CHAPTER 37: CHAPTER 0037: DON’T PICK THE WILDFLOWERS BY THE ROAD (REQUESTING MONTHLY TICKETS)

The night falls, and as the lights come on, the southern town begins its nightlife.

The entire film crew goes to eat together, including the actors and the behind-the-scenes folks.

Of course, this entire film crew definitely doesn’t include the regular staff.

To join the table, at the very least, you have to be a director, screenwriter, cinematographer, or art director.

Several people squeeze into Qi Hao’s car.

No choice, have to leave a few cars for those doing wrap-up work, so they can return to the hotel conveniently.

One, two, three, enough, enough, full house!

A seven-seater business car, Yang Liu driving, with Qi Hao and Zhang Nan, four more girls squeeze in.

Yang Mi stands her ground.

She’s the most familiar with Qi Hao here, filming "The Return of the Condor Heroes" isn’t a one or two-day thing, plus they have lots of scenes together.

Liu Shishi feels helpless.

Cai Yinong urges her to interact more with Qi Hao, seemingly believing the "Fortunate Wife’s Destiny" myth with conviction.

Also, according to Cai Yinong’s exact words, whether we believe it or not is irrelevant, as long as someone in the capital believes it, they’ll lean towards choosing actresses rumored to be involved with Qi Hao when making decisions.

Tang Yan’s attitude is rather laid-back.

She accepts her agent’s warning, acknowledges she’s a love-struck fool, so she doesn’t plan on stirring anything up with Qi Hao.

Yet, there’s a precondition.

Others can’t get too close to Qi Hao either.

He’s her on-screen CP.

If you gossip about him, where does that leave me?

Another is He Yan Ni, who plays the Saintess in the drama.

She follows into the car out of curiosity.

Just like a silly deer, you hit it with a stick to chase it off, yet after a while, it comes back to see why you hit it.

He Yan Ni wants to see what’s inside the car that draws so many leading stars in.

Well, she’s purely curious.

Once everyone is aboard, they set off for the restaurant.

Qi Hao sits in the second row, not daring to squeeze in the back with two women.

Lucky break?

No way.

These women, one more astute than the next, if you think you can easily entertain them, then you’re headed for disaster.

The dog system loaded for ten years, Qi Hao got here all by himself!

He cherishes everything he has now more than anyone else.

Back in the day, he and Old Tian had a serious discussion about a similar issue, concluding that you shouldn’t pick roadside wildflowers, managing your lower half is key to walking further.

With many girls on the car, it turns chaotic.

Isn’t there a Western saying, one woman equals 500 ducks?

Now with five women on the car, even excluding the driver Yang Liu, there are still 2,000 ducks.

You could open a slaughterhouse!

These women have some competition but also cooperation.

So once they’re a bit familiar, they can chat quite happily, especially when encountering topics everyone is interested in.

All Qi Hao has to do is maintain a smile throughout.

I’m your aloof male idol, hurry and take a few more looks.

Upon arrival, as they got off, Qi Hao naturally became the most envied man by all the men in the crew.

Luckily, they rushed over without stopping, otherwise those LSPs could’ve imagined several gigabytes worth.

The dinner isn’t set in one place.

Each has their own private room, especially those at the main table won’t be disturbed.

Entertainment industry dinners had reasons behind it, generally divided into "clean" and "spicy" ones.

A clean one is a group chatting, eating, discussing resources, and cooperation, just like today’s.

Without drinking too much, everyone behaves with extraordinary propriety.

The spicy one, however, is more thrilling.

First, someone will come out to organize it, the so-called "organizer," if someone is referred to as an entertainment industry veteran, they’re likely in this trade.

The organizer gathers the needy big shots and artists together.

It can be at a restaurant or KTV, or a bar, club, hotel, or any private place.

During which, strip dances, deepwater bombings, animal games, Russian roulette, etc., take place.

Nothing is beyond their reach; it’s only about what people can imagine.

Human society, essentially a large transaction fair, all resources are exchangeable.

Over the years, Qi Hao received many spicy invitations, but as a notable figure, he has his pride, so he never truly experienced it.

He prefers drinking gatherings.

A group of genuine drinkers compete, he’s gained quite a few good resources this way.

Because he’s known to hold his liquor, those fond of drinking always think to include him.

These people simply drink.

After reaching that level of inebriation, who the heck can still stand?

Today’s clean gathering focuses on Sugarman wanting to win over hearts, the main table seated Sugarman’s production team elites and their contracted artists.

Hu Ge, Liu Shishi, Yuan Hong, Guo Xiaoting, etc.

Qi Hao, Yang Mi, Tang Yan, and other leading stars were naturally invited to sit at the main table.

"I saw Mr. Qi reading in the crew today, Mr. Qi is really a studious person," screenwriter Deng Zishan says with a smile, praising.

"No need to be so formal, Teacher Deng. Just call me Qi Hao," Qi Hao said very frankly, "I didn’t have much schooling, graduated from middle school and started exploring on my own. My mind is empty, and if I don’t read some books to enrich myself, I’ll be left only in despair when trouble comes."

If you don’t want others to look down on you, it’s best to look down on yourself first.

"Going to school doesn’t necessarily teach you much. Having a formal education isn’t impressive these days. If you’re willing to learn, what does it matter whether you’ve had formal training or not?"

