Mysterious Assistant of the Washed-Up Queen-Chapter 491 - 321: Big Events at the Start of the Year, Joyous News Continues_2
Primarily, Xu Qingqiu didn’t know how to explain herself. She feared that stating her reasons would lead to a scolding, and she also genuinely hadn’t decided yet.
Deep down, she naturally longed to marry Chu Tian sooner. However, she was currently in a critical period of her career. Even if it didn’t bother her, many people still depended on her for their livelihood.
Sometimes, when caught up in the world’s affairs, one truly couldn’t act as one wished. Her current situation closely resembled Zhao Kuangyin being forced to accept the throne—she was trapped between a rock and a hard place.
In the end, Chu Tian realized what was happening. Seeing the drastic change in Xu Jiacheng and Liang Yuehong’s expressions, he quickly said, "It’s like this, Auntie. Qingqiu is currently at a crucial phase in her career, so it isn’t a suitable time to make our relationship public. Besides, we’re still young. We were originally planning to wait until things stabilize next year and then find an opportunity to register our marriage."
Upon hearing this, Liang Yuehong and Xu Jiacheng visibly relaxed.
"That’s good, that’s good. We don’t really understand your affairs; we’re mainly concerned that you young people don’t grasp what’s truly important. You must understand, whether it’s dating or anything else, the ultimate goal is to spend your lives together. You can’t treat this like a game."
"It’s good that you’re considering marriage. However, it’s still best to marry sooner rather than later. You can work on your career anytime, but youth only lasts for so many years. If you marry late, you might miss out on many precious things."
"Understood, Auntie. We’ll reconsider. If the timing is right, it would naturally be better to marry sooner. To be honest, we’re quite anxious too."
"Yes, that’s right! Being anxious is good. If you’re anxious, then hurry up and figure out a way to settle things."
She said this, but in reality, Liang Yuehong was just flustered from being overly anxious. She had been hoping day and night for Xu Qingqiu to get married.
But in reality, if she calmed down and thought clearly, she might not have pushed them so hard.
After all, marriage is a lifetime commitment, and she would definitely want to assess him thoroughly.
Even though this young man named Chu Tian seemed decent now, you can know a person’s face but not their heart. In truth, there was no harm in waiting a bit longer.
Xu Jiacheng understood this point most clearly.
"It’s normal for young people to have their own ideas. There’s no rush for marriage; it’s good for them to get to know each other better."
"Ah, yes, yes, yes, getting to know each other better is indeed for the best."
Just like that, the sumptuous yet somewhat awkward New Year’s Eve dinner concluded.
Xu Qingqiu had been busy for so long and was truly exhausted. So, after dinner, everyone chatted briefly before going to rest.
When Liang Yuehong and Xu Jiacheng realized Chu Tian wasn’t staying in their daughter’s villa but had gone to the one next door, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
However, their relief turned to utter astonishment when they learned that the villa next door actually belonged to Chu Tian.
After all, they knew their daughter’s villa was only rented. She was a big star and still couldn’t afford to buy one, so how could Chu Tian possibly have so much money?
It seemed they still didn’t know enough about this Chu Tian.
No, they had to talk to their daughter later and find out more. They absolutely had to understand him thoroughly. As parents, they might not be able to help with much else, but they did have experience in judging character. Naturally, they had to use this to help ensure their child made a good choice.
However, all of this was a matter for later.
Because they had stayed up late on New Year’s Eve, no one mentioned returning home the next day.
Instead, they stayed in the Capital, and Chu Tian and Xu Qingqiu spent two days showing the entire family around the city.
Although many places were closed for the Spring Festival, preventing them from visiting, it still gave Xu Jiacheng and Liang Yuehong a relatively complete impression of the Capital.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, unable to get train tickets, the group prepared two cars and planned to drive back.
Originally, because Yiyi’s hometown was too far, Xu Qingqiu had planned to take her to her parents’ home for the New Year. Yiyi could then travel to her own hometown from there around the fourth or fifth day of the New Year.
However, the sudden arrival of her family disrupted these plans, and coupled with the two extra days spent playing in the Capital, seeing it was already the fourth day, it was definitely too late for that plan. So, Xu Qingqiu didn’t insist, and could only let Yiyi stay in the Capital one more day before heading home alone.
As for Sister Hua, she had already gone home on the first day of the New Year.
Chu Tian, naturally, went back with Xu Qingqiu and her family.
