Chapter 25

Pei Qingjue smiled, then changed the subject. "Have you gone through all the materials I gave you?"

"More or less. Stack after stack of ancient junk—if my willpower hadn't been so strong, you really would've fobbed me off." Chen Mo glanced at the last few piles of documents on the coffee table and asked curiously, "Where did you dig up all this stuff? I don't know whether any of it will be useful, but some of it is obviously other people's internal secrets, isn't it—"

"Why does a little brat ask so many questions? Haven't you heard that curiosity killed the cat?" Pei Qingjue sneered. "Since you've been fairly obedient and hardworking, do you have time on Monday? I'll take you to the stock exchange."

Chen Mo blurted out, "Monday won't work. I'm flying to Hunan Province to record a show. My flight is tomorrow."

"Then why the hell did you call to bother me?" Pei Qingjue said bluntly. "We'll talk when you have time. Bye!"

Chen Mo listened to the dial tone and smiled. He had barely set his phone aside when another call came in.

Chen Mo looked at the words "Don't Come Back Restaurant" on the screen, smiled, and answered.

On the phone, Mother Chen asked whether Chen Mo had eaten lunch, whether he had eaten dinner, whether he was tired after his exams, and when he was coming home... Chen Mo answered every question one by one, and then Father Chen came running out from the kitchen to ask what Chen Mo wanted to eat...

By the time he hung up, it was already after nine at night. Yet Chen Mo suddenly felt energized, picked up the materials on the coffee table, and continued chewing through them.

At eight the next morning, his assistant Xiao Ding knocked on the door right on time.

Even Chen Mo himself didn't know when he had gone to sleep the night before. But when he got up, he tossed himself a Landmine in the system. The energy transformed from Fan Value exploded inside him, and he was instantly full of energy.

It worked better than drugs. And it was non-toxic, with no side effects.

Xiao Ding had come to take Chen Mo to the airport. Knowing Chen Mo had not eaten breakfast, he thoughtfully brought up soy milk, fried dough sticks, seafood congee, and soup dumplings. The dumplings were filled with shrimp and three delicacies, and their scent mingled with the aroma of the seafood congee, making Chen Mo's mouth water.

Chen Mo went to shower, brush his teeth, and change clothes first. By the time he came out, Xiao Ding had already arranged breakfast on the dining table.

"What a domestic little wife!" Chen Mo sighed with a dumpling in his mouth. Looking at Xiao Ding beside him, he said, "You haven't eaten either, have you? Sit down and eat with me."

Xiao Ding smiled and shook his head. "I already ate. I ate at home. My mom gets up early every day to shop at the morning market and forces us to finish breakfast before we can leave the house."

Chen Mo smiled. "That's great. Eat breakfast properly, and you'll have the strength to work all day, right?"

Xiao Ding smiled along with him. He followed Chen Mo's lead and chatted for a few sentences, making the atmosphere even more casual and relaxed.

After breakfast, they headed to the airport. The flight was at ten-thirty in the morning and was expected to arrive in Hunan Province in two and a half hours. Chen Mo wanted to laugh the moment he saw the schedule—clearly, they were planning to arrive in time for lunch!

But China's social culture was, in some ways, table culture to begin with. Whether people knew each other or not, no matter how big the business deal was, they would first arrange a meal and share a few drinks. Before long, connections would naturally form.

By the time they arrived at the airport, Yang Qindong was already there. Fei Yuchen and his manager were there as well. When they saw Chen Mo and Xiao Ding approaching, they all nodded in greeting.

After Emperor Wu of Han: The Young Emperor wrapped filming, Lin Xia and Huang Lixin, who played the male and female leads, as well as Sun Yun, who already had connections and was well established in the industry, quickly landed new projects. They were currently filming in different places, so for convenience and to save time, they would fly directly from their respective locations to Hunan Province to record the show. Only Fei Yuchen, despite having debuted several years ago, had remained unlucky for some reason. He had acted in several television dramas in a row, but either they made no splash after airing, or the shows became popular while he did not. Huaxia Entertainment, the company he had signed with, was a major company, but there were too many monks and too little porridge. His manager's standing and methods within the company were also mediocre, so the resources available to Fei Yuchen were limited. On top of that, Fei Yuchen himself had a somewhat quiet personality. He did not like socializing and was not good at networking. As a result, his career in the industry became even more lukewarm.

