While the few girls were still in a stupor, the assistant had already stood up and taken two steps forward. “Qin-ge has arrived!”
Chu Qin pointed to the muskmelon seeds at the corner of his mouth and feigned anger, “Little Tian, you stole my muskmelons again.”
“You don’t even eat them, what a waste to just leave them there,” The assistant, Little Tian, laughed cheekily. He was robust, so he was usually sought out to help with the heavy-lifting, which he never once refused. He only had this one hobby of eating fruits. The program crew all called him fruit field.
The broadcasting station’s afternoon meals all came with fruits. When Chu Qin was not around to eat his portion, he would arrange for his portion of the fruit to be given to Little Tian. After some time, Little Tian no longer needed people to arrange for this and would go to take the fruit himself.
The backup dancers looked at each other in dismay and rushed up to greet him respectfully. “Hello, Qin-ge!” They were a new batch of trainees and had never interacted with Chu Qin before. They had never thought that bigshot would be so friendly with the assistant, hence their courage naturally swelled.
Chu Qin laughed a little and nodded. “I’ve never seen all of you before, you must be here to perform the opening dance? Don’t worry, this is just a recording, we can start over even if you make a mistake.”
Although Chu Qin looked very photogenic during the program, the nature of the program was comedic so there would naturally be moments when he had to exaggerate his expressions and movements, unlike his warm and polite manner off-stage. In fact, his slight smiles made him no less handsome than he was on television.
Having gotten such a cordial response, the few ladies’ courage swelled even more. The one who had spoken the most previously took the initiative to greet the person behind Chu Qin, “Hello, Director Zhong!”
The rest of them quickly reacted and greeted Zhong Yibin in succession. Aopportunity to meet the director-chairman outside of the office was rare; taking this chance to leave a good impression on Director Zhong would bring many benefits.
Zhong Yibin looked at these girls from behind his sunglasses. He had some doubts about the regular program dancers recognizing him and could not remember if there was any relationship between them, so it was best not to say anything on impulse. Hence, he did not give any response and walked off with Chu Qin.
Seeing how standoffish Director Zhong was, a few girls were afraid.
“The words we said just now, did Director Zhong hear them?” The one who spoke more had a pale face.
“Qin-ge is so handsome and gentle, I’ll be his fan in the future,” The girl who was previously smitten with Director Zhong was now cupping her face and watching Chu Qin from the back, as if unable to sense her comrades’ worries.
The host’s outfit would be different every week. Since they were replacing shots, they would need to use the previous week’s outfit. The program crew had already prepared the outfit and Hou Chuan led Chu Qin to the makeup room.
Chu Qin told Zhong Yibin to sit down while he went to change but he was unwilling and tagged along with them to the makeup room.
“Qin-ge, you’re injured, I’ll help you change,” Hou Chuan was carrying the clothes and thoughtlessly said these words. Immediately after he uttered them, his back felt cold. Turning around stiffly, he only saw Director Zhong who had removed his sunglasses and was currently staring at him coldly.
“Ah, what was that? I’ll go to the toilet first. Director Zhong, why don’t you help him change,” Hou Chuan swallowed a mouthful of saliva, passed the clothes to Zhong Yibin, and ran out like a wisp of smoke, shutting the door to the makeup room.
Chu Qin had not noticed their interactions and was busy trying to take off his shirt. Since his ribs were not fully healed yet, he did not dare to wear clothes that were too tight, and donned a loose t-shirt. The shirt was nice to wear but troublesome to take off because he had to raise his arm to grab onto the shirt. If his movements were too big, it would be easy to aggravate his wound.
In the middle of taking the shirt off, a pair of hands with distinct joints stretched around from the back and acted as his hands, smoothly peeling off the shirt. A bandage was wound around his fair and thin body – the result after eating his meals and visiting the hospital under Zhong Yibin’s forceful requests.
Zhong Yibin refused to let Chu Qin move and helped him to put the top on. He lowered his head and attached the buttons one by one.
