he morning filming ended and the crew entered the lunch break. Wu Shui, who had gone out to answer his phone, walked over to Xie Yang and told him in a low voice, “Boss, Mr Qiu has ordered a few dining cars to come over as an apology to the crew for today’s chaos.”
Xie Yang looked through the script before glancing at Wu Shui. “He hasn’t slept yet?”
Wu Shui immediately replied, “The dining cars were ordered in the morning. He is staying in his hotel room well.”
He was staying in the hotel room but Wu Shui didn’t say he was sleeping. Xie Yang took out his mobile phone and sent a WeChat message to Qiu Xing.
Xie Yang: My stomach hurts.
Qiu Xing replied in seconds: What’s the matter? Did you catch a cold? Did you eat something bad?
Qiu Xing: Let Wu Shui take you to the hospital and I’ll go there.
He knew it. Xie Yang started typing.
Xie Yang: It isn’t catching a cold or eating something bad. It is because of someone who said he will sleep but didn’t sleep.
The opposite person was as quiet as a chicken.
Xie Yang: You can’t sleep?
A short time passed.
Qiu Xing: I woke up after a while.
Xie Yang: I am lenient when confessing, strict when resisting and will divorce when lying.
Qiu Xing replied in seconds: Good night.
Xie Yang stared at the words ‘good night’ for a long time but didn’t reply. He got up, found Director Zhou and told him about the dining cars. After hearing this, Director Zhou called the life director over. Finally, the life director told the crew to eat in the dining cars outside.
The crew heard that Xie Yang’s family had ordered dining cars to improve the crew’s food situation and they all watched Xie Yang. Xie Yang calmly accepted everyone’s attention and invited them to say something. They were all embarrassed to stare at Xie Yang again. They just thanked Xie Yang’s ‘family’ for his thoughtfulness and looked away.
The crew members thought the dining cars Xie Yang mentioned were just ordinary takeout dining cars. Then once they got to the empty space where the dining cars were parked, they found they were too naive.
In the open space, five mobile restaurant-style food trucks were parked. In the open space in front of the food trucks, waiters were busy setting out long tables and umbrellas. In the dining cars, the chefs were busy preparing food. This was simply moving a medium-sized restaurant over. Even the experienced Director Zhou was stunned when he saw this scene. “Mr Qiu is really considerate.”
Xie Yang hadn’t expected Qiu Xing to prepare such a dining car and replied, “He should be.”
The others, “……”
Everyone was seated under the direction of the waiter.
There were five dining cars. Two were responsible for Western food, two for Chinese food and one for fruit drinks. The food was continuously delivered to the long table and set up as a self-service buffet. This arrangement was sincere enough and didn’t burden anyone. It was very considerate.
Xie Yang casually picked some of what he liked to eat and sat down with Director Zhou and the others.
Perhaps people had soft mouths after eating. During the meal, Xie Yang found that everyone’s attitude towards him became much warmer and closer. It was no longer as rigid as it was during the morning shooting. Among them, the biggest change in attitude came from the people on the production side, whose words and deeds were more careful.
Halfway through the meal, Wen Yao got up to get some food. Then when she came back, she didn’t sit beside the actress of the second female lead, Wen Han. Instead, she sat next to Xie Yang. She picked up a glass of juice and raised it to Xie Yang. “Congratulations and thank you for the lunch.”
Xie Yang smiled and picked up the juice. “Senior is polite.”
The two of them clinked glasses together.
Wen Yao took a sip of the juice before putting it down. She rolled the pasta on the plate around with a fork and lowered her voice. “Mu Zhouyi has gone abroad. I wasn’t able to see her before she left.”
Xie Yang’s action of putting down the cup stopped.
“How do you think she will live all alone in a foreign country?”
Xie Yang put down the cup and picked up his chopsticks. “Someone will take care of her.”
Based on the style of the Feng family, they would find a sanatorium abroad for Mu Zhouyi. She wouldn’t be treated harshly.
Wen Yao was silent for a few seconds. “That’s good.”
***
In the afternoon filming, Director Zhou deliberately filmed Xie Yang’s scenes in advance so that Xie Yang could leave early. This was regarded as gratitude for Qiu Xing’s dining cars. Xie Yang thanked Director Zhou and asked Wu Shui to buy some drinks to send to the studio. Then he packed up his things and left.
On the way back to the hotel, Xie Yang looked at Weibo. As the day passed, public opinion on Weibo was basically stable. The information about the will on the hot search was gone and only the topic #Qiu Xing Xie Yang# was still high. On the popular list, his and Qiu Xing’s Weibo posts were hung high and the comments had broken through 100,000.
The hot comments in the comments area under Qiu Xing’s post were filled with the blessing replies from the bosses of major companies. The previous comments were suppressed.
The hot comments in the comments area under his post were dominated by the blessing replies sent by Yang Xing’s artists. The fans responded well and there were no excessive remarks. It should be Qin Cheng’s special public relations.
The number of fans on Qiu Xing’s Weibo account had broken through one million. It was an amazing increase. Xie Yang’s Weibo followers had fallen and increased. Overall, it had increased.
