The Golden Jubilee Awards had immense influence in Asia. It was a film ceremony for the entirety of Asia. Therefore, those who only had a slight connection to the event would also join in the fun.
There were also prize nominations for films, and essentially all creative staff and actors would attend. Bosses of film and television companies like Zhong Yibin would also receive an invitation. Several spokespeople for large brands would also receive an invitation to do an advertisement while walking the red carpet. Other than these people, a few bad characters would also go over and closely follow the hot topics or form social connections.
Thus, within a short period of time, the surroundings of the venue where the film festival was held was jam-packed by passersby.
Chu Qin’s accommodation was booked by the organizers. As the specially commissioned host, his treatment was of the highest class and he stayed in the same hotel as a few candidates for ‘Best Actor’.
Zhong Yibin abided by the principle of ‘going wherever wife went’ and also booked this hotel, even booking a high-class suite. The little assistant Hou Chuan and Secretary Jin went to make arrangements for check-in together while both room cards were handed to Zhong Yibin. Zhong Yibin thus dragged Chu Qin along to the suite that he had booked himself, temporarily throwing Chu Qin’s room to the side.
“The program team may go to that room to discuss stuff with me,” Chu Qin was a little worried.
“They’ll definitely contact you before going over. You can just head over at that time,” Zhong Yibin rubbed Chu Qin’s head and dragged him to the bath.
Chu Qin thought about it for a while and felt that it was still better to stay in the room during the day before coming over at night. After all, Zhong Yibin had matters to discuss during the day and it was unknown who exactly would be coming over.
Their relationship was already known to everyone within Shengshi but they had not made it known to the public. Hosting the Golden Jubilee Awards was a significant milestone in Chu Qin’s career. Neither of them was willing to see a mishap occur, so it was better to still err on the side of caution.
Sure enough, after the two people took a bath and called for the hotel to send over lunch, someone came in search of Zhong Yibin.
Shengshi’s latest reality shows and television dramas were very popular and many television stations on this side wanted to purchase them. The first to call on him was a company which wanted to purchase the rights to broadcast <Bun, Quickly Run>.
This person was the director of entertainment programs in the station. He was taken aback upon seeing Chu Qin in the room, though he quickly regained his wits and smiled in greeting. “Mr Chu is also here. I was just thinking of looking for you a while later. After the film festival, I’m not sure if you will have time to do a program at our television station?”
Chu Qin smiled and stood up to shake the other party’s hand. Every single one of those who mixed around the entertainment industry all year round possessed the gift of gab. Even if they had never met before, a short conversation was enough for them to automatically become familiar with the other party.
“The next few steps are still not yet confirmed. If there is time, I would also very much like to visit. At that time, you can’t evade me,” Chu Qin laughed. He exchanged a few pleasantries with the visitor before taking his leave and returning to his room.
He had just reached the entrance when he saw a friend, Ah Yue, walking in his direction.
Ah Yue was a popular host in Taiwan. This time, the Golden Jubilee Awards were also being hosted by them. After cooperating the other time during the television drama ceremony, the two had felt that they suited each other very much. They had a tacit understanding when partnering up and were comfortable with each other. It was familiarity at first sight. The fact that Chu Qin had received an invitation to participate in the Golden Jubilee Awards could also be attributed to the recommendation Ah Yue had made to the organizers.
“Long time no see, dear!” Ah Yue noticed Chu Qin and pounced over just like that.
Chu Qin raised his hands to receive her, giving her a strong but polite hug.
Ah Yue hugged Chu back in satisfaction. Then she released him and glanced left and right like a thief. “Director Zhong isn’t around?” She knew that Chu Qin liked men and thus could mess around with him without the slightest restraint. However, a certain vinegar jar director didn’t think the same way. The last time during the drama ceremony, he personally went up to pull her away when she got too close. He was petty to the extreme.
“Haha, he’s upstairs,” Chu Qin pursed his lips in laughter. Opening the door, he invited Ah Yue into the room.
Actually, thinking about it, even when the two of them were close to women, it didn’t mean anything. After all, neither of them liked women. But just like how Zhong Yibin got jealous after seeing Ah Yue close to him, he would also get angry after seeing a woman close to Zhong Yibin. Thinking about it, it was quite amusing yet also tough to control.
