26. The Story About Xing

Many years later, an influencer on Weibo would post nine photos of Qin Xing with the caption of “Does anyone remember this great actor?”

To everyone’s surprise, Wei Chang Feng, who had won several Best Actor Awards had reposted the Weibo with a comment, “Qin Xing must have fulfilled his dream if he were alive.”

Wei Chang Feng’s comment provoked an uproar from the fans, they left countless comments asking how they knew each other and what Qin Xing’s dream was.

That was the first time and the only time that Wei Chang Feng had mentioned Qin Xing’s name in public.

Both Wei Chang Feng and Qin Xing had made their debut when they were little boys, they grew up together on set and became bosom friends, and the country had fallen in love with the two beautiful boys.

Needless to say, kids, who grew up in show business knew how hard it was to make friends, so they appreciated their friendship even more.

However, the fairy tale had turned into its opposite one day. Qin Xing had died in a wire accident when he was shooting a movie and Wei Chang Feng chose to go abroad to study and heal the pain from losing his best friend.

“An, I’m bringing up this old friend of mine to tell you that you never know what comes to you first --- tomorrow or accidents, but we cannot give up on life because of an accident, right?”

Qi Le An was so touched that Wei Chang Feng was sharing a personal story with him, “Wei Sama, I... I haven’t given up on life.”

Wei Chang Feng smiled and nodded, “That’s great, I just... I just wanted to cheer you up.”

The two’s eyes met and they chuckled in unison, Wei Chang Feng changed the subject, “How have you been?”

“I’ve been well, just so busy.” there was a touch of disconsolate in Qi Le An’s tone.

Wei Chang Feng’s phone vibrated when he was about to ask Qi Le An what he had been up to, Gary turned down the volume on the speaker and Wei Chang Feng answered the call.

“Hi, Director Chen, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Yeah, I’m free.”

“Great, see you soon then.”

With that Wei Chang Feng hung up the phone and asked Qi Le An, “Do you have any shooting recently?”

Qi Le An shook his head resignedly, “Glory always arranges commercial activities for me.”

Wei Chang Feng frowned, “Commercial activities... hmm... do you mind me inviting someone else to our dinner? I want to introduce you to Director Chen.”

Wei Chang Feng had always been this considerate, he always tried his best to make Qi Le An feel respected and valued, and he tried to downplay it when he was doing Qi Le An a favor.

“Of course!”

Wei Chang Feng smiled and asked Gary to drop them at East Wind.

East Wind was a fancy restaurant, Qi Le An had only been there once in his last time, he was rendered speechless by how expensive the dishes were when he went there.

Two greeters led Wei Chang Feng and Qi Le An to the hall, it looked like Wei Chang Feng was a regular at the restaurant, the receptionist greeted Wei Chang Feng and soon the greeters took them to a private room.

Qi Le An adored the quaint interior design of the room so much, he couldn’t help but make a wow sound as they were seated. Wei Chang Feng was amused by Qi Le An, he poured two cups of tea and said, “An, we are meeting Director Chen here, no need to get nervous, all right?”

Qi Le An nodded with a meek smile, then he lowered his head, he was so hesitant whether he should mention his situation in Glory.

“Is everything okay, An?”

Qi Le An took a deep breath, he decided to be honest with Wei Chang Feng for he was the only one that he could trust. “Wei Sama, everything is not okay, there are quite a few oppressive clauses in my contract with Glory... ...”

Wei Chang Feng was shocked after he heard how Glory had been exploiting Qi Le An, he pounded the table and said, “That’s ridiculous!”

“I know I shouldn’t bother you with this... ...” said Qi Le An.

“An, don’t say that, I know how hard it is for young trainees in show business, I’m happy to help. I can’t believe they have only booked you commercial activities since To Perish Demons! What a waste of talent!” Wei Chang Feng said that with bitter hatred.

“An, I’m glad I decided to introduce you to Director Chen, he is shooting a new movie soon, I think you are a perfect fit for one character. And don’t worry about Glory.” Wei Chang Feng patted him on the shoulder.

Qi Le An was tongue-tied for a second, Wei Chang Feng said he had recommended him to Director Chen and he would help him to talk to Glory about his career planning. Qi Le An didn’t know how he should repay Wei Chang Feng’s kindness.

Director Chen was one of the most famous directors in China, his parents shot the groundbreaking films in China’s filmdom in the fifties, and their names were even mentioned in high school history textbooks for their artistic attainments. As for Director Chen himself, his works were acclaimed as masterpieces at home and abroad as well.

