After eating with Director Mu, Jiang Dao followed Chu Yinlong back to the studio.
As soon as they entered the company, Chu Yinlong instructed Xiao Yang to buy a box of Zizi ice cream for Jiang Dao.
Seeing Chu Yinlong actually remember this, Jiang Dao leaned over to joke: “Teacher Chu dotes on me so much?”
Chu Yinlong pretended to sneer: “Your last dessert, enjoy it.”
At the reminder he had to go on a diet to lose weight for half a year, Jiang Dao’s face suddenly collapsed.
It might even be longer than a year – filming takes at least two or three months, and it’s unlikely he can resume eating during that period.
“Red Owl’s payment has been settled, and your paycheck will be sent to you soon.” Chu Yinlong noted as he glanced at the calendar. “On Wednesday, the day after tomorrow, shaping class will start. You’re not allowed to exercise privately in the future to prevent any unnecessary lines from forming. All three meals will also be eaten in the studio, and I will get Xiao Yang to remove all food from the apartment. “
“Well, okay.” Jiang Dao nodded.
Since he promised to play Little Gray Wolf, he will definitely control himself not to eat indiscriminately. But if Chu Yinlong is not at ease and asks Xiao Yang to watch him, so be it.
Chu Yinlong brought Jiang Dao to his office, took a document from Secretary Zhang, put it on the table, and waved his hand to dismiss the secretary.
When there were only two people in the room, he said: “Since you don’t want to do anything other than acting, I won’t arrange other jobs for you. There’s a lounge over there for you since you’ll be eating and studying in the studio. Feel free to use it to rest, read scripts, and so on.”
Jiang Dao sat down on the chair opposite Chu Yinlong and asked, “What else do actors do besides acting?”
Chu Yinlong smiled and said: “A lot. In addition to acting and improving oneself, actors shoot various announcements to publicize their works. If there are resources, they may also participate in variety shots or commercials… Most in your position often have full schedules, without much personal time. For example, Jing Yu, after he finished his part in Red Owl, he immediately joined another crew, and had to take time from filming that to participate in the final banquet.”
Hearing this, Jiang Dao couldn’t help but smile. “It seems I’m a little too willful then?”
“A little bit.” Chu Yinlong nodded. “When we were discussing your transfer, Xinghe reminded me you had a web drama that you pushed to someone else, which resulted in you idling at home for a month.”
Jiang Dao sighed helplessly, unable to refute him.
At that time, he just entered this world, and sneered at the entertainment circle described in the book. In his eyes, only the original book CP Zhou Wei and Tang Yao were still human, and other places were full of unspeakable things, so of course he hid.
However, after staying in this circle for half a year, his impression of the industry changed. Except for personal privacy, which is difficult to guarantee, other parts… it’s not so bad. In addition, after seeing Chu Yinlong’s demeanor, he felt that he might actually be able to find a piece of paradise here.
After pondering for a moment, Jiang Dao said, “Actually, I can also do other work.”
Chu Yinlong was a little surprised as he looked silently at Jiang Dao.
Jiang Dao added with a smile: “If it’s needed, you can consider me. I don’t want to be popular, and I don’t want to be the focus of conversation, but since I’m already in this circle, I shouldn’t be too passive and hide either.”
Hearing this, Chu Yinlong smiled. “Didn’t you want to make money so you could leave here as soon as possible, and find a place with beautiful scenery? Is it because you need to go on a diet for half a year that you’re afraid and want to escape again?”
Of course Jiang Dao could tell he was joking, and said, “I’ve never been a deserter.”
Chu Yinlong habitually rubbed Jiang Dao’s hair: “Okay, if there is a suitable job, I will consider you.”
At this time, assistant Xiao Yang knocked on the door of the office. “Boss, I’ve bought the ice cream.”
Jiang Dao immediately ran over to open the door and excitedly took the big box of ice cream.
Xiao Yang handed over two spoons, one for Jiang Dao and the other for Chu Yinlong. “Please eat slowly.” Then he quickly turned around and left the office, closing the door behind him.
Jiang Dao looked at the ice cream, and then looked at the spoon in Chu Yinlong’s hand, and felt that eating alone under such circumstances would be too disrespectful to Chu Yingdilong.
He pushed the box between the two with a bit of heartache: “Then, let’s eat together.”
…
Back at the apartment in the evening, Jiang Dao immediately began to search for news about “Tianqin” or “Tianqin”.1again, he’s trying different characters for Tian and Qin
Finally, he extracted some useful bits from countless pieces of information and figured out who his cheap brother was.
The current CEO of Tianqin Capital, Qin Xiao.
He is the only son of Qin Jiangshan, the founder of Tianqin Capital. His mother, Zhang Tong, is from another business family and has long since passed away. Moreover, it seems that Tianqin Capital has broken ties with Zhang Tong’s family, and they are incompatible with each other now.
As for the other news… Qin Xiao has many lovers, from models to singers, from art students to international students, and his frequency of changing lovers is faster than that of ordinary people. However, he has yet to be seen in public with a same-sex lover. If he didn’t know Liu Yueran’s name or the title of President Qin, Jiang Dao would have doubted he found the right person.
