82. Birthday Present

The sketch that Qi Le An gave to the seller was actually not very detailed. He wanted to see the letters “A” and “F” engraved on the rock.

As for the detailed and exquisite requests, Qi Le An said he would leave it in the designer’s capable hands.

He gave the designer a lot of freedom and creative space, so in the designer’s effect picture, the rock was in a star shape. The two letters “A” and “F” he requested were hidden under the silver light. The letters were hidden so well that you needed to look at them with a magnifying glass.

Qi Le An was very satisfied with the effect picture and he had immediately approved it.

When choosing the material, Qi Le An gritted his teeth and chose Platinum.

When the designer saw the word ‘Platinum’, he immediately replied with an exclamation mark, “Wow, are you going to propose with this ring! Best of luck to you!”

Qi Le An blushed.

“No, it’s just a birthday present,” he replied.

‘How I wish it were for a proposal!’ thought Qi Le An.

The designer replied, “…Oh.”

Qi Le An pouted as he saw the word ‘oh’, he could feel the designer’s disappointment. The designer quickly added, “Platinum isn’t cheap. Please pay half of the deposit first.”

Platinum’s market price was now around two hundred RMB per gram. However, the price of Platinum in this independent custom-made store was significantly higher, it was 300 RMB a gram.

When Qi Le An transferred the money online, he was glad that platinum wasn’t as expensive as diamonds. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to afford it.

After paying the money, Qi Le An felt relaxed, now he could just wait for the delivery. But then he started to feel uneasy again because the final exam was about to take place.

Before the final exam, he had to attend the opening ceremony for “The Disguiser”.

Things had been so hectic for Qi Le An, he went to Mr. Luo’s office to ask for one day leave for the opening ceremony on Wednesday. Qi Le An said in an apologetic tone that he needed a day off. When Mr. Luo approved the leave, he emphasized that the final exam was just next week, he told Qi Le An that he needed to concentrate on his study as well.

As soon as the class ended on Tuesday afternoon, Chen Shan and Yin Yan took Qi Le An on a plane to H City.

This was the first TV series after Qi Le An signed the contract with Gale Studio, and Yin Yan attached great importance to it.

When they arrived at H City that night, Yin Yan took Qi Le An and the people from the Sunshine Era for dinner. Of course, Li Jianjun was invited as well, everyone in the room thought highly of Qi Le An.

The drama was about the War of Resistance Against Japan, so they were going to shoot the entire show in the film and television city. Qi Le An went to the film and television city early on Wednesday morning.

Qi Le An was the male lead of “The Disguiser”, even though the crew had postponed his shooting time, he couldn’t miss the opening ceremony. Apart from Qi Le An, the other leading roles were also present.

Among them was Chu Cheng Yuan.

When Qi Le An arrived at the venue, Chu Cheng Yuan was talking to Jiang Xiaoyu. The two of them looked like they were good friends with all the laughing and talking.

Seeing Qi Le An coming over, Chu Cheng Yuan took the initiative to greet him, “Le An!”

Chen Shan patted Qi Le An in the back to remind him that Chu Cheng Yuan was greeting him, Qi Le An walked over with a smile.

Jiang Xiaoyu looked at Qi Le An curiously. This was the first time that they met each other.

Even though Qi Le An did not like Chu Cheng Yuan, Jiang Xiaoyu was his female lead in this show, Qi Le An didn’t want Jiang Xiaoyu to get the wrong idea of him, so he gently greeted Jiang Xiaoyu, “Hello, nice to finally meet you, Xiaoyu, I’m Qi Le An.”

After greeting Jiang Xiaoyu, he couldn’t ignore Chu Cheng Yuan anymore. Qi Le An didn’t want the crew members to see him ignoring Chu Cheng Yuan and talk about him behind his back, so he turned to look at Chu Cheng Yuan and said, “Hello, we meet again!”

Chu Cheng Yuan still wore a broad smile on his face and said, “I meant to invite you to a dinner last time at the photographic exhibition, but you left early.”

Jiang Xiaoyu was so surprised to hear that, she asked curiously, “Have you two been to a photographic exhibition together?”

“We happened to run into each other,” Chu Cheng Yuan answered Jiang Xiaoyu, and he turned around to ask Qi Le An, “Let’s have dinner together tonight, the three of us?”

Jiang Xiaoyu was a few years older than Qi Le An. Although she got into the industry when she was a child, she took a really break from school and this was her first comeback drama. She was still very innocent, she hadn’t seen the ugly side of show business. When she heard that Chu Cheng Yuan suggested them having dinner together, she said in high spirit, “Sounds great! I’m in! Where are you thinking? I heard my classmates mentioned that there are a lot of good restaurants near this film and the television city!

Jiang Xiaoyu was currently in her second year of university, and some of her classmates had already made their name in the entertainment industry. Before she came to the film city, she had heard a lot of gossip about this place.

Chu Cheng Yuan was about to open his mouth when he heard Qi Le An’s apology, “Sorry, I might not be able to join you guys tonight. I have to go back to Hai City in the afternoon.”

The crew members had already announced that Qi Le An’s shooting was postponed. Jiang Xiaoyu had immediately recalled that when she heard Qi Le An’s apology, “Yes, Le An will start shooting in half a month, right?”

Qi Le An smiled and said, “Yes, I need to finish my final exams first. Xiaoyu Jiejie, how about you, don’t you need to finish your final?”

When she heard the word ‘exam’, Jiang Xiaoyu’s eyes instantly dimmed, “Ah, the final exams… yeah, I do need to take my final, but I’ve applied for a delayed examination, so I can take it next semester.”

