In the Years When I Was a Father

Chapter 149: Flirtatious Father of the Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Role (3)

Qi Xinglin spent the entire morning flipping through a wide variety of variety shows. She discovered that appearing on variety shows might be a tiny bit fun and a little interesting—but mostly just filled with endless challenges. Feeling disgruntled, she turned off the video player and once again fell into a slump, wondering how she could surpass Chu Yi in popularity.

Should I just go back to acting after all?

Qi Xinglin swallowed hard. She realized that this path was far more difficult than she had imagined. But she was still unwilling to give up. Just thinking of Chu Yi reignited her motivation.

No way—I have to show this generation of netizens who the real goddess is!

After giving herself a little pep talk, Qi Xinglin scrolled through Weibo again. She found that the posts about her [scandal/rumors—censored in source] had already disappeared. Curious, she checked the profile of that big entertainment industry account that had originally posted the dirt on her. She noticed that the top comments under the post weren’t particularly aggressive anymore.

Qi Xinglin curled her lips in dissatisfaction. After reading the comments carefully, she realized that although the [scandal] had faded, no one had come out to clarify the truth or praise her for her “efforts.”

Feeling frustrated, Qi Xinglin suspected her father was deliberately trying to stop her from returning to the entertainment industry. Bored, she scanned the trending gossip topics on the hot search list. Not only was Xiao Ge trending, but even Chu Yi was in the top three!

Seeing Chu Yi’s name made Qi Xinglin fume. She didn’t even want to think too deeply about why she disliked Chu Yi so much—just seeing her on the trending list reignited her fighting spirit. She had to win Best Actress and slap Chu Yi in the face with it!

The recent online uproar had greatly affected Qi Xinglin. She had lost her temper several times on set. Director Liu of the production team, fearing another round of online backlash, had specifically given her a few days off.

To explain: After news of Qi Xinglin’s repeated NGs (bad takes) and the use of a body double broke out, it caught widespread attention across the internet—mainly because the drama itself was from a high-profile production team. The drama, titled Love in Progress, starred Xiao Ge, a popular male idol and skilled actor. His Weibo had over 60 million followers, and every post garnered millions of reposts. With such massive popularity and active fans, the drama naturally became a hot topic.

As for the screenwriter and director, they were a well-known husband-and-wife duo in the industry, famous for their numerous successful collaborations. Although Qi Xinglin wasn’t very familiar with the entertainment circle, she at least knew that their projects tended to become hits. And with Xiao Ge as the male lead, she relentlessly pestered Lian Jing to land her the female lead role.

At the time, Lian Jing had been extremely busy and hadn’t thought too much about whether her daughter could handle the role’s complexity. Relying on her long-time friendship with the director, she granted Qi Xinglin’s request without a second thought. The result? A proud and inexperienced Qi Xinglin ended up playing a Cinderella-style inspirational heroine—even though she had barely any acting skills.

So on set, it wasn’t unusual to see Qi Xinglin’s version of Cinderella dressed in bargain-bin outfits, facing off against a refined and wealthy second female lead—yet somehow Qi Xinglin still came off as more arrogant and haughty. No matter how you looked at it, the contrast was jarring.

Initially, Director Liu had agreed to cast her as the lead because of her looks and his friendship with her family. He had always enjoyed working with newcomers and had a history of helping them rise to fame. So he had felt confident at first.

Unfortunately, that confidence vanished within a week. Qi Xinglin’s arrogance was utterly unmanageable. Director Liu tried breaking down the scenes for her line by line while tugging out what little hair he had left from the stress.

He often wondered how the Qi family had raised their daughter. What kind of upbringing led to this “you’re all peasants” attitude?!

Several times, Director Liu regretted casting her as the female lead. Worried the final drama would turn out bizarre, he even privately pleaded with Qi Xinglin to consider switching roles—to play the second female lead instead, which was practically tailor-made for her. She could act it with her eyes closed!

To dissuade her from continuing as the unsuitable Cinderella, Director Liu offered all sorts of sweeteners—promising that the second lead’s character would be fleshed out and charming, and that she’d even be paired with a handsome and charming Prince Charming…

But Qi Xinglin refused.

