Chapter 107
In order to avoid letting people around him notice anything unusual, Lu Zixi only hugged Yan Yunzhen for a while and then let him go, but Lu Zixi already felt much more comfortable in his heart.
Yan Yunzhen gently wiped the red corners of his eyes with his thumb, with a hint of worry in his eyes.
Lu Zixi gave him a firm look in return, patted the back of his hand, and indicated that he had recovered: "Go back, I'm fine.
As the shooting time was tight, the two quickly returned to the normal shooting process.
The on-set director was sitting behind the camera, monitoring the filming. Seeing the two preparing to return to the shooting area, he quickly reached out to stop them. "Hey, hey, hey, wait a minute, what's going on? Why did you suddenly leave the shoot? If you have any questions, please tell us as soon as possible so we can discuss and make adjustments."
Lu Zixi knew that the director was kind-hearted and had no intention of being sarcastic or testing. He really hoped that the show could be filmed smoothly, so he took the initiative to say before Yan Yunzhen could speak: "It's nothing, it's not the program's problem, it's my own problem."
"There have been too many things going on lately, and the pressure is a bit high. I've never experienced this before, and I don't know how to deal with this kind of pressure, so I talked to my seniors." He turned his head to look at Yan Yunzhen and found the most conventional and understandable reason, "I feel much better now."
This kind of situation is not uncommon for rising artists. The director has seen it so many times that he didn't find it strange. He patted Lu Zixi's shoulder in a comforting manner and said, "I'm glad you're feeling much better. Don't be too nervous. The variety show has received great response. If you have anything else, you can talk to everyone more."
Lu Zixi nodded obediently.
"Director Li," Yan Yunzhen casually placed his hand on Lu Zixi's other shoulder, looking at the monitor while chatting with the director casually. "It seems like we've had amateur guests for several episodes now, right? Regarding the guests, what are the production team's plans for the next round?"
While the show's crew and the guests had a good relationship, it was clear that Lu Zixi was the primary source of connection for Yuanhong and the other two. Yan Yunzhen rarely spoke to the crew, always silently and efficiently completing all assigned tasks. This time, he took the initiative to speak to the director, which was quite unusual, especially since his question wasn't about any major secrets. The director readily replied, "The next and next episodes will feature guests from within the industry. I'll post the full guest list in the group chat so everyone can help with some advice."
Yan Yunzhen exchanged a quick, imperceptible glance with Lu Zixi and nodded to the director: "Thank you."
"It's just a small matter." The director waved his hand, indicating that they could enter the shooting area, "Continue shooting!"
The filming location this time is a famous spring tea producing area. The guests’ task is to learn how to pick and fry tea from local tea farmers, and then help the tea farmers sell tea to visitors.
Since the local tea industry has formed a complete industrial chain, spring tea does not need to be sold at all and is basically in short supply. Therefore, the difficulty of this shoot was not very high. During the break in shooting, Yan Yunzhen contacted Yuanhong and asked about his identity as a previous advertising screenwriter. While waiting for Yuanhong's reply, he went through the prepared guest list.
What surprised both him and Lu Zixi was that there were almost no artists from Tianhan on the guest list.
"The original arrangement shouldn't have been like this," Lu Zixi frowned, tapping Yan Yunzhen's phone screen. "I remember that Tianhan really wanted to insert someone into this show from the beginning. More importantly, Fu Ruixing and regular guest Lin Mu have collaborated on a project. Common sense says that Tianhan wouldn't want to give up on this popularity, and Fu Ruixing would definitely appear on the list of flying guests many times. However, on this list, Fu Ruixing only appears in the main episode, that is, the last episode."
"I find this matter very strange, too." Yan Yunzhen pondered. "I just asked the director about it, but as you know, he's a nice guy, but people with this kind of personality are generally more neutral and don't want to get involved in the conflicts of large companies, so he was very cautious when answering questions. He only said that at the beginning Fu Ruixing even wanted to be a permanent guest, but later the program team felt that if Fu Ruixing also came, his role and positioning in the program would overlap with the two of us, and the budget for just the two of us was already a bit tight, and adding him would be too much for the program team, so he was politely declined. Later, he originally proposed to fly for multiple episodes and was still negotiating the contract with the program team. Suddenly one day, he said that his schedule was tight and he wouldn't come. But the Weibo post announcing that Fu Ruixing would also be on the show had already been sent out, and the final result of the discussion was that Fu Ruixing would be a flying guest in the last episode."
