From mid-November to the end of December, Chu Yinlong’s itinerary returned to its previous intensity, while Jiang Dao resumed his shaping classes and weight-loss routine. Although they tried to talk every night, Chu Yinlong had a lot of overseas trips, and the time difference made it hard for him to call Jiang Dao every night and help him sleep with scriptures.
Fortunately, after a week of adjustment, the hypnotic effect of listening to e-books returned, and Jiang Dao was no longer troubled by sleepless nights.
Neither of them mentioned the kiss on Chu Yinlong’s birthday again, as if tacitly acknowledging that it was just an accident caused by impulse.
Still, the impact of that kiss remained.
During these days, when Jiang Dao and Chu Yinlong made phone calls and exchanged messages, their words were obviously a lot more casual, with some tacit understanding of “more than friendship, but not love”.
In early January, a big event happened in the entertainment industry.
Two members of the group GeniUs, which was formed just last year, were arrested by the police for drug possession. After further digging, several starlets were involved, and countless household names collapsed overnight.
As soon as the incident happened, Chu Yinlong received a call from Lu Zhengrong.
“It’s urgent, do me a favor.”
Lu Zhengrong’s tone contained a rare anxiety.
“True Wilderness’ is in trouble. Have you heard about the GeniUs group’s accident? They were meant to be guests on the show, and the show team only invited three people to attract traffic from the entertainment industry. Now I can only ask for your help.”
“True Wilderness” is a new large-scale outdoor reality show sponsored by Longqi Entertainment. It is expected to be broadcast in two modes: real-time livestream, and over the network after editing. Recording is from January 15th to February 15th, and guests will follow a professional coach and complete a wilderness trek in one month.
The guests on this show span many fields, including entertainers, sports stars, and hiking enthusiasts. Longqi Entertainment also invested a lot of money and resources for this project, and also developed new live broadcast technology for this purpose, looking forward to developing a new variety show mode.
After listening to Lu Zhengrong’s words, Chu Yinlong also had a headache: “The program starts recording on January 15th, and today is the 9th. How can I help you in such a hurry? You know that there are many celebrations and events before and after the Spring Gala, how can there be no artist without any arrangements?”
Few artists are willing to reject those various parties and awards ceremonies in order to record an outdoor reality show and suffer.
Chu Yinlong flipped through the calendar on his computer, and could only helplessly sigh. “I can’t either, I have to attend the Huatai party on New Year’s Eve; the Amelos charity reception on January 25, which I have to attend. There’s also an award ceremony on February 8, and I’m the co-host of the dinner party, so I can’t go.”
“I know your schedule is full.” Lu Zhengrong said. After a pause, she asked apologetically. “I mean, can Xiao Dao attend?”
Hearing this, Chu Yinlong frowned.
Before he could speak, Lu Zhengrong said: “I know you want him to be quiet for a while, concentrate on filming, and resume activities after the movie is complete… But I can’t help it. I’ve asked everyone I could ask, and only Xiao Dao has no conflict during this time. I’ve already contacted the people in charge of the live broadcast platform to find another replacement!”
Seeing that Chu Yinlong was silent and did not answer, she reluctantly added another sentence: “I really have no choice but to ask you about this. Recording starts too soon, and takes a month, so even if someone is willing to come, it’s not possible for them on such short notice.”
Of course, Chu Yinlong also understands the urgency of the situation. With Lu Zhengrong’s connections and means, she would never ask him unless it was a last resort.
With a sigh, Chu Yinlong had no other choice: “I can’t make the decision. Let me ask what he wants. If he doesn’t want to, I can’t force him.”
“Understood.” Lu Zhengrong simply agreed. “If he can’t, I can only take the risk of using amateurs.”
The initial investment of the project is so large, and the winter vacation timing was specially selected to attract more traffic. If they really used amateurs and ratings cannot reach the standard, it will be difficult to explain to sponsors. The entertainment industry is not about looking good – if a venture can’t make money, people’s faces will turn faster than turning pages in a book.
Jiang Dao had just completed a set of training and was sitting on the ground stretching.
Hearing the knock on the door, he looked through the mirror in the training room and smiled at Chu Yinlong: “Are you in the studio today? I didn’t see you at noon.”
“I just arrived in the afternoon.” Chu Yinlong replied casually, then went straight to the topic. “Are you interested in participating in an outdoor reality show? It involves trekking through the wilderness, and may be a little difficult.”
Jiang Dao raised his head: “Hiking in the wild? Sure, no problem.”
Chu Yinlong added: “The schedule is a bit tight. Recording starts on January 15th, and you’ll have to leave the country for one month, until mid-February. If you decide to participate, we need to start preparing today. You’ll need several vaccines and apply for an expedited visa…”
“So soon?” Jiang Dao immediately detected the strangeness. “Was there an accident, and a backfill is needed?”
“Yes.” Chu Yinlong nodded. “With the Spring Festival schedule, it’s a bit difficult to find someone… otherwise I wouldn’t want you to do this.”
