Cheng Che did not participate in the subsequent casting process for the TV series.
He handed over the second and third rounds of auditions for the supporting roles to Director Zhou and President Fang.
The casting directors sent the cast list to his email every day. He would glance at it occasionally, but he no longer sat behind the long table to personally direct the scenes like he did on the first day.
He had done what he needed to do. He personally worked with Zhao Yiming and Ning Qing to cast them. As for the remaining roles, Director Zhou knew better than him what kind of actors were suitable.
After all, this wasn't his film crew.
Although he invested money and held a portion of the shares, the project belonged to Tengda, the director was Director Zhou, and he was just an actor.
He took care of what was his responsibility, and he didn't want to meddle in every little detail of what wasn't.
The following afternoon, Cheng Che and his team flew back to Capital City.
As the plane landed, he glanced out the window at the sky.
It was all gray and hazy, completely different from the blue skies and white clouds of Shenzhen City.
He put on a mask and hat, and got off the plane with Qin Lie and Chen Wei.
There were already quite a few people standing in the lobby, holding light boards, cell phones, and bouquets, stretching from the exit all the way to the end of the lobby.
Cheng Che glanced around; there were probably several hundred people.
Fortunately, he had accumulated experience and managed to get Qin Lie to become a VIP, allowing them to use the VIP channel. The staff led them out through a side door.
As Cheng Che passed the exit, he glanced in the direction of the crowd, then turned to Chen Wei and said, "Go find some airport staff and get some of my photos."
Chen Wei nodded and walked away quickly.
Cheng Che exited the airport through the VIP channel and got into the car.
A few minutes after the car drove off, Chen Wei handed him a bag from behind. Inside were several stacks of photos, which he had prepared for a magazine shoot.
Cheng Che quickly signed the photo and then handed it to Chen Wei.
"Give it to the people at the airport and ask them to help distribute it so the fans can leave sooner."
Chen Wei nodded, then left with Cheng Che's autographed photo.
Meanwhile, upon arriving in the lobby, the fans were still waiting.
Some people were taking pictures with their phones, some were standing on tiptoe to look towards the exit, and some were muttering, "Why aren't they out yet?"
A girl, clutching a light stick, looked a little anxious. "Has it already left?"
The people around her comforted her, saying, "No way, she just landed."
She looked down at her phone, then froze.
"Wait a minute." She handed the screen to the person next to her, " Cheng Che posted on Weibo."
The Weibo consisted of only one line. "To all the fans who came to the airport, thank you for your hard work. It's too late, please go home now. The staff brought you some things. Please be careful."
The accompanying photo is a selfie with an airport jet bridge in the background. He is wearing a mask and hat, with only his eyes showing.
Her eyes were very clear, and she curved them slightly as she looked at the camera.
The crowd fell silent for a moment, then some people began to whisper among themselves.
At that moment, several staff members in airport uniforms came out from the side door, carrying several stacks of things.
The one in the lead walked up to the fans, smiling, and said, "Mr. Cheng Che asked us to bring these to you. He said thank you all for coming, but it's too late, so please go home early."
The staff placed the items on the chair.
Fans crowded around to take a look and saw stacks and stacks of autographed photos.
Cheng Che's signature is printed in the lower right corner of the photos; he signed each one himself.
A girl picked up a photo, looked at it for two seconds, and tears immediately streamed down her face.
"He signed so many..." Her voice trembled slightly, "When did he sign them?"
The person next to him also took one, examined it from all angles, and then laughed, "Who cares when he signed it, he signed it anyway."
Staff began distributing autographed photos to everyone.
Several hundred tickets were given to each person, with some taking a few extra, saying they were for friends.
The crowd's anxiety turned to joy. Some people held the autographed photos to their chests for selfies, some kissed the photos, and some had already started posting on Weibo.
"We received Cheng Che's autographed photo!!! He had it delivered to us!!! He also told us to go home early!!!"
"I was initially sad because I didn't get to see him in person, but now I'm not sad anymore. He remembers us."
He said it was too late and told us to go home; he really cares about us.
The staff member standing nearby watched, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The middle-aged man in the lead turned to his colleague and whispered, "This kid's only nineteen? He's so thoughtful; he'll be something special in the future."
My colleague nodded. "Did you see his eyes just now? You could tell he was handsome even through his mask."
Stop being so infatuated, finish posting this.
