Chapter 19: The Small-Time Star and His Short-Tempered Sugar Daddy (Part XIX)
One tower amidst a city of misty rain; one flower blooms only for one tree.
One City, Misty Rain was the all-star romance observation variety show where Xiao Ji would share the stage with Cheng Nuo.
Xiao Lin didn’t take Xiao Ji back to his own home but went to Fang Yinnian’s house.
Haicheng wasn’t far from Sushi. Driving from Fang Yinnian’s house to the production set was closer to the highway, allowing them to avoid the morning rush hour traffic. It would take about four hours.
More importantly, there was a large suitcase in the living room. After Xiao Lin followed Xiao Ji into the house, he pulled the suitcase over and said to Xiao Ji:
“President Fang has already arranged for someone to prepare the things you need to take to the program group. I’ll take it to the other car first. You can set off directly after you get up and tidy up tomorrow morning.”
Xiao Ji thanked Xiao Lin. After Xiao Lin left, he trimmed the branches of the ‘cute porcelain’ flowers and changed the water before going to the bedroom.
Hanging on the rack was a set of the latest summer casual wear from a certain brand, paired with shoes and accessories arranged beside the rack.
It was a style Xiao Ji often wore. It must have been prepared by Fang Yinnian for Xiao Ji to change into after getting up tomorrow.
Xiao Ji was very obedient. Fang Yinnian told him not to send messages, so he didn’t send messages. After showering, he lay on the floor beside the bed, near the side where Fang Yinnian usually slept, and closed his eyes.
Just as he was about to arrive in Sushi, he received a call from Fang Yinnian:
“Twenty-six hours without a peep. Are you dead or do you think I’m dead?”
Xiao Ji paused: “Xiao Lin said… you would be very…”
Hearing this, Fang Yinnian’s tone, which had been brandishing claws and fangs just moments ago, softened again:
“I am very busy, but if you insist on calling me or texting me, would I really ignore you? Say it if you miss me. No need to hold it in; I won’t scold you.”
Xiao Ji pursed his lips: “Okay.”
After hanging up the phone, within half an hour, they arrived at the recording site of the program.
A residence located inside an ancient town.
Small bridges and flowing water, misty rain in Jiangnan—a romance originating from traditional style.
To ensure the authenticity of the program, it adopted a live broadcast format. Every actor arrived at the scene according to the stipulated time. From the moment they got off the car, they officially entered the program group’s lens.
Xiao Lin parked the car on the street outside the main gate of the ancient town and said to Xiao Ji: “Filming starts as soon as you get off, so I won’t go down.”
Xiao Ji understood Xiao Lin’s meaning. He thanked him and opened the door to get out.
He took his luggage from the trunk and walked along the bluestone road toward the ancient town.
Along the way, he saw signs pointing to the residence and follow-cameras, but no one spoke to him.
The moment Xiao Ji appeared in the lens, the bullet comments typed out row after row of question marks:
【Xiao Ji??? Isn’t he a gay man??? Why is he appearing on a dating show???】
【Who said he’s gay? Didn’t his studio just clarify? Don’t be so stereotypical, okay?】
【Who cares if he’s bent or straight? Xiao Ji’s face is truly the ceiling for cold-aloof handsome guys. He satisfies all my fantasies of the iceberg beauty Gong in Danmei novels.】
【Still saying it’s not a stereotype?】
【Can’t help it. I really can’t accept the possibility of Xiao Ji kissing a woman…】
【Of the female stars present today, do you think any match with Xiao Ji?】
【Forgive my bluntness, I think he and Zhao Jiatong are quite a match…】
【Please, sister upstairs, watch your words. Zhao Jiatong is a genuine straight man!】
【Schrodinger’s straight. With people’s orientations nowadays, before they are completely exposed, it’s really hard to say.】
……..
The other guests knew nothing about the comments from the audience outside the lens at this moment, but Xiao Ji knew everything clearly.
Because 037 was reading them aloud cracklingly in his brain.
After reading for a long time, 037 seemed to discover the seriousness of the situation: [Your persona is hard to turn around. Future development might be difficult. How do you plan to perform in the program?]
Xiao Ji simply didn’t care: [I won’t perform.]
He held no expectations for his acting career at all. He only wanted to complete the mission and didn’t care about life in the small world.
He came to the dating show not to fall in love with anyone, but to find the right opportunity to deal with Cheng Nuo.
037 had a different focus: [But if you don’t perform well, and in the end not a single female guest likes you, it will be the Little Phoenix losing face.]
[If I perform well and all the female guests like me in the end, it will be me losing my life,] Xiao Ji retorted.
037 was speechless.
Xiao Ji arrived at the gate of the large mansion. Stepping into the courtyard, he saw five people standing around, including Cheng Nuo.
He scavenged basic information about these people from the original host’s memory and greeted them one by one, starting with Cheng Nuo.
“Hello.”
Then he looked at Li Yun, the little queen of the music scene in her early thirties: “Hello.”
Then looked at last year’s breakout popular starlet, Gu Yao: “Hello.”
Next was Zhao Jiatong, the popular new star who had just left a boy band last year to fly solo and start acting: “Hello.”
And the last one, the female model Lie, who had just come down from the international runway due to a leg injury and switched to an acting career: “Hello.”
Cheng Nuo’s face didn’t look good when he saw Xiao Ji.
The guests invited by the program group were kept confidential before filming officially began.
Cheng Nuo only knew that this romance variety show had a big lineup, with single elites from various fields attending.
When he arrived before Xiao Ji, indeed, those present were all currently popular artists and models. He never imagined that Fang Yinnian not only let Xiao Ji snatch his endorsement but now even put Xiao Ji in the same program as him.
And most importantly, Xiao Ji was clearly Fang Yinnian’s mistress. What kind of bewitching soup had he fed Fang Yinnian to make him nod and let him participate in a romance variety show?
He couldn’t understand it at all, but on the surface, he still put on an act. He enthusiastically wrapped his arm around Xiao Ji’s shoulder and introduced him to the others with a smile:
“Everyone might find him a bit unfamiliar. This is a rising new star in our company. He’s handsome enough, and I’ve always been very optimistic about him. Xiao Ji.”
Everyone was sizing up Xiao Ji.
They had heard of him more or less before but had never met Xiao Ji in person.
Now that Cheng Nuo had spoken, regardless of what everyone thought in their hearts, they immediately became enthusiastic, responding one after another to Xiao Ji’s uniform “Hello” from earlier.
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