Chapter 118: Giant Rice Bundle
The male celebrity, saddened for a few seconds after having his lines stolen, quickly recovered, putting on a professional smile: “I’m Wing from Huarong Entertainment.”
Hearing the name Wing, Gu Qinghuan had a vague impression—it seemed like he was the actor who played the second male lead in the idol drama Gu Haiyan had followed before.
She asked uncertainly: “Are you the second male lead in that… Moonlight something drama?”
Remembering just the two words “Moonlight” was already impressive for Gu Qinghuan. She had only glimpsed it a few times when getting water in the living room, standing beside Gu Haiyan.
The name Wing was something she remembered because Gu Haiyan had once mumbled, “Why do domestic actors need English names?”
Wing immediately became excited—he had finally been recognized: “Yes! That’s me! That drama was ‘Moonlight Touches the Heart’!”
Once his name was mentioned, Wing relaxed: “Since you know about the upcoming show, may I ask if you’re interested in joining my team?”
Jiang Chuchu immediately looked at Gu Qinghuan, her eyes teasing: Someone is inviting you already!
Gu Qinghuan ignored her and asked: “Why me?”
“Actually, I saw you helping out this morning. I thought you were calm, made accurate judgments, and reacted quickly—perfect for a team member,” Wing explained.
Gu Qinghuan said: “But I can’t sing or dance, or do any talent performances.”
Wing choked slightly. Isn’t Mingde High a private high school? He thought kids from wealthy families would all have some talents.
He quickly added: “I’m not planning on having you perform anything. I invited you because of your personality. Any performance isn’t just about actors on stage—there’s a lot of work backstage and offstage. I think you’re perfect for that kind of work.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chuchu and Yu Xin’s impression of Wing improved.
Being able to respond to Gu Qinghuan so fluently didn’t seem like memorized lines—it was genuine. At least from his attitude, Wing was serious.
Gu Qinghuan also thought it was fine; as long as she didn’t have to go on stage, she didn’t mind doing backstage work.
“Can I think about it?” she asked. She needed to observe the situation first. If she agreed immediately and later found incompatible teammates, quitting would be awkward.
“Of course,” Wing replied immediately. He was just trying to invite her; whether she agreed was entirely her choice.
He also had a small ulterior motive—when Gu Qinghuan helped this morning, the production team had filmed it. If she joined his team, the show would surely release the clip, giving his group attention.
“Okay, self-introduction first: I’m Gu Qinghuan from Class 1-3,” she said.
Wing nodded, signaling that he remembered and would inform the production team. If Gu Qinghuan agreed to join, they could contact him after registering with the production team.
After finishing the invitation, Wing went downstairs to eat his lunch. He also planned to look for other suitable students to invite.
While Gu Qinghuan talked with Wing, Jiang Chuchu and Yu Xin silently ate their “Northeastern rice bundles.” Now that people had left, Yu Xin asked first: “Qinghuan, are you really going to join?”
“Let’s wait and see. No rush,” Gu Qinghuan said, taking a bite of her rice bundle—if she didn’t eat now, it would get cold.
Yu Xin agreed; the show didn’t start filming until the 27th, so there was time.
Jiang Chuchu asked: “Should I check if this person has any problems?”
Although her current impression of Wing was okay, the entertainment industry was unpredictable.
“Can we find out?” Gu Qinghuan realized—given the Jiang family’s influence, they probably could.
“Piece of cake,” Jiang Chuchu said confidently.
“Then should we check?” Gu Qinghuan felt tempted.
“Check!” Yu Xin was decisive—they needed to be thorough.
The three finished their giant rice bundles and cake, though they didn’t finish all the dishes. They realized the cake shouldn’t have been eaten first—it filled them too quickly.
When making the rice bundles, Gu Qinghuan used chopsticks to mix leftover salad, seafood paella, and roasted chicken together, adding a few extra lettuce leaves from a waiter, creating a giant rice bundle.
Jiang Chuchu laughed while taking photos of it: “I want to show my mom.”
But thinking again, she sent it to the family group chat instead.
Jiang Yuxuan: [!]
Jiang Yuxuan: [Which store sells rice bundles this big?!]
Zhu Qinglan: [At the school cafeteria?]
Jiang Chuchu: [Qinghuan made it herself! We didn’t finish lunch, so she packed the leftovers like this.]
Jiang Chuchu: [Also, the ones she made for us before looked like this [picture]]
Jiang Youwei: [It’s her again…]
Zhu Qinglan: [Not bad. Tonight I’ll have Northeastern food too.]
Jiang Youwei: [Shall we go to the place we used to eat together?]
Zhu Qinglan: [Sure, what time do you finish today?]
Just a few messages and they set up their evening plans.
Jiang Chuchu didn’t want to be a third wheel. Reminded by Wing, she decided to have the kitchen make her Korean fried chicken tonight and enjoy the wings.
Jiang Yuxuan, studying alone in another city, felt ignored by the whole family and decided to drag his dorm roommates to have Northeastern food.
It’s just a giant rice bundle—easy to handle!
The remaining cake was packed in a special box by the waiter. Gu Qinghuan carried the giant rice bundle in her left hand and the cake in her right, first going to the student council.
Jiang Chuchu planned to nap in her lounge, while Yu Xin went to a club meeting—there was a temporary calligraphy society meeting at noon.
Gu Qinghuan’s office didn’t have a fridge, but the shared student council area had a large fridge, mainly for drinks, though people sometimes stored fruit and ice cream.
It was used more in summer; now it was relatively empty, so Gu Qinghuan decided to put the rice bundle and cake there and retrieve them after school.
She labeled the plastic bag and cake box with sticky notes with her name. Just as she was about to return to her office to nap, she met Bai Hanshan at the elevator exit.
Beside Bai Hanshan was a young woman in a long coat and high-heeled square-toe boots. Gu Qinghuan guessed she was slightly shorter than Zhan Chuchen.
The woman’s long black hair fell past her shoulders, dyed a deep reddish-purple from the mid-length down, resembling rising flames when seen from below—absolutely stunning.
Gu Qinghuan had checked online and immediately recognized her: Bai Qingyin, Bai Hanshan’s sister.
“Good afternoon,” Bai Hanshan greeted Gu Qinghuan. “You came at the right time. My sister insisted on meeting you.”
Bai Qingyin was surprised: “You’re Gu Qinghuan?”
Gu Qinghuan smiles politely: “Hello, actress sister.”
Upon hearing this, Bai Qingyin confirmed it, stepped forward, and grabbed Gu Qinghuan’s arm, looking her over: “I thought you’d be some three-headed monster, but you look… such a good kid.”
She had wanted to say “ordinary,” but felt that wasn’t right, so in a rush, she used Bai Hanshan’s note instead.
Gu Qinghuan was a bit puzzled: Three-headed monster? Good kid?
Bai Hanshan coughed twice, trying to divert her attention: “Gu Qinghuan, take my sister to your office to chat. I have to meet the production team, so I’ll leave first.”
With that, he left Bai Qingyin behind and walked off decisively.
Bai Qingyin glared at his back: What do you mean “have to leave”? Clearly you just found me annoying.
Oh well, never mind the brother—she finally met Gu Qinghuan and intended to have a proper chat.
