Is This The Right Way To Repay A Favor? Chapter 16
byAppearing on Camera
After lunch, Jiang Hua’s blood pressure stabilized.
Seeing Shen Zhiyu again, his emotions were much calmer.
Ever since his life improved, Jiang Hua had always wanted to repay Shen Zhiyu properly, but never had the chance.
This time, finally seeing Shen Zhiyu, he pulled him aside and chatted for a long time, repeatedly urging him to stay for a few more nights.
Later, learning that Shen Zhiyu was recording a show here, he started scolding Jiang Zhou, “Azhou, what’s wrong with you? Why didn’t you tell me that Teacher Shen was coming to the village to film? I should have prepared properly.”
“How about this, you stay here for the next few days too, and keep Teacher Shen company.”
Hearing this, Shen Zhiyu remained silent, staring at Jiang Zhou along with Jiang Hua.
Jiang Zhou struggled to speak, “I’ve been busy with work recently…”
“Busy, busy, busy! All you care about is work!” Jiang Hua interrupted Jiang Zhou.
“Our great benefactor has come to the village, and instead of entertaining him properly, you want to run off. I think you’ve read all those books right up your backside.”
“Azhou, don’t you forget how to write the four characters for ‘remembering kindness and repaying it’!”
Seeing his father getting increasingly agitated, and fearing his high blood pressure would flare up again, Jiang Zhou quickly agreed, “Alright, alright, I’ll stay.”
Jiang Hua was finally satisfied, “For the next few days, you take Teacher Shen around the village.”
“Teacher Shen is here to work,” Jiang Zhou reminded him helplessly.
“Didn’t you say that the Utopia program being filmed here was just for fun?”
When the location was set in Yongnan Village, Jiang Zhou had tried to explain it to his father several times without success, so he simply said they built a place for people to film and play.
Now, he was truly hoisting himself by his own petard.
Jiang Hua continued, “Besides, isn’t this a show from your own company? You going up there and playing is also work.”
After saying this, he felt the arrangement was even more perfect. It allowed them to repay kindness without delaying work.
And just like that, Jiang Zhou was pushed by Jiang Hua into agreeing to participate in the program recording.
—
There were still two hours until the program recording began.
Jiang Hua instructed Jiang Zhou again to take Shen Zhiyu around the village to familiarize him with the environment.
Yongnan Village is situated in a valley among rolling hills, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only the south side offering a gentle path.
The village primarily relies on tea cultivation. In the past, due to the narrow village roads and inconvenient transportation, the tea was mostly bought by county merchants at low prices.
Later, national poverty alleviation efforts expanded and constructed the village roads, and then the public welfare variety show Shen Zhiyu participated in was filmed here, giving Yongnan Village its first wave of benefits.
Although that public welfare show was reported, boycotted, and stopped filming after only two days, LUMEM officially debuted shortly after the first episode aired, and their debut song became massively popular. The episode they recorded before their debut also gained popularity, attracting countless fans to Yongnan Village for tourism and check-ins. Yongnan Village received its second wave of benefits.
As LUMEN became globally famous and participated in more and more shows, the number of fans checking in at Yongnan Village gradually decreased, and the heat faded.
After that, Chinese animation rose to prominence. One animated story, set against the backdrop of a traditional Hakka walled residence (Weiwu), attracted a large number of people to An Yuan County in Jiang Province for check-ins, establishing An Yuan County’s reputation as the “World’s Number One Walled Residence County.”
However, this third wave of benefits did not reach Yongnan Village.
An Yuan County has the largest number of walled residences in the world, over three thousand.
The prototype walled residence for the animated series was in another village in An Yuan County—Qingyuan Village—and featured mainly circular walled residences. In contrast, Yongnan Village’s walled residences were square on the outside, enclosing a small world resembling a Jiangnan garden on the inside, which was vastly different from the circular ones in the animation.
Tourists who came to check in at Yongnan Village’s square walled residences were greatly disappointed upon seeing them and angrily accused the village of being fraudulent.
Although Yongnan Village missed the third wave of benefits, its infrastructure was already complete, transportation was convenient, and life had undergone earth-shattering changes compared to before. Every family had moved out of the walled residences and built small courtyard villas around them.
Languang Media chose Yongnan Village as the filming location for Utopia Dream Weaver precisely because of its unique walled residences.
All the walled residences in Yongnan Village are square, with tall and majestic exteriors, surrounded by thick rammed earth or blue brick high walls. The walls are sturdy and thick, with watchtowers or blockhouses at the four corners.
The interior of the walled residence is a Jiangnan garden planned according to the imagery of the Eight Trigrams. The alleys inside extend in the shape of the Eight Trigrams, and the houses are connected by white walls and black tiles, with carved beams and painted rafters. In the center of the walled residence is a centuries-old grand stage, in front of which is a circular pond, and to the right is the ancestral hall.
The contrast between the inside and outside is similar to the description of the village in The Peach Blossom Spring.
Languang Media spent tens of millions to rent the largest walled residence in the village, restoring and renovating it to serve as the recording base for the program.
This walled residence was named “Taoyuan” (Utopia) and covered an area of over 300,000 square meters.
Jiang Zhou took Shen Zhiyu on a tour of the main scenic spots within “Taoyuan,” and the time was already approaching 5 PM.
The program recording began shortly after.
—
The program originally had seven fixed guests.
Besides Shen Zhiyu, there were four men and two women.
The four men were Cai Zhiyang, a host; Weng Songlin, a famous director; Yu Liang, a popular idol; and Zhang Qian, a rising star in stand-up comedy.
The two women were both young: one named Dong Qianqian, a female artist under Languang Media; and the other named Hua Qian, a popular short-drama actress.
