The Secret of the Moments Circle

Kong Teng chuckled, "To be honest, before today, I had many doubts about this project myself. The script is indeed a good one, but the writing team only had Li Xun. The filming schedule is so tight, I was truly worried about problems with the script later on. However, starting from today, all those doubts are gone. President Dai, our self-produced drama center has really struck gold this time!"

Li Xun quickly said, "Brother Kong, you're praising me too much, I'm embarrassed."

Kong Teng turned serious, "I'm not praising you; I'm just stating the facts objectively."

He then turned to Tang Jiahe, "Old Tang, you saw everything that happened today. Tell me, am I stating facts?"

Tang Jiahe nodded, "They are facts, absolutely undeniable facts. Otherwise, Huang Zhou wouldn't have been so thoroughly convinced that he'd push aside Director Zhao's project."

Kong Teng said, "It's a shame we didn't record the process back then. If we had, it would have been a ready-to-use audio script! But I suspect things won't go smoothly for Huang Zhou. His agent won't let him give up Director Zhao's project easily."

Tang Jiahe nodded in agreement.

Dai Ying watched her two trusted aides go back and forth, and curiosity began to stir within her.

Had this person in front of her caused some new trouble?

Perhaps "trouble" wasn't the right word.

Had this person in front of her done something astonishing again?

How many secrets was he hiding?

It felt like they were endless!

Kong Teng, in excellent spirits, began to vividly recount to Dai Ying the process of Li Xun dictating the script that morning.

For example, the Young Bao Qingtian series would be divided into two parts, each with 40 episodes. The first part would have 7 small story arcs, and the second part would have 6.

And then there was the mysterious seventh mummified corpse!

As Kong Teng reenacted the morning's events, Dai Ying found her gaze drifting towards Li Xun more and more frequently.

Then, Dai Ying remembered an annoying matter.

Ever since she'd impulsively told her mother she had a boyfriend, her mother had been pestering her for photos of him these past few days.

Dai Ying secretly glanced at Li Xun, ultimately deciding to implement the plan that made her feel a bit ashamed to admit.

She stood up from behind her desk, masking her guilt with a smile, "Young Bao Qingtian project, the chairman approved a budget of 2 million per episode. Now that Huang Zhou is joining, we should be able to apply for a bit more production funding. The start of this drama is quite promising. All the main creative staff for this drama are in this office right now. How about we take a group photo to commemorate this?"

Kong Teng immediately chimed in, "Great idea! Then I'll trouble President Dai to take a photo of the three of us. I have a feeling this drama is going to be a huge hit. Today is truly a very memorable day."

After speaking, Kong Teng pulled Li Xun and Tang Jiahe, and the three of them stood in a line. Kong Teng then smiled at Dai Ying and said, "Alright, President Dai, let's take the picture!"

This was awkward.

Dai Ying had clearly meant for everyone to take a photo together, but somehow, she had become the one holding the camera.

Well, it was true. She had never taken a group photo with employees before. The old timers in the company knew President Dai's personality, so Kong Teng's misunderstanding was understandable.

But the crucial issue was, Dai Ying's mother wanted a photo of her daughter and her boyfriend. She was afraid her daughter would just use any random man's photo to fool her.

Meanwhile, Li Xun and the other two stood in a line in the office, waiting for Dai Ying to take their picture. They waited and waited, but President Dai made no move. Puzzled, they saw Dai Ying press the intercom on her desk and say, "Qiu Ting, come here for a moment. Help us take a photo."

Soon, assistant Qiu Ting arrived at the office. Dai Ying's palms were sweaty, but she tried to maintain a composed expression as she stood between the three men, deliberately positioning herself to Li Xun's right.

Kong Teng and Tang Jiahe were a bit stunned.

President Dai had never actively taken a group photo with her subordinates before. Today's President Dai was acting rather unusually!

