Rong Jin’s mind was running wild. Zheng Lin was so adept at directing male characters. When the film comes out, or perhaps even before that, the news about CP (character pairing) will be everywhere!
Just imagining it made him feel that the world was becoming a worse place!
Qi Feiran saw that Rong Jin’s expression was becoming increasingly sour, looking a bit embarrassed himself. He couldn’t help but recall the script. Ji Yunsheng was the youngest disciple, and every named character in the story was someone he called ‘senior brother’… This…
He smiled slightly, moved the microphone on his headset closer to his mouth, and whispered while covering it with his hand, “I have many ordinary senior brothers, but only one good senior brother.”
On the other end, Rong Jin, also wearing headphones, heard Qi Feiran’s whisper as if it was right by his ear.
Rong Jin’s heart melted. He laughed along with Qi Feiran and finally said softly, “I miss you.”
Even though they hadn’t been apart for long and had video calls every day, it still felt insufficient. Rong Jin missed the days when he could just lean on the bedhead and see his loved one. Seeing each other through a screen felt too distant.
Qi Feiran felt a bittersweet pang and replied, “I miss you too.”
However, meeting up soon was unlikely. Rong Jin had been in the spotlight recently, and the reporters who had almost given up on him were now back to watching his every move. Qi Feiran was also under tight surveillance.
If they met, the news would explode again.
Earlier, when their relationship was first confirmed, they couldn’t control themselves. Now, they had to calm down and face reality.
In their profession, coming out almost meant career suicide. The current environment allowed for being gay, and people might even know, but they couldn’t publicly acknowledge it.
Reality is often absurd and frustrating.
Some might say that their love wasn’t deep enough if they couldn’t even admit it, but they ignored the repercussions for public figures. Rong Jin and Qi Feiran were about to release a movie, had brand endorsements, and had countless things to consider.
These weren’t issues that could be solved with money. A movie or a product’s marketing involved countless people’s efforts. They had many dreams yet to fulfill; love shouldn’t be the sole theme of their lives.
Both saw much in each other’s eyes—firm trust, tender love, and surging ambition…
All these elements together made up their beloved.
Rong Jin said, “When the promotion for ‘Heroic Bones’ starts, we’ll have more opportunities to meet.”
This was as much for Qi Feiran as it was for himself.
Qi Feiran nodded, and they started talking about other things.
Rong Jin asked about their son, “Where’s Oreo?”
Qi Feiran pointed the camera at his bed, showing two cats sleeping together.
Since meeting, Caesar and Oreo had been inseparable. Before returning from Country A, they decided to keep both cats at Qi Feiran’s place for now.
During the time before the ‘Heroic Bones’ promotion started, Qi Feiran had no schedule. This free time was mainly for pre-production training for Director Zheng’s film, and he could practice cooking at home.
Seeing Oreo sleeping soundly, Rong Jin felt a pang of old fatherly heartache, “Seems like he’s too busy to miss me…”
Qi Feiran laughed, “Not true, he’s been looking for you at home.”
Saying this, he turned off the headphone sound and switched to speaker, then told Rong Jin, “Say something.”
Rong Jin called out, “Son.”
Oreo, who had been sleeping deeply, twitched his ears, then suddenly woke up and looked around. Upon seeing Rong Jin in the display, he anxiously meowed and jumped onto the table, rubbing his fluffy head against the screen.
Qi Feiran showed this to Rong Jin, “See?”
Although Rong Jin initially had ulterior motives when adopting Oreo, he had grown deeply attached. Seeing Oreo miss him so much, he was instantly moved, softly coaxing him.
Oreo, having learned from previous video calls with Qi Feiran and Caesar, knew he wouldn’t get petted through the screen. He gradually calmed down but stayed beside the monitor, unwilling to leave.
Qi Feiran brought the mic closer to let Rong Jin hear Oreo’s loud purring, showing how happy he was to see him.
Caesar also jumped onto the monitor’s edge, quietly licking Oreo as if comforting him.
