Love Rival Is Getting Prettier Everyday - Chap 215
Chapter 215: Teenage Dream Comes True
As it was September, Nancheng had entered its rainy season. When they returned to Nancheng, it coincided with the autumn rain. While it wasn’t heavy, it still drizzled and had been raining nonstop, cooling down the temperature. Bai Qingquan first went to meet with Shen Jintai.
The movie had been delayed for so long that it missed the Cannes Film Festival. Everyone thought that this movie would be released in the summer, but as the summer passed, the film hadn’t even been officially announced. Then, in a very sudden way, it was shortlisted at the Venice Film Festival.
Shen Jintai and the crew of were about to go to Venice tomorrow. As the boss of Sunshine Media, Yan Qiuchi would also attend with them.
“Have you watched the finished film?” Bai Qingquan asked Shen Jintai.
Shen Jintai nodded. “I just watched it a few days ago.”
“How is it?” he asked.
Shen Jintai said, “I like it very much, but I don’t know what the audience will think.”
“If you like it, then the quality will not be bad.”
“The duration is two and a half hours, and the pace is relatively slow,” Shen Jintai said.
It’s a literary and artistic film. With such a long run time, when it’s officially released in theaters, it could affect the film’s scheduling, and thus people were not optimistic about its box office performance.
A majority depends on the quality, but there’s also a portion that depends on luck. This was something that could be met but was not required. The people in Shen Jintai’s studio were actually more worried about the box office performance.
For male actors, the box office is more important than awards, because winning them is just icing on the cake. There’s no harm if you don’t get them, but the box office is different. If you get good results, you’ll be praised to the heavens, but once you fall on your face, you’ll be ridiculed very badly.
Everyone hopes that this movie will have a box office performance of more than 100 million.
“Will the Ming Palace also hold a launch ceremony the day after tomorrow?” Shen Jintai asked.
Bai Qingquan nodded.
“I have already recorded my portion, and Siqi seems to have recorded his as well.”
Zheng Siqi was now making a new movie in Thailand.
Seeing that he was about to go to Venice, Shen Jintai was under a bit of pressure, but Bai Qingquan’s pressure was actually no less than his.
had released an official trailer online, and the response was extremely enthusiastic. Many people thought this drama would be the second . Relying on its reputation and popularity, was sold at sky-high prices both to TV stations and online broadcasting platforms, attracting loads of investment. If this highly anticipated show didn’t live up to expectations, it would cause him to be ridiculed badly.
The biggest possibility was that he would be compared to Shen Jintai. Although he was the male lead in , all eyes were on Shen Jintai. Now, he was truly alone.
After his visit with Shen Jintai, he returned to his hotel. Xiao Feng had brought the hanfu that was tailored for him. This hanfu was more exquisite than he expected. The material was also softer than the material he wanted. Xiao Feng said the pattern on the top was hand-embroidered by an old master.
After Xiao Feng left, Bai Qingquan took a shower before trying on the hanfu. He first didn’t wear anything underneath as he tried it on naked, but then put on his underwear and tried it on again.
Both had their own advantages. When he didn’t wear anything underneath and only wore the robe and no boots with his shoulder exposed, it created an enchanting and romantic look. If he wore his boots and buttoned up all the buttons, it would look clean and abstemious.
Bai Qingquan thought for a while, but still planned to wear it all. With such complicated clothes, it would be interesting for Shi Lei to unbutton them one by one as he removed them layer by layer.
After making up his mind, he called Shi Lei.
Shi Lei didn’t know that he had returned to Nancheng. He had told him that he was still filming with the crew today. When Shi Lei picked up the call, he asked, “Are you not filming today? Resting?”
“Resting. What are you doing now?”
“I’m still at the office. I’m about to get off in half an hour.”
Bai Qingquan said “Nn”, then chatted with him for a bit before hanging up. After hanging up, he immediately put the hanfu in his bag, carried it out, and went straight to Shi Lei’s office.
It was still raining outside, and the sky was darker than before. The main store of Livable Decoration was just in the city center of the New District, opposite the shopping plaza. On the big screen in the plaza, the trailer for was being played. This wasn’t an advertisement done by the TV station or producer but was bought by the moonlight powders for Bai Qingquan.
It could be seen that this drama would explode, so they were very fierce about it.
Because of the rain and the fact that it was getting close to when people got off work, there weren’t any customers at the office. Xiao Fang and a few colleagues sat in the lobby on the first floor, drinking coffee, and through the floor-to-ceiling window, they saw the advertisement in the square opposite the building. Amidst the rain curtains, Bai Qingquan’s beautiful face, coupled with his costume, looked dazzling.
