Is This The Right Way To Repay A Favor? Chapter 29

Review

Director Weng’s short film, Ten Minutes Between Classes, broke the guests, and everyone’s eyes were red when they walked out of the interview room.

Jiang Zhou was the last one to be interviewed. When he came out, Shen Zhiyu was still standing by the door, looking down at his phone.

Jiang Zhou had just cried, and his eyes were red and swollen.

Seeing Shen Zhiyu, he lowered his head in panic.

The accompanying cameraman consciously stepped away.

Shen Zhiyu naturally walked up to him, “Cried?”

Jiang Zhou felt a bit embarrassed and didn’t want to face him.

Shen Zhiyu said, “Director Weng is really something, making everyone cry.”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhou looked up, “Did you cry too?”

“No.” Shen Zhiyu said lightly, “I didn’t attend high school, so I don’t have high school ten minutes between classes.”

Jiang Zhou: ….

“However…” Shen Zhiyu looked at him intently.

Jiang Zhou’s eyes, having cried, were slightly red and moist, his eyelashes were wet and clumped together, and even his eyelids were faintly pink.

He looked pitiful, yet somehow carried an inexplicable temptation that made one want to bully him further.

Shen Zhiyu could almost imagine how fragile and moving he would look if even those innocent eye corners were filled with tears, stained crimson.

“I think, if I had, it would probably be the same as today.”

A warm dampness uncontrollably welled up in his eyes again.

Jiang Zhou lowered his head again, his voice choked, “Thank you.”

“How will you thank me?” Shen Zhiyu pressed.

“?”

“Go back and think about it carefully,” Shen Zhiyu said, turning and walking away.

Jiang Zhou followed his steps.

The night had completely darkened, and the dim streetlights stretched their shadows long.

“Your father went to my house?” Shen Zhiyu asked.

The phrasing was a bit ambiguous.

Jiang Zhou explained, “He and Jiang Yue were dropping Ye Mo off, and they didn’t realize it was your house.”

“Mm. Xiao Mo has been staying at my place since he returned. His mother, my cousin, passed away, and the two families aren’t on very good terms.”

Jiang Zhou hadn’t expected Shen Zhiyu to discuss such a private topic with him.

“He’s been studying abroad, strict discipline, and a quiet personality. It was hard for him to finally return to the country, and then he met a cheerful and lovely girl like Jiang Yue.”

“After becoming desk mates with Jiang Yue, his personality changed a lot. He’s almost catching up to your family’s chatterbox.”

Shen Zhiyu kept talking, and Jiang Zhou listened quietly.

“My mother praised your looks, saying you clearly look like a good student,” Shen Zhiyu suddenly changed the subject, focusing on Jiang Zhou.

“She told me not to bully you.”

“Auntie is joking,” Jiang Zhou gave an awkward laugh, “How could you bully me?”

Shen Zhiyu didn’t respond.

No one knows a son better than his mother.

The moment Xi Wanyu saw Jiang Zhou, she knew he was the type her son would be interested in.

Moreover, Jiang Hua had mentioned that he liked to eat tea-fried crispy bones.

Shen Zhiyu was extremely picky and hated eating meat with bones. Saying that definitely wasn’t for the dish, but for the person.

So, immediately after meeting Jiang Zhou, Xi Wanyu called Shen Zhiyu, sternly warning him not to provoke Jiang Zhou, and not to “eat and run.”

Only his mother truly understood the deep-seated flaw hidden in Shen Zhiyu’s soul.

But Shen Zhiyu didn’t care.

A beast that had been hungry for nearly thirty years, finally encountering a delicious prey—who would be willing to let go?

He had to at least get a taste.

As for what happens later.

Only a fool considers the future.

“Do you still remember something I once said to you?”

“What?”

“Don’t think too highly of me,” Shen Zhiyu repeated the phrase with a smile toward him.

Under the dim streetlights, Shen Zhiyu’s smile was bright and captivating.

Just then, Hua Qian’s evening radio voice drifted over, “Oh, my dear, don’t look at the smile on his face, don’t touch the candy he offers…”

For some reason, a sudden wave of panic rose in Jiang Zhou’s heart.

—

The guests were becoming increasingly accustomed to life in Taoyuan.

They no longer all showed up for every activity like they did at the beginning, but truly went only when they felt like it.

Another week passed like this.

The show adopted a simultaneous filming and editing model. The footage from the first week was roughly cut, and the director handed it to Xue Pengfei, who would then pass it to Jiang Zhou for review.

Languang Media’s investment in film and television had always refrained from interfering with filming and editing, and the director was not collaborating with Languang Media for the first time, so the initial filming followed previous methods. However, they were particularly attentive to Jiang Zhou’s actions during the shoot.

It wasn’t until Jiang Zhou’s assistant, Xue Pengfei, joined the production team, followed by the camera in Jiang Zhou’s room being turned off, and Xue Pengfei constantly directing the accompanying cameramen, that the director realized this program shoot was vastly different from previous ones.

Therefore, after the rough cut of the first week’s footage was completed, he cautiously sent it over immediately.

The Taoyuan Dream Weaver show films for one month, divided into four cycles, with each cycle edited into 3 episodes, making one season twelve episodes long.

The footage the director sent covered the first three episodes, which Jiang Zhou stayed in his room to watch.

The first episode’s video included footage of the various guests arriving at Yongnan Village. Shen Zhiyu’s segment was filmed at the highway service area when Jiang Zhou drove them to Yongnan Village.

This segment was unedited; the picture was slightly shaky, retaining Jiang Zhou’s question, the interlude of him drinking water halfway through, and even his hurried, panicked breathing.

