Chapter 29 Genius (Bonus Chapter)

Ling Wei mentally complained as her gaze swept over the side-by-side monitors in front of Zhou Han, the teacup next to him filled with cigarette butts, and the dark headband he casually grabbed to hold his bangs in place.

The headband completely exposed his sharply defined face, and even with his stubble and dark circles under his eyes, it couldn't hide his outstanding bone structure.

His brow bone was high, his nose bridge was straight like a mountain ridge, and even though his jawline was covered by short, stiff stubble, his sharp features were still visible.

This foundation, slightly eroded by time and weariness yet still standing tall, gives his unkempt and decadent appearance a strange air of a down-on-his-luck artist.

She remembered what the professor had said: Zhou Han became famous at a young age, and at the age of twenty-five or twenty-six, he took charge of this top-rated variety show. He was a recognized genius.

Now at thirty-five, the genius is trapped by reality, his brilliance has been dulled, but his essence remains.

"Can you keep up?"

Seeing that she remained silent, he asked again, his voice weary, but the scrutinizing light in his eyes did not fade.

Ling Wei composed herself and nodded, "No problem."

Zhou Han chuckled, with an ambiguous tone: "The old man... is my teacher. He mentioned you to me a while ago, saying that you are quick-witted and fast-handed, and that you are a good prospect."

He rarely spoke at length, then waved his hand holding the cigarette, saying, "Don't let him down, and don't let me down either."

Ling Wei accepted the order and went to work, bustling around at her workstation until late at night.

By the time she finally finished organizing several preliminary plan frameworks and sent them to Zhou Han, the clock on the wall was already pointing to one o'clock in the morning.

She was stretching her stiff neck, wondering whether she should go back to her rented room at this hour, when she heard a voice behind her.

“It’s so late,” Zhou Han said, standing behind her with a key in his hand. “Let’s go to my lounge.”

Ling Wei suddenly turned her head, her eyes filled with disbelief and astonishment.

When Zhou Han met her gaze, he was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized how easily his words could be misunderstood.

For once, a barely perceptible hint of panic appeared on his usually expressionless face.

"No...that's not what I meant!" He explained quickly, even somewhat incoherently, "I'm staying up all night tonight, I won't sleep, the dressing room is empty! Inside...there's a single bed, a private bathroom, the kind the channel provides for its core directors, they're regularly cleaned, and there are brand new spare bedding..."

Seeing that Ling Wei was still standing there, he quickly added, "You can lock the door! It's absolutely safe!"

As if feeling that wasn't enough, he added, almost as if possessed, "There are absolutely no cameras inside!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he realized that what he said sounded even more inappropriate, and he pursed his lips in annoyance.

Ling Wei looked at him, who was trying so hard to explain, a stark contrast to his usual "don't mess with me" dejected demeanor during the day.

She felt a little amused inside, but her face regained its usual composure.

"Oh," she replied, then slowly picked up her bag and strolled toward the lounge he had indicated.

The lounge was small and simply furnished, with a single bed, a wardrobe, and a small table and chairs.

The air still faintly carried the scent of tobacco and coffee, Zhou Han's presence was obvious, but Ling Wei also noticed unopened women's face towels in a corner storage box, and a small pile of disposable toothbrushes and compressed towels in the bathroom drawer, in addition to a razor.

It seems he's turned this place into a public shelter, where anyone who can't take it anymore can come and lie down for a while.

Ling Wei changed into brand new spare sheets and went into the bathroom.

The moment the hot water hit her, she inexplicably remembered Zhou Han's clumsy "There's no camera," and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Why not just say, "Everyone has slept here"?

The next morning, Ling Wei returned to the office area.

The surroundings were still quiet. She immediately saw Zhou Han asleep, fully clothed, curled up on a cot in his semi-transparent glass-enclosed office. His long arms and legs made him look somewhat cramped.

She first swiped her card at the TV station's cafeteria, and since she wasn't sure if Zhou Han would wake up, she still brought him breakfast.

When I returned, the office area was still empty.

She gently placed the breakfast on his table, but the slight rustling of the plastic bag made the person on the cot stir and open his eyes.

"Good morning, Director Zhou. I brought you breakfast," Ling Wei said.

After Zhou Han finished washing up and came out with a little steam in his eyes, he saw Ling Wei leaning against the window at the end of the corridor.

There were waist-high railings and the windows were open for ventilation.

The morning light shone through the glass, outlining her slender neck and focused profile. She was taking small bites of a steamed bun, her cheeks bulging, like a hamster intently eating, with an unconscious liveliness.

Zhou Han picked up his breakfast and naturally walked over to her, leaning against the railing.

He didn't say thank you; his first words were, "Regarding the editing ideas you mentioned last night about Professor Shen's storyline, I think the hook in the first three seconds could be improved..."

He speaks very quickly and gets straight to the point in the professional discussion.

Ling Wei swallowed the food in her mouth, took a sip of soy milk to smooth things out, and followed his train of thought almost without any pause, even adding two of the possibilities for the post-production packaging of the shots he mentioned.

At first, Zhou Han simply threw out his ideas quickly out of habit. These professional terms and leaps in thinking usually required him to explain them to the executive director two or three times before the director could barely keep up.

He was prepared to be interrupted or asked questions.

But Ling Wei didn't.

She not only understood him, but also precisely cut into his pauses, offering supplementary suggestions based on technical implementation, and even proposing another narrative possibility with greater dramatic tension.

Back and forth, ideas collided, the pace was astonishingly fast.

Zhou Han hadn't felt such smooth and tacit understanding in such a purely professional discussion for a long time.

Although Ling Wei didn't talk much, her responses were always to the point, as if she had already moved freely within the logical framework he had built.

This long-lost feeling of being treated as an equal, even intellectually stimulated, made him almost forget the time and the other person's identity.

After discussing a key technical point and reaching a consensus, Zhou Han subconsciously reached for his cigarette case, his gaze falling once again on Ling Wei.

He was stunned by that one glance.

In the morning light, the girl leaned against the railing with half a steamed bun in her mouth and a glass of soy milk in her other hand, looking relaxed.

That face was so young, even a little childish, completely different from the senior colleagues he remembered who needed him to explain things in detail.

A... a new employee who just graduated and started working on their very first day?

Zhou Han, with an unlit cigarette between his fingers, looked at Ling Wei, his eyes almost overflowing with surprise.

He belatedly realized that the old man might not have been exaggerating this time.

This is hardly "good material".

This is simply... a genius born to do this.