Without any advance publicity, "The Revenge of the Queen" went directly on air, but on the night it premiered, related topics flooded the hot search charts. If not for the "Wei Yang CP" going out of control today, the top spot on the entertainment topic charts would definitely have belonged to this show.
[The Revenge of the Queen: Little Xi debuts tonight with 6 premiere episodes, Monday to Sunday, 3 updates every night without rest, letting you enjoy nonstop! Let me and Luo Yang together go from the grasslands to the palace, reversing fortunes all the way to become the masters of the rear palace!!]
It was the same period of history that Qin Wei and the others filmed for "Burning Stars", with the main characters, story backgrounds all being similar.
Since there was nothing to do, Qin Wei turned on the projector while working on assignments and watching the show.
After a while, her phone rang. It was a video call from Qiao Sixiao.
It was probably about the premiere of this drama. Qin Wei casually picked up, not expecting to hear a little milky voice from the other end:
"Hello? Is this Qin Wei?"
The screen was pitch black at first, then she could see the caller's round, shining eyes.
Before she could speak, she heard a familiar voice questioning from behind:
"Why did you take my phone? Why are you calling out her name? Where are your manners?"
The little milky voice continued:
"Oh, sister Qin Wei, I'm Hong Dou, Qin Hong Dou. Did you forget about me?"
"Since when is my grandson also surnamed Qin? Aren't you surnamed Qiao? What's your actual surname?"
Qin Wei then heard a voice she did not want to hear. Oddly, the voice was the same, just lacking its usual oppressiveness.
The little milky voice seemed to be explaining earnestly:
"Grandma, you don't understand. I'm both surnamed Qiao and surnamed Qin. Qiao Ruiyan is my real name, while Qin Hong Dou is my stage name. It's just like Auntie, right? Qiao Sixiao is a stage name; her real name is Qiao..."
"Oh just be quiet. You and your nonstop blabbering."
Qiao Sixiao cut him off before he could finish speaking and snatched back the phone, stuffing it into her pocket. Then came the little milky voice starting to cry:
"Wah...wah wah..."
The familiar temper tantrum began.
Hong Dou broke into loud wails: "Give it back! I want my Qin Wei! Wah... Grandma, can you discipline her please..."
Though unable to see, Qin Wei could hear He Hong speaking:
"Your auntie's stubborn. I can't control her. You two keep squabbling. Whoever wins gets the phone...Qin... I'm going to check on the stew."
Hong Dou: "Wah! How can she still be stubborn without wings... Give me back my Qin Wei!"
"Since when was she just yours... Didn't I give you your own phone? Stop using mine! I need it for work!"
Qiao Sixiao refused to return the phone.
Unable to bear listening further, Qin Wei spoke up for Hong Dou:
"Just give it back and let me chat with my son, is that so hard?"
Hearing Qin Wei's voice come from her pocket, Qiao Sixiao finally understood Hong Dou's intention. So all this time, the call was with her, and she had heard their entire exchange.
"You talk to her, but don't go randomly swiping through my phone. I'm going to help out in the kitchen."
Qiao Sixiao conceded and left with one last warning:
"Press anything else and I'll toss you out from here."
Only then did Hong Dou get the phone back. His round eyes were filled with tears as he glanced resentfully at Qiao Sixiao, wanting to glare but not daring to. Seeing Qin Wei, he was instantly in tears again:
"Wah...Mama..."
Qin Wei patiently soothed Hong Dou:
"If you keep crying, I'll just hang up first. You sure can bawl. I'll call you back in half an hour, okay?"
Hong Dou stopped crying right away. He had perfect control over this:
"Oh okay, I won't cry anymore!
Qin Wei I miss you so much! Won't you come over? Auntie's here today too! Do you miss her? I miss her pretty often but I reaaally miss you!
Grandma made dinner herself today. Her stewed fish is delicious! Wait for me, I'm telling Grandma!"
"Hong Dou, sit down!"
Qin Wei practically screamed to keep Hong Dou there. He looked at her blankly and said innocently:
"It's my third birthday today..."
Qin Wei: "......"
An hour later, the doorbell at their home rang. Qiao Sixiao opened the door and stood there stunned:
"Why did you come?!"
At the door was Qin Wei, holding a bouquet of flowers in hand and a prettily-wrapped strawberry bear.
