Chapter 26
[Family, that’s five million. Not five hundred, not five thousand, not fifty thousand, and not even five hundred thousand, right?]
[Good grief, one divination for one house! Tears of envy are flowing from the corners of my mouth.]
[Key point: Qi Xiu needs to really have calculated that there’s something lacking in He Erwang’s family’s health, and it needs to be useful, before he can get that five million.]
[What are you trying to say upstairs? So? Even if Qi Xiu didn’t calculate it clearly, he can still get six hundred and fifty thousand!]
[My god, Master! I want to learn divination too! After Qi Xiu comes out of the show, can he take me as his disciple?]
[The person in front, stop dreaming. In today’s society, people who truly understand fortune-telling are as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Those who truly understand it and are also famous are even fewer. And the probability of someone who truly understands it, is famous, and happens to meet a big—big fat—client like He Erwang is even more…]
[I have a strange thought. If Qi Xiu gets it right again, won’t this skill of his become famous in front of the entire nation’s audience? Everyone says the entertainment industry makes money, but if Qi Xiu relies on fortune-telling… could he earn even more than top stars in the entertainment industry?]
[Hiss, that’s really hard to say. But celebrities in the entertainment industry come one batch after another. Handsome men and beautiful women are scarce resources, sure, but are they as scarce as Qi Xiu?]
[For a moment, I actually don’t know whether I should envy He Erwang or Qi Xiu.]
Of course, clearly, Qi Xiu, who had suddenly been promised a windfall from the heavens, was truly flattered beyond belief.
“How much? Five million?” Qi Xiu murmured to himself. “If I go back and tell the old man, he’ll probably think I robbed a bank.”
He Erwang was still looking at him with a face full of gratitude. “As soon as we get out, I’ll immediately take my family to get full physical examinations. This reminder of yours is much more reliable than the earlier ones.”
How to put it?
He still did not quite believe that he would keep being fooled in friendship and love.
Uh, six.
Just based on how casually you give money,
no wonder you attract people who are after your money, Qi Xiu silently complained in his heart.
But he did not show it. He only raised a flawless and extremely polite smile.
Taking ten thousand steps back, whatever the financial sponsor says is right.
“But let me remind you, you can also tell your family that after you get out, they should do more good deeds, accumulate virtue, and continue doing charity.”
Good people receiving good rewards was, in many cases, not just empty talk.
This five million had come too easily and felt a little hot in his hands. After he got out, he would have to donate half of it too.
He Erwang nodded heavily. “Okay!”
Outside the variety show, the He family, who were watching the livestream in real time, were currently looking at one another.
He Erwang’s father was still working overtime at the office. He had stolen a glance at the livestream during his busy schedule and was immediately startled.
Businesspeople valued feng shui the most, and more or less held some reverence toward these things, whether real or not.
On top of that, this kid in his son’s show had calculated things really accurately.
He hurriedly called his wife. “Honey, tomorrow, let’s go to the hospital for a full physical examination.”
He Erwang’s mother’s tone was somewhat impatient and rushed. “I know, I know. By the time you reacted, the daylilies would already be cold. I’ve already called our parents. Tomorrow, we’ll all go together for checkups. I’ve already made the appointments. I’m calling the other relatives now.”
After saying that, she hung up.
The next day, every member of the He family, whether voluntarily or forcibly, put aside what they were doing and went to the private hospital under the He family’s name for a full and detailed examination.
Before the checkup, some people still felt this was making a fuss over nothing. “We get physical examinations every quarter. If there were any problems, they would definitely have been found earlier.”
“Isn’t this quarter’s checkup scheduled for next week? Is it really necessary to mobilize everyone just to bring it forward by a few days?”
It was one of the younger members of the He family. He had stayed out all night having fun and had just been about to sleep when his family urgently called him out.
Not long after he finished speaking, he suddenly felt a pain in his stomach as if it were being twisted by a knife.
After checking, it was a gastric perforation.
Since he was already at the hospital, he was sent straight into the operating room.
Retribution came too quickly. At the moment he entered the operating room,
he was still thinking: was he originally destined to end up in the hospital, or did he bring this on himself by running his mouth?
Fortunately, compared with other surgeries, gastric perforation was considered relatively low-risk.