Hearing his explanation, Jiang Dao smiled: “Didn’t I already say I’m okay with other activities other than filming. Since you came all the way to me, there must be no other choice. How can I not help… I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
Chu Yinlong whispered rhetorically under his breath. “Leaving for a month during the Spring Festival…”
His voice was too soft, so Jiang Dao couldn’t hear it clearly: “What?”
Chu Yinlong smiled: “It’s nothing, I’ll let Xiao Yang make preparations.”
…
In the next few days, Jiang Dao, accompanied by his assistant, applied for a visa, and then visited the hospital for a physical examination and vaccinations. Afterwards, he did a series of physical fitness tests and participated in a preliminary theoretical course training arranged by the program group. After they finalized his participation, a series of promotional photos of the guests were taken.
The four-day itinerary was extremely compact but fulfilling. Early in the morning on January 14, Jiang Dao arrived at Longqi Entertainment with his assistant, gathered with the entire team, and prepared to take the business jet packaged by the program team to the filming location.
As soon as Chu Yinlong wrapped up things on his side, he immediately called Jiang Dao.
“We’re still waiting for some people, so we’ll be taking group photos later, then have a meal before heading to the airport.” Jiang Dao said with a smile, “Aren’t you too diligent in checking on me these last two days?”
Chu Yinlong called and sent him a message the moment he was free. The two of them barely saw each other before this, so who knew who stimulated him these days.
“It’s not that.” Chu Yinlong was helpless. “It’s… well, I’m a little nervous.”
“I’m the one recording, why are you nervous?” Jiang Dao laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t hug someone else’s thigh behind your back.”
Chu Yinlong was silent for a moment, but didn’t end up refuting him. “En, just remember you’ve already sold yourself to me. You’re not allowed to hold someone else’s thigh until the money is paid off.”
Jiang Dao couldn’t help laughing: “Understood, my creditor.”
The photographer beckoned to Jiang Dao not far away, and Jiang Dao nodded in response. With a sigh, he said to Chu Yinlong: “I have to go take photos now. Let’s talk later, bye.”
Chu Yinlong said quickly: “Also, pay attention to safety.”
Jiang Dao: “Don’t worry.”
Since meeting Jiang Dao, this is the first time he will be out of Chu Yinlong’s sight and complete a filming job by himself.
Even knowing that this is normal in the entertainment industry, Chu Yinlong’s heart still felt empty, even regretting why he refused on his birthday… At the time, he was full of righteousness and morality, but now he regrets it, and wants to erase the words he said.
However, after calming down and thinking about it carefully, Chu Yinlong felt that even if the situation that day happened again, he would still say those words of refusal — Jiang Dao’s concept of that kind of thing is already crooked, and he can’t encourage it, otherwise he’ll regret it more in the future.
Jiang Dao didn’t think much about the rejection that day – he was free-spirited and open about those things. If he succeeds, then he succeeds. If he’s rejected, he’s rejected, and will wait to cultivate deeper feelings, and ask again when the opportunity arises – it’s no big deal.
He has no special feeling about participating in the reality show. Since it’s a task handed over to him, he will complete it as well as possible.
When he arrived at the group photo shooting location, Jiang Dao heard a series of loud dog barks.
“Ah? There’s a dog?” Jiang Dao looked at the field in surprise, and found a man in a sports jacket holding a majestic wolfdog.
The wolfdog stared at Jiang Dao’s direction with its tail slightly tucked between its legs, but it stood in front of the man protectively, baring its teeth and barking at Jiang Dao.
The man frowned and squatted down, brushing the raised hairs on the dog’s neck. “Eleven, be quiet!”
The wolfdog named “Eleven” suddenly stopped its backing, but maintained its vigilant posture. Eleven even took a step in Jiang Dao’s direction, keeping the man firmly behind him.
Seeing that his partner was so alert, the man looked at Jiang Dao with a scrutiny.
Finding that the other party was an overly beautiful young man with no ill will, he smiled and stretched out his hand: “Hello, I’m Zheng Yaojun.”
“Hello, I’m Jiang Dao.”
Jiang Dao just stretched out his hand to shake hands, but the moment it happened, the wolfdog suddenly grabbed Zheng Yaojun’s trousers, and desperately pulled the person back. There was a whining warning sound in his throat, and his tail was so frightened that it stuck to his belly.
But even so, it still did not run away.
Jiang Dao glanced at the wolfdog, took his hand back, and said curiously, “This dog doesn’t look like a pet.”
Zheng Yaojun also withdrew his hand and nodded. “Eleven is a retired military dog who has crossed the battlefield before and performed meritorious deeds… Dogs like him are rarely so wary of ordinary people.”1the neutral “it” is used to refer to Eleven throughout, but it sounds too aloof, so I turned it into ‘he’
“Oh, it might be something strange about me.” Jiang Dao pretended to be ignorant and scratched his hair. “Many animals are afraid of me, and run away when they see me. I don’t know why… is it also participating in the show?”
“Yes.” Zheng Yaojun patted Eleven’s head comfortingly, and replied, “Actually, he’s a guest invited by the program team. Eleven was popular for a long time after retiring from service. This time I brought him as a partner.”
Seeing that Eleven was still nervous, Jiang Dao smiled apologetically, took a few steps back, moved away from the person and dog, and walked to the other side of the arena.
🐶
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