Chapter 71
The band's car stopped at the back door and the sick musician was taken into the car.
Fortunately, the hospital was not far from the theater, and he was sent to the emergency room in time, so there was no major problem.
Chi Wei settled the musicians here and looked back at the audience queuing for ticket checking. The one who fell ill was the orchestra's cellist. Although he was not a main player, they were holding a classical music concert this time, and without the cellist, the concert would almost be impossible to hold.
"It looks like we have no choice but to cancel the concert," the conductor said regretfully.
Chi Wei was unwilling to give up. She had paid a lot for this concert.
The cell phone suddenly rang. It was a message from Yan Xi.
[Teacher Chi, Qingqing and I have already arrived at the theater. Thank you for sending the tickets~]
Chi Wei's eyes widened slowly. She remembered that the crew was filming today. It seemed that Zhou Qingyu had asked for leave? So...she was also in the theater now!
In the theater lobby, Yan Xi didn't find Chi Wei and returned to Zhou Qingyu.
The rivalry between Zhou Qingyu and Su Lingling has evolved from a cello competition, to a university QS ranking competition, and now to a best friend competition.
Su Lingling raised her head, "My best friend is the best!"
Zhou Qingyu sneered, "It's not the case anymore. Ye Luoyi is not as popular as me now! But Xixi is a top student, ranked in the top ten in the province in the college entrance examination! Does Ye Luoyi have such a record?"
Su Lingling stamped her feet in anger, "Yiyi is just not very popular recently, but her popularity will come back when her new drama is released!"
Zhou Qingyu crossed her arms, "Whether the new drama will be a hit or not is a matter for the future. Aren't you just sitting at home scratching your feet now? Ye Luoyi has been at home for a while now, right? You say you are best friends, but why didn't she even accompany you to the concert? Is your relationship so fake?"
Su Lingling was stunned and choked.
She also wanted Ye Luoyi to come to the concert, after all, she had no work recently, and it would be nice for her to go out and relax. But just now when she went to the villa to look for Ye Luoyi, she saw Ye Luoyi lying on the bed, too tired to get up.
Her shawl slipped off, revealing her fair shoulders, which were covered with kiss marks from her collarbone to her neck, making people blush and their hearts beat faster.
Thinking of the Ferrari she saw when she just entered the community, Su Lingling immediately understood.
She was so upset that she couldn't make it. "Ye Luoyi! Why are you so pessimistic?"
When Pei Yubai and Zhou Qingyu's relationship was first exposed, Su Lingling was willing to speak for Pei Yubai because she could see that Pei Yubai really liked Ye Luoyi in the past.
But after the apology at the airport and the confession with fireworks, Su Lingling also realized that Pei Yubai was a complete scumbag! He cheated on her and cheated on both sides!
Su Lingling said earnestly, "There are so many good men in the world, Pei Yubai is not worthy!"
Ye Luoyi buried her head in her shawl, too ashamed to raise it.
"I also wanted to let it go, but when he came to beg me, I softened my heart. He is not with Zhou Qingyu now. This is the last time, Lingling, believe me, this is the last time..."
Su Lingling remained silent and shook her head helplessly.
When they got to the theater, Zhou Qingyu's words left Su Lingling speechless. She felt a knot in her chest, but she couldn't vent it to Zhou Qingyu.
She could only huff, "I'm too lazy to argue with you!"
It was Su Lingling's turn to check tickets. She handed her ticket to the ticket inspector and walked quickly into the concert hall carrying her bag.
Zhou Qingyu looked at her from behind, with his hands on his hips like a winner, "Tsk! You obviously can't argue with me!"
After checking their tickets, Yan Xi and Zhou Qingyu also walked into the concert hall.
The concert hall was packed.
The concert was to start at three o'clock, but now it was already three o'clock and there was no movement at all.
Zhou Qingyu was puzzled, "Nothing will happen, right?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Chi Wei came to the concert hall from the backstage. She gave the ticket to Yan Xi and reserved a VIP seat in the front row. She could easily find Zhou Qingyu among the large audience.
