CHAPTER 74: CHAPTER 74: YOU ARE ALWAYS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL

The game ended, and everyone took a group photo together.

Dressing in historical costumes for this historical game was a new experience for everyone, and while taking the photo, they discussed wanting to act in a historical drama in the future.

Yu Xia and Shu Ran sat on the only two chairs, right at the front.

Surrounded by a group of young guys, Xie Qingci stood behind the two chairs, at the center.

Click, the image was captured, the smile on Yu Xia’s lips fell, she stood up and fanned herself vigorously, quickly running back to the changing room to change clothes.

Earlier she was thinking, maybe she could act in another historical drama later, but now she feels it’s better to think carefully, as the costume is too stuffy.

Having changed, she finally felt a bit more comfortable. As she left the changing room, she bumped into Xie Qingci, who was also coming out still in costume.

Without lifting her eyebrows, she took off her headpiece and put it on the makeup table in the middle, tying her long hair into a ponytail, preparing to grab a tissue to wipe her sweat.

Unexpectedly, Xie Qingci handed her a tissue first.

"You look beautiful today," he said softly.

Yu Xia: "Oh, only today I’m beautiful."

"...No, you’ve always been beautiful, especially today."

"Oh, you just found out today, did you have eye surgery for nearsightedness?"

Xie Qingci laughed softly, as if amused by her unreasonable behavior.

"Alright, my choice of words was inappropriate, you’re always the most beautiful."

Yu Xia pouted, glanced at him with a hint of teasing wind in her eyes, and walked out.

He didn’t move, staying inside waiting for the others to come out, leaning his waist against the long makeup table, watching her back with a mix of leisure and seriousness.

Getting farther away, until she walked into the circle of light.

"Xie Qingci, let’s go."

He naturally shifted his gaze, responded to them, and accompanied them outside.

——

Yu Xia casually waved goodbye to the young guys.

She was thinking about her current relationship with Xie Qingci.

Ex-boyfriend and girlfriend? No, it doesn’t quite seem like it.

What kind of exes meet every day and still kiss?

Mentor and trainee? Even less so. If forced to label it, they are more like a teacher-student romance, which involves a hint of taboo.

So, what kind of relationship is it?

They once dated, and after breaking up, became mentor and contestant, needing to pretend to be unfamiliar under the camera, two adults each with their own agendas.

Yes, that’s it.

Xie Qingci explicitly said he wanted to reconcile, her refusal was not absolute either, everything was uncertain in the future.

But they won’t have any progress for now—at least not during the talent show or within the one-year limit of the project debut.

She does not allow a romantic relationship to delay her career or affect her reputation.

"Sister, you’re free tomorrow. You need to fly to Yuan Mountain on Friday for the Baishang Good Drama Awards, the red carpet dress is ready."

The voice of Mei interrupted her thoughts.

Yu Xia quickly returned to reality and focused on her work.

"I remember, He told me two months ago. My partner arranged is still Yuan Wang, right?"

"Yes, Yuan Wang’s studio also said to wait for his car tomorrow, we’ll go together."

"Okay," she recalled the following schedule and asked Mei to repeat it to reinforce her memory, "What other important events are there afterward?"

Mei: "The new play you just signed will have the main character makeup test in a week, a magazine cover shoot in ten days, and after the airing date of the last drama is set, you’ll attend a meet-and-greet with Yuan Wang."

"Oh, and He also accepted two variety shows for you as a guest, recorded before and after the talent show ends, I’ll notify you of the specific time in advance."

More variety shows?

Yu Xia completely understood He Ci’s hopes for her to quickly rise to fame and become a sensation. Many artists have shot to stardom thanks to variety shows in recent years, and he wanted her to follow this path.

But which variety shows become hits and for whom is a matter of fate, participating in more doesn’t necessarily increase the chances.

She told Mei, "Tell He, not to schedule me for more variety shows for now; I need to devote a lot of time to the new play I just took on, I don’t want to get distracted and mess it up."

She was even considering gaining some experience at her brother’s company before joining the crew.

And see if her brother, the domineering CEO, was just like how it is portrayed in TV dramas.

Mei carefully made a memo and responded with "Okay."

After discussing work, her heart for gossip rekindled.

"Sister, I have to tell you this talent show really went viral, Pei Lu’s popularity is skyrocketing, his fans are rising faster than anyone else’s!"

Yu Xia propped her head, the quiet car making one feel sleepy, she asked, "Oh? Even praised to the skies with no doubts?"

"Of course, there are doubts! Not everyone is blind, not to mention the Orange Juice Army is still around. But as they say, any publicity is good publicity, and clearly, his popularity continues to rise amidst the criticism."

She had somewhat expected this and asked, "What about Xie Qingci and Song Xi?"

"Many of their news got buried. Song Xi’s fans are still scolding Xie Qingci for favoritism, Xie Qingci’s fans have released direct stage footage...

The key is, Xie Qingci’s fans haven’t even had time to do much, but the unified control of comments by Song Xi’s fans has annoyed the passersby, and many people have started to dislike Song Xi."

So Changhui isn’t ready to announce Xie Qingci’s signing yet?

Still waiting for the right moment?

She thought for a moment, yawned, and said, "I’m free tomorrow, right? Then I’ll go visit the boys at the program group tomorrow; I won’t be free on Friday, and Saturday is the theme song assessment."

"Okay. But make sure you have no interactions with the boys tomorrow, my sister, He repeatedly reminded about this."

Yu Xia paused her yawning action.

"What do you mean? What’s being said about me this time?"

Mei eagerly shared the gossip: "I don’t need to mention the love quadrangle, right? Whale feeding love is the current mainstream, and the fish delivery love with Song Xi is also a favorite among fan artists recently."

"Oh, and there’s even more, a story of forced love with Pei Lu! You’re the dominant one, and fans who like this twist even created a story of a flamboyant female A and a green tea male O for you two!"

Yu Xia: "...Whale feeding? Fish delivery?"

"With Wei Yaoyao, and with Song Xi. Ah, sister, you’re truly the polygonal supporting role, matched with everyone!"

Damn polygonal supporting role!

"Isn’t there any normal news?" she said through gritted teeth, "Like rumors of my pure, celibate, self-admiring beauty."

"There really aren’t. Oh look, an update, the latest gossip is about you and Xie Qingci’s runaway elopement, but maybe there’s been too much gossip about you lately, a lot of people are feeling full from eating up the gossip, and many people now find these rumors unbelievable."

Yu Xia showed a hopeful look, leaned forward a bit, and stared at her: "Continue, rumors are unbelievable, and then? Why do they find the rumors unbelievable?"

Is it because they see her pure and noble nature?

Mei looked at her phone and summarized: "Because they say Xie Qingci is too upright, you two are no more than sibling-like or mentor-student like."

"Blind their eyes!"