MFMBSA 57

Chapter 57 – Metamorphosis

 

Qi Xi didn’t know where Fu Yanchuan put the painting, and he hadn’t seen it again when he woke up the next day.

 

After that, Fu Yanchuan became even busier. Apart from breakfast, he often had to wait until midnight to see Fu Yanchuan. Every time Fu Yanchuan did not come back for a long time, he could not help but wonder if Fu Yanchuan disliked him, doing nothing every day like a useless waste.

 

But he didn’t dare to ask Fu Yanchuan, for fear that Fu Yanchuan was too busy, or that Fu Yanchuan really didn’t want to see him and that was why he didn’t come back.

 

So, he kept on daydreaming until Fu Yanchuan came back and hugged and kissed him as usual, and then he was sure that Fu Yanchuan still liked him today.

 

In the blink of an eye, it was March and Qi Xi was about to start school. Now that he had the money to pay for tuition, he was very reluctant to go to school.

 

He actually didn’t learn anything that was taught in school. His only purpose of going to school was to get a diploma.

 

Before meeting Fu Yanchuan, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with this, nor did he think about what he would do in the future.

 

Now he always unconsciously thinks of what Fu Yanchuan said. He doesn’t want to waste time learning things he doesn’t understand at all. He wants to do what he is good at and make money with his abilities.

 

But after Brother Zha was gone, he only received one commissioned article during this period. Although the money was more than all the money he received when Brother Zha was still there, he was still uncertain.

 

Although he can paint, he doesn’t know how to promote himself, nor does he know where to get commissions. If he doesn’t get any commissions in the future, he won’t make any money, and he will still be a useless waste. He doesn’t want to rely on Fu Yanchuan to support him and the Great Sage. He doesn’t want to be so useless.

 

The day before Qi Xi started school, Fu Yanchuan came back at almost 11 o’clock in the evening. Seeing that the light in the study was on again, he took off his coat and walked over quietly. Sure enough, Qi Xi was sleeping on the mat again.

 

When he got to the side, the orange cat in Qi Xi’s arms raised its head first. He held the cat down with his palm and said, “Don’t make any noise.”

 

The orange cat obediently didn’t cry and jumped out of Qi Xi’s arms. He carefully picked up Qi Xi and returned to Qi Xi’s room.

 

Qi Xi woke up as soon as he landed on the bed, opened his eyes and looked at Fu Yanchuan. Fu Yanchuan just stood there stiffly, as if to put him down. After a long time, he finally spoke.

 

“Go to sleep.”

 

Qi Xi didn’t want to sleep, so he hugged Fu Yanchuan and pulled him down and fell on him, “Brother Yan, next time you come back and see me sleeping, wake me up, okay?”

 

“Why?”

 

He touched Fu Yanchuan’s face and replied: “I want to see you, I miss you.”

 

Fu Yanchuan held his hand and looked at him for a long time before saying, “I’ll be back early tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah.” Qi Xi responded with a light nasal sound. He wanted to tell Fu Yanchuan that he didn’t want to go to school, but Fu Yanchuan looked very tired. He swallowed his worries, smiled and kissed Fu Yanchuan on the lips.

 

“Brother Yan, you should go to bed early too. Good night.”

 

Fu Yanchuan suddenly hugged Qi Xi, rubbed his fingertips on his lips, and finally couldn’t help but kiss him, deeply penetrating Qi Xi’s throat.

 

A silver thread broke off his lips and fell to Qi Xi’s side. He gently wiped it away and said, “Good night.”

 

Qi Xi woke up the next day and was still thinking about whether he should go to school. Fu Yanchuan was so busy that he was answering the phone while eating breakfast. He didn’t say anything. Fu Yanchuan finished his breakfast and left, leaving him running around the house for several seconds.

 

In  the end he still hadn’t decided whether to go to school.

 

“Great Sage, should I go or not?”

 

He asked the orange cat sleeping on the sofa for advice, and the orange cat flicked its tail and answered him, “Meow.”

 

“You mean I don’t have to go if I don’t want to? But I’m already in my sophomore year and will graduate soon. If I don’t go, wouldn’t it be a waste of all my hard work?”

