In the Years When I Was a Father-Chapter 152: Flirtatious Father of the Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Role (6)

Because the loss was just too great, for the entire morning, Qi Xinglin looked at Xiao Ge with eyes full of resentment.
Xiao Ge, clueless about the situation: ?
When did he offend this young lady again?
Xiao Ge didn’t think much of it. The next scene was another emotionally “difficult” one. It was difficult because as long as the plot deepened even slightly, Qi Xinglin’s performance would start to drift.
This scene was a heart-to-heart between the two characters. One was a hidden rich second-generation heir, and the other a well-known wealthy young master. Both had their own troubles and restraints from their families. Wen Jiarui, rarely opening up, poured his heart out to Shen Qingman. He thought this usually mischievous and headstrong girl would laugh at him for being melodramatic, but unexpectedly, the girl who usually acted carefree and silly started to comfort and encourage him instead.
Through this conversation, they came to understand each other better, and from this point on, Wen Jiarui, who had only a slight fondness for Shen Qingman, slowly began to hold her in his heart.
This was a critical scene showing the shift in their relationship. Since this was a romantic and aspirational drama, the set was, of course, designed to be beautiful and dreamy.
The clapperboard clicked. Xiao Ge had already entered Wen Jiarui’s character. He gazed into the distance, holding a crushed empty beer can in his hand, and let out a mocking laugh.
“Cut!”
“Uh, let’s do that again.”
With the director saying that, there was no need to name names—everyone around already knew who messed up.
Xiao Ge was used to this kind of situation. He glanced over at Qi Xinglin in confusion. Just now, he had been facing forward and didn’t see her performance, so he tried to give her a look to remind her to adjust her expression.
Qi Xinglin felt a little guilty for messing up the scene right at the start. Now every time she saw Xiao Ge, all she could think about was her sports car and her bags. She had recently taken a liking to a new car—not the bold, flashy red, silver, or pink she used to prefer, but a sleek black one she had never wanted to buy before.
But this time, she was suddenly captivated by the smooth, elegant lines of the car. Unfortunately, just as she was drawn in, a third party came along and ruined her budding love!
Qi Xinglin looked at the “third party” in front of her—the more she looked, the more annoyed she felt. As expected, anyone who could be friends with Chu Yi was here just to upset her!
Still, she was the one who had lost focus first, so Qi Xinglin remained a bit guilty. She blinked, coughed lightly, gave an OK hand signal, adjusted her expression, and looked ready. But deep inside, she was muttering:
Hmph, acting cold and aloof? Anyone can do that!
Xiao Ge had no idea what kind of episode the little princess was having this time. Since she looked ready, he didn’t ask. The clapperboard clicked again, and he re-entered Wen Jiarui’s world.
…He let out a mocking laugh, full of a quiet rebellion against his fate, mixed with helplessness and resignation about his family ties.
A big family might look glamorous on the surface, but the twisted undercurrents were scarier than a bottomless pit. Wen Jiarui had long been dissatisfied with the family’s coldness. But born into such a family, even the chance to escape was almost nonexistent. Especially with his mother’s sorrowful face still fresh in his mind, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and fight for everything he hated.
Shen Qingman had heard some of the Wen family’s internal scandals. Though usually a bit careless, she instantly understood Wen Jiarui’s pain. Instead of giving cliched advice to “let it go,” she empathized with his bitterness and used real actions to show her understanding and support.
Under the camera, Xiao Ge had fully become Wen Jiarui. His face showed mockery and disdain, his whole aura was filled with defiance and struggle, but his eyes held a deep longing for freedom. Just one look into those dark, bottomless eyes could pull anyone in.
Compared to the first take, this one went smoothly. Watching the monitor, the director silently thought he would love to work with Xiao Ge again—he really owed him for this current shoot.
The camera then shifted focus to Shen Qingman. The visual was great: a handsome man and a beautiful woman sitting together, with the campus lake as a dreamy, romantic backdrop.
The director gave a silent thumbs-up… until Qi Xinglin opened her mouth—and his face fell instantly.
He frowned again. Qi Xinglin was supposed to convey understanding and agreement, but instead, she looked exactly like a failing student being asked by the teacher, “Do you get it?”—clearly clueless but nodding under pressure with a blank expression.
Director Liu started tugging at his hair again in frustration, then quickly stopped himself, remembering how few strands he had left.
“Cut, let’s do this one again.”
The morning passed in a blur of retakes, flubs, and the director’s anguish.
While the others weren’t too affected by Qi Xinglin’s poor acting, she herself was immensely relieved when it was finally break time.
Having escaped the torment of acting for now, Qi Xinglin’s thoughts returned to her pitiful pocket money. Her heart ached. Why on earth had she agreed to act?!
Thinking of the culprit, Chu Yi, Qi Xinglin silently prayed for her downfall. That way, she wouldn’t even have to do anything—Chu Yi would fall behind on her own!
During lunch, Qi Xinglin took out her phone and began browsing gossip online. She was secretly hoping to find some bad news about Chu Yi… only to have her expression collapse a second later upon seeing the trending searches.