All in all, at present, the relationship announcement hadn’t caused any bad effects. However, it might just be that public relations had been done too well. Public opinion was suppressed and no bad influences were allowed to emerge.
Xie Yang searched up other things and found that all the secret photos of the graduation ceremony from before were gone. He searched for his and Qiu Xing’s names and only their official announcement posts came out. All the messy posts from the marketing accounts were gone. The search page was so clean that it didn’t look like an artist had just announced his relationship.
Xie Yang wanted to laugh. Wasn’t this person timid? How come he was so overbearing when announcing his love affair that he even controlled public opinion? Only they could post information about their love affair?
Xie Yang returned to the popular list and looked down. Then Tao Yang’s name came into view. He paused for a moment and looked at what Tao Yang had posted.
Tao Yang: I’m sorry that I didn’t figure out the situation and casually defined the relationship between Mr Xie Yang and Mr Qiu Xing. This time, I didn’t think about it properly. Later, I will express my apologies to them. I am sorry that I misled everyone. I’m really sorry.
Apologize in person?
Xie Yang raised his eyebrow and clicked on the comments under this post.
The comments area was filled with words of comfort. They said that Tao Yang didn’t deliberately mislead public opinion. He was just worried that the elder of a family friend and his junior would be maliciously attacked by the marketing accounts. Therefore, he made such a Weibo post on impulse. This behaviour was generally kind and wasn’t a big mistake.
A good deed wasn’t a big mistake.
Xie Yang gently tapped on the back of his phone.
If viewed from the perspective of Tao Yang misunderstanding Qiu Xing’s introduction and thinking that Qiu Xing and Xie Yang had a shameful, hidden relationship then Tao Yang’s previous Weibo post was actually very good. It was only beneficial to them. Apart from the fact that posting such a thing seemed self-assertive, it could be said to be done out of good intentions.
However, the premise was that Tao Yang did misread Qiu Xing’s introduction.
The child of a big family who had been in the entertainment circle for several years. Would he really fail to see the meaning behind Xie Yang’s high-profile behaviour with Qiu Xing? At that time, the news became hot so quickly yet he and Qiu Xing showed no signs of suppressing it. Wasn’t this behaviour obvious enough?
Xie Yang read Tao Yang’s Weibo post again and locked his phone. It didn’t matter if Tao Yang misunderstood or if he did so with good intentions. Tao Yang’s actions had stepped on his bottom line.
***
The car parked at the entrance of the hotel. Xie Yang looked outside and found that all the media waiting outside had completely disappeared. Wu Shui explained it. “Boss Qiu always pays attention to the privacy of himself and his family. He has a complete response system for trying to sneakily take photos.”
The translation was that the media could only report what Qiu Xing wanted to report or from interviews. Those who secretly filmed and wrote articles would be waiting for lawsuits. Money allowed them to do whatever they wanted.
Xie Yang nodded, got out of the car and entered the hotel. Xie Yang deliberately made his actions very light when opening the door to this room. The room was dimly lit and the curtains were drawn. Xie Yang stepped forward, turned to gently close the door and stood still for two seconds before stepping inside. The carpet absorbed the sound of his footsteps. Xie Yang left the entrance and glanced towards the big bed.
On the side of the big bed by the window, Qiu Xing lay with his back to the door. Xie Yang walked around the bed, sat down on the carpet beside the bed and watched Qiu Xing’s sleeping face. Qiu Xing should be very tired. His face showed a hint of tiredness even when asleep.
Xie Yang reached out and touched between Qiu Xing’s eyebrows with his finger. He sent in his ability little by little. Qiu Xing’s expression and breathing were slowly soothed.
After using all of his ability, Xie Yang didn’t withdraw his hand. He gently caressed Qiu Xing’s forehead. Due to the making of the will, Qiu Xing must’ve been harassed by his relatives and Rongding’s shareholders throughout last night and during the day. It must’ve been very tiring.
Xie Yang leaned toward Qiu Xing.
The will, the illness announcement and his appearance being revealed… the person who had been hiding well in his shell was now forced to be completely exposed to others and had to face all types of public opinions. When he was alone, did he feel pained and helpless? He was just a coward.
The phone on the bedside table suddenly rang. Qiu Xing frowned again and showed signs of waking up. Xie Yang hurriedly picked up Qiu Xing’s phone, unlocked it and turned it to silent. Then he squeezed out a trace of ability into Qiu Xing.
Qiu Xing went back to sleep.
Xie Yang relaxed. He looked down at Qiu Xing’s phone and saw that in addition to a notification of an unread message at the top, there was also an alarm clock reminder. He paused for a moment before sliding down the notification bar to take a look.
The alarm was set for 6 o’clock which was the time that the crew got off work normally. In addition…
Xie Yang’s gaze fell on the notification below the alarm clock. It was an unread message from Tao Yang.
Xie Yang turned off the alarm clock and didn’t read the message. He put the phone on the bedside table again, got up and went to the bathroom.
