The next morning, Xu Qian received a Weibo notification from Beijing at 3 a.m.
—The Moon Goddess has been stolen!
He opened Weibo, and the post only summarized the general situation of the Yongchang Jewelry theft, but the police said that the investigation into who committed the crime was still ongoing.
Simply put, this is a Weibo post that contains no useful information.
Xu Qian thought of that man surnamed Wang again. He opened his backpack and found that he only had three Lixin Pills left. He wasn't sure if Wang knew anything about it, but these pills were becoming increasingly rare, and he didn't want to touch them carelessly until he found the Blood Ginseng.
“By the way, Lao Meng,” Xu Qian turned to Meng Ziqiu on the other bed and shook him awake, “Hua Laosan didn’t attend the auction yesterday, could you help me keep chasing him?”
Meng Ziqiu first exclaimed "Ah!" before recovering and replying, "Okay, I'll ask about the situation. But you—ah—you got up so early—" he said, yawning as if he were still sleepy.
"Hmm." Xu Qian took out his phone and checked the route to Dejaka. The symbiotic grass of the blood ginseng only grows in spring, while it is winter in Dejaka at this time. The most suitable time to travel is... two months later, in the spring of the Southern Hemisphere.
Thinking of this, Xu Qian opened WeChat again and found Yan Lang's chat box. The scenes in the 'Zhao Kingdom' chapter would be finished in a month at most, so it wouldn't affect anything. The Feng Tang chapter might be a bit troublesome, mainly because the timing was uncertain. They would have to wait for their publicity plan to be released before setting a date. However, filming Feng Tang was quite fast, taking only one or two days.
Ah, of course, this is just the work he has finalized at the moment; what happens next is still uncertain.
The month after next, Xu Qian will need to set aside at least one to two weeks to find blood ginseng.
Xu Qian:
Please don't accept any bookings for the month after next; I need to leave for a while.
Yan Lang quickly replied—
Okay, I've got it. Oh, by the way, Brother Xu, I received invitations to two variety shows. Would you like to take a look? The offers are pretty good.
Xu Qian:
Okay, I'll be going back to Weicheng this afternoon. You can bring it over.
Just after replying to the young man's message, Xu Qian saw another Weibo post, but this time it was about him.
Xu Qian: A man who takes on both civil and military stunt doubles
"...?" Xu Qian was stunned for a second. He wondered what was wrong with this day and age. Was it really that easy to get on the trending topics list...?
Upon clicking, it turned out that his first TV series since entering the entertainment industry, "Novoland: The World," had already premiered, albeit as a body double. Shortly after the premiere of "Novoland: The World," the production team uploaded behind-the-scenes footage of the filming on iStation, and coincidentally, the footage released last night featured Xu Qianwen's body double and horse double.
But that wasn't enough to get Xu Qian, a relatively unknown actor, trending on social media. The most important thing was that the director of the show also spoke up. Director Chen praised Xu Qian's dedication to his work on Weibo, saying that he was not only skilled but also had a very easygoing personality.
There seemed to be nothing wrong with the statement at first glance, but as Xu Qian continued reading, he sensed something unusual.
Last Saturday, the female lead of the drama, Hua Man, directly named the production team on Weibo, saying that she had been maliciously edited and that her original screen time as the female lead was now less than two-thirds of that of the male lead. She demanded an explanation from the production team.
Not only that, she also posted several screenshots on Weibo, the gist of which was that the production team treated her unfairly, cutting her scenes and even dragging the second female lead into the mess.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Hua Man was actually attacking the second female lead rather than the male lead. After all, everyone knows that "Novoland: The World" is a male-centric drama, so a drama about fighting between the male and female leads would be pointless.
Of course, the production team of "Novoland: The World" wasn't going to take this lying down. They were quick to retaliate, seeing the second female lead being brought along so openly. A bunch of "staff members" immediately chimed in, accusing the female lead of repeatedly taking leave to film multiple scenes simultaneously, and of abusing stunt doubles. They claimed she didn't film the water scenes because of her period—fine, the production team agreed—but then they demanded a stunt double for even a simple dialogue scene. This back and forth was incredibly annoying! What's wrong with cutting "your" (the stunt double's) scenes?!
When Hua Man heard this, she started making a fuss, saying that they should stick to the facts and that it was only after she suggested that they use a stand-in that they agreed to it, so how could they shift the blame onto her, blah blah blah.
In short, over time, the popularity of "Nine Provinces" grew.
Then the stunt double incident spread to Xu Qian. Fortunately, the things he did as a stunt double were not something that ordinary people could do. For example, his hand double was amazing. And then there was the horse double scene. His skills were not something that ordinary people could do either!
Just as Xu Qian was watching the excitement, Xiaomai sent him a message saying that Director Chen had invited him to audition for a modern campus drama. The role Director Chen offered him was the homeroom teacher, not a lead role, but a fairly substantial one.
wheat:
Sister Xiang said the script was quite good and he could consider taking it. Xu Qian didn't reply immediately. He was thinking about how Director Chen had praised him so much yesterday, and now he'd sent him a role. This speed made him a little flustered. What was this sudden sense of 'compensation'? Was there some other trick up his sleeve...?
wheat:
Brother Xu? Are you busy?
Xu Qian:
Okay, I understand! I'll go!
Whether it's compensation or not, the role is real, and he doesn't have much to make a fuss about anyway, so it shouldn't be a big problem.
Xu Qian ate his last meal in the capital at noon, and then immediately traveled back to Weicheng. The Meng brothers would stay in the capital for a few more days, and they planned to return in a few days.
...