Still, Chen Mo rather liked Fei Yuchen's personality. He was steady, attentive, and didn't make a fuss. He was a little like one of Chen Mo's childhood friends from his previous life.

Yang Qindong looked Chen Mo over. He still had neat short black hair, a black down jacket, a classic black-and-white striped crewneck sweater, blue jeans, and white sneakers. With both hands tucked into his pockets, he strode in through the entrance and immediately drew everyone's attention.

Yang Qindong smiled again. Some people were born to be clothes hangers. They didn't need much styling; anything they wore looked like a luxury-brand runway show.

Although Chen Mo had not appeared in public often, he had been a guest performer at Yuan Haobin's concert, and his Lighting Cigarettes with a Piano stunt had caused a sensation throughout China. Many people remembered him vividly. With Yang Qindong, a top agent in the entertainment industry, beside him, as well as Fei Yuchen, who was not famous but was still a familiar face on television, Chen Mo was quickly recognized.

A commotion immediately broke out in the terminal. Fortunately, it was already past ten when Chen Mo and Xiao Ding arrived. Before they had exchanged more than a few words, airport staff announced that their flight would soon depart, reminding passengers to pass security promptly and not miss the flight.

Putting aside matters from his previous life, this was Chen Mo's first time on a plane in this life. Yang Qindong had deliberately watched his behavior on the flight, only to find that he handled everything with complete ease. He did not look like a first-time flyer at all, which made Yang Qindong curious.

Yang Qindong smiled. "I was worried you might not be used to flying for the first time, so I even prepared motion sickness medicine. Looks like it wasn't necessary."

Chen Mo glanced at Yang Qindong in surprise and casually said, "Why prepare it specially? Don't planes have motion sickness medicine?"

"They do, but it tastes bad." Smiling, Yang Qindong took a box of fruit-flavored motion sickness medicine from his bag and showed it off. "Look at what I brought—strawberry, orange, apple, blueberry, peach, milk, every flavor you could want. There's even beef flavor..."

"Really? Then I'll try one." As he spoke, Chen Mo casually took the medicine from Yang Qindong's hand, chose a blueberry-flavored one, and tossed it into his mouth.

Watching Chen Mo's movement, Yang Qindong said regretfully, "You don't like beef flavor? Mine is satay beef!"

As he spoke, he tossed a satay beef-flavored motion sickness pill into his own mouth.

Seeing how happily Yang Qindong was eating it, Chen Mo was slightly tempted.

But Yang Qindong simply put the medicine back into his bag and hid it away before saying, "No more. You can only have one a day."

As soon as he said it, both of them showed regretful expressions and glanced at the briefcase already placed in the overhead compartment.

Fei Yuchen and his manager, seated behind them, had watched the entire thing and were practically despairing over these two foodies.

After eating the motion sickness medicine, Chen Mo and Yang Qindong, both feeling sleepy, slept for more than two hours. They were only awakened by a flight attendant.

Before Yang Qindong got off the plane, the sweet-faced, curvy, soft-voiced flight attendant slipped a phone number into his hand. Chen Mo said nothing in front of her, but after getting off the plane, he couldn't help whistling and teasing, "A romantic encounter, huh?"

Yang Qindong smiled smugly and casually tucked the number into his pants pocket. "Adult games. Kids like you shouldn't pay too much attention."

Laughing and chatting, they left the airport. Banana TV had already learned Yang Qindong and the others' itinerary and sent a van and an assistant to pick them up.

Since it was lunchtime, the assistant and vehicle sent by Banana TV naturally took them to a five-star hotel close to the station. The welcome banquet had long been prepared, waiting only for everyone to arrive. Once they put down their luggage, they could eat immediately.

