Chapter 29

  Just as Mr. Jiang and his agent promised, he will carefully consider the issue of this pet he raised.

  These days, he really has been thinking carefully.

  At least, Ah Fei had fully felt the malice from the poop-scooping guy - Jiang Chuan had said before that if you didn't listen to him, he would lock you in a cage and not let you out.

  He had previously dismissed such warnings with disdain.

  Now he is paying a heavy price for his "disdain".

  Since being brought back by Jiang Chuan, the number of times he stayed in his cage was countable whenever Jiang Chuan was around - Jiang Chuan gave him absolute freedom. When there was nothing to do, he could stroll around on the sofa or coffee table, flip through magazines and newspapers when Jiang Chuan wasn't paying attention, and even sneak a snack from the fruit on the table, such as happily gnawing out a hole in an apple or pear on the fruit platter into his favorite shape. Then, with a flick of his tail, he would saunter away without taking a cloud with him - Jiang Chuan wouldn't even frown at this, but instead would generously cut the fruit in half with a fruit knife, stuffing the intact half into his mouth while putting the half with a hole gnawed out by the hamster into its cage.

  In other words, at least until that day, Jian had absolute freedom in his mouse life.

  But now, this heavenly day has become a thing of the past, and I suddenly turned into an unfree wretch.

  For several days in a row, all he could see was the living room of Jiangchuan's apartment through a layer of acrylic plastic shell. No newspapers, no magazines, no entertainment gossip Li Gou Hai, and no fruit - the only entertainment was watching the programs played on the TV in front of his cage. Jiangchuan had the habit of turning on the TV and doing his own thing, so the TV would never be turned off. Occasionally when a movie starring Zhen Ran before appeared on TV, the hamster could lift its spirits and entertain itself for a bit. But if it was one of those inexplicable bad movies with second-rate plot and third-rate actors, he would get so annoyed that he wanted to poke out his own eyes.

  Can't even ask for a replacement!

  Jiang Chuan this son of a bitch is really awesome.

  He didn't even take the moldy hamster out for a sunbath to breathe some fresh air, and he had the nerve to say that hamsters don't like sunbathing... Bullshit! Other hamsters may not like it, but this one loves it to death!

  After a few days of living in a seemingly imprisoned life, occasionally he could feel Jiang Chuan's quiet gaze filled with hesitation and inquiry. At this time, he would compromise and show a slightly better side - of course, he still didn't dare to touch the wheel that was the culprit, this is a matter of principle (......), related to the dignity of being a hamster (......).

  After a few days of such hellish days for Jin Yan, Jiang Chuan suddenly became busy.

  It was just the beginning, and he found it strange that as soon as daybreak came, his stupid owner would automatically disappear, only to return at night. Until one day near Chinese New Year's Eve, he suddenly saw many familiar faces on the TV in the house that never turned off.

  At first glance, Jiang Luocheng looked like he had just recovered from a serious illness, with a pale face; the producer teacher was stern and expressionless; and deputy director Guo Cheng looked like he was in a bad mood... They seemed to be attending a promotional event for "Republic of China's Strange Records" somewhere in G City, because Jin Yan saw the poster of Wang Mo and Jiang Chuan posing behind them on the sign-in backdrop - Wang Mo occupied the lower left corner, looking up with a slight frown at the upper right corner, while the upper right corner was Jiang Chuan's perfect side profile, he looked down, expressionless, staring at Wang Mo in the lower left corner.

  In my humble opinion, if there was a matchmaker or a perverted little angel shooting arrows in the middle of Wang Mo and Jiang Chuan, this poster would perfectly convey the theme of the entire TV series: homosexual chicken love affair.

  There were some onlookers in the scene, and all major newspapers and online media portals came in full force, it's unclear who they were giving face to, Jiang Luocheng or someone else.

  As I quietly crawled out of my small wooden house to start a not-so-pleasant day in prison, the TV was playing lively background music, and actors were taking turns appearing on stage.

  First, Wang Mo walked at the very front, mainly because he was considered a bigger star, and the media's cameras flashed wildly. Then, Wang Mo sat down in the middle, next to Director Jiang Luo Cheng on his left; Next was Jiang Chuan, who was still dressed casually today, wearing a baseball cap on his head, covering up his unusual hair color that was different from ordinary people, leaving only a strand of soft hair hanging down in front of his eyes, lively and vibrant... He walked out with no expression, clearly not very used to being photographed by the reporters, and slightly lifted his hand to press down on the brim of his hat.

  Shy and handsome.