 

Qi Xi analyzed the situation for himself, “And what if I don’t get any more manuscripts in the future and can’t make money? And–“

 

He suddenly fell beside the orange cat, “–If I do nothing, know nothing, and stay at home like this every day, one day Brother Yan will dislike me.”

 

“Meow?”

 

The orange cat still didn’t understand what Qi Xi was saying. It just looked at Qi Xi as if he was very lost, and stretched out its paw to comfort its owner.

 

Qi Xi suddenly jumped up, raised his hands like Superman about to fly away and said, “No! I don’t want to be a loser! I want to be excellent! I want to be someone worthy of Brother Yan! Let Brother Yan like the real me!”

 

However, he froze after shouting the slogan, and after a while he asked the orange cat again: “Great Sage, how can I become excellent? Just having abdominal muscles doesn’t seem to be enough, and I don’t have many.”

 

“Meow?”

 

The orange cat changed its sleeping position in confusion, and Qi Xi’s phone rang.

 

Someone sent him a private message on his newly opened V-blog. He thought someone had finally asked him to paint again, so he quickly opened it.

 

[Little Qixi, do you still remember me?]

 

[I am Bai Peiyong.]

 

Seeing the name, Qi Xi immediately replied.

 

[I do not remember you.]

 

[How did you find me here?]

 

Bai Peiyong smiled while holding the phone. The badness in his genes made him unable to help but imagine Qi Xi’s angry look, and he replied happily.

 

[You use the same name as before and post the same unique style of paintings. How do you think I found it? ]

 

[I don’t want to talk to you. I’ve finished your painting. Don’t bother me anymore! ]

 

[Don’t you remember me? ]

 

Bai Peiyong couldn’t help laughing again. Cheng Shu, who was sitting opposite his desk, leaned over and saw the message he sent, then kicked him, “Can you put away your hooligan habits? Talk to him about business!”

 

Bai Peiyong glared at him in dissatisfaction, “Director Cheng, why are you giving me an attitude when you practically begged me for help? Apologize to me immediately, or give me back my money.”

 

Cheng Shu sat back speechlessly, “Boss Bai, I was wrong, please continue.”

 

Bai Peiyong crossed his legs proudly, but after waiting for a long time, Qi Xi didn’t reply to him. He finally started talking about business, but when he sent a message, he found that he had been blocked.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Seeing Bai Peiyong’s angry expression, Cheng Shu snatched his phone away and couldn’t help slamming the table, “I told you to be serious! This wouldn’t have happened if you had just started talking about business!”

 

“Come here and see if he will pay attention to you.”

 

“I’ll do it if I can!”

 

Qi Xi blocked Bai Peiyong, but someone sent him a private message not long after.

 

[Qi Xi, hello, I am Cheng Shu, we met at Jianshan Art Museum.]

 

[I am currently preparing an animation and would like to invite you to be the original artist. Are you interested in chatting about it? ]

 

After reading the message, he was stunned for two seconds.

 

The first thing that comes to mind is that he is a liar. In his eyes, animation is something extremely high-end. His level is far from meeting the standards of animation, and he has never done it. How could anyone ask him to do original animation drawings?

 

He still remembered Cheng Shu. He had indeed seen him at Jianshan Art Museum. He was friends with Bai Peiyong. Maybe he was planning to trick him into drinking and then doing something shameful.

 

So he decisively refused.

 

[I am not interested.]

 

Cheng Shu was confused by the reply he received. Generally speaking, people would not reject a job so decisively. At least they would ask what the project was.

 

He didn’t give up and went back, only to find that he had also been blocked.

 

Bai Peiyong slapped his hands on the table and laughed, “Hahaha! Director Cheng, what’s with that expression on your face? Keep being so proud! Don’t you think I’m a hooligan?”

 

“It must be because of you that he hates me too!”

 

“I think it’s because you’re too ugly that scared him last time you met.”

 

Cheng Shu didn’t want to argue with Bai Peiyong. He really liked Qi Xi’s painting style. He thought it would be more shocking if it was made into an animation, and he didn’t want to give up just like that.

 

He asked thoughtfully: “Is there any other way to contact him?”

 

Bai Peiyong said thoughtfully: “I think that even if Qi Xi agrees to this, he also needs Fu Yanchuan’s consent. With his level, let’s not talk about money matters. Besides, we can’t make him agree unless Qi Xi really wants to do this project.”

