Ch42 - Such hard work ah, Gege

Edited by kat

When Shen Qi sent that message, Fu Mingyuan was in the middle of calling the housekeeper auntie. 

Ji Yin was standing there holding a script with an anxious look on her face. She had just been scolded by the director until she was not okay.

This was her first film, and it was a very important film about the transformation of Chinese society. She wasn’t as good at acting as the others in the group, and she could only rely on working hard to get by. 

Just now, the director had asked her to find a chance to run scenes with Fu Ge.

Fu Ge had with great effort finished his scenes today, but before she could even run over there, he had started to call someone.

Fu Ge’s agent Du Jing and a bodyguard were standing next to him and looking around everywhere.

Ji Yin walked around in circles there. 

Other people hadn’t finished acting yet, so she couldn’t go and ask them for advice.

Fu Ge stood under the temporary shed. It was raining today. During the morning it had rained pretty heavily, but now it was just drizzling a bit. The rain dripped along the shed, and the soil on the ground had unevenly deep and shallow pits. 

The rain fell and left water marks.

Fu Mingyuan was wearing dark gray raggedy clothes, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His arms were still smeared with some of the mud he had just touched during filming, and his shoulders were half wet from the rain. 

He didn’t seem to feel cold, still standing completely straight with his eyes half-narrowed, frowning slightly as he listened to the opposite party seriously.

“Little Master ate his meals on time today,” the housekeeper auntie whispered, “He ate breakfast, came back from school to eat lunch, then left when it was time to go back to class. 

“He keeps looking around everywhere, possibly because he wants to ask when you’ll be back.”

Fu Mingyuan’s frown smoothed out. “En, understood. Look after him some more.” 

After thinking about it, he added, “If something unusual happens, give me or Du Jing a call.”

The auntie agreed. 

She hung up and then sighed.

It was much more difficult for brothers to quarrel than it was for husband and wife to quarrel, especially when neither of them were willing to bow their head first. 

Fu Mingli had made a big mistake, but he still had a little kid’s temperament.

The auntie looked at the dishes on the table that had been eaten bare and showed a gratified smile. 

She knew ya, that Fu Mingli obediently eating every day was actually him admitting his mistake. In the past, when the master wasn’t at home, the little master was always unwilling to eat much.

He always ate lunch at school. 

Adolescent boys had a lot of ideas.

It was only after hanging up the call that Fu Mingyuan noticed the WeChat prompt at the top of his phone. 

It was already getting dark, and Du Jing stood beside him, rubbing his cold hands and arms and yawning.

“Why don’t you go have a meal first ba? Then we’ll wait a bit before it’s time to film the night scenes?” Du Jing proposed. 

Fu Mingyuan’s expression changed slightly, and he looked at the photo sent by Shen Qi.

“Get rid of this.” He handed his cellphone to Du Jing and pointed his finger to the photo. 

Du Jing glanced down and cheered up. “You don’t say, it’s a pretty good picture.

“Look at this artistic conception, this kind of local scenery is pretty good. Besides the poor accommodations, when you get a bit tired from filming, you can still be…” 

Before he finished talking, Fu Mingyuan gave him a cold look.

The screen dimmed. 

Du Jing shut up and woke up to the truth.

Fu Mingyuan didn’t go on Weibo normally. This photo was also watermarked and was obviously from Weibo. 

Besides Shen Qi, no one would be so bored as to send such photos to him.

He was probably jealous. 

Single dogs didn’t just have to eat dog food, but they also had to work.

Du Jing immediately went to contact PR. 

Fu Mingyuan looked away and didn’t open up an umbrella as he prepared to go back and cook dinner.

In recent days, he had made all of his and Du Jing’s meals himself. The villagers here were very enthusiastic, and they would also send them some vegetables they had grown themselves. 

Ji Yin just looked down to study her lines for a while, then she looked up to see that Fu Ge was leaving, so she quickly chased after and caught up with him.

“Fu Ge… Um…” She held the script over her head, and her assistant followed after her to hold up an umbrella behind her. 

Hearing a sound, Fu Mingyuan looked back at her.

“The director asked me to run scenes with you… The scene just now may have to be reshot, and the director said that I didn’t act it out very well…” 

Ji Yin’s voice gradually grew weaker. She was standing in the rain, looking up, her expression a little timid.

Although others said that Fu Ge was famous for his good temper, it was just that you couldn’t ever really see much emotion from him. 

However, Ji Yin was still a little worried that he would refuse her.

