I Rely on My Versatility to Reach the Top of the Entertainment Industry [Ancient Times to Modern] - Chapter 51

That afternoon, Jing Yi indeed had matters to attend to—he had an appointment with the Animal Protection Association to discuss filming a public service announcement. This shoot was different from the previous competition; it was more formal and would be broadcast at scheduled times on national television.

He heard that to showcase the relationship between their country and friendly nations, a Westerner would also be participating in the filming.

Jing Yi got out of the car and entered the Animal Protection Association building. Noticing the staff member greeting him frequently glancing at his lips, he shot a flustered glare at Lu Yuzhi in the elevator.

Lu Yuzhi immediately lowered his head, looking dejected as he admitted his mistake.

Seeing Lu Yuzhi’s attitude, Jing Yi helplessly averted his gaze.

Lu Yuzhi promptly curved his lips into a smile, his amber eyes behind the sunglasses brimming with amusement, as if the earlier cowardice had never existed.

Their interaction was subtle, and the staff member didn’t notice. Upon reaching the meeting room, the staff member left.

Jing Yi greeted the people in the meeting room, shook hands, and took a seat.

The locals present all looked at Lu Yuzhi standing behind Jing Yi, surprised that he was positioned there. But Lu Yuzhi stood quietly, wearing sunglasses and giving off an air of not wanting to engage in conversation, so they dismissed the idea of speaking with him.

“Mr. Jing, the main reason we invited you here today is to discuss the script for the public service film,” said the association president sitting at the head of the table, a gentle smile on his face. “We consulted the photographers from the ‘I Can Survive in the Wild’ program and your instructor, and also learned from the national zoo about your interactions with animals there. We’ve confirmed that you indeed have a remarkable affinity with animals.”

“This shoot will require going into a nature reserve. The animals there, like those in the rainforest, can be somewhat aggressive. We’re wondering if you can still get close to them without getting hurt?”

Jing Yi thought for a moment and asked the key question: “Which animals will be featured?”

The association president pressed a key on his computer, and a slide showed a lion with a scar on its face and an elephant missing one of its tusks.

“These two are the main animals, and there will also be some birds.”

Photos of the birds were displayed.

After considering, Jing Yi nodded. “It’s possible.”

The president immediately followed up, “What if we bring one more person?”

“That should also be fine,” Jing Yi nodded again.

With Jing Yi’s on-the-spot assurance, the president’s smile grew more genuine. He had the director hand the public service film script to Jing Yi.

The meeting room fell quiet, with no one speaking.

Just as Jing Yi was nearly finished reading, the meeting room door knocked.

The president said, “Come in,” and the door opened.

“Sorry, my flight was delayed,” said a buzz-cut Western man leading the way. He was tall, dressed in a suit and sunglasses, and his Chinese was not very fluent. “I hope I haven’t missed anything important.”

The president stood up politely and said, “Not at all, Mr. Louis, you’ve arrived just in time. Let me introduce you—this is Jing Yi, the gentleman you’ll be collaborating with. Mr. Jing, this is Louis Brian, a basketball player from the United States.”

Jing Yi offered a slight smile to Louis. “Hello.”

“Hello, you look very beautiful,” Louis began with a compliment, his blue eyes full of admiration. “I like your appearance; it’s very quirky.”

As soon as he said this, the assistant behind Louis quickly corrected him, “Sorry, Louis meant to say ‘adorable.’ His Chinese isn’t fully up to par yet.”

“It’s alright.” Jing Yi politely replied, reciprocating with a similar courtesy, “Mr. Brian also has a very handsome appearance.”

Louis had fair skin, deep-set facial features, blue eyes, and a high nose bridge, embodying the distinctive boldness characteristic of Western looks. Upon hearing the compliment, he strode over to Jing Yi, looked down at the young Eastern boy before him, and said warmly, “Since Yi also likes my appearance, we’re friends now. Please call me Louis.”

Jing Yi tilted his head slightly. “Alright, Louis.”

“Gentlemen, shall we continue discussing the public service advertisement?” The chairman interjected at that moment.

Louis casually pulled out the chair next to Jing Yi and sat down.

The chairman had originally intended for Louis to sit on his right, but since Louis had already taken his seat, there was nothing to be done about it.

He explained his earlier plan to Louis and even suggested that if Louis doubted Jing Yi’s capabilities, they could play the video on the spot.

Louis smiled and said, “No problem, I accept your proposal. However, in the few days before we’re ready to shoot, could I spend all my time with Yi?”

Everyone present stared at Louis in surprise. They had heard that Westerners were warm and friendly, but they had never seen anyone quite this enthusiastic.

Louis openly accepted everyone’s gazes, not finding anything odd about his request at all. He even glanced sideways at Jing Yi with a smile. “Yi, this is my first time in this country, and there’s so much I want to know. Could you help me out?”

The decision to feature celebrities from both countries in this public service film was meant to symbolize the friendship between the two nations. Moreover, the fact that the other party had agreed to come here for the shoot was already a significant gesture of goodwill.

On a broader level, Jing Yi shouldn’t refuse Louis’s request.

The chairman tentatively suggested from the side, “Mr. Jing, it will take three days to prepare for the shoot. Perhaps you could show Mr. Brian around North City during that time?”

Jing Yi found it hard to decline.

“Alright.”

Lu Yuzhi, standing behind Jing Yi, furrowed his brows and fixed his gaze intently on Louis.

They continued discussing the feasibility of the script, and eventually, the chairman invited everyone to dinner.

Thus, the group moved from the conference room to Moonlight Hotel for the meal. As soon as they were seated, Louis whispered something to his assistant beside him, and the assistant promptly left.

