FIMA Ch28: Private Lesson

Xie Jinzhao shot him a glance, a hint of displeasure brewing between his brows. The events that occurred last night were truly not something to be happy about, and transferring his anger onto Qi Ran was a very natural thing to do.

However, he still needed to figure out the specific situation.

Xie Jinzhao nodded, his voice faint: “Mn, I happen to have something to ask you too.”

The two got into the nanny van. The assistant and driver temporarily stepped out.

Qi Ran bit his lip, his face still maintaining an innocent appearance as he asked, “Are you alright from last night? Did you…?”

If it were a normal day, he would naturally hold endless patience toward Qi Ran.

But at this moment, Xie Jinzhao suddenly felt the air inside the car was a bit stuffy. An unspeakable annoyance rose in his heart, making him feel as if he couldn’t endure even a fraction of it.

Leaning back in his seat, he lazily let out a light snort, a half-smile on his face: “If I weren’t alright, would I still be able to do this dual interview here right now?”

Qi Ran seemed hurt by his attitude. After a brief pause, he chuckled awkwardly: “That’s good, that’s good…”

Xie Jinzhao stared at him intently, asking word by word: “However, what I want to know more right now is, where did you go afterwards yesterday?”

Hearing this, Qi Ran suddenly thought of the fiery passion and intimacy of last night. He couldn’t help but shudder slightly, his cheeks flushing red.

Xie Jinzhao frowned: “Hmm?”

Seeing the person staring at him without blinking, Qi Ran immediately reined in his expression and began to stammer his reply: “Later, my assistant came out, found me, and took me home.”

Xie Jinzhao’s pupils shrank abruptly. He almost laughed from extreme anger: “I got knocked out and taken away trying to save you, and you went home to sleep peacefully? Qi Ran, you’ve truly broadened my horizons.”

“Ah…” Qi Ran bit his tongue, realizing he had said the wrong thing.

He hurriedly shook his head and defended himself: “No… no, Jinzhao, listen to me explain. I drank too much yesterday and have absolutely no recollection. I didn’t know you were taken away, I… I couldn’t help it either?”

Hearing such an unhesitating answer just a moment ago, and now looking at the person’s panicked and urgent face, Xie Jinzhao only felt it was extremely ridiculous.

The corner of his mouth slanted slightly as he said coldly: “Drank too much, so you have no recollection? Then… since you didn’t know I was taken away, why did you just ask me if I was alright last night?”

“Jinzhao!” Pierced by his suddenly sharp gaze, Qi Ran’s heart trembled slightly.

But his mouth still subconsciously made excuses for himself: “Jinzhao, don’t be so aggressive. I asked you because I care about you. We… haven’t known each other for a short time. Do you still not know what kind of person I am?”

It’s exactly because I know what kind of person you are that I’m like this.

Feeling intensely bored and too lazy to listen to any more defenses, Xie Jinzhao calmly waved his hand: “Alright, you don’t need to explain, I already understand. If there’s nothing else, you can get off.”

“Jinzhao…” Qi Ran looked at him, hurt.

Suddenly, as if thinking of something, he said very happily: “Oh right, Jinzhao, my second brother called me this morning and said his movie has wrapped up. He’s coming back from the UK tomorrow night. How about we go pick him up together?”

Xie Jinzhao turned his head to glance at him, suddenly smiling slowly: “Called you this morning, huh? Heh, very good. How wonderful!”

Qi Ran couldn’t understand his smile and subconsciously said, “Then don’t be angry anymore, okay? Otherwise, if Second Brother sees it, he’ll be worried… and unhappy too…”

This trick again.

“Heh,” Xie Jinzhao pulled at the corner of his mouth and sneered, “Then let him be unhappy!”

Qi Ran was a bit confused, blinking his large eyes. It took a long while before he stammered a question: “Jinzhao, what’s wrong with you today? Are you like this because you had a fight with Second Brother? I can go help you lecture him.”

“It has nothing to do with him.” Xie Jinzhao was extremely calm.

Although he and Qi Run had been dating for nearly half a year, there wasn’t much deep feeling between them.

Initially, he only liked the characters Qi Run played through a screen. Later, when Qi Ran introduced them, he only felt the joy of meeting his idol.

But somehow, when Qi Run proposed they get together, he still agreed in a daze. Perhaps all fans, when faced with such a proposal from their idol, wouldn’t be able to refuse, feeling more like they had been hit by a falling pie from the sky.

However, even after confirming their relationship, given the nature of their work, it was already inconvenient to meet up.

Of the few times they did meet, Qi Ran was present every time.

Originally, Xie Jinzhao still cared quite a bit about Qi Run in his heart. After all, this was an idol he had liked for several years. Knowing that Qi Run valued Qi Ran, he transferred these feelings onto Qi Ran as well.

