Chapter 410 (4102 combined)
410:
Ye Qingxi stared at the small box in her hand, stunned. She hadn't expected him to have prepared a gift for her.
He asked curiously, "What?"
Qin Cheng replied, "A brooch."
"Can I open it now?" he asked.
"certainly."
Ye Qingxi slowly opened the gift box, and just as Qin Cheng had said, there was indeed a brooch inside.
A wheat ear brooch set with yellow sapphires and diamonds.
Ye Qingxi is about to graduate. The "sui" in "bo sui" means ears of wheat.
Meanwhile, his movie is about to be released, and barley symbolizes a big hit.
Therefore, this is the perfect time to give him this gift.
Ye Qingxi understood his double meaning and said with delight, "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Qin Cheng looked at him gently.
He gave the gift, but did not leave immediately.
Ye Qingxi asked, puzzled, "Is there anything else?"
"It's nothing," Qin Cheng said.
After saying that, he put his hand on Ye Qingxi's shoulder and straightened his back.
Ye Qingxi: ?
Then he felt a light touch on his shoulder.
Qin Cheng didn't say much and started massaging him directly.
Ye Qingxi: ...
Ye Qingxi felt a little embarrassed.
"I'm really fine," he whispered.
Qin Cheng: "Hmm."
"It really doesn't hurt."
"I know."
"What do you know?!" Ye Qingxi thought to herself.
"Are you still going to take a shower or not?"
"I'll be there in a bit," Qin Cheng answered every question.
Ye Qingxi: ...
Ye Qingxi didn't say anything more.
Qin Cheng patiently massaged his shoulders for twenty minutes, until Ye Qingxi pushed his hand away, at which point he stopped.
"Go take a shower now," Ye Qingxi said, looking at him. "If you don't shower soon, I'm going to take one."
"Then go ahead," Qin Cheng said, adding that taking a bath could also help relieve fatigue.
Ye Qingxi: ...
Ye Qingxi was completely helpless against him.
Finally, he simply went back to his bedroom, took Qin Cheng's pajamas from his suitcase and handed them to him, saying, "Go quickly."
Qin Cheng smiled and accepted it, then turned and went to the bathroom.
Ye Qingxi: ...
Ye Qingxi touched her shoulder. To be honest, her brother's massage did make her feel much better.
He picked up the golden wheat ear that Qin had given him and examined it closely.
"It's so beautiful," Ye Qingxi thought. "My brother is amazing; he managed to prepare a gift for me while rushing back."
He really put his heart into it.
Ye Qingxi looked towards the bathroom and carefully put away her brooch.
After Qin Cheng finished showering and dried his hair, he returned to Ye Qingxi's bedroom. Ye Qingxi quickly ran over to help him blow-dry his hair.
Seeing that he looked eager to try, Qin Cheng did not refuse.
A hot breeze blew by, like the air of midsummer. Qin Cheng felt the intimacy that belonged only to the two of them and felt that this trip back was truly worthwhile.
After Ye Qingxi finished washing up, Qin Cheng helped him blow-dry his hair, and the two prepared to go to sleep.
Ye Qingxi, unusually, remained silent, lay down, and closed her eyes.
Qin Cheng was also sleepy and closed his eyes.
He had only been asleep for a short while when he felt Ye Qingxi stir. The next second, Qin Cheng felt the familiar warmth of Ye Qingxi in his arms.
He heard Ye Qingxi say, "I'm really happy you're back."
Ye Qingxi leaned against him, her voice light and cheerful, "Although I didn't want you to come back, nor did I think you should, I was really, really happy that you suddenly appeared. Compared to the gifts you gave me, your appearance is the best gift."
This is a surprise, Ye Qingxi thought. A surprise isn't something that was originally agreed upon, then deliberately canceled, and then reappears.
A surprise is something you never expected, you didn't anticipate, you weren't prepared for, but it just happened suddenly.
That's the real surprise.
Though surprised, I was even more delighted.
Qin Cheng quietly hugged him and said, "As long as you're happy."
Ye Qingxi was happy. His trip back was worthwhile and meaningful.
He felt the strength of Ye Qingxi's embrace and wanted to hug her back, but he restrained himself from being too unrestrained.
He held him gently, as if holding a fragile piece of glass, as if holding an unopened rose, afraid that if he were to be even slightly unrestrained, the carefully maintained facade would shatter.
