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Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
As part of the entertainment circle, the director understood the problem from the manager’s words.
“Film Emperor Qin is so brave. The entertainment industry is a magnifying glass and will enlarge the shortcomings of most people. Fortunately, our show isn’t broadcast live, so we can just edit the footage at that time.” After a moment of silence, he turned to the manager. “Why don’t you invite an amateur to come over? Why didn’t you persuade Film Emperor Qin?”
Hearing the manager’s descriptions, he wasn’t very anticipative of tomorrow’s filming, but since the other party was Qin Xiuchen, the director couldn’t really help it.
Who told the show to release their gimmicks already? Most people had flocked to the show to watch his appearance in a reality show the first time.
“Actually, I didn’t agree with Xiao Ling coming to shoot, either. This isn’t good for a child’s growth. Netizens nowadays are so demanding, and they’ll catch any bad performance in front of the camera.” Taking another sip of beer, he sighed. “Thankfully, his niece is only shooting for a few days. We’ll change to Xiao Ling when his sprained ankle is healed.”
As these businessmen talked and drank, Film Emperor Qin was thinking: My niece is so cold and indifferent, how can I let this opportunity slip out of my hands?
He wouldn’t back down and replace her.
1
His eyes were now blinded, and he felt like everyone in this world would adore his nephew and niece.
5
Most importantly, he really wanted to bring them to play in the show.
Tapping his fingers on the table, the director narrowed his eyes and finally finalized it. “Okay. It’s final, then. We’ll re-sign the contract a few days later.”
They could just get through the first few days and see how it goes. If the shooting situation was really bad, then they could still invite an amateur, and Film Emperor Qin definitely wouldn’t refuse at that time.
Even if Qin Xiuchen didn’t care, he still had to consider his niece.
After discussing with the director, the manager went out with the contract. He massaged his eyebrows, then returned anxiously to his room. The combination of Qin Xiuchen and Qin Ran was too strange… he really wasn’t very optimistic.
After the manager went out, the director drank the remaining beer and went to discuss it with the crew.
Because of Qin Ling’s incident, the assistant director only just fell asleep and was awakened by the director. Upon hearing this, he suddenly sat upright. “His niece? In college? This isn’t a young child like Qin Ling. The netizens are already malicious enough to a child, let alone a grown person. What does Film Emperor Qin want?”
The assistant director frowned. For the chief director to be cautious, it seemed like Film Emperor Qin’s niece was going to cause a lot of trouble for the show crew.
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He originally thought that Qin Xiuchen joining this time would add a lot of popularity to the program, but now, it seemed more troublesome.
“Film Emperor Qin’s manager just came to talk to me about this.” The director groaned. “I’ll follow the filming tomorrow. You should pay attention to the split screen in the studio. If they film anything bad, tell the camera crew to cut it.
“Also, Film Emperor Qin attaches great importance to this niece, so don’t try to use her to create contradictions.” Qin Xiuchen wasn’t one to provoke.
The assistant director nodded, his head aching. “I understand.”
This was really troublesome.
**
In another house in the mountain town.
Cheng Mu just came out of the shower.
He now had very sensitive five senses. As soon as he opened the bathroom door, he heard the roar of a helicopter above.
Instead of wiping his hair, he directly walked downstairs to the yard with his coat. A helicopter was parked there.
The door opened, and a black shadow jumped down lightly. He straightened his clothes and glanced at Cheng Mu with narrowed eyes. “Why is it you?”
His tone was neither cold nor light.
Cheng Mu, who recognized the disdain, was speechless.
The person who got off the helicopter was Cheng Juan. Without even glancing at him, he just directly walked inside. Only one room had the lights turned on. He squinted slightly. “Is Miss Qin sleeping?”
He asked Cheng Mu.
He was still staring at the helicopter parked in the yard. He had already seen Master Juan’s helicopter countless times, but he still hadn’t figured it out. Was there no flight ban in Yun Cheng and City C?
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He and Qin Ran had also seen the helicopter picking them up after getting off the plane.
Otherwise, they couldn’t possibly have reached such a difficult mountain road in such a short time.
“Oh, no.” Cheng Mu didn’t have time to think about this problem. He followed Cheng Juan and respectfully replied, “Miss Qin sent a message over an hour ago. She’s staying with her Uncle there, and it seems like she’s helping her brother record several episodes.”
Originally walking in front of him unhurriedly and calmly, Cheng Juan suddenly stopped in his tracks.
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Following closely behind him, Cheng Mu braked, realizing that something was wrong. He shut up and didn’t dare say anything else.
“Go on.” Cheng Juan glanced at him and casually took a cigarette from his pocket. The thin smoke rose into the sky as he spoke lightly.
Cheng Mu was stunned. “About what?”
Cheng Juan squinted his eyes lazily. “Where’s her uncle?”