Rong Jin and Qi Feiran, one watching live and the other in person, were fed a huge dose of “cat food.” Honestly, they were quite envious…
While they were envying the cats, Qi Feiran hadn’t anticipated that his art school entrance ranking would still cause a stir.
The fans of the person who ranked second raised doubts, questioning how Qi Feiran could rank first without taking the college entrance examination (gaokao). They pointed out that everyone else had gaokao scores, except for him!
The second-ranked person, Xia Wen, was a former child star who had grown up handsomely and maintained a high level of popularity. He recently starred in a blockbuster campus romance drama, successfully transitioning from a younger brother role to a first-love role, boosting his popularity and fanbase.
Some argued that it was a professional ranking and that Qi Feiran’s score was indeed higher than Xia Wen’s. They questioned the need to make a fuss about it since it wasn’t a ranking based on gaokao scores.
However, Xia Wen’s fans contended, “Since Qi Feiran followed the examination process for international students, why should he be included in the regular student ranking?” They believed Xia Wen deserved the first place.
Qi Feiran was no longer the rookie suppressed by Bohang and Qiu Lang’s fans. Now, after various events, his fans were equally strong. This back-and-forth turned the official blog of A City Film Academy into a battleground.
Eventually, the official blog released a statement, explaining that although Qi Feiran applied as a foreign student, all subsequent exams were conducted through regular processes in consultation with the school, hence his ranking.
Despite some continued dissatisfaction among Xia Wen’s fans, many mocked them for starting the issue in the first place.
“Xia Wen’s fans need to have some decency. With those poor scores, they should be thankful. If he actually took the test, it would be a joke. One foreign language subject alone could surpass your three subjects combined, making it ridiculous!”
“Exactly. They’re just trying to leech off Qi Feiran’s recent popularity.”
“I like Xia Wen, but his fans, not so much.”
Qi Feiran hadn’t expected to have hidden conflicts with future classmates before even starting school. He could only hope this incident wouldn’t cause any hard feelings.
Nevertheless, worrying wouldn’t change anything, so he quickly brushed it off.
Master Yang, the cooking teacher, had arrived, and Qi Feiran had to focus on learning. Although he had no previous culinary experience, he wasn’t entirely clueless like some who couldn’t even boil water. He lacked high-level cooking skills but possessed basic survival skills due to some survival training for emergencies.
Master Yang, reportedly descended from a royal chef, was a notable figure in the culinary world. Qi Feiran held great respect for his teacher. Master Yang started with the basics of knife skills, and Qi Feiran listened and observed attentively.
He realized that knife skills often relied on a sense of rhythm; finding the right rhythm made things easier. However, this was easier said than done in practice.
Li Yuan and Chen Mengyang accompanied him throughout, fearing he might cut himself.
Watching Qi Feiran wielding a sharp knife, Li Yuan felt choosing that script was a mistake. If Qi Feiran got hurt, would the boss skin him alive?
Under their intense gaze, Qi Feiran found it hard to start slicing the cucumber. He looked up and said, “Brother Yuan, Brother Mengyang, your staring is making me nervous.”
Both were more nervous than he was but didn’t want to affect him, so they said, “Go ahead, cut. We won’t watch!”
Only then did Qi Feiran lower his head and start cutting. The imagined rhythm and actual practice felt worlds apart. The texture of the food and the need for constant adjustments affected the overall rhythm.
While Qi Feiran focused on basics, Rong Jin…
Chang Haoqing, watching Rong Jin studying a script, was nervous and begged him, “Please, don’t stir up trouble, okay? Qi Ming has had a tough few years, don’t interfere!”
Chang Haoqing had just managed to suppress the media storm about Rong Jin and Qi Feiran with press releases, explaining that Rong Jin’s presence at the Oscars was mainly to witness Chinese filmmakers winning, with other promotional work as secondary. This had calmed the online uproar considerably.
Rong Jin, reading the script on his tablet, casually said, “I’m just browsing…”
Chang Haoqing scoffed, “Yeah, right! If I believed you, I’d be a fool!”
He was certain Rong Jin was up to something!