Qin Cheng closed his eyes and said to him, "Good night."
"Good night," Ye Qingxi said.
He had a wonderful dream in Qin Cheng's arms.
In his dream, golden wheat ears grew like ocean waves, and he wandered through vast wheat fields, basking in the warm sunshine.
The wind rustled through the wheat fields, and Qin Cheng stood at the edge of the horizon, patiently and unhurriedly waiting for him.
Waiting to take him home.
When Ye Qingxi woke up again, it was already 8:15 the next morning. Qin Cheng woke him up and asked him to take him to school.
Ye Qingxi quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth, and then saw Qin Cheng pack the breakfast he had already prepared into a lunchbox.
"You can eat it when you get on the bus," he said.
Ye Qingxi: ...
Ye Qingxi thought he was really thoughtful.
He left with Qin Cheng and took him to the airport.
It wasn't until Qin Cheng passed through security and Ye Qingxi started walking back that he suddenly realized something.
Qin Cheng didn't even visit his parents when he returned this time.
Ye Qingxi stopped in her tracks at that moment.
He asked himself honestly, if it were him, would he not go to see Mu Shaowu?
The answer is, of course, no.
But Qin Cheng did not actually meet his parents.
This shouldn't be the case. Ye Qingxi vaguely felt that Qin Cheng's feelings for him seemed a little too deep and too important.
But then he wondered, what if he was the one who shouldn't be there?
Ye Qingxi knew, of course, that she was somewhat overly dependent on her father and grandfather.
Growing up is a process of gradually separating from loved ones.
From early childhood, we can only rely on our parents and love them the most. As we gradually leave home and leave our parents, our love for them changes to our spouses. We also change from spending every day with our parents in childhood to only visiting them during holidays.
This is a process that everyone goes through, and most people follow this process in their lives.
But he was clearly one of the small group of people who went against the grain.
Even now, his father and grandfather are still the most important people in his heart.
He couldn't go too far away from them, nor did he want to.
So, could the problem not be with Qin Cheng, but with him?
He couldn't judge Qin Cheng by his own standards, Ye Qingxi thought, just like Zhou Cang's sister, who hadn't gotten married yet but had already moved out and no longer lived with her parents.
Qin Cheng only came back this time and didn't have time to go home to see Mu Zheng and Qin Luan.
This may not be a big deal.
There's nothing wrong with that.
Ye Qingxi thought to herself that he was making a fuss over nothing.
He walked forward again, without delving deeper, and thus failed to discover the surging, profound love hidden beneath Qin Cheng's calm exterior.
Soon, Ye Qingxi's class took a group graduation photo, marking the end of his university life.
This was a time Ye Qingxi had never experienced before—relaxed, carefree, and as free as the wind.
Ye Qingxi stood at the gate of her alma mater, waved goodbye to her student days, turned around, and walked towards the future.
The summer movie season in July is always fiercely competitive.
In July of that year, a film garnered significant attention even before its release, not for any other reason than its director—Ye Qingxi.
[Ye Qingxi? Is that the Ye Qingxi I know?]
【Who else could it be but him? That's a name that's not easily shared!】
[But wasn't he an actor? How come he's directing now?]
[Yeah, didn't he go to Peking University? How come he's back in the film industry now? Why didn't he apply to film school back then?]
Netizens couldn't help but start discussing the name Ye Qingxi as soon as they saw it.
Before long, #YeQingxi# became a trending topic, along with his directorial debut film "Midsummer".
Good heavens, it's summer again!
This name immediately reminded me of his first film, "Summer."
[It must be said that "Summer" was indeed well-acted and well-directed. Mu Shaowu underwent a complete transformation starting with this film.]
[That's right, Ye Qingxi even won an award for this movie back then!]
So why didn't he continue acting and instead became a director?
[Exactly, can this director even handle his job properly?]
[Singer, actor, director—isn't he asking for too much? Especially since he didn't study directing for the past four years!]
Upon seeing this, Ye Qingxi's fans quickly commented: "Judging from the trailer, his filming is quite good!"
[Yeah, even though I didn't study directing, the footage I shot is absolutely gorgeous, so youthful!]
[Moreover, the men are handsome and the women are beautiful, a feast for the eyes!]
[Maybe the best parts are all in the trailer?] One netizen commented.
