Ch32 - Debut

All of the staff already knew about Gu Qingchi.

On his very first day, Gu Qingchi had already become famous within the crew. Pretty much everyone would talk about him in private. 

However, no one talked about Gu Qingchi out in the open, and no one went up to Gu Qingchi.

In fact, people on the crew tried their best to not to disturb him because they knew that Gu Qingchi liked peace and quiet.

It was as if everyone knew there was a beautiful black cat nearby.

Its fur was glossy and pure. Its body was lithe and agile, like a little leopard. Its eyes were like the brightest stars in the sky. 

It always walked alone. It would curl up in the same spot everyday. Once night fell, it would turn around and melt into the darkness.

That was why everyone maintained an unspoken agreement to keep their distance. They were afraid of scaring off the little kitten.

They maintained their silence. Whenever they came across the black cat, they wouldn’t bring any attention to it. It was as if they all shared a common secret.

The only one who knew nothing about it was the cat itself.

Without any hesitation, the social media manager first downloaded the video to his USB flash drive.

After watching it over and over again, he started editing the video.

In the end, he didn’t even add a filter. All he did was add some music in the background. Then, he went ahead and posted the original video. This included the shaky camerawork at the beginning and end of the video.

The social media manager’s ability was up to the mark. 

He wanted to retouch it at first, but he still felt that the original video had a better vibe. The lighting and composition was just right.

Sometimes, things were just like this. The most amazing works of art were often filmed entirely by accident.

He also uploaded a couple GIFs that he took from the video.

Originally, he was just going to post a GIF and leave it at that, but he couldn’t seem to decide on a single one. Every single second within that video was worth posting. In the end, he just decided to just post the whole thing and be done with it. 

The accompanying text was also rather literary: [My words are not enough. I choose to be silent.]

Then, this Weibo post set off a frenzy.

Although it was still in the process of filming, the movie was set to be released that summer. All kinds of promotions for the movie had already begun.

After the past couple days of publicity, the official account for the movie had attracted a lot of attention. The official account often posted photos and videos. There were tons of fans stalking the account for content. 

This was especially true after they reposted several lottery events. The fans were currently at peak activity.

This was definitely not a small amount of internet traffic.

Before, Gu Qingchi didn’t really have any activities to speak of. He only had a few photos that had been widely circulated on the internet, attracting a lot of fans.

However, this had its limits. Even though he won over quite a few followers through those photos, it still wasn’t anything big. 

It was just like a flash in the pan. He would soon be drowned out within the vast expanse that was the internet and eventually be forgotten. Even if a lot of people saw his photos, they weren’t actually looking at him. He would stay on the edges of the entertainment circle forever.

However, because of Wang Haisheng and Xie Luyu, this movie had truly attracted everyone’s attention. It even caught the attention of people within the circle.

In a short period of time, the number of shares and comments on the Weibo post shot up dramatically.

[At the beginning of the video, I thought what the fuck is this? By the time I reached the end of the video, I realized it’s a fairy!] 

[Ah! This is my idol! Wuwuwu, my precious treasure’s been discovered. Having a hard time accepting this.]

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

[Ahhh! He’s smiling at me!]

[Xie ge, forgive me. I need to stan this guy! I’m begging for more content! By the way, this little gege is from Starlight. He’s super low-key. He only has two posts on his entire Weibo account, both of which are reposts.]

[I never thought that there would be a day where I would need to beg a movie crew for more content. He doesn’t even have a photo of himself on his account. It’s so dry!] 

Pa kjrc’a fjrs ab rtjgf j nlvfb, yea atf XPMr lcrajcais rajgafv rtbklcu eq bc jii xlcvr bo rbmlji wfvlj.

Xe Hlcumtl’r Qflyb jmmbeca kjr oibbvfv klat j teuf cewyfg bo obiibkfgr. Qtja kjr bglulcjiis tecvgfvr bo atberjcvr bo obiibkfgr lcrajcais rtba eq ab j wliilbc obiibkfgr lc pera j ofk vjsr. Ktf ilxfr bc atf bcis akb qbrar bc tlr jmmbeca fzmffvfv 500,000.

The comments were full of face-cons who were begging for a selfie.