When Jiang Zhou decided to join at the last minute, the production team was terrified, thinking there was some problem with their preparation.
The director and producer, upon hearing the news, specifically came over to consult Jiang Zhou.
Jiang Zhou explained that there were no issues with the program and told them to relax; he just happened to be free recently and wanted to join the show for fun.
Hearing this, the director and producer did not relax; instead, they became even more tense.
They were all Languang Media employees.
Jiang Zhou was notoriously known as a workaholic within the company. During the first two years of the company’s founding, he was busy until the early hours almost every day, not even going home for the New Year.
Later, Languang Media’s financial reports flourished, making it one of the top giants in the industry, but Jiang Zhou still didn’t slow down, remaining incredibly busy.
How could such a workaholic suddenly feel free? There must be a hidden reason.
Moreover, when the boss says he’s joining the show for fun, it’s definitely not just for fun; there must be a deeper meaning.
Unfortunately, they pondered for a long time but couldn’t figure out the underlying intention.
When Jiang Zhou returned home, Jiang Hua had already packed his luggage, afraid he might change his mind.
“Yueyue told me that Teacher Shen is a big star. He was overseas before and is now signed to your company after returning home.”
“Yueyue said he had a hard time overseas, being exploited by his company and discriminated against by his teammates, fainting on stage several times.”
“Now that you’ve made something of yourself, you must repay him properly.”
“When you’re on the show this time, stick with him and take extreme care of him. Did you hear me!”
Jiang Zhou nodded, feeling a headache coming on.
Jiang Hua’s desire to repay the kindness was no less intense than his own.
Once Jiang Hua knew about these things, the situation would uncontrollably become even more complicated.
“Yueyue also said that little Mo is Benefactor Shen’s nephew.”
“They say nephews resemble their uncles, and little Mo looks exactly like Teacher Shen.”
“You two can focus on filming these next few days. We’ll take care of little Mo, no need to worry!”
Jiang Hua’s words came one after another.
Jiang Zhou couldn’t get a word in, and eventually just kept quiet.
Not only that, Jiang Hua worried that Jiang Zhou might agree outwardly but secretly run off, so he personally escorted him, luggage and all, to the entrance of “Taoyuan.”
Wei Yan arrived late after receiving the news, carrying Jiang Zhou’s work bag.
Jiang Hua frowned when he saw the bulging work bag.
Before arriving, Wei Yan had thought his boss couldn’t resist wanting to join the show to accompany Shen Zhiyu, and after reporting to Yuan Chong, he planned to take the opportunity of delivering the work bag to offer some advice.
But judging by the current situation, it looked like the boss was reluctant, and the old man was forcing him into it.
Facing the unusually forceful Jiang Hua, Jiang Zhou was also at a loss.
He helplessly promised, “Dad, don’t worry, I absolutely won’t let work interfere with taking care of Teacher Shen.”
Only after hearing this ironclad guarantee did Jiang Hua finally relax.
Before leaving, he didn’t forget to add another instruction, “Film well, and take good care of Teacher Shen.”
After Jiang Hua left, Wei Yan looked confused, “Mr. Jiang, what’s going on?”
Jiang Zhou didn’t want to elaborate, gave a few work instructions, and then dismissed Wei Yan.
The program staff then came up and carefully fitted him with an ear mic.
Jiang Zhou rarely appeared in public, let alone recorded a variety show.
He was not skilled at handling such occasions, and was even awkwardly serious.
According to the program’s setup, once the guests entered the Taoyuan walled residence, they completely bid farewell to the outside world and entered a fictional utopia.
Following the program’s arrangement, Jiang Zhou pushed open the heavy gate of the “Taoyuan Walled Residence.”
The few people who were socializing and chatting instantly fell silent, looking toward the gate.
Jiang Zhou’s last-minute addition was packaged as a mysterious guest entrance to make his participation seem reasonable and logical.
The guests had been chatting, guessing who this mysterious guest might be. Some guessed it was the veteran star Ye Xuan, others guessed it was the CCTV celebrity Xie Lang.
After all, those who could take the final spot after the famous director Weng Songlin and Shen Zhiyu were few and far between.
No one expected the person who arrived to be such an unfamiliar and young face.
This face had appeared at the Languang Media press conference not long ago; it was Jiang Zhou, the founder and controller of Languang Media.
Everyone quickly stood up to greet him, their minds racing with speculation.
Mr. Jiang hadn’t appeared on camera much for seven years, so his sudden frequent appearances must mean Languang Media had other plans, right?
All eyes focused on Jiang Zhou. The ubiquitous cameras also zoomed in on his face.
Cai Zhiyang was the first to enthusiastically stand up, “Mr. Jiang! I’ve long admired your reputation. I never expected you to join us.”
“Just call me Jiang Zhou,” Jiang Zhou greeted the guests one by one.
When he reached Shen Zhiyu, Shen Zhiyu raised his left hand.
Jiang Zhou paused, looking up to catch Shen Zhiyu’s gaze.
It was dark and intense, making Jiang Zhou feel uneasy.
Yet, Jiang Zhou still extended his right hand, shaking Shen Zhiyu’s hand in an awkward, reversed posture.
Jiang Zhou intended to give a light shake and let go.
However, the other party suddenly squeezed his hand tightly, mercilessly, with astonishing force.
“Hello, Mr. Jiang.”
The three words “Hello, Mr. Jiang” were bitten out with the same intensity as the grip on his palm.
Jiang Zhou winced in pain, his facial muscles involuntarily twitching.
He’s not even strong, yet he dares to try and hurt me.
Shen Zhiyu released his hand, his expression suddenly darkening by two shades.