There were three hot topics about Chu Yi. She had recently joined a talent show as a dance instructor. Initially, people thought this new star was just there to ride the variety show’s popularity and gain exposure.
Even Chu Yi’s TV fans thought so. But no one had expected that the once shy Chu Yi would become so dazzling when she danced.
As a result, the program initially meant for fans to chase after cute male idols ended up with the audience being completely smitten by Chu Yi before they could even pick a favorite guy to root for.
Fans are the most straightforward online influencers, so once the show aired, the internet was flooded with endless praise for Chu Yi.
Qi Xinglin scrolled through the trending comments, fuming as she read the exaggerated and over-the-top compliments. She slammed her phone down, utterly annoyed. That hypocritical woman! She had said she wanted to pursue a serious acting career, and now she’s running off to appear on variety shows!
But the most infuriating thing was—why was she successful again?!
Qi Xinglin silently thought about her own dance foundation. When she was little, her family had also hired a dance instructor for her. But after practicing for a while, she couldn’t stand the physical strain of dancing and decisively quit. So… was it still possible to make up for it now?
Well, it was just a fleeting thought. There was no way she would go through the torture of stretching and bending. She huffed in frustration, but thinking of Xiao Ge, who had spent the entire morning filming scenes with her, her spirit was suddenly lifted. She had to snatch him away!
So while Xiao Ge was resting in the lounge, trying to erase the mental trauma from being blinded by Qi Xinglin’s disastrous acting, and just about to start eating, he saw that headache-inducing girl walk in again.
Xiao Ge immediately put on his cold, aloof façade, clearly expressing his refusal.
Unfortunately, Qi Xinglin, being self-centered as always, couldn’t care less about Xiao Ge’s attitude.
“Xiao Xiao, let’s eat together. Afterward, I have some questions about the script I want to discuss with you.”
Xiao Ge wanted to refuse, but didn’t turn her down outright. “Teacher Qi, I think we should eat with Director Liu. That way, if we have questions, we can all discuss them together.”
Many of Xiao Ge’s fans liked to call him “Xiao Xiao,” so he couldn’t really object to Qi Xinglin using that nickname. But if she thought they were going to discuss the script together—no chance. Even if he explained everything clearly, this girl might not even understand. Since refusing wouldn’t work, he decided to drag the director into it. If he was going bald from stress, they could all go bald together.
With his plan set, Xiao Ge immediately asked his new assistant to move his lunchbox to the director’s lounge, moving so fast that Qi Xinglin didn’t even have time to react.
By the time Xiao Ge left the lounge, Qi Xinglin had no choice but to grit her teeth and follow. She grumbled to herself—
So what if the director’s there? You think you can escape from me?
So, just when Director Liu thought he could finally relax and save a few strands of hair, he had only taken two bites before seeing his male lead walk in.
Director Liu assumed Xiao Ge was emotionally exhausted and had come to seek comfort. Just as he was about to offer some kind words, he saw Qi Xinglin follow in right after.
Director Liu: …
He wanted to pull his hair out again!
But everyone here was a professional adult with decent emotional control. After a moment of awkwardness, Director Liu quickly put on his usual cheerful face.
“Xiao Ge, Xinglin, what brings you here?”
Xiao Ge replied, “Teacher Qi has some questions about the script, so I brought her here.”
Just one sentence, and Director Liu instantly understood the situation—it had nothing to do with him. He gave Xiao Ge a discreet glare and then smiled at Qi Xinglin. “Xinglin, what part are you confused about? Let’s have a detailed talk after we eat.”
Qi Xinglin didn’t actually want to talk about the script, so she casually nodded, “Sure, let’s eat first.”
After her assistant Shitou set out her lunch, Qi Xinglin deliberately sat a little closer to Xiao Ge, picked up her chopsticks, and prepared to eat.
Both Director Liu and Xiao Ge weren’t into special treatment, so their meals were the same standard lunch boxes given to the crew. But not Qi Xinglin—she couldn’t stand the crew’s food, so she had Shitou order custom meals for her every day.
Thus, on the small table, the two ordinary lunchboxes stood in stark contrast to Qi Xinglin’s upscale, refined meal.
Qi Xinglin noticed this and smiled quietly. She glanced at the still expressionless Xiao Ge, picked up a piece of beef tenderloin with her chopsticks, slowly tasted it, and sighed in delight. “Mmm, tender and flavorful. Xiao Xiao, want to try some?”
Xiao Ge focused on his own lunchbox, unfazed. “No need, the lunchbox food is pretty good too.”
“Oh, okay then. Director, do you want to try some?”
Director Liu shook his head. “I’m fine with the lunchbox.”
Qi Xinglin didn’t push further. She swallowed the beef, picked up a piece of spicy chicken, tasted it, and frowned slightly. “Hmm, a bit spicy, but the flavor’s good—it’s well-seasoned.”
“Director, really don’t want to try some?”
Director Liu shook his head again—but unconsciously sped up his eating a little.
Qi Xinglin smiled sweetly and reminded him, “Director, please eat slowly. I eat a bit slow, and if you finish too quickly, you’ll just have to sit there and watch me eat.”