This scriptwriter wasn’t formally trained either, having honed her skills at TVB.

Her script for "Chinese Paladin 1" was heavily criticized by game fans, and she was dubbed the "Thunder Mother."

This time, adapting "Chinese Paladin 3" will inevitably face all kinds of skepticism as well.

If a lead as influential as Qi Hao says a few kind words for her, the situation online might not be so one-sided.

But she didn’t realize that she inadvertently brought down several people at the table with one stroke.

"Thank you for the compliment, Teacher Deng...I’ll toast to you!"

Without a second thought, Qi Hao downed his drink.

This was a trick Old Tian taught him—whatever pit others dig for you, just drink with them to solve it.

If they’re not satisfied, keep drinking (gan pronounced as first tone).

Next, the topic quickly shifted to others.

Qi Hao generally just maintained a smile, listening quietly, and didn’t refuse anyone who offered him a drink.

However, with Cai Yinong in attendance, the topic swiftly came back to him.

"If our Sugarman were to film ’Swordsman,’ would you be willing to take on a role, Qi Hao?"

Dinners like this often revolve around resources.

Just like now, where Qi Hao participating in this gathering and got an opportunity presented to him.

If both parties are interested, then the matter is settled.

A lot of resources are born at the dining table, regardless of whether they’re plain or fancy.

The line between plain and fancy isn’t so clear.

If later on, Cai Yinong invites Qi Hao to her room for a chat, then plain becomes quite fancy.

"Me?" Qi Hao looked surprised, laughing, "Since I did ’The Return of the Condor Heroes,’ I don’t plan to take on another Jin Yong martial arts drama any time soon."

There are just a handful of these shows, filmed over and over again.

’Celestial Dragon,’ ’The Legend of the Condor Heroes,’ ’The Return of the Condor Heroes,’ ’Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber,’ ’Swordsman’ are among the most popular ones.

Sugarman has done ’Book and Sword, Grudge and Enmity,’ ’The Legend of the Condor Heroes,’ and now they haven’t given up, setting their sights on ’Swordsman.’

But if they’re looking for me, what role could I play?

It’s not possible for me to play Lin Pingzhi, right?

Nor could I be Dongfang Bubai...right?

The three-inch cut in the crotch elevates combat prowess, with no woman in the heart, drawing the sword as swiftly as a demon.

But given my stature, I could only play certain roles.

If Qi Hao plays Linghu Chong, then would Hu Ge play Lin Pingzhi?

Will Liu Shishi play the little junior sister or Ren Yingying?

This messy affair, Qi Hao really doesn’t want to get involved in.

Moreover, while many people like the character Linghu Chong, Qi Hao doesn’t have any particular obsession with him.

The story of ’Swordsman’ is just a competition of castration.

"It’s truly a pity," Cai Yinong sighed.

This Qi Hao really is impervious to both persuasion and threats. Previously asked him to fake a romance with Liu Shishi, he wouldn’t do it. Now with a new project invitation, he flatly refuses.

It seems there won’t be any more opportunities to cooperate in the future.

"Let’s have brother Hu Ge play then. ’Swordsman’ can really increase national recognition, and the role of Linghu Chong suits him well."

Qi Hao turned to praise Hu Ge.

Hu Ge was deeply touched, stood up with his glass to toast Qi Hao.

Today, on the set, Qi Hao’s relaxed and effortless demeanor completely won Hu Ge over.

Before the TV series even started filming, Hu Ge had also studied the role of Xu Changqing.

He proudly thought that if he hadn’t been in a car accident, he could have played the role himself, and wouldn’t perform any worse than Qi Hao.

But when he saw Qi Hao’s look, he realized he was wrong.

Even if he hadn’t been in a car accident, he couldn’t have outdone Qi Hao.

The same outfit on two people can display vastly different auras.

Thinking about how Qi Hao can still play ’Heavenly Dog’ only deepened Hu Ge’s awe towards him, even when drinking, he had to stick his butt out.

The meal was finishing up, and everyone started to disperse.

The crew entered a frenzied filming phase, shooting from early morning till late evening, if there were scenes with Qi Hao he went to the set, if not he went for recordings.

Half a month into filming, he hadn’t shot much, but he did finish recording ’Iron Man’ and received the client’s approval.

With the task completed, Qi Hao hurried to settle accounts.

The Santana 2000 had to be arranged, seeing the scars still on Hu Ge’s face, Qi Hao urgently needed a sense of security.

[Task 8 completed, rewards: dialogue +10, script ’Emperor of the Han Dynasty,’ one Santana 2000 (system version)]

[Task complete, received training opportunity]

[Choose one of the three training NPCs: Tang Yan/Yang Mi/Liu Shishi]

[New task begins now]

[Task 9: With the system’s help, the host has initially established a foothold in the entertainment industry. It’s time to improve your acting skills. Please hire an acting coach for some lessons, task difficulty: 3 stars, time limit: 60 days]

[Task completion rewards: acting +10, script ’Searching for a Gun’]

[Task failure penalty: three electric shocks]

Tang Yan/Yang Mi/Liu Shishi?

Qi Hao was amused by the system.

Can we bring back Xu Jinjiang and Cao Chali?