“This is probably the highest level of jealousy. I dare to bet that if you were to be close to a cat or dog, Director Zhong would also get jealous,” Ah Yue accepted the coffee Chu Qin handed to her and pouted, saying these words extremely confidently.
Chu Qin smiled and shook his head. He dragged a stool over and sat opposite her. “Did you find me for something?”
“Can’t I find you even if there isn’t something?” Ah Yue rolled her eyes. “Out of the goodness of my heart, I came over to bring you out to have some fun.” There was still two days to the awards ceremony and Chu Qin had come over earlier to familiarize himself with the environment and processes of the dress rehearsal.
Because he and Ah Yue were key towards supporting the entire film festival, it was necessary for them to be incomparably familiar with the process and carry out preparations for unexpected situations. They even needed to know all the details such as the fire escape and location of the security guards. This was so that they would be able to promptly direct the masses in the event of an accident.
He would need to go the venue in the afternoon, but didn’t have any work to attend to at night. As the official host, Ah Yue prepared to bring Chu Qin to visit the night markets.
“There are tons of delicious food at the night markets. Moreover, it will be difficult for someone to recognize you at night, so you can stroll as you wish. It wasn’t easy for you to come here, it would be a waste if you didn’t have more fun,” Ah Yue put all her efforts into encouraging him.
“Oh, that’s fine too. I’ll check if Yibin has anything on at night. We can bring him along,” Chu Qin nodded and agreed. Seeing Ah Yue starting to roll her eyes once again, he suppressed his laughter. “We can go together if he isn’t free.”
“That’s more like it,” Ah Yue winked at him. She tossed the booklet on the program flow to Chu Qin – it would be used in the afternoon – and directed him to look through it quickly. They would have to be at the venue at 3pm. Then, she ran off swiftly.
There were less than two hours remaining. Chu Qin’s hopes for an afternoon nap were dashed and he sat on the sofa in resignation to start looking through the process of things. The film festival comprised of multiple segments – the red carpet, conferring of awards and program performances. Different guests would present each award. Chu Qin would need to link up with these guests in advance and make preparations for every guest’s opening introduction.
Chu Qin very quickly finished looking through the official plans. When he had a rough idea of the overall picture, he combed through the details again and wrote down the areas which he had questions about. He would ask the person-in-charge of organizing the event when they met.
The person the organizers sent to receive the hosts was a very experienced director. He first went through the flow with Chu Qin and Ah Yue before simultaneously walking and introducing areas that they needed to take note of.
Ah Yue listened very seriously while Chu Qin silently compared the director’s words and the event flow.
“Will the guests be told the award winners before their appearance?” Chu Qin would throw out a question from time to time.
“No. The guest will have to react on the spot,” The director was all smiles.
Chu Qin frowned slightly. It was highly likely that an awkward silence would ensue under such arrangements. It seemed that he would also need to prepare a statement to save the show for every guest. “Could you give me a copy of the information for all the films that are in the final round? I would like to familiarize myself with them in advance.”
The director glanced at Chu Qin in astonishment, though he didn’t comment and gave him a copy of the information. These bits of information were given to the guests conferring the award so that they would know how to introduce the few films in the final round. There was actually no need for the host to know these long and tedious introductions. But since Chu Qin wanted to look through them, they wouldn’t stop him.
When they returned to the hotel, Zhong Yibin had yet to finish his discussions. Secretary Jin informed them that they would still need another half an hour, so Chu Qin and Ah Yue went to eat shaved ice at the hotel’s outdoor restaurant.
“Qin-ge!” A familiar voice sounded from behind Chu Qin. Chu Qin turned his head with the spoon in his mouth and saw Mo Shaoyang walking towards him with a smile as bright as the sun.
Mo Shaoyang had previously acted in a detective film with Mu Chen. His acting skills had attained the film director’s recognition and following that, he played a role equivalent to the first male lead in the <Biography of the Harem’s Concubine Shu>. He was very well-received. Recently, he had accepted a film by a reputable director and played the part of male lead one. The film had yet to be screened publicly but he had already been nominated for the ‘Best Newcomer’ award in the Golden Jubilee Awards.
