Chapter 6. These kinds of disturbing photos are still rare…

Qi Qiu found it somewhat amusing: "You've gotten quite confident, haven't you?"

But Fang Xingu's words make sense. Fang Xingu's popularity in the industry is indeed unmatched. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a top star.

Qi Qiu wanted to persuade him further, but seeing Fang Xingu's pale face after the high fever, his listless expression, and his overall exhausted state, Qi Qiu immediately softened.

Oh well, what can we do if our own artists want to go? We'll just spoil them. It's just a variety show anyway, and at least it's a gathering of familiar faces, so we don't have to worry about the production team editing it badly.

Qi Qiu knew he couldn't go against Fang Xingu's wishes, so he had no choice but to compromise and help Fang Xingu contact the "The World Is So Big" program team.

He went directly to his old classmate and director Yan Tu to inquire about the situation: "Have you found all the regular cast members for 'The World Is So Big'?"

Yan Tu was worried: "Of the seven permanent staff, five were originally confirmed, but one left yesterday, so now there are only four left."

Qi Qiu grew increasingly disheartened as he listened. Just how bad was this show that they couldn't even find all the participants? He asked in alarm, "Who has been confirmed so far?"

Yan Tu was puzzled: "What? You seem to care so much about my show, are you going to introduce me to someone?"

Qi Qiu: "...I'm going to send you some of the artists under my management."

Qi Qiu only brought Fang Xingu with him. Yan Tu didn't take it seriously at all. After all, with Fang Xingu's popularity, how could he lower himself to come to their show?

Yan Tu thought Qi Qiu was joking, and laughed along with him: "Fang Xin Gu? That's great, hurry up and send him to me."

"Okay, let's set a time to discuss this in detail."

Yan Tu felt something was off as he listened: "Are you serious?"

Qi Qiu: "Ang."

Yan Tu finally realized what was happening and exclaimed, "Holy crap!!! Really?"

"...What good would it do me to lie to you?"

Yan Tu slapped his thigh: "You swore to God you wouldn't go back on your word or lie to me! I'm recording this now, you say it again, I need to keep evidence!"

What a stroke of good fortune, five million falling from the sky!

No, that's not right. The benefits that Fang Xin could bring are far more than five million!

Yan Tu shouted excitedly, but Qi Qiu gritted his teeth and said, "That's enough."

Yan Tu calmed down after yelling for a while, and said in a slightly shy voice, "But we have limited funds and may not be able to afford Professor Fang's appearance fee. For the sake of our old classmate, could you give me a discount?"

Qi Qiu: ...

Yan Tu added, "Wait, Mr. Fang, could you perhaps bring some resources to sponsor our program?"

Qi Qiu's fist hardened: "You're taking advantage of me, aren't you!"

Yan Tu, who had gotten a great deal, chuckled to himself.

After making the call, Qi Qiu felt utterly disheartened. What kind of poor and obscure production team was this?

Qi Qiu looked at Fang Xin with a worried expression and said, "After Nebula disbanded, some of your teammates joined big IP projects or recorded popular variety shows. And look at you? You don't realize it yourself, but your fans will feel disappointed."

Fang Xin thought of the comments on the trending topic earlier, his eyes darting around: "I think they're probably more worried that I'll leave the entertainment industry."

Qi Qiu remained silent: ...That makes a lot of sense.

Just a few hours ago, even his agent was worried that Fang Xin would quit the entertainment industry and run away.

.

Illness strikes like a landslide, and Fang Xingu never expected to be so sick this time. His fever finally subsided, but his eczema showed no signs of improvement. Dr. Qian examined Fang Xingu several times, finally concluding that it might be a psychological issue, advising Fang Xingu to relax and not put too much pressure on himself.

Before the eczema had healed, Fang Xin contracted pneumonia a few days later. He spent more than a month in the hospital before finally recovering and being discharged.

With a month to go before the recording of "The World Is So Big", Fang Xin decided to go back to his old house in Jiangcheng for a while to relax.

Jiangcheng is only a little over an hour's drive from Shanghai, so Fang Xin drove back to the Fang family's old house under the cover of night.

It was a very large garden mansion. Fang Xin passed through a series of pavilions and waterside terraces and arrived at the main building of the old house.

Knock knock—

There was a knock on the door, and the person inside said, "Come in."

"Grandma, I'm back."

When Fang Xingu pushed open the door and entered, Wang Jinxu was pacing around the room.

Wang Jinxu is over seventy years old, but she is elegant and has an excellent temperament. Even though time has left its mark on her face, you can still glimpse her beauty from her youth. Her gray hair is styled in a bun at the back of her head, and she is dressed elegantly and generously, but her eyes are extremely sharp.

She stared at Fang Xingu for a while. Under the light, Fang Xingu's platinum blonde hair, though faded, still shone brightly. Fans praised him as a god descended from heaven, but the old lady found it very irritating. In particular, the roots of Fang Xingu's hair were already black, with two colors on one head. Wang Jinxu looked at it with disdain: "What kind of hair is this?"

Fang Xin ran his fingers through his hair: "...It's for work."

Fang Xingu was raised by Wang Jinxu for a considerable period of his childhood. However, Wang Jinxu was not the kind of loving elder. On the contrary, she was quite strict. Especially as a well-known singer, after discovering Fang Xingu's vocal talent, she dragged the young Fang Xingu into a rigorous six-year training program, even though Fang Xingu had no interest in it.

Fang Xin was only able to escape this high-pressure life when he was twelve years old and moved to Shanghai with his parents.

But just over a decade later, Fang Xin, who hated music so much back then, is now making a living from music. Perhaps this is fate.

Fang Xingu: "What are you doing walking around in the room?"

