With an enthusiastic smile spread across his face, he bent down toward Zhao Qirui. "General Manager Zhao, would you like to say a few words?"
Zhao Qirui declined in all seriousness. "No need. I won't steal the host's thunder."
The entire room instantly fell so silent that not even a crow or sparrow could be heard.
Zhao Qirui, whom no one had paid much attention to just moments earlier, instantly became the center of attention.
Wen Zhixin also frowned in confusion and looked at Zhao Qirui.
This man actually commanded that much respect from the director?
Within seconds, Chu Chen recognized Zhao Qirui as well. A hint of delighted surprise appeared in his eyes.
When Chu Yu and her younger brother were very young, Zhao Qirui had looked after them for a while.
At the time, the Chu Group was going public, and the Chu Family parents were so busy running in circles that they had no time to spare for Chu Yu and her brother.
In the end, left with no other choice, they could only entrust the siblings to Zhao Qirui's care for a while.
After that, whenever Chu Yu and her brother had time, they would make a special trip here to visit Zhao Qirui.
But ever since Chu Yu went abroad during high school, neither she nor Chu Chen had come here again.
Counting the years, it had been at least five or six since they last saw Uncle Zhao.
At last, a flicker of emotion crossed Chu Chen's previously expressionless face. He put down his drink can. "Uncle Zhao, what brings you here? Did you come to see me and my sister?"
Zhao Qirui quickly nodded with a smile. "Yes! I was just so eager to see you both that I didn't think about the show being livestreamed and came straight over. I don't know if I've disrupted your filming."
The director smoothly picked up the conversation, smiling broadly. "Not at all, not at all."
Although Zhao Qirui wasn't especially well known, his standing and influence were both formidable.
A business heavyweight like him deigning to appear on their variety show was doing them an enormous honor.
The director would have loved for important figures like him to drop by their show more often, giving its prestige a boost.
Meanwhile, the viewers in the livestream had been stunned by the scene before them.
[?? Chu Yu actually knows someone as important as Zhao Qirui?]
[I just want to ask, how did Chu Yu get to know General Manager Zhao? As far as I remember, General Manager Zhao barely has any dealings with the entertainment industry, right?]
[What General Manager Zhao? I've never even heard of him. Are you sure he's that impressive?]
[...Could the person above have a little common knowledge? You don't even know Zhao Qirui. You should read more business magazines.]
Just then, Gu Jinhuai, who had gone into the next room for a video conference earlier, happened to return.
Hearing footsteps, Zhao Qirui instinctively turned around and recognized Gu Jinhuai at once. He called out in delighted surprise, "President Gu, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."
Zhao Qirui had just worked with the Gu Group on a project the previous week. The two had met not long ago, so naturally, they knew each other.
Gu Jinhuai paused slightly, seemingly not having expected Zhao Qirui to turn up on this show too.
Soon, Zhao Qirui and Gu Jinhuai began exchanging a string of polite pleasantries.
And just like that, the livestream viewers witnessed two business heavyweights showering each other with praise.
Zhao Qirui said, "Your company's been doing quite well lately, President Gu. I heard you've landed quite a few more key projects with international high-tech companies."
Gu Jinhuai said, "That environmental protection and greening project you were involved with last week was quite good too, General Manager Zhao."
Zhao Qirui shook his head modestly. "Not at all, not at all. I'm just a lowly manager under the Chu Group. We're all just workers."
It had to be said that this modest way of referring to himself had almost become a catchphrase.
As they talked, the two sat down in the sofa area opposite them, then launched into another round of business discussions.
The director and the production crew could only wait obediently to one side, watching helplessly.
As for why they didn't dare interrupt?
What a joke. Either of these two could crush the production team with a casual flick of his little finger.
Where would they find the nerve to disturb them?
But it looked as though the two would be discussing things for a while longer, so the director waved at the camera operator. "Come on, let's film over here first. I have something to say."
Although Zhao Qirui's appearance had been a wonderful surprise for the director, he still hadn't forgotten the matter at hand.
The private messages on the show's official social media account had already been flooded by irrational fans. There were so many messages that even opening the dashboard made the screen freeze.
If this kept up, the production team really would end up trending soon over its supposed "unfair" treatment.
The director finally drew everyone's attention back.
Chu Yu also shifted her gaze away from Zhao Qirui.
Before speaking, the director deliberately glanced at the Wen siblings' expressions before continuing coolly, "Something very bad happened during today's filming. I believe all of you are aware of it by now."
"First, what I want to say is that the difficulty set for every challenge by the production team has a basis. There is absolutely no situation where I favor anyone, pull strings for them, and lower the difficulty of their challenges."
Although the director hadn't named any names yet, everyone could already understand what he meant.
He was clearly telling the Wen siblings that their earlier complaints about unfair challenge difficulty were completely unfounded.
As his words fell, the smile Wen Zhixin had kept on her face instantly froze.
Wen Tianqi, who had only just calmed down over there, also looked somewhat unnatural.
But facing the director, who held absolute power over everything on the show, neither dared snap back as they had earlier. They could only bottle up their anger and lower their heads without a word.
In their fans' eyes, the Wen siblings' behavior once again made them pitiful figures who dared to be angry but not to speak.
Instantly, all kinds of comments protesting the injustice began flooding the livestream chat.
Meanwhile, Chu Yu's casual fans had barely said a few fair words before extreme haters cursed them out in private messages and reported them, causing the bystanders who had just wanted to help clear things up to fall silent and lurk instead.
Ever since Chu Yu debuted in the entertainment industry, that group of die-hard haters had always been there.