Chapter 77

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‘Accidental Muder’ was scheduled to start production after the Spring Festival—only a month from now.

Xia Xingcheng’s schedule until the Spring Festival was jam-packed with work: he had to shoot commercials and promotional photos for two endorsements and attend a video website’s year-end awards ceremony to receive an award for an idol drama he starred in in the first half of the year. There wasn’t much time for him to appear in variety shows, so Huang Jixin arranged him to guest on a popular variety that he only needed to participate in one episode of.

The first thing he did once he returned, however, was to report to the company and meet Cai Meiting.

The company had a starlit corridor lined with large photos of the company’s contracted artists. Perhaps so as not to offend anyone, the photos were arranged in a random order, with You Shu’s in the front and Xia Xingcheng’s in the middle, and artists of greater or smaller fame in between.

He stopped in front of his own picture that was almost half his height and stared up at it.

The photo was taken when he was just starting out, when he wasn’t even twenty years old. At that time, the photographer and stylist were some of the best in the country, and the Xia Xingcheng in the photo wore a very stylish school uniform: a short-sleeved white shirt, dark blue trousers, and a pair of sneakers on his feet. He squatted on the ground with a school bag by his feet, smiling brightly at the camera.

Looking at this photo again now, Xia Xingcheng was surprised at the innocence and youthfulness in his eyes, just like the school idol in the next class, exuding a natural and sunny air.

He somewhat regretted that Yang Youming had never seen him back then.

While he was staring at his photo, a door at the end of the corridor suddenly opened, and Cai Meiting appeared and said to him: “Why haven’t you come yet, what’s taking so long?”

“Chief Cai!” Xia Xingcheng greeted her and followed Cai Meiting into her office.

Cai Meiting let Xia Xingcheng sit on the sofa in her outer office, and the secretary brought him a cup of tea.

Even though he knew what Cai Meiting was going to say, Xia Xingcheng was inevitably a little apprehensive. He stared at the transparent glass teacup, watching a tea leaf bobbing up and down on the surface.

Cai Meiting sat diagonally across from him, stared at him for a moment, and said, “Nothing you want to say to me?”

Xia Xingcheng could only look towards her and after a little hesitation, said, “You never cared about me dating before.”

Cai Meiting let out an ‘Mm’ and crossed her legs. “Those little girlfriends of yours came quickly and left just as quickly, how long do you plan to go about this one?” After asking this question, she took out a cigarette from the cigarette case on the table and held it between her fingers without rushing to light it.

Xia Xingcheng said: “It’s not something that can be planned–and besides, I’ve never planned for anything before either.” Liking someone, falling in love, fading feelings, breaking up–these things developed naturally, not a result of any plans.

Cai Meiting said: “All right, but I don’t think you can hold on to this one for long.”

Xia Xingcheng’s heart was resentful. He didn’t like Cai Meiting’s evaluation of his feelings for Yang Youming, but he wasn’t stupid enough to refute it, so he let Cai Meiting’s thought be–it was naturally better to not fight her on it. He reached out and picked up the lighter on the table and helped Cai Meiting light her cigarette with a pleasant smile.

Cai Meiting took a drag of her cigarette as she stared at him, and with the cigarette still between her lips, she said, “I’m not going to ask why you even changed your sexual orientation on a whim. I just want to ask you what your career plans are.”

Xia Xingcheng squeezed the lighter and turned it around and around in his hand, remaining silent for a while in the face of this question. After careful consideration, he answered Cai Meiting, “Chief Cai, I want to be an actor.”

Xia Xingcheng had never seriously considered this matter since his debut. Although he acted, others regarded him as an idol rather than an actor. In the past, he also felt that, no matter if he was acting, singing, or even just going on variety shows, it would be enough as long as he was popular and made money. The first time he had notions about his career was due to He Zheng’s words. He Zheng had told him to be an actor, not a traffic star nor an idol. It was then that Xia Xingcheng realized that the original meaning of these terms were different.

When Cai Meiting heard the solemn tone of his reply, she stared at him for a while before saying, “You want to act well?”

Xia Xingcheng nodded.

Cai Meiting reached out and motioned for Xia Xingcheng to pass her the ashtray. She flicked the ashes and asked, “You only want to act in movies?”

Xia Xingcheng replied, “No, anything’s fine as long as it’s good.”

Cai Meiting thought for a moment, then said, “If you intend to do so, the company can set a new direction for you. But you have to understand one thing–good film and television resources can’t be won by the company’s efforts alone, ultimately, an actor relies on their own strength.”

Xia Xingcheng said, “I understand.”

Cai Meiting said, “So until then, it’s essential to maintain your exposure to secure your popularity, or else you won’t have any work or popularity–who’s going to seek out your acting then? Don’t have high standards but little ability, you understand?”

Xia Xingcheng nodded.

Cai Meiting looked at him and couldn’t help but sigh.

Xia Xingcheng looked up at her, “Chief Cai, don’t sigh, you can tell me anything you want.”

Cai Meiting said, “I know you seem a little out of tune, but you’re actually quite obedient. You’ve been in this company for many years, and I also like you a lot, so I’ll just give it to you straight. Your affair with Yang Youming–even if it’s only a spur-of-the-moment relationship, you have to be vigilant at all times. Don’t be exposed, don’t leave photos or videos, it’s best to not reveal anything, even to your close circle. Otherwise, once it comes out, the blow to you will be much bigger than it’ll be to Yang Youming, do you understand?”

