Advertising Shoot

On the other side of the venue, Yu Shuran had wanted to find Qin Qingyan to say hello. She knew plenty of people, but only a few she actually got along with. In the end, after circling the hall, she still couldn’t find her; instead, several actors she didn’t know came up to chat as if they were old acquaintances.

Yu Shuran smiled faintly. Their familiar, friendly manner made her almost wonder if she had forgotten some shared history between them.

But she didn’t expose it, because she knew there had to be at least one camera filming this from some corner.

They exchanged greetings with practiced ease, said goodbye just as smoothly, and everything was like something rehearsed a thousand times. Then again, if they weren’t practiced at it, how could anyone see how deep the feeling was between them?

Not long after, Yu Shuran spotted Zeng Nian making her way toward her through the crowd.

She put down the empty wineglass beside her and turned to leave.

Zeng Nian quickly caught up and grabbed her hand, forcing her to turn back.

“So you really don’t want to see me that much?”

Yu Shuran looked puzzled. “I was just leaving. As for whether I saw you or not, I wasn’t paying attention.”

Zeng Nian stared at her. Words rose to her lips almost reflexively, but because Yu Shuran didn’t like hearing them, she held them back by force this time.

Taking the chance, Yu Shuran shook off her hand. Quite a few eyes had already turned in their direction. Zeng Nian might not care, but she did.

“You’ve taken a role?” Zeng Nian asked with a frown.

Yu Shuran raised her brows, startled. The question sounded strange. It made it seem as if she weren’t going to take a role, but take customers instead.

It was rare for Zeng Nian to see that expression on her face, and the crease between her brows suddenly loosened. Yu Shuran noticed that tiny shift; for a fleeting moment, it was as if she could see the old Zeng Nian again, the one who always put her first in everything.

“If there’s a role, of course I’ll take it. What else?”

“Don’t take it,” Zeng Nian said. “Those roles don’t pay enough. Your agreement expires in October; you don’t have time to film two more back-to-back.”

“That’s my business. It has nothing to do with you.”

Zeng Nian froze for a moment, pressed her lips together, then said, “Wait for Nie Cong. Wait for his production.”

“I already went to him. It was useless.”

“He’ll come to you.”

Yu Shuran thought that was odd and looked at her, but Zeng Nian didn’t say anything else.

After leaving the venue, Zeng Nian got back into her car, but didn’t drive off right away. Only when the passenger door opened and a figure in black got in did she press the accelerator and leave.

“This is the solution you were talking about?” Zeng Nian glanced at the teddy bear in Yan Yue’s hand.

Yan Yue moved the plush toy. “Doesn’t it look like it?”

Zeng Nian had only asked casually, but hearing Yan Yue say that, she couldn’t help studying the teddy bear a little more closely.

“Ordinary. Looks like wholesale junk from a street stall.”

“If you put it that way, then this company is definitely not going to the high-end market.”

Zeng Nian snorted and stopped at a red light.

Yan Yue held the toy out. “Take a look. See what’s different.”

With little interest, Zeng Nian took it and roughly checked the front and back. Then, unexpectedly, she seemed to feel something and looked at Yan Yue, who raised her brows, signaling her to keep going.

At the teddy bear’s tail, a hard little thing could clearly be felt when pressed hard.

She cut it open with a small knife; to her surprise, there really was a black device inside.

After taking it out and inspecting it, she quickly guessed what it was.

“A bug?”

“Mm. Pretty interesting, right?”

Zeng Nian said, “Then our conversation just now…”

“Don’t worry,” Yan Yue said. “It’s Yuguang Media’s stuff. As for how it’ll be used later, that depends on how much you want.”

Zeng Nian gave a light laugh. An idea had already taken shape in her mind. Looking at Yan Yue, she said, “No wonder you two siblings are from the same family.”

Qin Qingyan had taken an advertisement. The filming location was a tourist attraction, and the production team had already coordinated with the local government in advance. After receiving an enthusiastic response, the staff quickly arranged the schedule.

On the day of departure, the bus was waiting early. Everyone loaded their luggage one by one and got on board. Qin Qingyan sat by the window, opened her phone, and sent several messages to Yan Yue; none had been answered for nearly half an hour.

Su Yan was playing a game, staring at the screen with a tragic, put-upon expression as she tried again and again.

Not long after, both of their phones buzzed almost at the same time.

“The rich ladies’ club, who sent a message?” Su Yan asked, her fingers still busily tapping at the screen.

Qin Qingyan thought it odd too. Their five-person group hadn’t been active in a long time; she had nearly forgotten the chat even existed.

In the photo that came through, Bai Ruo was sitting in the window seat of an airplane, striking what she apparently thought was a very cool pose at the camera.

[The air back home really is sweet!]

Su Yan glanced over and exclaimed, “She actually came back that fast? I feel like she only went abroad a few days ago.”

The phone buzzed again. Yan Yue replied: Welcome back.

Along with a clapping emoji.

“Boss Yan is pretty trendy, huh? She even uses emoji. How rare.” Su Yan said, “Qingyan-jie, ask Bai Ruo whether she brought back any foreign specialties or souvenirs. Since she rarely goes abroad, how can she come back empty-handed?”

Qin Qingyan didn’t answer. Frowning, she typed rapidly on her keyboard. Yan Yue still hadn’t replied to her. She’d thought Yan Yue was busy, but less than a minute after Bai Ruo’s picture was sent, a response came immediately.

