Chapter 34

When Xiao Ziyu came to his senses, he found that the door of the practice room was blocked. The one who played the erhu with him was a white-haired old gentleman wearing a Zhongshan suit and looking very energetic.

Without having time to introduce himself, the old man asked, "Young man, how long have you been playing this piano?"

Xiao Ziyu lowered his eyes and thought. He started learning various musical instruments from his master at the age of five. Guqin was considered his entry point because it had a wide range of tones, was very inclusive, and was most suitable for cultivating one's sentiments.

He chuckled and said, "It's been more than ten years. It was a hobby when I was a kid."

People around him couldn't help but stand in awe. The old man's name was Huo Wenyi, and he was from the National Art Troupe. He was often invited to perform in programs related to traditional culture, but there were not many opportunities to see him play in person, let alone play harmony for others.

At this moment, Huo Wenyi took the initiative to hand his business card to the young man playing the piano: "My name is Huo Wenyi, and I am also an artist."

Xiao Ziyu took the card, but he didn't have a business card to give to the other person, so he could only nod slightly: "Xiao Ziyu, a signed artist of Yuantai Culture."

Huo Wenyi smiled knowingly and continued, "I have a folklore-related program on hand now. If you are interested, you can contact me."

Xiao Ziyu put the zither back to its place and stood up: "Sure."

The audience dispersed one after another, but some people still wanted to approach and make friends, but when they heard that the other party had already signed a contract with the company, they had to give up.

Du Qian arrived late. She was wearing a light green cheongsam and her hair was neatly tied up. She looked delicate and elegant, and revealed a hint of imperceptible gentleness. She smiled and clapped her hands, "I just heard the piano music, but I couldn't squeeze in at my own place."

Xiao Ziyu apologized first: "I'm really sorry for touching your instrument without your permission."

"The instrument is placed here for people to play," Du Qin said indifferently, "If Mr. Xiao likes this instrument, I will ask someone to send it to your home."

Xiao Ziyu quickly refused, "I don't want to waste your money."

Yuan Heng finally found an opportunity to interrupt, "How about Mr. Du selling it to me at a discount?"

Du Qian saw the two people standing side by side, one gentle, the other sharp, like jade and rainbow. From the moment Yuan Heng sent her the recording, she knew that the two of them had a close relationship, so she simply helped them along and winked at Xiao Ziyu: "Then let Mr. Yuan pay for it."

Xiao Ziyu wanted to say something else, but she said, "Mr. Xiao, the recording you provided is very important. It has been used by the court as evidence of Huang Wei's extramarital affair. I haven't had time to thank you yet."

There is no kindness without reason in the business world. Xiao Ziyu is not sure whether there is any cooperation of interest between Du Qian and Yuan Heng. He just thinks that she is thorough and cautious in her work and does not feel inferior about her failed marriage. She is really worthy of admiration.

He said sincerely: "Mr. Du, Chaoyang Culture will surely develop better with you in charge."

Today was not a private meeting, Du Qian had other things to do, so she left in a hurry after a few greetings. They then entered the venue. It was an anniversary celebration and an exhibition, so the theme was not that serious and people were chatting with each other in groups of three or four.

Someone came up to Yuan Heng with a glass of red wine. He consciously stepped aside and looked aimlessly for a non-alcoholic drink.

"Xiao Ziyu." Someone called him.

He looked up and saw Mr. Huo again. Before he could ask, Xiao Ziyu took the initiative to step forward and said, "Mr. Huo, I want to know something about the show."

The program that Mr. Huo was talking about is actually a reality show called "Xun Customs". It is a traditional cultural variety show launched by a well-known video platform and has a great chance of being qualified to be broadcast on TV. Huo Wenyi was invited to be the artistic director and casting reference, and will be responsible for reviewing the traditional cultural aspects of the program.

This kind of folk variety show is actually not new in China, but most of them are just going through the motions under the shell of traditional culture. The guests only filmed briefly on location, and it was just a show for the sake of program effect. It was neither contagious nor had any publicity effect.

"Xun Customs" strives to break this strange phenomenon. The guests go deep into the ancient town, live and study with the local residents, and submit their final works. Moreover, the funds are very limited, and everyone no longer rents a hotel together, but earns their living expenses based on their own abilities. The gap in quality of life will gradually widen, which has become a major highlight of the show.

In addition to the scheduled main film broadcasts, there will be multi-camera live broadcasts every day to ensure the authenticity of the program. The novel way of appearing on camera has made the program a hot topic.

For each episode, the program team will invite four permanent guests to conduct a half-month long filming, during which flying guests will randomly visit.

"Have the other guests been decided?" Xiao Ziyu asked.

Mr. Huo kept it a secret, "We'll see each other then. If there's no problem, you can go meet with the director team first and confirm with your company."

Xiao Ziyu subconsciously looked up to look for someone. Yuan Heng's height stood out among the crowd. The lady from before was still there, laughing heartily. She was different from the ordinary guests who came up to chat with him. She seemed very familiar with Yuan Heng.

As if sensing something, Yuan Heng turned around, and after hesitating for a while, his eyes locked on him. The female guest also leaned over and looked in his direction.

Yuan Heng raised his chin towards him.

Xiao Ziyu received the signal that Yuan Heng wanted him to come over. He suddenly felt awkward. He was not familiar with Yuan Heng's friends, and his relationship with Yuan Heng was not awkward either. Behind closed doors, they were marriage partners, and in the entertainment industry, they were just friends who had acted in a play together.

