Chapter 139 : Chapter 139

Chapter 139: “Sister Qiao’s father came looking for her!”

The filming period for "Two People Traveling Together" was two weeks.

One week to shoot the material and check it, and the remaining week to reshoot any missing or unsatisfactory material.

Although it was said to be about filming the bits and pieces of a celebrity's work and life, and the various provisional promotional slogans were also: the truest picture inside and out.

But the house was rented separately, the week's work schedule was meticulously planned, and the family and friends who would "accidentally" appear on camera had also gone through numerous rehearsals.

The reason Shen Weidi would rent another house was very simple: he had fans who are interested in his private life.

As his fame grew, extreme fans who were excessively focused on Shen Weidi's life and invaded his privacy would appear from time to time.

Chasing him to his hotel and knocking on his door in the middle of the night was considered a light case.

There was also the time when he came home after leaving a production, was too tired and fell asleep on the bed.

He woke up in the middle of the night to find that his clothes and pants had been taken off, and his sleeping posture was standard.

When he went to the living room, he saw several heart-shaped cakes on the coffee table.

Shen Weidi thought Gu An had come by, so he sat on the sofa and started nibbling on a small cake.

Before he had two bites, he saw the card pressed under the cake box.

【Take good care of yourself, Little brother Shen Weidi Love you forever!】

A wave of nausea churned in his stomach, and Shen Weidi hugged the toilet and threw up for half an hour.

He immediately called Gu An, saying he wanted to call the police.

Gu An advised him not to.

It could easily be interpreted by the media as a "deteriorating relationship with fans."

Some fans would think Shen Weidi was cold and heartless, and the whole incident might even be seen as a publicity stunt, leading to excessive public attention and bringing him additional public opinion pressure.

Shen Weidi was both angry and anxious.

He called Wanshu Zu, but it was Li Yamin who answered the phone.

The moment he heard the man's lazy voice, Shen Weidi suddenly didn't want to say anything.

Later, when Wanshu Zu asked him why he had called, Shen Weidi said, go mind your Li Yamin, don't be so hypocritical.

Shen Weidi had moved several times for this reason.

He couldn't possibly let the program team film his own home, he wasn't that bored.

Qiao Tian had to rent another house for a very simple reason as well.

She was still worried that her "father," whose life or death was unknown, would come looking for her.

After briefly explaining the situation to Xu Qiqi, the manager supported her with both hands, found a more decent house overnight, and spent the appearance fee that had just arrived and hadn't even warmed up in his hands.

The other artists also had their own reasons.

The only "honest" one was Wanshu Zu.

Many people knew he had both a cat and a dog, and moving meant taking them along.

The dog was fine, but letting the little black cat stay in a new environment for two weeks and then move back could easily cause stress.

After the technical team installed the cameras, fill lights, and other equipment, and arranged for the accompanying filming crew, the filming period finally officially began.

“Why do I feel that Shen Weidi and his manager’s way of getting along is a bit strange.”

After the first day of filming, the executive director was lost in thought while looking at the organized footage.

Dedicated staff had squatted in front of the monitors, watching the fixed camera footage at home, and marked what could be used.

The director and screenwriter focused more on the follow-up filming content and only turned to integrate all the footage after the outdoor shooting was over.

The screenwriter completely agreed with the director, nodding: “Shen Weidi is very unaccustomed to getting along with his manager.”

She pointed to several places in the footage.

Today, Shen Weidi went to shoot a product placement advertisement for the program——Wanshu Zu had directly negotiated a new collaboration with the program's title sponsor, which could be softly advertised in the show.

This meant that after Shen Weidi received his share of the program's advertising revenue, he could also get an additional promotion fee from the brand.

Wanshu Zu followed the whole time, standing next to the advertisement director during the shoot, which put a lot of pressure on many people.

Advertisement shoots are usually followed by a publicity manager or a business manager, who will strictly control what the director films.

Which part of the makeup and styling doesn't match the artist's past image, which angle makes the artist look better, what actions are easily turned into memes by netizens... feedback on these had to be given on the spot.

Wanshu Zu didn't care.

After watching the shoot, he beckoned to Shen Weidi, told him to come over, then pointed to the footage the director had shot and asked very calmly: “What do you think?”

