DCFRP Chapter 95

Lu Tongtong stared at the person in front of her with an open mouth and then uttered in surprise, “Mr. Tang, why are you here?”

The person who came was Tang Yuning, who had not been heard of for a long time.

Although Lu Tongtong and Tang Yuning had been filming together for a few months on the cast of “The Departed” and getting along just fine, they always maintained a very estranged and polite relationship.

Tang Yuning is basically like this to everyone else: polite and gentle yet unfamiliar.

Just like now, he returned the towel to Lu Tongtong and said politely, “Thank you.”

So Lu Tongtong always called him Mr. Tang.

“Ah… No, you’re welcome.” Lu Tongtong took the towel a little flustered, still looking up at Tang Yuning.

After Tang Yuning finished filming “The Departed,” he seemed to have disappeared. He never appeared in the entertainment circle, nor had any contact with the people in the crew, including the wrap-up party.

“The Departed” crew had a large group chat where everyone was sending greetings during the holidays. Sometimes director Yang Wei will come out to send red envelopes or say something, but Tang Yuning’s account is frozen. Even if someone tagged him, there would be no response.

Lu Tongtong was disappointed for a while because of this.

But the truth is he was blacklisted from the industry by Xun Qian.

Not many people knew about this. First, Tang Yuning rarely appeared in the domestic entertainment industry. Second, he has always been low-profile and has no friends in the circle.

Lu Tongtong looked at him motionlessly and felt that Tang Yuning was much thinner than during filming. His originally upright eyebrows were even higher. There was something more stubborn in his eyes that made her unable to get close, which diluted the surprise and joy she felt when she first saw him.

“Tongtong, who’s here? Bring the guests in quickly; don’t just stand at the door talking. isn’t it cold outside with so much snow?”

Gu Meiling was behind the counter. Seeing that the two people at the door hadn’t moved for a long time, she pushed open the small flap of the counter and walked out.

Tang Yuning turned aside, revealing half of his body, and said to Gu Meiling, “Hello, Miss Gu.”

When Gu Meiling saw Tang Yuning, she was also stunned. Although she had never worked with Tang Yuning, she knew this face. He had appeared in several popular movies, but there was no news about him recently.

She walked towards the two of them and glanced at the cameraman who had been following them. Thinking that he was a special guest arranged by the program team, she gave Tang Yuning a warm smile, “Did you specially make a trip here?”

Tang Yuning smiled and did not comment.

Gu Meiling invited him in. “Since you’re here, you must try our signature dishes.”

Tang Yuning hung his garments on the hanger at the door, gently shook hands with Gu Meiling, greeted her, and followed her into the restaurant.

Gu Meiling and Lu Tongtong received Tang Yuning according to the process of receiving special guests in the past. They didn’t tell other people in the restaurant, waiting for the guest to bring them unexpected surprises.

Tang Yuning silently ordered the dishes, sat there straight, and praised, “The restaurant is well run.”

The dishes were sausage soup, beef cheese, and Chinese-style scallion oil noodles.

Tang Yuning silently finished his order and asked, “Did Mr. Qi make all of this?”

Lu Tongtong sat opposite him to accompany him and replied, “Yes, do you want to see him? There are not many customers today, and the kitchen is not busy. I will call him out later.”

Tang Yuning smiled and nodded.

He had worked with Qi Xiaoyu before, and everyone else thought he would want to catch up.

Only Qi Xiaoyu knew that this visitor who came from afar wasn’t here on friendly terms when he came out of the kitchen.

With Tang Yuning’s temper and personality, he would not come all the way to the north without a reason.

But Qi Xiaoyu still walked over calmly with a faint smile, pulled out a chair, and sat in Lu Tongtong’s seat just now. He very naturally greeted him like any other guest, “Long time no see.”

“How does the food taste? I learned to make sausage soup after I came here, and according to them, it’s not bad.”

Tang Yuning followed suit and replied, “It’s pretty good, better than the sausage soup I had in other restaurants.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

After the two of them chatted politely for a while, Tang Yuning seemed to accidentally turn to the main topic, “As soon as December arrives, the winter horse racing here will also begin. Have you heard of the snow horse racing here?”

Qi Xiaoyu remained calm. “I heard about it. It is said to be exciting to witness.”

As soon as Tang Yuning asked this question, Qi Xiaoyu could roughly guess what he was thinking. Tang Yuning had always believed that Xun Qian cheated and killed his father, Tang Yide. This person has a deep obsession, and it seems that he came for this matter again.

Tang Yuning smiled slightly and said, “Are you interested?”

Qi Xiaoyu also smiled slightly, “I will probably go to watch the race with the program team on that day.”

Tang Yuning, “I want to know if Mr. Qi wants to participate in the competition?”

Qi Xiaoyu directly refused, “Unfortunately no.”

