She thought for a long time; perhaps in the past, Qi Shejiang sometimes appeared rather downcast, but now was it because some inner conflict had been resolved—there were rumors that he and Xia Yiwei had some disagreements—so now he felt more lively?
Qi Shejiang was very spirited; after all, this was a photo shoot. In the past, even taking a small photo was prohibitively expensive, but today, they completed it in no time and took many shots.
Finally, after all the work was done, Qi Shejiang had some water, bid farewell to the staff, and sat at the designated spot that Li Jing had arranged to meet him.
Li Jing certainly didn’t usually pick him up in person; this time, he was here to discuss work with Qi Shejiang, and given the time spent waiting, it had already been over half an hour since he said he would arrive.
Qi Shejiang’s inherited memories are fragmented, lacking knowledge about using a phone. For someone who came from eighty years ago, this device was too complicated. He had no foundation for using a smartphone; going directly from a rotary phone to a smartphone was too jarring. After finally finding the instruction manual, all it had was simplified characters.
Before, he at least remembered how to turn it on and unlock it, but he forgot how to access his contacts. Looking around, he noticed a young man on the other side who had just stopped to talk on the phone, so Qi Shejiang boldly walked over to ask for help.
The young man seemed to be in his early twenties, quite handsome. While talking, his thick black eyebrows raised slightly, displaying some arrogance. Qi Shejiang stood slightly in front of him, waiting for him to finish the call.
The young man glanced at Qi Shejiang and suddenly covered his phone, frowning, “What do you want?” Qi Shejiang smiled at him and said, “Excuse me, could you help me with something?”
” When he smiled, his features became even more vivid, making it hard to refuse. However, the young man’s expression became odd, and he stared at Qi Shejiang before slowly saying, “Go ahead.” Qi Shejiang handed over his phone: “Do you know how to access the contacts?” The young man: “…” Qi Shejiang looked at him earnestly. “…X.” After three seconds, the young man spat out a letter, turned, and left, while speaking into his phone, “Nothing, just someone causing trouble.” Seeing this, Qi Shejiang thought his question might have been below par—he didn’t know how low, since all electrical devices seemed magical to him—but did this young man have such a bad temper? He was considering whether to look for someone else when he saw Li Jing appear and breathed a sigh of relief. As Li Jing approached, he immediately asked, “Did you talk to Zhang Yue? Why did he have that expression?” Qi Shejiang vaguely replied, “I just had a small issue with my phone.” Li Jing was speechless, “You really don’t hold a grudge.” Qi Shejiang: “What grudge? I’ve never met him, have I?” Li Jing was surprised and said, “Of course you haven’t seen him, but that phrase online, ‘I finished listening. He’s really good-looking,’ was said by him first.
This guy is just like that; even his agent has given up.” Qi Shejiang understood the gist of it better, and it suddenly made more sense. No wonder that person looked so weird at him; no wonder he thought he was looking for trouble!
Chapter Four Xia Yiwei may not accompany her son daily, but she cares for him. Although she does not support Qi Shejiang’s new goal, she turned back to understand more. Then Qi Shejiang talked about his feelings and shared childhood stories, regretting that he had missed the chance to connect with Qi Shejiang, not even knowing that his talent was in traditional Chinese arts. Fortunately, this part of his memory was still accessible to Qi Shejiang, aiding in his storytelling. As they chatted, Xia Yiwei expressed her desire to take Qi Shejiang to a certain place. She specifically made time to take Qi Shejiang to an old-fashioned teahouse where traditional performances such as acrobatics and folk arts were held every night. “Do you know what kind of place this is?” Xia Yiwei asked, stopping the car at the teahouse entrance, speaking solemnly. “Not every crosstalk performer can appear on television; more people can only find work in places like this teahouse, struggling to make ends meet. You will be competing not just with your peers but also with opera actors, acrobats, and possibly musical theater performers.”
” She deliberately brought Qi Shejiang to such a place instead of a television station to let her son see the reality and give him a scare. Who would have thought Qi Shejiang would exclaim, “The conditions here actually look pretty good!” Xia Yiwei was momentarily speechless; Qi Shejiang’s tone was too heartfelt, and she couldn’t find a flaw in it. “There… There should be worse ones; you just can’t see them. Let’s go in first.” Putting on sunglasses, Xia Yiwei led Qi Shejiang into the teahouse. Xia Yiwei made a phone call and headed straight for the boss’s office. “Boss Wu, sorry to trouble you for coming over today.” “Sister Xia, you’re joking. If you’re here, then I must treat you well,” Boss Wu said, seeing Qi Shejiang and knowing he was Xia Yiwei’s son, showering him with compliments and then saying at the right moment, “You want to check out the backstage, right?”
“Let me take you both there.” Without Boss Wu leading them, they wouldn’t be able to casually enter the backstage lounge. At this moment, the backstage was quite lively. Xia Yiwei hid her face behind sunglasses, and since Qi Shejiang was not yet too well-known, the actors didn’t think too much seeing Boss Wu with them. Determined to let Qi Shejiang see how hard everyone worked, Xia Yiwei didn’t plan to just stroll around and leave; they would stay for at least a whole evening. They needed to listen in the backstage as well as watch in the front. Boss Wu chatted with them for a while, sharing stories he knew. He was unaware of Xia Yiwei’s true intentions, but seeing her eager to learn about the actors’ lives, he cooperated and spoke. After about half an hour, the teahouse manager suddenly arrived backstage. “Liu Da and his buddy can’t make it. Old Zhou, you stay behind and go up to save the scene.” Boss Wu raised an eyebrow and asked, “What happened to them?” The manager, filled with frustration, replied, “What do you think? They said the gig they were doing isn’t done, and they can’t come. Both of them think they’re so hot now that they’ve been on television; they think they’re impressive! They’re all like stars now!”
The two they were referring to had been performing crosstalk at Boss Wu’s place for two years and recently had several appearances on television, gaining notoriety. Boss Wu had sensed they were planning to leave; who would choose to stay in a teahouse when they could be on TV? With that level of fame, there would be more opportunities to earn money. However, it was inconsiderate to stand someone up, Boss Wu grumbled. “Alright then, Old Zhou, you go ahead and cover for them.” Old Zhou was a storyteller and could step in without hesitation. He grabbed his props and went with the manager to the front. But not long after, the two returned. Boss Wu was surprised and asked, “What happened now?” The manager wiped the sweat off his brow and said, “Those schemers Liu Da… Today there’s a whole tour group here; I think the tour guide took a kickback from Liu Da and doesn’t know how to pitch to the tourists, telling them that they want to see Liu Da perform.” Boss Wu was at a loss for words. “I never promised them who would be performing; I just sold them a group ticket!” Both of them began cursing Liu Da and his buddy.