Xia Xingcheng suddenly felt a little uncomfortable when he heard these words.

Cai Meiting continued, “His strength and status are all there, and he’s already gained a foothold in this industry, but you yourself can’t even bring out works on your own. When the time comes, that big scandal will weigh on you and press you down until you won’t even be able to roll over, and your acting career will be over.”

Xia Xingcheng took a deep breath and nodded, his emotions complicated.

Cai Meiting didn’t say anything else. She wordlessly finished the cigarette in her hand, leaving only the cigarette butt pressed into the ashtray before she said to Xia Xingcheng, “Go back and think it over, is it worth it?”

Three words quickly popped up in Xia Xingcheng’s head, “It’s worth it.” But he wouldn’t say it to Cai Meiting and merely stood up, “I’ll be leaving then, Chief Cai.”

Cai Meiting also got up and personally sent him out of her office, saying, “Any plans for the new year?”

Xia Xingcheng said, “I’m going home to visit my parents and big brother.”

Cai Meiting nodded, “It’s the time of the year to go back home.” With that, she patted Xia Xingcheng’s arm, “Jiayou.”

Xia Xingcheng smiled and said, “Thank you, Chief Cai.”

Cai Meiting went back to her office, and Xia Xingcheng left through the corridor he previously walked through, stopping to take another look at his photo as he passed by before turning around and continuing on his way.

Yang Youming returned two days later than he originally planned.

This undoubtedly brought Xia Xingcheng two more days of torturous yearning, but on the day he received a message that Yang Youming was coming back, his enraptured excitement was all too tangible.

Xia Xingcheng didn’t have work that day, so he decided to go to Yang Youming’s house to wait for him. Yang Youming expected to arrive home at around six in the afternoon, so he could wait until Yang Youming returned and the two of them could have dinner together.

The address Yang Youming gave him was of a large luxury apartment in an extremely upscale community.

Yang Youming had informed Xia Xingcheng’s license plate number to security beforehand in order to let him directly pass and enter the underground garage. From the underground garage, he took the elevator straight to the first floor which housed a single household.

When he entered the passcode, Xia Xingcheng was a little nervous. He thought that he could turn off the lights and hide somewhere, wait for Yang Youming to come back, then give him a nice surprise.

He couldn’t help laughing at the thought.

After inputting the passcode, he pressed the confirm key and there was a ‘click’ before the door unlocked. He raised a hand to push open the door, and at that moment, he found that the lights were on inside.

Xia Xingcheng was stunned. His first thought was that Yang Youming had returned, and was immediately surprised and delighted. Pushing the door open completely, he went in and called out: “Ming ge?”

There was no entrance hall, and the door of the room directly opened out to the brightly lit living room. Right then, someone who was sitting on the living room sofa with their back to the door stood up.

Xia Xingcheng realized that it wasn’t Yang Youming, but a woman, and he stood in place in a daze.

The woman turned back to look at him, revealing a delicate face that was all too flawless–even though she was over thirty, her skin was still smooth and tight, so white that it was almost transparent.

This face was actually very familiar to Xia Xingcheng. There was a time when he would secretly search for news about her and see that beautiful face in all kinds of sneak shots or street photos. He also remembers a press release mentioning that she was called a little fairy by many fans when she first debuted because she was too beautiful to grow up eating the food of common mortals, or perhaps she was really a lost angel who had fallen from heaven.

This woman was Yuan Qian.

As Xia Xingcheng stared at Yuan Qian with a wandering mind, Yuan Qian was also staring at Xia Xingcheng. She was a little astonished at first, but then she smiled, and her beauty suddenly became more vivid, not at all like the legendary wooden beauty in front of the camera. She said, “Are you Xia Xingcheng?”

Yuan Qian used to be Xia Xingcheng’s ideal type. In those days when he was still simply worshipping Yang Youming, he believed that Yuan Qian qualified to be Yang Youming’s wife, that it was only right that the person beside the male god was a goddess. But now, the male god became his lover, and the goddess shouldn’t continue to exist. His heart was in a spectacular mess, and his face slightly lost its colour, and it took a while to suppress it before he also showed a smile, “Hello, I’m Xia Xingcheng.”

He didn’t know how to address Yuan Qian. It was reasonable to call her ‘jie’, but he couldn’t get the words out.

Yuan Qian said, “I’m Yuan Qian.”

Xia Xingcheng nodded.

The atmosphere in the room froze over for a split second. Xia Xingcheng stood by the door, unmoving, and Yuan Qian was silent for a moment before bending down to pick up the small handbag she had placed on the sofa. She said, “I thought Youming was coming back. I wanted to wait for him to talk about something, but I didn’t expect that he had an appointment, so I’ll get in touch with him another day.”

Xia Xingcheng didn’t ask Yuan Qian how she knew that Yang Youming was coming back, nor did he ask her what she was looking for Yang Youming for–he felt that he wasn’t in a position to, and likewise, Yuan Qian didn’t ask him anything, probably figuring that she wasn’t in a position to either.

Yuan Qian took her bag and walked towards the entrance, nodding at Xia Xingcheng as a goodbye as she passed him.

Xia Xingcheng merely said, “Take care” and watched Yuan Qian’s back as she walked into the elevator.

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⟵ Chapter 76 | TOC | Chapter 78 ⟶

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