“Shaoyang. Come, come,” Chu Qin was very fond of this youngster. He knew how to be grateful, his personality was sunny and amusing, and he didn’t have any malicious intentions. Yet, he wasn’t silly and would not easily be taken advantage of by others. This sort of person would usually go very far.
“Wow, you’ve become even more handsome close-up,” Ah Yue was extremely excited as she fixed her attention on Mo Shaoyang. They had met previously at the drama awards ceremony and could be considered familiar with each other.
Among the youths currently in the industry, Mo Shaoyang’s appearance could be considered top-notch. Though his looks couldn’t compare to Qiao Su’s immortal-like beauty, it was main-lead tier. His pick of dramas would be slightly wider compared to Qiao Su’s.
“Ah Yue-jie,” Mo Shao Yang smiled happily and sat down. He wasn’t polite either, picking up a spoon and directly eating a mouth of shaved ice. He had always been proactive at his job and was always earlier than other celebrities. Sure enough, the early bird caught more worms, and he bumped into these two great gods immediately after arriving. Hearing that the two intended to visit the night markets at night, he instantly raised his hand and said that he would go too.
“Oh, Mo Shaoyang came so early?” The three people were talking happily when an impeccably attired middle-aged man with a protruding beer belly walked over, accompanied by bodyguards. The moment he noticed that Chu Qin was also present, his expression couldn’t help changing.
Zou Bo had always brooded over the matter of not having had Qiao Su in the villa. However, at that time, Qiao Su was working on <The Golden Age of the Great Jing> and he could not afford to offend the bosses of both sides. Hence, he thought of waiting till Qiao Su was working on a new piece. Who would have expected Qiao Su to actually transfer to Xinghai Entertainment after all the fuss died down.
Xinghai Entertainment was already considered a big shot in the industry, much less with the added support from the Big Fish Group. Song Xiao was clearly young, yet he was akin to an old fox. His company didn’t engage in the business of skin and flesh either. Hence, Zou Bo temporarily set aside his thoughts of touching Qiao Su.
Lately, he had taken a fancy to Mo Shaoyang. But he hadn’t made a move when he once again bumped into Chu Qin. Zou Bo suddenly felt very unlucky.
“Why did Director Zou come as well?” Chu Qin noticed Zou Bo and a feeling of loathing immediately rose within his heart. But on the surface, he still needed to get by.
“Came over to discuss some business,” Zou Bo laughed it off. His gaze fixed on Chu Qin as he watched him.
It had to be said that Chu Qin’s appearance was truly not bad. He was around twenty-seven and twenty-six, yet he still appeared to be as tender as an eighteen-year-old. His figure was slender, and his voice was exceedingly pleasant to the ear. He could already be counted as top-grade goods. The taste of eating him on the bed would surely be satisfying. What a pity that he belonged to Zhong Yibin. Moreover, his position in the industry was already extremely secure. Chu Qin was not someone he could control.
Chu Qin was looked up and down by him, and felt like a toad was looking at him. A layer of goosebumps popped up on his arms.
“Baobei, it’s time to go!” Zhong Yibin appeared in a timely manner and called for Chu Qin as he stood in the distance.
Zou Bo nodded towards Zhong Yibin. He shot yet another veiled glance at Mo Shaoyang before turning and walking off with his bodyguards.
“Be careful these days,” Chu Qin warned Mo Shaoyang in a low voice.
At first, Mo Shaoyang hadn’t realized the danger but after listening to Chu Qin speaking in such a way, he recalled the industry gossip that his manager had told him. His eyes widened slowly. “It can’t be…” He had assumed that Zou Bo liked those fair-skinned, tender, and beautiful youths. Would he also like someone like him who appeared righteous from head to toe?
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Small theater:
Qinqin: I heard your company doesn’t engage in the business of flesh
Xiaoxiao: That’ll have to wait, my family’s leader doesn’t allow it at all
Qinqin: Oh, but I heard that Yu Tang’s company is doing it
Xiaoxiao: Oh? There was such a thing?
Yu Tang: Yup. I recently opened a production line for pork skin jelly. It’s a business just for pork skin ︿(￣︶￣)︿