And after the examinations, problems really were found.
He Erwang’s father was found to have a small tumor in his lung. After further investigation, it was confirmed to be early-stage lung cancer.
“You kept coughing before, and when you told me your chest and back hurt, I told you to come get checked, but you wouldn’t! The doctor said if it were delayed by another month or so, it would have been too late!” Mother He shed tears in lingering fear.
As everyone knew, if lung cancer was discovered early and in time, the chance of cure was still very high.
Especially under circumstances where the He family lacked neither money, connections, nor top-tier doctors.
But lung cancer spread extremely fast. A delay of a few months could mean incurable late-stage disease.
Father He himself also felt some lingering fear. One had to know that according to his original schedule, he was supposed to fly to Country F next week and stay there for more than a week, which would have caused him to miss next week’s quarterly physical examination.
According to his habits, if he missed it, he would probably just miss it.
After all, he had a physical examination every quarter, and there had not been any problems in the last one. Missing one checkup would only mean three months anyway.
“That Qi Xiu whom Erwang met on the show is a true master.” A sharp light flashed in his eyes. As a businessman, his first reaction was profit.
However, he hesitated for a moment. “Our son actually managed to make normal friends one day?”
Mother He now liked Qi Xiu more and more the more she looked at his refined and handsome appearance.
“Didn’t we investigate Qi Xiu before? That child is rather pitiful. After he comes out, what do you think about us recognizing him as a godson?”
Father He: “…You really have a different idea every day. Let’s see whether the child is willing.”
Mother He temporarily stopped dwelling on this matter. “But five million is still too little. Is your life only worth five million?”
Father He nodded in agreement.
If the group of already extremely sour netizens knew about this, mm, they would probably just continue being sour.
Meanwhile, inside the show, Qi Xiu, who temporarily had no idea that he was about to receive another wave of overwhelming wealth, was in an excellent mood after dealing with He Erwang.
“Gu Shengsheng, what do you want calculated?” he asked.
Gu Shengsheng was currently lying on the bed, his eyes sparkling as he thought.
“I don’t know exactly what I want calculated either. Qi Xiu, can I be like He Erwang and get a full reading?”
Qi Xiu had no objections. “Of course.”
He repeated again, “Whether it’s accurate or not depends on whether you believe it. You know your own eight characters, right?”
Gu Shengsheng nodded. “I know.”
Seeing him struggling to get up, Qi Xiu waved his hand. “Just lie there. I’ll come over.”
This time, without Sun Xinping’s instruction, the equipment team leader had already moved swiftly and neatly to place a thick mosaic over the two of them.
Only after Gu Shengsheng finished saying his eight characters and Qi Xiu returned to his own seat did the mosaic disappear.
[Gu Shengsheng hasn’t caused trouble at all in this show, which has changed my opinion of him a little. Looking forward to the divination result!]
[Gu Shengsheng’s setting in this show is also very rich, right? Guess whether Qi Xiu will ask him for yellow and white objects to suppress the fate chart, hahaha.]
[The fifty thousand yuan for just doing the divination is nothing to people in the entertainment industry, right? My god, what am I saying? “Just” fifty thousand yuan?]
[—crying laughing face— The person in front isn’t wrong either. Fifty thousand is not a small amount to ordinary people, but to celebrities, it might feel like me spending five hundred yuan. Gu Shengsheng was a child star, after all, and acted in so many hit dramas. He must have saved quite a lot of money from childhood to adulthood, right?]
[Silence… Is five hundred yuan very little?! Ah, smash! I’m a high school student, and my monthly living expenses are only four hundred!]
However, Qi Xiu did not ask Gu Shengsheng for divination fees this time.
Earlier, going back on his word and charging He Erwang had purely been because he saw He Erwang’s lifetime of wealth and honor and felt too jealous.
Cough cough. Ancient heroes also robbed the rich to help the poor.
Gu Shengsheng had already agreed to pay his tuition, which was good enough.
However, as Qi Xiu calculated Gu Shengsheng’s eight characters, he could not help frowning.
He recalculated them again.
He could not help turning to ask Gu Shengsheng, “You didn’t remember these eight characters wrong, did you?”
Gu Shengsheng nodded blankly. “I didn’t.”