Qin Qingyan: Why didn’t you reply to me!

Yan Yue: I just changed clothes, so I only saw the message.

Qin Qingyan: But you replied to Bai Ruo first, then me!

It took Yan Yue a while to answer, and she sent back an emoji of someone kneeling and begging for mercy.

Qin Qingyan suddenly laughed out loud. After thinking it over, she picked an emoji of a gun and sent it back.

Soon after, Yan Yue replied with a stick figure lying flat on the ground.

They set out at nine in the morning, and it wasn’t until around twelve-thirty at noon that they finally reached the filming location. The scenic area looked more like a fairly large agritourism resort; in the distance, a broad peach orchard could be seen, the blossoms in full bloom.

“Are those pink flowers peach blossoms too? Why do they look a little different?” Su Yan asked.

Qin Qingyan said, “Those are plum blossoms. Pretty, aren’t they?”

“Plum blossoms? I always thought plum blossoms were dark red. So there are pink ones too?”

“There are yellow plum blossoms too. And when the crabapples bloom here, that’s also a beautiful sight,” a man who seemed to be in charge joined in.

“Does your scenic area rely on flowers to make money?” Su Yan asked.

“We have people specially taking care of all the flowers. Those people are local villagers from nearby areas. We attract visitors with the flowers, then sell some food too; that’s mostly how we make money.”

Su Yan understood. Then Qin Qingyan coming here to film an advertisement was basically the best possible promotion for them. A money god had arrived; no wonder the collaboration was settled so quickly.

The person in charge had specially cleared out the best hotel for the production team. When the group arrived in the hotel lobby, they saw the director speaking with a middle-aged man wearing rimless glasses. Looking at the director’s face, the conversation did not seem to be going well.

“There are so many rooms, and you still insist on making our artist share a room with someone? What do you mean ‘making things difficult’? If you arrange things like this, aren’t you making things difficult for us too?” the director said angrily.

Seeing that something was wrong, Qin Qingyan stepped forward to get a clear idea of what was going on.

“This is an order from above. We can only carry it out. Of course, we’re not forcing them to share a room. The person who gave the instruction said your artist would agree, so I came to discuss it with the director,” the middle-aged man said.

The director was about to say something more, but when he saw Qin Qingyan approach, he swallowed the words back.

“What’s going on?” Qin Qingyan asked.

The middle-aged man had already noticed her when she came over, and he guessed that the person mentioned by the higher-ups was her.

“It’s like this: someone above specifically requested to share a room with you. I think maybe they’re one of your fans. Of course, that’s definitely not very appropriate, but she said you would agree, so I came to discuss it with you.”

Su Yan said, “No need to discuss it. We definitely won’t agree. Just tell your higher-ups that directly.”

What the hell kind of higher-up was that? Even if they were higher, could they be higher than the one in Qin Qingyan’s own family?

The man smiled, his expression troubled. “Then how about you meet them first? That’s also part of my job.”

Qin Qingyan said, “Filming is my job too. If it’s the same kind of work, there shouldn’t be any question of who has to accommodate whom, right?”

“Just meet once. Just once. If you still don’t agree, we absolutely won’t force it.”

“No need to meet. I don’t agree,” Qin Qingyan said coldly.

She had originally thought it was just a simple commercial shoot, but she hadn’t expected the entertainment industry’s usual tricks to be waiting everywhere.

The man looked torn, walked a few steps away, and made a phone call. He talked with the other side for quite a while before hanging up.

Judging from his expression, it seemed they were determined to make Qin Qingyan compromise just once.

The director spoke before he could. “I don’t know which ‘above’ you mean. The investor? Or some department?”

“That’s not convenient to say,” the man replied. Then he looked back at Qin Qingyan. “I’ll take you upstairs first. Meet them once; maybe you’ll change your mind.”

Su Yan was so angry she could only laugh helplessly. The person in charge in front of them was completely impervious, repeating the same line over and over: “You’ll know once you meet them.” Over the years, there had been men and women alike who had taken an interest in Qin Qingyan. Who knew whether the person he was talking about had any good intentions? What if they drugged her or something? Who could guarantee otherwise?

A crowd had gathered in the lobby, and quite a few nearby residents had come outside to watch the commotion. The staff did their best to block the entrance and keep outsiders from coming in.

Qin Qingyan asked, “If I meet them and say I still don’t agree, you won’t just stop us from leaving, will you?”

“Of course not!” Seeing that she was softening, the man finally breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ll take you upstairs right away.”

The group took the elevator to the third floor. At a room door, the man told the director and the others to stop, signaling for Qin Qingyan to come forward.

Qin Qingyan approached and looked at the door before her, her face cold, and knocked.

The soundproofing on the door was poor. She heard footsteps approaching at an unhurried pace, then the click of the lock being opened; the door only opened a crack. The director and the others wanted to see clearly, but the middle-aged man politely blocked their view.

Qin Qingyan stood before the door, not particularly curious about who was inside. The gap widened a little, then stopped.

“You wanted to see me. What is it?” she said coolly.

The other person gave a soft laugh.

For no reason at all, surprise flashed across Qin Qingyan’s eyes. Was it an illusion?? How could it sound so similar?

“Teacher Qin, I’m hungry.”

Yan Yue!