After speaking, Qi Xinglin scooped a spoonful of ice jelly from the small bowl, let the oil drip off, and sighed with satisfaction, “Mmm, something cool like this is perfect for summer. Watermelon and blueberries together taste amazing. Xiao Xiao, do you want a bite?”
Xiao Ge kept a cold face, ignoring her as he silently continued eating his boxed meal.
Qi Xinglin didn’t mind. She picked up a shredded pork wrap with her chopsticks, shook her head, and said, “Speaking of this dish, only Lan Family Private Kitchen gets the sauce right. Xiao Xiao, don’t you agree?”
Xiao Ge glanced at her briefly and coldly said, “Just hurry up and eat. Otherwise, I’m leaving.”
Qi Xinglin pouted, “Didn’t you say we’d be discussing the script? Can’t you even give me time to finish my meal?” Then she turned to Director Liu. “Director, would you like to try some? These are all from Lan Family Private Kitchen. The flavors are really authentic.”
Director Liu swallowed hard. Lan Family Private Kitchen was famous across the industry. Even someone of his status had to make a reservation days in advance to dine there. Their arrogance naturally came from how delicious the food was.
After eating ordinary boxed meals for quite a while, he was honestly a bit tired of them. And now Qi Xinglin was practically doing a live mukbang in front of him—completely shameless!
He really wanted to join in and eat, but glancing at his male lead’s darkened expression, he felt it would be a betrayal to abandon his pitiful actor and fall into the arms of capital. He began a new round of internal struggle.
Should I eat or not eat?!
Qi Xinglin didn’t mind the lack of response. Her lunch included eight dishes and one soup, each served in small portions. Glancing at Xiao Ge’s cold face, she picked up a takoyaki that she had ignored until now and said, “Xiao Xiao, this is one of Lan Family’s specialties. You really don’t want to try it?”
If looks could kill, Qi Xinglin would already be a corpse by now. One of Xiao Ge’s greatest passions was gourmet food. As a celebrity, he couldn’t just indulge freely, so every now and then, he’d sneak out in disguise to satisfy his cravings.
Paparazzi had often snapped photos of him sneaking out for food, and his fans frequently joked about it.
There were very few things Xiao Ge couldn’t eat, but far too many that he loved. Among his favorites was takoyaki, especially Lan Family’s version. He had tasted it before and absolutely adored it.
After eating boxed meals with the crew for some time, his cravings were at an all-time high. And now Qi Xinglin was trying to tempt him with delicious food?
Xiao Ge looked at the seaweed-dusted takoyaki, then at the smug expression on Qi Xinglin’s face—she might as well have had “Beg me” written all over it. He really wanted to strangle her.
He lost all interest in his boxed meal and was about to get up and leave when Qi Xinglin, already watching his every move, lunged over with the takoyaki in hand.
“Xiao Xiao, don’t cry. If you want it, just say so.” She pushed the takoyaki right in front of his face.
If her smug expression hadn’t been so obvious, Xiao Ge might’ve actually taken a bite. But seeing her looking so smug, he coldly said, “Take it away.”
Qi Xinglin chuckled, “Fine, don’t eat then. Let’s discuss the script? I think Wen Jiarui’s character setting doesn’t make sense. He’s a rich second generation—why is he obsessed with starting from scratch? There’s nothing shameful about standing on your ancestors’ shoulders to succeed.”
Pretending to raise a serious point, Qi Xinglin bit off the takoyaki from her chopsticks. Then she glanced at Xiao Ge and the director, clearly saying:
Let’s eat and talk!
Director Liu shoveled in some boxed rice, actually intrigued by her question. He quickly swallowed and said, “That’s a pretty good point, Xinglin. Come, Xiao Ge, let’s sit and talk it through.”
Since the director had spoken and it was a script-related issue, Xiao Ge had no choice but to sit back down. He shot a look at Qi Xinglin’s scheming face, then turned away and said, “Wen Jiarui doesn’t like anything about the Wen family. So, rather than achieving success through inheritance, he craves accomplishments that are entirely his own.”
Qi Xinglin nodded, half understanding. She chewed on some beef from her lunchbox before commenting, “Still feels pretentious to me. He is part of the Wen family. If it were me, I’d use all my strength to ruin the family business. That way I’d feel satisfied, and it would piss off everyone in the family. Hahaha.”
Thinking about causing others grief made her even happier. She popped a piece of mango into her mouth and casually poked at Xiao Ge again.
“So, Xiao Xiao, you really don’t want any?”
Xiao Ge: ……
Where on earth did this demon come from to torment him?!
By the end of the lunch break, Qi Xinglin had scored a complete victory. She walked out of the director’s lounge in high spirits. But that good mood didn’t last—once the first scene of the afternoon started, it was shattered.
Xiao Ge, standing in front of her, immediately noticed something was off.
“What’s wrong?”
Qi Xinglin rubbed her stomach uncomfortably and said with a pitiful expression, “I’m too full…”
Xiao Ge: …
The next second, the corners of Xiao Ge’s mouth twitched upward. He barely managed to keep a straight face through sheer willpower and gave a calm “Mm,” to show he understood.
But inside, he was laughing uncontrollably:
Hahaha, serves you right!