After sending the video to Tangtang, Gu Yumian began preparing for the commercial shoot. Today was Friday, and 4:00 PM was exactly the time he had agreed to shoot with the advertiser.
"The location is the Galaxy Building in Area C..." Gu Yumian packed the baby's milk bottles, thermos, and other belongings into a small bag, then lifted the baby panda by its ribs. "Yuanyuan, you're going out with me today. I'm sorry to bother you."
The last time they took the snow leopard cub to school, they were gone for only an hour, so Gu Yumian dared to leave little Tangyuan alone at home. This time, the commercial shoot would last at least several hours, so after careful consideration, Gu Yumian decided to bring the panda cub along as well.
"Hmm?" The baby panda held the bottle and sucked it blankly. After Gu Yumian picked him up, he rubbed his round head against Gu Yumian's cheek with a smile on his face. It was obvious that he didn't understand what Gu Yumian was saying at all.
"Oh, by the way, please ask the school to send Xuetuan to the Galaxy Building as well. No one's home."
Over the past week since the start of school, Gu Yumian has tried his best to personally pick up and drop off Little Snow Leopard every day, but occasionally he'll ask the school to help him if necessary. The high tuition fee includes transportation, so it's not a problem.
After everything was ready, Gu Yumian set off with the panda baby.
Half an hour later, Galaxy Building.
With its revolving doors and polished marble floors, the Galaxy Building's lobby is grand and spacious. It's a prime location for downtown advertising and magazine shoots, frequented by handsome men and beautiful women, as well as various other strikingly beautiful animals who maintain their original form.
Even in a place where the average appearance is so high, Gu Yumian's appearance is surprisingly outstanding - or perhaps it is due to his special temperament.
Gu Yumian himself didn't know it, but when he just stood there without saying anything, he had a kind of restrained feeling that had settled over the years. His crow-feather eyelashes drooped, and he was gentle, but at the same time, he had a sense of lonely story that made people fascinated.
During the few minutes he was waiting in the lobby holding the panda baby that had transformed into a human baby, almost 100% of people turned their heads to look at him.
Someone even came up to him, handed him a business card, and asked if he had signed with an agency, how old he was, and if he wanted to be a trainee. When they found out he was human, they were shocked, leaving Gu Yumian feeling quite embarrassed.
"Mr. Gu, huh? Come with me." Someone sent by the commercial crew to pick him up came to his rescue. The person glanced at the sleeping baby in his arms and asked, "Is this Mr. Gu's child? Do you need someone to keep him company?"
Gu Yumian had to bring his two children to the studio because of his special circumstances. He couldn't leave them at home for so long, and he couldn't find anyone to take care of them. He had already made arrangements in advance.
"Excuse me, if possible, I hope Yuanyuan can be within my sight." Gu Yumian nodded.
The staff already had an inexplicable fondness for Gu Yumian. When they saw Gu Yumian alone with the baby, they immediately imagined a tragic scenario in which his wife died of illness and a single father had to livestream to make money to raise his son. They sighed:
"Okay, I'll ask our life assistant to help you take care of the child. She has experience."
The two chatted as they entered the elevator. Just as the elevator door was about to close, a man stepped in. He looked like a middle-aged man with deep forehead wrinkles and a serious expression. He was on the phone:
"...Yeah, yeah... He's from Tucker. He must have been ejected from the lifeboat... What? The records were deleted again?!"
Hearing the word "Tak Xing," Gu Yumian subconsciously pricked up his ears. Seeing someone else in the elevator, the man stopped talking and hung up.
"Mr. Xu." The staff member greeted the man.
Twenty-four pots had been missing for a long time. Xu Kelai was too confused to be polite, so he nodded casually. His eyes passed from the staff and Gu Yumian, pausing briefly on Gu Yumian's face and the baby in her arms, then quickly moved away.
Tsui Hark is the agent of Twenty-Four Pots.
Bringing out a popular superstar like Twenty-Four Pots was the pinnacle of his career and also brought him countless fame, benefits and honors, but recently he has encountered an unprecedented crisis.
