Chapter 25 The Candy He'd Been Waiting For for Ten Years
The phone is turned on, the screen lights up and the brand logo pops up, and after a few seconds it enters the lock screen interface.
The moment the device was unlocked, several messages popped up one after another.
Xin Qi, with her sharp eyes, spotted someone's familiar profile picture; it seemed someone had sent her a few pictures.
"It's probably happiness and beauty again," Xin Qi thought, just as she was about to check. Suddenly, the tent flap behind her was pulled back from the outside, revealing a woman's stunningly beautiful face.
Zhou Zhixi, a newly crowned Best Actress, is now recognized in the entertainment industry as an actress who combines acting skills and beauty, and is a highly sought-after star.
She's just turned thirty this year, which is the most beautiful, mature, and charming age for a woman.
Aside from the two male leads, she is also the female lead in this film, playing the emperor's favorite concubine, the young general—the character played by Xin Qi—who is also the older sister of the woman she has relied on since childhood.
The two had many scenes together in the film, and the other person took good care of him, a newcomer.
So Xin Qi quickly put down her phone, turned around and asked, "Sister Zhou, is something the matter?"
"I've told you so many times, call me Sister Zhixi." The woman smiled brightly and pointed to the blanket in her hand. "Your agent said that your blanket is a bit thin and cold at night, so I brought an extra blanket with me and thought I'd bring it to you. The temperature difference between day and night is big here, so don't catch a cold and it will affect your filming."
Xin Qi paused for a moment, glanced at the new autumn/winter blanket from a major brand in her hand, her brows furrowed subconsciously, and immediately refused, "Thanks, Sister Zhixi, I'm not cold, it's my manager who's cold."
He paused for a moment, then explained, "I've already bought it and sent it over. Thank you for your trouble."
"I see." Instead of being angry at being rejected, Actress Zhou smiled and said, "That's true. You're young and healthy, and you're not afraid of the cold, but I can't."
As she spoke, she blinked, her gaze sweeping over the man's broad shoulders and handsome face before smiling and saying goodbye.
"Then I won't disturb your rest any longer. See you tomorrow, little brother~"
"..."
Seeing the person leave, Xin Qi breathed a sigh of relief and turned to glare at a certain agent who was resting in the corner of the tent.
Li Youliang coughed lightly and explained, "I just said it casually... I didn't expect her to take it to heart."
Seeing that no one reacted, he sighed again, "Zhou Yinghou is really a nice person."
"Hmph." Xin Qi didn't know what to say.
A certain agent couldn't control himself when he saw a beautiful woman, and he would reveal everything.
Xin Qi wasn't stupid. Having been adored by people since childhood and pursued by many girls, how could he not understand what the other party meant?
"Where is Sister Zhixi?" Xin Qi couldn't help but purse her lips, feeling a bit disgusted.
But there's nothing I can do; she's a senior figure in the industry, a top-tier actress. I'm just a small-time newcomer, with only a little bit of fame at best.
He gained his fame from appearing on variety shows; in the actual acting field, he is still a complete nobody.
What he cares about most, and what his future development goal is, is to become like the other person, to conquer the audience with film and television works and acting skills, to become an actor as good as those veteran actors, and to win the crown of Best Actor. This is his dream and his original intention for entering the entertainment industry.
Therefore, he needs to be extremely careful when dealing with those senior figures and bigwigs in the film and television industry.
Take this actress, for example. Knowing what the other party wanted, but not wanting it, she could only pretend to be stupid and politely refuse. She could no longer just ignore them as she used to.
This made Xin Qi feel somewhat irritated. Since entering the entertainment industry, he could no longer grow up comfortably and freely under the protection of his family as before.
Sometimes he has to be patient, compromise, and restrain his temper.
For example, right now, that woman suddenly ran over and was interrupting my phone messages.
Xin Qi lowered his lips in dissatisfaction and opened the photo that someone had sent him.
As expected, it was those two, Yu Meili and Xin Kaixin. Just thinking about their surnames being listed side by side made her previously taut lips curve upwards again.
In the photo, two silly dogs, who have just made a mistake, are looking at the camera with ingratiating expressions, looking as foolish as can be.
Someone must be frantically cleaning up after themselves, look at the mess, the tattered wrapping paper, and the Polaroid box chewed up by two dogs in the new picture.
How funny! A smile had just flashed in Xin Qi's eyes when her pupils suddenly contracted as she realized something.
He was very familiar with the Polaroid camera in the photo that had been chewed up.
It was a birthday gift he bought for her when he went to Japan as a child, and he gave it to her with great anticipation.
In the end, she refused to accept it, saying it was too expensive and insisted on returning it to him. Of course, he wouldn't accept it, and even felt like a complete fool for having been so excited to see her surprised expression.
Not only that, but one day later, he found an identical Japanese version of Polaroid in his deskmate Gu Yunze's desk.
He remembered asking that bastard who gave it to him.
Even though Gu Yunze knew he liked Yu Yue and knew he would misunderstand, he pretended not to know anything, only saying it was a gift from a friend, letting him continue to misunderstand until now.
Just a few days ago, she brought up the matter herself, saying that she had kept the Polaroid camera and planned to return it to him so that he wouldn't have any arguments with Gu Yunze over it.
Gu Yunze, Gu Yunze, all I know is Gu Yunze.
Xin Qi pursed her lips. She didn't know that her quarrel with Gu Yunze wasn't just because of this.
Didn't you see the arrogant look in his eyes when he saw her driving near her house that day?
Xin Qi was willing to bet that Gu Yunze, that bastard, definitely saw him and recognized him.
She simply ignored him and drove off, even giving him a sidelong glance before leaving—how arrogant!
