Chapter 222: It’s All Bubble
“I get the reason, is your movie about to start filming?”
As Yu Wei expected, Qi Yuan was completely unaware of this matter. His own dad was preparing the play, yet he didn’t even know. How blocked must that information be?
Doesn’t this family chat at all usually…
Qi Yunming naturally hadn’t deliberately hidden it, but with his personality, he definitely wouldn’t proactively mention it either. What would he tell the child about work matters?
Qi Yuan was the type who paid no attention to matters outside the window. He was already immersed in his own art and couldn’t extricate himself; forgetting everything else was commonplace.
This father and son rarely had effective communication usually. They might not even bicker as much as Qi Yuan and his sister Qi Luo An did.
Yu Wei could understand it though. Introverted father and son were just like that—concern and encouragement weren’t voiced, but the fatherly love and filial piety were real.
He didn’t mind acting as an information hub for once and simply introduced the cooperation details of Charlotte Troubles to Qi Yuan.
Upon hearing that this movie was handled by Old Qi, Qi Yuan’s expression changed instantly. The gaze he directed at Yu Wei involuntarily carried three parts surprise, three parts pity, and four parts hesitation.
In Yu Wei’s eyes, this expression boiled down to one sentence: “Buddy, did my dad screw you over?”
Generally speaking, as long as a director’s son entered the entertainment industry, he’d be stuffed into the film crew for gilding. The more decent ones would get a small role for training; the less decent ones would get custom-added scenes.
But Qi Yuan had never appeared in Old Qi’s scripts—not because he didn’t want to take the backdoor, but because he was afraid of making bad movies…
Qi Yunming’s King of Bad Movies persona was too solid. Ever since Qi Yuan could remember, every film collapsed one after another. His dad’s successive failures left a deep impression on his young self.
He used to comfort himself a bit, but as the number of bad movies grew, Qi Yuan came up with a rebellious thought.
Could it be his dad’s problem?
After accepting his dad’s attributes, he felt everything suddenly made sense. That thought remained deeply rooted even now.
Later, when he entered the entertainment industry, he preferred acting in costume idol dramas over his dad’s plays. One could imagine how destructive bad movies were.
Acting in costume idol dramas wasn’t embarrassing—there were always people who loved them. Making bad movies meant being hung on the pillory. If a connections guy made a bad movie, he’d thoroughly become a laughingstock.
So when he heard Yu Wei was collaborating with his dad, Qi Yuan despaired. How could someone deliberately jump into the fire pit?
Though he hadn’t read the script for Charlotte Troubles, everything from Yu Wei was a high-quality product. Logically, it shouldn’t be bad.
A good script falling into Old Qi’s hands was somewhat wasting precious resources.
“Brother, I trust you, but…”
But he didn’t trust his own dad. Having watched him from childhood to adulthood, how could Qi Yuan not know Old Qi’s mannerism? Once on the film crew, he’d lie on a chair, cross his legs, and another day would pass.
He definitely wouldn’t say this in front of Qi Yunming, but the meaning got across. Yu Wei paused and began to persuade him otherwise.
The role of Yuan Hua was perfect for no one else. Seeing Xia Luo take off and that chest-beating, foot-stamping inability to accept it was exactly like Qi Yuan before.
Not casting him as the Tidal Sea Spirit would be the movie’s loss…
“You’re still short of a good opportunity right now. Why not give it a try?”
You’ve unfollowed into roadside status in the entertainment circle, and you’re still picky?
Yu Wei’s words hit Qi Yuan right in the heart. He desperately needed an opportunity to re-enter the public vision. The entertainment industry iterated too fast; at this rate, netizens would soon forget him.
Standing out in a movie would definitely be an unprecedented good opportunity. If it were someone else’s movie, he’d agree without hesitation. But Old Qi… sigh.
Qi Yuan did lack opportunities, but he wasn’t eating just anything…
After unfollowing, his positioning was already awkward. Acting in another bad movie would be cutting off his own future; his acting career would be thoroughly blocked.
He still needed to consider this carefully.
Qi Yunming understood his thinking too. This brat—others guarded against outsiders, but he guarded against his own dad?
But thinking about it carefully, it was actually good that his son could stay composed. Selecting projects really couldn’t be rushed, even if the person involved was himself.
“I’ll take a look at the script first.”
Though he had zero faith in Old Qi’s standard, Yu Wei was his most favored buddy. His work deserved the proper respect.
Plus, he really did lack opportunities too much. He’d take a look first; if there was a role particularly suited to him, acting it wouldn’t hurt.
This request was entirely reasonable, and Yu Wei naturally agreed. He had some confidence in the Charlotte Troubles script.
Qi Yunming had a copy of the script on hand, but it could wait. Yu Wei’s program was about to start.
“Perfect, you guys watch first. I’ll go wash the dishes.”
Watching his own program with a big group was too much social death. Yu Wei planned to wash dishes and then find an excuse to slip away.
Though there’d been a little mishap, the meal today was overall pretty enjoyable. This feeling of a family happily having dinner together was something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
There was no reason to let a guest wash dishes, but Yu Wei’s excuse was quite good. He was extremely familiar with the program process and found it boring to watch.
“Then I’ll come help too.”
Qi Luo An volunteered to assist. She couldn’t let the guest busy alone— she’d brought the person, so helping out beside him was reasonable.
Qi Yunming and Chen Jinyi exchanged a glance and tacitly approved.
Qi Yuan had something to say but held back. He was too tired today to wash; otherwise, he’d definitely seize to join in.
“Sigh, this guy is so annoying.”
