Chapter 13: Only Care About Big Brother (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Watch the movie after the premiere.

This film was indeed shot very well, with many highly detailed elements.

Qi Hao’s performance may not have shone as brightly as Li Lianjie’s, but he was the first among the four young leading men to shed his idol image.

Before there was *Heavenly Dog*, after came *The Promise*.

His filthy face showed not a trace of the usual pop idol’s reserve.

What made ordinary young actors and actresses jealous was that Qi Hao’s fans didn’t abandon him for tarnishing his looks.

They… only felt sorry for their big brother.

Chen Kexin cast Qi Hao as the third brother precisely to retain young fans.

There was also a wave of motherly fans overflowing with affection.

After the movie ended, Qi Hao stood up and joined Li Lianjie and the others to accept the audience’s applause and media photos.

His expression was calm; he clapped lightly with the audience, occasionally bowing to the crowd along with Liu Dehua and Li Lianjie.

He appeared reserved and noble.

Standing beside these two veteran actors of the industry, he didn’t seem out of place.

At least, he didn’t look like a connection kid.

If you watch a movie and feel a character is superfluous, excluding the director’s rare casting mistake, it’s almost certainly a connection kid polluting your eyes.

After the movie ended, some people gave interviews, while others began to leave.

Compared to the premiere, where questions were limited to the film itself, now the atmosphere was much freer—you could ask about the movie or gossip.

And Qi Hao was a gossip prince.

In recent times, he had drawn considerable attention from the entertainment industry.

“Qi Hao, did you feel pressure acting opposite Li Lianjie?”

“Of course I did. Brother Li Lianjie doesn’t just excel in action scenes—his dramatic acting is also superb. After years of refinement, I think his performance…”

Forget it, there’s no pressure at all.

I’m a Golden Rooster Award winner—I’m not scared of him, do I fear he’s older than me?

No matter how much he internally scoffed, Qi Hao showed not a hint of it to the media.

Ten years!

Ten years of refinement taught him how to lie with his eyes wide open.

“Which of the two older brothers’ roles do you prefer?” The media reporters had many questions.

“Both older brothers’ characters are very three-dimensional, each with their own highlights. Personally, I might prefer the second brother. The first brother is a tragic hero—his failure was inevitable, but every failed attempt lays the groundwork for success…”

Although he only had a junior high diploma, Qi Hao was certainly not an idiot.

Otherwise, no one would have ever idolized him.

Who the hell would idolize an ordinary junior high student? Pure madness.

“Qi Hao, about you and Ziwen…”

“My contract with Ziwen ended early. There were still a few months left, but the chairman was very kind—he wanted to give me extra time to develop better.”

Another clarification.

Who knew how many times this had been said already.

Can you just believe me once?

“If you terminate the contract…” the reporter continued, “which agency will you accept an offer from?”

“I don’t have any strong preferences yet, and I’m not ruling out starting my own personal studio.”

Qi Hao gave a half-truthful response.

These days, you can’t be too honest when you’re out in public—he’d once been too honest and got deliberately twisted by the media into a playboy image with rumors of affairs with many women.

“Some media caught you going out with Gao Yuanyuan, but others caught you with An Feng that same day, so some say you’re dating two people at once—is that true?”

“Not true.”

I’m not even on one boat—I’m still dog-paddling in the water.

“So they know about each other? Won’t they fight?”

For some reason, even though they knew it was unlikely, the media still wanted to tease Qi Hao, seeing his slight distress.

I don’t believe you’re not stressed.

“I had a joint business trip with Gao Yuanyuan and An Feng—no relationship beyond that. Thank you all!”

Qi Hao explained calmly.

I’d really like to know how to make dozens of women fall in love with me at once without them fighting.

You media people really know how to play.

“Are Gao Yuanyuan and An Feng not good enough?” Probably sensing the interview was nearly over, the media went wild.

Or maybe this outlet was actually feeding stories to Hong Kong media.

“They’re both great!”

Qi Hao smiled, slightly shy—criticizing two girls behind their backs wasn’t exactly noble.

They’re both so great—why don’t you go after them?

Hmph!

“So you find it hard to choose between them, right?”

“Of course not—I haven’t even prepared to date yet!”

Who am I? What am I doing?

If nothing changes, tomorrow will probably bring another wave of rumors about me—likely still about dating two people at once.

No matter how I answer, it won’t stop these people from typing up articles.

These typewriter dogs are utterly unreasonable.

“You mean you’ve never dated before? Hahaha…”

This time, everyone around laughed, as if hearing a joke.

“Qi Hao, come on, let’s go—the banquet’s starting!”

“Ah Zuo… wait for me!”

This time, Qi Hao looked at Zuo Shun with much more favor.

Clearly, these media reporters were incredibly annoying.

At the banquet, it was mostly networking and drinking.

Qi Hao handled such occasions with ease, except for having to fake charm with some women.

Dozens of stars attended, so female celebrities were certainly not lacking.

“What?” Qi Hao’s expression cracked—he looked as if struck by lightning.

“People in the industry say dating you brings good luck and makes you rise to fame easily.”

She held a small wine glass, barely sipping—just enough to moisten her lips—Fu Jing, who had starred in multiple TV dramas as Zhao Baogang but remained obscure, eventually reduced to playing village girls.

She came over to chat with Qi Hao, and he politely exchanged a few words with her.

Then he heard this devastating rumor.

Dating me brings good luck and fame?

Is good luck just cabbage at the market, available for the taking?

If I could hand out good luck so easily, I wouldn’t have been stuck with a system for ten years.

Why don’t you just call me Tang Sanzang? Bite my lip skin and you’ll gain immortality.

No wonder so many rumors about me.

Case solved!

“Don’t be upset—I just heard it… you didn’t know about this rumor before, did you?”

Fu Jing spoke cautiously.

Oh no—she’d just done something incredibly stupid.

“Hehe, I’m fine…”

Smile!

Don’t break character.

But Qi Hao’s worldview was hard to piece back together right away.

When he got home, Lao Tian had just showered and was playing with Aobai, wearing pajamas.

Aobai jumped several times but couldn’t catch the cat toy, and finally exploded.

He growled low and menacingly at Lao Tian, fur standing on end, ready to tear into him at any moment.

No wonder he’s named Aobai.

“Back already? I’ve got something interesting to tell you.” Lao Tian tossed the cat toy to Aobai.

“Not interested.” Qi Hao collapsed onto the sofa.

Just kill me—there are too many female demons, I can’t handle them.

“Lao Wang from Ziwen got fired…” Lao Tian didn’t care if Qi Hao was interested—he just wanted to talk.

“Serves him right. Incompetent and thinks he’s clever.”

Qi Hao grumbled—he and Ziwen’s fallout was entirely because of this guy.

It had nothing to do with Qi Hao himself.

"He's truly not very capable—for instance, with this contract termination, if he had held a press conference, invited some media, and formally dissolved the contract, the negative impact could have been reduced by at least half."

Lao Tian strongly agreed with Qi Hao’s assessment of the manager.

"Then why didn’t you warn him?" Qi Hao sat up.

"Why should I warn them!" Lao Tian said firmly.

Don’t interfere when someone is taking the wrong path—after you interfere, they might just fall flat on their face.

"Is that all the interesting thing there is?"

Qi Hao had no interest in either the manager or Zi Wen; he had already cleared Zi Wen’s name during today’s interview, and he didn’t care what happened next.

He now really wanted to ask Lao Tian whether he knew about that rumor.

But he feared Lao Tian would laugh so hard he couldn’t stop.

"He knows we’re starting a studio and wants to come work as our manager," Lao Tian chuckled.

Qi Hao fell silent for a moment, then exhaled deeply and sighed, "He really dares to dream."

"People like him always have this bizarre confidence—they might even think managing our little personal studio is beneath them."

"Tell him to go die. I’m going to take a shower."

Qi Hao rubbed Ao Bai’s head and went to his bedroom.

Lao Tian sometimes stayed at his place, but they never slept in the same room, and each room had its own bathroom, so they never shared one.

While showering, he confirmed the task was completed.

【Task Three Completed. Reward: Singing Skill +10, Song “Faith”】

【Task Completed. Training Opportunity Awarded】

【Choose One Training NPC: Li Lianjie / Xiang Zuo / Fu Jing】

【New Task Now Released】

【Task Four: With the help of this system, your career has made explosive progress. A single tree cannot make a forest—quickly find yourself a qualified agent. Task Difficulty: 3 Stars, Deadline: 15 Days】

【Task Completion Reward: Stamina +10, Script “Don’t Talk to Strangers,” Startup Capital: 10,000 Yuan】

【Task Failure Penalty: Three electric shocks】

Drawing from last time’s experience, Qi Hao quickly understood this reward and the new task ahead.

The new task required him to find an agent.

But he already had one agent.

Since there was no direct prompt that the task was complete, he must still “find himself a qualified agent.”

Given that he already had an agent, how could he possibly find another one?