Upon arriving in Weicheng, Xu Qian felt that the air quality had improved considerably. He had to admit that the sky in Weicheng was much clearer than in Beijing.
He still really likes the South, especially in the summer.
Xu Qian had just arrived home when there was a knock on the door; it must be Yan Lang.
"They're here—"
A mirror was installed on the shoe cabinet by the door, which Meng Ziqiu added later. Xu Qian gradually developed the habit of checking his reflection every time he opened the door. He had too many disguises, and he was afraid of making a fool of himself.
Qingyan Wanhua, no problem.
"La la la~ Good afternoon, Brother Xu~"
As soon as the door opened, Yan Lang not only arrived, but also brought milk tea, mango flavored.
"Mango milk green tea with 70% sugar and no ice, perfect!"
Xu Qian gave him a thumbs up, saying it was perfect. He was just thinking of having something to drink, and Fat Otaku Happy Tea was a great option.
The two sat down on the sofa, and Xu Qian turned on the programs Yan Lang had brought. One was a lifestyle experience program, filmed over two days and one night. The main content involved a group of celebrities, some familiar and some unfamiliar, living together with a few hosts, chatting, cooking, and so on—the overall tone was lighthearted. The second was a parenting program… wait!
"Why would a parenting show invite me?" Xu Qian wondered. He didn't have any children, so why would they invite him?
"It's 'Intern Dad,' they invited you to be an intern dad," Yan Lang corrected, adding a sentence.
Xu Qian looked at Yan Lang with a puzzled expression. "So? What's the direct relationship between these two things?"
"The previous intern dad was Sheng Huai." Yan Lang meant that it was very likely that Sheng Huai recommended him to the program team.
"..." Xu Qian's eye twitched. He was a little confused. "I'll ask him."
As he spoke, Xu Qian sent Sheng Huai a WeChat message, asking if he was busy. Sheng Huai replied that he was okay, and then Xu Qian immediately made a phone call.
"I just received an invitation to a TV program, a parent-child program."
"Oh, they really invited you!" Sheng Huai was clearly involved in this matter.
"No, why are you asking me?" Xu Qian really didn't understand. Although he did like children, it didn't mean he wanted to be a stay-at-home dad!
“You’re quite popular right now, so it’s normal for them to invite you.” Sheng Huai wasn’t particularly surprised. Shows like “Intern Dad” have short filming periods, not much to do, generate a lot of buzz, and can also showcase some compassion—isn’t that great?
"I……"
"Don't worry, it's all done in one day. Oh, by the way, are you free tomorrow? Let's go out for dinner. I just got a recommendation for a new restaurant; I heard the food is pretty good..."
Xu Qian sighed and replied, "I have to go back to the film crew tomorrow. I just had three days of rest."
"What about tonight? I might finish around 7:30, that should be enough time," the other person said.
"All right……"
"I'm putting on makeup. Let's meet up tonight."
Then, the other party hung up the phone.
Xu Qian put away his phone, setting aside the parent-child program as well, but he could agree to the other one first, "Let's book this one first."
Yan Lang glanced at the parent-child copy, said nothing, and simply agreed, "Okay, I'll go and make the arrangements."
...
Just after 8 p.m., Sheng Huai finished filming and walked out of the film studio, wearing sunglasses. Although wearing sunglasses late at night was a bit strange, it was a perfectly normal sight in the film studio.
Xiao A helped open the car door, and Sheng Huai quickly climbed in, his every move demonstrating his 'skill'.
About twenty minutes later, A drove into an alley.
As Sheng Huai got out of the car, he checked the time; there were less than ten minutes left until their agreed meeting time.
On the other side, Xu Qian looked at the time on his phone. There were still five minutes left. If Sheng Huai didn't show up soon, he would call him.
Finally, Sheng Huai appeared just one minute before the deadline.
"Sorry, sorry, I was held up a bit."
"If you had come even a minute later, I would have made the call."
"Let them serve the food. I called ahead," Sheng Huai said, pulling Xiao A along.
Little A nodded and went to make the arrangements.
Soon, the dishes were served one after another, all with beautiful, bright red colors, clearly to Xu Qian's liking.
"Will it be very spicy?" Xu Qian asked the waiter who was serving the dishes. "He can't handle anything too spicy."
The waiter smiled slightly, "Medium spicy, to suit most people's tastes."
"That's good."
Sheng Huai watched with a smile. This was why he enjoyed having meals with Xu Qian so much. Being with a kind person didn't require wearing a mask, and it was comfortable.
Xu Qian wiped his hands with a hot towel and casually asked about Sheng Huai's recent situation. He seemed to be working very hard on his WeChat Moments, often staying up late and such.
Sheng Huai shrugged. "It's much better now, and it's almost finished. We should be able to wrap up filming next month."
"What about the other one?" That's a big production; it probably won't be that quick.
"Well... it's hard to say. We'll be grateful if we can finish filming before the end of the year." Sheng Huai paused and then said, "But do you have any more of those sachets? A friend of mine has been having trouble sleeping lately."
"Just prepare it now, when do you need it?" Xu Qian asked him.
"The sooner the better, that girl's dark circles are practically falling out, poor thing." Sheng Huai clicked his tongue twice.
Xu Qian shook his head and sighed, "Young people these days don't have regular schedules, which can easily lead to health problems."
"You're right!" Sheng Huai struck a pose, looking every bit like a sycophant.
Xu Qian looked at him with droopy eyes and gave up.
Sheng Huai laughed and served the other person a bowl of rice first, "Hey, eat first, it won't taste good if it gets cold. You can try more of the stir-fries here..."
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