Isn’t money good?

Chapter 27.2

After briefly greeting the audience, everyone sat down in order.

The host began following the script, asking the actors to introduce the characters they play in the drama.

First, she called on the male and female leads. After He Qian and Xie Zhaoli gave brief self-introductions, they moved to the interview segment.

“If I remember correctly, you two have already played on-screen couples twice before, and this is the third time. What’s different about this time compared to the previous two?”

He Qian: “It’s definitely different. Different character settings, different plots, so different ways of interacting.”

Xie Zhaoli: “We’re not as sweet in this drama.”

The host caught the key point: “Teacher Xie means there’s angst?”

Xie Zhaoli said: “Whether there’s angst or not must remain secret for now. ‘Rivers and Mountains in Turmoil’ is a serious drama genre, romance isn’t the main focus.”

“I understand roughly. Can you tell us a bit about what kind of people the characters you’re playing are?”

He Qian considered for a moment and spoke first. Since she couldn’t spoil anything, she only talked about her understanding of the character’s psychology. Xie Zhaoli was similar to her, summarizing in just one sentence.

“That’s it?” The host pressed, “Can’t you reveal a bit more?”

“It would be spoilers.”

“Alright. Speaking of which, this is both of your first times working with Teacher Ji? Are you looking forward to it?” The host cued Ji Yunnian, and the camera panned to him as he smiled.

The audience below started “ahhhh-ing” again.

These questions were all in the script. The main reason Ji Yunnian, as a guest character, came to the press conference was because his popularity would help promote the TV drama.

He had considerable influence.

When these questions were being drafted, his agent was involved throughout, eliminating all unfavorable questions and leaving only very normal ones.

He Qian smiled gracefully, “It’s the first time, and I’m very much looking forward to it. To be honest, I’m a fan of Teacher Ji. I think most of us on stage are.”

Everyone said in unison: “Yes.”

The audience also chimed in: “Most people in the audience are too!”

The host smoothly asked Ji Yunnian: “You haven’t filmed TV drama projects in a long time. After this guest appearance, will you bring us new works?”

“If there’s something suitable.”

“Haha, then I need to appeal to all the directors and screenwriters here. Please be sure to deliver good scripts to Teacher Ji!”

[Teacher Ji looks so handsome.]

[It would be great if we could photoshop out Yan Shiqiu next to him.]

[Yes, an eyesore.]

[My Yan has already tried very hard to stay away from Teacher Ji, what more do you want?]

[No, they’re not Ji fans. We Ji fans have reconciled with Yan Shiqiu and apologized, we won’t cue him anymore.]

[I really hope Teacher Ji will act in another TV drama, the longer the better. Movies are too short.]

[Finally it’s the turn of the three newcomers.]

Yan Shiqiu had spaced out for a moment. The host called his name several times before he blinked and showed a smile.

“Were you daydreaming just now?” The host asked with a laugh.

“Just a little bit.” Yan Shiqiu held up his fingers to show a small distance.

“The color of your formal wear today really matches Teacher Ji’s. Did you two discuss this?” This question was added temporarily, mainly to facilitate clarifying the CP-colored formal wear issue and avoid marketing accounts making a big deal of it.

Yan Shiqiu sat very properly, “It’s a coincidence. I chose red because the stylist thought I looked good in this red outfit. It was the result of choosing among three options.”

Fu Baiqing raised his hand, “I can testify to that.”

“It does look really good indeed, doesn’t it.” Yan Shiqiu tilted his head slightly, his eyes seeming to hold a galaxy of stars.

[Good-looking, good-looking, the red really suits him perfectly, making his complexion look rosy and his skin even fairer… Damn it, why am I so dark? I want to wear red too.]

[Although, but, that head tilt is so cute!]

[My long-dormant maternal instincts are stirring, I want to… want to stan him?]

[Full of survival instinct, so funny, but I’m very satisfied.]

[As long as he’s not clinging to Teacher Ji, everything’s good. Wishing him a bright future.]

The host seemed to see little flowers blooming above Yan Shiqiu’s head, as if he was asking for praise. She couldn’t help but use two intensifying adverbs: “Very, especially good-looking.”

Yan Shiqiu’s eyes curved into crescents, “Thank you.”

The host calmed her mood and returned to the topic, “Can you introduce the character you’re playing without spoilers?”

Yan Shiqiu thought for a moment and said three words: “White moonlight.”

Host: “?”

After waiting a moment, she said: “That’s it?”

Yan Shiqiu nodded, “Yep.”

Host: “…”

She moved to another person and asked Ruan Lin, “Netizens revealed that you’re a graduate student at B University who previously only liked to stay in the lab. How did you suddenly become interested in acting?”

Probably due to spending years alone in the lab, Ruan Lin had a cool, detached aura. Holding the microphone, she spoke honestly: “Originally I was just accompanying a friend, and tried it out while I was there.”

The host was stumped again.

“Are you still a graduate student? Graduate students are usually very busy. How do you balance acting and studying?”

Ruan Lin said: “I took leave. I don’t have many scenes. After filming, I’ll return to school to continue my studies. The payment can buy some materials needed for the lab.”

[… Casually… casually?]

[At least be a bit modest.]

[How should I put it, there doesn’t seem to be much need to be modest. I looked up Ruan Lin’s information. Both her parents are national first-class actors. She performed in over a dozen plays with her parents when she was thirteen, but theater is relatively niche, so not many people know about it, and there’s even less coverage.]

[Being so casual is kind of cute somehow? And using the payment to buy lab materials, haha.]

[Seriously though, doing experiments is very expensive.]

The host was getting a headache. Looking at the last person, Fu Baiqing, she thought he should be able to handle a normal interview… right?

She composed herself and was about to speak when Fu Baiqing had already started talking, “Is it my turn? Then let me introduce myself. I’m Fu Baiqing, and in ‘Rivers and Mountains in Turmoil’ I play Xu Yang, who’s a little cutie.”

The host: “…”

[Hahaha, little cutie.]

[Indeed cute and adorable.]

[What’s going on? All three newcomers have unlocked the ‘naturally cute’ attribute. Director Chen wouldn’t have chosen them because he was charmed by their cuteness, would he?]

…

During the live broadcast of the press conference, the internet was very lively, with hot searches going up one after another. Some were bought by the celebrities themselves, others by the production team. There was no shortage of money anyway.

However, among these hot searches, there was no sign of Yan Shiqiu.

Even Fu Baiqing and Ruan Lin made it onto the trending list.

After the press conference ended, Fu Baiqing found Fang Yuhua to get his phone back.

Transforming into a gossip enthusiast, he scrolled through the entire hot search rankings, but found that there were no topics related to Yan Shiqiu. He looked at Fang Yuhua in confusion.

“Didn’t you buy hot searches for Yan Shiqiu?”

Yan Shiqiu happened to come over and heard this. He answered for Fang Yuhua, “I told him not to buy them.”

Fu Baiqing was puzzled, “Why?”

“Buying hot searches tonight isn’t cost-effective. Isn’t it better to keep the money in our own pockets?”

After saying this, Yan Shiqiu remembered something and smiled as he approached Fang Yuhua. His eyes sparkled as he extended his hand, transforming into a little money-grubber, “I did help you save an expense, didn’t I? We don’t need much, just a fifty-fifty split would be fine. WeChat or Alipay?”

Split what? Fang Yuhua slapped his hand away, “Dream on.”

Yan Shiqiu sighed, “Stingy.”

Fang Yuhua: “…“