Shen Weidi was silent for a long time: “I'll reshoot.”

Wanshu Zu nodded.

Advertisement director: “?”

After a few repetitions, Wanshu Zu beckoned the person over again and asked the same question.

Shen Weidi pondered for a long time: “I think it’s fine.”

Wanshu Zu: “You’re not going to ask the director?”

Advertisement director: “??”

Wanshu Zu didn't follow the subsequent filming.

The person in charge of brand promotion brought the marketing director to find him and pulled him away for coffee.

The director watched with a worried frown.

Although everyone knew that a top manager wouldn't care about small details, and that chatting with the investors for a bit was more valuable than supervising the filming, this wasn't convenient for the audience to see.

Especially not convenient for Shen Weidi's fans to see.

The fans would only feel that their idol was being neglected, fighting a lone battle in front of the camera.

The screenwriter then pulled out Shen Weidi's backup interview content.

Staff member asked: In your work, what roles do you think you and your manager play?

This was a standard question, and several artists had answered it very officially.

Shen Weidi's answer was: I have to work hard enough to be seen by him.

The staff member asked a follow-up question on the spot: That sounds strange, as if you are working hard for him?

Shen Weidi: I'm not Li Yamin——only by being seen by him can I be seen by more people.

The director scratched his head and wondered: “Didn't the production remind us that Wanshu Zu doesn't want the program to mention Li Yamin?”

The screenwriter nodded, and then said: “He brought it up himself, and more than once. When Wanshu Zu was around, he didn't mention it at all. As soon as the manager left, he started...”

The screenwriter thought about her wording, “He started subtly putting him down while praising another.”

The director was confused: “Isn't Li Yamin his real uncle? He also fed him a lot of resources, and their relationship seemed quite close before. Why did he start... as soon as his uncle left?”

As the director spoke, he suddenly realized, “Are you saying... the split between Wanshu Zu and Li Yamin was initiated by Li Yamin? And it was a very unpleasant breakup.”

“Shen Weidi was left with Wanshu Zu. Between his uncle and his manager, he chose to side with the manager.”

The screenwriter thought "Holy crap" in her mind, and suddenly felt it made a lot of sense.

As a screenwriter, her mind was full of wild yet logical fantasies, and she automatically filled in the entire plot.

A manager of Wanshu Zu's level had an terrifyingly high hourly rate.

How could he be willing to join just because they raised the appearance fee?

There must be his own reasons.

For example, being forcibly broken up with by Li Yamin, he got angry for a moment, and brought Shen Weidi on a variety show to show Li Yamin that without him, he still had an obedient nephew.

Shen Weidi fully understood his manager's resentful state of mind and would take every opportunity to stab his uncle a couple of times.

It made sense, everything made sense.

The director felt that he understood everything, and with a wave of his hand said: “Send the footage to post-production, no need to cut anything, just make the final cut according to this!”

Chu Zu still didn't know that he was being forced to be resentful.

He was having dinner with Xu Qiqi.

The matter of Xu Qiqi being his "junior" had also spread a little in the circle.

It was read as junior but written as student.

When the student carried a large bag of ingredients and said he wanted to show off his cooking skills, Chu Zu happened to have not eaten dinner and had no reason to refuse.

Xu Qiqi had become familiar with him and was no longer as constrained as he was at the beginning.

This person had probably had the meme of self-media flowing in his blood since birth.

He wasn't at the level of having a histrionic personality, but he was unnaturally extroverted.

After making four dishes and a soup, and also making dinner for the little black cat, Xu Qiqi started complaining at the dinner table.

“So ugly! Wanshu Brother, I peeked at the footage they shot. Sister Qiao is such a beautiful girl, but she was filmed so ugly!”

Little yellow chicken stayed in the little black cat's sea of consciousness, jumped onto Chu Zu's lap, and resolutely refused to eat cat food or canned cat food.

It wanted meat, big fish and big meat!

Chu Zu casually tore off a piece of chicken breast for Little yellow chicken and said: “You would look even uglier on camera the way you are now.”

He was referring to the hidden camera that was still in working mode.