Standing at the kitchen side, Qi Luo An rarely showed a bit of dejection. She’d looked forward to inviting Yu Wei as a guest for so long, yet it was ultimately ruined by Qi Yuan.
The atmosphere had even hinted at lifelong commitment, but then Qi Yuan came charging back, derailing the topic. They couldn’t get back to it afterward.
It wasn’t that she thought her brother shouldn’t have come; from her perspective, Qi Yuan was clearly a saboteur.
“Don’t be annoyed. Being annoyed will give you wrinkles.”
Yu Wei turned on the faucet and casually shifted half a step left, making space for her to wash dishes.
Sure enough, the common topic between people was complaining about someone else…
Qi Luo An skillfully squeezed out dish soap, only to realize her sleeve wasn’t rolled up yet. But her hand was already wet, so she tentatively extended her arm.
“Alright, alright.”
Yu Wei immediately understood, simply pushing her sleeve up to her forearm and folding it over to prevent it from slipping down and getting wet later.
Chen Jinyi had actually been paying attention to their movements the whole time. Watching their everyday-life-like interaction, she had only one thought left in her mind.
Isn’t this pretty good too?
The ninth episode of Music Blind Box had started on the television. The opening was ordinary with no highlights, but when Yu Wei drew a foreigner, they were a bit surprised.
Qi Yuan’s surprise was feigned—after all, he’d been on-site for this episode and naturally knew Yu Wei’s sakura partner.
“This little girl is pretty cute.”
Chen Jinyi casually complimented, giving Qi Yuan an opening. “Yeah, way cuter than our An An.”
If Qi Luo An had such a soft and glutinous personality, he’d absolutely be a model good brother. But she was rotten to the core, so he couldn’t be blamed for siding against family.
“My daughter is still the cuter one.”
Chen Jinyi didn’t buy the slander at all. She could tell who was good and who was bad. Could her good daughter be outdone by an outsider?
Qi Luo An, who was scrubbing plates, was completely unaware she’d been chirped at and was instead enjoying this warm process.
“Here, rinse this.”
She handed over the foamy plate. As Yu Wei took it, he turned down his side’s water flow to ensure it rinsed cleaner.
Perhaps because it was wet, Yu Wei’s hand was cool to the touch—quite comfortable, though the contact was only momentary.
“Look here.”
Yu Wei turned his head at the words, only to get splattered with a few drops of water on his face. Qi Luo An shook her dripping hand and revealed a triumphant smile.
“I’ve been infected with the water text virus and will hold only you accountable.”
Yu Wei didn’t take the little joke to heart and just kept his head down scrubbing the chopsticks in his hand.
Teasing with no response was the most boring. Qi Luo An helplessly lowered her head to continue washing, but the moment she relaxed, a chopstick suddenly appeared before her eyes, swiftly poking her nose tip.
The rinsing chopstick still had a few foam drops, landing solidly on her face.
“Sneak attacking, huh?”
Qi Luo An rubbed her nose and, unwilling to show weakness, squeezed a blob of dish soap into her hand. “I think you want to hear foam.”
“No need, no need.”
Rubbing that much dish soap into bubbles would be anime-level volume—couldn’t let that happen.
If the unlucky brother hadn’t come, Qi Luo An would’ve smeared that handful of bubbles right over, dirtying Yu Wei’s clothes so he couldn’t go out and was forced to stay over, sleeping in Qi Yuan’s room—perfect.
But now with brother back, Yu Wei had nowhere to rest, so she could only drop it.
All Qi Yuan’s fault—the whole plan was messed up…
“Perfect, don’t waste it.”
Yu Wei casually wiped some from her hand onto his chopsticks to continue washing, but the second time, Qi Luo An wasn’t having it and directly grabbed instant refinement.
Getting feisty, huh? What was he treating her hand as?
It was originally just a demonstrative grab, but upon contact, the dish soap in their palms dissolved in the water instead. Both felt their hands slippery and greasy—it was actually pretty fun.
Because of the slippery medium in between, every tiny movement of their hands carried a temptation of not being able to grasp it yet irresistibly wanting to hold tight. This feeling was extremely subtle.
Qi Luo An tentatively rubbed a bit and saw Yu Wei didn’t pull back, so she grew bolder, soon rubbing up a full hand of foam.
Her fingers teasingly kneaded the back of Yu Wei’s hand. The foam grew even more slippery in the warm water, as if a slight squeeze would make the other’s hand slip away like a fish.
Yu Wei’s heartbeat quickened a bit. He turned his hand over and gripped that mischievous one. Beneath the layers of white foam, their two hands clasped tightly together.
“It’s actually a Japanese song.”
Hearing Chen Jinyi’s exclamation, they released like electrocuted, but looking back, the three’s attention was on the program.
Seeing Yu Wei quietly pull out a Japanese song, Chen Jinyi and Qi Yunming were a bit slow to react.
This kid had been hiding a skill?
Beside them, Qi Yuan lightly sighed. The program team only showed the clip of Yu Wei practicing the Japanese song; Later wasn’t revealed at all, clearly planning a surprise for the audience later.
He couldn’t spoil it for his parents either and could only say the shocking part was still to come…
Seeing they hadn’t noticed anything off, Yu Wei and Qi Luo An finally breathed a sigh of relief. On their next eye contact, both were clearly a bit embarrassed.
Yu Wei was okay, but Qi Luo An was visibly blushing, her heartbeat pounding so hard it nearly drowned out the kitchen water sounds.
Thinking of doing this right under her parents’ eyes made her cheeks burn. Amid the tension was an inexplicable thrill.
