HTI: Chapter 63

The fans cheering for the New Year quickly put Xie Yang’s Weibo post on the hot list.

Rongding.

Qiu Xing repeatedly opened and closed the photos. His eyes were half drooping, making it uncertain if he was looking at the computer screen or not. He had no expression on his face. There was a knock on the door. He Jun pushed open the door and said, “Boss, they’ve been notified. The meeting will start in 15 minutes.”

“He Jun.”

He Jun walked to the desk. “Boss.”

“Is Xie Yang good-looking?”

He Jun glanced at Qiu Xing’s face where no emotions could be seen and honestly replied, “Even in the entertainment industry, the little boss’ appearance can belong to the top ranks.”

“They are all praising him for being good-looking.” Qiu Xing looked at the photo of the young man in a soft white sweater, looking handsome and gentle. “20 years old, what a good age… Tell me, what will he look like after nine years?  Will the little Yang Xing on the opposite side be unable to hold his ambitions?”

“Boss, you can wait nine years to see for yourself what the little boss looks like.”

See it with his eyes.

Qiu Xing’s mouth twitched. He turned off the photos and clicked on the comments below the Weibo post. The hot comment said: When I think that such a Xie Yang will belong to someone else, my heart is so painful that I can’t breathe.

The second hot comment read: I can! Yang Yang, come to my bed tonight! Don’t argue!

Qiu Xing’s fingers trembled. He closed the laptop screen hard, got up and walked to the floor to ceiling window. He stared at the location of the office of Yang Xing’s president.

A 20 year old young man was growing up.

Qiu Xing shifted his gaze and saw himself reflected on the reflection of the floor to ceiling window. Full of illness, an old fellow who had half a foot in the coffin. How could he see it with his own eyes?

Qiu Xing sneered as he stared at the Yang Xing opposite him and asked, “If I die, what will happen to him? Will those annoying people sitting in the meeting room bully him?”

“Boss, you know the answer better than me.”

Qiu Xing no longer spoke. Yes, he knew the answer better than anyone else. Yes. Those people would bully Xie Yang to death just because Xie Yang was involved with him. It wasn’t just those people. Even Feng Qinglin…

Qiu Xing suddenly raised his hand to cover his face. He once asked Xie Yang, “So you have no one else to rely on but me?”

Xie Yang had replied, “No, I can rely on myself.”

Then early this morning, Xie Yang had said, “I might be able to rely on myself but it feels good to hug someone’s thighs. Come on and live.”

Liar.

However, now this liar really had no one to rely on except for him. This lawless liar had entered the hunting range of a group of jackals because of him. If he died…

Qiu Xing closed his eyes and reopened them. “He Jun.”

He Jun hummed in reply.

“Book the fastest flight to M Country. Contact Dr Kirkman and have him get ready. I will do another comprehensive inspection.”

He Jun looked up sharply at Qiu Xing, barely suppressing his joy and excitement. “Okay! I’ll arrange it.”

Qiu Xing slowly removed his hand and gazed at his reflection in the mirror. After a long time, he sneered and turned to his desk to pick up the files for the meeting. Then he strode out.

***

On the way home from work, Xie Yang received a WeChat message from Qiu Xing.

Qiu Xing: I’m traveling for a week. Be obedient at home.

Xie Yang directly made a phone call. Qiu Xing answered in seconds but didn’t speak.

“When do you leave?”

“Right now.”

Xie Yang sat up straight. “What does this mean?”

“Xie Yang.” Qiu Xing’s voice suddenly became a bit distant and there was the whispering of the wind. “You made a decision. Don’t regret it… wait for me to come back.”

He hung up the phone. Xie Yang called the number again. It was turned off.

“……” Okay.

Xie Yang put down the phone and glanced at the little cactus in his lap. He had gone to a flower store to look for it. He felt the ability he had accumulated in the last hour by ‘massaging’ this cactus and then threw the cactus aside. He opened up Qiu Xing’s WeChat.

Xie Yang: I regret it.

After getting away from the environment of the apocalypse, it was difficult to supplement and upgrade his ability. After pondering on it for many days, he finally found a way to supplement and speed up his ability upgrade. It was to find plants to borrow their energy.

He called it borrowing but it was actually using his ability to help the plants sort out their veins. He used his ability to search for the plant breath in the plant and turn it into energy.

However, since it was winter, most of the plants had withered and there weren’t many available. His ability level was low so he could only do this type of ‘I’ll give you a massage and you give me some plant energy’ deal. After looking for a long time, he found a plant with a fairly good return.

He was busy for half a day but as a result, the patient ran away.

A few seconds passed before Xie Yang calmed down again. He moved the cactus back to his lap, withdrew the message he had sent and typed something again.

Xie Yang: Come back early.

***

Under Qin Cheng’s arrangements, Xie Yang’s career was soon on the right track.

The right amount of work, the right amount of exposure, the occasional Weibo posts and the occasional hot search… Xie Yang’s declining popularity started to steadily increase.

