had two feelings. One was that traditional calligraphy and painting was so profound and amazing, and the other was that my Qiao was so meng, so elegant, so handsome, so Sue[2]. Even the way he ate was so beautiful that it made people unable to move.

Someone even said, after watching Qiao Shao eat, she could eat two more bowls of rice.

When the discussion was widespread, the topic extended from Gongxi Qiao to traditional calligraphy and painting, and many people even expressed curiosity about how Gongxi Qiao managed to make the flower buds bloom with a casual flick of his hand over the painting paper.

Not to mention that those foreigners would look so surprised, even they were stunned into dropping their jaws after watching the complete live video. Suddenly they understood the feelings of those foreigners. At the same time there was some small pride in their heart. Their own culture made others envious enough to drool. It felt like drinking ice water in the summer.

In particular, the commentary in the background also vividly described the sensation brought by Gongxi Qiao at the time, and how rare and exquisite ‘Palace Banquet’ was. Just when everyone was curious about how magnificent ‘Palace Banquet’ was, the documentary ended. It almost made the audience, who was watching with great interest, smash something.

You say you’re a documentary, but still blocked the key points. Isn’t this just suffocating people to death?

So Gongxi Qiao’s Weibo was once again lively, and even the video he posted to rebut someone else’s painting was once again re-posted by everyone, causing numerous praises.

Even the program team itself didn’t expect that the premiere and rerun of the documentary would be so highly rated, and the number of views on the internet kept soaring.

Many people knew how powerful the idol effect was, which was why many of the older generation didn’t like minors chasing after stars. Many idols didn’t have a good lifestyle, and even played their fans like fools for the sake of profit. Their words were unscrupulous, which could easily have a negative impact on minors whose sense of right and wrong wasn’t fully formed.

That was the reason that the National Station didn’t easily invite young and popular entertainers to participate in their programs. However, the station did appreciate young entertainers such as Gongxi Qiao. He was a decent person and didn’t have bad habits like smoking and drinking, and also graduated from a prestigious school. He was very accomplished in calligraphy and painting, and didn’t make inappropriate comments on social media platforms. If young people’s favorite idols were all like this, educational institutions could probably also save a lot of worry.

This time, their nation’s young people showed such a huge interest in traditional calligraphy and painting because of Gongxi Qiao. Moreover, all walks of life saw the good guidance generated by such a good young idol. Even several state media outlets published articles publicly praising Gongxi Qiao, commending him as a true icon of the new generation.

Compliments from entertainment media weren’t uncommon for entertainers who went on to become popular. However, it would be rare for an entertainer to be publicly praised by the state media.

And, Gongxi Qiao was even praised publicly by the state media in his early twenties and was able to secure his position as one of the top stars in the circle.

Did you say his status in the industry wasn’t high enough?

However, he had masterpieces, both TV and film works that were very successful, and the first time he participated in the Thousand Flowers Award, he took home two trophies.

The most important thing was that not only was he held in high esteem by the government officials, but his national acceptance was so high that even an 80-year-old woman who saw him could recognize him and say, “Oh, isn’t this the big star who won glory for the country?”

Many so-called film emperors and film queens may sound very impressive, but except for young fans, people who were older didn’t know who they were.

Gongxi Qiao was different. He had works, popularity, national acceptance and word of mouth. No matter how envious and jealous entertainers from other companies were, they couldn’t deny that Gongxi Qiao had indeed become a top star that many entertainers envied and hated.

This top star who was envied and hated by everyone was hanging from wires and blowing in a cool breeze, and from time to time, he had to make various expressions and poses for the camera.

When the shooting was over, Ji Yuming, who was also hanging from wires, said to Gongxi Qiao, “The matter before has been settled, right?” Although he didn’t know as much as Zhao Yikun, he also vaguely sensed that what happened before wasn’t simple.

“It’s fine,” Gongxi Qiao smiled at him gratefully, “I’m just embarrassed that you were dragged down with me.”

“What’s wrong with that?” said Ji Yuming, full of concern, “That’s the way the circle is, so don’t talk about getting me involved.”

Gongxi Qiao smiled, knowing that Ji Yuming really didn’t mind, so he stopped talking about that and turned to mention Ji Yuming’s son, “Brother Ming, I heard that your son has already entered high school?”

