Dressed As a Cannon Fodder For the Rich and Powerful

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Kang Qitao’s birthday banquet was held in an old-fashioned small villa on Tai’an Road.

It was the quietest place in the downtown area, with a layer of tall sycamore trees that separated the hustle and bustle of the city far away, creating a quiet space where no one could easily glimpse its true appearance.

At seven o’clock in the evening, the winter night fell heavily, and luxury cars one after another came out of the lights, passed under the sycamore trees, and drove into the shadows of fragrant clothes.

Surrounded by sycamore trees, Kang Qitao’s house was divided into two small buildings at the front and back, with a neatly built lawn in the center.

The banquet was arranged from the living room on the first floor to the outdoor lawn.

The Swarovski crystal lamps in the living room glowed brightly, shining on the jewelry in the men’s and women’s hair and wrists.

White tables are lined up on the outdoor lawn, filled with red wine, cakes, and delicacies. The string lights glittered in mid-air, and umbrella-shaped lights doubled as heaters, emitting a steady stream of heat to dispel the cold of winter nights.

Qi Xiaoyu is very familiar with this gorgeous and luxurious world.

When he was in Shanghai, he experienced too many such scenes.

He has long since learned how to adjust the smile on his lips to the perfect arc and control his voice to the most pleasant frequency.

He knows better how to control some inconspicuous compliments to the best extent, making everyone feel that this young man is so talkative but sincere, as if every compliment he gives is from the bottom of his heart.

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Since he entered the scene, many people have turned their attention to him. The combination of him and Xue Qingchu is too eye-catching—a black velvet suit paired with a nude hollow-out long skirt, a fair lady paired with a gentleman.

Someone asked from a distance, “Who is that person? Is he the male protagonist of Xue Qingchu’s new drama? It seems that he will be the next traffic star.”

“Pretty good-looking. Which company does he belong to?”

Someone who had just spoken to Qi Xiaoyu said, “It’s a very small entertainment company. I forgot the name, but that kid is nice and polite.”

“Quite a good eye too.” The speaker raised the green, crystal-clear ring on his ring finger as if he were not aware of it. “He can actually tell at a glance that this is the Laokeng glass species jadeite1Jadeite species with dense structure, pure green color, even distribution, good transparency, and hardness.. Kids nowadays really know what they’re talking about.”

Some people also lamented, “The entertainment industry is like the Yangtze River, where the waves behind push the waves ahead2长江后浪推前浪[cháng jiāng hòu làng tuī qián làng]: Each new generation excels the last one..”

Kang Qitao also recognized Qi Xiaoyu at a glance, but he didn’t greet him first. He waited until Qi Xiaoyu and the others were almost near him before waving to Qi Xiaoyu.

Kang Qitao had a deep impression of Qi Xiaoyu. At that time, as a judge for the final night of “Let’s Debut, Trainees”, he watched the whole night’s competition, and the only thing that he remembered was him—a proper singing voice, good timbre, and a steady stage presence. This is a good seedling who could develop into a famous figure.

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He was quite sad that Qi Xiaoyu was eliminated and even thought of taking him as his apprentice.

But after thinking about it, he felt that it wasn’t good for him to lower his stature to promote Qi Xiaoyu. Secondly, the current entertainment industry was too impetuous, and Qi Xiaoyu was a newcomer who had just debuted. Kang Qitao was worried that if he made a hasty move, Qi Xiaoyu might think that success comes too easily and not cherish this opportunity.

But he didn’t expect to see this young man again so soon.

Xue Qingchu saw Kang Qitao waving to them; her eyes lit up, and she whispered in Qi Xiaoyu’s ear, “Teacher Kang has written OSTs for many movies. If you can leave your name with Teacher Kang, you’ll have another way to enter the big screen.”

Although Xue Qingchu is now very popular among the new generation of female stars, she suffers from the image of a cute girl, is limited to TV series, and has a narrow acting path. She is now getting older and is imminently in need of a change of image.

After she finished speaking, she immediately pulled Qi Xiaoyu over and walked over quickly.

Xue Qingchu introduced herself first.

Qi Xiaoyu then introduced himself, raised his glass to Kang Qitao, and said, “I wish Teacher Kang would be able to write popular songs every year.”

After saying that, he raised his head and downed all the wine in his glass.

“Haha, well said. Come on, I’ll drink this glass too.” Kang Qitao patted Qi Xiaoyu on the shoulder, not hiding his admiration at all. As a newcomer who just debuted, he could attend such an occasion without coming off as too humble or arrogant. Kang Qitao once again felt that he hadn’t misjudged this person. He’s indeed a good seedling!

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Kang Qitao was filled with joy. Yuan Yaling on the other side looked at the graceful Qi Xiaoyu, frowned with dissatisfaction, and silently walked away.

In addition to Yuan Yaling, the other dissatisfied person at the banquet was Jiang Sicheng.

When Xue Qingchu appeared at Kang Qitao’s birthday party holding Qi Xiaoyu’s hand, he was so jealous that his head boiled with anger.

Especially the way Xue Qingchu spoke in Qi Xiaoyu’s ear just now, it made him feel like he was close to wearing a green hat3Being cuckold. Bro, she’s just not into you..

He gritted his teeth and racked his brains to think of how to deal with Qi Xiaoyu without making Xue Qingchu angry with him.

****

As the night grew darker, the birthday banquet slowly came to an end in a peaceful atmosphere.

A three-tiered cake was pushed to the center of the living room.

All the people gathered around, holding Kang Qitao in the center.

Qi Xiaoyu knowingly retreated to the periphery of the crowd. He looked around, stopped a waiter, and asked, “May I ask how to get to the resting lounge?”

