Chu Qin blinked after finishing his call with Mu Chen. How was it so coincidental that the other party just happened to have something on when he fell sick? His entire body was so sore and painful that he didn’t want to move. But at the same time, he dared not sleep out of fear that someone would call on him due to an urgent matter at the television station. His wide eyes gazed at the ceiling for a while. After a moment of thought, he still could not rest at ease and gave the producer another call.
The producer told him that Director Zhong had already applied for leave for him and it had also been confirmed that Mu Chen would not be coming. They had already apologized to the other guest, Qiao Su.
Chu Qin now felt completely at ease. A hand reached over and placed a cup of warm water and a plate of fruits at the head of the bed. Zhong Yibin was now extremely skilled at doing these things. His skill at peeling an apple had also reached new heights; he could peel it from start to end without the peel breaking. He was afraid that the apple would turn yellow when it was left in the open for too long, so from that moment onwards, the whole peel was left on top of the apple. A slight tug would then reveal the fresh fruit within.
Nibbling at the crispy, sweet apple, Chu Qin happily picked up the remote control and leisurely watched television.
Ratings in the afternoon were low so <The Golden Age of the Great Jing> would not be re-broadcasted then. Shengshi TV was airing a recommended Korean drama. Struggles between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, war of riches between genuine and fake aristocrats, competition for the ideal career – Korean dramas were all along this line.
“I’ll give this money to you, leave my son,” An appropriately-dressed wealthy grandma threw a check towards the female lead.
The female lead looked at her in a humiliated yet obstinate manner. She picked up the check and slowly ripped it into shreds. “I will not leave Cheng Jun-ge.”
The corner of Chu Qin’s mouth twitched. This scene was very familiar to the eye… He looked at the golden holy sword placed on a shelf and felt his head ache slightly.
He couldn’t bear to continue watching this soap opera and switched to another channel, which was playing a Wuxia drama. The female lead was a famous lady called Wen Qing. Wen Qing, who was dressed in a pink immortal outfit, scuttled around in a lively manner around her martial brothers. Her martial brothers were dressed in the sect’s standard blue attire, making the scene resemble that of a pink butterfly having flown into a blue sakura thicket.
“Martial brother, let’s go down the mountain and have some fun!” Wen Qing had charming and pleasant looks. Her facial features made her appear kind and was very suitable for leading roles. At the moment, she was looked upon favorably by directors for female lead roles.
As Chu Qin looked at Wen Qing on the screen, he was reminded that they had not met face-to-face for quite a while. They were friends and had known each other for two years. A few months ago, Wen Qing suddenly made known her romantic relationship with Li Ting. The lady who was in the throes of passionate love naturally threw this male friend of hers to the back of her mind.
“Ding–” Just as he thought this, his phone suddenly rang. Chu Qin picked up the call. Speaking of the devil and they would appear – it was Wen Qing who had contacted him.
“Qin-ge, are you busy now?” Wen Qing’s voice was slightly nasal and she didn’t sound very good.
“Not busy, what’s wrong?” Chu Qin frowned slightly and asked in a concerned tone, “Are you filming?”
“En…” Wen Qing made a sound of agreement. Her surroundings weren’t very noisy, the brat had hidden in some corner to call him. “Qin-ge, I want to break up, wu…”
“No, I’m squatting at the foot of the wall behind the palace set,” Wen Qing said listlessly. How could she utter such words in a crowded area with so many pairs of eyes on her?
Chu Qin looked at the bright, lively girl on television as he listened to the complaints that were sobbed out. He couldn’t resist letting out a sigh.
Wen Qing was currently popular and she was still young; her future prospects were glorious. Her boyfriend was a young hunk, but his fame wasn’t equal to hers. He’d acted with Mu Chen in <Exploration>.
“He doesn’t treat me badly, but he’s too childish…” Wen Qing sobbed as she denounced him.
Childish…Chu Qin silently glanced at the gold holy sword on the shelf.
“Cough. He’s a boy, he will become a child in front of the one he loves. That shows he likes you,” Chu Qin stroked his nose and mediated.
“No. It’s cute if it’s an occasional childishness, but he can’t always be childish when it’s regarding huge affairs, right!” Wen Qing was somewhat emotional. They had just gotten into an argument yesterday night and Wen Qing didn’t have any scenes in the afternoon so she couldn’t resist calling Chu Qin to voice her grievances.