Tang Yuning’s face remained unchanged. “That’s quite a pity, I have two entry spots in my hand and don’t want to waste them.”

Qi Xiaoyu, “Mr. Tang can invite people with the same hobby to participate.”

Tang Yuning lowered his head and smiled, “Then can Mr. Qi help me contact Xun Qian?”

Qi Xiaoyu didn’t say anything.

The atmosphere was a bit weird for a while.

Although Gu Meiling and Lu Tongtong, who were at the counter in the distance, didn’t know what they were talking about, they both sensed that the atmosphere was subtly wrong and looked over in their direction.

Zheng Peizu called the cameraman away, so no one was next to them.

Tang Yuning looked into Qi Xiaoyu’s eyes. “It’s okay, I think Xun Qian will come if he knows I came to see you. And…”

He deliberately paused before continuing, “I’ve got something on my hands that I think he’d be interested in.”

Under Qi Xiaoyu’s gaze, Tang Yuning slowly said, “Mrs. Xun was ordered to move, so I went to help, and in a pile of old things, I stumbled upon a videotape from a dozen or two decades ago, which was about Mrs. Xun’s two children, and I thought that such a thing must be very precious to Xun Qian.”

After Tang Yuning finished speaking, without waiting for Qi Xiaoyu to answer, he stood up and praised the food again, “Thank you for the meal,” and then went to the counter to pay.

Qi Xiaoyu pulled out the chair and stood up, staring at Tang Yuning’s back, his fingers tightly grasping the back of the dining chair.

Such things are indeed very precious to Xun Qian! When Xun Ran passed away, Xun Qian was still young, and, facing a series of misfortunes, he was unable to preserve anything about his sister. Plus, Xun Ran was young at the time and didn’t leave much behind, so this videotape is really precious!

He wants to get it!

But he doesn’t want Xun Qian to come.

Tang Yuning wants to take revenge on Xun Qian, so he won’t hand over the things so easily. It should be better for him to handle this matter. He remembered that in the original book, the person Tang Yuning hated the most was only Xun Qian.

What happened back then affected Tang Yuning greatly, and it was also a heavy blow to Xun Qian; otherwise, Xun Qian wouldn’t have been wheelchair-bound for so many years and suffered so much.

Besides, horse racing here is so dangerous…

Although he knew that Xun Qian’s horsemanship was very, very good, and that he had won Tang Yide by strength back then, Xun Qian’s legs just got better recently. If he came here and something unexpected happened again…

He didn’t dare to think about it any further. How could he bear to watch Xun Qian take risks in such a place?

After Tang Yuning paid the bill, he walked back and passed by Qi Xiaoyu.

“Wait.” Qi Xiaoyu stopped him, “Mr. Tang, are you looking for someone to participate in the snow horse race?”

Tang Yuning smiled and nodded.

“I could accompany Mr. Tang, but I’m not a good rider, so I’m afraid I can only participate.”

Tang Yuning smiled, and his tone didn’t seem to force it, “This kind of competition is all about participation. Whether we win or lose, it’s enough for Mr. Qi to run the whole course with me.”

Qi Xiaoyu’s hand on the back of the chair tightened. He had learned to ride a horse in the opera troupe before. If it was just for fun, it wouldn’t be a problem, but the previous accident did leave a shadow in his heart. Tang Yuning was clearly inviting him to a Hongmen Banquet[mfn]The Hongmen Banquet, also known as the Feast at Swan Goose Gate, was a historical event in 206 BC that involved the attempted murder of Liu Bang, the future Han emperor, by his rival Xiang Yu. TL;DR: The phrase can also be used figuratively to describe a banquet that is set up with the intention of murdering a guest.[/mfn] , but he only hesitated for a short second before agreeing, “Okay, it’s my honor to participate in such a competition with Mr. Tang.”

He wanted this videotape so much. He wanted to take this tape back to accompany Xun Qian to visit the grave. This desire was strong enough to overcome everything else.

Tang Yuning looked at Qi Xiaoyu with his deep eyes. “Okay, then we’ll meet at the racecourse this Saturday.”

After saying that, Tang Yuning picked up his hat, scarf, and woolen coat, just like before, and slowly walked into the vast snow outside.

****

Qi Xiaoyu stood there and watched Tang Yuning leave.

Others also looked at his back with doubts. They originally thought he was a special guest, but now it doesn’t seem to be the case.

“Why did he come to see you?” Zheng Peizu stood beside Qi Xiaoyu at some point. “He wasn’t invited by the program team, was he?”

Qi Xiaoyu didn’t intend to hide it and admitted directly, “He came to invite me to participate in the snow horse racing on Saturday.”

Zheng Peizu’s expression changed. “What? Horse racing?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you agree?”

