Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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When they talked on the phone in the morning, Zu Qi told Xue Jue the address of the evening recording. If Xue Jue really wanted to come over now, given his status, the TV station staff would definitely not stop him.
It’s just that Zu Qi had just been forced to tell a little lie, and at this moment he felt guilty from head to toe and was a little afraid to see Xue Jue.
More importantly, Xue Jue clearly heard the screams of the female audience members on his side and suddenly fell silent. After a long time, he spoke uncertainly: “Are you… recording the show even now?”
“Still…” Zu Qi went to answer subconsciously, and then suddenly remembered that the female host had emphasized in advance that they should not tell the other party that they were recording, so the words got stuck in his throat and he changed his mind abruptly, “No, then you go to the coffee shop and wait for me.”
After he finished speaking, Zu Qi’s heart began to pound.
Xue Jue’s intuition must have told him that he was lying.
Just now the female host came up to him and screamed. Xue Jue was neither deaf nor stupid, it was impossible for him not to guess what kind of environment he was in, otherwise Xue Jue would not have asked the following questions.
Zu Qi was even a little worried that Xue Jue would reject him on the spot…
But the next second, he heard Xue Jue reply, “Okay, but it might be a little late for me to go there. If you get there earlier than me, you’ll have to wait for me for a while.”
Zu Qi pursed his lips and nodded, but soon he realized that Xue Jue couldn’t see his movements, so he quickly responded, “Okay, okay.”
“See you later, then.” Xue Jue said.
“Okay.”
The audience probably guessed that they had been exposed, so they simply stopped hiding and screamed crazily, as if they wanted to scream through the ceiling of the studio. The female host’s face was also filled with excitement. She finally waited until Zu Qi hung up the phone, and then she couldn’t wait to say: “This is too much! I think Xue Jue has guessed that we are recording a program.”
The female host then threw the topic to the person next to her, “What do you think?”
Qiao Yang, who had been silent from beginning to end, happened to be standing next to her. Qiao Yang had a cold expression on his face, but after the female host asked this, he had to pull up the corners of his mouth.
“Maybe he didn’t guess it.” The smile Qiao Yang forced on his face was still very gentle, but his tone revealed an obvious perfunctory emotion.
The female host seemed to have noticed something and smiled slightly awkwardly. So, she stopped talking to Qiao Yang and turned the topic back to Zu Qi.
This punishment game seemed to push the atmosphere of the show to its climax. In the following process, the audience was very excited and repeatedly called out Zu Qi’s name. The recording process went extremely smoothly.
Zu Qi, who suddenly gained the audience’s love, suddenly became very noticeable, and upgraded from an initially idle supporting role to a central figure who participated in every game.
In the midst of his busy schedule, Zu Qi always felt that he seemed to have forgotten something very important.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember what he had forgotten.
….
At 10:30 pm, the recording ended, and the host and guests left the stage one by one amid the applause and cheers of the audience.
Duan Kai and Xiao Dengzi had been waiting backstage. When they saw Zu Qi coming, Duan Kai gave Zu Qi a hug without saying a word, and a rare smile appeared on his handsome face, which was usually as cold as ice.
“Good performance, you will definitely be on the hot search list.” Duan Kai patted Zu Qi on the shoulder and said.
Since there was no one else in the dressing room, Xiao Dengzi was not so cautious in his words and actions. And he happily circled around Zu Qi several times, chirping, “Brother Qi, you are so amazing! There were so many people on the stage. You actually made a path for yourself. We all thought you would be buried at the back!”
Zu Qi: “I’m not… I didn’t…”
“You made the right choice. Only by taking an unconventional path can you let yourself shine before the camera. And the audience noticed you.” Duan Kai laughed.
“……” Seeing this, Zu Qi had no choice but to give up struggling.
“Oh, right.” Duan Kai suddenly remembered something, “Did you call Xue Jue later? It would be terrible if he misunderstood your meaning and really went to that coffee shop.”
Hearing this, Zu Qi was stunned for a moment. He suddenly remembered what he had forgotten while recording the show— he forgot to call Xue Jue to tell him about it.
Moreover, almost everyone at that time believed that Xue Jue had uncovered his lies, but just did not point it out in front of everyone, so they naturally thought that Xue Jue would not keep the appointment.
When Duan Kai saw Zu Qi’s expression, he realized that they did not inform Xue Jue afterwards, and he couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy for Xue Jue. Regardless of whether others believed it or not, he thought that Xue Jue would really rush to that coffee shop foolishly.
“You should give him a call soon.” Duan Kai said.
Zu Qi quickly picked up his phone and called Xue Jue but was told that the phone was turned off.
“He has turned off his phone…” Zu Qi put down his phone in a daze. Then, without any hesitation, he rushed into the dressing room and changed out of his stage costume as quickly as possible. He didn’t even take time to remove his makeup and hurried out.
Duan Kai asked Xiao Dengzi to go with him, while he stayed to handle the follow-up work.