We were almost there, but a week ago, all relevant information and records were suddenly deleted, and the clues were cut off again. Twenty-four pots have been missing for so long, so it's reasonable to call the police, but...
If they called the police, the news would undoubtedly become public knowledge, damaging Twenty-Four Pot's reputation and commercial value. Furthermore, even reporting the case wasn't certain to lead to the discovery. Ultimately, Tsui Hark suppressed the report and continued his covert search.
Seeing how he could fill Twenty-Four Pots' schedule so tightly and work non-stop for two months without a break, we can tell that Tsui Hark is more like a businessman who only cares about profit than an agent who only cares about the artists.
“…”
Gu Yumian and the others got off the elevator on the 13th floor. Gu Yumian couldn't help but look back.
Seeing his curiosity, the staff member explained, "That's Mr. Xu. He's very strict... but also very capable. He brought out some of today's most popular superstars."
"The most popular superstar?"
"Yeah, Danny." Neither the people in their circle nor their fans like to call Twenty-Four Pots by their real name, because it's too tacky. Danny is the name of the character in the movie that made Twenty-Four Pots famous, and later became Twenty-Four Pots' nickname.
The staff member raised his chin towards the huge billboard outside the window, and said with a hint of pride: "Here."
Gu Yumian took a look at the billboard and was surprised to find that the popular superstar actually looked like a little boy of eight or nine years old, wearing overalls and a pair of cool sunglasses. He was endorsing a luxury brand.
"Very cute," Gu Yumian poked the sleeping baby's soft cheek. Tangyuan snored and blew out a bubble of snot. "Looking at it this way, my little Tangyuan looks a bit like this big star."
"You know what, their facial features do look a bit like each other." The staff member laughed. "Your child is also very cute and has a lucky face."
Gu Yumian instantly brightened up, hugging little Tangyuan up, and wishing the staff member would say a few more words. When others praised his child, it made him much happier than when they praised him personally. This was the same for all parents in the world.
The studio was already set up, but the director seemed to be delayed and hadn't arrived yet. The coordinator glanced at him and said, "The host from Starry Sky is here, and the makeup artist...oh, he doesn't need makeup, it's fine."
Gu Yumian: “?”
"Now that you've grown up like this, there's no need to waste our foundation anymore." The person next to Gu Yumian explained kindly.
Gu Yumian: “…”Okay then.
The script had been sent to Gu Yumian two days in advance. He had read it many times and now opened the document on his laptop and started reading while waiting. After waiting for a while, the director didn't show up, but his laptop called first.
"Hello?"
"Galaxy Building, huh? I'll bring your kid over on the way." There was a moment of silence, then the other end said, "We're almost there, come downstairs."
Gu Yumian hadn't reacted yet: "Sorry, who are you?"
“…”
On the other end of the line, a cold sweat trickled down Finnick's forehead. As soon as these words came out, the pressure around His Majesty visibly dropped, and his thin lips tightened. He'd just finished a video conference, and was already annoyed by those old men in the cabinet. Now, I'm afraid...
"Shuo Han." The man said coldly, "Forgot?"
Gu Yumian remembered, but he felt very wronged. He glanced around, holding his phone, walked to the stairs, and pressed the elevator button:
"Mr. Shuo, I haven't forgotten. It's because you said too little to me that I didn't hear it at the time - I don't mind if you tell me more in the future."
Shuo Han: “…”
after?
His human...did he really want to stick to him?
Shuo Han held the laptop in one hand, his eyelids drooping lazily, and he still looked nonchalant, but a little bit of satisfaction emerged in his gray-blue eyes, which was inadvertently revealed.
It was like a wild beast that was about to get angry but was suddenly pacified and its fur smoothed down, revealing a contented look of a big cat.
Finnick: “…”
Once again, I'm impressed by Mr. Gu's high emotional intelligence and excellent crisis management skills.
Five minutes later.
"Snowball."
The little snow leopard sat at the front desk, waiting for Gu Yumian. Like a lucky cat, it yawned lazily. The look in its eyes when it glanced over immediately captivated Gu Yumian.