She walked quickly to Zhou Qingyu and explained the situation of the band.
"Qingyu, I have no other choice. Zilu is now in the hospital for treatment. If possible, I hope you can perform on stage for him! Please!"
Zhou Qingyu was dumbfounded, "Don't you have other cellists in your orchestra?"
Chi Wei was helpless, "Yes, but she is not in Haicheng."
Zhou Qingyu was nervous, "...I can't do it."
Chi Wei's eyes were firm. "When I drafted the repertoire for the crew, I also had selfish motives. At that time, in order to make the orchestra perform better, I chose the songs for this performance. You and them have already run-in several times. You can do it!"
Chi Wei didn't know if it was a coincidence or not. She had seen Zhou Qingyu and the band working together and the results were very good. If no one mentioned it, she would never have known that Zhou Qingyu was not a professional.
Zhou Qingyu was still nervous, this was different from acting. In acting, if you mess up your performance, you can do it again, but not in a concert.
Chi Wei saw Zhou Qingyu's hesitation and said miserably, "If you can't help me, we can only cancel the concert."
Canceling the concert was a heavy loss for Chi Wei, but she had no other choice.
Yan Xi encouraged Zhou Qingyu, "Give it a try! Just treat it like a movie!"
Zhou Qingyu: "This is different from filming a movie."
Yan Xi glanced around and saw Su Lingling not far away from them.
Her eyes rolled. "Su Lingling has also studied cello for several years. Qingqing, if you don't want to go on stage, maybe you can ask Teacher Chi to find someone..."
"no!"
Zhou Qingyu had already guessed what Yan Xi was going to say before she finished. She could not be on the stage, but she could not be in the audience while Su Lingling was on the stage!
How could she hold her head up in front of Su Lingling in the future? Su Lingling would laugh at her for the rest of her life!
Chi Wei didn't know who Su Lingling was. In fact, if Zhou Qingyu didn't go on stage, she couldn't just find someone else to go on stage. But she understood Yan Xi's meaning in an instant, and continued Yan Xi's words, "Otherwise, I will go find Miss Su..."
"I'm on stage!"
Zhou Qingyu gritted her teeth. No matter what, she didn't want to lose to Su Lingling!
——
Backstage, Chi Wei tunes the cello for Zhou Qingyu.
Through the black curtain, Zhou Qingyu saw that the concert hall was packed with audiences. The broadcaster said that the performance would be postponed for ten minutes due to technical reasons, and the audience waited patiently.
The last time Zhou Qingyu stood backstage was two years ago when she was at Bernardus University.
In fact, it has only been two years. Before that, Zhou Qingyu had participated in various cello competitions or performed in the school's theater. This kind of stage performance was very familiar to her.
But two years of abandonment is too long for a professional musician.
I used to be familiar with this, but now I feel nervous and anxious.
Zhou Qingyu opened her hands and saw a thin layer of sweat on her palms. Her heart was beating fast, thump thump, all of which were evidence of her nervousness.
A hand suddenly reached out from the air and held her hand.
Zhou Qingyu turned around and saw Yan Xi standing beside her.
Zhou Qingyu has few friends. This is the first time that a friend stands beside her before she goes on stage.
She originally thought that Yan Xi would say something sensational.
As a result, Yan Xi said, "Don't worry, I've asked Master Zhao to wait outside. If the performance fails, we'll just run away! Let Chi Wei clean up the mess herself. It's her mess anyway!"
"You are an actor now! It's good enough that you can save the day on stage. Why do you need a bicycle?"
Zhou Qingyu was stunned for two seconds, then burst out laughing.
That's right, why think so much, just run away if the performance fails. She was previously chased by Ye Luoyi and Pei Yubai's fans and scolded as a mistress. Is there anything worse than this?
My mood relaxed immediately and the previous anxiety disappeared.