And Qi Run was clearly very happy to see this happen.

But recently, thoughts that were inexplicably “severely ill” kept popping into his head. Yet upon careful consideration… they seemed to be the truth.

Xie Jinzhao took a deep look at Qi Ran.

…He felt he might have some sort of illness, and Qi Run probably did too. He seriously felt that Qi Run might have only proposed getting together with him back then to coax Qi Ran into being happy.

“Jinzhao, why are you looking at me like that?” Qi Ran panicked in his heart.

Xie Jinzhao chuckled, shaking his head: “Nothing, just thought of some amusing things. By the way, do you have anything else? Why haven’t you gotten off the car yet? I still have work later.”

“Jinzhao…” Qi Ran called out hesitantly.

But meeting Xie Jinzhao’s still unchanged, utterly indifferent eyes, his voice unconsciously lowered a few degrees. With his head half-lowered, he said, “…Alright, never mind then.”

“Mn, take care.” Xie Jinzhao nodded. Then, he opened the car window and called softly to the driver and assistant waiting outside: “You guys can come up, we can head back now.”

After saying that, he directly half-closed his eyes and leaned against the seat back.

Qi Ran stood up, took one last look at Xie Jinzhao, pushed open the car door, and stepped out.

He had been pampered by his family since childhood. Even now, having debuted in the complex entertainment circle, he still had his second brother and Yun Yan protecting him. He wasn’t used to pressing a warm face against a cold butt.

Even if this person was Xie Jinzhao, who had once helped him.

The black nanny van slowly drove out of the parking lot.

Xie Jinzhao closed his eyes for a long time but couldn’t fall asleep. He simply pulled down his eye mask, took out his phone, and started playing Anipop.

Fang Wei, sitting in the seat across the aisle, glanced at him and said slowly: “Qi Ran’s current development is indeed not bad. His previous movie sold very well, and his reputation and image have been managed positively. Given your current situation… interacting with him more like before and selling the friendship CP should be beneficial to you. The pros outweigh the cons.”

Hearing this, Xie Jinzhao said without even raising his head: “Heh, you also noticed we had a conflict.”

Fang Wei nodded. Given Qi Ran’s expression when he just got off the car, what was there not to notice?

She glanced at Xie Jinzhao again. Seeing him still buried in playing his game, not taking her words to heart at all, she immediately frowned in displeasure.

Her subsequent tone became much colder: “Jinzhao, everyone’s circumstances in the entertainment circle are different. Even if it’s a friend, even if it’s someone who used to be inferior to you, if they can grasp opportunities, their development will have a world of difference.”

Xie Jinzhao finally raised his head, chuckling softly: “Sister Wei, do you think I’m having a conflict with Qi Ran because I can’t stand that his development is now surpassing mine?”

Fang Wei didn’t speak, but at a time like this, silence meant tacit agreement.

In this vanity fair that is the entertainment circle, not being famous is a sin. Therefore, everyone uses whatever means necessary to become famous. Similarly, regarding the catching up and competition of others, the sense of crisis is extremely sensitive.

Qi Ran had only been in the industry for a short two years, but his development momentum could be described as the sun at high noon. As someone who once had a sense of existence by hyping a CP with him, but was now about to leave him behind—this sense of imbalance would be magnified several times over in the vanity fair of the entertainment circle. No matter how good one’s mindset was, it would probably be hard to accept.

Fang Wei thought, if it were her, she definitely wouldn’t be able to accept it.

“Jinzhao, we’ve also worked together for five years. I’m speaking from my heart. From Qi Ran’s debut in the TV drama Wind Rises over Mountains and Rivers to the current movie The Murderer, he has broadcasted a total of four works in just two short years, but he’s made a splash with almost every single one. Whether it’s relying on external forces or whatever, this is an ability. You also know how superstitious this circle is. An actor with this kind of ‘red aura’ (popularity luck) will inevitably be highly favored by the industry and investors next.”

Speaking up to here, Fang Wei paused slightly, looking at Xie Jinzhao out of the corner of her eye.

Xie Jinzhao looked up at her, nodding in agreement: “Mn. That makes a lot of sense.”

Only then did Fang Wei continue: “I’ve also heard about a few of Qi Ran’s upcoming resources recently. Currently, they all look very good. As long as he has one more work where he carries the lead, he will truly establish a firm foothold in the entertainment circle.”

“Ah, putting it that way, Qi Ran’s path has truly been quite smooth. Even Yun Yan probably wasn’t this smooth back then. It’s truly enviable…” Resting his chin on his hand, Xie Jinzhao smiled genuinely.

“Small popularity relies on promotion; massive popularity relies on fate. This is an old truth,” Fang Wei said composedly. After speaking, she continued to advise him: “You’re not a newcomer either. You should know that bundled hype is one of the best ways to maintain buzz. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many groups debuting, and various bundled ‘Four Little Flowers’, ‘Four Little Fresh Meats’, and the like. This is also what ordinary viewers like to see the most.”