"So repetitive?" Lu Zixi asked in surprise. "This isn't like Tianhan's style. Is Fu Ruixing possessed?"
"It's more than just inconsistent, it's simply abnormal." Yan Yunzhen shook his head. "Now I don't know what Tianhan is trying to do. Tianhan has serious internal strife. Unlike Yuanhong, everyone in Yuanhong tacitly agrees that I am Yuanhong's successor. But in Tianhan, Fu Ruixing is the youngest brother of the current executive director, and that executive director has other brothers and even his own son. Fu Ruixing may have been set up."
Lu Zixi nodded: "I really can't deny this possibility."
"According to the production team's habit of 'Towards the Fields,' there will be the longest downtime after filming the penultimate episode. The final episode will most likely be filmed during the summer vacation," Yan Yunzhen analyzed. "The first season was themed around the autumn harvest, with a snowy Easter egg in the final episode. The second season picked up right where the first left off, filming a winter theme and a Spring Festival special. The third season we're currently filming picks up where the second left off, starting after the Spring Festival. So, the final episode should be filmed and aired in the summer."
Lu Zixi understood what Yan Yunzhen was talking about: "So that means there is still a long time before Fu Ruixing can participate in the show, and there may be other variables in the meantime."
Yan Yunzhen expressed his affirmation.
"Also, Yuanhong replied to my email. I've read the screenwriter's basic information. There's nothing special about it," Yan Yunzhen paused and continued, "except..."
"He once worked in a military art troupe. Not for very long, and I don't know which military region he was in." Yan Yunzhen stated the facts as objectively as possible. "After that, he has been a professional advertiser."
Having said that, Lu Zixi thought of his father almost instantly.
"According to what you said before, my brother," Lu Zixi swallowed hard when he mentioned the name, "Lu Ziyi, he hasn't been exposed to the motives and possibilities of other people in the outside world, so if this script is really related to me, the source of the material is unlikely to be Lu Ziyi."
When all possibilities are ruled out, the most unlikely possibility left is also the truth.
"Do you think my father already knows something?" Lu Zixi was silent for a long time before he made this shocking guess. "Could he know that I'm dead, or even suspect that the 'Lu Wenqi' who appeared on TV is his son 'Lu Zixi'? So he's trying to send a secret signal this way to contact me?"
This bold guess was like a bombshell. Lu Zixi subconsciously looked into Yan Yunzhen's eyes, and Yan Yunzhen also looked back at him with a serious expression.
"I don't know." Yan Yunzhen finally gave in, retracted his gaze, and sighed, "Because your father's status is special, we can't monitor your father's communications. We can only ensure his safety..."
"I know, I don't mean to blame you." Lu Zixi was stunned and quickly explained, "You have done very well."
He stretched out his hand and, somewhat awkwardly, imitated Yan Yunzhen's usual behavior and touched his hair to comfort him.
Yan Yunzhen held his hand and kissed the back of his hand.
"Do you believe in a kind of telepathy between family members, akin to a sixth sense?" Lu Zixi said. "I kind of believe it, actually. So if my dad knew something was wrong with me, I wouldn't be surprised at all. There's no such thing as an impenetrable wall. What's most surprising to me is that my dad's actions now seem like he knows I'm still alive... I can't understand how a materialist like him could think of something so unreliable."
"My dad hasn't done anything yet. He remains calm, as if he's acknowledging that I'm busy and don't have time to visit him. He's also very happy looking at my old materials. So there are only two possibilities: one is that he really knows nothing, or the other is that he knows everything but is pretending to be ignorant." Lu Zixi said, "Then the question is, why is he pretending? He's covering it up like this because he definitely doesn't want others to know that he knows I've passed away. So what is his ultimate purpose in hiding this from everyone?"
Yan Yunzhen still shook his head.
Lu Zixi knew that with so little information, it would be difficult for Yan Yunzhen to make an accurate judgment, so he just asked casually without expecting any definite answer. Instead, he turned to another question: "What can we do now?"
"First, you need to contact the screenwriter and inquire about his source material." Yan Yunzhen curled a finger. "Then, during the filming of the commercial, you can also incorporate some unique experiences of you and your father as a contact signal. If he really intends to do this, he will definitely take the initiative to watch the commercial. Then, you can use this method to hint at your identity and successfully contact him without alerting him."
"This is the only way." Lu Zixi pondered for a moment and finally decided to do so for the time being. "I'll communicate with the director during filming. I'll try my best to reveal some details from the commercial that only my dad and I know without being obtrusive."
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