The concert performed all classical music, which Zhou Qingyu already knew by heart. Recently, in order to play the role of Lihua well, she has also practiced the cello a lot.
There's nothing to be afraid of!
Zhou Qingyu took a deep breath, and the curtain in front of her slowly opened——
The lights focused on her, and the moment she stepped onto the stage, Zhou Qingyu seemed to have returned to two years ago.
This is her battlefield. Even after leaving for two years, she still feels familiar with it. Even the air has the same smell as before.
Zhou Qingyu straightened her back and walked gracefully to her seat. The cello shone with a warm glow under the light.
…
The symphony started and all the audience were immersed in the music.
Su Lingling was enjoying the music as usual, but the moment she saw Zhou Qingyu, she was stunned.
She even suspected that she was dazzled and rubbed her eyes.
It was Zhou Qingyu, the Zhou Qingyu she hated the most.
But now she is sitting on the stage, her fingers dancing nimbly on the strings, her expression elegant and focused.
Su Lingling knew that Zhou Qingyu was very beautiful.
But at this moment, she felt that Zhou Qingyu would glow.
Su Lingling will always remember that when she was in middle school, she trained very hard and was confident of winning the position of cellist in the opening performance, but was defeated by Zhou Qingyu.
She was furious and thought that it must be the Zhou family's doing.
Just wait and see, people like this who use backdoors will definitely make a fool of themselves when they get on stage!
On the first day of school, Su Lingling saw Zhou Qingyu perform on stage, and she felt like her breath was held. Zhou Qingyu was pretty, and her piano voice was so beautiful that Su Lingling thought she saw a fairy.
Ah, being defeated by a fairy is nothing!
As a result, Zhou Qingyu walked off the stage and glanced at Su Lingling. "You are my substitute? What? You want to see me make a fool of myself? Even if I make a fool of myself, I will perform better than you!"
Su Lingling: “…”
This person is so annoying!
She doesn't want to like this kind of person!
The feud between the two began.
But at that time, Su Lingling just didn't get along with Zhou Qingyu. Every time Zhou Qingyu performed, she would record it for study. Every time Zhou Qingyu learned a song, she must learn it too!
Later, when she found out that Zhou Qingyu had given up playing the cello, Su Lingling was furious. Why did she give up? She was such a good player! And she actually became a mistress? Was there something wrong with her brain? She was pretty, had a good family background, and it was almost like a man was paying for her. Why did she think of becoming a mistress?
Su Lingling also didn't know what Zhou Qingyu had been thinking about in the past two years.
She's pretty defenseless anyway.
But fortunately, all this is in the past.
Two years later, Su Lingling looked at Zhou Qingyu on the stage and suddenly tears welled up in her eyes.
The girl in front of me is the same girl who played the cello on the stage ten years ago.
Look, the fairy is still here~
——
Yan Xi was not as deeply touched as Su Lingling.
Science students are like this, she has no musical talent and is only interested in math, physics and chemistry, so she can't tell whether Zhou Qingyu's performance is good or not.
But seeing how Chi Wei was so excited that tears were about to fall, and the audience's immersed expressions... Doesn't this mean that Zhou Qingyu's performance was pretty good?
The system kept yelling in Yan Xi's ear, [Host! I can hear it! ]
[The eldest lady's cello performance is even better! It's much better than her previous performance at Hawthorne Restaurant! ]
Yan Xi raised her eyebrows, "This is a good thing~"
How could she be the only one who knew about such a good thing?
She quickly sent a message to Wu Liao, asking him to spread the news that Zhou Qingyu would attend the classical music concert.
Wu Liao: [The eldest lady goes to save the concert? ]
[Is she...okay? ]
Yan Xi: [You must have confidence in our boss! ]
Wu Liao: [This is different from the previous restaurant performance! The span is too big! ]
Yan Xi also feels that there is too much of a gap between being an actor and being a professional cellist.