  The perfect side profile hidden in the shadow cast by the brim of his hat successfully caught the attention of some media and onlookers at the scene — this group of people probably still hadn't figured out who he was, but it's clear that this guy really is very handsome.

  Jiang Chuan sat down on the right side of Director Wang, then propped up his chin with one hand and began to absent-mindedly daydream.

  Xu Qianqian, Wang Xiaoli, and Wang Rui, a group of non-main character but popular female stars who can boost the TV series' popularity, appeared one after another behind the two male leads. When Wang Mo smiled and greeted the media, Xu Qianqian held up her skirt and sat down perfectly made-up beside Jiang Chuan. As she sat down, she leaned over and smiled while talking to Jiang Chuan, but he seemed completely unresponsive, only nodding or shaking his head sluggishly.

  But just like this, Jian Ran is already very unhappy.

  "Get your dirty hands off my reserved seat, Jiang Luocheng is sending you further away."

  On TV, the cheerful background music seemed to be playing on repeat nonstop. Thinking about it, if nothing had happened that day, I would have been the one lounging around Jiang Chuan's side, pretending to be witty and charming, chatting and laughing with the girls... My current mood is just like when I was in middle school boarding school, sleeping soundly every morning, but then hearing the 6:30 wake-up call outside my window, shouting for everyone to get up and do their morning exercises.

  It's simply hopeless.

  When everyone arrived and took their seats, the scene was quiet for a while under the control of the staff. Jiang Luocheng and the producer teacher gave speeches respectively, mainly talking about the main theme of the TV series "Republic of China Strange Record", the participating actors, and the expectation of good ratings. Next, the signature backdrop behind them was removed, revealing a huge screen behind it.

  Because the entire publicity venue is outdoors, it would take a relatively large sum of money to transport and rent such equipment. This kind of publicity method also shocked the reporters present.

  Jiang Luocheng humorously said: "This way everyone doesn't have to worry that we're using five-yuan special effects, the crew has money."

  The reporters present politely laughed and the hamster in the cage rolled its eyes.

  Jiang Luocheng's words fell behind, and he made a gesture to the back, then the big screen showed a picture - it was a promotional clip of "Republic of China Strange Record".

  It should be temporarily photographed and then produced directly.

  On the screen, a misty natural landscape of mountains and forests is first played, with birds chirping and flowers blooming, accompanied by crisp bird songs, like a dynamic scroll painting. At this time, the camera changes, gradually zooming in from the wide-angle sky to the mountains, magnifying a wildflower, its tender yellow petals still carrying the morning dew. Suddenly, the flower sways gently, and the dew drops on its petals fall off. The camera pans down, and only then do people see that it is a round and chubby white hamster, sniffing with its small nose, carefully pulling the flower out of the mud with its paws, holding it in its claws, shaking it slightly, using the shadow cast by the flower petals to block the sunlight shining on its head.

  Just then, a sharp eagle cry came from behind the hamster, and the little hamster was frightened, dropped the flower that had just been picked, turned around and drilled into the hole behind it.

  At the same time, a huge eagle's shadow was cast from the sky. In the moment when the hamster hastily hid in its hole, the eagle swooped down and its claws grasped at where the hamster had just been, but it didn't catch the hamster, only catching the yellow flower that the hamster had hastily thrown away!

  The eagle grasped the yellow flower and soared high, at this time the camera followed the eagle's shadow, breaking through the mist, facing the sunset, and flying with the eagle to another mountain top - the perspective that closely followed the eagle suddenly changed focus, focusing on the peak of the mountain, a young Taoist standing with his hands behind his back, wearing white clothes.

  When the wind blows, his long hair, tied up with a light-colored silk ribbon, flies in the air. His eyebrows are like swords, and his azure eyes do not feel out of place at all. His thin lips curve slightly upwards, and his warm and quiet personality can be clearly felt even through the lens... He slightly raises his hand, allowing the eagle to gently place that flower-colored wildflower on his palm.

  The eagle places the wildflower in the Taoist's hand, and then continues to soar high, the camera zooms out again, and the surrounding scenery gradually changes into abstract lines that only appear in ink paintings. At this time, the flying eagle suddenly turns into a dot of ink with a sharp cry, splashing onto the slowly unfolding scroll, and at the same time, the four characters "Minguo Yihuan Lu" are written down in a majestic and elegant manner!

  The entire promotional video lasts less than three minutes.

  But for a promotional video of a TV series, both creativity and production quality are overly meticulous.

