Chapter 332 A Choice That Must Be Made Even If It's a Broken Promise

After a brief chat, Lu Yanhe finally understood why Zhou Shuyu and Qiu Ling had come here.

Zhou Shuyu is a professor in the Department of History at Yuming University and has always been interested in these historical sites.

This time, Qiu Ling was able to take a rare vacation, so the two of them decided to go out for a walk together.

Qiu Ling had always wanted to come to the desert, so after the two of them arrived in Shangjing, Zhou Shuyu heard that there was a 500-year-old temple here, so he came to take a look.

Meeting Zhou Shuyu brought Lu Yanhe a huge surprise.

Because Zhou Shuyu can tell you about the origins of this temple and analyze the stories recorded on those stone tablets.

Many people don't like visiting museums or historical sites not because they genuinely dislike them, but because they can't understand them.

Lu Yanhe himself only had a vague understanding of it, but Zhou Shuyu explained and chatted with him at the same time.

It took us more than an hour to explore a small, ancient temple.

This ancient temple records a story somewhat reminiscent of A Chinese Ghost Story—of course, people in this world only know Xiaoqian from "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," but not the "A Chinese Ghost Story" that has touched generations.

"Legend has it that a monk named Liansheng once took in an injured white fox in this temple. However, after the white fox recovered, it ate the monk. A lonely soul living in the lamplight sacrificed its cultivation to avenge the monk, and transformed into a fox, pretending to get close to the white fox."

"However, after seeing the white fox, he was awakened to his memories before his death. In his previous life, he was a white fox who was killed by a monk. The monk captured his wandering soul and, under the guise of taking him in, made the wandering soul accumulate cultivation in the green lamp. Once he had accumulated enough, he would eat them."

"The injured white fox is an incarnation of Buddha, sent here to kill this demonic monk."

Upon hearing this story, Lu Yanhe laughed and said, "Does the temple want to tell us that Buddha manifested his power, or that there are demons among the monks?"

Zhou Shuyu said, "It's rare to see a record of monks having a negative image in a temple."

Qiu Ling: "Isn't it because there's also a Buddha wielding a staff to vanquish demons? As long as the Buddha is in a positive position, that's fine."

Zhou Shuyu smiled.

The group chatted and laughed.

Xin Zixing and the others who had been following behind listened attentively to their conversation.

Lu Yanhe also told Xin Zixing, "Your 'City Travelogue' program could actually invite professors to participate. What they say is much richer than our superficial understanding."

Xin Zixing nodded and said, "We've seen it all this time. Indeed, we'll go back and study it carefully."

Documentaries like "City Travelogue," barring a miraculous, low-probability event, are destined to never become a nationwide sensation. However, they do have their audience. YeMai.com aims to develop it into a distinctive documentary series with a loyal following—low cost, high long-term benefits.

So far, although Lu Yanhe's remuneration for recording this program has increased significantly compared to the beginning, it is still not a commercially oriented program, and the fee per episode is far lower than his remuneration for recording other programs. This is one of the reasons why, although the higher-ups at Yemai.com have repeatedly asked Xin Zixing and others to downplay Lu Yanhe's influence on the program, Xin Zixing has consistently refused.

Xin Zixing understands perfectly well that this documentary, which unexpectedly gained a foothold, largely relies on Lu Yanhe. The documentary's emergence was accidental from the start, and its initial popularity within a niche circle depended on Lu Yanhe's fame. Now, due to the program's humanistic nature, it's extremely popular among those who enjoy this type of documentary, but this group largely overlaps with Lu Yanhe's fanbase. In fact, many people feel that their liking for Lu Yanhe and *City Travelogue* is interdependent; without Lu Yanhe, they might not like *City Travelogue*, and without *City Travelogue*, they might not like Lu Yanhe. However, the current issue is that Lu Yanhe can exist without *City Travelogue*, but *City Travelogue* cannot exist without Lu Yanhe.

In the episodes without Lu Yanhe's participation, the viewership and positive feedback for the program were significantly lower.

Actually, according to their market research, the reason isn't complicated. People aren't used to seeing different people. They've become accustomed to Lu Yanhe exploring interesting places in the city on this show, and the comparison creates a sense of dissatisfaction. Finding another young artist with Lu Yanhe's knowledge, cultural flair, and charisma is virtually impossible.

To quote a fan of "City Travelogue," Lu Yanhe's performance on the show made everyone genuinely believe that he enjoys exploring old bookstores, old buildings, and other places in the city, rather than just putting on an act to please others.