Ye Li, who was managing Gu Qingchi’s social media, sneered and closed out of the page. He didn’t have any intention of doing what they wanted. 

Ye Li wasn’t playing around when he decided on hunger marketing. Anything that was easily obtained would always feel cheap.

Furthermore, Gu Qingchi didn’t have any works to show for himself. Under these circumstances, Ye Li hoped that he could be even more low-key than he already was. He didn’t want Gu Qingchi to expose himself to the public too early.

At the same time, Wang Haisheng spoke very highly of Gu Qingchi. Ye Li was starting to seriously consider the possibility of Gu Qingchi debuting as an actor.

Debuting as an actor naturally came with a lot of advantages. He would instantly become a lot more competitive within the industry. 

After all, face-cons were easy to come by and quick to go.

If he were to debut as an actor, the movie he was acting in right now would be a good starting point. He’d land himself on the big screen from the very beginning.

The pinnacle of beauty naturally needed to be immortalized before the camera.

Gu Qingchi had finished filming all his scenes, but he still stayed with the crew. Wang Haisheng had personally spoken to Ye Li about it. 

There weren’t very many actors that had good looks like Gu Qingchi. Wang Haisheng finally met someone with the kind of aura that he wanted.

Wang Haisheng planned on completely taking Gu Qingchi under his wing. If he came across a similar role in the future, he wouldn’t need to look for a pretty face to just stand there and do nothing. After all, even the audience will get tired of a pretty face.

The most important point was that Xie Luyu was still in the crew. Wang Haisheng didn’t need to put that much effort into it. He just needed to throw Gu Qingchi over at Xie Luyu, and everything would work itself out.

Of course, Wang Haisheng didn’t leave it entirely to Xie Luyu. If he was free, he would head over and take a look. 

Today was no exception.

When he went to check up on them, Xie Luyu was holding the script in his hand. He was talking to Gu Qingchi, making gestures with his hands from time to time.

Their voices weren’t loud. One of them was speaking, and one of them was listening. Both of them were very serious.

Wang Haisheng didn’t plan on disturbing them. He just quietly sat down for a bit. There was a plate of pastries on the table. Wang Haisheng ate some out of boredom. The number of pastries quickly decreased. 

The sound of conversation soon stopped. He looked up and found that both of them were looking at him.

Wang Haisheng still had some crumbs left along the corner of his mouth.

“Are you done? I came to tell you that we’re about to wrap up filming. The crew’s going to have dinner tonight at nine o’clock.”

Xie Luyu was still looking at him. 

“Is it tasty?”

“It’s delicious. Where’d you buy it? I’ll write it down and buy some myself.”

The corners of Xie Luyu’s mouth twitched. He put all his acting skill into squeezing out a smile.

“It’s me. Xie Luyu. Thank you for the compliment.” 

His Xiao Chi only ate a single piece!

Wang Haisheng paused. Then, he spoke sincerely.

“No problem. It really is super good. Why don’t you bring me some more another day?”

Xie Luyu:  … 

For a moment, he couldn’t tell whether the guy was being sincere or deliberately trying to annoy him.

Wang Haisheng grabbed a few more pastries until both hands were full. Before leaving, he reminded them once more.

“Don’t forget, especially you, Xiao Gu. You’ve been heading back super early these days. You’re always gone by seven or eight o’clock.”

Wang Haisheng teased him a bit. 

“You don’t act like a young person at all. What, you got someone waiting for you at home? Can’t leave ‘em alone?”

Gu Qingchi: “Mn.”

His response was short and direct. Both Xie Luyu and Wang Haisheng were a bit caught off guard.

Gu Qingchi hasn’t slept well in the past couple of days. It was currently afternoon, so he was a little sleepy. His head was somewhat muddled. 

Once Wang Haisheng finished talking, Gu Qingchi’s thoughts started drifting away.

The cat’s medicine had been changed recently. It was still getting used to the new medication, so it was probably feeling uncomfortable.

It would meow and scream all day long, and it was super clingy.

The cat had a huge temper. If Gu Qingchi wasn’t there, it wouldn’t eat. It waited for Gu Qingchi by the door every day. Xiao Ke was no good either. Whenever she went to feed the cat, it would huff and puff at her. 

He had no choice but to go home earlier.