Du Jing coughed nearby. 

He had just scrolled through Weibo and saw that many people had said that Ji Yin and Fu Mingyuan were a good match.

There were already staff members at the side watching them. 

Fu Mingyuan’s hand holding his cellphone paused, and he walked back.

“Then let’s do it here.” 

Dinner could only be shelved.

There were so many people here, and with everyone watching, nothing could be said to have happened. 

It was very common to run scenes together, but it wasn’t too good to do that in private.

Ji Yin’s whole face showed her gratitude. 

Du Jing sighed and decided to defend and prune Weibo tonight. He couldn’t let the flames of gossip ignite into a lost hope.

Shen Qi went home and waited for a while before he heard from Fu Mingyuan. 

fmy: I’m helping people run scenes, I’ll find you later

Shen Qi clicked his tongue. 

He looked at the calendar.

Starting next week, he was going to sign a contract with the Younglings Zooming to Surrender team, and then he would go to the villa to supervise the work on it. 

Most likely, the next period of time was going to be pretty busy.

And Fu Mingyuan was going to shoot for more than two months. 

It was going to be hard to meet up.

He turned on the computer, put the towel around his neck, and started the livestream. However, he didn’t click to turn on the game but instead lowered his head to search for bus tickets. 

[WTF, look at what I’ve camped for!]

[AHHHHHHHH SWEETIE IS FINALLY LIVESTREAMING!] 

[Why is it the desktop QWQ Sweetie’s desktop photo is very familiar]

[?? WTF, that’s Fu Ge!!! Holy crap, I’m dead! Let me die in Fu Ge’s arms!] 

[With no face, I can still recognize that this is Fu Ge, damnnn. Does Sweetie also like Fu Ge? Wtf, what shocking thing have I found out]

The tip of his tongue touched the base of his lower teeth, and Shen Qi jabbed at the screen twice. It wasn’t easy to get to this place in the countryside. There were only bus tickets available at 5:30 in the morning, and they didn’t go directly to the village where Fu Mingyuan was filming. 

He searched on Baidu for a while, and saw he would have to hail one of the villager’s cars to get over there.

There was no bus stop at the village gate. 

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.

Coafg ybbxlcu atf almxfa, tf ibbxfv eq ja atf yjggjuf.

Qlat j iluta ijeut, tf mjrejiis rjlv, “Tfjt…lr tf tba bg cba?” 

Qtlif rjslcu atja, tf fnfc milmxfv bc j yeaabc bc tlr rtlga. “Qlii la ecyeaabc?”

[???  Yellow card warning] 

[Long time no see, you’re still that Sweetie]

[No, previous poster, he used to just talk, but now he’s starting to take action] 

[You just went to go watch a competition, what kind of evolution took place?]

“Vbwfatlcu fnbiealbcjgs tjqqfcfv.” Lf rklamtfv ab QfJtja jcv mbcolgwfv atf alwf klat atf mbcragemalbc afjw atja tf tjv mbcajmafv yfobgf. Qtfc tf ybeuta atf nliij, la tjv jigfjvs yffc gfcbnjafv, jcv cbk atf mbcragemalbc kjr wjlcis obg atf ijsbea, vfwbilrtlcu rfnfgji kjiir, jcv jiibmjalcu atf gbbwr. 

They’d talk about the decorating style later.

[??] 

[Is it the kind I’m thinking of?]

[Reporting the anchor for being lewd] 

[Overhead Prairie: …]

Lu Tun swore that he had really just accidentally clicked and saw and heard everything. 

He had just finished discussing his transfer with the manager.

Idol was really efficient in getting things done. 

The manager of the new team was very aggressive and had gone directly to HUOJ’s boss two days ago.

When he heard his price from the manager, Lu Tun almost knelt down. He could actually be sold for so much! 

He was so excited that his hands were even shaking, and was also shocked by Idol’s shamelessness.

He should have gotten used to it a long time ago. 

[Overhead Prairie: Rank One Gege is too pitiful]

He was really too pitiful. 

Idol was such a slaggy man.

But he couldn’t not love him. 

Sigh.

The barrage immediately followed him to spam the screen. 

Shen Qi snorted coldly. “What? Gege still loves me the most.

“The one who said that they were going to die in Fu Ge’s arms, let’s play a match. I’ll let you experience escaping for your life in Miramar.” 