Only the bullet comments noticed a few clues and began guessing.
[Could it be that the production team implanted the character setting and also implanted a fake set of eight characters?]
[It could also be that they discovered Gu Shengsheng’s real eight characters don’t match his persona?]
[Agreed. Gu Shengsheng’s persona is also a rich second generation, right? But in real life, his parents seem to be ordinary salaried workers. And after he started acting, his parents stopped working?]
[Danger! The production team is facing another risk of overturning!]
Sun Xinping once again broke out in cold sweat.
What Kind of Person Are You? had been running for three seasons.
Why had everything gone smoothly in the first two seasons, with no mistakes from the production team, but once it came to this season, they were constantly facing the risk of being exposed?
Earlier, Shen Jinfeng had almost repaired the phone and made a satellite call.
Of course, in the virtual world, the satellite call could not go through, but then the whole thing would have been exposed!
And now, why had Qi Xiu, another cheat-like existence, popped up?
What to do, what to do?
They could only apply a suggestion and make Gu Shengsheng think he had remembered wrong.
Logically speaking, after the livestream started, the production team could no longer interfere with the guests. At most, they could set up some physical factors,
such as the current storm.
But if things were about to be exposed, that was another matter.
However, clearly, the bullet comments were now extremely interested in what Qi Xiu had calculated.
It would not be too late to interfere after he said something concrete.
Sun Xinping clenched his fist.
He would gamble.
Without gambling, one could not become a demon!
On the screen, Qi Xiu turned his head and stared at Gu Shengsheng for a long time, as if looking at some rare species.
Gu Shengsheng felt creeped out by his stare. “Wh-What is it?”
Qi Xiu shook his head. After struggling for a long time, he did not know how to say it.
“Your overall luck is good. It’s just, well, didn’t we learn in high school that the development of things advances in a spiral and moves forward in waves?”
Gu Shengsheng worked hard to recall some philosophy knowledge. “Mm, that sentence was memorized a lot.”
“You mean my life will have big rises and big falls?”
He was very smart and immediately understood the meaning behind Qi Xiu’s words.
Qi Xiu let out a breath of relief and nodded.
But the result he had calculated was a little strange.
Clearly, he and Gu Shengsheng were still students, so why did it show that Gu Shengsheng was currently in the low period of his career?
Could it be because Gu Shengsheng had done terribly on the college entrance exam?
But he had originally been planning to go abroad anyway, so it would not matter.
But the old man was not here now, so he could not ask.
Qi Xiu thought for a moment and said, “I’m speaking based on the eight characters you just gave me. But people’s life circumstances change in the first place. There are many people with the same eight characters, but because the people and events they experience differ, they will all have different lives.”
“Looking at career, you’re more suited for work in culture and entertainment. A career that gains wealth through fame would be more helpful for you, such as actor, internet celebrity, advertising creator, and so on. After you graduate, you might be able to develop in this direction.”
Gu Shengsheng thought about it and realized he really was interested in all these areas.
“Do you guys think I can become an actor?” he asked everyone present.
Mo Fan carefully looked him over a few times, then shook his head. “You’re too pretty. It’d be easy for people to treat you as a vase.”
He Erwang refuted, “Isn’t the entertainment industry all about faces? If you’re not good-looking, you can’t even enter the industry.”
As if possessed, he sized up everyone present.
“Speaking of which, I feel like all of us have the looks to enter the entertainment industry.” He very bluntly included himself too.
Sun Xinping once again held his breath.
[Hahahahaha, isn’t that right? Aren’t all of you already in the entertainment industry?]
[Exactly, exactly. You’re all super good-looking!!!]
[Speaking of which, Gu Shengsheng’s face really does look like a vase. Fortunately, he debuted as a child star when he was young, and his acting skills are still recognized by the public.]
[He Erwang debuted as a top-tier center, an all-around ACE, but his face alone is enough to be the visual, right? Gu Shengsheng was only delicate and good-looking as a child, but the older he got, the prettier he became. Shen Jinfeng, on the other hand, is famously a vase hahahaha. But now, who still dares call the big shot a vase? Mo Fan acted in several dramas when he was young and has always had a place on the ranking lists of beautiful men in historical costume dramas. Add in Ye God, who is famous for his divine looks! Only our Master Qi Xiu looks a little more obedient, fair and refined like a good student, but his face looks very comfortable and feels especially appealing to passersby!]