  After the promotional video finished playing, there was a silence of several seconds at the scene. The reporters present suddenly realized that this might be another hit TV series this year. Immediately, the cameras and cameras in their hands couldn't stop taking pictures, clicking away wildly. Some people had already stretched their necks to wait for the Q&A session, and various questions had been rehearsed countless times in their minds. That anxious look made Jiang Luocheng very happy. His first sentence was: "I said it early on, not a five-yuan special effect."

  The reporters burst out laughing again, and the scene had a lively atmosphere that was typical of press conferences after an initial period of quiet.

  The hamster, who had been watching the whole process, touched its round belly and felt a little used to it - in the past cooperation with Jiang Luocheng, he had already discovered that this man was very good at grasping the atmosphere on the spot, and also liked to do so. He hoped that when people were shocked, those people would be silent as cicadas, and when he thought the scene should be lively, he would take the initiative to find a good entry point to liven up the atmosphere.

  This guy is an old hand.

  In order, after the promotional video was played, it was the introduction of the actors, who played what role, and when the name was read, the lights on the scene would shine on that person - most of the actors on the scene were familiar faces, only Jiang Chuan, who played the leading role, was a complete newcomer, so when the light shone on him, the reporters were still a bit at a loss for words, at this time, the director grabbed the microphone in front of him and added a sentence: "The Taoist priest in the promotional video."

  The reporters were in an uproar, flashing their cameras repeatedly.

  Then there was a slip of the tongue: "The mysterious person in the hospital room!"

  The reporter burst into laughter and pulled out a long lens camera, taking shots from all angles.

  At this time, staring at the TV in a daze was almost shocking: Jiang Chuan's grand debut was not given by Jiang Luocheng but by Director Wang!

  Damn it, what's with this guy? I've worked hard for so many years and still can't get a few smiles from my idol teacher!

  In the midst of chaos and envy, hatred, and admiration for the hamsters' wind, the entire propaganda has finally entered the questioning stage. According to common sense, at this time, reporters will raise various opposing questions about this TV series. Of course, sometimes if the staff or actors themselves can't hold back the scene, some weird questions like unbridled wild horses will also appear.

  Fortunately, today, in the presence of Jiang Luocheng and the producer, those reporters were relatively restrained. At first, everyone was asking various questions about "Republic of China's Strange Record", and these questions, as usual, were all anticipated by Jiang Luocheng, this old fox, so they had all arranged for the actors to seemingly naturally say out the prepared answers. The opportunities to respond were basically evenly distributed, allowing each person on stage to have a chance to speak... Almost unconsciously, he took on the role of a guardian, patiently and nervously waiting for his master to speak, but when he couldn't wait any longer, this guy was still propping up his chin with one hand, staring blankly at some corner of the scene, in a majestic manner, spacing out.

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Why don't you say something for once?

  Not only did he look awkward, but Jiang Luo also seemed to be at a loss - there were several questions that obviously arranged for Jiang Chuan to answer, but every time he smiled and looked at Jiang Chuan, wanting to use his eyes to hint at him to speak up, he found the latter turning his head in another direction, without any movement.

  Xu Qianqian and Wang Mo took over these questions.

  Until——

  The camera suddenly cut to a reporter from "Mou Lang Entertainment", who raised his hand calmly and was approved to ask a question. She stood up, adjusted her clothes, smiled and asked: "Mr. Jiang Chuan, recently on various portal websites, it was exposed that Xu Qianqian's insider friend, Xu Wenjie, wanted to take over the role originally belonging to Jing Ran, but was severely rejected by the director on the spot. There were rumors that the whole thing was very embarrassing at the time. What do you think about this?"

  As soon as the question came out, Jiang Luocheng and Xu Qianqian's faces changed, Wang Mo turned his head and let out a "pu" sound, then used coughing as cover, all the reporters... fell into a climax.

  The man who was called by name reacted slowly and turned his head around.

  He stared at the reporter for a while, until the reporter couldn't wait any longer and asked his question again. After a long time, he finally opened his thin lips and asked out of nowhere: "Recently, my originally very gentle and obedient hamster has suddenly become somewhat aggressive, with various behaviors that don't follow common sense, do you know why?"

  "Huh?"

  Everyone: "......"

  Under the sincere gaze of Jiang Chuan, the reporter who raised the question was stunned for a moment, and then replied with a brain that couldn't keep up with the beat: "......In this case, it should be hamsters, right?"

  Jiang Chuan uttered an "oh", smiled, and then said "thank you".

  Jiang Luocheng on the side completely went crazy.