Gu Yumian was still holding the sleeping little Tangyuan in his arms. He let the little snow leopard jump onto his shoulder, and then asked the receptionist with some confusion:
"Has the gentleman who brought my child here left?"
The girl was stunned. "Sir?" You mean the man with sunglasses who looked like Grand Duke Finnick? She nodded. "Just left."
"Oh, thank you." Gu Yumian nodded and took the children back to the elevator.
He couldn't help but sigh. He had wanted to thank the other person in person, but maybe the other person was really angry?
When they returned to the 13th floor, the director had already arrived. She was a mature woman with long wavy hair and fiery red lips. She didn't seem as picky or mean as the rumors said, but the glance she gave her didn't strike Gu Yumian as particularly friendly.
"Gu Yumian." She casually flipped through Gu Yumian's profile and tossed it aside. "A human anchor, huh? And single with a child? Wow, a vulnerable group."
"Before we start filming, let me make one thing clear: no matter if you're from a vulnerable group or not, you won't be given a green light. I don't care if you're famous online or not. If you don't meet my expectations, you can get out."
Gu Yumian: "..."
The staff around immediately cast looks of sympathy or anticipation.
The little snow leopard sitting on Gu Yumian's shoulder was unhappy at first. It sat up straight and looked at the director coldly. Gu Yumian quickly calmed it down.
In fact, what the director said was not wrong. Gu Yumian guessed that it probably represented the voice of many people.
That’s true.
At this moment, the internal discussion group of the advertising crew was also constantly sending out notifications - with such a walking devil director in charge, everyone dared not speak loudly during work, and simply quietly created a group chat to gossip.
[Lu Daxian (Lighting): This anchor just arrived and received a beating from Director Na, so miserable OTZ]
Anna (makeup): I love him so much. When he got so close just now, I almost couldn't hide my tail. His looks and temperament are absolutely amazing. I really want a way to communicate with him! But let me be honest, how long can you guess he can last? The record for the last little celebrity was half an hour.
[Lan Lan (Logistics): Although he's not bad looking, I really don't feel anything for humans and even kind of hate him... Director Na's words are a bit true. Many humans are incompetent yet still rely on being underprivileged to demand preferential treatment. P.S., I'm guessing 20 minutes.]
A Salted Fish (Prop): 35 minutes.
…
After carefully listening to the director's instructions and interpretation, Gu Yumian prepared briefly before filming began. The threshold for filming commercials in the interstellar era has also been lowered, with the system automatically capturing angles and making minor adjustments, requiring less demanding positioning from actors.
The first take begins.
This was an ad promoting a fully automated kitchen system, and the studio had been set up to resemble a semi-open kitchen at home. Gu Yumian leaned over, donning an apron, and laid out onions, ginger, garlic, radishes, and various meats.
The shooting method is to shoot the complete clip first, and then dub, edit and process it later.
The knife twirled around Gu Yumian's fingers, and he smiled at the camera: "Hello everyone, today I'm here to make dinner for my kids. This dish is called sweet and sour spare ribs."
He had discussed this with the crew in advance, and the kitchen system had been set up long ago.
Gu Yumian rinsed the spareribs he had prepared earlier and placed them in a pot. He let the kitchen system automatically fill the pot with water and bring it to a boil. Then he skimmed off the floating residue with a large spoon. The scallions and ginger had been prepared earlier. The scallions were washed and cut into sections, while the ginger was sliced and neatly arranged in a bowl for later use.
The kitchen system automatically drained the water from the ribs and refilled it with fresh water. Gu Yumian glanced at the kitchen system screen next to the counter and said, "Thank you."
Two words appeared on the light screen: 'You're welcome'.
After adding water into the pot, the temperature gradually began to rise. Gu Yumian then put in the pork ribs, and added the chopped and sliced scallions and ginger and continued to cook for the set time.
"While the ribs are cooking, let's prepare the sauce we'll use later."
The director of photography, wearing a holographic device, was watching the scene intently, while the director leaned back slightly, his expression unclear.