“Didn’t you forget how to wear clothes?” Chu Qin looked at his furry head and felt like teasing him.
“Oh, this morning’s kiss can preserve a day of memory,” Zhong Yibin played along and sat Chu Qin down to remove his pants.
Once the pants were removed, a pair of slender, fair legs were revealed. Zhong Yibin clutched onto the pants meant for the stage and refused to let him wear it.
“Give it to me,” Chu Qin stretched out a hand to grab the pair of pants. Anybody could enter the makeup room so he needed to change quickly. Sitting in front of Zhong Yibin without pants made him embarrassed.
“I suddenly forgot how to wear pants,” Zhong Yibin squatted and looked up at him.
Chu Qin wasn’t in a good mood and glared at him, “I can’t bend over.”
Zhong Yibin took the initiative and moved over for a kiss. Chu Qin pursed his lips and reluctantly pecked him on the forehead.
The amnesiac Director Zhong suddenly resurrected as if he had eaten spinach like Popeye the Sailor, smoothly helping Chu Qin to wear his pants and even assisting him in putting on the vest.
Last week’s theme was Old Shanghai, so Chu Qin was wearing a white top with khaki overalls over it, along with a vest on top and a khaki peaked cap. Chu Qin didn’t have a small physique but his bone structure was small, so wearing this set of clothes made him look especially tiny, with a kind of witty cuteness.
Zhong Yibin really wanted to hug and rub him in his embrace but considering that his ribs were not healed yet, he could only look but not touch. His expression of restrain was somewhat distorted.
Chu Qin saw his strange expressions and asked, “Do you need to pee? The toilet is on the right side of the door.”
Zhong Yibin: …
When the makeup artist Du Wei entered to do Chu Qin’s makeup, she only saw Director Zhong with an expression of holding in urine. Not understanding, she greeted him and got ready to do Chu Qin’s makeup.
“Your complexion isn’t bad today, you still had eye bags during recording last night,” Du Wei applied a thin layer of powder and flipped open her phone to show him a photo captured last week. Occasionally, a problem would occur that would require shots to be replaced, so she had developed a habit of taking a photo after applying makeup. “I’ll just do your lower eyelids and it should be fine.”
Du Wei muttered to herself as she took out the highlighter to do his lower eyelids. “Close your eyes and smile.”
His partner Lin Xiaoxiao was already ready and was waiting for Chu Qin outside the makeup room. “My Qin-ge, ai!” Lin Xiaoxiao saw him leave and pounced towards him.
Zhong Yibin swiftly planted himself in front of Chu Qin and stretched out a hand to stop the woman rushing towards them.
“Director Zhong, you shouldn’t be so petty!” Lin Xiaoxiao’s mouth curved and her fist smashed onto Zhong Yibin’s elbow. Lin Xiaoxiao was a careless person and had momentarily forgotten about Chu Qin’s fractured rib.
“You’re so heavy, my small body can’t take it,” Chu Qin had a face of dislike as he looked her up and down. Lin Xiaoxiao could not be considered fat, but she was plumper than the female actresses who constantly went on programs. Moreover, she always wore high heels. When they stood side-by-side, she seemed to be even sturdier than him.
“You actually called me fat! My god, I need to let them see how this so-called legendary man Qin-ge treats his sister who went through life and death with him!” Lin Xiaoxiao loudly reproached him, but did not continue to pounce towards Chu Qin.
“Who’s your good sister? You can only be considered a good brother at best.” The two of them walked together and squabbled along the way, creating a joyous atmosphere in the recording studio.
Zhong Yibin sat below the stage and watched with interest as Chu Qin skillfully recited his script. The scene in front of him was familiar; he must have watched Chu Qin record the program before. The person under the lights was full of energy and spoke slightly slower than usual on stage. The clear and pleasant voice could be heard throughout the entire venue through the microphone which was of excellent quality.