Louis then turned to Jing Yi with a smile and struck up a conversation.

“How old are you, Yi?”

“Twenty.”

“I’m twenty-six. What do you like to do in your free time, Yi?”

“Free time?” Jing Yi thought for a moment. “Lately, I’ve been painting.”

Louis immediately chimed in, “What do you paint? I like painting too, though I’m not very good at it. By the way, there’s an international art exhibition in my country next month. Would you like to check it out after we finish shooting?” Jing Yi gave Louis a puzzled look, very much wanting to ask: Are all people from your country as enthusiastic as you are toward someone they’ve just met?)

But recalling the earlier incident caused by his questions, he chose to reply calmly, “I paint a bit of everything. Thank you, I’ll consider it.”

Louis looked disappointed for a moment but quickly perked up again. “I also use WeChat. Could we add each other as friends?”

Jing Yi took out his phone.

A soft cough suddenly came from behind.

Jing Yi turned to look at Lu Yuzhi.

Lu Yuzhi leaned in and whispered something into Jing Yi’s ear, and Jing Yi nodded.

Louis was originally looking at Jing Yi, but suddenly shifted his gaze to Lu Yuzhi, feeling that Lu Yuzhi looked very familiar.

He thought and thought, but couldn’t figure out where this sense of familiarity came from, so he gave up and continued chatting with Jing Yi.

Jing Yi responded out of politeness.

The association president nearby tried several times to interject but couldn’t find the right opportunity.

About ten minutes passed like this when the private room door was knocked.

The president thought it was the waiter bringing food and said “come in.” When the door opened, he discovered it was Lu Yuzhi who had changed his outfit.

Earlier, Lu Yuzhi had been wearing sunglasses like a bodyguard, but now he was dressed in a dark brown trench coat, his amber eyes visible, a faint smile on his exceptionally handsome face: “Sorry to interrupt, I’m here to find Jing Yi.”

Jing Yi looked at the man at the door who was radiating presence, showing confusion on his face.

Lu Yuzhi had said he needed to step out for a moment earlier – Jing Yi thought he had some urgent matter to attend to, but it turned out he went to change clothes?

Hmm, it seemed his hair had been specially styled too.

“Not interrupting at all, Mr. Lu, please have a seat,” the president quickly made room with good awareness, and others followed suit until the seat to Jing Yi’s left was empty.

Lu Yuzhi thanked them and strode over to Jing Yi’s side with his long legs.

Louis, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly stood up at this moment, his face lighting up with surprise: “Oh, God, look how lucky I am today! You’re Lu Yuzhi, that martial arts film emperor, right?”

“Mhm.”

Lu Yuzhi replied to Louis while stepping around him to sit beside Jing Yi.

Louis looked at Lu Yuzhi, then at Jing Yi, blue eyes showing doubt.

Just then, Louis’s assistant returned.

He was holding a large bouquet of roses and walked over to Louis.

Louis took the roses and directly presented them to Jing Yi.

“For you, Yi, to commemorate our friendship.”

Roses to commemorate friendship?

Lu Yuzhi’s eyes darkened as he spoke: “Mr. Blair, the meaning of roses seems to be love, doesn’t it?”

Louis smiled: “Yes, I think nothing expresses my heart better than red roses. Yi, you must accept them.”

Jing Yi looked at the vibrant red bouquet before him, glanced sideways at Louis, and declined: “Sorry, I can’t accept your gift.” Louis frowned, his face showing melancholy.

After a moment, he smiled again and handed the roses back to his assistant: “Please give these flowers to people outside.”

The assistant left with the flowers.

Just then, waiters came in to serve dishes, placing various vegetarian dishes in front of Jing Yi.

Seeing this, Jing Yi found it strange.

This was his first time eating here – why would the waiters place vegetarian dishes in front of him?

The association president beside him was also stunned: “Excuse me, these don’t seem to be the dishes I ordered.”

The waiter smiled slightly: “This is specially arranged by our boss, prepared for the boss’s boyfriend. The other dishes are still being prepared by the chef, please wait a moment. Enjoy your meal.”

Boyfriend?

The president looked at Jing Yi.

Jing Yi then turned to Lu Yuzhi: “You’re the owner of Weiguang?”

“Mhm.” Lu Yuzhi picked up some food with his chopsticks and placed it in Jing Yi’s bowl. “Eat.”

The two spoke naturally, and everyone present understood – these two celebrities were dating.

So that getup the Film Emperor Lu had on earlier… was it some special romantic roleplay, like pretending to be a bodyguard?

Do celebrities always play these kinds of games when they’re dating?

But it did explain why Film Emperor Lu had to enter through the door again.

He must have seen that foreign basketball star hitting on his boyfriend and couldn’t stand it anymore, deciding to make his identity known.

The association president felt his guess was ninety percent accurate. Picking up some food with his chopsticks, he glanced at Louis’s expression.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but the president felt like he could see eagerness sparkling in Louis’s blue eyes.

“So Yi is dating Mr. Lu?” Louis also used serving chopsticks to pick up some food for Jing Yi, “Then my rose gift earlier was impo… impo?”

His assistant behind him supplied: “Impolite.”

“My apologies, Mr. Lu. Let me offer you a drink to make amends.”

He raised his empty wine glass.

The assistant beside him filled Louis’s glass, then went to pour for Lu Yuzhi.

“I’ve always wanted to meet you, Mr. Lu. Never expected to discover we share something in common right after meeting you today.” Louis smiled meaningfully, “I hope we can get along well these next few days.”

Lu Yuzhi raised his glass: “Of course, we’ll definitely have a pleasant time.”

— Pleasant enough to make sure you never want to set foot in my country again.