"Auntie, this is my friend."
Hong Dou ran out from his room and gestured for Qiao Sixiao not to block the way. Then he pulled Qin Wei inside. At the same time, he shouted loudly:
"Grandma! Grandma! This is my friend! She can draw Ultraman!"
...
As expected, Qiao Sixiao's parents' home was also located in a high-end residential district. But it was very far from her Yun Jin community. Even with all green lights on the drive today, the one hour journey was smooth for Qin Wei.
Guests should be treated well. And He Hong had been especially attentive to her recently, so she warmly welcomed Qin Wei in and invited her to eat, praising how nice her flowers looked and her good taste.
"This is for you, wishing my friend here a happy birthday. I hope you like it!"
Qin Wei handed the gift to Hong Dou. Opening it, there was a strawberry bear holding a little baton, a limited edition item.
Hong Dou hugged the bear and shouted loudly, "Wow! So cool! Qin Wei! Thank you!"
"What birthday?! How come I never knew about this? Who taught you to lie?!"
The auntie standing beside poured cold water on Hong Dou's enthusiasm with one line.
"Now that you're here already, stay for dinner."
He Hong said,
"Miss Qin, just some homecooked dishes, hope it's not too shabby for you."
Qin Wei felt embarrassed for the moment:
"Of course not. I came unannounced and am intruding."
Qiao Sixiao's dad was also at home today. He walked out from the study, looking quite spirited. According to Hong Dou's gossip, he used to be a university professor and could paint flowers and birds, but not Ultraman (unimportant).
His face was gloomy and he did not speak to He Hong, though his expression softened when he saw Hong Dou. He held him in his arms, chatting and laughing.
His gaze then landed upon Qin Wei. Fortunately, Qiao Sixiao came forward and introduced her colleague to her dad. Qiao's father nodded, not saying much else.
Dinner formally began. Hong Dou started waving his spoon around, demanding cake.
"Don't you even feel ashamed? You tricked Auntie Qin into thinking it's your birthday so she'd bring presents all the way here. Your birthday's next month! Now you still want cake?!"
Right after Qiao Sixiao finished speaking, Hong Dou's lips quivered as he started bawling again.
He Hong took out her phone to make a call, while using her freed up hand to carry Hong Dou, coaxing him:
"Ordered, ordered. It'll definitely arrive after we eat. Don't cry Hong Dou, be good..."
Qiao's father also soothed him:
"Will one be enough? Or should we buy another?"
Qin Wei suddenly understood where his bad temper came from, when even He Hong doted on him so fully without any discipline.
Qiao Sixiao impatiently said:
"My brother said not to let him eat sweets. You guys don't listen, then have to deal with his tantrums later."
He Hong retorted: "It's their business to limit sugar. Since precious boy rarely gets sent over now for his birthday, let him have a bite."
Finally placated, the family plus Qin Wei sat down together for the meal. Right on time after eating, the cake arrived.
"Why did you come instead of Little Liu when I called him?"
He Hong opened the door. It wasn't her assistant outside, but Wang Dongdong instead.
"Madame He, Assistant Liu sprained her ankle today. I was accompanying her to the hospital...I..."
Little Wang struggled to explain. She didn't often see the company president since she followed Qiao Sixiao, so would grow nervous each time they met.
"Come in."
He Hong said,
"The child wanted cake at home. Stay and join us."
Little Wang naturally did not dare to refuse and followed He Hong inside. She then saw her boss sitting on the sofa with her roommate beside her, playing with Hong Dou.
[Little Wang's Diary: Master said to do one good deed daily. Only when I saw the ever cold Assistant Liu sprain her ankle today did I support her in going to the hospital. Had it been normal times, I'd have run faster than anyone.
Who knew Madame He would directly pass the urgent task to me. So late at night, I'm out here buying cake and personally delivering it to their door. Don't you guys know what flash delivery platforms are for?
Madame He asked me to eat cake with them. Not daring to refuse was the main reason, but I also recalled craving this berry mousse cake last time I ate it... I shouldn't have been so gluttonous. I wonder why they needed cake. Such an important family meeting seems to still be confidential?]
Li Liang said large firms are also socially recruiting programmers now without needing internal referrals. But this career leads to overworking your liver, without necessarily earning that much more either. At least worldly complications would be fewer though.