Ji Yuming and his wife were childhood sweethearts, so they got married when they were in their twenties, and now their child was already in his first year of high school. Hearing Gongxi Qiao mention it, he said, “Yes, he just got promoted to high school two months ago. It’s just that his grades aren’t good, and I’ve hired several tutors for him, but to no avail.”

Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered that Gongxi Qiao was a learning god, so he said, “Your grades are so good, I wonder if you have any tips?”

“The trick is actually a long-standing study habit,” Gongxi Qiao thought about it, “I still have my study notes from high school. If your son doesn’t mind, I can lend him my notes from that year.” He hadn’t heard of any textbook reform in the past few years, so there shouldn’t be much difference in the learning content.

For Ji Yuming, who wasn’t short of anything, Gongxi Qiao’s study notes were more useful than anything else, and he thanked Gongxi Qiao right away.

After finishing the day’s shooting, Ji Yuming didn’t forget to remind Gongxi Qiao to remember to bring the study notes as soon as possible.

So, no matter how lofty the film emperor was, when it came to his child, he was just an ordinary silly father.

When Xi Qing arrived at the set, Gongxi Qiao had already finished removing his makeup and changed into his personal clothes. After saying goodbye to everyone on the set, he got into Xi Qing’s car.

Mi Yue watched Gongxi Qiao leave in Xi Qing’s car. She reached out and poked Zhao Yikun. “Don’t you usually like to provoke Xiao Qiao? Why did you become so honest in the past two days?” 

Zhao Yikun rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time to care about his affairs, why provoke him?”

“Tch,” Mi Yue raised her eyebrows and didn’t expose Zhao Yikun’s hypocrisy. Instead, she lowered her voice and said, “President Xi has a very good relationship with Xiao Qiao, don’t provoke him.”

Zhao Yikun gave a light huff, but didn’t refute Mi Yue’s words. Only, it wasn’t because of Xi Qing, but because he was stunned by Gongxi Qiao’s tactics.

The Bai Zhong scandal was exposed in the afternoon just after he had warned Gongxi Qiao. Perhaps nobody thought that this matter was related to Gongxi Qiao, but he somehow believed that this matter was definitely Gongxi Qiao’s handiwork.

He even dared to pit the head of the Bai family. How could Zhao Yikun dare to provoke him? Thinking about Bai Zhong’s downfall, he suddenly felt that Gongxi Qiao’s previous means of dealing with him had actually been very gentle, and he should be satisfied.

Inside Xi Qing’s car, Gongxi Qiao asked the driver to drive the car to his own villa.

“You don’t want to come over to my place?” Xi Qing looked at Gongxi Qiao with some reluctance, “The chef at home has already prepared your favorite dishes. If you don’t go, it will only be a waste.”

“It’s not that, I’m just going home to get my study notes,” Gongxi Qiao said with a smile. “I was talking to Brother Ming today about his son who just started high school. I remembered that those study notes might be helpful to him, so I was going to find them and have Brother Ming take them back to his son.”

Xi Qing let out a sigh of relief that Gongxi Qiao didn’t want to leave his house. He suddenly felt that the car, which was too fast just now, had become a little slower.

After Gongxi Qiao moved out of his parents’ home, all of his old books and notes were also moved out. Fortunately, he had the habit of categorizing his things, so even the study notes from his high school days could be easily found.

Opening the neat notebook, the beautiful penmanship caught Xi Qing’s eye, and he couldn’t help but flip through a few more pages. He found that the contents were well organized, and the knowledge points were clearly summarized. As long as someone wasn’t too stupid, they could quickly read it and understand.

The study notes were enough for Xi Qing to recognize Gongxi Qiao’s excellence and intelligence. No wonder he dared to skip class back then. He expected that in the eyes of all the teachers, he was a good child with all-round development of moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic qualities.

“Just these few books. He can’t use the rest for the time being,” Gongxi Qiao wiped his hands with his handkerchief and turned his head to see Xi Qing looking at his study notes, so he smiled. “I used these to bluff my classmates and teachers. In fact, I didn’t even read them after I wrote them myself. The one you have seems to be my notes from my senior year.”

