Chapter 297
Inside a large photography studio in Guangdong Province, Zhou Xiao was filming a commercial for NINE STAR's Singles' Day (Singles' Day) shopping festival. The shoot lasted from dawn to dusk.
"Cut!" Zhou Xiao, standing behind the camera, gestured to Zhang Hongyu, then raised the megaphone and said, "Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Take a break and touch up your makeup first. We'll do another one later!"
"Good!" the members standing in the large studio responded with a vibrant voice, their youthful energy on full display. The repeated filming throughout the day hadn't dampened their spirits; instead, they grew more energetic with each session.
Under the spotlight, the moment Zhou Xiao called "cut," Wu Yanyan had already shed his baseball jacket. It was the thickest jacket he'd worn during the shoot, and standing under the spotlight the entire time was incredibly hot. He took the cup of water his assistant hurriedly handed him and gulped down half of it.
Although the large blowers surrounding the studio were revving, the scorching heat of the dozen or so headlights took a toll on both body and mind. Wu Yanyan wiped her mouth, turned her head, and met Xiang Rui's gaze. She sighed softly, "It's truly a relief to have Teacher Zhou filming our commercials. If it were my current production... ahem... with a regular photographer, it would probably take a whole day just to shoot one scene!"
Xiang Rui nodded in agreement. It wasn't just the two of them; everyone else felt the same way to some degree. If they hadn't noticed much change during previous shoots, now that everyone was on set, they had a deeper understanding.
In the center of the studio, Ji Shao sat on a bench, his eyes lowered as he watched the video his assistant, Chen Shenju, had just recorded. As the catchy melody of "Double Eleven Shopping Carnival, Double Gifts, Double Benefits..." played, the members' urgent rehearsal stage was in perfect order.
Chen Shenju recorded the scene while standing diagonally across the studio. Initially, only five members were visible in the frame. However, as the melody shifted and the formation changed, four more members appeared. This was due to the tight lines of the group, resulting in a high degree of overlap between the members' figures, creating the illusion of something appearing out of nothing.
But who could have guessed that this was just a performance they'd put together after a day of practice? While they'd received the catchy song from the brand, the subsequent adaptation and choreography were all created by the members themselves. Zhou Xiao attributed the smooth filming today to everyone's dedication.
"Brother Shao, how are you?" In the rest area, Lin Nan, wiping his sweat with a towel, asked as he walked towards Ji Shao.
For the members, they didn't want to hear this from Ji Shao, the choreographer, even more than the photographer's "one more take." Although the result of the rehearsal was wonderful, the rehearsal process was truly painful and joyful as Ji Shao, who was always striving for perfection, pressed them to practice every detail.
"Hmm." Ji Shao raised his eyes and saw Lin Nan swallowing nervously under his gaze. He couldn't help but laugh. Ji Shao stretched out his long arms, put them around Lin Nan's neck, and vigorously ruffled his already messy hair. He smiled and said, "This time it's so-so...it's okay!"
Lin Nan breathed a sigh of relief, then seemed to react, protecting his head and screaming, "Brother! My hair! I still haven't taken a picture yet!"
Ji Shao wasn't frightened by his appearance. Instead, he pressed his hand down, raised his eyebrows and smiled, "With your hair just now, even if you were in the studio, you would have been sent back to do makeup again. I saw your assistant calling you to the dressing room, go quickly!"
During the breaks in filming, some people like Ji Shao and Lin Nan were chatting, laughing and joking, while others like Chu Cheng and Liang Wendao took the time to close their eyes and rest... The members who seemed to be incompatible in the hearts of their fans now looked particularly warm in this rented studio, as if they were a family.
The originally scheduled two-day shoot was shortened to just one day thanks to the efficient work of photographer Zhou Xiao. Not only were the members thrilled, but even the assistants surrounding them felt a sense of excitement at having "stolen a day," and they couldn't help but burst into tears as they shook Zhou Xiao's hand and said goodbye.
This was the filming schedule stipulated in the contract between the brand and Huayao. Even though the shoot only took one day, Huayao had no right to schedule NINE STAR to do other work during that time. In other words, if Zhou Xiao didn't request a reshoot the next day, the entire next day would be theirs.
Seeing the assistants, condemned to the "eighteen levels of hell" and "unforgivable" by NINE STAR fans, lining up to shake his hand with sincerity, Zhou Xiao suppressed his emotion and shook hands with each one.
When Chen Shenju arrived, he shook her hand and pointed behind the monitor. To Zhou Xiao's surprise, the group left the scene. As for the other members, after Zhou Xiao finished filming and hunched over the monitor, they were taken to Taobao headquarters by staff to film a vlog.
When Zhou Xiao returned to the monitor, she saw Zhang Hongyu still watching the videos shot today with great interest. Only then did she realize that Zhang Hongyu did not go with them.
Without asking the reason, Zhou Xiao sat down on an empty chair beside him and looked at Zhang Hongyu and asked, "How do you think it looks?"
