Rebirth of a Movie Star

Extra 1

“Between heaven and earth, Rong Air puts its customers first, piloting with heart.”

This advertisement slogan, which was used by Rong Air for many years afterwards to cement their place in the hearts of the people, first appeared in the short clip that Bai Lang shot for Rong Air.

The short clip told a short story about an eight year old little boy. He was happily taking the plane to go overseas to find his father (don’t ask why there wasn’t any guardian travelling with him). He stood in front of the tall floor-length windows in the airport terminal, gazing with excitement at the many planes landing and taking off, waiting for his boarding call. At this time, his father who was far away overseas called him. The little boy was overjoyed and didn’t want to hang up for a long time, they talked about many things, however he didn’t expect that because of this he missed his plane.

Then Bai Lang, who was wearing the uniform of a flight steward, appeared.

Thus the little boy was panicked and afraid, so anxious that his eyes went red. He didn’t know what to do.

Rong Air strongly stressed that in the air, they treated their customers as though they were their own family. Taking Rong Air was like returning home. The flight steward Bai Lang thus comforted the little boy for a while, and helped him contact his parents. He ordered lunch for him and accompanied the little boy to count how many planes there were outside. He even made the gift of a small plane model to the little boy as they waited for Rong Air to arrange for the little boy to be on the next flight.

After that, Bai Lang accompanied the little boy to fly over half of the pacific.

When he personally held the little boy’s hand and delivered him into the arms of his father waiting at the foreign airport, the boy gazed at him with gratitude. Bai Lang smiled and waved his hand to say goodbye. Then multiple crew members appeared in the background, and along with the company’s slogan, it became the short clip’s designated image representation for Rong Air.

***

So when this promotional clip was broadcasted on various large television channels and online, there were immediately many sharp-tongued netizens who gave the opinion that this ad was not just one of, but the most “foolish smile” commercial of the year.

Because the story was completely illogical, however it still at the ability to make people unable to help themselves from feeling warm in their hearts and smiling foolishly while staring at the screen. It was so foolish, but so made you smile, so if it wasn’t a “foolish smile” commercial then what was?

Within it, Bai Lang who played the role of the flight steward was praised greatly. His performance was natural and didn’t feel awkward or artificial, he had a clean crisp white uniform paired with a light gray pants, underneath his officer-style cap he showed a sunny smile. The entire feeling that Bai Lang gave off was beautiful and clean, friendly and intimate. It was as though he had returned to his clean image when he first debuted.

It had to be said that after experiencing many different types of styles, this type of appearance still suited Bai Lang’s aura the most. Even Qiu Qian, when he first saw Bai Lang wearing his uniform, was unable to control himself from dragging this person into his arms and furiously feeling him up. So don’t even talk about the female crew members when Bai Lang finally came out of his dressing room. They couldn’t help surrounding him and using their mobiles to furiously take photos for their personal collection.

However the short clip also had another star and that was the meng little boy who had missed his flight. The boy who played him couldn’t be said to be exquisitely handsome, however his thick brows and large eyes were extremely spirited and cute. His excitement in the short clip, as well as his look of trust and dependence, all his emotions appeared genuine and moving.

When this ad was broadcast, it ignited an immediate firestorm of chatter. Other than capturing the hearts of many middle-aged women, it was also very popular with many fathers. The download of this clip from Rong Air’s website reached several million in its first week, pushing the reach of this commercial even further.

Following that, people naturally asked the question, who is the little boy in the clip?

Not long after, Bai Lang’s fans immediately took out their precious small and large photos from three years ago.

It was impossible to hide, it was Qiu XiaoHai and his Ah Bai.

***

That Qiu XiaoHai would film Rong Air’s commercial actually arose out of a coincidence.

The day of the filming happened to be a holiday. Qiu Qian didn’t have any set plans and Qiu XiaoHai also didn’t have school. Originally this family of three’s rare day off together was disrupted by Bai Lang’s job. So the family of three decided simply to go together to the film set at the airport and treat it as a family outing. Anyway Qiu XiaoHai also liked the airport, and the large and modern airport had many facilities for shopping, entertainment and etc. So they weren’t scared of him getting bored.

