Chapter 18 The Eighteenth Bastard
After playing around for a while in the morning, Xu Qingye started to get busy. Being a marketing account is actually not as easy as it seems. The work group has been ringing with beeps for most of the day. Xu Qingye opened a blank document and started to daydream.
When Shen Que came back from running, he saw Xu Qingye staring at the computer with a painful look on his face, his fingers typing quickly on the keyboard.
"Want to go out for lunch?"
Shen Que asked casually, Xu Qingye looked up at him, then shook his head.
"Please bring me a copy. I'm working miserably and have no time to go out."
"Don't you just need to take pictures and post on Weibo?" Shen Que leaned over to take a look. Xu Qingye's display screen was covered with densely packed words.
"The biggest misunderstanding you have about marketing accounts is that they're easy. Weekly reports, monthly reports, account analysis and review, there's so much to do every day, and then there's writing all sorts of editing scripts. Every time it gets to that point, I feel like I should quit."
Xu Qingye shook his head. Any decent company would have a set of rules and regulations. The only thing he was satisfied with his current job was that he didn't have to work in the office.
Xu Qingye's plan is definitely to open his own studio, and working is only temporary.
"come on."
Shen Que patted Xu Qingye on the shoulder, turned around and went out to buy him food.
After Xu Qingye finished writing a report, the phone on the table rang. He took a look and saw that it was an unfamiliar number with no notes. Xu Qingye thought it was a client and answered it casually.
As soon as the call was connected, a somewhat frivolous voice came from the other end.
"Old classmate, long time no see. What good things have you done recently? If someone asks you, they will tell me about it."
The tone of the person speaking on the other end made him feel uncomfortable, and Xu Qingye frowned.
"Who are you?"
Xu Qingye asked impatiently. The person on the other end seemed to be a little upset by his words and spoke a little louder.
"Can't you recognize my voice? I'm Ge Fuyang, and we lived in the same dormitory in college."
"I don't quite remember. Is there anything you need from me? If not, I'll hang up."
Xu Qingye had no impression of this name at all, but he instinctively didn't like it.
"Someone from an agency asked for your contact information, saying they wanted to sign you as an artist. You don't have any social media accounts, but they found out about us classmates and came here. I really envy you. It's great to have a pretty face. If you become famous, don't forget us old classmates."
Ge Fuyang said a few sarcastic words, and Xu Qingye could hear the sour taste in his words even through the phone.
"I'm not interested in relying on my looks to make a living. Don't pay attention to them. If you have nothing else, just hang up. I'm a bit busy."
After Xu Qingye finished speaking, he hung up the phone without waiting for the person on the other end to speak. Ge Fuyang angrily threw the phone down when he heard the busy tone.
"Damn Xu Qingye, he's still such a rotten character. He's just an illegitimate child, what the hell is he showing off about!"
Ge Fuyang was still a little angry after thinking about it. He opened the class group and started complaining. The class group was full of college classmates. There weren't many people, and those who stayed were those who still kept in touch. Xu Qingye was naturally not in the group.
Xu Qingye's popularity was average during his college years and not many people had a good relationship with him. Ge Fuyang complained about him in the group and many people followed suit.
Ge Fuyang: By the way, does anyone know what kind of job Xu Qingye does? He acts like he’s worth a fortune, but he’s not pretending to be something he’s not supposed to be.
Ge Fuyang asked about Xu Qingye's recent situation, but unfortunately no one in the group knew about it. After chatting for a while, there was nothing more to say, so the group started talking about other things.
After Xu Qingye finished writing all the reports, he sent them to his work email. After finishing everything, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He was just about to get up and walk around when a message popped up on his phone with a note on a classmate's account.
Jiang Yao: [Screenshot] Ge Fuyang talked about you in the group today. After thinking about it, I feel that I should tell you that you should be careful with him.
Xu Qingye clicked on the screenshot and took a look. Most of the comments were sour, but he still caught some key words.
【illegitimate child】.
Xu Qingye: Thank you, I will pay attention to it.
Xu Qingye replied politely and stared at the chat screenshot for a while.
The other party sent a message, withdrew it, and then sent another one.
Jiang Yao: You’re welcome. Let’s have dinner together when we have the chance.
After sending the message, there was no reply. Xu Qingye returned to the room and started rummaging through the drawers again. This was where the original owner lived, so there must be some traces left. He didn't expect that there was a mystery about his own life.
Xu Qingye made a lot of noise, and Shen Que could only hear the sound of "ding ding dong dong" next door. He put down his book and walked over.
Xu Qingye's door was open. He was standing on a chair, grabbing a box from the cabinet and pulling it out. Because the movement was a bit large, the chair seemed to be shaking. Seeing this, Shen Que hurried forward.
Feeling weightless, Xu Qingye thought he was probably doomed. He had lied before about hitting his head, and this time it was coming true.