“Mn.” Xie Jinzhao nodded obediently in response, then said, “However, Sister Wei, you also know the response to my last drama wasn’t very good. Right now, I should opportunely leave the audience’s line of sight for a while. Jumping too high will only invite disgust.”

He stretched lazily, saying leisurely: “Therefore, I plan to attend an acting class to further my studies during this period.”

“You…” Fang Wei had managed Xie Jinzhao for five years and had a certain understanding of his personality. Xie Jinzhao was usually completely unpicky about almost everything, but once he truly made a choice, no one could change it.

Seeing that Xie Jinzhao was delaying renewing his contract, her affinity with him would probably only last these two months. Whether he did well or poorly in the future was none of her business, so there was no need to make the relationship too stiff.

Seeing this, she blinked and changed the subject: “This is fine too. You’ve always had a lot of ideas. Since you’re not joining a cast, there happen to be a few good variety show invitations here. Pick a few from them; you can try either as a guest or a regular. Anyway, from deciding on the project now, to recording later, and then to broadcasting, it will probably take at least a month or two. Even though you said you want to leave the audience’s line of sight, you can’t forget to consolidate your fan heat…”

Fang Wei genuinely felt Xie Jinzhao was actually quite suitable for variety shows.

Although Xie Jinzhao had the face of a cold beauty, his personality was quite a contrast, and he had a very “desperado” (hardworking) style. He would be very likable on variety shows.

It was just that Xie Jinzhao didn’t graduate from an acting major; he transitioned from a singer to acting. Perhaps to prove he was devoted to being an actor, apart from promoting movies and TV dramas, he basically buried himself in the cast and hadn’t participated in any variety shows.

This was considered very rare in today’s entertainment circle.

“Okay.” Xie Jinzhao took the tablet from her hand, swiped the screen, and began to carefully review the several variety show invitations in the email.

…

After Gu Siyuan’s two major professional classes ended in the afternoon, he drove home.

After the original owner was hired as an instructor by the Film Academy, he rented a fully furnished apartment in a nearby high-end residential area.

After walking in the door, Gu Siyuan consciously walked around the several rooms, casually disposing of all the original owner’s leftover items, and bought daily necessities online anew.

By the time everything was sorted out, it was already late at night.

Gu Siyuan prepared a simple dinner and then sat in front of the computer to take inventory of his assets.

According to his memory, Gu Siyuan quickly evaluated the original owner’s messy array of various assets into strings of cold, hard numbers.

Although Gu Hongxuan wasn’t affectionate towards him on normal days, he didn’t mistreat him either. After all, even though the original owner harbored wild ambitions, he always disguised himself with an honest and cowardly facade on the surface.

For a person of Gu Hongxuan’s status, if the stepson was sensible and trouble-free, then occasionally showing his generosity did no harm. Therefore, his basic living expenses on normal days weren’t much different from those three biological sons; he just didn’t receive various private subsidies.

Moreover, during every festival or New Year, the red envelopes and lucky money given by others were all handed over to the original owner to save himself.

Combined with the fact that Gu Siyuan had also been a teacher at the Film Academy for several years—involving various pre-exam training and other things—after connecting with the entertainment circle, there were actually quite a few channels for money to come in.

Up to now, the original owner’s account had accumulated nearly eight figures in assets.

Naturally, Gu Siyuan wouldn’t let these funds continue to sit there gathering dust.

Aside from loosely buying stocks in a few companies, he invested the rest entirely into a new incubator company called Zhilin Technology after conducting investigations and communications.

Having handled all this, just as Gu Siyuan was preparing to get into bed and rest, he suddenly received a phone call.

“Hello.”

“Brother Siyuan, it’s me.” Qi Ran’s voice was as clear as always.

In the original owner’s consciousness, Qi Ran seemed to almost never take the initiative to seek him out, unless there was something he needed help with.

At this point in time…

It should be about Chen Yuan’s matter this morning.

Gu Siyuan frowned: “Is there something you need?”

Qi Ran was slightly stunned by Gu Siyuan’s coldness, only thinking he had misheard.

However, very quickly, he continued to joke: “Can’t I call you if nothing is wrong? Why has Brother Siyuan suddenly become so strictly business?”

Gu Siyuan was in no mood to play word games with him. He said coldly: “If there’s nothing, then I’m hanging up.”

“Wait a minute,” Qi Ran hurriedly interrupted. “Brother Siyuan, it’s about Ah Yuan. He told me you blocked his graduation thesis. Is it true?”

Gu Siyuan: “Yes.”

