Chapter 67: Unfortunately, Not Comprehensive Enough
In a gentle “Treading Waves,” the program formally entered its finale, and the recording work for “Music Blind Box” came to a halt.
Actually, they had already worked overtime tonight, but fortunately, they captured plenty of good stuff, plus there’s this bombshell info about the “microfilm,” so they clearly didn’t lose out.
This overtime was truly promotion and salary increase material.
“You guys go ahead, I have something to say to him.”
The staff had planned to drop Qi Luo An off at the school gate on the way, but she dawdled and didn’t want to leave, and in the end, she just stopped acting.
If they really left, this lone man and woman alone in the same room…
The lead photographer Xiao Zhu was very perceptive; mind your own business, don’t ask what you shouldn’t.
Watching the photography team leave into the distance, Yu Wei was momentarily baffled about what Qi Luo An was up to—what words were inconvenient to say in front of others?
He turned to look, only to find that Qi Luo An had at some point lowered her eyelids, her pearly teeth lightly biting her lower lip before releasing it, leaving faint teeth marks.
Is this right?
What was she trying to ask? Her face flushed, heart racing, fidgety and uneasy—anyone who didn’t know would think she was about to confess…
“I, I’ve wanted to ask you something for a long time, but never had the opportunity to speak up.”
“Go ahead.”
Qi Luo An seemed to still be wrestling internally, hesitating for a long time before cautiously opening her mouth: “Like, aren’t the male leads in web novels by web novel authors usually orphans?”
What the hell kind of question was this, and did it really warrant all that hemming and hawing?
Classic male lead opener: parents both deceased.
Writing it this way is mainly to make it convenient for the male lead to have no ties, wandering alone to speed up the rhythm—no malice, pure setup.
“That’s how it is.”
“Then, when they go online and get into arguments with others who greet their parents, do they feel dazed?”
“?”
Yu Wei was genuinely stumped by her question; wasn’t this topic shift a bit too abrupt?
No matter how badass the male lead is, he should still have a human side—probably, maybe, most likely… though he might also be untargetable, with even stronger combat power.
“Take your time thinking, I’m off—bye.”
Seeing Yu Wei unusually stumped by her, Qi Luo An left fully satisfied.
Clearly, earlier she had done it intentionally—no malice, purely to mess with him.
……
The living room was dimly lit, with only the flickering light and shadows from the television screen jumping about; Qi Yuan sat dazedly in front of the screen, his expression somewhat dazed.
Qi Yunming was playing on his mobile phone in the corner, ignoring his son’s absent-mindedness.
“Yuan Yuan, stop watching; you have to go to Grandmother’s tomorrow morning for lessons—get some rest early.”
Chen Jinyi was bending over, quickly sweeping the scattered watermelon seed shells from the coffee table into a dustpan; she shouldn’t have let them watch this program tonight—now their son, who had finally mustered some energy, was dumbstruck again.
“I probably can’t catch up to Yu Wei…”
If it were before, they absolutely wouldn’t believe such words could come from their own son—he had a never-give-up spirit, and even after losing, he’d rally again.
But after encountering Yu Wei, consecutive blows had worn down his edges; he’d barely regained some state these past few days, but it vanished overnight.
Qi Yunming saw it all but said nothing; if it were up to him, he’d just say indeed, Yu Wei isn’t ordinary—why “probably”? He simply can’t catch up.
But after all, he was their own son; he didn’t want to crush the child’s confidence, so he simply stayed silent.
“Think on the bright side: at least your acting skills are better than his.”
Chen Jinyi’s words were already making excuses for Qi Yuan; after all, in the music field, surpassing Yu Wei was basically hopeless for this lifetime.
The song “Treading Waves” reminded her of many things; even with three layers of mom-filter, she had to admit Yu Wei’s musical attainment was much stronger than her son’s.
These days, heartfelt songs were rare…
If Yu Wei truly climbed to the peak later, this one “Treading Waves” would be an unavoidable monument in his stardom—simplest, yet most touching.
“Acting skills?”
Qi Yuan’s gaze visibly brightened at that; right, Yu Wei’s performance in tonight’s program was great everywhere—script adaptation brilliant, role understanding insightful, score arrangement decisive.
But only his acting skills fell short in comparison.
“Chao Yue Ban” was an acting variety show, yet Yu Wei’s performance was more like a perfect behind-the-scenes talent: scripting, arranging, directing all fine, but performing himself was just average.
In acting skills, he was clearly much stronger than Yu Wei—this was his advantage, wasn’t it?
“Mom, Dad, I’m off to bed; heading to Grandmother’s tomorrow morning for acting lessons.” Qi Yuan reaffirmed his resolve and dashed off.
Yu Wei was human too; he had weaknesses, and he just needed to be stronger than Yu Wei’s weaknesses…
Chen Jinyi and Qi Yunming exchanged a glance; neither of these kids was worry-free—An An said she returned to school early, but knowing their daughter, studies were unlikely.
Qi Yuan’s idea was extreme, but it aligned perfectly with online evaluations of Yu Wei: impeccable elsewhere, musical talent like magic, acting holding him back.
Clearly, unbeknownst to them, they’d already developed sky-high expectations for Yu Wei; for an ordinary newcomer, having strengths was impressive—how could they demand perfection.
Such a pity; still not comprehensive enough.
Among them, the most jubilant, fearing the world wasn’t chaotic enough, were absolutely Qi Yuan and Qi Xi fans; Yu Wei won elsewhere but not acting—they still had bragging rights.
Yu Wei ignored these evaluations; the next day’s filming finally took them into the school—wonder if the program team used money power.
Few students on campus during summer vacation; their filming wouldn’t disturb others, but according to Qi Luo An, freshmen should be doing military training on the sports field.
“Can I go to the sports field and munch watermelon?”
Yu Wei remembered clearly: back during their military training, seniors did exactly that, shocking their young hearts immensely.
“Go if you’re not afraid of dying.”
Qi Luo An glanced at the photographer team with odd expressions; filming this bridge in the program would be quite something—big star openly pranks freshmen on variety show, inciting crowd anger.
“But if you really go, you’d likely get conscripted to perform talents at night.”
“Then forget it.”
One could only say Yu Wei’s age for showing off during military training had passed; plus, how could he let them free of charge his current performance fee?
Jiaotong University’s library had a thick study atmosphere, but to avoid disturbance, the school designated a special area for their filming.
“I’ve really only been to the library a few times.”
Qi Luo An clearly didn’t love studying much either; after two years, her few library visits were all for events.
Yu Wei casually found a spot by the window and started writing; today, he had to finish the chorus plot no matter what, then pretend to write songs the next few days—perfect.
“When you’re famous across the land, will the school library collect the books you write?”
“No way.”
Yu Wei was self-aware; if trash like his could enter the library, society would have collapsed.
“Once you’re big, someone will overinterpret it, and this book will soar to become a 21st-century must-read classic.”
That sounded terrifying; Yu Wei still wanted everyone to enjoy good stuff.