No student liked final exams or any exams, the two instantly clicked on talking about how much they hated it. Jiang Xiaoyu was a student of Beijing Film Academy, and Beijing Film Academy was Qi Le An’s dream university, so he curiously asked Jiang Xiaoyu a lot of questions about the best performing university in the entire country.

Jiang Xiaoyu was particularly excited after she found out that Qi Le An saw her university as his dream university. She pulled him aside to tell him a lot about the courses and the professors. On the other hand, Chu Cheng Yuan, a trainee who got his education from Glory, couldn’t get a word in when Jiang Xiaoyu and Qi Le An were talking about university.

Luckily, a few minutes later, Director Yang and Producer Cui walked towards them, he was quite happy when he saw the three of them. “You are all here quite early. I’m not worried that you can’t get up in the morning when we are filming.” Director Yang laughed.

Director Yang was obviously joking. That mistake was intolerable. Jiang Xiaoyu smiled and said, “How dare any of us to oversleep on set, we’d rather stay up all night and go to the set directly without a wink of sleep.”

Chu Cheng Yuan also greeted Producer Cui while Qi Le An looked at Yin Yan and Liu Jianjun who were walking towards them as well.

Now everything looked pretty clear. Jiang Xiaoyu was probably recommended by Director Yang, while Chu Cheng Yuan Producer Cui and himself the scriptwriter Liu Jianjun.

Qi Le An couldn’t help but let out a sigh. A small crew like this turned out to be really balanced, this situation must be considered and checked by all stakeholders.

Luckily, it was harmonious within Sunshine Era, the director and the producer were on great terms. Otherwise, no one could predict how the decision-makers were going to scheme against each other.

The crew members arrived one after another and the ceremony had officially begun. Everyone worshipped the land and the sky, praying that the shooting would be smooth.

After the opening ceremony for “The Disguiser”, they didn’t start shooting immediately. Director Yang reserved time for an interview with the reporters and a lunch with the investors. It was not until the afternoon that they would shoot one or two scenes, and the official shooting was the next day.

Although ‘The Disguiser’ was produced by Sunshine Era, there were two other companies that had invested in it, and one of them had sent a representative to follow up the whole shooting process.

When the opening ceremony was over, reporters immediately surrounded the crew members. Compared to Chu Cheng Yuan who was the second Male Lead, most of the reporters kept asking Qi Le An and Jiang Xiaoyu questions. For the first time, Qi Le An felt he had made it, he was in such high spirit when the reporters asked him questions that he became so talkative, leaving no time for reporters to ask Chu Cheng Yuan any question.

The three actors were also invited to the lunch with the investors, but Jiang Xiaoyu and Chu Cheng Yuan were not accompanied by their managers. Only Qi Le An who was accompanied by Yin Yan was introduced to the investors at the dining table.

Lunch finished early because they needed to shoot two scenes in the afternoon. Yin Yan was familiar with the other two investors. So the big shots led the way while the three young actors followed.

Chu Cheng Yuan somehow suddenly halted, Jiang Xiaoyu who was looking down at her phone, slammed into his back. Jiang Xiaoyu was just about to look up and apologize when she realized that her hair was wrapped around the decorative button on Chu Cheng Yuan’s shoulder.

Chu Cheng Yuan made a move tentatively, Jiang Xiaoyu made a painful sound and neither of them dared to move. Qi Le An quickly stepped forward and tried to unknot Jiang Xiaoyu’s hair.

The situation was extremely awkward. Jiang Xiaoyu tilted her head and her face was twisted in pain. Chu Cheng Yuan stood upright, not daring to move. Qi Le An stood in the middle of them, trying to get Jiang Xiaoyu’s hair out. No one knew why Chu Cheng Yuan would halt and why Jiang Xiaoyu’s hair would get stuck on Chu Cheng Yuan’s button. Finally, Chu Cheng Yuan asked helplessly, “How does it look?”

Jiang Xiaoyu’s head was still tilted at an uncomfortable angle and she grimaced in pain. When she heard Chu Cheng Yuan’s question, she hurriedly said, “Just do it! Do it before the reporters come over!”

Qi Le An found it funny. He grabbed the upper half of Jiang Xiaoyu’s hair, then he forcefully tore off the lower half that was stuck under Chu Cheng Yuan’s button.

Jiang Xiaoyu finally could move her head, she heaved a sigh of relief.

Chu Cheng Yuan finally dared to move. He turned around and asked Jiang Xiaoyu, “How are you? Are you all right?”

Jiang Xiaoyu who was stroking her head laughed, “I’m fine, but Yuan, why did you halt? All of a sudden?”

Chu Cheng Yuan looked so innocent. He said, “I just thought that it’s not good for me to walk in front of you. I just wanted to take a step back and walk with you together.”

Jiang Xiaoyu found that so amusing.

At this moment, Qi Le An suddenly said, “Let me help you get the hair on the button.”

Chu Cheng Yuan was stunned. He felt Qi Le An didn’t like him from the previous encounters, Qi Le An had even left in a huff last time he tried to talk to him. Therefore, Chu Cheng Yuan quickly agreed when Qi Le An offered to help him.

“Then I will trouble Le An, thank you so much.” Chu Cheng Yuan smiled.

“No worries.” Qi Le An also smiled and stepped forward to tear off the strands of hair entangled in Chu Cheng Yuan’s buttons. Then he patted Chu Cheng Yuan’s clothes quietly as if trying to clean Chu Cheng Yuan's hair on his T-shirt.