He poured cooking wine, three spoonfuls of soy sauce, a little sugar, and vinegar into a bowl, then added an appropriate amount of water and stirred everything together. When the ding-dong beep sounded, indicating the ribs had cooked enough, Gu Yumian placed them on a plate, marinated them in seasoning, and quickly absorbed the flavor.
With the help of the kitchen system, everything went very quickly. Gu Yumian's movements were neither hurried nor slow, and everything was handled in an orderly manner. Just watching those slender white fingers holding the knife and chopping onions, ginger and garlic was a pleasure.
Gu Yumian added a proper amount of olive oil to the hot pan, and directly put the ribs in and fried them until both sides were slightly golden brown. The marinated ribs made a sound when they came into contact with the hot oil, and hot steam rose up. The aroma of the ribs, which were fried to a slightly crispy surface, mixed with the sour, sweet and mellow flavors, spread out.
Even people who weren't wearing holographic gear could smell it directly.
Anna (makeup): It smells pretty good already, and I can't help but salivate.
Pudding Cat (Assistant Photographer): I just put on the holographic device, and when he smiled and said thank you to the kitchen system screen, I was really shocked! It felt like my heartbeat slowed down for a moment. It was so cute. I hope they can keep this shot in the post-editing.
[Lu Daxian (lighting): I'm really hungry!! And just watching his movements makes me feel so at ease. I want to live with him. I'm going to have a big meal after work.]
[A Salted Fish (Prop): It's almost five minutes, and they haven't called cut yet. Could it be possible to pass it in one go?]
Everything seems to be going very smoothly at the moment, almost unbelievably so.
However, that wasn't the case. The director of photography knew from the director's expression that she was already thinking about when to call cut; it was only a matter of time.
but……
"I think we should take another look," the director said, lowering his voice and replaying a certain second for the director to see. "That interaction with the kitchen system wasn't in the script, so he figured it out himself. It works great, doesn't it?"
In that shot, golden-red light from the evening shines through from the side. A young man in a white shirt holds a large spoon in his hand, leans forward slightly, and smiles earnestly to express his gratitude to the screen.
Gu Yumian was born with a handsome appearance that was full of worldly charm. The setting sun cast a smudge of color on the corners of his eyes and eyebrows, and the hot steam was rising. The whole picture had an unusually moving beauty.
In particular, the kitchen system also responded with "You're welcome" at the right time. The interaction of just two or three seconds suddenly brought the cold and conceptual system to life.
It has all the sense of life, humanistic atmosphere and technological sense.
Director: "It's unnecessary. It's a waste of time."
It's true that those two or three seconds were good, but the overall performance did not meet her expectations.
At this time, a filming accident occurred.
The 'albino' that Gu Yumian brought actually ignored the assistant's obstruction and slowly walked into the camera from the side. Its tail brushed Gu Yumian's ankle, and suddenly it jumped onto the cooking table, then lazily jumped onto Gu Yumian's shoulder and lay down.
director:"……"
She was exhausted and irritated after running around for this ad. She'd been eating fast food for days and just wanted to call it a day. She couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose. The sound stuck in her throat, her hand already raised—
In the camera, Gu Yumian fishes out the crispy, golden-brown ribs. He adds rock sugar to the wok, simmers it over low heat until it turns red, and mixes it with rice vinegar to create a sweet and sour sauce. The translucent sauce forms a thin layer in the wok, and he adds the fried ribs, stir-frying them, adding a small amount of salt for a subtle flavor boost.
Gu Yumian moved his wrist slightly to evenly coat the ribs with the sweet and sour sauce, and finally cooked over high heat until the sauce thickened. He added a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar at the end and the dish was almost done and served on a plate.
The whole dish is bright and attractive in color. The sweet and sour aroma of the sweet and sour spareribs spreads freely in the air along with the bubbling and sizzling sound of the remaining hot oil. Just one breath is enough to make people's stomachs hungry!
“…”
The director lowered his hand.
No, I can't call a stop. Just for this dish, I have to at least wait for him to serve it...
She swallowed and slowly sat back down.
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