But in fact, Zhou Qingyu has been learning cello since she was a child. When she held the bow, it was not as tall as the cello. This is the instrument that has accompanied her for 20 years. In comparison, she is a newcomer in the film and television industry.
Yan Xi: [If we don’t talk about this, it will be discovered in the subsequent interviews.]
There are so many spectators here, someone must recognize Zhou Qingyu. It would be better for them to take the initiative to release the news and seize the initiative.
Wu Liao: [Okay, then I’ll buy a trending search and hire a group of online trolls to control the discussion.]
Yan Xi thought for a moment and said: [If the comments are all positive, then let the trolls question them. If they are all questioning, then just ignore them.]
Wu Liao: [……]
[One white face and one red face, you know how to play! ]
Yan Xi smiled: [Isn’t this how popularity is built up~]
Hot searches that are all exaggerated are too fake, while controversial topics seem real and can also stir up the popularity of the entry.
…
Two hours later, the concert ended and the audience burst into thunderous applause.
Zhou Qingyu walked to the backstage, where Yan Xi had been waiting for her and presented her with flowers.
"Congratulations Miss on your successful performance!"
Zhou Qingyu was still immersed in the performance just now, her heart was surging. She hadn't performed on stage for a long time, and after this performance, she felt that her blood was still boiling.
Many people around her praised her, including Chi Wei, the conductor, and other musicians in the orchestra.
This affirmation made Zhou Qingyu even more excited.
In fact, since the live broadcast of "Travel", there have been more and more voices praising Zhou Qingyu, especially when she recently starred in "Crazy", producer Xu and director Wei both praised her for her good acting skills and progress.
But Zhou Qingyu felt that this kind of compliment was similar to the compliments on her beauty on the Internet. It would make her happy, but not so much that her heart would surge.
But today I will.
That was what she looked forward to most when she was young. It was what allowed her to persevere in her efforts despite the three-minute heat. Even after performing for two hours in a row, Zhou Qingyu did not feel tired.
It was as if a seed was buried in her heart, took root, sprouted, and almost grew into a big tree, but was pulled out by her.
Today, Zhou Qingyu looked at the backstage of the theater and saw the busy staff.
She wanted to plant the seed again.
——
At the same time, posts on the Internet about Zhou Qingyu substituting for professional musicians to participate in concerts continued to ferment.
Although Zhou Qingyu's reputation has been good after two episodes of "Travel" live broadcast, there are still many netizens who question this.
[The concert is professional, is Zhou Qingyu okay? ]
[I feel like this is a bit too much of a character creation]
[Although I like Miss, I don't think she can be a substitute, right? ]
[I don’t understand, shouldn’t actors focus on acting? Zhou Qingyu is showing off her wealth, playing the cello, and all kinds of gossip every day. Can’t she work hard on acting? ]
Most people doubted whether Zhou Qingyu could perform well, after all, professional cellists and amateur cellists are completely different.
Zhou Qingyu's fans are very anxious. The eldest lady's reputation has finally been reversed, and they don't want Zhou Qingyu to be scolded again because of this substitution!
This concert was quite large in scale, with many musicians participating. Fans went to ask how Zhou Qingyu's performance was.
Most of the musicians who are deeply involved in concerts and classical music did not know Zhou Qingyu, and did not know that there was an artist mixed in the orchestra. When they were awakened by fans, those musicians were very surprised.
[Is today's cellist a substitute? I think her performance was pretty good! ]
[She and the band have a good working relationship. She can't be a new member brought in temporarily, right?]
[At least from this concert, I think this actress performed well! ]
Chi Wei saw the comments on the Internet and took the initiative to use Gu Fan's official account to speak for Zhou Qingyu -
【For this concert, since our original cellist was hospitalized due to acute appendicitis, we had no choice but to invite Ms. Zhou Qingyu to perform as a substitute. 】
[Ms. Zhou plays the role of Lihua, the third female character in "Crazy Summer and Winter". This character is also a cellist. In order to achieve a better performance effect, Ms. Zhou trained privately many times and also worked with my orchestra. She has reached the level of a professional cellist. After comprehensive consideration, I dared to invite her to perform on stage. ]
【Thanks to Ms. Zhou for her efforts. The performance did not disappoint everyone’s expectations. 】
A video of the live performance was attached to the Weibo post, and Chi Wei deliberately captured the best part of Zhou Qingyu's performance to show netizens.