A dozen minutes later, the autographed photos were all gone, and the fans gradually dispersed.
As some people left, they bowed to the staff and said, "Thank you, uncle."
The staff member waved them off, watched them leave, then took out his phone and sent a message to Cheng Che's team:
"We've given out all the autographed photos, and everyone's left. Thank you."
On Weibo, Cheng Che's post has already garnered over 100,000 likes.
In the comments section, fans posted autographed photos with all sorts of captions.
He sent me an autographed photo, and I got one. I'm laughing like a fool in bed right now.
He said it was too late and told us to go home; he's so kind.
I was initially sad because I didn't see him, but now I'm not sad anymore, because he remembers us.
This is Cheng Che; he won't let you wait in vain.
[Hundreds of autographed photos, when did he sign them? Was he signing them every time he waited at the airport?]
I'll go pick him up at the airport again next time, not to see him, but to let him know that someone is always waiting for him.
Don't go. He told us to go home, so let's go home. Be good and don't worry him.
Cheng Che sat in the car, scrolling through the comments, and smiled.
He put his phone away, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.
Qin Lie glanced back at him from the passenger seat. "When did you come up with the idea of autographed photos?"
"On the plane," Cheng Che said. "I know someone will be waiting for me; I can't just leave."
Qin Lie chuckled, "You're quite thorough."
"Not all of them," Cheng Che said. "A few hundred, that's enough to distribute. I can't sign any more than that."
Qin Lie didn't say anything more and turned back.
A few days later, in the Capital City.
The awards ceremony was not Peking University, but at a conference center.
The Mathematical Society holds its annual meeting here every year. This year's meeting was not large in scale and there were not many people attending, but those sitting in the front row were all prominent figures in the Chinese mathematics community.
When Cheng Che arrived, Professor Liu was waiting for him at the door.
"You're here." Professor Liu patted him on the shoulder and looked him up and down. "You're dressed well today."
Cheng Che wore a dark gray LV casual suit, not the stiff cut of a formal suit, but made of soft fabric with a good drape.
She wore a black turtleneck sweater underneath, paired with slim-fitting black trousers.
He was wearing a pair of white Nike sneakers, clean and neat.
He wore Rolex on his wrist, a very simple steel watch, not flashy.
There were no accessories around her neck, but a small Gucci metal brooch was pinned to the lapel of her suit; it was clearly the double G logo.
Qin Lie stood beside him, looking at him, and remarked with emotion, "Today is your moment of glory."
Cheng Che smiled and said, "Don't make it sound so emotional."
"I'm serious," Qin Lie said. "Although this award wasn't broadcast live, you know better than I how much influence it carries within the Mathematical Society community."
Cheng Che didn't reply and followed Professor Liu inside.
The awards ceremony was very short.
The host read an introduction and then invited Cheng Che to the stage.
He walked over and accepted the certificate and trophy from the president of the Mathematical Society. The president, an elderly gentleman in his seventies with completely white hair, shook his hand and said:
"Young man, keep it up."
Cheng Che nodded. "I will."
Applause erupted from below.
There weren't many people, but the applause was deep.
He returned to his seat, took out his phone, and snapped a photo.
The certificate lay open on the table, the trophy stood beside it, and the backdrop was the red curtain of the conference center.
He posted the photo on Weibo with the caption. "Thank you to the Mathematics Association. Thank you to everyone who has helped me."
After sending the message, he put his phone away and didn't look at it again.
Unbeknownst to him, the comment section garnered over 100,000 likes and 50,000 comments within ten minutes.
[Congratulations to Che Baby!!! National-level award!!!]
[ Mathematical Society Special Award; this award didn't exist before, it was created specifically for him.]
[I saw what he was wearing—LV, Nike, Rolex, Gucci—but he didn't look tacky at all; he had such great style.]
The way he sat there made him look like a true scholar, not a celebrity.
[This is my idol, a 19-year-old undergraduate who won a national-level academic award.]
I cried, the person I admire is just too amazing.
Cheng Che, you deserve all the glory.
After the awards ceremony, Cheng Che left the conference center and got into his nanny car.
Zhao Gang started the car, and Qin Lie and Chen Wei sat in the front, chatting quietly.
Cheng Che leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Then he opened the system panel.
[ Intelligence Trial, Stage 5: The Ascent of Wisdom. Ultimate Goal: To obtain a national-level academic award during undergraduate studies. Completed!]