Though playing the second female lead might have been easier, she clenched her teeth and declined.

There were two reasons. First, Chu Yi had shot to fame playing a female lead—so Qi Xinglin couldn’t afford to be outdone. Second, the plot of this drama was the typical setup: the second female lead chases the male lead, who in turn chases the female lead.

Qi Xinglin was already annoyed at Xiao Ge for being so distant with her. If she played the second lead, wouldn’t she have to chase him both on and off screen?

Now that she finally had a chance to make Xiao Ge gaze at her with deep affection, Qi Xinglin’s tail was practically wagging with pride. Weren’t you avoiding me? Hah! You still have to cry and say you love me on camera!

Thinking of the constipated expression Xiao Ge had before one shoot, Qi Xinglin snorted inwardly. You dare treat this young lady like that? I’m definitely going to make the director add a scene where you propose to me on your knees!

Although the online drama had blown over, Qi Xinglin was bored at home and wanted to return to the set. But then she remembered what her father had said before leaving—and, feeling stifled again, stayed in her room sulking and playing with her hair.

She grumbled in her heart, “Just wait till I make money—I won’t be afraid of you freezing my cards then!”

Truly, an ambitious declaration.

But that was just a thought. Her current acting fees didn’t even cover a few days of her expenses. She began to worry about what project to take on next.

Originally, during this round of public backlash, Qi Xinglin had wanted to seek help from her biological mother. Unexpectedly, not only was she ruthlessly rejected, she also received a notice to withdraw from the industry altogether. No entertainment company dared to sign her, and her current manager was just one of her mother’s assistants. Feeling her future becoming increasingly bleak, Qi Xinglin decided to try currying favor with her father again.

And so, during the lunch hour at the company, Qi Sheng unexpectedly received a suspiciously affectionate homemade meal from his precious daughter.

Qi Sheng watched his daughter eagerly setting out the food in front of him. He took one glance at the dishes—great, all familiar. Definitely not made by the girl herself!

Relieved, he then heard his daughter trying to act sweet again.

“Daddy, you’ve worked so hard. Come and eat, quick! I personally brought this over for you!” Qi Xinglin felt her performance was quite solid. The lunchbox was heavy, and she had carried it all the way up herself—surely enough to show her filial sincerity!

Qi Sheng’s mouth twitched. He was defeated by the spoiled look on her face. The old couple of the Qi family had doted on her excessively. After they passed, the original Qi Sheng hadn’t managed her much, so the girl became even more unruly and delicate.

He picked up the chopsticks and slowly began to eat. Just as the little miss was acting all attentive, she decided the moment was right and said, “Dad, I want to go back to the set. My work isn’t done yet.”

Qi Sheng shot her down: “You don’t act well anyway. Why don’t I help Director Liu find another actress to replace you?”

“Dad! How can you say that? This role is mine—only I can play it!” Qi Xinglin was furious, her fake obedience instantly crumbling.

Qi Sheng chuckled. “Where do you get all that confidence?”

Hearing this, Qi Xinglin immediately looked aggrieved. She secretly pinched the inside of her thigh hard, forcing out a tear. “Daddy, please let me go back to filming. I swear I’ll win Best Actress!”

Qi Sheng noticed her little act. He had originally wanted to tease her for her poor acting skills, but now he had to endure listening to her bold declaration and nearly choked on his food.

Qi Sheng, inwardly: Just that one tear you forced out with a trick, and you think you can win Best Actress? If you win it, I wouldn’t even dare to buy stocks in the film industry!

But Qi Sheng also knew that opposing her too much would only trigger her rebelliousness. So he said, “Alright then, you can return to the set tomorrow.”

Qi Xinglin hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly this time. All the persuasive lines she had prepared were no longer needed. She even felt a bit proud of her recent “performance.” Restraining her grin, she turned into a sweet little cotton jacket again: “Daddy, you really are the best! I promise I’ll make you proud this time!”

With that, she turned to leave—typical Qi Xinglin behavior: use and discard.

Qi Sheng watched as she turned to go. On one hand, he was speechless at how lazily she pretended to be obedient; on the other, he reluctantly called her back: “Wait a second, take a look at this file.”