"That's right, trailers are just for show, how many trailers are used to scam people?" one netizen chimed in.
Anyway, I'm not optimistic.
Seeing the comments from netizens, Chen Xiang got so angry that he rolled up his sleeves and started to refute them.
Ye Qingxi remained calm. He didn't think that netizens were deliberately trying to smear him. He believed that different professions were like different worlds, and many actors failed when they tried to become directors. So he couldn't understand why netizens had this attitude.
In any case, the work itself will speak for itself.
If his movie is indeed good, then netizens will naturally change their current opinions and speak up for him.
If his movie is indeed not very good, then it only means that he is not cut out to be a director, and he should quit as soon as possible.
Therefore, Ye Qingxi continued with the normal publicity and roadshow as usual.
After the first round of discussion about Ye Qingxi actually switching careers to become a director, the discussion immediately followed about Huo Zinan being the lead actor in this movie.
So many years have passed, and the internet has changed. For Huo Zinan, what people remember most is his participation in "Look the Daddy" with Ye Qingxi.
I can't believe they've gotten together again!
[After several years, Huo Zinan hasn't lost his good looks; in fact, he's even more handsome than when he was a child!]
[Didn't Ye Qingxi act in it himself? I thought he directed and starred in it!]
No, the male lead is Huo Zinan, and the female lead is Du Xiang.
Who is Du Xiang?
[A relatively unknown actress who previously played a flower fairy in "The River of Oblivion".]
Wow, I've never heard of that before.
[The most popular actress in this drama seems to be Ye Qingxi, followed by Huo Zinan.]
I have to say, I still remember how adorable Ye Qingxi and Huo Zinan looked back then.
[Back then, Huo Zinan really liked Ye Qingxi and wanted to be friends with her. Little did he know there would be a sequel! They actually became childhood friends!]
[Ahhh, I never dreamed that the variety shows I watched as a kid would have after-sales service!]
Suddenly, #YeQingxiHuoZinan# became a trending topic.
Viewers who watched "Look the Daddy" before have simply grown old, not died. Seeing the two of them together now evokes a flood of emotions.
That's great, they're actually friends in private.
Wow, they've both grown into very handsome men!
[Huo Zinan acted in Ye Qingxi's first drama. Family members, does anyone understand? Our "Look the Daddy" team also has a strong sense of unity!]
I wonder what the other babies are doing?
What are the other babies doing?
A: We're in a group chat right now.
Tao Tao was the first to see the trailer and excitedly tagged Ye Qingxi and Huo Zinan in the group chat, asking: "You two are making a movie?"
Ye Qingxi replied to him: 【Mm.】
Huo Zinan also chimed in: 【Mm.】
Tao Tao: !!!
Tao Tao: [Wow! That's amazing!]
Tao Tao: [I'll go see it with my friends then, and see if Xiaoxi is as good at directing as she is at acting!]
Ye Qingxi: [Okay.]
As they were talking, He Lei spoke up: "When did you film this?"
Ye Qingxi: [Just last year.]
He Lei nodded: [Oh.]
After she finished speaking, fearing that Ye Qingxi might think her response was a bit cold, she added: "The trailer looks so good! Huo Zinan looks so handsome, and the color tone is great, very refreshing."
Ye Qingxi: [Fortunately, Huo Zinan is quite handsome to begin with.]
Huo Zinan: ...
Huo Zinan couldn't help but feel a little shy.
Zhang Ning opened WeChat and saw their conversation consisted of a series of exclamations: 【OMG! OMG! OMG!】
Zhang Ning: [Ye Qingxi, you're amazing! You're a director now!]
Zhang Ning: [Singer, actor, top scorer in the middle school entrance exam, top scorer in the college entrance exam, director—our group is almost overflowing with people like you!]
Ye Qingxi: ? ? ?
Ye Qingxi: ...
Ye Qingxi was both amused and exasperated.
Zhang Ning was still joking: "On the surface, this looks like a small group of six, but actually it's a large group of more than ten people, hahaha."
Ye Qingxi: Hey, that's enough!
Ye Qingxi: [Facepalm]
Huo Zinan considerately commented: "Zhang Ning, that's enough."
Zhang Ning: [What, you're not alone either?]
Huo Zinan: ...
Tao Tao burst into laughter.
He Lei also laughed.