[??? Hahahaha]

[Scrolling up a bit, sister, I see you] 

[ XSWL ]

[I’m going to do my homework, see you later] 

[Wuwuwu Sweetie will you resume livestreaming today? Will you be doing your normal livestream schedule in the future? I feel like life is less fun without being able to watch Sweetie livestream]

Shen Qi was for once silent for a while, feeling a bit regretful. “Today, the main reason I started this livestream was to…” 

He paused.

In the days when he had just retired, he had actually regretted his impulsiveness. 

E-sports was his dream.

And he had chosen to quit so easily. 

Of course, it wasn’t long before he felt at ease again.

He had money. 

The Qi family properties that his mother had left him were still in business.

Without the Qi family properties, in order to realize his dream, he might have had to yield to Shen Bozong. 

But fortunately, it was just a what-if.

During his time livestreaming, he had actually been very happy. 

At least, the frequency of his nightmares was much less than before.

In the past, when he was in M1G, he always thought about training, playing games, and playing in competitions. 

After livestreaming, he found that it was very joyful to chat with the audience when he was free.

He drank some water and then said, “Today may be the last livestream.” 

As soon as his words came out, the barrage went crazy.

[You’re kidding right] 

[I’ve been waiting for so many days, and I got such words, heh heh]

[Consuming our feelings?] 

[Awesome]

“I’ll be busy for a while soon, and my times coming back will be irregular, so….I’m very sorry.” 

His voice faded away.

This felt like that time when he had suddenly announced his retirement, and so many fans had rushed over to his WeChat to leave comments and send private messages. 

He didn’t want to look at them or to reply then.

But now, he wanted to very seriously say “sorry” to the people who had supported him. 

This sorry wasn’t just for the livestream audience to hear, but also for the fans who had cheered for him in the audience, on the computer, and in front of their cellphones.

[Curses, who doesn’t have things to do in the 3D world?] 

[Wuwuwu, it’s okay Sweetie. We’ll always be waiting for you to come back ah!]

[Even if the platform falls, I won’t unfollow!] 

[Wuwuwu, although I had a premonition of this day coming ever since Sweetie didn’t sign a contract, this day still came so fast]

[Unfollowing] 

The number of fans dropped by several hundred.

And it was still gradually decreasing. 

Shen Qi held his forehead and laughed.

That was fine ah. 

Thank you, you guys too.

One day, he would wear the name “Angry” and again login to this account, and then tell them that he was back. 

It was just that right now, it wasn’t that time yet.

He was going to come back to them in the best possible way. 

His fingers twitched, and then he licked his lower lip and cleared his throat. “Today, I’ll draw nine lucky viewers to play three squad matches.

“Don’t send me any free gifts, I’ll just take a screenshot of the barrage and take the first nine.” 

With that, the barrage scrolled wildly, too fast to even read.

…… 

Shen Qi played three matches, and at the end, it was already nearly midnight.

He hadn’t looked at his cellphone the entire time, and now he found that there were a lot of unread messages. 

Lu Tun: Idol, you’re not going to livestream anymore?

Lu Tun: QAQ 

Your Qi Ge: ? Do you want to get beaten up, we’re going to start preparing to train in a month. Livestream? Will you still have time to livestream?

Lu Tun: …. 

Lu Tun: Sorry, Idol, I’m wrong. KneelingDown.jpg

Lu Tun rolled around two times in his bed. 

Then he started packing.

He was about to leave HUOJ. 

In fact, he didn’t have much luggage. He had already packed up a little, watched Idol livestream, and then directly put it aside.

After packing, he opened the door and tiptoed out. 

The youth trainees were on the fourth floor.

The first team was on the second floor. 

At this moment, the youth trainees were basically asleep. When he went downstairs, the lights on the second floor were on.

As soon as he turned down the stairs of the third floor, he was face to face with Bo Li. 

Lu Tun trembled.

“Cap…Captain.” 

Although they had played “Fight the Landlord” together, he was still afraid of him when he was on his own.

Bo Li held a cup of hot water and nodded to him. “It’s the middle of the night, and you’re not sleeping?” 

HUOJ didn’t win the championship this time, and the post competition analysis had just finished.

Bo Li’s voice was a little hoarse. 

Lu Tun scratched the back of his head. “En… I came to have a look around.”

Bo Li stretched out his hand and thought about the way Shen Qi rubbed his head. He turned his head instead of looking at Lu Tun’s face and also rubbed his head twice. 

Lu Tun: ….

Lu Tun jumped back twice, his face panicked. “Um… Captain… I’m not gay.” 

He liked little Meizi with pigtails TVT.

Bo Li: ??? 