The thought of this made him angry. He had been happy that Yu Yue hadn't actually given the gift he had given her to Gu Yunze, but now he was annoyed.
but……
As he zoomed in on the picture and examined it repeatedly, he saw that the torn and shredded wrapping paper on the ground was the very one he had personally chosen and wrapped years ago. His heart pounded uncontrollably, like a drumbeat, filling his mind with pink bubbles.
Does this mean that she never opened his gift, never saw the little card inside, and never saw or knew what he wrote on the back of the birthday card?
so……
So she genuinely had no idea about her confession, or even that she liked him.
etc……
She didn't know before, but now she does.
Subconsciously, Xin Qi kept pacing back and forth in the tent, from the chair to the door, then from the door to the coffee table and back to the chair, repeating the above actions many times, over and over again, making the agent in the corner dizzy and giving him a headache.
"Can you sit down? You're making me dizzy." Li Youliang couldn't help but speak up into the microphone. "What's going on? You're wandering around like a headless fly."
"Don't bother me." Xin Qi glared at her manager, annoyed at being interrupted, but eventually sat down.
Li Youliang was furious. He took a deep breath and repeatedly told himself, "Don't get angry, don't get angry, don't get angry." He said it three times before he calmed down and started worrying about someone else's affairs.
Unfortunately, Xin Qi had no intention of telling his poor agent.
They're destined for a life of toil and hard work, never a moment's rest.
While Li Youliang was sighing and lamenting, Xin Qi was in a state of extreme excitement or even euphoria.
It's all his fault for assuming that if she gave a Polaroid camera to someone, she would definitely remove the wrapping paper, re-wrap it, and then give it to the recipient, otherwise, since there would still be other people's blessings on it, that would definitely not be acceptable.
So he subconsciously assumed that she had already opened and read it. All her responses were expressions of rejection.
She didn't like him, so she didn't react at all to his confession and even gave the gift to someone else.
But now, it's clear she hasn't done that; she doesn't dislike him as he thought.
Perhaps, perhaps...
Countless hopes and expectations welled up in his heart, yet because of his past experiences, he dared not have too many expectations.
Every time he had high hopes, they ended in disappointment, loss, and even distress. The higher his expectations were at the time, the greater his disappointment would be afterwards.
Now, what does it mean that she sent this message?
[The Heartless One: Sorry, the Polaroid camera you gave me was just chewed up by Meili and Kaixin, so I really can't return it to you.]
What does that mean?!
Xin Qi glanced at the time and realized it had just been a short while; the message had been sent to him in the middle of the night.
This is abnormal, extremely abnormal.
He raised his hand and scratched his thick black hair, which made Li Youliang, who was huddled in the corner, feel both startled and envious.
His heart was pounding because his artist was behaving very strangely tonight. He was afraid that something big was going to happen and had a bad feeling.
The envy is, of course, because... that brat is fine, he never worries, and his hair is still so thick and black, unlike him, whose heart is worried for someone else, and whose hair has all fallen out for him.
Xin Qi was of course unaware of his manager's inner turmoil and bitter tears. He was currently struggling with what to do, such as replying to her or saying anything.
Even though it was already past midnight, he knew she was probably waiting for his reply.
If possible, Xin Qi really wanted to fly there right then and there to go back to her side and see her.
Unfortunately, the production crew has very strict rules, and he cannot take leave to go out unless there is an unforeseen emergency.
After all, as one of the male leads with the most screen time, if he takes leave, it will affect the entire filming schedule.
Films with such large budgets often burn through money every minute, burning through the investors' money. Everyone in the crew will inevitably bear this pressure, especially the directing team.
Historical war films are too expensive, so their filming schedule is very tight. They have to finish the entire film production before the investors' money runs out, in order to reduce the filming costs.
Post-production special effects and editing, as well as film promotion and distribution, all require substantial funding.
Xin Qi could certainly be an investor himself, but from the day he chose to run away from home, he would never use a single penny of his parents' money again. Otherwise, even if he succeeded, what would be the point? People would still say that he relied entirely on his family, which was the sentence he hated and resented the most since he was a child.
So even if he really wanted to see her, he could only squat in a remote desert tent and send her messages using a phone with a weak signal.
Xin Qi thought for a moment, his long, strong fingers typing continuously in the chat box—'Did you see it?', then, feeling it wasn't right, he deleted it. His hands were large, making the phone seem small in his grasp, and he typed somewhat awkwardly.
Finally, after he repeatedly modified, deleted, and retyped the message, it was sent out.
That was a very short sentence.
Or rather, it consists of only four words.
—Wait for me to come back.
He then added three more words.
—I want to see you.
The two messages went through several loops before being transmitted.
Seeing that the signal was fine, Xinqi nervously waited in front of the screen.
She must still be awake, so will she reply to him?
If I were to reply, what would I say to him?
Is it good, or...?
"Aren't you going to sleep yet?" Li Youliang couldn't help but interrupt him again. "If you don't sleep now, there's a performance tomorrow morning. Do you think you can get up?"
Xin Qi rolled her eyes at him, and could only helplessly get up to wash up.
Conditions in the desert are harsh, life is extremely inconvenient, and water resources are scarce. Unlike hotels in tourist areas, in this remote, uninhabited place, one naturally wouldn't be so luxurious as to shower every day. So after a quick wash, Xin Qi turned off the lights and got into bed.
It was very cold, but a blush crept up on someone's ears.
He turned to lie on his side, his left hand casually holding his phone, which lay beside his pillow. He would know as soon as there was any movement.
He closed his eyes and waited quietly.
Just like that boy from before, quietly waiting for the candy he's been longing for for ten years.
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