The mics used by hosts weren’t different from those used for singing – the type that did not have echo and which maintained every word’s clarity. The scene in front of his eyes suddenly overlapped with another. That year, a young boy in a white shirt and black pants had also stood stage like this and held the microphone. “Welcome to Friendly Confusion this weekend night, I am Chu Qin.”
The shots were quickly replaced. Lin Xiaoxiao went off for a date with her boyfriend and quickly disappeared without a trace. She had been with the station for so many years that nobody cared. She was free to go after recording.
“What kind of daze are you in?” Chu Qin walked over and rubbed Zhong Yibin’s head. His head now resembled a plank and the hairs poked into his hand when rubbing. The feeling was very satisfying and he couldn’t resist stroking the hairs nonstop.
Zhong Yibin leaned away and refused to let him touch. But after leaving that palm, he felt like something was missing. Raising his head, he met Chu Qin’s eyes which communicated his wish to continue, hence he leaned over again and obediently let him rub. “Nothing’s wrong, I thought of the time when you first started this program.”
Cu Qin froze and his eyes widened.
“Chu Qin, come here for a while!” Teacher Liang called him over. Chu Qin made a sound of assent, looked at Zhong Yibin, and indicated that they would speak later before turning around to find Teacher Liang.
“We invited Mu Chen this week. It was decided a month ago and Mu Chen also came on account of you,” Teacher Liang sighed and said, “Little Qian has some difficulties on his end, asking him to do it this cycle isn’t very appropriate.”
The program had been broadcasting for so many years and Chu Qin had never missed a cycle. It was just that last week’s broadcast had been forcibly inserted, messing up the program’s rhythm. The audience were not comfortable with these sudden changes, so the huge responses were also expected.
“But my bone isn’t fully healed yet, I can’t participate in any games,” Chu Qin furrowed his eyebrows. If only someone else was coming. Mu Chen was too much of a bigshot, he would feel very apologetic if he wasn’t around when Mu Chen came onto the program. It wasn’t possible to change timings either because Mu Chen’s schedule was especially tight. Only Mu Chen could stand them up, not the other way around.
“Then it’s fine, I’ll think of a way to let you avoid moving. Just speaking will do,” Teacher Liang saw him relent and patted his chest to guarantee it. The ratings in the previous cycle had plummeted and the broadcasting station leaders were also dissatisfied. He was under a lot of pressure as well.
Chu Qin muttered to himself for a moment, nodding. He still remembered that Zhong Yibin had regained his memory, so he left to drag Zhong Yibin out after exchanging a few words with Teacher Liang.
“What did you remember?” Chu Qin asked him softly. The two people were outside the door of a recording studio which was still in the midst of recording. The sounds coming from the studio were loud, there was no fear that they would be overheard.
Zhong Yibin shook his head. “I only recalled a small bit about your recording, its possible I’ve always remembered that.”
Chu Qin’s eyebrows creased. He had only cared about snatching Zhong Yibin from the Zhong family, and had not asked clearly about the state of his mind. It looked like he needed to contact the Zhong family’s eldest son.
“It’s okay. Even if I can’t remember, just telling me is enough,” Zhong Yibin was not anxious. As long as he did not forget Chu Qin, everything else would be easy to handle.
Looking at Zhong Yibin’s trust-filled gaze, Chu Qin once again felt an immense sense of responsibility. He decided to invite Zhong family’s eldest son out for a meal one day to properly exchange experiences in nurturing a Zhong chick.
“Qin-ge, you have time to listen to my program?” Someone from the recording studio walked out. It was Chen Jiming. When he saw Zhong Yibin beside Chu Qin, his eyes flashed involuntarily.
The author has something to say:
Small theater:
Chu Qin: Big brother, how do you normally take care of your younger brother?
Big Brother: Plant a Zhong chick in spring, when fall arrives you can harvest it…
Er Bing: Nonsense, I’m not a Zhong chick
Big brother: Kick out a Er Bing in spring, pick it up in fall…
Er Bing: Nonsense, I’m not a mahjong piece!
Big Brother: Throw out a brother in spring, when fall comes we can avoid Er Bing