Chapter 38 Reunion
After confirming Lu Zhao's intention to join, the initial communication proceeded very quickly.
After several rounds of negotiation between the executive director and assistant director Zhang Tao and Lu Zhao's team, they finally finalized the basic details of the recording schedule and safety clauses.
Meanwhile, the screenwriting team was also conducting preliminary interviews with Lu Zhao and was busy sketching out a character biography for him.
That day, Ling Wei was in the editing room overseeing post-production when the door was pushed open and Zhang Tao poked half his body in: "Ling Wei, Director Zhou wants you to go to Conference Room Number One."
Ling Wei looked up from the screen full of materials, somewhat puzzled: "Now? What's up?"
Zhang Tao's expression was somewhat complicated. He lowered his voice and said, "Lu Zhao said he particularly admires Teacher Shen's narrative style from the last episode and wants to meet the follow-up director. It seems that as long as you don't object, you'll be his follow-up PD."
Ling Wei frowned slightly, put down what she was holding, and said in a calm but uncompromising tone, "I have to continue following up on Teacher Shen's line of work."
“Go with it, go with it, I didn’t say you couldn’t go,” Zhang Tao quickly waved his hand, “You’re capable, what’s wrong with taking charge of another top star? Director Zhou didn’t object. Let’s go, don’t keep them waiting.”
Ling Wei was half-invited and half-urged by Zhang Tao to the door of Conference Room No. 1.
Pushing open the door, Zhou Han and the person sitting opposite him were the only people in the conference room.
Hearing the noise, the person turned around.
After three years, Lu Zhao's signature golden spiky hair had been dyed back to pure black, and his short hair was neat and tidy, with a few strands casually falling across his forehead.
He wore a simple, loose white T-shirt with a high-quality light blue denim shirt over it, his shirt open. He had shed all his rough edges and gained a more composed demeanor cultivated by the top tier of fame and fortune in the entertainment industry. But when his amber eyes looked over, they strangely still retained a clean, youthful quality.
Their eyes met.
Ling Wei was the first to look away, and as if she were seeing any artist she needed to work with, she politely nodded and greeted her: "Teacher Lu."
Then she naturally walked to the empty seat next to Zhou Han and sat down. Today, in order to move flexibly among the equipment and cables, she casually wore a light purple plaid shirt, with the collar open, revealing a simple pure white cotton T-shirt underneath.
She wore light blue jeans with the cuffs casually rolled up, revealing her slender ankles and white canvas shoes.
Her hair was loosely tied up with a simple black hair clip, with a few stray strands falling around her ears.
The black-rimmed glasses were still perched on her nose. When she looked up, her long eyelashes cast a faint shadow on the lenses, and her eyes seemed to hold a pool of clear, shallow water.
Her Yaojiang TV employee badge swayed gently in front of her chest. She held an open notebook and pen in her hand, and her whole demeanor still carried the focused air of someone who had just come from the editing room.
As soon as she sat down, she noticed a very strong gaze fixed on her.
It was Lu Zhao, who had instinctively sat up straight because she had just come in.
He looked at her outfit, his gaze lingering on the name tag hanging around her neck for two seconds, as if confirming something. Then, a very faint smile appeared on his lips, carrying a hint of something that was hard to tell whether it was amusement or something else.
Zhou Han spoke up: "Ling Wei, Mr. Lu Zhao has designated you to be in charge of filming him this season. We've all seen your abilities. Is there a problem with filming another storyline?"
Ling Wei raised her eyes and looked at Zhou Han first, "No problem, Director Zhou."
Then he turned to Lu Zhao opposite him and gave him an impeccable professional smile:
"Teacher Lu, it's a pleasure working with you. Please give me your guidance during the recording."
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhao smiled slightly and returned the same standard smile, his tone flat: "Okay, Director Ling."
After saying that, he naturally shifted his gaze away from Ling Wei and refocused on Zhou Han, continuing to discuss with Zhou Han the balance between the core "authenticity" of the program and the management of the artists' image.
Ling Wei completely stepped into the background, her head down, quickly jotting down the key points of the conversation in her notebook, the pen scratching softly. She didn't glance at Lu Zhao once, her professionalism impeccable.
After a while, her throat felt itchy, and she couldn't help but turn her face to the side and cough softly twice in a low voice.
Zhou Han paused abruptly while speaking, glanced at her, then stood up, walked to the water dispenser next to the conference table, filled a paper cup with warm water, and then walked back and gently placed it on the table in front of Ling Wei.
"Thank you." Ling Wei accepted it naturally and took a small sip to moisten her throat.
The whole process took only a dozen seconds, and there was an unspoken familiarity and tacit understanding between the two.
Lu Zhao's fingers tightened on the table.
Just as Zhou Han was about to return to the topic, Lu Zhao suddenly chuckled and said to Ling Wei, "Director Ling is really serious about her work."
He leaned back slightly, but his gaze remained fixed on her, as if chatting casually, "Before I came, I specifically watched this season's videos."
"The later episodes were very successful. Director Ling deserves a lot of credit for Teacher Shen's comeback... It seems that Director Ling's skills have really skyrocketed in the past three years."
He casually tossed out the timeframe of "three years," like a small pebble, precisely landing it into the unspoken past between the two of them.
Zhou Han paused slightly as he twirled the pen between his fingers, glancing thoughtfully at Lu Zhao.
Ling Wei adjusted her glasses, her tone calm and even: "Thank you for your affirmation, Professor Lu. These are all basic skills from the directing department; practice makes perfect."
Using minimal force to achieve maximum effect, they avoided discussing past topics.
Lu Zhao didn't press the matter, and smoothly changed the subject, his eyes showing a hint of genuine concern: "Speaking of my profession, I happen to have a question I'd like to ask Director Ling..."
He began by earnestly asking Ling Wei for advice on several common variety show scenarios.
Ling Wei handled things professionally, offering professional advice on every issue in a polite and considerate tone, leaving no room for error, but that was about it.
Seeing that the conversation about work was almost exhausted, Lu Zhao suddenly stopped, as if he had just remembered something crucial. He frowned slightly and gave a somewhat apologetic expression:
"Look at my memory, I was so focused on talking about work."
He took out his phone with a natural and fluid motion, looking at Ling Wei with an open and honest gaze. "To facilitate communication about recording details, Director Ling, would it be convenient to add each other on WeChat? The old account..."
He stopped abruptly before he finished speaking, leaving a tacit understanding between them: he had long been deleted and sent to Java.
Looking at Lu Zhao's innocent expression, which seemed solely focused on his work, Ling Wei took out her phone, pulled up a QR code business card, and handed it over.
"Of course, of course. This is my work number. Teacher Lu can contact me anytime if needed."
She pronounced the words "work number" clearly and naturally.
Lu Zhao scanned the QR code without changing his expression and sent a friend request. As the ID "Weiwei smiles very energetic" reappeared on the screen, a triumphant smile flashed deep in his eyes.
"Alright." He put away his phone with a refreshing smile. "Then, I'll have to trouble Director Ling to take care of things from now on."
Ling Wei looked at the familiar profile picture on WeChat and clicked "accept".
Okay, so we're going to talk about work.
Let's just talk about work then.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com