As soon as she sat down, she noticed a paper bag under the table where the monitor was placed. Her mind raced, and she recalled the finger Chen Shenju pointed at before he left. Could this be what he was talking about?
"Sister Zhou, this is you..." Seeing Zhou Xiao sit down, Zhang Hongyu paused the video and gave her a thumbs up while speaking.
After seeing the bag Zhou Xiao took out from underneath, he suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "By the way, Brother Chen asked me to pass this to you before he left!" After that, he looked at the paper bag curiously and signaled Zhou Xiao with his eyes to open it quickly.
Zhou Xiao examined the paper bag in his hand. It was an ordinary brown paper bag, stapled together in the middle, waiting to be opened. From the angular shape of the bag, he could tell there was a calendar inside. Curious, Zhou Xiao unwrapped it and asked Zhang Hongyu, "Is this next year's new calendar? It's just out?"
Zhang Hongyu was about to answer when he saw the paper bag Zhou Xiao had already opened, and his eyes began to turn suspiciously. A desk calendar? Of course not! He hadn't received any notice from Huayao, so it definitely couldn't be it. But what exactly was this red notebook?
Zhou Xiao, who had pulled out the "little red book", had already figured out what it was, but she was a little confused. Could it be that Assistant Chen had confused the bag that the fans gave to Ji Shao with the bag he was going to give to himself?
She carefully placed the certificate in the bag on the table. However, when Zhou Xiao opened the "little red book" and saw the words on the certificate, she was stunned.
"What's wrong? You look stunned." Zhang Hongyu looked at Zhou Xiao's expression, leaned over to take a look, and blurted out "Oh my god!"
The bag was not wrong, and this certificate was also given to Zhou Xiao. However, unlike the charity certificates issued by the fan circle in the past, the name of the donor written on the title was Zhou Xiao.
As the certificate was opened, a flipped card appeared in Zhou Xiao's eyes. She flipped it over and saw the handwriting on it was elegant and graceful. It was Ji Shao's handwriting! The card read:
To @Flipped’s Zhou Xiao:
I received your sister's gift. I love it! I also prepared a gift for her. I hope you can bring it to us next time we meet!
At the end of the card was Ji Shao's signature. The date below showed yesterday, so it was obviously prepared yesterday.
"Two hundred thousand?!"
The donation amount on the charity certificate was 200,000 yuan, which was why Zhang Hongyu couldn't help but talk. After the shock subsided, he slumped back in his seat.
After noticing that Zhou Xiao's gaze wasn't directed his way, he stood up and turned into a little sparrow, chirping in Zhou Xiao's ear, "No wonder I said Brother Chen didn't mention how to help Ji Shao transfer the money back to you. So this is how you gave it to him."
What Zhang Hongyu was talking about was that when the Shoumai production team was in contact with Huayao, Chen Shenju, under the entrustment of Ji Shao, told Zhou Xiao that he would refund the production fee to her.
However, after being rejected several times, Zhou Xiao replied, "Please don't mind the cost," and the two of them stopped discussing the matter. Zhou Xiao thought it was over, but he didn't expect Ji Shao to give him such a big "gift."
Zhang Hongyu now looked at Zhou Xiao as if she were a gold ingot, but with a hint of disappointment, he said, "Sister Zhou, you're confused. Isn't charity all about..."
Zhou Xiao's eyes sparkled. She happily held up the red book and shook it, saying, "No, the money is donated to our fan club's own foundation to buy sanitary napkins for women in the mountains!"
The sanitary napkin charity has been carried out in the fan circle for more than a year. The injection of this fund will allow experienced managers to use it to help women in the program.
Zhang Hongyu nodded in realization, then his eyes fell on the still bulging paper bag. He scratched his head and asked in confusion, "Sister Zhou, what's left?"
Zhou Xiao also looked over, and after opening the boxes, two boxes of different sizes appeared before their eyes. The larger one contained a Polaroid camera, and the smaller one contained photo paper.
After opening the box, they found a high-quality purple Polaroid camera. Zhou Xiao subconsciously glanced at the card. Sure enough, the "gift" on the card should refer to the Polaroid camera in her hand.
"Pah!" Zhang Hongyu slapped his thigh again. He asked himself, "So it's the Polaroid camera and photo paper!"
The iris purple Polaroid looked incredibly soft, and Zhou Xiao could almost see Ji Shao's face as he selected it through the camera. And the color he'd chosen was his own support color. Ji Shao certainly had a bit of a narcissistic streak. Combined with the words on the card, Zhou Xiao felt his smile nearly swell.
"Hey, why has this photo paper been opened?" Zhang Hongyu frowned and found something wrong.
"I think we should try it out and see the effect," Zhou Xiao replied casually, then opened the film box. The moment he pulled it out, that moment was a real shock to all the fans.
There were two used sheets of photo paper in the box, one for Ji Shao's selfie and the other for him. On the blank spaces of the paper were his signature and his own.
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