Digging deeper, Jiang Dao wrote down the company address of Tianqin Capital and two residences associated with Qin Xiao, and unexpectedly found that Liu Yueran signed with the modeling subsidiary of Xingyao Media.
He then checked again about Jiang Ruo.
Judging from the existing information on the internet, it is indeed impossible to judge whether she has anything to do with the Qin family. After she announced her withdrawal from the entertainment industry, it was as if she evaporated from the world. There was nothing about her on the internet… until her name re-emerged, linked to him more than a month ago.
Studying the two timelines, Jiang Dao raised his eyebrows, and came up with a hypothesis. When Jiang Ruo disappeared, Qin Xiao’s mother had not passed away. The Qin and Zhang families joining forces to erase an actress’s identity is simply child’s play.
If it weren’t for “Red Dust” being a classic, it’s likely even this movie would not have survived until today.
Jiang Dao leaned back in the chair and tapped the table with his fingers.
His eyes fell on the name “Zhang Tong”. This is probably why Zhang Heng doesn’t like him, although it was only a guess at the moment.
People you know, people you don’t know, it all weaves into an intricate network… No wonder the Jiang Dao in the original book tried his best to climb up, but was suppressed and became a stepping stone for the protagonist. There was an invisible hand hanging over his head, preventing him from climbing too high. In the end, he cocooned and trapped himself in a web, leading to an end that satisfied everyone but himself.
After knowing this, Jiang Dao took two days off from work to visit the original owner’s registered address.
It was a very isolated small mountain village. The house that Jiang Ruo and Jiang Dao lived in was rented at low cost. After she died, Jiang Dao’s hukou2https://joinhorizons.com/the-chinese-hukou-system-explained/ was moved into the neighborhood, and a new tenant was found.
The questions that Jiang Dao had in his heart also came to an end at this time – Jiang Ruo is no longer alive.
The people in this mountain village are simple and ignorant. It didn’t take much effort to learn where the original owner’s mother was buried. After paying homage to her briefly, he returned to Yan City without any nostalgia.
Knowing his “own” background means he’ll have room to maneuver and know how to protect himself, or even fight back, if any emergency arises. This is the most important thing for him.
—–
For the next half month, Jiang Dao’s life was very regular –
Every morning after waking up, he will immediately go to the studio to do morning exercises under the guidance of a shaping instructor, and then eat breakfast prepared by a nutritionist.
Acting classes are usually arranged in the morning, and lunch is naturally prepared by a nutritionist. In the afternoon, there is a period of free time where he can read scripts and do character analysis, and there’s one final shaping class before dinner.
After dinner under the supervision of a nutritionist, he can leave the studio and return to the apartment.
Chu Yinlong was also really busy during this period. He received a cameo in a movie, and after a one-day break, flew off to attend a charity dinner for the performing arts. He was also needed for post-production editing of “Operation Red Owl”, occasional interviews, commercials, talk shows… During this half month period, Jiang Dao only ate lunch with him twice, and bumped into him a total of 5 or 6 times in the studio.
Thinking back, Chu Yinlong seemed more relaxed when he was filming or was a part of the crew back then.
Fortunately, he still had time to sleep at night, and to send messages to Jiang Dao.
“There’s no way. The movie just finished filming, and most post-production matters are crammed into this period. I’ll have more time when October passes.”
“How are you doing recently? Have you encountered any problems?”
Jiang Dao leaned on the bedside and typed weakly:
“My only problem is…”
“I’m so hungry…”
Chu Yinlong looked at the cold words on the screen, but in his mind he seemed to be able to see Jiang Dao’s face full of depression, his mouth flat and pretending to be wronged.
According to Xiao Yang’s feedback, Jiang Dao is very good. He doesn’t hide anything at home, nor does he sneak out to buy late-night snacks.
It made him a little distressed seeing such a sensible child.
He knows that nutritionists and fitness coaches will often make extra money from keeping their mouths shut as artists will often cheat once or twice. It’s actually not a big problem. So he asked Jiang Dao: “The chocolate in this country is very famous, do you want some?”
“Are you a devil!”
Jiang Dao’s response was beyond his expectations.
“I have endured so hard! You are still tempting me! [cry] [cry]”
“I won’t play with you!”
Chu Yinlong couldn’t help laughing, and sent a few more messages. Ten minutes later, Jiang Dao sent back a threatening gif of a cat wielding a knife.
Chu Yinlong: “Okay, I won’t tease you anymore.”
Chu Yinlong: “Isn’t it late over there? Go to bed early, good night.”
Jiang Dao didn’t speak any more.
After waiting for a while and confirming he wouldn’t receive a reply, Chu Yinlong reluctantly reread the chat record several times, and finally saved a screenshot and put it in an encrypted album.
…
We may technically be done 60% in terms of the number of chapters, but the remaining chapters are 2x as long — aka 80 of the original length chapters. Reminds me of BATCFO, cause it’ll take forever to translate, but more for us to enjoy!
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