This is actually the most difficult one.

Xin Zixing also knows that if the program "City Travelogue" is to continue for a long time, it cannot do without Lu Yanhe at this stage.

She knew, of course, that it would be disruptive to join Lu Yanhe and his friends' journey so abruptly.

However, "City Travelogue" is her job, and also a work she cherishes. Even if it might bother others, for the good of "City Travelogue," Xin Zixing must actively strive for such filming opportunities.

-

After visiting the ancient temple, Lu Yanhe and Lin Yu had lunch with Zhou Shuyu and Qiu Ling.

When Zhou Shuyu heard that they were several high school classmates who had made plans to go into the desert together, he was very surprised and said, "You've been out of high school for so long, how come you still keep in such close contact?"

Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Yes."

He thought to himself that these guys hadn't actually gotten together this often back in high school. Aside from hanging out with Li Pengfei every day, they only chatted occasionally with the others. But after graduation, their connection actually strengthened because of working on the magazine "Jump Up."

Qiu Ling was obviously aware of this situation.

She said to Zhou Shuyu, "You don't know, do you? Lu Yanhe's high school classmates are the core team members of the magazine he started called 'Jump Up'."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Shuyu showed a look of surprise.

"You're core team members? Didn't you have the help of a publisher to produce this magazine?"

Lu Yanhe smiled.

Lin Yu said, "To be precise, the content of the first issue was entirely the work of Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi, plus an art staff member responsible for layout and typesetting. The three of them produced the first issue. We joined later. Lu Yanhe is not just the nominal editor-in-chief of this magazine; he is truly in charge of this magazine."

Zhou Shuyu was amazed. "I thought this was just some kind of publicity stunt by the publishing house. After all, it sounds a bit exaggerated that a few high school students as core members could create such a popular magazine."

“Those young people are very capable.” Qiu Ling said, resting her chin on her hand. “I have watched them accomplish a lot from scratch. I used to be amazed every time, but now I’m not so amazed anymore. I’m used to it.”

She wore a calm smile.

At that moment, Li Pengfei arrived.

He came directly to the restaurant with his suitcase.

"Ah, I'm so hungry! Is the food served yet? I'm going to eat several bowls of rice!" He shouted as soon as he entered the private room, then was startled by two other people who suddenly appeared in the room, and his voice stopped abruptly.

"Uh... Officer Qiu?" Li Pengfei looked at Qiu Ling, whom he had met a few times before, with some surprise. "You, you—"

"It was a chance encounter," Qiu Ling said with a smile. "Didn't expect that, did you?"

"I didn't expect that." Li Pengfei shook his head.

He sat down "reservedly," winking at Lu Yanhe, implying that Lu Yanhe hadn't told him in advance.

Lu Yanhe smiled but remained silent.

He was embarrassed to admit that he had forgotten.

However, he was genuinely hungry. Li Pengfei was a little embarrassed at first, but he soon started eating heartily.

"I was so hungry." He apologized as he ate, "My eating manners are a bit messy, sorry."

Lu Yanhe frowned upon hearing Li Pengfei's words.

From the moment Lin Yu put on her mask to Li Pengfei's subconscious "Sorry," Lu Yanhe suddenly felt very uncomfortable—although everyone said they were willing to appear on camera and didn't care about the recording of "City Travelogue," this incident clearly affected their otherwise relaxed and carefree mood.

What he thought would be a win-win situation did not happen.

Lu Yanhe realized that he had become accustomed to the presence of the camera and could be himself in front of it without pretense. However, Li Pengfei and Lin Yu had no such experience. With such a large camera standing there, it was bound to affect their mood and actions.

After lunch, Lu Yanhe pulled Xin Zixing aside.

"Sister Zixing, I'm sorry, can we not film this trip?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Xin Zixing was taken aback, her expression showing surprise. She asked, "What's wrong? Yan He, have we done something to affect you?"

“No, no.” Lu Yanhe shook his head. “It’s my own fault. I still want to go into the desert without any work pressure. I thought I could adjust my mood and not be affected, but with the cameras on, I still can’t relax completely.”

Xin Zixing looked troubled.

“I know this is my fault; I was the one who promised you in the first place,” Lu Yanhe said. “I’ll cover all your expenses this time.”

Xin Zixing quickly shook her head: "No, that won't do. If you're going to be so polite with me, I know you came out with your friends to relax, and I knew it would bother you, so it's not right of me to come looking for you. It's okay, I understand your thoughts. I know, I'll leave with the filming crew."

Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment and said, "How about I invite a friend to come and record this episode for you?"

Xin Zixing was taken aback. "Huh?"

"Or do you mean that even if you don't record this episode, you still have content in reserve to support future broadcasts?"

"Don't worry about that. We still have a few episodes that we've already filmed and are ready to air," Xin Zixing said. "We'll ask you to film more when you come back from Jose."

Lu Yanhe felt very guilty.

He was the one who initially agreed to the filming, and now he's the one who decided to stop filming midway through.

After thinking it over, Lu Yanhe contacted Chen Ziyan and decided that they would cover the travel expenses for the group and give each person a gift to express their apologies.

Chen Ziyan said, "This kind of thing shouldn't happen, Yan He. If word gets out, you'll be seen as someone who lacks professionalism, or even as someone who acts like a diva."

Lu Yanhe sighed, "I know, it was indeed my fault. I shouldn't have agreed when Sister Zixing came to me in the first place."

“Don’t take everything on yourself. You did get your friends’ consent, I’m just reminding you to think twice before acting when it involves your friends. Don’t let them disrupt your usual behavior and style just because they are a group of people you are close to and have a good relationship with,” Chen Ziyan said. “There are too many drawbacks, and it’s easy for things to go wrong. I’ll make arrangements for ‘City Travelogue’ later, so don’t worry about it. Have fun. You’ve really been working hard for a long time, and you deserve to relax.”

Hearing Chen Ziyan say this, Lu Yanhe finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When Chen Qin, Xu Zijun, and Chen Siqi, who arrived later, heard that the filming crew of "City Travelogue" had stopped filming for some reason and would no longer go into the desert with them, Li Pengfei was puzzled and asked, "How can they just stop filming like that?"

Lu Yanhe did not explain the real reason.

He didn't want to burden them, so he simply said it was the film crew's decision.

"Then we'll be going into the desert together again, wow, that's cool!" Li Pengfei said excitedly. "I don't have to pretend anymore."

Lin Yu immediately gave him a disdainful look, "I really didn't see it coming. You were putting on an act. Those four bowls of rice you ate were really delicious."

Li Pengfei: "...I was so hungry that I couldn't hold back anymore."

Lu Yanhe immediately laughed.

When he laughed, he noticed that Chen Siqi was looking at him.

He turned his head to look.

Chen Siqi reached her hand out from under the table, took his hand, and squeezed it.

Lu Yanhe smiled at her.

Chen Siqi said, "Well done."

Lu Yanhe exclaimed "Ah!"

Chen Siqi did not seem inclined to say anything more.

-

Xin Zixing hesitated for several hours, wondering if they should stay in Shangjing and film a documentary themselves. Without Lu Yanhe, they could use narration to tell the story of Shangjing's local customs and culture—that wasn't impossible, as Lu Yanhe could still record the narration.

After all, we're already here, and the filming schedule has already been submitted.

Xin Zixing understood Lu Yanhe's thoughts.

She didn't think Lu Yanhe had gone back on his word; on the contrary, she felt that she had gone too far in bothering him before—Lu Yanhe was someone who would do his best to help you, not the kind of "difficult artist" who needed to be "begged and pleaded" to get things done.

She sighed.

The team members have already gone to Shangjing to eat, drink, and have fun.

She gave them the day off.

There's no one else I can discuss this with.

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared in Xin Zixing's mind.

Zhou Shuyu, who told them historical stories along the way.

Lu Yanhe said at the time—

Your "City Travelogue" program could actually invite professors to participate; their insights would be far richer than our superficial understanding.

Xin Zixing's eyes lit up.

Perhaps we could try asking Professor Zhou Shuyu for help?

The moment she thought of this, she wanted to contact them immediately. She had no choice but to contact Lu Yanhe again, asking him for the other person's contact information. Lu Yanhe, of course, could only ask Qiu Ling for it.

After going through many twists and turns, Xin Zixing finally got Zhou Shuyu's contact information thirty minutes later.

She called Zhou Shuyu's number.

"Hello, Professor Zhou, I'm Xin Zixing, the producer of 'City Travelogue.' We met not long ago..."

Sigh, I can't even describe how busy and tired I've been these past two days. I didn't get to sleep until 3:30 AM yesterday. I've really tried my best to keep updating. I'm not asking for monthly votes anymore, I'm just praying that this busy work will end soon.

(End of this chapter)