Chapter 28 Chapter 28 She is a country bumpkin...
The next morning.
Bai Qingqing went downstairs to have breakfast. Ao Teng was talking on the phone with a loud voice, contrary to his usual gentlemanly demeanor. He kept walking back and forth in front of Ao Xinyi.
Ao Xinyi beside him didn't look very happy. He glanced at his brother and held back from saying anything.
Bai Qingqing saw this on the stairs and chuckled. She knew what her uncle was planning at a glance.
After a few words on the phone, Ao Teng spread his hands and said, "Sister, I have to help Qingqing now. Living here is definitely the most convenient."
"I have already contacted the director of Heart Signal, Director Wu. We will shoot the pilot and interview the day after tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow we will officially start shooting. Our Qingqing and Mu Ning will be the mysterious guests of the new season."
"Have you finished your own affairs? What did Master Bu say?" Ao Xinyi asked.
"It's done! Master Bu has taken care of everything! There are only a few things left, he and Master Zan are dealing with them, I just need to wait at home."
Ao Teng smiled a little earnestly and spoke without changing his expression or heartbeat.
He was not really lying, he was just stating part of the facts truthfully, and there was one point he hadn't finished.
The sincere expression made Ao Xinyi look at it again and again, and then he withdrew his gaze suspiciously.
It's time to resolve it. If it's not resolved, he probably won't be in the mood to help Qingqing contact the program crew.
Just thinking about this matter gave her a headache again. Holding the flower tea in her hand, she looked towards the bedroom upstairs. Just then, she saw Bai Qingqing coming down the stairs and appearing behind her. There was no sound of footsteps at all, which scared her.
Ao Xinyi took a breath, put down the cup, raised his smile and waved to her: "Qingqing, get up. You must be exhausted yesterday. How did you sleep last night?"
"Very good." Bai Qingqing smiled and followed her to sit down on the sofa.
Ao Xinyi looked at her face carefully and found that it was indeed a little rosier. She was already very thin, and after two days of staying at the Bai family, her cheeks had gained some flesh, and even her hair was better than before, no longer like dry straw.
She nodded with satisfaction: "There are some dark circles under my eyes. I still need to take good care of myself in the next two days."
Bai Shuting and his eldest son were dressed and sitting at the dining table, reading the newspaper with coffee in hand. They moved in unison, turning the page from time to time, one reading seriously while the other peeked over at them from time to time.
The youngest son, with a messy hair, walked into the restaurant without looking at anyone. He tilted his head back and drank a glass of water.
Ao Xinyi caught the look her husband was giving her from behind the newspaper, and when he turned away awkwardly, a smile filled her eyes as she instructed, "Sister Qiao, ask the kitchen to prepare breakfast."
After that, she turned around and touched Bai Qingqing's hair: "Sit and wait for a while, breakfast will be ready soon."
Bai Qingqing nodded obediently and frowned briefly, somewhat unaccustomed to such intimate touch.
Fortunately, Ao Xinyi just tidied up the newly grown hair on her forehead, quickly withdrew his hand, and glanced at Ao Teng, as if he wanted to talk to him.
Ao Teng saw that his sister's eyes were not right, so he quickly said to Bai Qingqing before she could speak: "Qingqing, your uncle has already contacted the show you want to be on. Did you just hear it? Don't worry, your uncle is here to protect you. Go ahead and do it boldly. Your uncle will protect you!"
After saying that, he immediately ran to the dining table, sat down next to Bai Shuting, far away from his sister, and put his head into his newspaper: "Brother-in-law, you are still reading the newspaper, you..."
The way he ran away was clearly because he was afraid of what Ao Xinyi would say about him.
Even when breakfast was served on the table, he didn't even raise his head to take a look. He was still holding on to the edge of the newspaper tightly, refusing to let Bai Shuting put it down.
Ao Xinyi stared at the top of his head with eyes that were really about to get angry.
Bai Qingqing raised her voice and responded generously: "Thank you, uncle."
The hand holding the edge of the newspaper on the other side made an "OK" gesture.
Bai Songxu drank a cup of warm water, his mind still in a daze. Suddenly he heard Bai Qingqing's voice. His hands paused, and he looked towards the sofa. His mind slowly reacted, "What did you say, little uncle? What show is Bai Qingqing on?"
"Weren't you there yesterday? Just like Mu Ning, the metaphysical variety show, 'Heart Signal', Director Wu's new work." Ao Teng answered in a low voice.
Bai Songxu was no longer sleepy. He put the cup of water heavily on the table, his eyes widened, and he asked in astonishment, ignoring the presence of his elders: "Are you really going? Bai Qingqing, are you crazy? Are you like this? Do you really want to enter the entertainment industry?"
"You think you can enter the entertainment industry if you have money. Just because you see Ningning and I doing this, you think you can do it too? Didn't you think you were embarrassed enough yesterday?"
Bai Shuting and Bai Lincheng frowned and put down the newspapers.
Ao Xinyi frowned. Although she didn't approve of Qingqing going to film a variety show, she couldn't say that to her sister as a brother. She said, "Bai Songxu, please speak properly! Have you forgotten what I said last time?"
Of course Bai Songxu remembered. Yes, last time he was a little more wary of Bai Qingqing because of Ningning. But this time it was different. Bai Qingqing was just embarrassed!
What could she, a country bumpkin, understand?
I won’t be scolded to death if I go on the show!
Bai Songxu raised his hands and sneered: "I am doing this for her own good. If she goes on the show, she will be scolded."
Ao Xinyi's face turned cold: "Bai Songxu, when you are full, hurry back to the camp. Your sister went back to school last night, and you are still hanging around outside. The performance will be in three days, so don't expect your family to help you with anything. If you mess up and get scolded, you'd better change your career as soon as possible."
Bai Songxu's expression darkened, and he became stern and completely silent.
Are you kidding? Why would he change his career?
He became determined when he sang his first original song at a junior high school assembly and was warmly applauded and screamed by teachers and students throughout the school.
He wants to sing. Bai Songxu is a natural singer and will sing for the rest of his life.
The rebellious boy scratched his hair, turned around and went back to his room. He came out a few minutes later, already dressed again and wearing a baseball cap. He returned to the dining table, finished the slightly cooled porridge in one gulp, put on a mask and left.
The restaurant suddenly became much quieter.
Ao Xinyi looked at his youngest son's leaving back and sighed softly, but the worry in his eyes did not diminish at all. He turned his gaze silently to Bai Qingqing.
Her expression was as calm as ever, and she showed no emotion even when Bai Songxu yelled at her, as if she was just listening to someone else's story.
Xiaowu was right, the entertainment industry was indeed not that simple, but Qingqing had no idea about it.
Ao Xinyi fell into deep thought. Sister Qiao brought everyone to the table and wanted to ask her to take a seat, but she didn't even know how to open her mouth.
While she was thinking, she looked at Bai Qingqing from time to time. When she saw her embarrassed expression, Bai Qingqing knew that the plot was about to happen.
She leaned her elbows on the armrest of the sofa, quietly waiting for Ao Xinyi to speak.
In the original plot, Li Qingqing made a fool of herself at the dinner party and was laughed at by all the guests. Ao Xinyi also disagreed with her entering the entertainment industry because he disliked her for being from the countryside and it would be embarrassing for her to be on the show.
The Bai family just thought that she was just angry for a moment, so they tried to smooth things over at the time. But who would have thought that the next day, Li Qingqing still stubbornly wanted to be on the same variety show with Bai Mu Ning.
She pointed her fingertips and looked towards a corner of the corridor on the second floor, where the outlines of several figures seemed to reappear.
Original narration Bai Qingqing still remembers:
"Li Qingqing's eyes were red, and her vicious eyes seemed to want to swallow Bai Muning.
Bai Mu Ning stepped back in fear at her gaze, and for the first time he felt fear in Li Qingqing.
If the plot at that time happened, it should be at that location.
For the first time since Li Qingqing entered the Bai family, she firmly asked for something, otherwise she would pretend that they had never looked for her.
The Bai family was frightened by her red eyes.
As a result of her disturbance, the entire Bai family, including the staff, had a very low opinion of her. Ao Xinyi had just found his biological daughter, but in the past few days he had realized that the child was very different from Bai Muning, whom she had carefully raised for eighteen years. The mother-daughter relationship, which was already deep, became even weaker.
Although the Bai family agreed to send her to the show, they deliberately made things difficult for Li Qingqing and never paid any attention to her.
When the true and false daughter's life stories were revealed, the whole network was scolding Li Qingqing, a distant relative of the Bai family, who was trying to take advantage of Bai Mu Ning's popularity and targeting and comparing herself with her everywhere.
When she was asked to get out of the entertainment industry and society, no one in the Bai family stood up and said a word for her.
Bai Qingqing withdrew her gaze from the second floor and looked at Ao Xinyi again.
The expression on that face became much calmer, as if a decision had been made.
