Trade-offs
"The sequel's title has been decided." Lin Jingming wrote the words "Blue Luan Echo" in a flourish on the whiteboard. "Xiao Wang, let me introduce the project to everyone."
The assistant distributed the project information and began to talk about the specific project progress.
The first project meeting of "The Echo of the Blue Luan" officially began.
"Alright, that's all for today's meeting." Lin Jingming stopped Xia Zhitang as he stood up to pack his things. "Producer Xia, please stay a moment."
Lin Jingming handed all the contracts that needed to be confirmed by the Gu family to Xia Zhitang: "You go and discuss these, this one is..."
Cheng Shubai slipped in with a bag of potato chips, eating while browsing his phone.
"What are you doing here?" Lin Jingming, who had just finished handing over his work, grabbed the potato chips from Cheng Shubai and asked, "Hello, snacks?"
"Gossip." Cheng Shubai looked at Lin Jingming with a smile, "How are you and Su Wen doing now?"
Lin Jingming glanced at Xia Zhitang, who was concentrating on her work, and found that she was not interested in this topic. He couldn't help but feel disappointed: "After the mental diagnosis, her mother took her abroad for recuperation."
"Heavy bleeding?" Cheng Shubai narrowed his eyes and looked at Lin Jingming.
"If you have nothing to do, get out of here." Lin Jingming picked up the script and was about to throw it over.
Cheng Shubai grabbed the script and turned to Xia Zhitang and said, "Producer Xia, your little wolfdog has slipped again."
Xia Zhitang raised his head in confusion: "What do you mean?"
"You liked a comment trolling haters, and there's a fan earthquake." Cheng Shubai opened his phone and exclaimed, "I was watching 'She Taught Me to See the Light' for you, and now his sister fans and girlfriend fans are all making a fuss."
"Does he think he's acting in an idol drama?" Lin Jingming picked up the schedule and fanned himself with it while glancing at Xia Zhitang. "Don't affect the filming of 'Blue Luan Echo'. Your official title is still the producer."
Xia Zhitang lowered his head and scrolled through his phone, his face tense and his lips pursed as he didn't respond.
"Let's switch to a group of rational people." Cheng Shubai tried to smooth things over. "Children of capitalists have the right to be willful."
"Being famous doesn't depend on money." Lin Jingming retorted bluntly, "There are many things to come in the future. Are you so impatient now?"
He looked at Xia Zhitang seriously and said, "You should spoil him to a certain limit. I've seen many actors with more talent than him. If you really want to do good for him, teach him to focus his energy on the right things."
Xia Zhitang remained silent, and Lin Jingming became even angrier. He slammed the schedule in his hand onto the table, snorted coldly, and pushed the door open as he walked out.
Cheng Shubai shook his head at Lin Jingming's back: "Don't mind, Old Lin is in a bad mood."
After saying that, he retrieved the potato chips that had been thrown aside and ate them while moving towards the door: "But you two really need to have a good talk. Either you make it completely public or you keep it secret completely."
"Thank Lao Lin for me." Xia Zhitang put away his phone and stood up to organize the documents.
"You should go and say it yourself." Cheng Shubai was rarely serious.
Xia Zhitang did not answer, but gently stroked the word "Gu" on the document with his fingertips.
Ever since Xia Zhitang flew back to Taipei to resume work, Gu Zian felt like he'd lost his composure, unable to resist opening his phone like a Pandora's box. Whenever he saw slander and negative comments about Xia Zhitang, anger surged like a surging wave, swallowing up his sanity.
He knew it was bad, but he couldn't control himself.
That day he also received a call from the old man, which sounded like a scolding, making him angry and aggrieved.
Fortunately, the final scene was a tragic death. He only needed to think about his inability to protect his lover in the tide of the Internet to immediately get into the role, and he got through this scene very smoothly.
He returned to the hotel in a daze, packed his luggage and prepared to go back to Taipei to find Xia Zhitang.
In a bad mood, he didn't notice anything unusual about the people passing by until he met Xia Zhitang in disguise in the VIP lounge.
"Sister!" Gu Zian suddenly remembered his embarrassing situation when he saw Xia Zhitang making a gesture for silence.
Seeing her boyfriend blossom instantly, Xia Zhitang suddenly felt that this wasn't such a big deal. Being young was the way it should be, daring to love and hate. Why should she use the adult world to discipline him, a man who had just entered society? His emotions were real, and all she needed to do was accompany him as he slowly grew. Who hasn't gone through this stage?
"I'll make up for the trip I promised you, but I can't go around the world this time." Xia Zhitang took out his plane ticket.
Gu Zian was surprised to check his ticket several times, only to find that his ticket was not for returning to Taipei but for going to Tibet - the same flight as Xia Zhitang's!
"It doesn't matter where I go with my sister!" Gu Zian almost cried with joy while holding the plane ticket.
He felt that his heart was filled densely, and the emptiness and fear that had tormented him for a period of time were swept away.
He desperately wanted to hold the person in his arms, but due to the current situation he had been enduring it with great difficulty.
Until the moment he opened the door of the B&B, he finally couldn't hold back and hurriedly took the person into his arms and kissed her.
The moment they touched lips and teeth, the moment the other party responded enthusiastically, Gu Zian couldn't help but shed tears.
His love is no longer vague and helpless. He has truly found it, possessed it, and received a response.
