#Le Siyan loses his composure#
#Undercover audition#
Several trending topics appeared one after another on Weibo’s hot search list, overtaking #Le Siyan loses voice#. Meng She laughed so hard his teeth were fully exposed, “You didn’t see his expression at the time. His face was so dark, he looked just like Judge Bao.”
Meng She held his phone between his ear and shoulder, swiping on his tablet, trying to find the recorded clip of the livestream earlier. “Is it still too early? Why hasn’t anyone uploaded the replay yet? I still want to show you.”
Ming Qi couldn’t help but laugh. “I saw it. I was watching his livestream when the audition results came out.”
“So coincidental?”
Meng She had tuned into Le Siyan’s livestream because he saw the notification on Weibo. He vaguely guessed that Le Siyan and Shi Yong would definitely use Zhang Cong’s comment—that Le Siyan had performed quite well in the audition—to stir things up, so he clicked in without hesitation. And sure enough, he heard Le Siyan bringing it up through his fans’ comments.
He originally wanted to just take a couple of sarcastic jabs and leave, but instead he stumbled upon something entertaining.
Before he could fully understand why Le Siyan lost control of his expression on camera, Meng She sharply noticed a passing bullet comment: Director Zhang Cong just posted on Weibo saying he found an actor very suitable for the role today. Are the audition results out? Did Le Zi get selected?
Meng She immediately tensed up and didn’t even bother with Le Siyan anymore—he called Ming Qi right away. When he heard that Ming Qi had received the acceptance message for the audition, he got so excited he almost wanted to run three laps downstairs around the neighborhood.
After his excitement gradually settled, Meng She replayed Le Siyan’s expression in his mind and instantly understood the reason, and laughed even louder.
“Just as expected, Director Zhang Cong really has sharp judgment. So what if he acted decently? We acted even better than him!” Meng She sighed. “Shi Yong really only has that much ability.”
If his usual tricks didn’t work on Zhang Cong, how could he possibly fight for the role he wanted?
“Go to bed early and wait to join the production. Your brother is waiting for you to blow up in popularity!”
“Okay.”
Ming Qi hung up the phone, then excitedly buried his face into Xiao Ba’s soft belly and took a deep sniff.
So nice.
Meng-ge’s Cullinan progress +1.
He played around with Xiao Ba on the bed until Xiao Ba was exhausted and lay limp in the blanket, turning his butt toward Ming Qi’s face and ignoring him completely. Ming Qi didn’t mind at all. He rolled over, picked up his phone, and opened Yu Qinzhou’s WeChat chat box.
77.: [I poked “Mr. Yu”]
77.: [Image]
77.: [Cat spinning around.JPG]
Yu Qinzhou’s special notification tone rang out when the message arrived. He had just come out of the bathroom. He was only wearing dark sleep pants casually, his toned V-line disappearing into the waistband. He bent down to pick up the phone he had tossed onto the bed, his gaze landing on the screenshot, then on the joyful, excited sticker.
Y: Congratulations.
Y: [Cat praising.JPG]
Y: I’m really looking forward to the day the movie is released. I just wonder if Mr. Ming will be able to pick me this time.
Ming Qi thought about it seriously and felt it might be difficult.
After all, he and Meng She had a prior agreement—any movie he participated in must be watched together once in the cinema. However… no one said he couldn’t watch it twice.
One day with Meng She, the next day with Yu Qinzhou.
Ming Qi, very satisfied with his arrangement, replied: Don’t worry, Mr. Yu. I’ll definitely treat you to a screening then.
Then he added: I said I’d treat you to a meal too. You can think about what you want to eat in advance.
And specially added: No need to save me money.
Yu Qinzhou chuckled: Okay.
…
The next day was the weekend.
Ming Qi hadn’t slept well the night before due to excitement and slowly walked downstairs.
Yu Qinzhou didn’t need to go to work today, so his morning run was later than usual, and he had only just sat down at the dining table for breakfast. Seeing Ming Qi walking unsteadily, he reminded him to “be careful on the stairs,” then looked at his face.
Ming Qi had fair skin, so the faint dark circles under his eyes were especially noticeable. Yu Qinzhou leaned back in his chair and observed him for a few seconds, then couldn’t help teasing him, “Cosplaying a panda today?”
Ming Qi didn’t react at first, until he pulled out his phone and opened the front camera.
Ming Qi: “……”
It’s not that bad, right?
He fell silent for a few seconds, then quietly defended himself, “This is an accident.”
He pulled out a chair and sat down, taking a sip of warm milk. His fingers unconsciously touched the area under his eyes.
At that moment, the phone on the table lit up, showing the very obvious caller ID: “Meng Mom.”
Ming Qi answered. Before he could speak, Meng She’s excited voice came through.
“Qi-zai, open the door!”
Ming Qi was confused. “Huh?”
Meng She sounded even more enthusiastic, “Open the door! I’m at your doorstep. With such a good day, how can we not have hot pot? I bought beef tallow base and tomato base, and two jin of fresh beef from the market. Oh right, I also bought a lot of snacks and toys for my godson. Hurry up and open the door.”
Pfft—
Ming Qi almost choked on his saliva. He stood up in panic, spinning in place twice before looking toward Yu Qinzhou.
His face was full of shock and helplessness.