"I ate too much for dinner, I'm a little bloated," Wang Jinxu said, looking up at Fang Xingu's thin face and frowning. "How long are you planning to stay this time?"

"About a month."

Wang Jinxu glanced at him: "You're all better now, why aren't you going to work? Have you been so free lately?"

Fang Xingu started spouting nonsense: "Yeah, yeah, I'm planning to retire from the entertainment industry and go home to live off my parents."

“…You’re so unserious,” Wang Jinxu slapped him on the back. The two of them couldn’t see eye to eye, and after a few words, Wang Jinxu told him to leave, “Alright, go away, stop bothering me here.”

Fang Xin didn't linger, waved his hand, and turned back to his small building alone.

The small building, located on the west side of the garden, wasn't large, but it was still three stories high. He hadn't been back to the old house for a while, but fortunately, Wang Jinxu had arranged for someone to clean it beforehand, so the room was spotless and tidy, without a speck of dust.

As soon as he entered the room, Fang Xingu sorted out his luggage and took out a few pieces of wood and a few carving knives and put them in the drawer.

After he finished packing his luggage, he looked up and saw the Jing family's house, which was separated from the Fang family's house by only one wall, through the window. The building located at the far east of the Jing family's house, next to Fang Xin's old house, was Jing Yitong's villa.

Unlike the Fang family's traditional Chinese garden, the Jing family built a very modern villa complex. The combination of these two styles, one Chinese and one Western, should have seemed a bit jarring. Fortunately, the trees, ponds, and small gardens in the middle act as a partition, making the two different architectural styles complement each other.

Fang Xingu stared intently, then suddenly gestured with his hand: Weren't his and Jing Yitong's residences too close together?

At this moment, Jing Yitong's room curtains were not drawn, and he could even see the furnishings inside.

I didn't think much of it before, but it will definitely be inconvenient after Jing Yitong gets married. The privacy is too poor, so we'll have to install a partition.

Fang Xingu was pondering this, feeling somewhat agitated. He pulled the curtains shut, but the movement was too forceful, and he accidentally knocked over the photo frame on the table.

He picked up the photo frame and discovered that it contained a photo of himself and Jing Yitong.

Looking at the picture, Fang Xingu was a little stunned. It must have been the first time he went skiing with Jing Yitong.

It was a cold day. The two boys, wearing the same style of thick ski suits in different colors, stood side by side, hugging their skis. Only their faces, slightly red from the biting wind, were visible, but they were smiling happily.

That smile was so pure and bright that even after nearly ten years, it still makes Fang Xin Gu smile.

Time flies.

Fang Xin's hand brushed across the photo frame, and he suddenly remembered that it seemed that after taking this photo, he and Jing Yitong began a long separation. They never took another photo together, nor did they ever travel together again.

I'm afraid that even if he and Jing Yitong stood together again now, they would never be able to show such a sincere smile again.

It seemed that every detail was reminding him that no matter how close he and Jing Yitong had been before, they were destined to have no future.

Fang Xingu suppressed his smile, sighed deeply, and stuffed the photo deep into the drawer.

It's best to avoid looking at these kinds of disturbing photos.

It was quite late after packing her luggage. Fang Xingu took a shower and lay down on the bed to sleep, but perhaps influenced by that group photo, she dreamed of the time they went skiing together.

At that time, Fang Xin had not yet realized that he liked Jing Yitong, so for him, that skiing trip during the winter vacation of his first year of high school was just an ordinary trip.

It was the first time for both of them to ski. They fell many times on the slope, helping each other to get up, and then fell down together again. At the end of the day, they weren't sore, but their throats were sore from laughing.

However, the trip ended abruptly because Jing Yitong, who was in his second year of high school at the time, suddenly decided to take the art exam. He had to start intensive training during the winter break, so he had to leave when the trip was only halfway through.

In his dream, Fang Xin returned to the night Jing Yitong left.

On a foreign night, with heavy snow falling, Fang Xin hurriedly wrapped a coat around himself and ran downstairs to see Jing Yitong off, watching him walk into the swirling snow.

Actually, he was reluctant to see Jing Yitong leave. He wanted to call Jing Yitong back and ask him to stay a few more days, but he knew he couldn't delay Jing Yitong's studies. So he just watched him leave quietly without saying anything. He only waved goodbye to Jing Yitong when he turned around.

If Jing Yitong had been stopped back then, would the outcome have been different?

In the darkness, Fang Xingu, lying in bed, broke free from his dream, opened his eyes, picked up his phone, and saw that it was 2:41 a.m. He had only slept for a little over an hour.

Fang Xin closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep again, but tossing and turning, he couldn't find the sleepiness that had slipped away. His mind was filled with the details of Jing Yitong leaving on that snowy night.

He exhaled and felt a little ridiculous. What was there to care about with those old, trivial matters? Even if he had stopped Jing Yitong back then, what difference would it have made?

Jing Yitong might stay, but only until the end of this journey. In the end, he will still leave, and the ending will not be changed by such a small matter.

Fang Xingu had a clear understanding in his mind, but his body betrayed him by not being able to sleep.

A touch of bitterness crept into Fang Xin's heart. Perhaps it was because as night deepened, one's thoughts tended to wander uncontrollably, leading to wild and unrestrained thinking.

Fang Xin Gu couldn't understand why Jing Yi Tong would accept a marriage alliance. What era are we living in? How can there still be such feudal dregs as arranged marriages!

Even in a traditional family like theirs, no one has ever dared to bring up the matter of a marriage alliance with him!

A note from the author:

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Fang Xin Gu: ...Actually, it's fine to mention it occasionally.

Yingzhen: