Chapter 24: Sorry to My Male Netizens (Requesting Tips)

The outdoor section was nearly finished, and the indoor red carpet was entirely lined with media.

Fan Xuexue turned to interact one last time with her fans.

Even as a top star, her fans were the foundation of her career.

She couldn’t make it onto the celebrity wealth list solely through her works.

The opportunity arrived!

As Fan Xuexue turned, her skirt swept across the floor in a wave-like arc, extremely close to Qi Hao’s feet.

If Qi Hao continued walking now, he would inevitably step on Fan Xuexue’s skirt.

What would happen if he stepped on it?

Actually, nothing serious—many women at banquets have had their skirts stepped on, and none turned into bare-assed fools because of it.

Of course, there was still a tiny chance this glorious scenario could occur.

Even if he didn’t rip off the skirt, other embarrassing situations might arise.

So, try not to step on someone’s skirt if you can help it.

Just like children are taught from childhood not to lift up someone’s skirt.

To avoid stepping on Fan Xuexue’s skirt!

Yes, this reason was perfect—Qi Hao sharply retracted his foot.

He stumbled and fell…

Thanks to the twenty points of strength he’d gained recently, in the instant he fell, Qi Hao pushed up with one hand and rose into a crouch.

His agility was so impressive, even he found it unbelievable.

And during the process, he didn’t pull Fan Xuexue down, didn’t tear her skirt, and didn’t stick his head into her skirt… to peek.

Qi Hao feared that if he did such a thing, Fan Xuexue would hold him responsible.

And he didn’t want to be responsible.

So he could only say sorry to his male netizens.

Besides, Fan Xuexue’s movies weren’t without bold scenes.

The only flaw was his current posture…

Damn, misjudged it!

This posture looked exactly like one knee on the ground!

Even after falling, he hadn’t let go of Fan Xuexue’s hand.

After all, in the instant of falling, one naturally grips tighter—letting go would reveal it was a fake fall.

Female celebrities’ red carpet stumbles were common, but male celebrities’? Rarely seen.

How could he ever face people if this got out?

Now the situation was: he hadn’t let go of her hand, and he was on one knee—at least it looked like one knee on the ground—clearly resembling a proposal.

Fan Xuexue was stunned by Qi Hao’s entire performance.

She was genuinely frightened, covering her mouth as she stared at him in disbelief, her mind involuntarily drifting…

Should she say yes?

Fortunately, Qi Hao stood up quickly.

Otherwise, if Fan Xuexue nodded vigorously, tears streaming, and shouted, “I accept! Let’s marry tomorrow,” he wouldn’t know how to recover.

Qi Hao apologized and released Fan Xuexue’s hand, lightly brushing nonexistent dust off his clothes—all movements smooth and natural, showing no trace of his earlier clumsiness.

Actually, he was silently asking System Brother whether this counted as completing the task.

If you think it doesn’t, I’ll pretend I twisted my ankle and lie on the ground right now so they bring a stretcher.

Don’t think I won’t roll around screaming in pain.

Face?

That’s Tencent stock—do Tencent shareholders even care about face?

Perhaps the system also found it embarrassing and approved his fall technique.

Success!

“I almost stepped on your skirt just now…” Qi Hao smiled and explained to Fan Xuexue.

Fan Xuexue’s expression was complex.

Qi Hao, a top idol star, had even faked a fall just to avoid stepping on her skirt.

To say she wasn’t moved would be a lie.

Media reporters frantically snapped photos—both Qi Hao and Fan Xuexue were top-tier, so the cameras had no gap, faithfully capturing the entire scene.

Someone suddenly shouted:

“Qi Hao, you’re a real man!”

“Sister Xue, say yes!”

“Qi Hao, we entrust our Xue to you!”

“Qi Hao, what about Yuan Yuan? What about Qian Qian? What about me?”

What nonsense—Qi Hao smiled and waved, then took Fan Xuexue’s outstretched hand again and walked toward the interior venue.

Sister, can we stop holding hands now?

We’re almost at the autograph wall—do we sign with our hands still linked?

Qi Hao usually seemed a bit dim-witted, but now he realized he’d caused another mess.

Luckily, luckily Old Tian was there.

And Zhan Qi Laiden.

Finally, at the autograph wall, Fan Xuexue released Qi Hao’s hand, regained her composure, and signed her name.

Qi Hao followed immediately and signed his own name.

Then he was guided by staff to undergo an interview.

“It seems a little incident occurred just now…”

The host got straight to the point.

If this wasn’t addressed, who knew how much it might spiral?

Blaming the venue for icy, slippery red carpet was the least of it.

“Just now, Qi Hao twisted and fell to avoid stepping on my skirt,” Fan Xuexue volunteered an explanation for Qi Hao’s behavior.

In fact, she genuinely believed this was true.

“Oh, were you injured?” the host asked anxiously—so long as it wasn’t their event’s fault.

“No, just a bit clumsy.”

Qi Hao showed little expression.

His persona was naturally aloof—the ultimate godlike idol in female fans’ hearts.

Though that persona was already mostly shattered.

“Not clumsy at all—Qi Hao is a gentleman!” Fan Xuexue sincerely praised.

She knew this would further fuel rumors.

It contradicted her principle: she wanted to use Qi Hao for publicity but didn’t want to actually be with him.