However the family of three had only just reached the waiting lounge which had been cleared for the purposes of filming the commercial, when they were informed that the young actor who had been contracted to play the part of the little boy, as well as his mother, were going to be late. They had called and said that they were stuck in a serious traffic jam and so the entire crew had no choice but to wait.

As for the traffic jam, it was the result of a last-minute car accident which had happened on the highway leading to the airport. It wouldn’t be able to be cleared easily. Since this was a misfortunate incident outside of anyone’s control, everyone had no choice but to cooperate and wait.

During this time, Bai Lang had already changed into his uniform and in this guise of a flight steward was teased and played with by Qiu Qian for some time. After that the little actor still had not arrived. So the Qiu family father and son naturally accompanied Bai Lang to pass the time.

However they waited and waited, an hour passed, and then a second hour…. The little actor and his mother were still stuck on the road. The crew members called them furiously and repeatedly, the producer was so stressed his head was full of sweat, the set crew was also very anxious and jumpy. After all they were making the two big gods Bai Lang and Boss Qiu sit around and wait aimlessly, this was a big impediment to their health!

At this time, the director Chen Bing secretly pointed at the screen next to the camera. He said to the producer, “Xiao Fu, actually just then I filmed quite a lot. Almost one quarter of the important scenes are done.”

The producer Fu Yu was staring vainly at the entrance, he completely didn’t pay much attention and said, “The people haven’t arrived yet, how can you film?”

Chen Bing whispered in a low voice, “Bai Lang and that little Qiu boy ah. Several scenes can be used… no, actually it’s a case of if you didn’t use it it would be a real shame. What do you think, should we just…”

Fu Yu’s heart jumped. He immediately huddled in front of the screen and carefully reviewed the footage that had been taken secretly just before. When he saw it, it really fulfilled the parameters of the script. There was a little boy jumping up and down excitedly in front of the floor length window, and also one where Bai Lang was accompanying him to count the number of planes…. Each scene was natural and moving, every angle looked great. Chen Bing also was very careful and meticulous and avoided Boss Qiu appearing in any of the footage. This this this, really was using a dog’s huge courage..

So Fu Yu’s eyes glowed with light but his heart felt very conflicted. “Who is going to ask ah. That’s Boss Qiu’s son after all. Today we already forced them to wait aimlessly, now we’re even plotting to use their kid. You might want to die but I still want to live ah.”

Chen Bing also had some reservations which was why he had filmed secretly. “But this might be a good opportunity. I was filming secretly for a long time. This little Qiu boy seems very clingy towards Bai Lang. Maybe he might agree?”

Fu Yu heard it and his heart also moved. “But the main decider is Boss Qiu ah. Do you really think so?”

Chen Bing looked again at Qiu XiaoHai and Bai Lang on the screen. Suddenly he was overwhelmed with the impulsive feeling that this short clip was meant to be filmed by these two people. His head went hot and he straightened his back and said, “If you’re too scared to ask then I’ll do it! This is an opportunity that comes once in a lifetime, I need to grab it firmly!”

Fu Yu didn’t even have time to think it through clearly when he saw Chen Bing grab his director’s hat, place it squarely on his head, then stand up as straight as he could before marching towards these three people.

Fu Yu’s jaw fell open for some time. After fighting internally with himself for a while, he didn’t call Chen Bing back. At the same time he comforted himself by thinking that he definitely wasn’t hanging back because of cowardice. If the director really angered Boss Qiu then he would be able to go up and try to calm the proceedings. So right now he had an important responsibility. He needed to endure for the sake of the big picture. It was what he should do…..

However when he saw Chen Bing go over and say a few words, it was actually Bai Lang who shook his head first. He didn’t need to hear their conversation, just from their body language it was clear that Chen Bing was being immediately rejected. Fu Yu who was observing couldn’t help feeling crestfallen. However he didn’t forget to look at Boss Qiu and feel relieved that they hadn’t made Boss Qiu lose his temper.

