"Oh my, Director Liu, is that really you?!"

Just as Director Liu was about to say something, he was interrupted by Ji Qian's exclamation.

Ji Qian stepped forward, took Director Liu's hand with an apologetic expression, and shook it with practiced ease, like a greasy middle-aged businessman:

"I'm so sorry, Director Liu. The situation was special just now, and I really had no choice. Please forgive me."

Director Liu was a little dizzy from Ji Qian's shaking, and before he could speak, he heard Han Mengyao chime in:

"Don't worry, Qianqian, Director Liu definitely won't hold it against you. After all, you were doing it for everyone's safety."

“I think so too. Director Liu isn’t that petty.” Ji Qian affirmed Han Mengyao’s words while still persistently shaking Director Liu’s hand.

Director Liu wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that she was much stronger than before.

"Teacher Ji, stop shaking! The director looks like he's about to throw up!" The assistant director, finally realizing what was happening, rushed forward to stop Ji Qian. He patted Director Liu's back to help him catch his breath, while looking at Ji Qian with a pleading expression, his tone full of reproach:

"Teacher Ji, you hit too hard! Look how shaken our director!"

The assistant director is a sycophant.

Survival Rules for Modern Middle-Aged Professionals

The assistant director really knows how to survive!

Suddenly I feel like the assistant director and Director Liu have a really good chemistry.

[Don't just blindly follow trends!]

Consuming everything will only make my nutrition more balanced.

"Cough... Ugh... Cough cough, I'm fine... I'm fine now." Director Liu waved his hand to indicate that he was alright, and then snatched the megaphone from the assistant director's hand.

He took the megaphone, walked to the center of the crowd, calmed himself down, cleared his throat, and said loudly:

“I was originally going to take a vacation, but because the photographer took leave at the last minute, I had no choice but to step in myself to support the production team.”

Although he was a little embarrassed at first, Director Liu quickly adjusted his state and even stated quite confidently:

"I deliberately didn't reveal my identity because I was worried about affecting Xiao Zhou's work, but I didn't expect Teacher Ji to see through me!"

Hearing Director Liu's barbed words, Ji Qian retorted without hesitation:

"Well, there's nothing I can do. You just look too suspicious. I'm doing this for everyone's safety."

"Yes, Teacher Ji is doing this for our production team!"

"Yes, yes, Teacher Ji didn't do it on purpose. You have to cooperate with her."

"The misunderstanding arose mainly because you were dressed too warmly, Director."

"What are you saying! Doesn't the director understand this principle himself? He's just too embarrassed to express it."

Director Liu never expected that one day he would be backfired by the very moral blackmail he often used, and that the perpetrators would be his own former employees whom he had personally trained.

Haha, Sister Qian's moral blackmail technique is really impressive!

[Hahaha, look at Director Liu's expression, he probably didn't expect it to turn out like this, right?]

He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world; the ancients were right!

Director Liu was very dissatisfied with this, but he had no intention of incurring public wrath, so he had no choice but to swallow his anger.

"Haha, I was just joking, everyone don't take it too seriously. We really owe a lot to Teacher Ji today. Little Zhou, it seems you still need more experience."

The assistant director stood calmly to the side with a smile on his face, but his mind was racing, trying to recall if he had complained about Director Liu in public these past two days.

Unfortunately, perhaps because he had said so many bad things, he couldn't quite remember them at this moment.

Upon suddenly hearing his name called, the assistant director flinched, then reacted and echoed:

"Yes, I realized this time that I still lack work experience. Thanks to Teacher Ji and Teacher Xu, a major disaster was averted. It is still thanks to you that we were able to take charge."

Director Liu was surprised that the assistant director gave up his position so readily, leaving him with no opportunity to deliver the sermon he had prepared. He could only awkwardly accept the compliment.

Director Liu was unaware that this single day of filming had dealt an indelible blow to the assistant director's spirit, and he probably wouldn't even dream of becoming a director again anytime soon.

Although she didn't hold back in criticizing him, Ji Qian was actually quite happy about Director Liu's sudden appearance.

Although Director Liu is stingy, miserly, cunning, and pedantic, when it comes to dealing with emergencies, his ability to respond and make decisions is far superior to that of the assistant director.

Ji Qian was unaware that, in terms of work ability alone, Director Liu could be considered one of the best in the industry, which was why the assistant director had worked hard for many years but still failed to get promoted.

After the assistant director and Director Liu completed their brief handover, Ji Qian, enduring the assistant director's resentful gaze, pulled Director Liu aside and began another one-on-one conversation.

"Director Liu, tonight's situation is special, I suggest that it would be safer for everyone to stay together."

"And we don't have enough protective gear here. Could you please arrange for a few strong men to come with me to the storage room later?"

Ji Qian's request wasn't unreasonable, and Director Liu agreed after a moment's thought: "I'll announce this later. How many people do you need to go with you?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Qian estimated the length of the red rope:

"Besides Sister Meng and Ying Xu, I can bring ten people. I also need one person to help them find their way and seven others to carry things," Ji Qian paused for a moment, then added:

"I won't be able to carry anything, so the stronger the people who come with me, the better."

Logically speaking, the strongest staff member in a program should be the cameraman, but since "Into Science" is a fixed-location shooting program, the demand for cameramen is not large.

In addition, since this was filmed overseas, in order to reduce costs, the entire production team only had six cameramen.

Director Liu circled the staff several times, finally pointing out the strongest-looking person in the group—the assistant director was struck dumb upon hearing this, and his gaze towards Director Liu began to change.

Director Liu expressed his innocence, saying that he really did not mean to settle personal scores, and that the blame should be placed on the assistant director, who was the one who ate so much and became so strong!

Having selected the staff who would be traveling with Ji Qian, Director Liu stood in the center of the crowd and announced the second piece of devastating news:

"To ensure everyone's safety, we may need to have everyone stay overnight in the banquet hall tonight. We hope all our guests will cooperate with us."

[Finally here! The part I've been most looking forward to – the dormitory-style sleeping area!]

[CP fans are ecstatic!]

Even omnivores are very satisfied!

Han Mengyao and the others were already mentally prepared for this, so they quickly nodded in agreement. Only Wang Yingying, who had been silent all along, raised an objection:

"But the ground here is so hard, I'll get sick if I sleep on it. I can manage, but what about the older sisters?!"

Mi Yesi, who was dragged into this for no reason, retorted decisively: "It's okay. Anyway, the age on the records doesn't represent the biological age. We might be young."

As she spoke, she turned to look at Wang Yingying: "Right, Yingying, little sister?"

Mi Yesi was clearly smiling as she spoke, but for some reason Wang Yingying felt a chill run down her spine. She shut her mouth and shrank back into the corner.