He’d been talking all night and drinking a lot of wine. Being surrounded by a rowdy crowd made him feel a little nauseous.

“The lounge is in the building opposite, just across the lawn. I’ll take you there.”

“Okay, thank you.”

The building across the lawn is much more deserted than here, especially now that all the waiters have rushed off to assist at the banquet hall.

But it happened that Qi Xiaoyu wanted to seize the time to rest quietly for a while. After the scene dispersed, he would once again have the energy to say goodbye to the people he’d met tonight and head back halfway across the city.

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The waiter sending Qi Xiaoyu to the lounge closed the door and left.

Qi Xiaoyu took a big sip of hot water, sank into the sofa, and closed his eyes to rest. He went through the people he had met today in his mind, capturing the important characteristics of each person and memorizing them. When saying goodbye later, he would greet them one by one, and they would remember him the next time they met.

It was a method he had learned when he was in the Red Moon Troupe. He met every person who came to praise him once and could name them the next time, so the number of people who supported him grew.

It takes a little more effort to do this, but it’s very useful. As his master said, if you’re not born into a good family, how can you live a good life if you’re not clever?

While Qi Xiaoyu was resting with his eyes closed, outside the door, Jiang Sicheng rushed toward the lounge and then crouched down. With a click, he quickly locked the door from outside and ran to the meter box to turn off the electricity on this floor.

Qi Xiaoyu opened his eyes again, and what he saw was darkness like an abyss.

*****

Everyone was now singing birthday songs in the living room of the building opposite. No one would be coming over here for a while, and just now he’d chosen the innermost lounge for the sake of quietness.

Qi Xiaoyu stood up, holding his forehead, and staggered before proceeding to the window.

The curtains were drawn open. There was no moon tonight, and it was the same bottomless darkness outside.

The sound of the wind blowing on the sycamore trees came from far away, and the “rustling” sound echoed in his ears like it had been processed countless times, making him dizzy.

It seemed like he was back in the winter when he was four or five years old, when he was abandoned by his aunt in a dilapidated shrine.

The darkness made his whole body numb, and he couldn’t move his hands or feet.

“Little bastard, if you can’t even pick up a basket, you’re basically eating for free. No wonder your parents died early.”

At four or five years old, he was trembling with fear and crying in the impenetrable darkness.

But no one paid any attention to him. There was no one in the countryside at night, and everywhere was so quiet that it was like a ghost town.

Qi Xiaoyu took a few deep breaths. He could do many things by himself. He could travel the world alone without fear of anything, but he was always afraid of the dark.

He took out his cell phone with trembling hands, trying to find someone to help open the door, but after looking at the few people in his address book, they were either too far away or only had average relationships with him.

Moreover, the only two he could think of were Yu Xiaosheng and Ren Fei, who weren’t really that well acquainted. If he had to ask someone to make a trip late at night just to open the door for him, he’d rather wait until Xue Qingchu or the waiters found out and released him.

Finally, he turned on the flashlight with trembling hands and shined it aimlessly out of the window.

****

A Maybach parked quietly under a sycamore tree. It has been in the same place for almost an hour.

Butler Cheng’s back and neck hurt from sitting up. He really couldn’t figure out what it meant to not get out of the car when they had already arrived here.

He peeked at the back, only to see Xun Qian, with his eyes downcast, slowly stroked a piece of leather carving and made no other movements for a long time.

Butler Cheng sighed silently. How many years has Xun Qian been like this? Ten years? Fifteen years? Or twenty years?

He was obviously a very lively child back then. He would cling to the master and madam every day, act like a spoiled child, and clamor for his sister to play with him.

He ran faster than anyone else, like a wild horse, and always made a mess in the house. All the servants can’t do anything about him. They can only spoil him by saying that the little young master is really a troublemaker.

But why is this little troublemaker so considerate?

On his birthday, he would call everyone, including the servants, and give them a piece of cake.

He would also sneak home a stray dog on the roadside and hide his lunch to feed it.

So when did the innocent and cute child become what he is now?

Don’t get close to anyone; don’t look at other things more than a glance; have no interest in anything; stop running; stop laughing; do nothing except being alone; even the things he likes are pushed away; no one can guess what he’s thinking.

“Third Master,” Butler Cheng called out in a low voice.

Xun Qian responded as if he’d just woken up from a dream: “Go and find the person.”

Butler Cheng answered in a loud voice and hurriedly turned his head to order the people outside, “Quickly go and get Mr. Qi over here.”

Butler Cheng couldn’t wait any longer. As soon as he thought of Qi Xiaoyu’s well-behaved appearance, like grasping a life-saving straw, he felt that he could pull Xun Qian back from the darkness. Thus, he himself ran out of the car and stretched his neck, waiting for someone.

After waiting for a while, no one was seen, but he received a call: “Mr. Qi is missing. He wasn’t among the people celebrating the birthday.”

? Butler Cheng lowered his body and looked back at Xun Qian in the car.

Xun Qian was also rolling down the car window and looking at him, his dark eyes shining like cold stars. “Uncle Cheng, push me out.”

His voice sank a tad deeper. “Get Kang Qitao here as well.”

The author has something to say: I understand that you guys want to see some bloody drama, but according to the outline, it will only appear nearly at the end of the full text QAQ

Thank you very much for your support! I will continue to work hard!

1Jadeite species with dense structure, pure green color, even distribution, good transparency, and hardness.2长江后浪推前浪[cháng jiāng hòu làng tuī qián làng]: Each new generation excels the last one.3Being cuckold. Bro, she’s just not into you.