She was very curious. Now that Bai Muning was not at home, Ao Teng had also helped her actively contact the program crew and negotiated for her, including yesterday's dinner. Ao Xinyi's attitude was different from that in the original book.
Bai Qingqing's fingertips, which had stopped at some point, began tapping again, her eyes shining, curious about what Ao Xinyi would say to her today.
"Qingqing..."
Ao Xinyi took a deep breath and said to her, "After thinking about it, Mom decided that I should talk to you carefully."
"Well, go ahead." Bai Qingqing nodded gently with a serious expression.
Ao Xinyi felt relieved and tried to speak more gently: "Qingqing, 'Heart Signal' is a popular program. The number of viewers means that you will stand in front of many people."
"This is far more than just being on a show. All your time in front of and behind the camera, everything you've experienced in your life, will be shown to the public. Your every move will be magnified, analyzed and interpreted, and even misinterpreted to mean something that goes against your original intention."
As Ao Xinyi spoke, he carefully observed Bai Qingqing's expression and listened to her thoughts, not wanting to miss any of her thoughts. However, her heart was empty and her expression was calm, as if she didn't think these would have any impact on her.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
After all, Qingqing grew up in the countryside. It’s not that the countryside is bad, but there is indeed a gap between it and the city, especially when compared with those children who have a good identity background and family financial situation.
At yesterday's aristocratic family dinner, everyone's attitude was already apparent. It was like this even when she and Shu Ting were present. If they weren't there... With Qingqing's past experiences like this, how could she compare with everyone else's?
Especially since her original intention... was to compete with Mu Ning.
Ao Xinyi was afraid that her emotions would be overwhelmed.
Qingqing had never lived in an aristocratic family, and she didn't understand what the real entertainment industry meant, but she had walked that path, and she knew what lay on that path.
"Mom really doesn't want you to enter the entertainment industry. You've had a hard time in the past. Mom only hopes that you can go to college safely, have a good relationship, and do something you really want to do and love, instead of standing in a place like that where there are swords and shadows."
"Qingqing, can you please think about this calmly for a while?"
The sound of their conversation was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to fill the entire restaurant.
Bai Lincheng calmly drank the last sip of coffee and closed the newspaper. Bai Shuting and Ao Teng stared at the mother and daughter on the sofa.
"Thank you... for telling me this." Bai Qingqing didn't expect that Ao Xinyi would actually be sincere in his words at this point.
But the point is very clear.
She just needs to go to college, get married and have children peacefully. Don't compare herself with others. She can't compare and can't bear it.
Bai Qingqing smiled.
She also wanted to do that. If possible, she didn't even want to enter the Bai family.
She could find a job telling fortunes for people and she was guaranteed to make a lot of money. Her estate would definitely not be smaller than the Bai family's. It wouldn't take long for her to return to her previous happy and comfortable life.
"I have my own reasons for being on the show. It's not what you think. Don't worry, I know what I'm facing."
Bai Qingqing spoke straightforwardly and looked at Ao Teng who was sitting at the dining table. "Just listen to my uncle. We'll shoot the pilot and a single interview the day after tomorrow, and the official recording will start the day after tomorrow. Please send the materials and script to my email."
Ao Teng was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Bai Qingqing to be so direct.
But it made sense, this was like Master Qingqing. He blinked and unconsciously used the honorific: "I've sent it to your email."
Bai Qingqing was firm in her attitude, and the whole family understood what she meant. Appearing on the variety show was a foregone conclusion, and there would be no changes.
Ao Xinyi sank his heart, nodded, smiled again, stood up and walked to the dining table to pull out a chair for Bai Qingqing: "Okay, then we support you!"
She sat down with Bai Qingqing and personally took the bowl and scooped porridge for her.
"The Botes Art Museum opens today, and your third brother's work is also on display at the opening. Qingqing, are you free to go with me to cut the ribbon and look at the paintings?"
The child returned home and was about to enter the entertainment industry. Ao Xinyi wanted to take her to meet more people so that she could do better in the future.
She gently placed the bowl of porridge next to Bai Qingqing.
Bai Qingqing's mind suddenly wandered, and she looked towards the wind outside the restaurant, which was quietly blowing and making noises, and the leaves were blown away by the wind.
She retracted her gaze and looked at Ao Xinyi's phone on the table: "I am free, but I don't know if you are free."
Ao Xinyi didn't understand what Qingqing was suddenly saying.
Just as I was reacting to what she said, my phone suddenly vibrated twice and Huo Wen's name popped up on the screen.
She picked up the phone: "Hello, Wenwen?"
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