Yang Shu then sent a message: 【Congratulations! Wishing you great box office success!】
Ye Qingxi: [Thank you.]
Over the years, although we've gradually lost touch, we've never disbanded the group chat, so the group from back then has miraculously survived to this day.
It's a rare occasion for everyone to gather together, and because Ye Qingxi and Huo Zinan are filming a movie together, they reminisced about their childhood, and everyone felt a surge of nostalgia.
Zhang Ning exclaimed, "I always thought Ye Qingxi was brilliant, and sure enough, you became the top scholar! That's incredible! You have no idea how envious my dad is of your dad!"
Tao Tao quickly added, "My dad did too. A while ago, my cousin had a baby, and my dad even said, 'Why don't we name her Xi? It sounds like she has a bright future.'"
Ye Qingxi: ? ? ?
Ye Qingxi: ...
Zhang Ning: [But how come you and Huo Zinan are together again?]
He said, "I thought Huo Zinan wasn't planning on continuing to act."
The group fell silent immediately after those words were spoken.
They all knew about what happened to Huo Zinan back then.
Tao Tao even sent Huo Zinan a WeChat message afterward to comfort him.
Huo Zinan replied at the time: "It's nothing."
He was just a child then, so there was nothing he could do but offer verbal comfort.
Zhang Ning was the same; when he returned from his trip and found out, Huo Zinan had already gone to Ye Qingxi's place and started a new life.
So Zhang Ning told him: "Ignore them."
Huo Zinan replied: 【Mm.】
He Lei and Yang Shu are not as outgoing as Tao Tao and Zhang Ning, not to mention that they haven't had much interaction with Huo Zinan since the show ended.
So although they were worried, they didn't know what to say.
The main problem is that nothing I say will make a difference.
He said nothing.
At this moment, Zhang Ning's abrupt statement made Yang Shu and He Lei feel an awkward atmosphere.
Yang Shu was about to say a few words of comfort to Huo Zinan, telling him that it was all in the past.
Unexpectedly, Huo Zinan spoke first: "We've been together all these years."
Huo Zinan said in a relaxed tone: "We can skip filming other people's movies, but we certainly can't skip filming Director Ye's."
Tao Tao: ? ? ?
Tao Tao asked, puzzled: "What do you mean by 'you two have been together all these years'?"
Huo Zinan: [Secret~]
Zhang Ning: [Do you two have some secrets?]
Huo Zinan: [That's too many!]
Yang Shu: ? ? ?
He Lei: ...It seems like I don't need her comfort at all!
Ye Qingxi breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Huo Zinan say that.
Although he discovered the incident in time, it did not cause any irreversible consequences.
But he was always worried that this incident would leave an indelible scar on Huo Zinan's heart.
Now, Huo Zinan can respond to that matter with ease, which shows that for him, that matter is indeed long gone.
He no longer minds; he has let it go.
That's good, Ye Qingxi thought. People live for the future, not for the past, and Huo Zinan has a lot of good things to come.
Just as everyone in the group still remembers what happened back then, netizens also remember what happened back then.
Some people who dislike Ye Qingxi, seeing that she and Huo Zinan were trending together, immediately brought up past incidents, saying: "Does the internet really have no memory? Huo Zinan isn't a good person, why is Ye Qingxi still hanging out with him? It's truly disappointing!"
However, Ye Qingxi's fans are not the same as Huo Zinan's fans back then.
They immediately retorted: "What happened back then wasn't entirely Huo Zinan's fault. While Huo Zinan's actions were wrong, was it right for paparazzi to take photos? Especially since Huo Zinan was a minor at the time?!"
[Exactly, adolescence is rebellious enough, and if the other person is being really aggressive towards you, can you tolerate it?]
[Besides, that was all in the past. Why are you still bringing it up? Didn't you have any conflicts with people when you were a kid?]
[So many adults are beating up paparazzi, why don't you do anything about it, but you're bullying a kid like this!]
I really don't understand, how can anyone still defend paparazzi like this? It's baffling!
So many years have passed, and even if something really happened, Huo Zinan has remained silent about it for so long. Besides, he was just a child back then. Looking beyond the public opinion environment at the time and the paparazzi's constant complaints, this matter shouldn't be entirely blamed on him.