[First time listening to classical music! It's so good! ]
[The thing the young lady is playing is the zither, and that is my heart! ]
[I am the only one who is paying attention to this point - is the young lady practicing the cello for acting? It seems that the young lady has also started to act seriously! ]
[Is "Crazy" Director Wei's new work? Looking forward to it! ]
In addition, the musicians who participated in the performance spoke softly for Zhou.
They went to "Crazy" as extras to earn extra money, and Zhou Qingyu was there to help. If the concert was cancelled, it would be a huge loss for them.
For a while, in addition to the hot searches about Wu Liaomai, several other terms related to Zhou Qingyu also became hot searches, and Zhou Qingyu's fans also increased by hundreds of thousands.
——
After the concert, Zhou Qingyu and Yan Xi returned to Zhou's house.
On the way, Zhou Qingyu was browsing her phone and saw several entries about her on the trending search list. She was overjoyed.
No one doesn't like to be praised, and Zhou Qingyu is the same. In the past, there were a lot of scolding, so she didn't search for her own comments, but recently there are only good reviews. Every night Zhou Qingyu will look at the rainbow farts from fans before going to sleep.
Yan Xi was also in a good mood.
Not to mention that Qiao Yan told her that two advertisers contacted her and wanted Zhou Qingyu to be their spokesperson, Yan Xi also received a system reminder that Zhou Qingyu was recognized in the music field for her performance at this concert and gained another point of luck.
Because it is unrelated to the plot of the novel, the luck value will be lower, but there will be advertising endorsements later. These are endorsements that Zhou Qingyu obtained with her own abilities, and the total amount is not a small number.
Little by little, it adds up to a lot, and your luck value will exceed 100 in no time!
The Mercedes-Benz drove to the gate of Zhou's house, and Yan Xi saw Lin Zhi next to the security booth in front of the door.
Yan Xi was a little puzzled. She and Lin Zhi usually communicated via mobile phone. Lin Zhi was more familiar with Xingyao's business than she was. The old house was far away from Xingyao. What was worth Lin Zhi's personal trip?
But thinking of Zhou Yanci, Yan Xi did not neglect him and deliberately sent Zhou Qingyu away.
"I think something happened with Chu Tingbai. Why don't you go back first?"
Zhou Qingyu was in a good mood. "Okay, let Lin Zhi do the complicated things. Otherwise, what's the point of having an assistant?"
For example, Zhou Qingyu, although she had Zhou's projects on hand, she left them all to Yu Xiao.
Yan Xi: "Okay."
Lin Zhi was relieved to see Zhou Qingyu leave first. She felt that it was not convenient to tell Zhou Qingyu what she had found out.
There was a pavilion near the gate of the old house, the environment was quiet, Yan Xi led Lin Zhi to the pavilion. She took out the insect repellent first, sprayed it around, and then sat down.
"Did you get the DNA of Meng Yingrong and Meng Xuanyu?" Yan Xi went straight to the point.
Lin Zhi nodded solemnly and handed the test results to Yan Xi.
Yan Xi already knew about the relationship between the two, so she didn’t find it strange to see that “it can be determined that there is a high possibility that [Meng Yingrong] and [Meng Xuanyu] are mother and son.”
Lin Zhi was Yu Xiao's assistant before, and was considered to be on Zhou Qingyu's side. At this time, he also became disgusted with Meng Yingrong because of what she did.
However, if it was just for this DNA identification report, Lin Zhi would not have come to Zhou's house so late at night.