Qiu Ting held her phone, looking at the four people in front of her through the lens. She suddenly realized that President Dai and this new employee, Li Xun, looked inexplicably well-matched.

How to put it?

They gave off a vibe of a golden couple, a talented scholar and a beautiful lady.

It was just that their poses were a bit stiff.

Qiu Ting, with her near-professional photography experience, was certain that if President Dai could just tilt her head slightly towards Li Xun, the effect would be vastly different.

But she didn't dare to suggest it!

Besides, doing so would make them look too much like a couple.

President Dai would eat her alive!

"Everyone look at the camera, smile. Yes, good. Let's all say one, two, three, cheese!"

"Click!"

The moment Qiu Ting pressed the shutter, the usually aloof President Dai suddenly leaned her head slightly closer to Li Xun and flashed a radiant smile.

Qiu Ting looked at the photo on her phone, then at President Dai, who had instantly regained her cool demeanor. She then looked back at the photo on her phone.

Was she seeing things?!

Had she imagined it?

But a photo wouldn't lie!

President Dai's subtle, almost imperceptible lean and smile.

My goodness!

Did President Dai have such a gentle and watery side, like a woman from the Jiangnan region?

But this photo, if you covered up Director Kong and Producer Tang Jiahe, wouldn't it look exactly like a couple's photo?

President Dai will go crazy if she sees this photo.

"Very good, let's take another one. Someone's eyes were closed in the last shot."

The four of them struck a pose again.

"Everyone look at the camera, smile. That's right, one, two, three, cheese!"

"Click, click!"

Qiu Ting looked at her direct superior in astonishment.

Just now, her direct superior of three years, her cool and aloof female boss, had turned her head away at the very moment she pressed the shutter.

Once could be considered unintentional, but what about the second time?

Qiu Ting showed the taken photos to the four of them. Kong Teng and Tang Jiahe both smiled and expressed their satisfaction, completely failing to notice that President Dai and Li Xun's parts seemed a bit too intimate.

Dai Ying looked at the photos on her phone and smiled imperceptibly. The others didn't notice, but the usually sensitive Qiu Ting caught it clearly.

Qiu Ting scratched her head, baffled.

After the photos were taken, Director Kong Teng and Producer Tang Jiahe discussed the details of the TV series with Dai Ying again.

The filming location was basically confirmed to be at Huairou Film and Television Base. As for the rest of the crew, such as cinematography, lighting, and set design, a director of Kong Teng's caliber had a dedicated, fixed team working for him. A phone call was all it took to have the personnel ready at any time.

Basically, it was Tang Jiahe, Kong Teng, and Dai Ying who were chatting; Li Xun couldn't really get a word in.

Finally, there was the casting issue.

According to Tang Jiahe, most of the actors had already been decided. The actor playing Grand Tutor Pang was Zhang Binghua, also a veteran actor. Although not as famous as Chen Minghao, he was well-regarded in the industry.

Madam Bao would be played by Feng Lan, Zhan Zhao by child star Wang Xiaotian, the female lead Ling Chuchu by Jin Jiawei—a newly rising young actress; and Gongsun Ce by Ren Yi—a currently popular young idol.

With the crew and actors generally finalized, only a few more roles were left, and Young Bao Qingtian could start filming at any time.

Finally, Dai Ying created a WeChat group for the main creative team of Young Bao Qingtian. The group only consisted of Dai Ying, Kong Teng, Tang Jiahe, and Li Xun.

After Li Xun and the others left Dai Ying's office, Dai Ying closed her office door, then retrieved the photos just taken from her phone. After a simple edit, only the parts with Li Xun and herself remained in the image. She then uploaded the photo to her Moments, setting the privacy to "Friends only."

She added a caption: "We stand, without speaking, and it is beautiful."

She clicked send.

Dai Ying touched her face, which felt hot.

"Mom and Dad probably won't rush me to get married anymore, right?"

Dai Ying thought, covering her face.