Chapter 70 Chapter 70
Over the weekend, filming of "The Last Days" started as normal.
This week's director was Wu, so An Jiyue didn't have to monitor the set. She casually threw on a white T-shirt and sweatpants, put a hat on her head, and arrived late.
There was a group action segment this week, and the production crew had decorated the garden villa in advance. It had been raining in P City for many days, and the natural light was not very friendly, so they had to adjust the lighting for a while.
An Jiyue tiptoed in through the garden's back door, lurking among the gathered crew. Before long, even she, the last to arrive, noticed something odd about the atmosphere at the recording session.
According to the script, the guests in the living room were supposed to exchange gifts. Each person was required to prepare a gift that expressed their feelings during the week. The male and female guests' gifts were numbered separately and then drawn blindly.
"Shouldn't receiving gifts be a heartwarming and surprising experience?" An Jiuyue frowned and quietly asked a colleague who was watching the fun nearby.
The colleague shook his head, even looking a bit gloating, "You have no idea how incredible that was just now—the gift prepared by Guan Haifu was taken away by Zhong Xinwu, and Zhong Xinwu's gift was taken away by Guan Haifu."
An Jiyue: "That's not so bad, there are only three pairs of guests..."
The colleague waved his hand, indicating that he hadn't finished speaking yet: "The gift Guan Haifu prepared is VIP tickets to her school's own Grassland Music Festival!"
An Jiyue became interested: "Such an interesting gift?"
Her colleague glared at her, glancing at her like she was crazy. "Is this even interesting? How good can a student-run music festival be? Besides, I'm exhausted from working every day. I finally get a weekend off, only to have to stand in a crowd all day, straining my neck to listen to the crackling speakers. This kind of hardship is only experienced when you're young, but now..."
His face showed a helpless look. An Jiyue was silent for a few seconds, and felt that this statement made sense.
She asked again: "What did Zhong Xinwu say?"
A colleague suppressed a laugh: "Although he treats us quite gently, he is not so casual at all when it comes to art. Zhong Da, an artist, has his own pursuits. After thanking him, he declined Hai Fu's invitation. Guan Hai Fu didn't understand his expression and insisted on asking him why he didn't want to go..."
There was no need to listen any further; An Jiyue was already feeling embarrassed for the other person. The colleague continued, "Zhong Xinwu said he'd rather spend those two days at the film and art exhibitions."
An Jiyue asked logically, "Then the gift he gave me, couldn't it be tickets to the film festival?"
My colleague laughed and denied it: "No, he gave me something much more exciting than a ticket - he gave me a collection of his works."
An Jiyue muttered, "It's not that explosive."
My colleague couldn't wait to add, "I asked a friend before. Zhong Xinwu's works are very popular at auction, but he has rarely released new works in recent years. Many people in the photography circle thought he had run out of ideas. It turns out he's just too lazy to show them off..."
He whispered a number in An Jiyue's ear. An Jiyue was stunned for a moment, and confirmed it with his colleague with an incredulous look, and received an affirmative nod from the other party.
Money in the art world was so easy to make, An Jiyue was amazed. With the click of a shutter button, the image printed on film could yield as much as she could earn from carefully researching ten small projects and then investing in one. If she made a mistake, she could lose everything.
The colleague looked at her with satisfaction, as she was as dumbfounded as he was just now, and continued to release the trump card.
“But the most precious thing is not the price, but the works themselves.
"That entire collection of works is almost entirely based on Zhu Ling's temperament! Look, it's not even closed yet—"
Prepared according to Zhu Ling's temperament? An Jiyue glanced at the photo on the corner of the table in confusion, and instantly understood.
The page currently unfolded held two photographs. One showed a single, withered rose in the sand, its petals curling gently at the edges in a gilded, alluring curve. The other was a woman's back, but the camera had cut off most of her figure, leaving only her fluttering bohemian dress filling the frame, like a hand entwined with the wind, seemingly reaching for the rose in the other frame.
An Jiuyue had to admit that her colleague's judgment was completely correct. The other two female guests did not have the same style at all. Zhong Xinwu was planning to give this collection of works to Zhu Ling.
But at this moment, the charming woman was holding a gift box from Zhan Nianqing, with the logo of his Any brand on it.
Zhu Ling weighed the box with interest and deliberately teased Zhan Nianqing: "Mr. Zhan, I know your products are good, but giving a girl underwear directly is a bit personal, isn't it?"
Zhan Nianqing smiled warmly and did not argue, but just said that she could open it and take a look.
Zhu Ling raised her thin, curved willow-shaped eyebrows, as if she had confirmed with Zhan Nianqing in advance. After seeing that he was so calm and fearless, she opened the box.
"This is--"
Inside the gift box was a light peach pink two-piece workout outfit. The top was a modified version of Any underwear, while the bottom featured a sweatskirt and yoga pants. Zhu Ling held the sweatskirt up, examining it from side to side. The cool, smooth fabric felt incredibly comfortable to the touch, and the waistline was not only fitted but also flexible and comfortable.
Seeing that Zhu Ling seemed to like it very much, Zhan Nianqing introduced it with a hint of pride: "New materials are also used here, and some improvements have been made. Fitness clothes need to take into account both functionality and fashion. Improving new materials is a very good choice, and the style design is-"
He glanced at Guan Haifu blatantly and praised her openly and impartially: "We did a lot of research, and the young colleagues in the company also gave us a lot of suggestions."
