Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Early in the morning, someone from the production crew called Li Jingmo, instructing him to make his own way to Xiangshan to meet up with the other families.
Li Jingmo genuinely felt that the parent-child variety show Qin Chenghao and the others were organizing was basically just playing house and could never possibly become popular.
Wang Minxia had scolded him again just yesterday, saying that a yogurt brand had taken notice of his recent resurgence in popularity this week and wanted Li Jingmo to audition, to see if he could land the endorsement deal.
But then Li Jingmo told Wang Minxia that he had already accepted a parent-child variety show!
Wang Minxia, as his agent, had no idea Li Jingmo was so bold, taking on private work without even notifying her.
Li Jingmo said he needed to take care of a child, so Wang Minxia called Qi Zuo, that poor soul, to the company. She personally reviewed the contract Li Jingmo and Di Youyou had signed.
One look at it—what a lousy show, with a total appearance fee of only a hundred thousand. And the main on-screen presence was Di Youyou.
“That illegitimate daughter of Li Jingmo’s?”
Qi Zuo forced a smile and didn’t argue further with Wang Minxia. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to leave that office for another three hours.
He explained to Wang Minxia that the mayor of Jing City had approached Li Jingmo to mitigate the negative public opinion, and they couldn’t just refuse outright!
Wang Minxia understood that, of course. She was just a bit frustrated, regretting the missed endorsement deal. Otherwise, she alone could have pocketed a five-figure sum.
The company was already aware of the mess Fu Jie had stirred up that day, but no public relations team stepped in to support Li Jingmo.
Fu Jie was from a rival entertainment company. The more fiercely he and Li Jingmo fought, the better it was for the company’s stock price.
Wang Minxia had just returned from maternity leave and was only managing Li Jingmo as an artist for the time being.
This endorsement had come through a personal connection, so Wang Minxia had no choice but to contact other agents, planning to skim a little commission off the top later. Even a mosquito’s worth of meat is still meat.
She simply didn’t care about how Li Jingmo would handle his situation.
The variety show “Come On, Baby, Let’s Learn” was clearly aimed at children. Who would watch it?
And according to that contract, Li Jingmo would only get twenty thousand, not even worth Wang Minxia’s minimal effort.
As mentioned before, the budget and funding were likely insufficient, and no one was sponsoring this government-promoted project.
So, the first episode’s filming began with barely a ripple.
The director discussed with Qin Chenghao and the others, deciding to use the first episode as a trial to gauge the response.
If the participating families’ lineups and the show’s performance were satisfactory, they would switch to a live-streaming format for later recordings.
With no money, no viewership, and no big production, they could only put effort into the content of the first episode.
Di Youyou was currently wearing a white, bun-shaped backpack, her hair tied up in a little Taoist bun, and dressed in a fitting Taoist robe.
The production crew had mentioned there might be some moderate physical activity today, so Di Youyou had changed into her most comfortable outfit.
Qi Zuo parked their beat-up little work van at the foot of the mountain.
The base of the mountain was desolate, with no one in sight.
Only a simple banner was strung up, reading: “Guests of ‘Come On, Baby, Let’s Learn,’ please turn left and take the small path up the mountain!”
???
Not just Li Jingmo, even Qi Zuo found it utterly bizarre.
What decent variety show operated like this?
“Forget it, Brother Mo!
“This is our little sister’s first time earning money! Let’s consider it a good start. We’ll have to endure a lot.”
Qi Zuo resigned himself to carrying the two suitcases and then locked the car door.
“Brother Mo, you hold Youyou.
I’ll take the suitcases!”
“Alright!”
Li Jingmo reached out to scoop up the little dumpling.
“Guoguo, Youyou can walk by herself.”
Having arrived in her comfort zone, the little one naturally wanted to put on a good performance. Climbing a mountain was no big deal.
Di Youyou being so independent naturally made Qi Zuo happy.
“Hehe, our Youbao is really amazing!
Brother Mo, one suitcase each, okay?”
Qi Zuo grabbed Di Youyou’s small suitcase and took off running, leaving Li Jingmo alone, bewildered beside the dilapidated Wuling Divine Vehicle.
Li Jingmo: “…”
Fortunately, Fragrant Hills wasn’t steep; it was a large, leisurely forest park with a great atmosphere.
The mountain was covered with maple trees and azaleas that hadn’t fully entered their peak season yet, so there weren’t many tourists visiting at the moment.
No wonder Qin Chenghao’s side wanted to launch a transformation project wrapped in cultural and traditional labels to boost Fragrant Hills’ GDP.
Di Youyou didn’t know yet that she was about to meet the two people she disliked the most in this lifetime on the mountain.
Humming a nursery rhyme, the little one walked leisurely along the gravel mountain path, already captured by hidden cameras.
As for Qi Zuo and Li Jingmo’s footage, it would, of course, be mercilessly edited out in post-production.
After only about ten minutes of walking, someone blocked Di Youyou’s path.
“Hello there, little friend!”
Di Youyou looked up to see a strange, fat uncle wearing an army-green vest, sunglasses, and sporting a long goatee standing in front of her.
Behind her, Qi Zuo, who was about to rush over, was quietly stopped by a staff member. He then understood and waited quietly in the back.
“Hello!”
Di Youyou remained very calm.
Director Huang Yiping secretly tightened his grip on the guest information in his hand, feeling somewhat uncertain.
Was this child really only three years old? She seemed overly composed, more manageable than many adult celebrities.
Huang Yiping, having failed to scare Di Youyou, seemed to lack a sense of accomplishment.
His eyes darted around.
“Uncle sees that our little friend Youyou walked up here by herself, and you’re actually the first guest to arrive today.
Originally, I could have given you an extra bonus prop, but since little Youyou isn’t paying much attention to Uncle, I can only play rock-paper-scissors with you to decide if you can claim the bonus prop, okay?”
Huang Yiping’s playful side emerged; he wanted to make this overly calm little kid cry.
But he never expected
“Okay, will you throw scissors or paper?”
Di Youyou’s sweet, tender child’s voice was full of curiosity.
She also noticed the playful glint in Huang Yiping’s eyes.
“I can’t tell you that. I’ll count three, two, one.
We’ll throw together.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Yiping’s rock was instantly defeated by Di Youyou’s paper.
Huang Yiping: “…”
He had a vague feeling something wasn’t quite right.
Di Youyou smiled triumphantly in her heart. Adults were so childish. Probability problems, of course, had to be optimized to her greatest advantage here.
The little one reached out her hand for the item.
Huang Yiping was annoyed but had no choice.
He could only hand the Brocade Pouch he was holding to Di Youyou.
“Go ahead. There are two paths behind you; choose one yourself. This Brocade Pouch will give you a helping hand at the most critical point in today’s recording.”
Di Youyou took the item and gave Huang Yiping a fist-and-palm salute, a gesture from the martial world.
“Thank you!”
The little one glanced behind her—why was her Guoguo still standing there dumbly in the back?
Wasn’t this a two-person show?
Huang Yiping also looked at Li Jingmo with some annoyance.
“Parent, you can come over and proceed to the next challenge now!”
After handing Qi Zuo and the luggage over to the program crew staff for arrangements, Li Jingmo finally caught up to Di Youyou, carrying their hiking supplies on his back.
“What did the director just say to you?”