Over this period, as Chu Tian became more familiar with Xu Qingqiu’s family, the distance between them lessened. Her family members grew increasingly fond of Chu Tian, and naturally, their bond strengthened.
Learning that Chu Tian had no family of his own made them feel even more sympathy for him. They treated him even better, almost as if he were their own son.
Hmph, yeah, right, Xu Xiaohan thought bitterly. Even their own son doesn’t get this kind of treatment.
No wonder he harbored some resentment. Ever since Chu Tian’s arrival, Xu Xiaohan felt he had become a peripheral figure, reduced to being a driver and a general laborer. His life revolved around driving and carrying things, making him feel like the outsider.
Whenever he subtly protested, he was met with Liang Yuehong’s death stare and her retort, "If you’re so capable, why don’t you bring a girlfriend home?" Xu Xiaohan would always be defeated and could only resign himself to his gloomy fate.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, Chu Tian had spent over ten more days at Xu Qingqiu’s family home before finally returning to the Capital.
By then, both Unlimited Entertainment and the studio had long since resumed work.
Upon his return, his first task was naturally to catch up on updates from both Unlimited Entertainment and the studio.
"Filming for ’Candle in the Tomb’ has already started. We originally wanted you to attend the commencement ceremony, but you hadn’t returned yet. Director Wei wasn’t in very high spirits about it. Filming has been underway for several days now, so if you have time, you should probably pay a visit."
"Additionally, ’Where Are We Going, Dad?’ generated a lot of buzz multiple times during the Spring Festival, with the children landing on trending topics dozens of times. This variety show is now a certified hit. Its television ratings aren’t high, but its online popularity is immense. In fact, its online streaming views are number one in its time slot, practically dominating the charts."
"We’ve also finalized the collaboration with East Sea TV for ’Divas Hit the Road.’ It’s set to air after ’Where Are We Going, Dad?’ Since ’Where Are We Going, Dad?’ is so incredibly popular right now, they want to avoid its current peak, which should benefit both parties."
"Post-production for the second season of ’iPartment’ is complete, and we’re currently negotiating the first-round broadcasting rights. Filming for seasons three and four has also resumed. By the way, Xu Ruyan should be back, right? Preparations for her TV series are nearly done. It’s time for her to join the cast for costume and makeup photo shoots, and she also needs to start familiarizing herself with the script."
As soon as Chu Tian returned to the company, Hou Yichuan rushed over and rattled off a long list of work-related matters.
What pleased Chu Tian was that all of this was, without exception, good news. It was truly a promising start to the year.
However, the biggest surprise didn’t come from Unlimited Entertainment. Instead, it was the news from the studio that astonished him even more.
"These are the fruits of our labor from last year. What do you think, doesn’t it feel rewarding?"
After leaving Unlimited Entertainment, Chu Tian received a call from Sister Hua. When he arrived at the studio, a row of invitations lay before him.
Seeing Sister Hua’s satisfied and somewhat smug expression, he curiously picked up the invitations to take a look.
"Starlight Music Awards: Nominated for Best Female Singer, Best Composer, Best Lyricist, Most Influential Album. March 22."
"Golden Disc Awards: Nominated for Best Album, Best Composer, Singer of the Year. March 8."
"Phoenix Music Festival: Nominated for Album of the Year, Best Composer, Most Influential Musician. April 16."
The beginning and end of the year are typically when various award ceremonies are concentrated.
Logically speaking, the period before the end of the year should have been Xu Qingqiu’s busiest time.
However, she released new albums so frequently that it caught many award ceremonies off guard.
Just as they were scrambling to re-evaluate their selections, before they could even finish, Xu Qingqiu would release another album.
If anyone from those committees had been there, they would probably have slammed the table and exclaimed, "This is just messing with people!"
Ultimately, because the data was changing too rapidly, most award events couldn’t keep up with Xu Qingqiu’s releases and had to postpone consideration of her work.
Of course, many of these were less prestigious awards, and she didn’t particularly care about them anyway.
However, apart from these, there were some highly professional award ceremonies. Due to the immense changes in the music scene this year, they had all, without exception, chosen to postpone their events to maintain their own professionalism and authority.
Fortunately, those award ceremonies scheduled for early in the year had ample time to process the statistical data, so they managed to include her.
This led to the current situation: Xu Qingqiu, having just returned from the New Year holidays, was immediately faced with a succession of award ceremonies, kicking off a hectic period of activity.