So flustered his ears turned red.
Yu Qinzhou clearly hadn’t expected Meng She to pull a surprise visit like that, but after only a brief pause, he quickly returned to his usual calm. He stood up, pushed back his chair, walked to Ming Qi’s side, placed his hand over the young man’s, and took the phone away, speaking evenly, “Mr. Meng?”
“Mm?”
Meng She froze for a couple of seconds, thinking the voice sounded familiar, but before he could figure it out, he heard the other side introduce himself.
“Don’t remember me? We just had dinner together yesterday.”
“Mr. Yu?”
Meng She couldn’t help but glance at the person the call was connected to.
The contact name clearly showed Ming Qi, but why was Yu Qinzhou the one answering the phone?
Before Meng She could figure it out, Yu Qinzhou spoke again.
“Ming is currently at Xijing Bay. Yesterday, when I was talking with him, he mentioned wanting to change apartments, so I recommended Xijing Bay to him. He’s here now looking at properties on my side. Would you like to come over as well, Mr. Meng? You could give him some advice.”
With every sentence Yu Qinzhou spoke, Ming Qi’s pupils widened a little more.
Wait—how did this suddenly turn into house hunting at Xijing Bay?!
And he even invited Meng She over?!
How was he supposed to keep this under wraps now?
Ming Qi’s mind turned into a complete mess. By the time he snapped back to reality, Yu Qinzhou had already returned the phone to him. Meeting Ming Qi’s confused, stunned, and slightly dazed expression, Yu Qinzhou’s cool fingertips brushed the corner of his eye as he let out a low chuckle.
“Don’t keep staring. Your eyes are already big enough.”
That wasn’t the point at all.
Ming Qi looked at him weakly. “Mr. Yu, finding a shared apartment like this… no matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem realistic.”
“Who said it’s a shared apartment?” Yu Qinzhou leaned slightly forward, his arms resting on the chair behind Ming Qi. As he approached, a deep woody fragrance of oud and sandalwood invaded the air, his warm breath brushing against Ming Qi’s ear, making him stiffen slightly out of discomfort. But soon, the man’s words drew his attention.
“Mr. Ming… would you mind if I take advantage of a crisis?”
“Take advantage of a crisis?”
Yu Qinzhou only smiled and said nothing.
Meng She arrived at Xijing Bay over half an hour later. He had been driving in a hurry and hadn’t had time to ask Ming Qi what exactly was going on. After parking in Yu Qinzhou’s underground garage, he couldn’t help but gasp at the row of luxury cars that nearly blinded him.
Following the sight of the cars, he saw Ming Qi standing by the elevator entrance.
Ming Qi, unusually, wasn’t wrapped up like a dumpling today. He wore a short down jacket, revealing a pair of straight, slender legs. He waved at Meng She, who immediately walked over and asked, “What’s going on? Why are you suddenly moving?”
Ming Qi replied, “I was targeted by paparazzi.”
That wasn’t entirely a lie.
Ever since the day he and Yu Qinzhou registered their marriage, paparazzi from the Ming Zhengyue family had been lurking outside his residential complex.
“Last night I mentioned it to Mr. Yu, and he suggested I take a look at Xijing Bay.”
Meng She had lived in the capital city for years, of course he knew what kind of place Xijing Bay was. Even if he hadn’t heard of its reputation before, just stepping inside had made it clear. As one of the most elite villa districts in the city, it had garden pools as standard, quiet surroundings, spacious grounds, and top-tier security.
It was undoubtedly an excellent place for Ming Qi—only…
He asked somewhat cautiously, “Do we even have the money to live here?”
Good question.
Ming Qi also felt a little guilty. He coughed lightly and repeated Yu Qinzhou’s explanation: “Mr. Yu has two villas here. He said he can rent one of them to me at a low price. Brother Meng, shall we go take a look together?”
The second villa Yu Qinzhou had prepared for Ming Qi wasn’t far from the main residential area. Walking along the path, it didn’t take long to arrive. Although the villa was unoccupied, the snow that had accumulated overnight had already been cleared, leaving only the surrounding plants dusted with white—beautiful and serene.
Pushing open the villa door, the interior furnishings were nearly identical to Yu Qinzhou’s own residence. Everything was fully equipped, and at a glance, it was clearly move-in ready.
Meng She walked through every floor and room, unable to stop himself from exclaiming in admiration.
“As expected of Xijing Bay. This place is on another level. Qi-zai, Mr. Yu is really too nice. Shouldn’t we kneel and thank him or something?”
Ming Qi awkwardly touched his nose. “Mr. Yu probably doesn’t need us to show that much gratitude.”
As he spoke, the very person Meng She wanted to bow to arrived from outside.
Yu Qinzhou was dressed more casually than yesterday, his demeanor relaxed and unhurried. He greeted Meng She with a faint smile before saying, “This villa was originally reserved for my cousin, but he already has several properties in the capital and just agreed to rent it out to Mr. Ming. What do you think?”
Meng She immediately replied, “Very good.”
“Then I’ll send the agreement to Mr. Ming.”
At that moment, Ming Qi’s phone chimed. He glanced down suspiciously—there really was an “agreement”?
But when he opened it, there was only one sentence:
Mr. Ming, remember to think carefully about how to pay the rent.