Xu Qiqi: “I still have a lot of self-awareness then...”

“This is just the raw footage, they will process it in post-production.”

“Smooth Sister Qiao's face until only her nostrils are left? Wouldn't that be even more horrifying...”

Xu Qiqi was in great pain.

He knew what post-production for variety shows was like these days; it was almost like the filters on live streams.

It looked good, but it didn't look like a living person.

He was also occasionally confused by the production team's aesthetics.

Did they really think this looked good?

The clarity of certain individuals was already clearly different from the other characters.

Did they really take the audience for fools?

And what Qiao Tian was filming was basically her cramming her university chemical engineering knowledge at home, communicating with Teacher Jiang Fan, and then consulting corresponding experts based on recommendations.

It didn't match the unrecognizable filters at all.

Xu Qiqi: “Can't they just learn from movies? I've seen people in some movies who are more beautiful than the last, without a single wrinkle on their faces.”

Chu Zu tore another strip of chicken breast for Little yellow chicken.

“In the situation you're talking about, the work of just removing wrinkles alone caused the visual effects to exceed the original budget by four million.”

Xu Qiqi listened with a head full of question marks: “It can't cost that much, can it?”

“And that's a low estimate.”

Chu Zu said, “For simple skin smoothing and filters, post-production can just use a plugin to finish it. Visual effects require a separate team. An extra team means an extra intermediate link.”

When there are many links, there are many middlemen.

If the budget is approved for four million, it's considered "conscientious" of the middlemen if the visual effects team gets one million.

If they encounter subcontracting on top of subcontracting, and the people doing the work get a four-figure sum, they would be moved to tears, exclaiming that heaven has eyes.

Xu Qiqi felt both a pang of pain for the money and a stomachache: “That's four million. Give me four million, and I could open AE and DaVinci on the spot and work through the night, editing frame by frame!”

Chu Zu's expression was a bit helpless, while Little yellow chicken's was disdainful.

This was also to get footage for Xu Qiqi.

To be honest, he was much more entertaining than Qiao Tian.

He frequently spewed trash talk, and even the Buddha-like Gu An couldn't stand his personality——which was very much in line with the preferences of people who love a good laugh.

As they were eating and drinking, the little black cat suddenly jumped down from Chu Zu's lap and ran all the way back to its luxurious little house.

Little yellow chicken had just returned to Chu Zu's sea of consciousness, frantically flipping through the main text.

“Host, host.”

Little yellow chicken reminded Chu Zu, “Something's wrong on Little Qiao's side.”

Xu Qiqi's phone also rang at the same time.

Little yellow chicken: “Someone is banging on the door of Little Qiao's newly rented house. She looked through the peephole and didn't open the door, but she seems to be scared stiff.”

As soon as the words fell, Xu Qiqi shot up abruptly.

The chair was pushed back, making a harsh sound as it scraped across the floor.

“Don't panic, don't panic, I'll be right back!”

Little yellow chicken couldn't detect who the person outside the door was; they weren't in the setting collection.

The Qiao Tian in the main text was already dazed, only managing to dial Xu Qiqi's phone, with no psychological activity at all.

But Xu Qiqi knew.

He had learned a lot from Wanshu Zu and had a serious talk with Qiao Tian.

Qiao Tian had also been open with him about her past.

There were cameras, so Xu Qiqi couldn't speak plainly, only saying hastily: “Wanshu Brother, can you give me a ride back? It's hard to get a car around here.”

Once outside, Xu Qiqi immediately explained: “Sister Qiao’s father came looking for her!”

“The program team hasn't started promoting yet, it should be from the promotional photos leaked by Shen Weidi's fans before. The set of photos included all the guests, the dissemination rate was high enough, and her father saw it.”

Chu Zu said, “Mm.”

He got in the car and turned on the navigation.

The navigation voice prompt said that the estimated travel time to the destination was forty-five minutes.

Chu Zu asked Little yellow chicken in his sea of consciousness: “Little Qiao's address looks familiar to me. Isn't Shen Weidi not far from there?”

Little yellow chicken: “Yes, the place Shen Weidi rented is only about a ten-minute drive away.”

Chu Zu immediately sent the address to Shen Weidi and stepped on the gas.