“What nonsense are you talking about?” He seemed to be a little embarrassed. When Lu Tun had been in the first team, he had often been scolded by him. Being so intimate now was a bit strange.

“I saw Shen Qi rubbing your hair like this, and I was imitating him.” 

Lu Tun coughed. “Idol was hitting me on the head. You’re doing it…”

It was so gentle, it was a little scary. 

Bo Li wiped his hand against his jacket twice. “Don’t call me captain.”

He paused again. “In the future, call Shen Qi ‘Captain.’ 

“I’ll see you during the competition next year. I hope you can become an opponent worthy of my admiration.”

With that, he continued to walk to the conference room with a water cup in his hand. He hadn’t finished watching all of the videos or reading the data analysis of all the team members yet. 

With his back towards him, he waved at Lu Tun.

He lowered his head slightly and showed a smile. 

Lu Tun stood at the entrance of the stairs, staring at Bo Li’s back for a while, then at everything on the second floor.

The training room, meeting room, viewing room…. 

He went back to the youth trainee training room on the fourth floor. The computers were turned off, and no one was there.

It was all dark. 

Lu Tun squatted down, his chin on his knees, and suddenly his eyes turned red.

Goodbye, HUOJ. 

Goodbye, the place where his dream began.

After crying, he angrily sent a message to Ye Lai. 

It was all that crybaby Ye Lai’s fault, infecting him with this crappy problem.

…. 

Your Qi Ge: Was just livestreaming TVT

Fu Mingyuan had sent him several messages. Shen Qi hadn’t looked at his cellphone when he had been livestreaming just now, and currently it had already been two hours since the other sent him a message. 

He climbed into the bed, but Fu Mingyuan still didn’t reply.

He first set up 20 alarms at 4:30 to prevent himself from being unable to get up. 

After a while, his cellphone vibrated twice.

fmy: En 

fmy: Go to bed early

Shen Qi curled into his quilt and only replied after his whole person was covered. 

Your Qi Ge: Gege, why haven’t you slept yet~

Your Qi Ge: Have you been filming up until now? 

fmy: En, just finished, getting ready to go to bed

Your Qi Ge: OVO will you have to get up early tomorrow too? 

Your Qi Ge: Such hard work ah, Gege

Fu Mingyuan lowered his eyes, rubbed his fingertips on the screen twice, and deleted the words “I’m used to it.” 

fmy: En, will have to get up early

fmy: It’s raining, it’s a little cold 

Your Qi Ge: QAQ, it’s so cold in the quilt, it’s so inconvenient to turn on the heater

Your Qi Ge: Gege do you miss me QAQ 

“Typing….”

A minute later– 

fmy: En.

fmy: HugHug.jpg 

Shen Qi kicked at his quilt.

Your Qi Ge: Hug hug 

Your Qi Ge: Mwah mwah

Your Qi Ge: Good night, Gege 

If they kept talking, he would want to fly over there right now.

He didn’t know if the Qi family had a private plane. 

It was really hard to be in a long-distance relationship.

Shen Qi chuckled. 

See you tomorrow ah, Gege.

Fu Mingyuan put down his cellphone and Du Jing, who was carrying a flashlight and leading the way, looked back at him. “Do you want to eat something? You didn’t have dinner.” 

After running scenes with Ji Yin, the director came calling for him as soon as he was getting ready to go back.

Du Jing wanted to go back and get food for Fu Mingyuan, but he was also rejected. 

Fu Mingyuan looked at the road. After the rain, the road wasn’t smooth, and it wasn’t easy to traverse. Right after he had replied to Shen Qi’s message, he stepped in a puddle.

He turned on his own flashlight and pinched his brows. “No need.” 

He looked at the messages that the auntie had sent him. In the evening, Fu Mingli had come home on time and did his homework obediently.

But he still hadn’t sent a message to Fu Mingyuan. 

These past few days, he hadn’t not thought about sitting down again for a good conversation with Fu Mingli.

What he said about sending Fu Mingli to his parents may have really been misunderstood by Fu Mingli. 

From childhood to adulthood, he had never seen Fu Mingli cry like that.

Although he always said he was a man, at the end of the day, he was only 14 years old. 

It was just that regarding the matter of him going into his room and taking things without his permission, he couldn’t be soft hearted.

Fu Mingli still had to pay for his mistakes to understand what he could and could not do. 

Du Jing also wanted to advise him. He could hear the weariness in his voice, so he’d wake up earlier tomorrow to get some breakfast for him.