Some even wondered: "Wait, why was everyone criticizing Huo Zinan back then? Just because that paparazzi was crying and wailing? I saw his comments, what a joke."
[And he's really going too far, demanding an apology that includes a video and a handwritten letter. Does he ever apologize like that himself?]
【No.】Someone immediately replied: 【He never apologizes~ He doesn't apologize for taking photos without permission~ He doesn't apologize for spreading rumors~ But when it comes to Huo Zinan, he has to apologize with a video and a handwritten letter~】
[I'm not exaggerating, this paparazzi is really outrageous. Before, when he photographed Xiao Lu, Xiao Lu's team was very powerful, and he immediately deleted the photos. Later, when he photographed Li Hong, Li Hong hit him, and he didn't say a word. But when he encountered Huo Zinan, he took advantage of Huo Zinan's lack of background and the fact that Huo Zinan was just a kid, and he didn't delete the photos, but even demanded an apology. He's really good at playing favorites.]
[That's right. Huo Zinan's request was simply to delete the photos. That's not an unreasonable request, is it? But he refused, saying he had already deleted them. That's why Huo Zinan wanted to check—wasn't the root of the problem the one who secretly took the photos?]
[Besides, I really don't believe that an adult like him, who looks taller and stronger than Huo Zinan at that time, could be kicked down by Huo Zinan, who wasn't even an adult yet. Huo Zinan wasn't a martial arts performer, was he?]
Faced with a strong counterattack from Ye Qingxi's fans, netizens overwhelmingly sided with Huo Zinan.
Ye Qingxi was pleasantly surprised and sent a screenshot to Huo Zinan.
Although this backlash from public opinion came many years late, it has finally arrived.
Ye Qingxi: [See? I told you you weren't wrong.]
However, Huo Zinan no longer cared about any of that.
Whether the world likes him or hates him, supports him or opposes him, he doesn't care.
Because he had already found his own light.
No matter how the world sees him, his light will always be bright and warm.
He was bathed in light and naturally didn't care about the wind and rain outside.
In a sense, Huo Zinan is even grateful for what happened back then.
I'm grateful that something like that happened back then.
Otherwise, Ye Qingxi might never have appeared in front of him again, never taken him away, and he wouldn't be who he is today.
Huo Zinan cherishes his current life and cherishes Ye Qingxi even more.
Therefore, when he looked at the screenshots sent by Ye Qingxi, he felt that this was actually quite good.
He may no longer care about how the world sees him, but he hopes that Ye Qingxi's movie will be a big hit. Therefore, when netizens stand on his side and no longer oppose him, it is naturally the best thing for Ye Qingxi's movie.
"Mm." Huo Zinan replied, "Thank you."
Ye Qingxi said gently, "You're welcome."
On the other side, Tao Tao pulled Zhang Ning, Yang Shu, and He Lei into a four-person group he had created.
Zhang Ning asked, puzzled, "Why did you create a new group?"
He Lei immediately noticed the problem: [Why aren't Ye Qingxi and Huo Zinan here?]
Yang Shu was also puzzled. Yes, what was it that they had to talk about away from the two of them?
Tao Tao said: "Well, it's hard to say without them both being in the group chat."
Zhang Ning: [What's hard to say?]
Tao Tao: [Look, it's rare for these two to get together to make a movie. This is Ye Qingxi's first film, and also Huo Zinan's first film since he started making movies again.]
Tao Tao: [We're all friends, but when Huo Zinan got into trouble, none of us did anything. Only Ye Qingxi... Although we don't know what he did back then, Huo Zinan said they were always together, which definitely means Ye Qingxi did something. Otherwise, how could he have let Huo Zinan be with him?]
Tao Tao: [And now that Ye Qingxi is a director, she hasn't forgotten her friends, directly casting Huo Zinan as the male lead. That's so loyal!]
Tao Tao: [Before, we could say we were too young, we didn't have much power, we had the will but not the ability. But now, we're all grown up, so shouldn't we do something in return?]
Zhang Ning asked, puzzled: "What do you mean?"
Tao Tao cleverly replied: "[What else could it mean? Just look at what netizens are discussing; you can see that everyone hasn't forgotten us, and still remembers us from our childhood. At this moment, what kind of promotion could evoke more memories and generate more discussion than us helping Ye Qingxi promote his movie?!]"
Yang Shu immediately understood: [You're trying to sell team spirit!]
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