But if she said nothing, how would the public view her?

After all, everyone knew Qi Hao fell only to avoid stepping on her skirt.

“Exactly—not clumsy at all! I saw it—it looked like he was on wires, so cool! Qi Hao, have you considered acting in action movies?”

Since the blame wouldn’t land on their event, the host had no problem praising Qi Hao.

“Not ruled out,” Qi Hao replied succinctly.

“Do you plan to collaborate again?”

The host looked at these two high-appeal idols and thought it was a shame not to team them up.

Fan Xuexue had recently favored collaborating with acting heavyweights like Liang Jiahui, Li Ming, Liu Dehua, and Ge You, and Qi Hao now belonged to that category too—perfect for collaboration.

“We already have intentions in this direction—everyone can look forward to it.”

Fan Xuexue was referring to “October Weicheng,” but how exactly they’d collaborate remained unclear.

The studio might not cast them as lovers.

She could even play his stepmother.

“Will you appear in ‘Chinese Paladin 3’?” the host asked again.

“Not at all for now,” Fan Xuexue immediately denied the rumor.

Tangren was indeed a bit annoying in the industry.

They loved to parade their “bings.”

Ever since they cast Qi Hao as the senior disciple of Shushan, Tangren had been quietly parading every celebrity linked to him.

Almost every person rumored to have dated Qi Hao had been dragged out by them.

Qi Hao suspected Tangren had hired him at a high price precisely because he had the most dating rumors.

Especially An Feng, who had starred in “Chinese Paladin 1.”

They confidently claimed she’d return for the third season, even releasing a melodramatic pitch: “Qi Hao and Hu Ge, two men fighting over one woman.”

Fan Xuexue was, of course, one of those paraded.

With Qi Hao here, she didn’t know his stance on the “parading” practice, so her denial was already quite gentle.

"The lead roles have basically been finalized; filming will start in February."

Qi Hao didn’t want the sugar man constantly leading his "girlfriends" around, so he directly revealed that the leads had already been decided.

Most of his "girlfriends" had already achieved fame and success; they wouldn’t dream of taking supporting roles in a TV drama like this.

"Then I’ll wish you smooth filming in advance."

Due to a sudden heavy snowfall, setting up the canopy wasted some time, and Qi Hao had fallen on the red carpet; the host asked a few more questions, then hastily ended the red carpet interview.

Backstage, Qi Hao suppressed his eagerness to settle his task.

His gaze swept the room, searching for someone suitable to serve as this training NPC.

But he couldn’t just charge straight in to find an NPC.

He had to first socialize with senior figures and close friends in the industry.

Like Li Lianjie, who had just collaborated with him on "The Promise."

"The Promise" was released on December 12 and earned 222 million yuan at the box office — a pittance compared to its 270 million yuan production cost.

And the criticism for it was loud.

Qi Hao thought the film was actually decent; perhaps it was just that higher expectations led to greater disappointment.

Besides, it’s not about not knowing quality — it’s about comparing one thing to another.

Feng Xiaogang’s "Assembly" was released on December 20 and had already surpassed "The Promise" at the box office; moreover, "Assembly" cost only 80 million yuan — the winner was obvious.

Qi Hao chatted briefly with Li Lianjie, then hurried off to find the next person.

Sun Honglei!

This guy’s acting was actually quite good, especially when he asked, "Is this watermelon ripe?"

Qi Hao decided to chat with him a bit longer.

If he could "capture" him as a training NPC, he could experience firsthand the pressure of that "ripe or not" moment.

Ni Dahong!

Ni Dahong was rumored to be joining the upcoming "Three Kingdoms" remake.

Old Tian was also waiting for that project.

Qi Hao hoped to play Lu Bu or Zhao Yun.

Who doesn’t love playing a tough guy?

One of his career goals was to portray every mighty male warrior in Chinese history.

Lü Ai didn’t count.

If he landed this project, it would be perfect — right after finishing "Immortal Sword 3," he could join "Three Kingdoms."

But "Three Kingdoms" had its flaws.

First, the classic "Old Three Kingdoms" loomed large; surpassing it was like dreaming. Second, the filming schedule was too long — for Qi Hao, who was in the middle of a career transition, it wasn’t a good deal.

"Mr. Ni, which role are you planning to play?" Qi Hao asked curiously.

"I actually wanted to play a general — mounted on horseback, securing the realm, sweeping east and west, mighty and imposing..." Ni Dahong’s expression darkened as he sighed: "Gao Xixi convinced me to play Sima Yi. I was drunk on his persuasion and agreed. That man is a master of manipulation — if you meet him, watch out for his tricks."

"Will playing Sima Yi be stressful?" Qi Hao asked quietly.

"Sigh... even if it’s stressful, you still have to do it. When you’re an Academy Award winner, isn’t the pressure huge?" Ni Dahong countered.

"Huge pressure!" Qi Hao nodded vigorously.

The Capital TV Film and Television Awards Ceremony wasn’t a major event; the number of actors Qi Hao considered worthy of attention wasn’t large.

After circling the room once, he gave up searching further.

With Ni Dahong and Sun Honglei as baseline options, picking either one wouldn’t be a loss.

After the event began, Qi Hao sat down and initiated task settlement.

Heart pounding, hands trembling.

Fourty million yuan in shares — here I come!