Luo Xia tiptoed into the room, knelt beside the bed, and said, “Grandpa, Happy New Year! I wish you good health.”
Old Mr. Meng groped around on the pillow for a moment and handed her a red envelope, “Little girl is here. Take this.”
“I love coming to Grandpa’s place; there’s always a red envelope!” Luo Xia laughed.
Old Mr. Meng also chuckled, perhaps because it’s the New Year, he seemed to be in better spirits, “Are you rehearsing a new play recently?”
“Not at the moment. Recently, I’ve been an advisor for a movie,” Luo Xia replied, “It’s based on events from my grandfather’s generation.”
Old Mr. Meng thought for a moment, looked at Luo Xia, who was staring at him, and said, “Then why wasn’t I included? Am I not handsome enough?”
Both Luo Xia and Mr. Meng laughed; this old man always knows how to make a joke.
Meng nodded, “Ah, I see. That’s great to hear. It’s good that he’s carrying on our traditions.”
Luo Xia smiled, “He’s really talented. The way he acts brings a lot of emotion to the play.”
Mr. Meng sighed, “That’s true. Our cultural heritage is important, but it needs to be followed up with action, not just words.”
Suddenly, the phone rang, interrupting their conversation. Mr. Meng picked it up and after a short while frowning, he said, “Sorry, I have to take this call. It’s about the project we are working on.”
Luo Xia and Old Mr. Meng nodded as Mr. Meng walked away to take the call.
Luo Xia turned to Old Mr. Meng again and said, “It’s really been such a long time since Grandpa has seen anything outside. I want you to come to see the play once it’s ready, so you can experience firsthand all the hard work we’ve put into it.”
Old Mr. Meng chuckled, “I appreciate it. I’ll make an effort to come. It’s good to be stimulated by young people.”
Meng was stunned for a moment, and after a while, he said to Mr. Meng, “Ask the doctor to take a look at me. If all goes well, I’ll go visit Luo Xia’s film set.”
Mr. Meng quickly replied, “Alright!”
Chapter Thirty
1L: ……???? 2L: Jumping in to say that Zhang Qi is real! PS: Why does the big brother look like he just found out? 3L: He just found out! What the hell, what happened? My sister told me yesterday that Zhang Qi seems to be just a show, but actually they’re loving each other deeply. I even teased her for having a CP brain! 4L: I declare that from now on, the CP of Zhang Yue and Qi Shejiang will be called Day and Night.
1L: Hahaha, okay, I agree. So can we talk about whether the person you eloped with at midnight is your night partner? 2L: It must be, right? Sigh, how long has it been and there’s already a reversal. They really know how to play around, even changing the lyrics to sing. Now that I think about it, isn’t that plum blossom dream referring to “Why Not the West Chamber”? As for the banana peel, I don’t get that meme… 3L: …
My memory still lingers on Zhang Yue mocking Qi Shejiang, back when Qi Shejiang was doing stand-up and retorting. Can someone tell me how this happened? How did they become good friends?
The staff member from “Returning to the Countryside” spilled the beans: “Hello everyone, I’m a former outsourced staff member from a variety show, I’ve quit. I just happened to see the news and couldn’t help but come and say something. Let me tell you, their relationship in the show was really good, it was just cut by the director! I don’t know exactly how they got close, but I’ve seen the footage of them playing piano and singing together early in the morning, smiling at each other. It felt like a spiritual connection! The onlookers couldn’t chime in! By the way, the devilish director originally wanted to cut the duet of “Why Not the West Chamber,” but thankfully it wasn’t cut — this wasn’t their first duet. Just think about it, during the show they slept on the same bed; if there had been any conflict, it would have exploded by now.
How could that strange and ambiguous expression in the aired footage be real? It was all fake; in reality, they’re already very good friends.
Li Jing and Zhang Yue’s manager, Ling Jie, video-called, sitting face to face in silent astonishment for a moment. The worst off was Ling Jie; at least Li Jing knew about the two’s collaboration, but she was completely in the dark about everything. “…Forget it.” “Let’s just leave it like this.” They both said simultaneously. After speaking, they exchanged a helpless smile, realizing no matter how much they mess around with hot topics, they can’t help it.
Now when the media come asking, they have to act like it’s been like this all along, as if all they needed was to not get inquired about: What’s wrong? Do you have an issue with our Jesse and Zhang Yue’s celestial friendship? What? The gap is too big? Where is it huge? The bond remains unchanged, just like old friends, you know?
But after both agents cooled down, they thought, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The public actually enjoys teasing about these things, even if they aren’t CP fans. Zhang Yue’s side has also signed the contract for “Mandarin Ducks,” and they’ll continue to collaborate in the future. So afterwards, Ling Jie sent a video to Zhang Yue, who was on vacation. “I’ve dealt with the media; the teasing is still quite… interesting. In the future, you guys should take your drafts in this direction, just as good buddies and friends, musically compatible…” As she spoke, she saw Zhang Yue making a gesture to interrupt, “?” Zhang Yue mysteriously said: “Ling Jie…” Ling Jie: “?” Zhang Yue: “I’ll tell you, actually, I want to pursue Qi Shejiang.” Ling Jie tilted her head back, spitting blood, “Pfft—” . . Before the holiday ended, on the 12th, Qi Shejiang joined the cast. When Qi Shejiang had no scenes, he would sit with Mo Sheng and Qi Leyang. Now everyone knows they are teacher and students — let’s just say, they are similar in age, but when the three sit together, you can feel from their aura that Qi Shejiang is the one acting as the teacher, exuding the atmosphere of an antique vase.
Due to this relationship being exposed, netizens began to discuss whether the two students should be considered privileged guests or treated as royalty.
Mo Sheng and Qi Leyang’s roles were originally quite ordinary, but because they practiced with Qi Shejiang, they caught the attention of Tang Shuangqin, who wanted to give them extra scenes — and that became a slight highlight.
While shooting that scene, they organized dozens or even hundreds of pet actors, all reacting naturally. The extras just had to walk around holding dogs and birds, while Mo Sheng and Qi Leyang imitated dog barks, resulting in a perfect performance.
This was Tang Shuangqin’s request — no using food to entice the dogs on screen. He was satisfied with the two months of learning progress they had made.
Zhang Yue also showed up, invited by Tang Shuangqin to experience the setting and discuss composing the soundtrack.
When Zhang Yue arrived, the crew started teasing: “Isn’t this the one, day and night?”
Qi Shejiang didn’t expect what he said back then to be interpreted this way—times really have changed. But who is he? A comedian. He greeted them calmly, saying, “It’s still divided; there’s more at night.”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Only Zhang Yue was suddenly embarrassed! He had just reported to his manager; they had agreed that trivial banter was fine, but major relationships had to be communicated in advance.