A few days ago, Wen Qing came down with a fever after filming a rain scene. Li Ting came to visit her and without saying anything, took her to a hotel to let her sleep and recuperate. Originally, Wen Qing had been pretty moved by that. She went to sleep at ease but in the end, when she woke up, she realized that her handphone had almost blown up. The director was infuriated by her leaving without permission. Her manager was also unaware of the situation and had an important contract for her to sign. In the end, she was nowhere to be found and her manager grew extremely worried. She wouldn’t comment if Li Ting didn’t help her to pick up her calls, but he even put her phone on silent mode and sat on his own in the living room to play games.
He said that it was to let her rest, but he didn’t even help her take leave. When she climbed out of bed, she still needed to apologize to everyone one by one. On top of that, she was ill, yet Li Ting ordered fried chicken. He said that eating well and drinking some water would help her regain her energy. However, her fever continued to rage on, and her weak digestive system was completely incapable of stomaching the greasy and tough fried chicken. She couldn’t eat any more after consuming a few bites. Seeing this scene, Li Ting polished off the rest of the fried chicken…
Chu Qin gazed at the apple in his hand and thought back to the entire afternoon of peace and quiet from his phone. He suddenly felt that he had a much better life than thers.
“He’s too young, he doesn’t know how to take care of people…” Comparing the two people, Chu Qin really wanted to persuade Wen Qing to quickly break it off with him. From the start, he had disliked Li Ting. Previously when Li Qing wanted to announce their relationship, Chu Qin even stopped her. He wanted her to calm down and only do so after having stabilized her emotions for a period of time. However, Li Ting kept pushing her to make the news public. The news was trending for a while and Li Ting thus became popular – only then did he manage to get a role in <Exploration>.
“Is your family’s Director Zhong also like this?” Wen Qing attempted to find a source of comfort.
“Nope, I also fell sick today. In the morning, he bought plain congee and steamed buns. Before he left, he peeled an apple for me,” As Chu Qin said these words, he couldn’t stop himself from showing off.
Wen Qing: “…Let’s break off our relations.”
“Ai, no!” Chu Qin had to reason with her in every way possible before he could hold on to this friendship. “Break up if you want to, but discuss it with your company and write out a public relations script. Tell me at once if there’s any trouble. When I’m free the next two days, I’ll go over to the drama crew to visit you.”
Wen qQing was currently acting in that turbid palace drama Shengshi had invested in.
Chu Qin’s fever had originally only cropped up because of exhaustion from riding the rollercoaster and being blown by the wind, so Chu Qin was once again as lively as a tiger after resting for two days. The Lollipop session that had been pushed back that week could also finally be filmed.
Lollipop’s full name was <The Lollipop Now and Then> and was a small scene-based entertainment program. Its main purpose was to delve into several differences between ancient and modern culture. It sounded very lofty but in essence, it was still an entertainment program and celebrities would be invited every week to chat with Chu Qin about the past and present.
This program’s raw information on culture was more profound and many celebrities didn’t have a sufficiently high level of culture, so it was very easy to look bad. As a result, the program crew would pass them the script beforehand and help them to research for information as well. Those who were on a higher level could say a bit more but those who didn’t have the capability would say less to avoid being exposed.
This week, they had invited Mu Chen and Qiao Su. The main topic for discussion was the popular drama being broadcasted, <The Golden Age of the Great Jing>.
Mu Chen and Qiao Su seated themselves on the wide guest sofa one by one. Chu Qin held onto his cue cards as he sat on a high chair. Countless props had been placed on stage – there was a guqin, jade pipes, candle holder, and clothes.
“Recently, our station has been broadcasting a popular drama during prime time called <The Golden Age of the Great Jing>. Today, we invited the emperor and empress to discuss with us the social customs of the Great Yu.” After the opening music, Chu Qin started calmly reciting his opening statement. “Welcome our Emperor Jingyuan, Mu Chen, and Empress Duanhui, Qiao Su.”
This sort of novel introduction made Qiao Su embarrassed. It was Mu Chen who openly stood up to wave, even seizing the opportunity to drag Qiao Su up as well. The two people directed a greeting from the Great Yu dynasty towards the camera.
The author has something to say:
Small theater: <No comparison means no harm>
Wen Qing: My boyfriend is so childish
Qinqin: Yes, my boyfriend too
Wen Qing: When I fell sick, he only knew how to tell me to drink more hot water
Qinqin: When I fell sick, he knew how to buy medicine and order hot congee
Wen Qing: When I cry, he only knows how to say that my crying is annoying
Qinqin: When I cry, he’ll be even happier, he even said that he’ll spare me if I say ‘husband’