“Just a friendly competition, not for winning or losing.” Qi Xiaoyu lowered his eyes and said while thinking, “I will talk to the program team about this matter later to include this as a part of the show and see if they want to film this segment.”

Zheng Peizu nodded in agreement and said, “Okay, with the production team following, they will ensure your safety. However, if the production team follows, it will be more troublesome. I will also talk to the director later. The winter horse racing here is quite interesting, and the production team should also want to follow along to increase ratings and highlights.”

“Yeah.” This is also what Qi Xiaoyu thought in his heart. He didn’t know what Tang Yuning was going to do, but bringing people from the program team would at least add an extra layer of protection. Of course, he also needs to make more preparations.

The two stood for a while, each thinking about their own things when Zheng Peizu suddenly said, “The snow horse racing here is quite famous, and it has been popular for 40 to 50 years.”

Qi Xiaoyu was still thinking about his own things and said casually, “Really? I didn’t know that.”

“Speaking of which, it was many years ago. Back then, I loved all kinds of cycling and off-road races, and I had also seen snow horse racing here in winter.

Those who won the top few places in this competition are basically northerners. They live here, so it’s natural for them to be good at equestrianism.”

Qi Xiaoyu nodded while listening.

Zheng Peizu looked in the direction of the door and continued, “But many years ago, a non-local won third place. Do you know who it was?”

Qi Xiaoyu’s heart skipped a beat, and he vaguely guessed who Zheng Peizu was talking about. He remembered that it was mentioned in the original book, but it wasn’t written in detail.

Zheng Peizu glanced at Qi Xiaoyu, “That person is Tang Yide, Tang Yuning’s father. More than a decade ago, he was very famous in the circle. People of our generation have basically heard of him, so many people know about him.”

****

Qi Xiaoyu couldn’t sleep at night, especially with the sweet snoring of Jiang Sicheng next to him.

He thought of Xun Qian, Tang Yuning, and horse racing on Saturday. He was still awake until twelve o’clock in the evening.

He took out his mobile phone and saw that it was seven o’clock in the morning in S City. Xun Qian should be up.

He thought about it and sent a video request to Xun Qian.

The other party quickly picked up the call.

The background on the screen looked to be an office, and Xun Qian was wearing a shirt.

Qi Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment. He didn’t expect Xun Qian to come to work so early. He immediately said, “You’re working? Then I’ll hang up. We can talk again when you have time.”

“Wait, I’m in my office. I can video chat with you.”

When Xun Qian said this, the people in the conference room didn’t dare to speak or move and didn’t even dare to sneeze.

Everyone maintains the state of the previous second, with their hands on the keyboard or writing, as if frozen by magic, and their fingertips dare not move even a little. Especially for those who are reporting on stage, they are afraid to change positions with trepidation, fearing that the soles of their shoes would make noise.

Xun Qian looked at the screen and softly said, “Why are you still up so late?”

Qi Xiaoyu rarely took such initiative; his voice was light but gentle, “I miss you.”

He only knew that Tang Yide could ride a horse before, but he didn’t get the information that Tang Yide was so good at equestrianism. No wonder everyone didn’t believe that the teenage Xun Qian was innocent. Even Xu Xueyin thought he had secretly done something.

Although Xun Qian was so excellent, he was misunderstood for so many years, and he had been sitting in a wheelchair without being able to prove anything. When he thought about it, he felt even more heartbroken and couldn’t sleep.

Xun Qian’s voice was even more gentle, “Yeah, I miss you too.”

Qi Xiaoyu laughed, “I will be back soon. This Sunday morning, I will take a plane back early.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for you and pick you up at the airport.”

The people in the conference room shuddered at the boss’s unprecedented tenderness, especially when they thought of Xun Qian’s cold face and scolding at the last second. They were so surprised that their jaws dropped, thinking that the rumors on the Internet that the boss dotes on his wife are really true.

No, it’s a bit fake, and the rumors on the Internet are not true enough.

He’s a hundred times more doting in reality.

Only Zhang Han was the calmest. He really wanted to say to these clueless general managers: You are still too young to be so surprised by such a small thing.

The two chatted a bit more. Considering that Xun Qian had to work, Qi Xiaoyu reservedly said good night and hung up.

After the video call ended, he tapped the documents at hand and said, “Can these tasks be completed on Saturday?”

“Yes, it’s possible.” Xun Qian had been working overtime recently and was busy looking at the financial statements and year-end summaries of various companies. He had not been home for several days. Zhang Han estimated that he wanted to accompany Qi Xiaoyu this Sunday, so he didn’t dare to say no even if it’s not possible.

Then he heard the boss say something more outrageous, “Then arrange a flight on Saturday morning. I’m going to pick someone up.”

Zhang Han’s heart skipped a beat. It turned out that the boss meant to pick him up at an airport halfway around the world!

 

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