Soon Director Chen had arrived, Qi Le An was surprised to find the director was so nice and friendly, he was a middle-aged man with a lingering smile on his face. He graciously extended his hand to Qi Le An initiating a greeting.

Qi Le An was overwhelmed by Director Chen’s kindness, he looked a bit ill at ease until Wei Chang Feng’s face cracked into a smile and said, “Director Chen, this is the young talent I’ve been talking about.”

“I know you, young man, my daughter loves your show, you are Bell, right?”

Colour flared in Qi Le An’s cheeks, he was so glad that Director Chen actually knew who he was, slowly he became more collected.

The waitress started to serve the dishes after Director Chen was seated. Director Chen asked Wei Chang Feng how his parents were doing and what he had been up to before they talked about the screenplay that he was about to shoot.

“Chang Feng, how do you like the story?”

Wei Chang Feng smiled, “It’s written by you, Director Chen, of course, it’s great. But why do you think I’m the perfect match?”

Qi Le An was shocked to hear that, he didn’t understand why it sounded like Wei Chang Feng was turning the director down.

Director Chen said, “I know your concern, I finished the screenplay years ago for Xing, I think Xing will rest in peace seeing you playing the male lead for him.”

Wei Chang Feng went silent.

“I wrote the story for Xing, but Xing passed away before we started shooting. I would dream about him asking whether I’m going to shoot the movie or not.” Director Chen permitted himself a wry smile.

Qin Xing’s mother and Director Chen’s wife were best friends, Qin Xing made his debut in one of Director Chen’s films, and Director Chen always cared about Qin Xing like a son so he decided to restart the movie to memorize Qin Xing.

Wei Chang Feng changed the subject, “Let’s talk about this later, the food is getting cold.”

Qi Le An had never seen Wei Chang Feng this disconcerted before, he wondered why Wei Chang Feng would turn Director Chen down.

“An, how old are you this year?” Director Chen broke the silence.

“I’m turning seventeen this year.” Qi Le An said that with reluctance, how he wished he could say his real age.

“So young, Chang Feng, you were shooting The Journey Home when you were An’s age, right?”

Wei Chang Feng nodded, “I was so nervous when I first met Director Ge.”

“Haha, but you did such a wonderful job. As you know, Director Ge is my teacher, I seldom hear him praising anyone, but he was lavish in his praise for your performance! He said he had prepared the screenplay for over ten years, and your performance had made it all worth it!” Director Chen got a bit nostalgic as he thought about his teacher, then he urged Wei Chang Feng to take the part in his new movie.

“I will take the part, director, I won’t let you down!” Wei Chang Feng looked very determined.

Director Chen beamed with smile, he knew bringing up Qin Xing’s name would change Wei Chang Feng’s mind, he was so glad everything worked out.

“Director, is there a part for An?” Wei Chang Feng added.

Director Chen was dumbstruck for a second, Wei Chang Feng had never asked anything from any director in his career, the director looked Qi Le An up and down inquiringly.

Qi Le An didn’t shy away from the director’s gaze, he knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.

“Please arrange an audition for An if there’s a part that suits him.” the undertone was pretty clear, Wei Chang Feng was not making a requirement, he just wanted the director to give Qi Le An an opportunity.

Hearing that, Director Chen heaved a sigh of relief, “The Male Lead’s younger brother could be a fit for An, I will send him a copy of the screenplay.”

“Thank you so much, director.” Qi Le An was so excited.

Director Chen trusted Wei Chang Feng’s judgment, he encouraged Qi Le An to do a good job in the audition.

With that Director Chen took his leave, but Wei Chang Feng called Gary and asked him to meet them in the restaurant instead of leaving as well.

Soon Gary walked into the room and handed a copy of the screenplay to Qi Le An.

The title was Better Days. It was a story about a young boy who had matured overnight after he had a taste in love and separation.

Xing, the Male Lead was a young boy who had a tough childhood, his father was a paralytic while his mother supported their family by doing odd jobs in the city. And his mother begged his uncle who lived in the city to take Xing in after Xing finished high school, hopefully, Xing could find a job and gain a foothold in the city.

Xing moved to Uncle’s place and lived with his two cousins, soon Xing took a shine to Uncle’s neighbor, Susan.

Susan was a girl in her early twenties who lived together with her boyfriend, Xing had never seen a girl with such a charming smile and inviting eyes. And just like that, Susan had snatched the young boy’s heart completely.