Fu Yunyi really couldn't understand what Fu Chi had said.
He couldn't understand any of it.
Or rather, he had stopped understanding things the moment he realized Fu Chi hadn't come here for him at all.
He wouldn't believe Fu Chi had come for work, not even if you beat him to death.
At most, Incredible Life was a way for everyone involved to test the waters. It was the production team's first attempt too. Although they had a rough estimate of its potential reach, this was the first attempt of its kind in the country. Who knew what direction it would take?
Fu Yunyi had read the show's risk assessment too. As far as he was concerned, if Fu Chi hadn't shoved him into the show, bringing the production team its initial traffic, then with their original plans...
Fu Yunyi: Heh. They'd be lucky to finish filming without a hitch. Forget getting results.
But now that Fu Yunyi was here, and he had plenty of confidence in himself, the production team would definitely finish filming smoothly and achieve decent results.
Still, as a livestream show testing the waters, it wouldn't be very large in scale or receive much investment. Even as one of Fu Chi's investment projects, it shouldn't have warranted much of his attention.
Fu Yunyi certainly knew his youngest uncle better than outsiders did. Making money was like child's play to his uncle. Unless something offered a certain level of challenge and reached a certain scale, the most Fu Chi would do was put up some money and have his subordinates keep an eye on it.
What?
You thought Fu Chi would pay at least some attention because his nephew was here?
Fu Yunyi: "Heh."
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Fu Yunyi couldn't figure out what Fu Chi had come here for, and now he had even more questions.
What had Fu Chi just said?
That Xia Zhiyi's herbal tea tasted good?
That he wanted to take some for the journey back?
What a joke. What Xia Zhiyi had made was bitter herbal tea. Anyone who drank it would know!
Hadn't they seen how Wang Chengran and Xue Ranran hadn't touched a second cup after drinking their first?
Fu Yunyi had tried a little just now too, and he had nearly spat out the very first mouthful.
Those two were practically warriors for forcing down an entire cup.
Fu Yunyi had a lot he wanted to say right now.
When Fu Yunyi met Fu Chi's cool, fathomless eyes, he didn't dare say any of it.
He could only pretend he hadn't heard.
Xia Zhiyi was a little surprised too. After a brief pause, he smiled and said, "If you like it, Mr. Fu, you're welcome to take all of it. The others don't seem to like it much. I'd been planning to finish the rest myself this afternoon."
Fu Chi gave a slight nod at that. "Thank you."
Fu Yunyi opened his mouth, then stopped.
But remembering that Fu Chi was a hardcore man who could drink coffee without any sugar or milk, he kept his mouth shut.
Fu Chi didn't stay for an afternoon rest. As it happened, the little shop the production team had set up sold water bottles. Fu Chi paid for a one-liter bottle himself, filled it with Xia Zhiyi's herbal tea, politely said goodbye to Xia Zhiyi, and left with his team of black-clad bodyguards.
From beginning to end, apart from meeting Fu Yunyi when he first arrived, he hadn't spoken a single word to Fu Yunyi alone afterward.
Fu Yunyi: "..."
Just what did you come here for?
Did you really come to inspect the surroundings?
Surely you didn't need to come in person for that?
Fu Yunyi was full of questions.
But he didn't connect any of it to Xia Zhiyi. After all, Xia Zhiyi had never even met Fu Chi before today. How could it have anything to do with him?
Fu Yunyi: "So weird."
Xia Zhiyi was stacking the dishes in a basin. Hearing that, he looked up at him.
Fu Chi waved a hand. "Nothing. Oh, right, I remember you and Wang Chengran have a sofa in your room too. Let me lie down on it this afternoon."
Xia Zhiyi was a little surprised. "You're not going back to your room?"
Fu Yunyi gave an awkward but polite smile. "Zhou Kai and his manager might still have things to discuss."
Chen Yun still hadn't come out of the room. How could he go in?
Xia Zhiyi: "...Sure."
At that moment, the atmosphere between Chen Yun and Zhou Kai in their room was rather tense.
The reason was simple. Not long ago, Director Gong had found an opportunity to have a staff member briefly relay the production team's position, and indicated that Chen Yun could come discuss what would happen next with him.
Chen Yun had originally thought there was room to negotiate. After all, aside from Fu Yunyi, Zhou Kai had the highest status among the guests. She had thought Director Gong would take that into consideration.
She hadn't expected Director Gong to want to kick Zhou Kai out outright.
Chen Yun asked, "What do you think?"
Zhou Kai had wanted to leave earlier. By the time Chen Yun asked him now, she had more or less made up her mind.
Chen Yun still didn't want to fall out with Director Gong. The show might be a small, newly launched production, but Director Gong was no minor director. Since Zhou Kai himself didn't want to keep filming, resolving this peacefully would be best.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Kai no longer wanted to leave. "I'm not leaving."
Chen Yun: "...?"
Zhou Kai said, "Why should I leave just because he tells me to? Isn't their production team responsible for all this on my body? I haven't even gone after them over it yet. What gives him the right..."
Chen Yun said coldly, "You think Gong Cheng wants to kick you out because of your condition?"
Zhou Kai said, "What else could it be? I only missed half a day of filming. The doctor said that with proper treatment and management, it could clear up in just a few days at the earliest. He..."
Chen Yun said, "Have you forgotten what you did yesterday?"
Zhou Kai: "..."
He had no answer.
Chen Yun said, "I know Gong Cheng well enough. Compared to some of the other variety show directors in the industry, he's fairly upstanding. If he hadn't discovered something, he wouldn't be taking such a firm stance."
Chen Yun said, "You wanted to leave before, and now you think being kicked out would be embarrassing, so you don't want to go. If anything happens after this, I won't get involved."
Zhou Kai said, "How would he dare? If something really happened, this show would..."
Chen Yun said, "So you want to fall out with Gong Cheng? That's practically the same as falling out with Orchid TV. Are you sure?"
Zhou Kai shut his mouth.
He had only become popular recently, and even that was thanks to the drama he'd done with Fu Yunyi. He didn't have that much clout.
Chen Yun sighed. "All right, I'll go talk to Gong Cheng about what happens next. Pack your things. We might be leaving this afternoon."
As it happened, if they left now, they could still tell the public that Zhou Kai's constitution made him unsuited to filming here, leaving him no choice but to withdraw.
Wasn't urticaria just an allergic reaction? That explanation would hold up.
And so, when Xia Zhiyi woke from his afternoon nap, he learned that Zhou Kai had withdrawn from the show for health reasons.
Before the guests could even marvel at how Zhou Kai had actually left just like that, Director Gong forcibly dragged their attention back with his next words. "Since we're down one guest, we'll also have to deduct one person's share from the funds we allocated to you by head count. The production team has already worked it out for you..."
Then he announced a figure precise down to the last digit.
Everyone: "..."
Fuck, Director Gong, aren't you being a bit too shameless?