Although Banana TV was the host, its station director was a court official, burdened with countless duties and of distinguished status. Naturally, he would not lower himself to entertain a few minor celebrities with limited fame and influence. Thus, the people accompanying them were several hosts from the station's flagship variety show, Friday Funfest.

Hosts were generally good at talking, much less the hosts of a flagship variety show. They were naturally smooth, sociable, and adaptable. While actors might not match hosts in eloquence or cultural knowledge, they had spent many years in the industry and were no fools. One of the leading figures in the hosting world was famously emotionally intelligent and good with words, and Yang Qindong was there to keep the conversation warm. The meal was thoroughly enjoyable.

After lunch, everyone rested in their hotel rooms for the afternoon. That evening, staff from Friday Funfest came over to deliver the script and rehearse it with them. Since the variety show was not one that attracted attention by cruelly pranking or humiliating guests, at most they would play little games that looked dangerous but were actually very safe. Everyone was young, so naturally no one objected.

The script rehearsal went very smoothly. The hosts also had good personalities, so Chen Mo had originally thought the actual recording would go smoothly as well.

Who could have imagined it?

#There's Always Some Bitch Trying to Flirt with Me#

Backstage at Banana TV Studio 1, a handsome man who looked around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with deep features that made him seem mixed-race, sat before a makeup mirror. As he adjusted his hair, he examined Chen Mo through the mirror. A smile that held more mockery than warmth appeared at the corner of his lips as he said in a seemingly complimentary, admiring tone, "You're that Piano Little Prince everyone online has been talking about? I heard you have a special trick called Lighting Cigarettes with a Piano. That's kind of interesting. You can make so many tricks out of smoking. Perform it for me sometime, will you? I don't like smoking myself, but I don't mind showing my support."

Chen Mo stood where he was expressionlessly and asked in a calm, even tone, "Please forgive my presumption, but may I ask what your mother's surname is?"

Chapter 25

"What did you say?" The man had not heard Chen Mo clearly and instinctively asked again.

"I asked what your mother's surname is! How should I address her?" As Chen Mo said this, he suddenly remembered how, after watching Zhou Xingxing's films in his previous life, all his classmates had gone crazy and competed to ask everyone around them that same question. Familiar memories came flooding back, crashing through Chen Mo's mind like a movie.

Chen Mo suddenly stopped being angry. Amused, he looked at the person before the makeup table, who still wore a baffled expression, then shook his head with an earnest look. "Forget it. I won't ask what your mother's surname is. You probably wouldn't understand anyway. Let me put it another way—what is your father's surname?"

"Pfft!" "Pfft!"

Since they had come to record the show together and were from the same production crew, Lin Xia, Huang Lixin, Fei Yuchen, and Sun Yun were all on good terms with one another. When Ji Ze started picking on Chen Mo, they had immediately stood by his side. They had been thinking of how to help defuse the situation when Chen Mo, who had always had a sharp tongue, pulled this stunt. Unable to hold it in, they immediately burst out laughing.

Once they laughed, the other staff members remaining backstage began snickering too. In Ji Ze's eyes, it became the guests allied with Chen Mo and Banana TV's staff joining forces to mock him. Ji Ze, the musical genius known for his fiery temper, immediately flushed with embarrassment and anger. He shot Chen Mo a vicious glare and said loudly, "Newcomers these days really are arrogant. Didn't your manager teach you how to behave politely toward your seniors—"

"It seems Mr. Ji is very dissatisfied with my artist." Yang Qindong's voice suddenly sounded from behind them. Everyone turned toward the sound and saw the top agent, dressed in a sharp suit, stride into the backstage area and stop beside Chen Mo. Smiling, he reached out and patted Chen Mo's shoulder. With helplessness but obvious indulgence, he said, "You really are something. I can't take my eyes off you for a moment without you causing trouble for me. Tell me, how did you offend our musical genius, the talented Ji, known as a quality idol, the most gifted original musician in twenty years, and the man the media has bestowed with the elegant title of Piano Prince?"