Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 388: An Extra Big Surprise

The first season of "Infinite Escape" concluded, and the guests went their separate ways.

Yu Xia didn’t have any significant work engagements in the near future and was eagerly waiting for the period drama directed by Yan Yifei to start filming in August.

In the interim two to three months, aside from some galas and shoots, the rest was leisure time.

He Ci agreed with her that constantly joining projects without a break would only sap an actor’s creativity. Only those artists who rely on popularity without significant works need to maintain high exposure to stay relevant.

During her break, she only needed to keep a low profile so the audience wouldn’t forget her.

However, it would be challenging to forget her, as she currently had a show airing and another one soon to broadcast. Counting the previous show with Yuan Wang and the variety show, her consistent efforts over the years have kept her active in front of the audience for most of half a year.

In contrast, Xie Qingci was back to being busy.

Having debuted not long ago, he needed to accumulate more works. According to him, he had already set his sights on two scripts and anticipated spending most of his time on set before the boy band disbandment variety show in July.

Yu Xia was quite relieved. One dark and windy night during a video call, she sweetly coaxed him, reminding him to focus on work and to stay on set once he was there.

Xie Qingci replied nonchalantly in the video.

She enlarged the screen with a swipe, took a screenshot, and planned to use the photo as an invigorating wallpaper, with no nightmares haunting her by the bedside.

However, Xie Qingci quickly added, "Otherwise it’s fine, but I definitely want to come back and be with you on your birthday, then head back to the set."

He was still out of town doing promotions, not at home.

Their birthdays were close; he had only been back for a few days after the variety show ended, and now it was three days until May 13th.

Yu Xia was quite pleased with his thoughtfulness. While setting the screenshot as her wallpaper, she asked him, "Got a birthday present?"

Xie Qingci suddenly laughed, seemingly recalling something amusing, and leaned closer to the camera to look at her intently, "Yes, a big surprise."

"..." Why didn’t that sound promising?

She paused for two seconds and said earnestly, "I actually don’t need anything extravagant; I understand the sentiment behind the gesture. If you’re truly busy, don’t worry too much. Just come back and cook a meal for me."

Xie Qingci knew that wasn’t sincere.

Statements like "if you’re truly busy" and "don’t worry" are just for show. If he seriously followed them, he’d be in for trouble; he’d have to be really foolish to take them at face value.

"I have time, so keep that day free," he said gently.

Yu Xia pressed her lips into a smile, "Alright, I’ll wait for your return."

At this point, the conversation became tender and full of affection, their voices naturally softening, their words coated in sweetness.

"Have you missed me?" Xie Qingci asked softly.

Yu Xia had become more daring with her flirting, unafraid to express her feelings openly, though her tone never quite reached the same natural warmth as his.

She nodded rapidly, "Yes, yes, yes, I’ve missed you to death."

Clearly, Xie Qingci was quite pleased, "I’ve missed you a lot, too."

He leaned forward to the camera, as if during a student’s lunch break, gazing at her sideways. Unconsciously, Yu Xia mirrored his pose, getting closer to the camera so they could look into each other’s eyes as closely as possible through the screen.

She extended her finger to touch Xie Qingci’s high nose bridge in the video, but only poked the cold screen.

Deep in her heart, she sighed, thinking it would be nice if he were here for real.

"Haven’t you been resting well? Your eyes aren’t as bright as before."

His eyes were indeed beautiful, clear and pure, the whites pristine.

Xie Qingci made a nasal sound, "A bit, the hotel’s smell here is unpleasant, so I can’t sleep well."

He sounded like he was whining.

Her tone softened, "How about switching to a different hotel? Some hotels use poor materials, and that smell might contain harmful substances. Or should I get you a light diffuser? And maybe some eye health supplements?"

"Sure, I also want the pillow from your bed."

"You can bring it when you come back."

The evening conversation was full of warmth, the soft yellow light from countless households illuminated the people apart.

...

The next day, Yu Xia went to the company.

The effect of "Infinite Escape" was excellent; when the company’s higher-ups approached her, they were much more amiable than before, even praising He Ci.

He Ci was so delighted by this that he spun around three times on the boss’s chair in his office.

"All that running around I did to get you this variety show paid off. Although it hasn’t reached a level of explosive popularity, compared to the dozen or so variety shows that came out in the past two years, this one was quite remarkable, with you and Xie Qingci being the fastest to gain popularity."

He put his feet up on the desk, brimming with ambition, "Plus ’Different Paths,’ your queen persona will be all the rage, and then there’s ’Burning Spring.’ Tsk, tsk, it’s hard not to get popular; within half a year, I’ll be moving to a big villa. Sigh, the only downside is ’Burning Spring’ is a web drama and isn’t eligible for awards."

Looking at the actual data reports he pulled out, Yu Xia was in good spirits too, curling her lips into a smile, "No awards pressure; perhaps the web drama will better suit the audience’s taste and have explosive potential."

"That makes sense—" He Ci crossed his arms over his belly, contemplating the future plans as he stared at the ceiling, "Then we’ll push hard to promote these two dramas and manage the narrative in the comments. Once you get popular, plenty of people will feel you’re taking their share of the pie and try to knock you down, so we need to watch out for those odd comments."

"Mm, just take care of it as you see fit."

He Ci pondered a moment and then reminded her, "If the shows are high-profile, you shouldn’t be too high-profile yourself. You have a two-month break, so why not use it to relax? Maybe shoot a vlog as a reward for reaching 30 million fans or as a birthday special."

At this, she paused, closing the document, "Not on my birthday."

"Why not... oh, right, I forgot about that foxy guy. But on your birthday, you should post something, right? What do you plan to post? Last year it was a photo at your brother’s place, and the year before it was a travel collage."

"How about... a livestream?" she pondered.

"Forget it, you might shed fox fur and get caught. Just post a lifestyle picture collage, let the fans know you’ve been living well lately."

Yu Xia had no objections.

Thinking of that male fox spirit at home, she worried about timing issues.

On her birthday, her brother was sure to come or ask her to go home. Plus, her studio had prepared surprise gifts for her birthday every year, so even if Xie Qingci returned early, he’d still have to wait a good half-day alone.

The tricky part was if her brother spent half a day with Xie Qingci at home, she couldn’t imagine how that would turn out.

She was a bit troubled.

Unaware of her concerns, He Ci’s mind wandered to amusing places.

"I’m really looking forward to when ’Burning Spring’ airs, seeing you torment Xie Qingci in it, that’ll be a different kind of pleasure."