“But nevertheless, I think your notes must have been very popular back then.” Xi Qing closed the notebook and was about to put it back on the table when a light blue envelope suddenly fell out of the notebook.

He bent down to pick up the envelope and found a beautiful four-leaf clover pattern printed on the light blue envelope, with the 4 words “For Xiao Qiao Personally” written on the front.

The handwriting was strong and powerful, with a bit of spontaneity, somewhat like a boy’s handwriting.

“It seems that you really haven’t read the notebook.” Xi Qing put the notes on the table together with the envelope, “You didn’t even know that there was a letter stuck inside.”

Gongxi Qiao casually picked up the blue envelope, and after looking at the handwriting on it, his eyebrows twitched in slight surprise.

Xi Qing looked at the envelope held in Gongxi Qiao’s hand. The corners of his mouth pursed slightly, but he still turned around to look through the other books on the shelf, showing respect for Gongxi Qiao’s privacy.

Gongxi Qiao picked up the envelope, shone it in the light, and smiled.

“Rrrip” “Shred”

Xi Qing jerked back and saw the unopened letter, torn in half several times by Gongxi Qiao.

“You don’t…… want to take a look?” The corners of Xi Qing’s pursed mouth quivered a few times, finally not letting the corners of his mouth curl up.

“What’s there to see?” Gongxi Qiao threw the shredded paper in his hand into the trash can, clapped his hands, and said with a light smile, “Since I didn’t see it back then, I don’t need to see it now.”

After saying that, he stuffed the unused notes into the bookshelf and picked up the study notes he was going to give to Ji Yuming’s son. “Come on, let’s go back. I’m hungry and want to eat dinner.”

“Mm-hm, let’s go home.”

The corners of his mouth twitched and twitched. Finally, he didn’t hold back and they curved up into a more pronounced arc.

The next period of time, Gongxi Qiao occasionally visited the Xi estate to get food and lodging. After being fed delicious food and drink by Xi Qing, his weight finally increased by a little less than 500 grams in two months.

But even so, several female artists in the crew were very jealous and envious. If they had eaten as much as Gongxi Qiao, they would have grown a spare tire of flesh.

It should be noted that Master Xi not only often picked up Gongxi Qiao from the set, but also often had his bodyguard deliver lunch at noon. The dishes full of color, flavor, and aroma almost made the rest of the crew throw away their own lunch boxes.

If it weren’t for the fact that Gongxi Qiao and Xi Qing were both male, and everyone knew that they had a good relationship, they would have thought that Xi Qing was pursuing Gongxi Qiao.

However, the truth was, even when the sons of the prestigious families were pursuing female artists, they weren’t so attentive, right?

Obviously they knew that it was just brotherly love, but many single dogs in the crew still felt that these two were abusing dogs in a fancy way, which also made people feel sad.

On one side, the filming progress of ‘Cultivation’ was half completed, and on the other side, news came from the crew of ‘The Greatest Warrior’ that they had been shortlisted for the Golden Leaf Award in Iris country.

Gongxi Qiao had long known that Director Wang was going to have ‘The Greatest Warrior’ reviewed for the Golden Leaf Awards, but because of the cultural customs of Western countries, he thought it wouldn’t be easy for a film with this kind of martial arts theme to be shortlisted. Little did he know that it really would be shortlisted.

After the filming of ‘The Greatest Warrior’ was completed, it went into an intensive post-editing phase. Several months had passed already, and he was so busy filming ‘Cultivation’ that he still didn’t know what the finished product of ‘The Greatest Warrior’ would look like.

Luckily, although the news of the shortlist had reached them, there was still nearly half a month before the Golden Leaf Awards started. Gongxi Qiao’s work team still had time to help him arrange various follow-up work.

The filming of the ‘Cultivation’ crew was going very well, and Gongxi Qiao decided to discuss with Director Jiao to try to focus on his own scenes. That way, he would have time to arrange his work for the Golden Leaf Awards when they started.

Thinking of Director Jiao’s smiling face, Gongxi Qiao sighed. He would probably be severely exploited by Director Jiao again.

T/N: 

1. Meng: I think it’s been quite a few chapters since this word showed up so in case you forgot, this is a loanword from the Japanese word “moe” meaning something super loveable and cute.

2. Sue: stands for Mary Sue