But it was not enough. A greater emptiness rose from the bottom of his heart, forcing him to explore the greater source of warmth more impatiently.
He longed to be wrapped in that soft warmth, feeling safe and secure like being in the womb, kept warm by his mother's warm amniotic fluid.
Xia Zhitang felt Gu Zian's eager and slightly rough movements, so he put his arms around his neck, and when he could no longer bear it, his fingertips dug into his hair.
"Sister, sister..." Gu Zian cried and called.
"Yes, I'm here." Xia Zhitang freed one hand and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.
At that moment, Gu Zian finally felt the perfection of life.
After the waves calmed down, Gu Zian hugged Xia Zhitang and sat on the viewing balcony in the room to watch the stars.
"Sister, do you think I'm stupid?" Gu Zian leaned dejectedly on Xia Zhitang's shoulder, feeling the smooth touch of her lips like a willow branch.
"What I feel is your burning sincerity." Xia Zhitang gently placed her hands on Gu Zian's strong arms that were wrapped around her waist and abdomen, and her whole body was enveloped by the other's refreshing scent.
"But I still mind." Gu Zian tightened his embrace and pushed Xia Zhitang closer to him. "There are too many successful men around my sister."
"Just now, the owner of the B&B praised us for being a good match." Xia Zhitang turned around with difficulty and hugged Gu Zian back, "She doesn't know you're a celebrity."
"I'm afraid that the entertainment industry is too glamorous, and behind the flowers and applause lies an endless turmoil."
"I'm scared too." Xia Zhitang buried his head in Gu Zian's neck, "But I still think it's a great blessing to meet you."
"Sister!" Gu Zian grabbed Xia Zhitang's shoulders, his wet eyes shining.
Xia Zhitang reached out and stroked his cheek: "I am very grateful to have met you, and thank you for giving me enough sense of security as a lover."
Gu Zian's nose was sore as he hugged Xia Zhitang in his arms: "Sister, I'm sorry..." He buried his eyes in Xia Zhitang's shoulder with tears in his eyes, "I, I always cause trouble for you..."
Xia Zhitang grabbed Gu Zian's clothes and said, "I should be sorry. I didn't give you enough sense of security."
"No, it's me. I'm not mature enough." Gu Zian's warm tears soaked Xia Zhitang's clothes, the sticky touch like the inexplicable contradiction between them. But at this moment, Xia Zhitang was willing to believe that sincerity and communication could dispel obstacles.
"Can we grow slowly with each other's imperfections?"
"Yeah." Gu Zian cried on Xia Zhitang's shoulder, venting all his lack of confidence and hidden inferiority into tears.
On the way back, Gu Zian stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows at the airport, watching the planes taking off and landing outside, and suddenly said, "Sister, I want to win the award. I want to fulfill the two-year agreement I made with my dad."
Xia Zhitang, who was sitting next to him and processing documents on the computer, looked up at the young man in front of him who was emitting a soft light and smiled unconsciously.
"Okay, let's work hard together." Xia Zhitang's voice was as soft as marshmallow.
"Sister, wait for me." Gu Zian looked at Xia Zhitang, his eyes becoming firm.
"Yeah." Xia Zhitang nodded, and the two of them smiled at each other tacitly.
Rather than status, Xia Zhitang would rather his young lover pursue his dreams without regrets.
The document that Xia Zhitang handed over and needed Gu's signature was uploaded layer by layer and directly delivered to the chairman.
As a junior, Xia Zhitang must visit in person out of both courtesy and affection.
This time, as Gu Zian's secret girlfriend, Xia Zhitang was politely led directly to the chairman's office by the assistant as soon as she arrived.
"Uncle, this is the spring tea I asked Mr. Cheng to buy." Xia Zhitang handed over the tea respectfully.
Father Gu opened it, picked up a pinch and smelled it: "It smells good. I'll make this today."
Xia Zhitang took the position and familiarly heated a cup of tea at the tea table, then poured a cup for Gu's father.
Father Gu picked up the teacup and began to taste the tea: "Good tea."
"You're a thoughtful kid." He put down his teacup and asked, "How's Zi'an doing lately?"
"I've figured it out. Let me fulfill my promise to you first." Xia Zhitang helped Gu's father refill his tea. "I'm full of energy now."
"Do you blame me for being heartless?" Father Gu did not move the teacup in front of him, but looked at Xia Zhitang with bright eyes.
"A seedling must not forget its original intention and persist in chasing the sunshine under the beating of wind and rain, so that it can grow into a towering tree." Xia Zhitang's eyes were soft and bright.
Father Gu grabbed the teacup with a smile, and the sweet fragrance of the tea spread from his mouth to his heart.
He looked at the family photo on the table and reminisced about the past: "He loved singing and dancing since he was little. I didn't expect that he has grown up so fast..."
Xia Zhitang listened attentively to Gu's father chattering about Gu Zian's childhood stories, summarizing and asking questions from time to time, which made Gu's father more talkative.
The assistant came over and knocked on the door twice before Mr. Gu stood up reluctantly.
"I have a business dinner tonight. If you have time on the weekend, come home with Zi'an for dinner." Father Gu walked him to the door.
After walking out of the Gu building, Xia Zhitang took out his mobile phone which was set to silent mode and saw a dense stream of messages popping up.
She clicked on one at random, and a message popped up from Cheng Shubai: "Come back soon to discuss the PR plan."
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