In the subsequent videos, Jiang Zhou’s screen time was significantly reduced. Apart from scenes where he appeared with others, his solo screen time accounted for less than three percent.

It seemed the director had figured out Jiang Zhou’s reluctance to appear on camera during the later stages of filming.

Jiang Zhou didn’t even want to keep the first interview segment. He was afraid that attentive viewers might recognize his voice.

After watching, he offered his feedback: “It’s fine, the editing is very good. But I suggest deleting the first questioning segment and presenting it as text instead.”

The director, however, said, “Mr. Jiang, this was specifically requested by Mr. Shen. The video footage he sent cannot have a single cut, nor can his voice be altered.”

Jiang Zhou hadn’t expected Shen Zhiyu to have special requirements regarding this, so he didn’t say anything more and compromised.

The director observed Jiang Zhou’s expression and cautiously asked, “Mr. Jiang, should we send the video to Mr. Shen for review?”

Some big-name artists require the production team to have their team review the rough cut when participating in variety shows, to prevent poor editing from affecting their image.

The director was very thoughtful, and Jiang Zhou nodded in agreement: “That’s fine.”

In the evening, the director relayed Shen Zhiyu’s feedback to Jiang Zhou.

“Mr. Shen requested that we add the segment of you and him walking on the road and looking at the moon on the first night.”

Jiang Zhou recalled that night. After the guests had divided rooms and were walking together to the ancestral hall for dinner, Shen Zhiyu, who had been complaining about hunger moments before, suddenly stopped to admire the moonlight.

That scene was very romantic. The moonlight and the lamplight intertwined, making Shen Zhiyu appear like the bright moon itself.

If he wasn’t in the shot, Jiang Zhou would be very willing to keep the scene. But with him in it, it was hard to guarantee that people wouldn’t over-interpret the scene.

In the entertainment industry, “shipping” is common and even a means of attracting fans. During his idol days, Shen Zhiyu strictly adhered to his principles, avoiding dating and gossip, yet his outstanding image made him a frequent subject of various shipping videos.

Whether it was a very ordinary action on a variety show or a common dance move, as long as there was an extra glance or movement, people could interpret hundreds of emotions from it.

Since Shen Zhiyu’s debut, whether in mainland Chinese entertainment or Korean entertainment, regardless of gender, age, or even real life versus virtual, the number of people he has been paired with is countless.

Jiang Zhou did not want any scenes of him and Shen Zhiyu alone to be broadcast. But this was a scene Shen Zhiyu requested to keep.

Jiang Zhou hesitated, “Can I be cropped out?”

The director was clearly a bit troubled, “Not really.”

Afraid that Jiang Zhou would blame their lack of skill, he added an explanation, “Mainly because there is dialogue. If we crop you out, both the picture and the dialogue will become abrupt. That would actually cause more speculation among netizens.”

That was true. Today’s netizens are incredibly resourceful and meticulous, even keen on analyzing who was cut and why, based on tiny residual images from deleted footage.

Jiang Zhou compromised again, “Just do as he says.”

The director finally understood completely this time and asked, “Mr. Jiang, how about next time I send the video to Mr. Shen for review first, and then to you?”

This would indeed be more convenient, and Jiang Zhou could also see how Shen Zhiyu’s requirements were implemented, so he nodded in agreement.

—

March was the first early tea picking season in Yongnan Village. The production team organized the guests and villagers to experience it together.

The tea garden chosen nearby was the Jiang family’s tea garden.

Jiang Hua twisted his back the day before and stayed home, so Aunt Fang led them up the mountain.

When Jiang Hua was sick and bedridden in the past, the Jiang family tea garden was once abandoned and rented out to others for planting. Later, when his health improved, he took back the tea garden and rented a few more plots of land, gradually forming its current scale.

When Jiang Zhou was in elementary school, he would follow them up the mountain to pick tea during holidays, earning hourly wages. Later, when he entered middle school and found new, more profitable part-time jobs, he gradually stopped going up the mountain.

Later, with work and starting a business, he became increasingly busy, and the time he spent at home was rare, let alone going up the mountain.

“Languang Tea Garden is now the largest tea garden in our village. A few years ago, it launched its own brand called Yuncha. It also passed organic certification and HACCP system certification. Among them, Yuncha Silver Needle is the best-selling product, selling out every year.”

“This area of tea trees is used to make Yuncha Silver Needle. This tea is a variation of our local Dabai tea, using ‘single buds’ as raw material, and then processed using our traditional techniques.”

This was Jiang Zhou’s first time visiting his own family’s tea garden. He realized that Jiang Hua had managed this sprawling tea garden so well.

He was accustomed to treating Jiang Hua as a patient, subconsciously not wanting him to overexert himself.

When Jiang Hua suggested tidying up the tea garden at home, Jiang Zhou refused.

Although he later agreed, he didn’t pay much attention to it, only investing a large sum of money, telling his father to hire more workers and not work too hard, not expecting a return, just treating it as something to keep him occupied.

Afterward, Jiang Hua talked to him several times about the tea garden’s operation, saying the harvest was good, and selling the processed tea leaves to suppliers brought some profit. In the past two years, he had even contracted the tea gardens of several households in the village for unified management.

Jiang Zhou also recalled that during the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, Jiang Hua mentioned that selling to suppliers yielded too low a profit, and he wanted to package the tea and sell it via live streaming online.

It turned out these were not just empty words.

Jiang Hua was genuinely practicing step by step, making progress little by little.

And his concern for his father had been severely lacking.