Qi Ran quickly complained: “Brother Siyuan, have you been a teacher for too long? Do you not know the pain of ordinary students anymore? Do you not know how torturous writing a thesis is? And this thesis affects whether Ah Yuan can graduate smoothly! Aren’t you being too cruel by doing this…”

Holding his water cup, Gu Siyuan took a sip. His voice became increasingly clear and cold: “Perhaps I could post his thesis and regular attendance sheet directly online, letting netizens and his fans see whether passing Chen Yuan’s thesis so he can graduate smoothly is actually mercy or cruelty toward ordinary college students?”

“Brother Siyuan.” Qi Ran cried out in annoyance. “Why are you suddenly like this, speaking so aggressively?”

Gu Siyuan’s expression remained unchanged: “Since there’s no real business, I’m hanging up.”

After saying that, ignoring the reaction on the other end, he directly pressed to end the call.

Standing in his bedroom, listening to the beep beep sound coming from his phone, Qi Ran almost couldn’t react.

He wondered if Gu Siyuan had gone mad. On normal days, he always tried every possible means to get close to him and coax him into being happy, but today, it was as if he had eaten gunpowder.

Somehow, he thought of Xie Jinzhao’s look this afternoon again. The images of these two people almost overlapped in his mind.

Why had the people around him, who had been perfectly fine, suddenly all gone mad together?

…

Gu Siyuan didn’t take this phone call seriously at all.

Over the next few days, he went to and from class as usual, guided students’ theses, and incidentally managed his assets.

At the same time, he also took time to meet with the founder of that Zhilin Technology company.

He had finally selected this company after filtering and investigating all companies of similar types currently on the market, taking into consideration various factors such as personnel backgrounds and technological characteristics.

The founder of Zhilin Technology was named Cheng Ou. He was only twenty-seven years old, the same age as him. A young second-generation rich kid who had just returned from graduating from a prestigious overseas university, he was wholeheartedly determined to show his grand plans.

In the quiet cafe, after finishing reading Gu Siyuan’s proposal, the young man opposite him had shining eyes, almost losing his composure as he said: “Are you really going to use this technology to invest in my company?”

Gu Siyuan took a light sip of his coffee: “I’m sitting right here. Is there any other way to put it?”

Cheng Ou’s smile was radiant: “I’m just too excited. My company has always been trying our best to conquer this direction, but we haven’t achieved a breakthrough. Right now, we’re relying purely on government support, otherwise it would be hard to even pay salaries. But now that we have this thing, we can immediately make a massive comeback, and my dad won’t make me go home and inherit his pig farm anymore.”

Gu Siyuan continued: “So, do you have any differing opinions on the division of shares and management rights I proposed?”

Cheng Ou almost shook his head trembling: “No, absolutely not. For a god like you to favor our new company is giving me face.”

Gu Siyuan smiled softly.

When he died in his original world, technological development was quite a bit more advanced than here. He was inherently an expert heavyweight in biomedicine and internet intelligent technology. Bringing out some small things to shock this era came naturally to him.

He reached out a hand across the table, his expression remaining indifferent: “Then, I wish us a happy cooperation in the future.”

Cheng Ou couldn’t wait: “Happy cooperation, happy cooperation! From now on, you’re my boss.”

Afterward, what needed to be done was signing contracts, changing the company’s name, and applying for patents. For these, the two of them only needed to act at critical moments; the specific tedious processes were handed over to specialized agencies and lawyers to handle on their behalf.

Although Gu Siyuan had a larger career externally, his classes at the school went on as usual—taking it one day at a time, fulfilling his duties.

And on this day, his office welcomed a guest: the vice director of their acting department.

Gu Siyuan’s voice was faint: “A star wants to take private lessons? That’s a good thing, but why find me? I’m still young; I’m afraid I don’t have enough experience to guide them.”

The vice director smiled, his eyes narrowing into slits: “It’s graduation season right now, and many other teachers are leading graduate students, so they’re incredibly busy. Little Gu, don’t belittle yourself. I’ve seen your classes; they are very good. Guiding this young star is absolutely no problem. Besides, the tutoring fee is also very considerable.”

Gu Siyuan wasn’t lacking this bit of tutoring fee right now.

In the time it took him to act as a private tutor for someone, he could have earned it back a hundredfold in the stock market.

The vice director continued to persuade: “This Xie Jinzhao, I hear he’s still very popular among you young people. I’ve met him, and he’s indeed quite nice, very polite. He’s waiting in my office right now…”

“I agree. Just have him come over directly,” Gu Siyuan’s voice was firm, though his face remained a picture of coldness.

“Why don’t you go over and meet him first, and if it really doesn’t work out, you can refuse… Ah… agreed? You just agreed to it?” The vice director blinked.

Looking at Gu Siyuan’s cold face, he had already prepared himself for a refusal.

Sigh, young people nowadays are truly like the wind and rain—changing so fast…

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