But as soon as he opened the door of the dressing room, he ran into the program director and the female host who were coming in from outside. They had changed their clothes and when they saw that Zu Qi was also ready, they invited Zu Qi to have a midnight snack. There was also Director Wang, Qiao Yang and other crew members, as well as several staff members from the program team.
This program was one of the trump cards of the local satellite TV station, and the female host was also a very influential host in the circle. They chose to have a private meal and make friends for the sake of Director Wang and Qiao Yang and just brought Zu Qi and two other actors along.
Zu Qi had no right to refuse, both morally and logically.
But when he thought about not being able to contact Xue Jue, Zu Qi hesitated again. After thinking for a moment, he decided to refuse tactfully.
Unexpectedly, before he could finish his words, Duan Kai behind him spoke for him: “I’ll go there for you.”
Zu Qi turned his head and looked at Duan Kai and found that Duan Kai had put on his usual calm expression, and he remained indifferent at the hint of his eyes.
The female host asked Duan Kai in surprise: “Aren’t you going?”
“Some important things were left at the company, and I am going back to get them.” Duan Kai said.
The female host looked a little regretful, but she didn’t force it.
Since the promise had already been made, Zu Qi had no choice but to follow the director and the female host.
The place for supper was near a snack street half an hour’s drive from the TV station. The group of people drove four cars over there. Zu Qi was still worried after thinking about it, so he asked Duan Kai to help him find Xue Jue after he went to the company.
Duan Kai sighed: “Just go there with peace of mind. Going back to the company is just an excuse. We will rush to the coffee shop later.”
Although Duan Kai repeatedly assured Zu Qi that he would call him once he had any news, Zu Qi was still uneasy, and even a little absent-minded when chatting with others.
Fortunately, there were two big names in front, Director Wang and Qiao Yang, so those people didn’t always bring the topic to Zu Qi.
Zu Qi was eating and looking at his phone. When he came to his senses, he heard Director Wang and the female host discussing Qiao Yang’s name change.
“So ‘Qiao Yang’ is your stage name?! I thought Qiao Yang was your real name!” The female host claimed to be a know-it-all in the entertainment industry, but she had no idea that Qiao Yang had changed his name.
At this point, Director Wang also had a sighing expression on his face: “I can only say that the name ‘Qiao Yang’ is too much like a real person’s name. If you had chosen a messy name like Gong Mo or Nan Lu, I would have recognized it as a stage name at first sight.”
The program director ate skewers and said faintly: “If that’s the case, I can also tell it at a glance.”
Qiao Yang smiled and said: “It’s my fault for being too superstitious. I have a relative who can tell fortunes, and he was right most of the time. He said that if I entered the entertainment industry with my real name, it would easily attract trouble, so it would be better to change my name. He also helped me choose my current name.”
Qiao Yang had deliberately suppressed this matter before. Naturally, not many people knew his real name, and even his fans only knew that his last name was different from his parents’.
Now that he had established himself in the circle, he was no longer afraid of those feudal superstitions. Sometimes when he had dinner with friends, he would tell the story of his name change as an amusing anecdote.
“Xiao Senxu…” The female host smacked her lips, “I think this name is nice, it’s a pity that it’s not known to others.”
Qiao Yang said, “My relatives said that this name has too much momentum and it matches my horoscope. So, it would be better to choose a soft and sunny stage name.”
The female host smiled and said, “Anyway, no matter what your name is, I am your number one fan.”
Zu Qi supported his chin with one hand and listened to their conversation feeling bored, but when he heard Qiao Yang’s real name, he couldn’t help but frown.
Xiao Senxu?
What a familiar name.
But he had no idea where he had heard this name.
Although many settings of this world were basically the same as the original world, such as the existence of software such as Weibo, WeChat, and Taobao, the characters here had undergone earth-shaking changes. For example, the founder of Taobao was no longer Jack Ma, but another person with the same surname Ma, who was a tall and strong young man.
Therefore, Zu Qi was unfamiliar with everyone in the entertainment industry. In order not to expose the secret that he was not the original owner, Zu Qi put a lot of effort into remembering the bigwigs in the industry in the early days.
So, it had happened to Zu Qi many times that he felt a name sounded familiar.
Zu Qi was thinking about Xue Jue so much that he didn’t take this name to heart.
This midnight meal took two hours. Director Wang and the director of the program crew drank a lot of wine. The two of them then supported each other and staggered out of the restaurant. But the others stood by, fearing that they would fall.
Zu Qi was very anxious, but he didn’t dare show his anxiety, so he walked at the back with his head down.
He could see someone approaching him from the corner of his eye, and then Qiao Yang’s voice rang in his ears: “Are you going home? I’ll take you home.”
“Ah?” Zu Qi looked up, “Did you drive here?”
“My assistant drove the nanny car here.” Qiao Yang said, “It’s so late, it’s not safe to take a taxi, and it’s too much trouble for you to ask Duan Kai to come.”
The author has something to say:
In the fifth chapter, Xiao Senxu’s name was mentioned~
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