The doctor said that the cat would get better after a while. In fact, there probably wasn’t even anything wrong with it. It should’ve gotten better a long time ago.

The doctor already did a check up. The cat was quite strong and had a pretty decent appetite.

It was very likely that the cat was faking it. It was just being dramatic. It felt super aggrieved and wanted some hugs and kisses to make it better. If he left it alone, it would eventually get better. 

However, Gu Qingchi still tried his best to head back as early as possible, even though it was a little annoying.

Gu Qingchi opened his mouth to speak.

Xie Luyu’s ears immediately perked up. He swiveled his ears in Gu Qingchi’s direction.

Wang Haisheng stopped as well. He naturally assumed that Gu Qingchi was living with someone else. 

“Is it a guy or a girl?”

Gu Qingchi’s head was still a little fuzzy. He was still thinking about his cat. “It’s male.”

Wang Haisheng: “You’re pretty funny.”

He originally wanted to reason with Gu Qingchi. 

What did he need to date for? Since he decided to become an idol, he needed to live up to the fans’ expectations and behave professionally. He shouldn’t get involved with anything messy.

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly remembered that Ye Li had mentioned a few days ago that he wanted Gu Qingchi to debut as an actor.

Wang Haisheng spoke earnestly.

“You’re an actor. You make a living through your acting skills, so this isn’t a big deal. I understand that you’re young. Still, you shouldn’t disclose your private information so casually.” 

Gu Qingchi hadn’t even done anything. All he did was raise a cat. Still, he replied, “…Mn.”

Although he didn’t know what they were talking about, he didn’t seem to have said anything super private. He decided to just agree with Wang Haisheng for now.

Gu Qingchi nonchalantly thought to himself.

Xie Luyu, who had been listening the entire time, felt his heart go cold. 

He added Gu Qingchi on WeChat recently, and the two of them had been communicating pretty well with each other. He could clearly tell that Xiao Gu wasn’t rejecting him as much as before.

Xie Luyu had thought very seriously about it.

With the way things were going, dating and getting married would be a matter of course.

However, he wasn’t able to be happy for long. All of a sudden, he was beaten back into place. 

He was like a big dog who had been eagerly awaiting a bone, wagging his tail. However, he watched as the bone that was nearly in front of him was then taken away.

The dog was so sad that he almost cried.

After Wang Haisheng said what he wanted to say, he was going to leave. He was halfway out the door when he suddenly looked back. After all, he decided to take Gu Qingchi under his wing.

He treated Gu Qingchi like his own child, worrying after him. 

“Also, don’t suffer any losses. Who pays the bills?”

Gu Qingchi: “Right now, it’s me.”

At the beginning, Gu Qingchi didn’t have any activities, and he didn’t have any money either.

When Ye Li found out, he took out some of his own money and paid for him. Now, Gu Qingchi had some money saved up. However, he’d never really paid much attention to how much money he had. Anyway, it was enough. 

The two of them were talking about entirely different things, yet the conversation seemed to flow very smoothly for some reason.

Wang Haisheng became serious. He turned around and asked again.

“Then, you aren’t doing the housework, are you?”

Gu Qingchi shook his head. 

“I make the food.”

Making cat food was very simple. However, even though it was simple, he didn’t like doing it very much. Before, he had always just made do with some kibble. He planned on switching back to kibble soon.

Meanwhile, Wang Haisheng and Xie Luyu both thought of a single word. Scumbag.

Xie Luyu stretched his neck, making a cracking sound. His expression was a little ugly. In his heart, he had already beaten this scumbag of a man a thousand times over. 

Wang Haisheng frowned and started guiding Gu Qingchi.

“How can you indulge him like this? If you keep spoiling him, he’s going to learn a bunch of bad habits. Aren’t you tired from working day and night?”

Gu Qingchi nodded. He really shouldn’t keep spoiling it. The cat had been pestering him non-stop these past couple of nights.

Gu Qingchi couldn’t hold back and yawned. He managed to stop it halfway. 

“Sorry.”

Wang Haisheng: “You’ve got dark circles under your eyes. Did you not sleep well?”

Gu Qingchi rubbed his eyes. Even his permanently icy voice was softer than usual.

“Well, he’s been keeping me up these past couple of nights.”