This was the first time that Bai Qingquan had worn red. People always thought that Shen Jintai’s bright and flamboyant personality was suitable for wearing red, but unexpectedly, Bai Qingquan, with his fairy persona, also looked good in red, which was a stark contrast to his fair complexion and delicate eyes and nose.
“Do you believe what Sister Wang said?” One of the girls said, “She said that Bai Qingquan has a long relationship with our boss.”
“Bai Qingquan is our boss’ idol… Although I really can’t understand how a straight man like the boss can chase stars.”
“There’s still a bit of a relationship there. The two of them came from the same town. Don’t you think that they knew each other before? Otherwise, how could the boss have landed this job to remodel his home? However, Sister Wang was implying that their relationship is more like love. Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?”
Xiao Fang had doubted it before, as she felt it also seemed ridiculous. It wasn’t that their boss wasn’t good enough, but how improbable was it for a big star like Bai Qingquan to fall for him? It wasn’t like this was some kind of TV drama.
A colleague next to her suddenly straightened up and looked at the door. Xiao Fang followed her gaze and saw a young man wearing a mask come in.
As she was the receptionist, upon seeing this, she immediately got up and returned to the front desk, then bowed and smiled at the person and said, “Welcome to Livable Decoration.”
The young man smiled and asked, “I’m here to find your boss, Shi. Is he there?”
“Yes, you are…”
The young man took off his mask and looked at her with a smile.
Xiao Fang was stunned, and when she recovered, her face flushed. “Our boss is in his office!”
Bai Qingquan smiled and nodded at her. Xiao Fang felt she was getting dizzy.
Oh my god! She just saw Bai Qingquan! It was the first time in her life that she was able to see a big star so close. He’s so beautiful!
It was too shocking.
As Bai Qingquan headed to the office, all her colleagues swarmed her. “Is that Bai Qingquan? Is it? Is it him?”
“It’s him,” Xiao Fang said blankly. “It’s Bai Qingquan!”
Everyone was so excited that it seemed they had lost their minds.
Bai Qingquan knocked on the door of the office and heard Shi Lei’s voice from inside. “Come in.”
He smiled and pushed the door in. “Dun, dun, dun, surprise!”
As a result, he was dumbfounded when he opened the door because there was another man in the office. The man who was sitting opposite Shi Lei had almost spilled the teacup in his hand when he saw him.
Shi Lei immediately stood up. “Why are you here?!”
Bai Qingquan felt embarrassed and smiled. “I didn’t know you had guests…”
“This is my friend, Liu Chuan.”
Liu Chuan also stood up. “Bai Qingquan. You are Bai Qingquan, right?”
Bai Qingquan recovered, immediately stretched out his hand, and walked over, shaking Liu Chuan’s hand.
Several employees sneaked up to the door to peek. Shi Lei went over and said, “You should have told me. I would’ve gotten off work earlier.” After speaking, he smiled and closed the door to the room.
Everyone looked at each other as they returned to the hall and couldn’t sit still.
“Wasn’t his house renovated a while ago? Why is he here again?”
“It seems that he is really familiar with Mr. Shi.”
“Then isn’t what Sister Wang said true?”
Everyone looked at each other but still held doubts. It was possible to believe that they were friends, but it was highly unlikely that Bai Qingquan would fall in love with their boss. That was too unreal.
As everyone was gossiping, they saw Shi Lei and the others come out of his office. Bai Qingquan had put on his mask again, and while whispering with Liu Chuan, he waved his hand at Xiao Fang and the others.
Liu Chuan stopped when they got to the door and watched as Shi Lei and Bai Qingquan got into the car.
On the big screen outside, the trailer for looped again. This time, it was accompanied by a mix of Bai Qingquan’s past roles. Liu Chuan looked at the big screen because he had just met the person himself. Looking at the advertisement now, it felt like it was a dream.
Bai Qingquan got into Shi Lei’s car. As soon as he got in the car, Shi Lei asked, “Why did you suddenly come back?”
Bai Qingquan smiled and asked, “Are you surprised?”
“Surprise.” Shi Lei said as he looked outside. It was still raining, and no one was around. He stretched out his arm, and Bai Qingquan threw himself into his arms and said, “I missed you and I wanted to see you.”
There was a hint of coquettishness in his tone, which made Shi Lei’s heart quiver as the sound reached his ears. He touched Bai Qingquan’s earlobe and said, “How many days are you back for?”
“ is about to start its broadcast. I’m here to participate in the opening ceremony for the TV station, but I also have a two-day break. I can stay in Nancheng for three and a half days!”
“I didn’t sleep well when I thought about you yesterday,” Shi Lei said.