He had been in the opera world for a long time and was extremely sensitive to people's emotions. They were having a great conversation at this moment, so wouldn't it be inappropriate for him to have gone there?

The smooth talker was at a loss as to what to do. Xiao Ziyu pretended not to see it, said goodbye to Mr. Huo, and ran away with the drink.

Movie queen Zhou Nan smiled and said to Yuan Heng: "You always have such a cold face. The children are afraid of you and dare not come over."

Yuan Heng frowned slightly: "He probably didn't see it."

"We haven't seen each other for such a long time, and you can't stop talking about him. I'm embarrassed," Zhou Nan said in an exaggerated tone, "I've never seen you care so much about a newly signed artist before."

Zhou Nan had acted with Yuan Heng twice before, and also won Best Actress at a young age. After setting up her studio, she has very good resources, not to mention her connections in the circle.

Yuan Heng has retired from the entertainment industry for two years and has rarely appeared in such public occasions. He is not as well-informed as Zhou Nan about many things. He originally wanted to ask Xiao Ziyu to come over and introduce him, but he just ran away.

"Your kid is on the hot search," Zhou Nan took a sip of red wine, slid his slender nails across the phone screen, and read out softly, "#萧子煜梅花三弄#."

Yuan Heng also took out his mobile phone and clicked on Weibo. He knew that Chaoyang Culture’s anniversary celebration would be live-broadcasted, but he didn’t expect that there were cameras filming in the practice room.

In the picture, Xiao Ziyu walked into the room and glanced towards the corridor. It seems that he doesn't know whether he can touch the things inside and wants to ask someone for help.

Yuan Heng recalled that he was chatting with Zhou Nan in the corridor at that time.

Finally, Xiao Ziyu couldn't resist the urge to play, and he gently took the guqin and placed it on his knees, and his performance of "Three Variations on Plum Blossom" shocked the whole audience.

"Isn't this really like a god descending to earth? It made me cry."

"I have never played the guqin before, so I am a complete layman, but it sounds really good."

"The part where he played with the erhu gave me goosebumps. It was so immersive."

"With such skills, why would you still want to work in the domestic entertainment industry? You should just apply to join the National Art Troupe."

"What the hell, is there really no one who thinks Yu Yu is cute? It's so adorable when he pokes his head into the room."

"By the way, who is Yu Yu looking at..."

"The camera in the corridor is here! I'll put the video on the homepage!"

Yuan Heng casually glanced at the square and saw his back talking to Zhou Nan outside the practice room.

"Help! The best actor and best actress are in the same frame. We, the fans of the Nan Yuan Bei Zhe couple, are resurrected right here."

Nan Yuan Beizhe was the CP name of Yuan Heng and Zhou Nan when they were acting together. It has been a long time, and their former fans have started collective team building again.

Another popular comment was from a fan with a Q-version glutinous rice dumpling avatar: "family who knows, I will be very sad if I can't eat Yuanxiao."

Soon, a bunch of CP fans came to support Yuan Xiao, "Our Yu Yu is obviously watching Teacher Yuan!"

"Teacher Yuan, why don't you turn around and look at him!"

"Get out of the way, I'm here with some sweet treats! Watch the look in Teacher Yuan's eyes around the seventh minute mark when Yu Yu finished playing!"

"Teacher Yuan: I'm trapped.jpg"

Someone captured Yuan Heng's expression at the time and made it into an emoticon package. The pictures of two people staring at each other from the front and back were spliced ​​together and directly became the avatar of the CP super topic.

"What a hot candy!"

"Ms. Du is ecstatic. Chaoyang Culture's promotional efforts have paid off."

"Thank you Princess Du for giving us a 360-degree live broadcast. We can eat as much as we want."

In addition to the CP fans, the ensemble clips of Xiao Ziyu and Huo Wenyi were also edited out, and some people began to speculate whether Huo Wenyi, as an external casting aid for "Xunsu", would recommend Xiao Ziyu to participate in the show.

"Xun Su" is a new variety show that has already attracted much attention. In addition, with its good subject matter and high attention, there have been several waves of gossip about the casting on the Internet.

"Yuyu's temperament is really suitable for this kind of program. She's much better than the trendy guy."

"Clean, refreshing and not greasy, directors, please take a look!"

"It's been a long time since I last heard Mr. Huo Wenyi perform. The last time was during the Spring Festival Gala two years ago."

Zhou Nan looked at Yuan Heng with a half-smile: "It's only been over a month, and you've already gone viral several times. It seems like you don't need my help."

Yuan Heng was browsing the square when suddenly a message popped up on WeChat. It was from Xiao Ziyu’s account without a profile picture: [I’m full. I’m leaving first. 】

[If it’s not convenient for you tonight, I can stay somewhere else.] 】

What the hell is going on? Yuan Heng called directly: "Where are you?"

The other party hesitated for a moment, and Xiao Ziyu said, "Downstairs."

"Stand still." Yuan Heng didn't hang up the phone and said goodbye to Zhou Nan directly: "I'm leaving first."

Xiao Ziyu looked at the phone, hesitating whether to hang up. Yuan Heng didn't say anything else, only the sound of slight breathing could be heard.

Before he could come to a conclusion, the elevator door rang and Yuan Heng strode out. Xiao Ziyu stood there holding his phone, feeling a little embarrassed.

Yuan Heng walked up to him, lowered his eyes and asked, "Are you really full?"

Xiao Ziyu put down his phone as if giving up: "No."