[How could he not appeal to passersby… Once he comes out and opens a livestream room, there will definitely be millions or even tens of millions of passersby watching every day.]
After hearing He Erwang’s comment, Gu Shengsheng touched his own face, his gaze odd.
Speaking of which, in his everyday life, he really had never seen so many people around him who were as good-looking as himself.
He had just casually joined an expedition team, yet they all had such high looks?
Could it be that the people around him were simply too ordinary?
However, he only hesitated for a moment before suddenly saying, “I usually follow actors on television and learn from them. I think my acting skills are pretty good. I’m not a vase.”
After Gu Shengsheng finished speaking, seeing Mo Fan and He Erwang’s unconvinced expressions, he became angry.
He turned to ask Shen Jinfeng, “Boss, do you believe me?”
Shen Jinfeng: “…”
Speaking of which, he had once been a film emperor before, and had won the highest global acting award.
He had also once been a director before and had won the highest global directing award.
Acting that was merely average—he was not particularly interested in watching it.
But Gu Shengsheng looked at him with eyes full of expectation.
He considered it for a moment, then said thoughtfully, “Try acting out a scene?”
Gu Shengsheng was full of confidence. “Okay.”
“Boss, give me a prompt.”
[??? What happened? How did this suddenly become acting? Did I enter the wrong variety show?]
[Gu Shengsheng, why don’t you go sign up for the acting variety next door and compete there?]
[I’m dying of laughter hahaha. If I remember correctly, Mo Fan won Best Actor in his early years too. As for Ye God, no need to mention it, the youngest triple-gold Best Actor. Gu Shengsheng is really showing off his broadsword before Guan Yu here, right?]
[He even picked Shen Jinfeng, whose acting skills are even more trash, to give him a prompt hahaha.]
Qi Xiu had been halfway through interpreting the chart and had not expected this to suddenly happen.
But he was also quite interested.
Gu Shengsheng’s eight characters showed that if he became an actor, he really could develop quite well. It was just that the great rises and falls were a little worrying.
He directly sat cross-legged on the ground, ready to watch the show.
Gu Shengsheng dared to ask, and Shen Jinfeng dared to answer.
He casually gave a prompt. “An earthquake happens somewhere. You learn that your lover is on a business trip there. You lose contact with your lover, and only later do you find out they’re still alive.”
It was a very simple prompt.
But he did not restrict the protagonist’s personality or morals, nor did he restrict the relationship between the protagonist and their lover. There were many ways to perform it.
Gu Shengsheng responded, “Okay.”
Like a real audition, he requested, “Please give me three minutes to prepare.”
Shen Jinfeng nodded.
Three minutes later, everyone looked toward Gu Shengsheng’s performance.
Clearly, at the beginning, he was acting out the moment when he learned there had been an earthquake in the place where his lover was on a business trip.
Gu Shengsheng took out the broken phone to use as a prop.
At first, he was simply scrolling through the phone normally, his gaze somewhat unfocused, his fair cheek slightly puffed out.
But after scrolling for a little while, he would switch out to check the chat box. Whenever a notification popped up in the message bar, he would also go take a look.
He vividly portrayed someone whose lover was not by their side, who missed them day and night, waiting for their messages.
Because he had many small movements, in just a few short seconds, he reflected that he had already been waiting like this for a long time.
Until he suddenly saw a certain message and was clearly stunned.
An earthquake happened in City A?
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake?
Gu Shengsheng’s expression went blank for an instant. Then, as if suddenly thinking of something, his fingers trembled slightly as he tapped on the phone screen and opened the chat records with his lover.
Confirmed. The place his lover had gone on a business trip was indeed City A.
His pupils abruptly shrank. He froze dazedly for two seconds. The fingers holding the phone trembled slightly as he found his lover’s number in the contacts and dialed it.
No one picked up on the other end. He mechanically and repeatedly kept calling, and his tears finally could not help rolling down.
Very quickly, that whole fair and delicate face was covered in tear tracks.
His entire body cried until it unconsciously jerked from time to time, but he did not shout loudly.