Shen Weidi sent back a question mark.

Chu Zu was driving and didn't have a free hand to reply to the message, so he asked Xu Qiqi to use his phone to call him back and explain.

Xu Qiqi really didn't want to deal with Shen Weidi, but he still bit the bullet and dialed the number.

After concealing the identity of the uninvited guest and briefly explaining the situation, Shen Weidi said impolitely: “What does it have to do with me?”

Little yellow chicken had been keeping an eye on Qiao Tian's side.

The young girl was really on the verge of breaking down.

It cursed angrily: “Shen Weidi, that dog, really can't change its habit of eating shit!”

Xu Qiqi then went on for a long time about moral, intellectual, and physical education, his mouth almost spitting fire.

Turning onto the city's elevated highway, Chu Zu said: “Put it on speaker.”

Xu Qiqi did as he was told.

Chu Zu said to the other end of the line: “You still owe Qiao Tian an apology.”

“Gu An arranged for the apology to be on the show, wanting more people to see it and preemptively manage potential risks, and you agreed.”

Shen Weidi was silent for two seconds, then said: “I didn't say I wouldn't apologize.”

“That's Gu An's attitude. I'll tell you what I think.”

Chu Zu said, “Qiao Tian actually doesn't care whether you apologize or not. She's long considered you a fart.”

“If holding you accountable is the only reason you're willing to condescend and open your golden mouth, then forget the apology. There's no need to put on this show. If any public opinion arises, I will handle it completely.”

Xu Qiqi's expression immediately turned sour.

The continuous streetlights made his face look both white and black.

He remembered the style of this person, Wanshu Zu, the style of a manager.

Wanshu Zu was absolutely capable of doing it, and he would handle it flawlessly.

That's why he could say this directly in front of Qiao Tian's manager without any hesitation.

Then, Chu Zu added coldly: “If you think you really did something bastardly in the past, then right now, immediately, at once, get your ass to the address I gave you.”

“Shen Weidi, my promise to you won't change. You don't need to care about my attitude towards you. You know I do things without asking my heart——how you choose is up to you.”

Chu Zu had the stunned Xu Qiqi hang up the phone and floored the accelerator.

A moment later, Little yellow chicken said drily: “Shen Weidi has left.”

“He's cursing you in his car, calling you a son of a bitch.”

“He's also cursing his parents and Li Yamin.”

“Holy crap, he's speeding like crazy.”

“He ran a red light!”

“Hey, what's with this guy? After cursing everyone else, he's started cursing you again!”

“Very good, he's now back to cursing Li Yamin.”

***

The system broadcasted the whole thing.

Shen Weidi had entered the Great Khan calling the roll mode, going through everyone in his head and cursing whoever he thought of.

Chu Zu was still on the road, but Shen Weidi had already arrived.

“Will something happen?”

Little yellow chicken saw that Shen Weidi was truly wild, to put it exaggeratedly, his eyes were red from cursing, biting whoever he caught, and it couldn't help but worry.

Chu Zu said calmly: “Something will definitely happen.”

“This person cares about face. Even if he knows he did something wrong, he can't bring himself to admit it. Gu An gave him a way out, but I won't. If you're going to apologize, you have to have the attitude of an apology. Don't do all sorts of unnecessary things just to make yourself feel better.”

“He cursed a circle of people, but the person he wants to curse the most is himself. He can't bring himself to say it, so it's just pure venting. When he finds out that the person outside Qiao Tian's door is Qiao Tian's own father, he'll be even more furious.”

Little yellow chicken pondered: “Because... his relationship with his family isn't good either?”

“It's worse than not good.”

Chu Zu said, “They have a child when they need one, but when the child doesn't develop according to their plan, they think it's all the child's fault, that the child is disobedient and rebellious.”

“They put it aside for several years, and only remember this person when they suddenly realize there's a benefit to be had, and immediately come chasing after them——who do you think I'm talking about?”

Little yellow chicken: “Host, maybe you should speed up a bit more.”

It swallowed: “This time Shen Weidi will definitely vent Qiao Tian's anger for her, but... I'm afraid that after this anger is vented, Qiao Tian's father will be out of breath.”

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