Qiu Xing slept until 8 o’clock.
Xie Yang was sitting on the carpet and playing with his mobile phone. He saw Qiu Xing open his eyes and immediately said, “Tao Yang sent you a message. Qiu Jingwei called around 7 o’clock and I answered. He spoke to me in a bad way and I scolded him. I suspect that he will have a cerebral hemorrhage like his brother Qiu Jingbang. He Jun also called and said that the people in charge of Rongding’s branch offices and the shareholders have asked for a face-to-face conversation with you. The Liu family also called. I answered but they hung up the moment they heard it was me.”
Qiu Xing’s eyes quickly cleared up. He instinctively looked at the clock beside the bed.
“I turned off your alarm clock. It is already past 8 o’clock. I haven’t eaten dinner yet because I was waiting for you. I am very hungry now.”
Qiu Xing frowned and immediately retracted his gaze. He lifted his quilt while scolding Xie Yang. “Why haven’t you eaten when it is so late? You don’t have to wait—”
Xie Yang got up, bent over and kissed Qiu Xing. Qiu Xing stopped trying to get up and watched Xie Yang.
Xie Yang touched Qiu Xing’s furrowed brow and met Qiu Xing’s eyes. “Thank you for the hard work. I like you as well. In addition, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been angry about what happened yesterday. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have shown you directly to the media and the public without thorough arrangements and considerations. I’m the bastard.”
“……”
“I’m sorry, it won’t happen in the future.”
Qiu Xing stared straight at Xie Yang. His Adam’s apple moved up and down before he reached out to hug Xie Yang. He held the back of Xie Yang’s head with one hand and Xie Yang’s back with the other. His arms tightened and his voice was low. “Xie Yang… you always have a way to drive me crazy.”
***
It was too late and it was a waste of time to go out and eat. Xie Yang simply ordered room service. As they waited for dinner to be delivered, Qiu Xing went to the bathroom to wash up. Xie Yang stayed outside the bathroom and knocked on the door when he heard the sound of the hair dryer.
The hair dryer stopped and the door was opened. Qiu Xing appeared behind the door. His hair was still dripping with water. He held the hair dryer in one hand and raised his other hand to his hair. “What’s the matter?”
Xie Yang didn’t speak and just hugged Qiu Xing.
Qiu Xing looked down at Xie Yang and embraced him. The two people hugged quietly. Xie Yang rubbed Qiu Xing’s shoulder before releasing his arms and stepping back. He took the hair dryer from Qiu Xing’s hand, turned on the switch and gestured for Qiu Xing to turn around.
Qiu Xing watched Xie Yang and then turned to the mirror. Xie Yang slowly dried Qiu Xing’s hair and asked, “What did Dr Kirkman say?”
As the hair dryer moved, some hair fell on the sink. Qiu Xing wiped them off and replied, “It can only be weakened as much as possible, not completely stopped.”
“So sooner or later, you will be bald?”
If it was before, Qiu Xing’s expression would’ve definitely changed when he heard this question and he would’ve avoided it. Now he was only silent for a few seconds before raising his gaze. He and Xie Yang stared at each other and he asked, “Will you… dislike it?”
“I wouldn’t blow dry your hair if I dislike it.”
The wet hair slowly dried.
“Xie Yang.”
Xie Yang looked up.
“Isn’t it tiring to be with me?”
Xie Yang gently patted the back of Qiu Xing’s head. The heavy emotion on Qiu Xing’s face was gone from this light hit and he frowned.
“I’m not tired.” Xie Yang rubbed the place where Qiu Xing had just been hit and asked instead, “Do you feel that you are forced to be uncomfortable when you are with me?”
Qiu Xing’s eyebrows were covered by his blown hair and he looked much softer than usual. He stared at Xie Yang in the mirror and suddenly smiled. “No.”
Xie Yang also smiled. “So it seems we are a pair of broken pots with bad lids. We were born to be a pair.”
Qiu Xing frowned at Xie Yang’s metaphor. “What is this nonsense about broken pots and lids?” Then he smiled again. He turned around, grabbed Xie Yang’s hand holding the hair dryer and turned it off. He took Xie Yang into his arms and gently touched the back of Xie Yang’s head.
He whispered, “You might encounter some trouble in the future. The Qiu family, the Liu family, the Feng family, the Tao family… many people will be watching you. Are you afraid?”
Xie Yang hugged Qiu Xing back. He placed his chin on Qiu Xing’s shoulder and watched Qiu Xing’s back in the mirror. He didn’t answer Qiu Xing’s question but instead asked on. “Every little action you make in the future will be stared at by netizens. They will doubt your feelings, discuss your condition, evaluate your appearance and dig into your family situation… will it be uncomfortable?”
If two people were together, they had to share troubling things as well as joy. ‘You will bring me trouble and I will bring you trouble. Everyone is the same.’
If they didn’t have the awareness to help each other share the burden then how could they be together?
Qiu Xing tightened his grip as he understood Xie Yang’s words. He declared, “I will protect you.”
Xie Yang smiled. “I will protect you too.”
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