Nodding in understanding, Cheng Mu took out his phone hurriedly, opened it to show Qin Ran’s WeChat, and handed it to Cheng Juan for him to check the phone’s GPS.
Cheng Juan took the phone directly and walked outside without glancing at him.
“Master Juan—”
Frozen in place, Cheng Mu’s remaining words were blown away in the wind. “You haven’t returned my phone…”
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**
In the hotel at the foot of the mountain.
After taking a shower and sleeping for a while, Qin Xiuchen took the contract to Qin Ran.
Inside, Qin Ran was wearing a nightgown, her hair hanging loosely, not yet dried. She turned sideways and simply said, “Come in.”
It was too late, so Qin Xiuchen didn’t go in. He stood at the door and calmly said, “Xiao Ling said you wanted to do the reality show together…”
“Just a few days. I’ll have to trouble you to continue taking care of him after.” She didn’t mind that he didn’t enter the room. She just glanced inside the house and continued casually wiping her hair.
“How is it troublesome to take care of him?” Qin Xiuchen handed her a document, seemingly relieved, and his tone sounded much more relaxed. “This is the specific arrangement for tomorrow’s show. There’s no script nor any settings, so you can display yourself at will. A few other artists will also be there at that time. I’ll introduce them to you tomorrow.”
Holding a towel to her head with one hand, she took the file with the other, and politely said, “Okay.”
Qin Xiuchen slightly nodded. “Feel free to call me if you have any questions. You might not be used to recording the program for the first time…
“It’s midnight, you should get some rest. You have to get up early tomorrow.” He stood at the door and nagged for a while before leaving.
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Qin Ran watched him leave, then closed the door and returned to her room. She threw the papers onto the table, and, instead of going back to the bathroom to dry her hair, she walked to the window and drew the curtains.
The window sill’s width was 20 to 30 centimeters, and a person was sitting lazily on it. His hands were placed on the sill, his legs were swaying slowly, and a cigarette was dangling in his mouth, a spark of fire in the dark night.
Qin Ran drew the curtains and threw the towel to him. “Master Juan, you’re so impressive. I can’t believe you climbed up here.”
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Qin Xiuchen’s room was on the third floor and didn’t have any security windows.
“You flatter me.” Cheng Juan jumped down directly, unashamed and proud instead. “The security uncle said that the hotel was fully booked. I didn’t reason with him on account of your Uncle.”
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After entering, he looked for the ashtray and snuffed the cigarette out.
The towel in his hand was semi-wet, and the room temperature wasn’t too high. Walking around, he found the remote control for the air conditioner and raised the temperature by two degrees, before throwing it aside.
The hotel at the foot of the mountain wasn’t big. It was only a dozen square meters, just enough to fit a bed and a table.
A few more people would crowd the room.
There was a heater not far away.
The wardrobe was made of wood painted in white, and the paint on the handles were all gone.
Everything was very old. The bedsheets and quilt had probably been changed by the crew themselves.
“The room’s too small, and it smells musty…” Master Cheng commented on the room, criticizing the things from beginning to end, before feeling a little better. “What did you eat for dinner?”
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Qin Ran sat down, looked through Qin Xiuchen’s documents for tomorrow, and replied without looking up, “The crew’s lunch box.”
She turned a page.
Suddenly, her sight darkened.
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Walking around and taking a clean towel from the bathroom, Cheng Juan kicked a chair casually and sat down next to her. He covered her head with a towel in one hand, and then unprofessionally wiped off the remaining moisture on her hair with the other.
In the end, he frowned. “Your crew is so poor.”
Qin Ran’s eyebrows jumped. “What do you want to do?”
“Me?” Lowering his head, he rested his chin on her shoulder, leaning his head on the side of her neck, and said in a lowered voice, “Go to the provincial hotel. The helicopter can reach the top of the mountain in less than an hour.”
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Qin Ran was speechless.
The crew had so many people, and the helicopter would have a long queue every morning…
Wouldn’t the director be scared to death?
She grabbed the towel from her head blankly and pressed it to his face.
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**
The next morning.
Qin Ran got up at 6 o’clock and received a text message from Cheng Mu. He was downstairs and had even brought breakfast.
Instead of wearing a coat, she wore only a white sweater, buttoned her hat, and went straight downstairs to get a big lunch box.
Without wearing a mask, she buttoned her hat to cover most of her face. At this time, many fans squatted outside, and at the sight of an unfamiliar figure, they squatted back down in disinterest.
The lunch box Cheng Mu handed her was commonly used in the school doctor’s office and could hold three layers.
Three portions of breakfast were inside. She knocked on Qin Xiuchen’s door first, handed him two sets, and then returned to her own room.
Qin Xiuchen took the lunch boxes inside. He originally thought it was breakfast bought on the street in a small town but discovered that the food inside was all exquisitely made.
It looked like a five-star chef’s dish and contained some very fresh seasonal fruits.