This was the truth. He dreamed of Bai Qingquan last night. He woke up halfway through the dream and couldn’t think about anything else. He sent a message to Bai Qingquan in the early morning, but Bai Qingquan had lied to him, saying that he was still with the crew.
Xiao Fang and the others looked secretly at Shi Lei’s Audi through the glass window. The car hadn’t moved.
Shit. What are the two doing in the car? Chatting?
It felt… really ambiguous.
As it was almost dinner time, Shi Lei started the car and said, “Let’s eat dinner first.”
He was going to take Bai Qingquan to a restaurant for dinner. Bai Qingquan said, “Let’s order takeout today. I don’t want to eat out. Let’s go to your house. I haven’t been to your place yet.”
Shi Lei knew that Bai Qingquan wanted more time alone. This made him happy, so he drove Bai Qingquan to his place.
It was still raining lightly outside, bringing in a misty layer of fog. Bai Qingquan felt nervous, so he turned up the music.
The song was was playing.
[At this time, the warbler flies and the grass grows.
The one I love is on the way.
I know that he’s been through highs and lows.
His journey not rewarded with day.
Crossing the sea of people, just to give you hugs.]
The very rhythmic song made Bai Qingquan gently shake his head to the music as one hand rested on the cold car window. His fair fingers stretched out slightly.
The car entered the community and stopped in front of a white villa. When Bai Qingquan got out, he looked around the community and said, “You’re so young, yet you can buy such a good home.”
Shi Lei was a little nervous. He didn’t expect Bai Qingquan to come visit him so suddenly, so he wasn’t prepared at all. As soon as they entered the house, he immediately bent over and started cleaning up. Bai Qingquan stood at the door, staring blankly at the messy living room.
There were a few cans of beer on the table and half a cup of instant noodles left over. Pants, jackets, and even a piece of black underwear were scattered on the sofa. The shoe rack at the entrance was also a bit messy.
Shi Lei hurriedly cleaned up. He quickly piled all the clothes together, cleaned up all the food and drinks, and other things on the table, and said embarrassingly, “It’s a bit messy.”
While everything looked chaotic, there was also a breath of life. As a standard bachelor, this is what Shi Lei looks like.
Bai Qingquan put down his bag and helped him clean up. Shi Lei hurriedly said, “You sit down. I’ll do it.”
Bai Qingquan didn’t listen but smiled and helped him clean up. “You live such a life.”
“I’ve been used to it all these years.”
Fortunately, the floors were fairly clean. Shi Lei said, “I don’t know how to clean very well, so I have a cleaner do a deep clean every week.”
Bai Qingquan put his hand behind his back and asked with a smile, “Can I go inside? Do I need to give you time so you can hide the things that should be hidden and also the people that should be hidden as well?”
Shi Lei said, “The bedroom may also be messy.”
When Bai Qingquan heard this, he walked directly to the bedroom. The bedroom door wasn’t closed. When he entered, he saw that the bed wasn’t made and that there were a few clothes on the chair. It was a bit messy, but similar to the living room. However, he didn’t pay much attention to these things because all his focus was directly attracted to the posters in the bedroom.
One was a poster of him during the draft of . Looking at the uniform he was wearing made him sentimental. At that time, he couldn’t keep the costume. Having not seen it for such a long time, it felt a bit rustic.
The other post was nearly two years older, probably after he had filmed the East Palace.
He glanced back and saw Shi Lei standing behind him with a faint smile and a little shyness, and said, “I had put it up before we met.”
Bai Qingquan looked at the posters one by one and finally saw a photo frame at the head of the bed. The photos in it seemed to be a class photo of Shi Lei’s when they were still in school. He immediately picked it up curiously and smiled as he looked at it, trying to find Shi Lei. After a while of looking at it, he found that there were many familiar faces, and he also saw his class teacher.
He was taken aback for a moment, and his smile gradually solidified as he saw himself in his school uniform among the group of young junior high students.
Standing on the right side of the row before last, he was looking at the camera very quietly.
He felt a slight heat in his heart, but his nose was inexplicably sour as he looked back at Shi Lei. This situation was really emotional.
Even Shi Lei felt a little damp in his heart. He thought about that year when he dropped out of school and embarked on his journey to work, and all he had for comfort was this group photo. He had a rough and somewhat angular personality and was new to the real world. He was suffering, felt tired and hopeless, but the one thing that supported him along the way was his fantasies of Bai Qingquan.
At that time, the fantasy was like drawing cakes to satisfy one’s hunger. He had never expected that one day he would have a moment like this. God had truly treated him well.
The author has something to say:
The hard days are all over, and the future will be sweet.
