Dressed As a Cannon Fodder For the Rich and Powerful

TL: Hua

The rice porridge is very fragrant—not the smell of spices, but the pure rice fragrance mixed with the smell of sesame oil, which makes people hungry and their stomachs growl.

Qi Xiaoyu stood at the door with a bowl in his hand. He held the plate in his right hand and raised his left hand to knock on the door. He couldn’t help but swallow his saliva first. He came too fast just now, and he didn’t even have time to eat a bowl.

The people inside should have smelled the fragrance, and before Qi Xiaoyu knocked on the door, the door was opened first.

Butler Cheng stood inside the door; his whole body looked much better than the previous few days. He glanced at the porridge in Qi Xiaoyu’s hand and saw that the rice grains were plump and thick, and the whole thing looked crystal clear. Satisfied, he nodded. “You’ve worked hard, Xiao Yu. Bring it in quickly, and just put it on the coffee table.”

Qi Xiaoyu walked in and put the porridge on the small coffee table beside the bed, according to his words, while stealthily looking at Xun Qian.

Xun Qian was leaning on the bed, wearing a pair of flat gold-rimmed glasses, and frowning slightly as he looked at a document in front of him. There was still a slight sick look between his brows, but he was more focused than usual.

This kind of concentration and seriousness seemed to cast a faint light on him. Even though the overall look was still tired and alienated, it was so good that people couldn’t take their eyes off him.

Beauty misleads people.

Qi Xiaoyu didn’t have any other thoughts either. He simply glanced at him a few more times out of admiration and, for a moment, forgot where to start talking about the movie.

Just at this time, Butler Cheng walked in quickly.

When he came in, he went straight to the desk first, picking up a burgundy-colored envelope with a dark pattern on it before walking towards Qi Xiaoyu.

He handed the envelope to Qi Xiaoyu and said, “Mr. Qi, this is the invitation card for Kang Qitao’s 50th birthday party. Please keep it.”

Qi Xiaoyu’s heart fluttered, somehow guessing what this meant, but he was a little puzzled. What is Xun Qian up to?

Butler Cheng seemed to know what Qi Xiaoyu was thinking and explained with a smile, “Mr. Kang sent an invitation for the birthday banquet, but Third Master isn’t in good health and never attends such occasions, so I will trouble you to attend it on his behalf.”

Then he said in a low voice, “Kang Qitao has a high reputation in the industry and has a wide network of contacts. There will be many celebrities and big names in the entertainment industry attending that day. It’s very suitable for Mr. Qi to go.”

Qi Xiaoyu naturally understands this without needing Butler Cheng to say more. Just by seeing the program group kiss up to Kang Qitao during “Let’s Debut, Trainees”, he can tell that this person’s status in the entertainment circle is not low.

He understands better that invitations to such a celebrity-filled occasion aren’t so easy to get.

Between drinking and toasting, one can expand one’s network of contacts more quickly than a movie.

Qi Xiaoyu took the envelope with both hands and glanced at Xun Qian from the corner of his eye.

He thought that Xun Qian was quite an interesting person. He’s disinterested in everything but understands people’s hearts. Before he could open his mouth, he delivered what he wanted to his door.

He really didn’t hold this thigh in vain.

Let’s look for another opportunity to talk about the movie and seize the good opportunity to expand contacts and resources first.

Qi Xiaoyu was thinking about something when he saw Butler Cheng hand over another white folded card, revealing half of a fixed magnetic card inside.

Butler Cheng handed this to Qi Xiaoyu and said, “This is a high-end membership card for a fashion studio. Mr. Qi can order a few custom-made suits. Any other purchases made at the store can be put on Third Master’s account.”

****

Qi Xiaoyu obediently thanked him.

After he left with the envelope and magnetic card, only Xun Qian and Butler Cheng were left in the room.

There was a weird silence for a moment.

After a while, Xun Qian finally finished reading the document in his hand and put it aside.

Butler Cheng immediately brought the porridge up and set up a small table, saying, “It looks like it’s cooking well.”

Xun Qian sat up from the bed, holding the spoon without saying anything and slowly scooping a spoonful into his mouth. After a while, he took another spoonful.

Qi Xiaoyu thoughtfully used a ceramic bowl with two ears to hold the porridge, which is convenient to hold, won’t burn your hands, and has a large capacity, but it didn’t take long before Xun Qian got the bottom of it.

Butler Cheng watched Xun Qian finish his porridge and smiled. “Since he was already invited to attend Kang Qitao’s birthday banquet, why not just give him the movie resources as well? It will be much easier to support him this way.”

Xun Qian wiped his mouth slowly and said casually, “Who said I’m going to support him? Let’s wait and see first.”

Wiping his mouth clean, he asked slowly, “You said he was the one in my room a few days ago?”

“Yes.” Butler Cheng looked at Xun Qian’s face and said slowly, “I think Mr. Qi is pretty good. He’s smart and capable. It’s good to let him spend more time with you.”

Xun Qian covered his mouth and coughed a few times, curling his long, white fingers against his mouth.

Butler Cheng immediately fell silent, not daring to speak again.

After a while, Xun Qian picked up another document to read and suddenly said through the paper, “Jiang Feibai and □□, you go and deal with them.”

Jiang Feibai is the CEO of Orange Juice Entertainment.

□□ is the general manager of Golden Butterfly Wash&Care and the younger brother of Zhou Zheng, the deputy director of the program group.

Butler Cheng quickly agreed.

*****

Qi Xiaoyu went back to his room, took out the invitation card in the envelope, and took a closer look. Kang Qitao’s birthday banquet is next Saturday night; there are still seven or eight days, but to buy clothes, the time is still quite tight.