Only when the phone ran out of battery did Gu Shengsheng suddenly spring up in shock to go charge it.
At that moment, the call that had never been picked up just now came in.
He froze in place, and the phone slipped from his hand and fell onto the ground.
Gu Shengsheng hurriedly crouched down. Without even bothering to stand up, he tapped to answer the call.
When he heard the familiar voice coming from the other end of the phone, the spirit he had been forcing himself to maintain vanished. He could no longer hold on and directly sat down on the ground.
He did not notice at all that there was still water on the ground that he had knocked over earlier. After answering the call, he wanted to speak, but with his mouth open, he could not make a sound.
Under great sorrow and great joy, his emotions shook so violently that he temporarily lost his voice.
Only after a long while, under his lover’s soft comfort, did he finally recover.
But the moment he made a sound, it became sobbing that could no longer be controlled.
It was reckless crying after a long silence.
Survival from desperate circumstances, tears from extreme joy.
As he cried, he comforted his lover. “It’s okay now. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.”
No one knew whether he was telling his lover not to be afraid or comforting himself.
“In the future, we’ll never be apart again. I’ll never argue with you again. We…”
The performance ended, warm and moving.
Qi Xiu and He Erwang clapped loudly.
He Erwang was more emotional and actually had red-rimmed eyes. “Gu Shengsheng, you really do have talent for acting! That was so good! Much better than the male and female leads in the idol dramas my mom always watches!”
Qi Xiu also agreed. “Gu Shengsheng, your performance is super emotionally infectious. That part where you cried just now—I felt like you pulled me into it.”
Gu Shengsheng took a moment to calm down before he stopped his emotions.
His eyes, washed clean by tears, were clear like glass.
He asked the others expectantly, “How was it?”
[Holy crap, Gu Shengsheng really knows how to cry. Watching him cry just now made my nose sting.]
[He handled the emotional transitions really well! And when he was acting, I really didn’t just focus on his face. His different emotions were truly conveyed! The urgency and expectation while waiting for his lover’s message, the shock after seeing the earthquake news, the panic and helpless fear after thinking his lover had met with disaster, then finally losing his voice and losing control of his tears after learning his lover was fine and his emotions rose and fell so violently… It was really great!]
[Damn, who still remembers this is a survival variety show? With this acting segment, Gu Shengsheng could become legendary on the acting variety next door, right?]
[This prompt is actually very simple, but acting it well isn’t easy. Gu Shengsheng debuted as a child star, and his acting skills really are much better than those of people his age.]
Who would have thought that at the performance scene,
besides He Erwang and Qi Xiu clapping enthusiastically, Mo Fan’s applause seemed perfunctory and encouraging, while Shen Jinfeng and Qin Ye’s expressions showed not the slightest bit of emotional movement?
Gu Shengsheng realized something was wrong. “Wh-What’s wrong?”
“Did I act badly?”
Mo Fan smiled at him. “Xiao Gu, I think for an ordinary person, you acted super well!”
“It’s just that compared with those veteran actors in TV dramas, it still feels like something is missing.”
Gu Shengsheng froze for a moment. “I’ll keep working hard.”
[Pfft, is his persona really arrogant and domineering? Someone says one thing and he immediately wants to apologize: sorry, I’ll keep working hard?]
[Sob sob, pretty baby hasn’t even wiped his tears dry yet. He looks so obedient like this!]
[Mo Fan really is… comparing Gu Shengsheng to veteran actors?]
Mo Fan continued, “I feel like your performance isn’t life-like enough, not natural enough. It’s like you were deliberately building that sad atmosphere, then showing off crying technique, because people who don’t understand acting will think that crying well equals good acting. To some extent, that’s reasonable too. If someone can’t even cry well, what are they doing becoming an actor?”
He rattled off a whole pile of words, then frowned.
Wait, he was not in the entertainment industry either. Gu Shengsheng had indeed conveyed emotion well, so why was he, an outsider, suddenly giving advice?
[If someone can’t even cry well, what are they doing becoming an actor? Pfft, why do I feel like half the entertainment industry just got hit?]
[Don’t say that. The last time I watched an idol drama, the male lead’s crying almost made me want to yue. So fake and greasy.]