The song and soundtrack for Crazy Musician had been finalized. The shoot for the magazine cover had already ended and a new wave of exposure could be obtained in half a month once this issue was launched. Xie Yang participated in several festivals and evenings held by major music platforms, won some big and small newcomer awards and took the opportunity to form some connections.

Xie Yang’s fans were going crazy with happiness. They looked at the interview photos, red carpet photos, winning videos and evening performances every day and kept yelling loudly.

However, Xie Yang’s expression became uglier every day. Don’t say one week. Two weeks had passed but Qiu Xing still hadn’t come back.

On Friday, Xie Yang entered the examination room with the help of Wu Shui and completed  the final exam of the last course of the semester. He handed the papers in early and dealt with several fans in the school who were waiting outside the teaching building. Then he quickly returned to his nanny car and took the mask off his face.

Qin Cheng was sitting in the car and immediately spoke when he saw Xie Yang. “The audition time is set. It is next Monday and there are two other role contenders confirmed. It is Yan Xin from Huanyu and Fang Chengnan from Ka Xu. One is strong and the other is top-notch. At present, they are more competitive than you. Both B City’s TV station and the Fruit station have sent invitations for their New Year’s Eve party. They are being recorded and broadcasted so they won’t occupy your rest time in the New Year’s break. I suggest you pick one of them.”

He finished covering the itinerary. “I won’t pick a new job for you afterwards. You will have the whole New Year’s holiday to rest. During the New Year, I will release your new song and will help you promote it on Weibo. You don’t have to worry about anything and can have a good rest.”

Xie Yang nodded in understanding and took out his phone that had been muted during the exam. He first opened the call log and saw no missed calls from Qiu Xing. He then opened WeChat and saw many new messages but none from Qiu Xing.

He looked at Qiu Xing’s phone number before closing it.

There was indeed a long time difference between here and M Country. The phone was turned off for eight out of ten calls. The remaining two calls were either when Qiu Xing was in a meeting or going to bed. They barely spoke before hanging up… very good.

Instead, he called He Jun’s number. It was still picked up in seconds.

“Where is Qiu Xing?”

“The boss is eating with a partner.” He Jun’s answer was still impeccable and he even asked in a friendly manner, “Do you have something I need to pass onto the boss?”

Xie Yang was expressionless. “Yes, tell Qiu Xing to call me back after the meal.” Then he hung up.

The car was very quiet and everyone could tell that Xie Yang was in a bad mood.

Qin Cheng hesitated before asking, “Did you and Mr Qiu have a conflict?”

Xie Yang leaned back against his chair. “No.”

It wasn’t a conflict.

Qin Cheng wanted to say a few words of comfort but didn’t know what to say. Therefore, he started talking about official business. “You have participated in several ceremonies and events. You have enough photos of your clothing. I will give you a topic tomorrow to help bring up your image.”

“You can do what you want.” Xie Yang closed his eyes.

Qin Cheng shut up and sighed inwardly.

Was it really necessary to insist on such a marriage?

***

The next afternoon, a fashion blogger made a post on Weibo and it slowly became popular, causing a lot of discussions.

Qin Cheng monitored the heat of the topic in real time. After reaching a certain number of comments and likes, he was about to arrange a hot search for Xie Yang according to his plan. Then he found that two topics with Xie Yang’s name were actually on the hot search.

#Xie Yang plastic surgery#

#Xie Yang wearing knockoffs#

“……”

***

Xie Yang was sitting by the lake and feeding the fish when he received Qin Cheng’s phone call.

“Plastic surgery? Knockoffs?” Xie Yang raised his eyebrows as he fed the fish. “What happened?’

“There was a plastic surgeon who made a detailed comparison of your appearance when you debuted and insisted that you have received plastic surgery. He has many fans and the topic is very hot. The matter about wearing knockoffs literally means that two outfits you wore are very similar to H Brand’s new clothing. It is suspected that you are wearing knockoffs.”

Qin Cheng analyzed it. “Judging from the speed of the hot search, I can’t rule out the possibility of someone blackening you. Don’t mention the matter of wearing knockoffs. The plastic surgery news isn’t good. I will send a more formal clarification and send a lawyer’s letter to the plastic surgery doctor. What do you think?”

“Yes.”

Xie Yang hung up the phone and took a photo of himself.

The one or two points of differences had disappeared and this was his face from his previous life, his own face.

Just then, the noise of a car came from the second gate. Xie Yang paused and looked over.

A familiar car slowly entered through the second gate and abruptly stopped. The back door of the car opened. Qiu Xing got out of the car and strode to this side.

Xie Yang sat still.

“What are you doing on the ground?” Qiu Xing bent over with a dark expression and pulled Xie Yang up from the ground. He took off his scarf and placed it around Xie Yang’s neck, covering his ears as well. “You didn’t wear a hat or a scarf and your ears are red with cold.”