Staring at this and frowning, he awaked Qin Ling.
At half-past six, the program group had started recording and broadcasting.
There were three pairs of guests in total, including Qin Xiuchen, a popular Film Empress, and the newcomer Xiao Hua. The show started with only the three of them and would add a variety of popular guests later on.
Qin Xiuchen’s fame accounted for half of the three.
Behind everyone were several assistant photographers and photoshoot assistants.
The day’s itinerary was written on the schedule, and the program team wanted to film the stars and their relatives when they just woke up.
Before the recording, the director directly found the photographers of Qin Xiuchen’s group and ordered them to come down. “Just take pictures of the Film Emperor Qin later, not of his partner.”
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The photographer was stunned. “No need to take hers?”
“Yeah. In the following pictures, take fewer shots of Film Emperor Qin’s partner, and just take more solo shots of him.” In order to avoid offending Qin Xiuchen, the director had decided to reduce shots of his relative. “Film Emperor Qin’s partner is her niece and isn’t an insider, so she doesn’t understand a lot of things. When she makes mistakes during the shooting scene, try not to shoot it.”
He still hadn’t seen what Film Emperor Qin’s niece looked like. Although Qin Xiuchen’s manager said she was good-looking and also photogenic, he wasn’t really in the mood to go and see.
The entertainment industry had too many good-looking people.
He thought about the following days and felt extremely worried.
Upon hearing this, the photographer nodded and thought for a while. “I understand, but I’m not the only one following them. Others will be taking pictures too.”
The director couldn’t inform every photographer. If anyone leaked this, people on the Internet would definitely talk about it.
“Just see how it goes.” He pressed his aching head and waved for the photographer to hurry into Film Emperor Qin’s room.
**
At the same time.
On the second floor.
In the Film Empress’s Jing Wen’s room, her manager also received news that Qin Xiuchen had changed a new guest.
“Jing Wen, she’s Film Emperor Qin’s niece, and he really adores her.” The manager gave her a vaccination shot in advance. “Like Xiao Ling, she’s not an insider and might not be very photogenic. Help take care of her just like Xiao Ling.”
“He still has a niece?” Jing Wen was 31 years old this year, with exquisite eyebrows and sophisticated facial features. She had won numerous awards in China and abroad and was a rare talent in the circle with both looks and acting skills. She was also a good friend of Qin Xiuchen for many years. “I’ve never heard him mention it.”
“I heard that his niece’s father got lost as a child, and they only found him a while ago. That’s why the manager came to ask this favor.” Outside, the photographer knocked on the door, and the manager said, “I really don’t know how he’s going to film the show. I wonder what Film Emperor Qin is thinking…”
While talking, he opened the door and moved out of the camera frame, motioning Jing Wen with his eyes.
Jing Wen calmly took the task card from the production team. “Go to the mountain first to gather? The director team definitely has something up their sleeves. I’ll go to discuss it with my old friend first. I can’t be pranked by your director today.”
When she walked down to the third floor, Qin Xiuchen also happened to come out, holding the mission card in his hand.
“Film Emperor Qin.” Jing Wen bumped fists with him and seriously said, “Are we allying today?”
“Has your cousin agreed?” Qin Xiuchen patted his sleeves calmly.
Jing Wen’s partner was her cousin, and she didn’t think too much about it. “He thinks I put on makeup too slowly and already took my photographer to the foot of the mountain. You’re his idol, so he’ll definitely agree.”
Qin Ling limped over and probed his head out. “Sister Jing Wen, are you here to steal shots from my Uncle?”
“…” Pointing at his foot, she said, “Karma exists, little brother.”
The director was speechless.
There was such a chemical reaction??
“So you mean to ally with me?” Jing Wen glanced at Qin Xiuchen again, determined to carry through with the alliance.
Instead of replying, he walked over to Qin Ran’s door, and matter-of-factly said, “Wait, let me ask my niece.”
A bunch of cameras was aimed at Qin Ran’s door.
The staff knew that the director had already planned not to shoot Qin Ran, but now, Qin Xiuchen actually disregarded the plan and was letting her appear on camera. The staff mouthed to the director, “What to do now?”
Qin Xiuchen’s niece had neither acted nor been on camera before, so the director originally wanted to wait for someone to meet her individually and explain to her about the show.
He anxiously gesticulated, telling Film Emperor Qin not to knock on the door. He even wrote “go downstairs” with a thick black pen on a sign.
But Qin Xiuchen pretended not to see it and reached out to knock on her door.
He was obviously uncooperative and probably wanted to give his niece more shots. The director frowned. He couldn’t possibly interrupt all the cameras at this point, so he could only cut the scene out later.
Everyone at the scene knew that she was Film Emperor Qin’s niece, and they all stared curiously at the door wondering what she looked like.
Her door opened.
A thin white figure came out.