However at this time the little boy became unhappy. He hugged Bai Lang’s waist and argued for a little while, he seemed to be expressing that he was willing. Hope appeared in Fu Yu’s heart again however Bai Lang continued to wave his hand at Chen Bing. He appeared resolute in his rejection. Chen Bing looked slightly hesitant and Fu Yu thought whether or not he should go over to help him.

However at this time the situation changed. The little boy Qiu actually got angry. He stamped his feet and suddenly yelled loudly, “Ah Bai is a dummy!!” Then he ran over to a corner by himself and squatted down angrily.

This yell, alone with the echoing effect of the large and spacious waiting hall, naturally drew all the gazes of the crew members over.

It was also ignited a buzz of conversation. Because everyone now had reached the conclusion that since Bai Lang and Qiu Qian were together, then wasn’t he the little boy Qiu’s “stepmother”? When the stepmother wanted to discipline the son but the son wasn’t willing, then whose side would Boss Qiu stand on? No wonder the whole time Boss Qiu had sat by silently and not expressed his opinion, tsk tsk, wasn’t this the scene of a domestic drama ah….

A firestorm of gossip was igniting and swirling around everyone’s stomach.

This time Fu Yu’s heart really jumped in terror. He glared viciously at the Chen Bing who was standing nearby holding his hat in his hands helplessly. Did he want him to go up to save him? Right now he had even caused a domestic dispute?! How was he supposed to save him under this situation?! From the ancient days, it was very difficult for a civil officer to judge family affairs wasn’t it!?

Suddenly during this stiff atmosphere, the angry Qiu XiaoHai suddenly turned his head around and yelled again.

“Who cares if other people know! I’m daddy’s son, but I’m also Ah Bai’s son oh! What’s wrong with that!?”

Bai Lang, who was some distance away, suddenly shook.

At this time Qiu Qian finally patted Bai Lang’s back. “He’s been prepared since ages ago to stand by your side.”

Bai Lang seemed to be still frozen with shock. However he was pushed from behind and stepped forward one step.

Qiu XiaoHai’s eyes went red. He gazed at Bai Lang in a bullied manner. He said in a somewhat weak voice, “…. or does Ah Bai not want me?”

This sentence made Bai Lang’s face change. He rushed quickly towards Qiu XiaoHai and with one motion picked up the little boy who was not light anymore. He was also clung to by Qiu XiaoHai who wrapped all his four limbs around him.

At this time, watching the tightly embracing big and small person, the entire audience could approximately guess what kind of promises and answers Bai Lang saying into Qiu XiaoHai’s ears. However they still felt disappointed at being unable to hear Bai Lang’s words of confession.

However Qiu XiaoHai afterwards sniffed his nose a few times, and then loudly helped answer the curiosity in people’s hearts.

“En. I want to be Ah Bai’s son, always and forever.”

“Even if Ah Bai doesn’t want daddy anymore, that won’t change oh.”

It was Qiu Qian’s turn to go black in the face. He walked towards the two people, “Hey you rascal, are you dismantling the bridge now that you’ve crossed it ah.”

Then he put his arm around the two people and enveloped them in his embrace.

Thus the family was reunited.

***

In the end, not only did Qiu XiaoHai enter the filming but even Qiu Qian appeared briefly.

In the original script, the parent waiting for the little boy at the airport was his “mother”. Qiu Qian made a request and the director immediately changed the character to a “father”. In the short clip, Qiu Qian only showed a pair of hands and a scene from the back hugging the little boy. But this still can be considered taking part in the filming of the clip, and he wasn’t excluded from this family activity.

So can this be considered Qiu XiaoHai’s debut production?

Well this was perhaps thinking too far into the future. After all, right now Qiu XiaoHai was still a simple-minded child.

Rong Zan couldn’t be more sure about that.