Guan Haifu, who had just declined Zhong Xinwu's invitation to the music festival, was now captivated by Any's fitness apparel. Zhan Nianqing had indeed asked her to help launch a survey on his social media platform, soliciting suggestions for yoga pants and fitness tank tops. Hearing her boss's affirmation of her contribution, her previous discouragement was swept away and a smile spread across her face.
Zhan Nianqing announced: "The Any brand will officially launch its fitness wear category in the near future."
The camera lens quickly shifted to him. An Jiyue looked in the direction of the arm and saw Song Yi, the head of the investment promotion team, standing straight behind the photographer, expressionless but with a strong sense of oppression.
He personally appeared on the show, was humble and diplomatic, and worked diligently to coordinate the recording rhythm and commercial placement... Where did he find Mr. Zhan, the financial sponsor, in the first place? An Jiyue burst into tears.
Her colleague on the other side shared the same sentiment and exclaimed, "Can we have more wealthy guests like Mr. Zhan?"
An Jiyue nodded vigorously. This colleague was probably not her own mouthpiece.
The next sentence becomes: "Look at the one before, he turned his face away and refused to cooperate with the slightest intimate interaction, and even withdrew halfway without any sense of contract. The gap between people is really huge."
An Jiyue's smile disappeared.
An Jiyue rolled her eyes silently, but she was just sulking by herself and didn't look to see who the colleague was who said this.
What they said was true... She comforted herself.
The guests sat together admiring Zhan Nianqing's proud new work, while Zhong Xinwu sat at the far side with a somewhat frustrated look on his face.
The photography collection sat deserted on the corner of the table. His work, worth millions, was simply abandoned and ignored.
This portfolio was carefully curated after he had searched through all his portable hard drives over the past few years. Zhong Xinwu's selection criteria were simple: he looked through each photo one by one, and if a photo instantly reminded him of Zhu Ling, he would keep it.
He stayed up all night for several days and developed and bound the books himself. When he came out of the darkroom, his eyes were almost blind.
But at this moment, his portfolio was taken away by another person. Guan Haifu exclaimed in a pious manner, then spread his portfolio on the table with a particularly ignorant look.
Zhong Xinwu listened to the discussion of several people with a depressed look, his glass-like eyes covered with a mist of confusion and sadness.
He heard Zhu Ling joking, "Mr. Zhan's gift is unique and meaningful, but I still feel that I shouldn't be the recipient of this gift."
Zhan Nianqing, a thoughtful person, didn't prepare a gift with a clear purpose like Zhong Xinwu did. But he couldn't help but hide some selfish thoughts, for example, the fitness clothes he chose had a little rabbit embroidered on the left chest.
The avatar that Guan Haifu is currently using is a cartoon rabbit, which is very similar to the rabbit on this clothes.
Rongrong's eyes rolled. "Just look at the size, Mr. Zhan. Your fitness clothes don't only have one size fits all, right?"
The high-spirited Mr. Zhan suddenly felt a little sweat on the tip of his nose. He said awkwardly, "I just chose the most common size. There's nothing special about it. The fitness clothes are suitable for the three female guests. Zhu Ling has been working out all the time, Hai Fu has been going to the company gym recently, and Rong Rong..."
He paused, glanced at Shu Jun meaningfully before speaking, and said to Rongrong, "Even if you call yourself a homebody, I'm afraid you'll start exercising in the future."
Rongrong knew he had been hit by a boomerang, so he retreated first and shut up in frustration. At this moment, Zhong Xinwu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up and suggested:
"Everyone's body shape is different, so fitness clothes must be tried on. Since we're planning to launch this product, Mr. Zhan, how about asking a female guest to be your model today? I brought a camera, so I can even take some promotional photos for you."
This time, not only the guests, but also the staff in the audience exclaimed.
An Jiuyue was also surprised: Zhong Xinwu's label portrait was full of words such as "artist", "easy-going personality", and "picky vision", but she didn't expect that his skills would be put to such amazing use.
An Jiyue glanced at Director Wu from afar. He was discussing something with Song Yiyi. In the end, it seemed that he gave in and nodded in approval of Song Yiyi's plan.
Zhu Ling immediately echoed Zhong Xinwu: "Good idea, who do you want to choose as the model?"
Zhan Nianqing was forced to point at Hai Fu, whose cheeks were rosy, and implicitly acknowledged the fact that this set of fitness clothes was prepared for her.
Guan Haifu held the clothes in the gift box and stood up amidst the ambiguous and teasing gazes, preparing to go back to her room to change. At this time, Director Wu called cut, announcing that the original script had to be urgently revised, and asked someone to prepare a simple studio for Zhong Xinwu.
“No need.” Zhong Xinwu’s voice was soft and relaxed, but his voice was hoarse. “I never shoot in a studio, only on location.”
Coach Wu thought for a moment and told the people around him, "Then go find the nearest tennis court."
Zhong Xinwu nodded in agreement. He picked up his messenger bag, carefully removed the lens from it, and adjusted his SLR camera.
His light-colored pupils checked every parameter attentively and seriously. When he raised the camera, a spark of inspiration suddenly rose in his transparent and clear eyes.
Zhong Xinwu turned around and took random test shots of the surroundings. The last test shot stopped at Zhu Ling's face.
He made eye contact with her through the camera.
Zhu Ling seemed to have been looking at him since the beginning, her eyes clearly intertwined with surprise and confusion. Zhong Xinwu couldn't understand it, but precisely because he couldn't understand it, he became more addicted to reading it.
He pressed the shutter button involuntarily.
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