He took out the card from the fashion studio and looked at it. It was a red and white design on a translucent card with a magnetic stripe. It said Clothes Sewing Studio on the front, and a faint Xun character was printed on the back.

The design is quite impressive.

Usually, this type of studio is not very efficient.

Qi Xiaoyu thought for a moment and decided to search the store online first.

Click on the black and white official website; the first page shows that this studio can get the latest fashions of the world’s top brands for the first time; the second page shows that they provide private customization services from top designers; and the third page shows that all the clothes will have to wait for a season before they can be delivered to the customers.

One season……

The flowers were all gone by that point.

But this is Xun Qian’s card; he shouldn’t be cheated….

Qi Xiaoyu seized the time and decided to go to this studio early the next morning. After all, people rely on clothing to attend such a banquet, so he still needs to dress up well.

He got up early the next morning and transferred buses and subways to go to this studio located in the CBD of the city center.

He really didn’t have any money to take a taxi. Xun Qian just sent him an invitation and gave him a card, so he was too embarrassed to ask for money.

After rolling around buses and subways for almost two hours, he finally arrived at the station, and just after getting out of the subway, he received a call from Yu Xiaosheng.

Yu Xiaosheng’s tone had uncontrollable excitement: “Xiao Yu, let me tell you some good news. There’s a shooting notice this afternoon; you and I will go there.”

Qi Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment, not expecting that Yu Xiaosheng could still receive resources for him at such a time. The recent online situation has not been good.

Although at the beginning it was Qi Xiaoyu’s fans and passers-by who accused the program group of being shady, receiving bribes behind the scenes, and disrespecting viewers’ votes, gradually there were more and more marketing accounts and water armies, all of which publicized fairness and justice in the program group, Gu Lei’s innocence, and various means to whitewash the program group and smear Qi Xiaoyu.

Together, the top ten candidates selected by the program group formed a group called TEN, which had been brushing their faces at various events in the past few days. Their fans were all enthusiastic and were also incited by marketing accounts to attack Qi Xiaoyu.

On Qi Xiaoyu’s side, there was no movement at all, as if he had disappeared.

On one side, the company and the idols are working together, and on the other side, both the company and the idol are silent, so the battle is predictable.

Qi Xiaoyu immediately responded enthusiastically to Yu Xiaosheng, “OK, you send me the address and specific time, I’ll come over on time in the afternoon.”

“Okay, I’ll send it to your phone later.”

After Yu Xiaosheng finished speaking, it seemed as if he was still unsatisfied and continued loudly, “This time I picked up a good magazine for you. They asked you to shoot a back cover for them.”

After a pause, the enthusiasm grew even higher, “Although it’s on the back cover, it’s a second-tier women’s magazine, and it’s quite popular among middle and high school students. I told them that the styling and clothing had to be the best.”

“Okay, thank you, Brother Yu.”

“The location is at No. 51 Tianxing Road!” Although he just said that he would send it to his mobile phone, Yu Xiaosheng couldn’t help but repeat it.

“Okay, I’ll remember.” Qi Xiaoyu looked up, and when he arrived, there was an office building with more than 40 floors in front of him. Looking at the address, this clothing studio was on the 16th floor.

“Xiaoyu, where are you now? How about I pick you up right now, lest you be late?”

Qi Xiaoyu reported the address.

When Yu Xiaosheng heard this, he changed his mind again: “I’m nearby; just wait; I’ll come to you right away, and we’ll go to the filming place together after we’re done.”

Due to the excitement of finally grabbing a resource, Yu Xiaosheng was particularly swift and resolute. After ten minutes, he arrived at the place and walked upstairs with Qi Xiaoyu, shoulder to shoulder, asking, “Why are you here? Rent clothes or buy clothes? I’ve heard of this studio before. Only big entertainment companies patronize this place. That Old Ding didn’t even have the money to reimburse your styling fee.”

Before Qi Xiaoyu could answer, the elevator door opened, and the pretty receptionist greeted them with a bow, saying, “Welcome both of you.”

The sewing studio is quite big, occupying the entire 16th floor.

The overall design of the studio is also very modern. There are rooms with frosted glass everywhere, and the shadowy figures and clothes can be vaguely seen inside.

The receptionist was pretty and polite, but when she heard the words “have no money to reimburse your styling fee”, her face distorted uncontrollably.

After she scanned the clothes of Qi Xiaoyu and Yu Xiaosheng with her sharp eyes, the face with delicate makeup became even more distorted.

Fortunately, Qi Xiaoyu’s face gave her a little confidence. She briefly introduced herself, asked about Qi Xiaoyu’s needs, and then led the two of them around a glass room full of clothes, finally arriving at the innermost room hung with clothes and saying, “Gentlemen, here are the rentable gowns, which are more cost-effective and may be more suitable for you two.”

She spoke politely, but both inside and outside her words, there was an implication that Qi Xiaoyu couldn’t afford other clothes.

Qi Xiaoyu’s eyesight wasn’t inferior to the receptionist’s.

With a single sweep, he realized that although these clothes were all big brands, they were obviously a bit old.

Yu Xiaosheng’s expression also changed slightly. He raised his head and urged impatiently, “Let’s go, we still have to shoot, don’t waste any more time here.”

Qi Xiaoyu raised his hand to stop Yu Xiaosheng, who was about to leave. He took out the card Xun Qian gave him, imitated the receptionist’s polite but haughty tone, and said, “If you are a member here, can you choose more clothes?”