[Female actors too… Some only know roaring-style crying, or they chase beauty too much and cry with no emotional infection at all. You have to cry beautifully and move people! This beauty doesn’t necessarily mean your features have to look pretty while crying, but you can’t make me feel it’s ugly, right?]
After hearing Mo Fan say so much, Gu Shengsheng did not get angry.
He nodded thoughtfully, then looked toward Shen Jinfeng and Qin Ye, who had not spoken.
Shen Jinfeng did not hide his opinion either. He got straight to the point. “Too ordinary.”
“Gu Shengsheng, if most people came to perform this, they would use the same performance approach as you.”
“Possibly even viewers who don’t understand acting would know to portray the emotions this way. The only difference would be whether they performed it well or badly.”
Gu Shengsheng gave an “ah,” a little dazed.
Shen Jinfeng gave an example. “When I gave you this prompt, did you imagine the relationship between you and your lover? What stage of dating are you two in? Are you in a sweet honeymoon period or constantly arguing? Are your feelings deep, or are you about to break up?”
“An actor’s performance needs logic. It needs to convince the audience.”
“Mm, at the beginning, you acted like you were constantly waiting for messages, so let’s tentatively count that as the passionate love stage. But at the end, after finding out your lover was fine, you said you would never argue again. Shouldn’t the prerequisite for that line be that the two of you were arguing before you separated?”
Gu Shengsheng vexedly patted his own head. “That makes sense.”
Shen Jinfeng said, “An improvisational prompt tests not only acting skills, but also an actor’s performance logic and technique. In other words, the ability to adapt on the spot and give yourself a script.”
“For a normal person with smooth thinking, what kind of emotion would they feel first upon seeing an earthquake? Does this earthquake only become meaningful if it’s connected to your lover?”
“After losing contact with your lover, you just foolishly keep making phone calls? You’re worried about him, afraid for him. Wouldn’t you search online everywhere for news? Wouldn’t you try every possible way to contact the local rescue center? Wouldn’t you find out your lover’s last location before the incident, or even want to go there as a volunteer?”
“Your performance should either be so natural that it looks like life, or have twists and turns that create a sense of artistic storytelling.”
Shen Jinfeng slowly said, “But, Gu Shengsheng, you have great talent in emotional performance. I think becoming an actor is more than enough for you. Keep working hard and reach the peak of acting.”
Gu Shengsheng had originally looked dejected, but when he heard the final encouragement, light immediately appeared in his eyes again.
[Good grief, I listened in a daze, and somehow I actually think it makes sense?]
[Isn’t Shen Jinfeng’s own acting still that awful? Is this the legendary “strategist never personally enters the battlefield”?]
[Tagging Director Li, Director Zhang, Actress Sun, Actor Huang, and the mentors from the acting variety next door. Come evaluate this!]
What no one expected was that Qin Ye, last of all, actually nodded in agreement.
He lazily folded his arms over his chest, and his tone was strangely a little proud.
He said to Gu Shengsheng, “Once you understand everything Little Captain just said, getting Best Actor with your acting won’t be a problem.”
Gu Shengsheng nodded in confusion.
“Oh.”
He did not suspect in the slightest why these “outsiders” had such strict advice.
He continued looking at Qin Ye, seemingly expecting Qin Ye to say a few more words.
Qin Ye reflected for a moment. Shen Jinfeng had said quite a lot just now, while he had been so concise that it seemed a little like putting on airs.
He propped up his head and instructed Gu Shengsheng, “I’ll recommend a few films to you. Go watch them later?”
Gu Shengsheng obediently picked up the pen and prepared to write on his white backpack.
Qin Ye smoothly reported a long string of film titles.
One, two, three—by the time he stopped, still somewhat unsatisfied, he had actually listed more than a hundred.
Gu Shengsheng’s white backpack was already covered with film titles.
“Brother Ye, you’ve watched so many movies?”
Qin Ye himself also froze.
When had he watched so many films?
Shen Jinfeng suddenly turned his head to look at him and praised him. “Your memory is pretty good.”
Qin Ye paused, and the smile at the corner of his mouth became a little hard to suppress.
He gave a soft “Mm,” too lazy to think about when exactly he had watched so many films.
He said, “Once I’ve seen it, I have an impression.”