"Boss Yan, while investigating Meng Xuanyu, I discovered a big piece of news."
Yan Xi raised her eyebrows, "What melon?"
Lin Zhi showed the new evidence to Yan Xi, "Meng Xuanyu lost 100 million in the Macau Casino some time ago. He had no money at the time, so he borrowed high-interest loans. Later, in order to pay back the money, he mortgaged all of M's new products of the season to the other party."
Yan Xi gasped, "How much goods do we need to mortgage? But I don't see any problem with M's sales!"
"This is the key point." Lin Zhi opened another file. "I followed this clue and checked again. I found that Meng Xuanyu contacted Guangcheng and sold Guangcheng's high-quality imitations instead of the originals."
Yan Xi:!!!
"Meng Xuanyu is really crazy."
If this news were reported, it would be a disaster for the M family.
No wonder the Meng family went bankrupt in the novel. It was probably because after Zhou Yanci’s death, the matter was exposed and the Meng family had no one to back them up, so they could no longer contain themselves.
Lin Zhi asked, "Mr. Yan, should we tell Mr. Zhou?"
Although Zhou Qingyu and Zhou Yanci were not on good terms, this matter was too big.
Yan Xi said unhappily, "What the hell are you talking about."
The high-end imitations have all been sold out, and it is only a matter of time before the bankruptcies come to an end. What else can Zhou Yanci do except to help the Meng family clean up the mess and fill the hole with his own money? The Meng family's stock price will definitely be affected, as will its reputation. This is a fact that cannot be changed.
Lin Zhi was in a dilemma, "Should we just pretend nothing happened?"
Yan Xi was silent, looking at the documents that Lin Zhi was investigating.
“Maybe, we can change our thinking.”
——
At the same time, Zhou Qingyu returned to the room.
Qu Yan hasn't left yet. She returned to the old house this time mainly to regain her position as CEO of Xingyao. Now she can't convince Zhou's father and Zhou Yanci, and Zhou Qingyu also supports Yan Xi, so she can only change her thinking.
If she can't get the CEO position back, she has to get some money from the Zhou family!
Qu Yan showed Zhou Qingyu several project proposals. "Nannan, take a look. These are all projects from your grandma's company. They have great prospects! The Qu family is your family. If you invest in the Qu family, you are investing in yourself!"
Zhou Qingyu was in a good mood. She glanced at the projects and realized that the total investment for those projects was about 50 million. This amount was not small, but she had not spent much money recently, mainly because the money she spent was earned back by Yan Xi. Moreover, Qiao Yan said that there were two endorsements waiting for her to sign, so she could still make money, so she agreed to Qu Yan.
Qu Yan was very happy and stopped bothering Zhou Qingyu. She took the project book and left Zhou's house.
When leaving the hall, Qu Yan and Yan Xi passed by each other.
She raised her eyebrows. How could Yan Xi compare with her? Zhou Qingyu invested 50 million in her at any time, and Yan Xi was just an employee! What a shitty friendship, it was not worth mentioning in front of blood.
Yan Xi looked at Qu Yan's back and muttered in her heart, "Why is she so happy?"
[She just swindled 50 million from the eldest lady, how could she not be happy? ]
[After all, wasn't she returning to Zhou's house just to get more from the eldest daughter? ]
Yan Xi raised her eyebrows, "She wishes."
[I am your eldest daughter and aunt after all, what can you do? ]
Yan Xi was proud: "I can make Qingqing penniless immediately!"
【？ ？ ？】
When Zhou Qingyu saw Yan Xi coming back, she asked her to sit down and eat the grapes washed by Aunt Zhang together.
"You look so happy. Have you settled the matter with Chu Tingbai?"
Yan Xi said mysteriously, "Not only did I get it done, I also found a big money-making project!"
Zhou Qingyu was curious, "What?"
Yan Xi placed all the evidence documents collected by Lin Zhi in front of Zhou Qingyu one by one.
"How about we do something big and acquire Meng's company?"