 

“So, the focus is still on Qi Xi!” Cheng Shu immediately decided, “Which school is he from? I’ll go to his school to find him!”

 

Qi Xi didn’t take the message to heart. He was still struggling over whether or not to go to school to register, and he kept struggling until he finished lunch and went to take a nap.

 

As soon as he lay down on the bed, he received a call from Fu Yanchuan. Fu Yanchuan would call him at noon during work this period to ask him if he had eaten.

 

“Brother Yan.”

 

Fu Yanchuan’s chest itched at the way Qi Xi called him. He didn’t know what Qi Xi was doing. He stood in front of the French window in his office and said in a gentle and calm voice, “Have you eaten?”

 

“I have eaten.”

 

“Don’t you want to go to school?”

 

Qi Xi was so shocked that he sat up from the bed, scaring the orange cat, “How did you know?”

 

“The driver waited for you downstairs all morning and said you didn’t come downstairs.”

 

“Did you know I start school today?”

 

Fu Yanchuan chuckled, “Of course I know. If you don’t want to go, then don’t go. You still have more choices.”

 

Qi Xi suddenly thought of the animation that Cheng Shu mentioned. He liked animation very much, but he had never thought that he could make animation. After hesitating for a long time, he asked Fu Yanchuan, “Brother Yan, do you think I can also make animation?”

 

“Animation?”

 

Fu Yanchuan had never been involved in this kind of business and didn’t know much about it, so he replied, “If you want to, go ahead.”

 

“But I don’t know how to do anything.”

 

“Everything starts from scratch. Isn’t animation based on drawing? You already have the foundation. You have to believe in yourself. Also, don’t forget that I believe in you too.”

 

Qi Xi didn’t hear anything else Fu Yanchuan said except “I believe in you”.

 

He seemed to have courage in an instant, “I understand, thank you Brother Yan! Have you eaten? You must eat on time and work hard.”

 

“Well, wait until I come back.”

 

Fu Yanchuan lowered his voice again. Qi Xi seemed to be tickled by something and buried his face in the pillow and replied, “I miss you.”

 

Fu Yanchuan held the phone tightly in silence, listening to the slight breathing sound coming from the other end of the phone. After a long time, he finally said, “I’m hanging up, Xixi.”

 

“Okay.”

 

After another long while, Fu Yanchuan finally hung up. Qi Xi rubbed the phone against his ear as if he could rub it against Fu Yanchuan. He didn’t get up from the bed until the remaining sound in his ear disappeared. He reopened the message sent by Cheng Shu.

 

In fact, he didn’t completely disbelieve what Cheng Shu said. He was just instinctively timid because he was talking about something he had no idea about, so he habitually retreated.

 

But he had just said that he wanted to be excellent, and Fu Yanchuan also said that he believed in him. How could he not dare to confirm whether it was true or not? He would definitely be disliked by Fu Yanchuan if he did so.

 

What if Cheng Shu really wants to ask him to draw animation?

 

Qi Xi immediately released Cheng Shu from the blacklist and replied to the message.

 

[Hello, is what you just said true? ]

 

[What kind of animation? I don’t know how animation is made, and I don’t know how to draw it. Are you sure I can really draw it? ]

 

Cheng Shu and Bai Peiyong were just about to go to the school to find Qi Xi when they were somewhat surprised to receive a reply from Qi Xi.

 

“Qi Xi replied to my message.”

 

Bai Peiyong immediately leaned over to Cheng Shu’s phone and said, “I never expected this! Last time, I tried so hard to persuade him to paint a picture for me, but he didn’t believe me. This time, he actually responded on his own initiative?”

 

Cheng Shu replied, “It must be because you look so dishonest. Who would want to care about you if you were a kid from a good family?”

 

“I’m serious. You haven’t seen his lack of confidence before. I can’t help but praise him for being amazing for being able to reply to you like this.”

 

Cheng Shu still didn’t understand how Qi Xi could not be confident in his paintings. If he were in his shoes, he would definitely not become an animation director now.

 

He pushed Bai Peiyong away and returned to Qi Xi.

 

[The specific script has not yet been determined, but the style and subject matter have been decided. ]

 

[If you have time, can we find a place to talk about it in detail? ]

 

[I have time now. Where should I go? ]