Qi Xinglin turned back curiously, frowning as she suspected her father was going to make her look at some work documents.

But after flipping through two pages, her expression changed.

“Sun Qi! How could it be her?” The file contained all the details of the scheme to smear Qi Xinglin’s name, including a list of people involved and the specific transactional details.

Qi Xinglin couldn’t believe it. “Dad, could there be some mistake? She’s always been so nice to me. Sometimes she even teaches me how to act. Even our director said she was a good mentor.”

Qi Sheng raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t your director also suggest you drop the lead role and take the second female lead? And didn’t he also praise her for capturing the essence of the female lead’s character?”

Qi Xinglin nodded blankly. Sun Qi was the second female lead in their production team. She always appeared to have a good temper and would often help out when others were in trouble, so Qi Xinglin had liked her quite a bit.

But after hearing her father’s words, even her slow-reacting brain began to put things together.

“So, she thought that once my reputation tanked, the director would let her take over as the female lead?”

Qi Xinglin had joined the crew low-key. She had previously read a gossip article about Chu Yi, saying that she was kind to staff and well-liked. That reminded Qi Xinglin of how her ordinary classmates in university had intentionally kept their distance from her. So she decided to quietly blend in as a “normal person.”

To do this, she had specially gone shopping and spent a long time picking out a few outfits that cost only a few thousand yuan each to serve as her “undercover gear.”

In her eyes, that was already dirt cheap. Unfortunately, the crew still didn’t warm up to her—except for Sun Qi, who was pretty friendly and even invited her to eat boxed meals together.

Though the boxed food was both unappetizing and unhealthy—so much so that she had diarrhea that night—Qi Xinglin had still been genuinely happy that day. She thought Sun Qi was befriending her not because of her status.

Ever since childhood, Qi Xinglin’s friends had only come from their elite social circle. There were some regular girls who had tried to squeeze their way into their group, but the clever Song Mingxue always saw through their schemes immediately. So their social circle remained pathetically small.

This time, Qi Xinglin had even been proud of herself for expanding her circle of friends. Who would’ve thought that, in the end, Sun Qi was also someone with ulterior motives.

Furious, Qi Xinglin flung the file in her hand to the floor. Then, overwhelmed with frustration and anger, she stomped on it twice before collapsing back onto the sofa in grievance.

Seeing his daughter so upset, Qi Sheng tried to comfort her: “I’ve already spoken with Director Liu. All the staff who were involved in this matter have been dismissed. As for Sun Qi, her role in this drama is over. You won’t see her when you go back to the set tomorrow.”

Qi Sheng hadn’t directly blacklisted Sun Qi, but he didn’t let her off easily either. Not only was she removed from the production, but he also informed the higher-ups at her agency of everything that had happened. Without Qi Sheng needing to say much, they already knew what had to be done.

In truth, if Sun Qi had only bad-mouthed Qi Xinglin behind her back, Qi Sheng might not have made things too difficult. After all, if Qi Xinglin wasn’t competitive enough, it wasn’t unreasonable for others to try to seize the opportunity. But what Sun Qi shouldn’t have done was pretend to be a close friend while secretly stabbing her in the back—and even stirring up conflict between Qi Xinglin and Chu Yi.

When Qi Xinglin heard that her father had already taken care of everything, she nodded and turned to leave with a sense of dejection. Because of Sun Qi’s betrayal, she had lost all interest in filming the next day.

Qi Sheng watched her leave in low spirits but didn’t go after her to offer more comfort. That girl wasn’t the type to be completely crushed by one incident. Still, he feared that from now on, she wouldn’t dare to make friends so easily anymore.

The next day, Qi Xinglin drove her red sports car, wearing her old wardrobe and carrying a globally limited-edition handbag, striding proudly back onto the set.

She had originally thought her appearance would shock everyone. But when those people saw her, they just looked at her with expressions like, “Well, of course.” What was that about?

Since the desired effect didn’t materialize, Qi Xinglin walked toward the makeup room, feeling annoyed and muttering in her heart, What the heck is going on? Just then, she saw Assistant Director Zhang walking over with a cheerful smile.

“Miss Qi, the director asked me to let you know he wants to discuss the script with you.”

“The script?”

“Yes, the script.”