A mess of thoughts flashed through his mind, but he did not fall to the cold floor as expected. Instead, a pair of strong arms hugged him and put him steadily on the ground. However, the fear had not yet dissipated, and his legs felt a little weak. Xu Qingye continued to lean on Shen Que.
"He looks gentle, but he has the strength of a normal man. Not bad, not bad."
Xu Qingye reached out and pinched Chen Que's arm. His muscles were solid but not obtrusive. He must have been exercising secretly recently. He felt safe leaning on his chest.
"What kind of weird compliment is that?"
Chen Que picked him up again and put him on the chair. He lowered his head to pick up the things on the ground. When Xu Qingye fell, the box in his hand slipped and photos fell all over the ground.
Shen Que picked up a picture and took a look. It was a picture of Xu Qingye when he was a child. Xu Qingye was chubby and very cute when he was a child, but the woman next to him had her face blacked out with a black pen and her appearance could not be seen clearly.
The same was true for the other photos, either they were torn up or the faces were painted over, only Xu Qingye's face was clear.
"This is."
The smudged photo looked a little scary. Shen Que looked up at Xu Qingye and subconsciously felt a little worried.
During the time they spent together, Shen knew that Xu Qingye didn't remember a lot of things. Although he didn't mention it, he must have been very panicked.
The signals brought by these photos are not good, as they seem to indicate that Xu Qingye did not have a happy childhood.
Xu Qingye noticed the photos. He bent down and picked up one. The child in the photo was about five years old and had no smile on his face. The woman next to him was wearing a red coat and looked extraordinary, but the part where her face was was cut off, leaving only a hole that looked very creepy.
Most of the photos are of Xu Qingye alone. There are some women in the photos when he was a child, but when he grew up, only he was left. The boy in the photo became more and more handsome, but his expression was filled with an indelible melancholy, and he was completely different from the Xu Qingye today.
Xu Qingye looked through all the photos, then packed them up one by one and put them back into the box.
"An agency wanted to contact me through my classmate. They called me, but I wasn't interested and turned him down. Perhaps because his tone was too annoying, he cursed me in the class group. Someone took a screenshot and sent it to me. They all called me a bastard who was not allowed to be seen in public."
Xu Qingye closed the box. The box was hidden very deep and he had never seen it before. Today, he suddenly had the urge to look for it and finally found it.
His childhood was only accompanied by that woman, and the role of his father never appeared, which seemed to indirectly confirm the statement that he was an "illegitimate child".
As Xu Qingye spoke, he couldn't help but get caught up in his emotions. The word "illegitimate child" was a bit too harsh, but it was obvious that his relationship with his mother was at least very bad.
"That agent mentioned your mother. Have you checked?"
Shen Que wanted to comfort Xu Qingye, but he was not very good at it, so he just patted his back awkwardly.
Shen Que remembered the woman who gave him the business card. She seemed to be very familiar with Xu Qingye's mother.
"I checked. I checked when I got home that night. She has managed so many artists that I can't be sure."
Xu Qingye nodded. There wasn't much information available about Xiao Yang, but she had worked with many artists, including many award-winning actors and actresses. Xu Qingye selected female artists of the right age, but they all looked unfamiliar to him.
In the end, he couldn't help but laugh at himself. There was a contact named "Mom" saved in his mobile phone, but they didn't even say hello to each other. Xu Qingye didn't dare to call her. He didn't know how to start the conversation. Maybe keeping the status quo was the best state.
"It doesn't matter. You can choose your own relatives. From now on, Shen Mu and I will be your relatives."
Shen Que thought about words of comfort, but felt a little regretful after he finished speaking. He felt that his words were a little strange, and he wanted to say it again but didn't know how to organize the language.
Shen Que looked too serious, Xu Qingye was amused by him and couldn't help but touch his face frivolously.
"It's a pity for such a handsome guy to be a relative, but he's a good lover."
Xu Qingye's hands were a little cold, but Chen Que's face began to feel hot, with a slight redness visible to the naked eye.
"I'm just kidding, why is your face red? You won't be able to survive in the entertainment industry like this."
Xu Qingye looked at Chen Que's expression and laughed. Children are thin-skinned and cannot stand being teased.
"Xu Qingye, I'm not a child anymore." Shen Que called out Xu Qingye's name and looked at him seriously. Xu Qingye restrained his smile when he was stared at, and then reached out to tickle him while Shen Que was not paying attention.
"You're not a kid, I am. Watch out!"
Shen Que probably didn't expect this kind of development. He was caught off guard and tickled by Xu Qingye, and the two of them twisted into a ball.
After a while of quarreling, the sad mood disappeared. The two of them lay on the bed, panting, looking up at the ceiling. After this quarrel, their relationship seemed to become closer.
"What are your parents like? Can you tell me about them?"
Xu Qingye turned to look at Shen Que. He and Shen Mu both looked like happy children. They were good-looking, good at studying, and seemed to be born without worries. He really wanted to know what kind of family could raise children like them.
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