After drinking porridge for several days as breakfast, his stomach was almost crying. 

……

At a bus stop at a little past five in the morning. 

Shen Qi sat in a seat holding the bus ticket in his hand, feeling sleepy.

It was only after the alarm clock rang more than ten times that he successfully got up from the bed and put on a big cotton padded jacket, a hat, and a mask, his whole body tightly wrapped up 

There were very few people on the bus when he got on. A big mother looked at him, saw him sit beside her, and she picked up her bag and moved back a few seats.

Shen Qi didn’t care. 

He fell asleep as soon as he got on the bus and didn’t wake up until it was time to get off.

Today, he was lucky. As soon as he got to the bus stop, a villager from the village that Fu Mingyuan was filming at had come out to buy some things. 

The villager was a big uncle. As soon as he heard Shen Qi say that he wanted to go to his village, he looked at the valuable clothes Shen Qi was wearing and started to chat with him.

“Are you also an actor in that crew?” The uncle spoke with an accent, so Shen Qi had to think for a while before he understood what he said. 

Shen Qi chuckled and shook his head. He wore a mask, and his voice was a bit muffled.

The big uncle was riding an electric three-wheeled vehicle, and the wind on the road was quite strong. 

Shen Qi wrapped his big cotton padded jacket tightly around him, only exposing his eyes.

“No, Uncle!” he replied, “I’m going to see my partner!” 

After the big uncle heard that, he started to gossip.

“All the little girls in the drama group are radiant and fresh, which one is your partner ah? Boy, where did you come from? How long have you been with your partner oh, when are you guys going to get married?” 

“Uncle, he’s not a little girl.”

The big uncle’s hand on the wheel trembled, and he thought he had heard wrong. 

“Boy, what did you say? Uncle is hard of hearing!”

Shen Qi chuckled and didn’t repeat himself. 

“I said, my partner is very radiant and fresh! Good looking, and with a good character!”

“Oh, oh…” The big uncle smacked his lips twice. He just knew that he had heard wrong. 

…..

By the time they got to the village, it was past mealtime. 

It had just rained yesterday, and the soil was still wet. Shen Qi’s white sports shoes stepped onto the ground, sank a little, and were stained black.

The big uncle let him off and refused to accept Shen Qi’s money. He swayed as he drove his electric three-wheeled vehicle home. 

The location of the crew was very obvious. They were shooting outdoor scenes today, and yesterday’s temporary shelter had already been removed.

Shen Qi had good eyesight. He stood at the entrance of the village, watching the cameraman slowly push the camera on a small tricycle as Fu Mingyuan came down from the ridge of the field carrying a bucket. 

He couldn’t really see his face.

But Shen Qi knew that it was Fu Mingyuan. 

He was dressed in gray cotton clothes and still looked tall with long legs, with just a bit of extra flavor than usual.

Even when carrying a bucket, his steps were very stable. 

Shen Qi felt that his heart was beating a little fast.

He walked slowly, step by step, towards the crew. 

When he got to the crowd, a field agent discovered him and stopped him.

“If you want to watch, then stay a bit further away and don’t affect the shoot.” The field agent smiled in a friendly way at Shen Qi. 

Although this person was very strange, wrapped up like a zongzi.

Shen Qi took two steps back, and now he could see Fu Mingyuan clearly. 

He simply leaned directly against the fence and looked at Gege unblinkingly.

Fu Mingyuan’s sleeves were rolled up, and he bent over slightly as he carried the bucket. 

Xu Piao, who was dressed in calico clothes, came by with a hoe and wiped her sweaty face with an angry expression, as if she was about to quarrel with Fu Mingyuan.

The director called out, “Cut.” 

The makeup artists immediately went to fix their makeup, and Xu Piao’s assistant rushed over to put a coat on her.

It was colder after the rain. 

Du Jing also had a coat in his hand and was waiting for Fu Mingyuan to come down from the field’s ridge.

Fu Mingyuan rolled down his sleeves. His clothes were already filthy, but his steps were very steady. 

Just after looking up, his gaze fell on the other side of the fence, and he stopped.

At that moment, Fu Mingyuan felt that he might have mistaken someone else for him. 

However, he clearly knew that even if the young man only showed his eyes, he wouldn’t mistake him for anyone else.

—

The author has something to say: 

Today is also a day to love Cub.

Wuwuwuwuwu. 

Happy 2020!

Did you go out to eat a big meal today? 

Thank you for the mines and nutrient solution