FLBOTCP Chapter 75
Full Level Bigshot Only Takes the Career Path Chapter 75
Pei Mingzan hugged Zhao Yao for a while before letting go.
Zhao Yao looked at Pei Mingzan in front of him and smiled slightly, “Did you come over just like that?”
“I miss you,” Pei Mingzan reached out and pinched Zhao Yao’s cheek and asked, “Why didn’t you wear something warmer when you came out? It’s quite windy here.”
“It’s not that cold,” Zhao Yao replied.
Zhao Yao looked at Pei Mingzan. He was still wearing a mask, but he seemed quite lively. He gazed into Pei Mingzan’s eyes and realized that he did indeed resemble Peipei from their childhood. “How did I not recognize you earlier?”
“Well, I’ve changed quite a bit from how I looked back in my childhood. I even had a buzz cut back then,” Pei Mingzan said as he embraced him. “Don’t move, I’m hugging you to keep you warm for a while.”
Zhao Yao was held by him. He leaned against Pei Mingzan’s warm body, feeling the warmth radiating from him, shielding him from the cold wind. Not far away, the lights at the Zheng family’s gate were still on. From Zhao Yao’s perspective, he could see a security guard’s coat.
This was the Zheng family, not the Zhao family.
Pei Mingzan had really come as he said he would. He had even arranged to meet Zhao Yao not far from the Zheng family’s residence. Zhao Yao couldn’t help but feel a strange feeling, as if the two of them were sneaking away to have a secret rendezvous away from prying eyes.
In the end, he may be young in age, but in reality, his experiences and psychological age are much older than Pei Mingzan. But even so, as he followed Pei Mingzan onto the windy path and being held by him, there was indeed an indescribable feeling. As if he could feel the thumping of his own heart in his chest.
“After a few days, come to my place?” Pei Mingzan’s voice sounded in his ear.
Zhao Yao hesitated slightly, “Stay at your place?”
“What’s wrong with staying at my place?” Pei Mingzan laughed softly, “Is there anything wrong with staying at your boyfriend’s house?”
Zhao Yao frowned slightly. “Your family doesn’t know about our relationship yet. It might not be appropriate for me to visit.”
If they were in S City, it wouldn’t be a problem for Zhao Yao to stay at Pei Mingzan’s place or for Pei Mingzan to stay at his place. But in H City, Pei Mingzan was living with his family.
“If you’re concerned about that, I can have my apartment cleaned up,” Pei Mingzan smiled. “I have an apartment, but I haven’t been there in a while. How have you been getting along with the Zheng family? After all this time away, are you feeling comfortable going back?”
Zhao Yao paused for a moment. “It’s been alright. I originally planned to stay for a few days, but Xiao Bai insisted I book a flight back for Chinese New Year.”
But the Zheng family members were incredibly warm and welcoming. He had originally made a hotel reservation, but when his Aunt learned of this from Uncle Wang, she thought it was inappropriate for him to stay at a hotel while visiting. She invited them to stay at their home instead.
So, a brief visit turned into a longer stay. He didn’t have a strong impression of the Zheng family members, but being here gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity. “It’s fine. Uncle Wang is used to this side of H City, so it doesn’t really make a difference where we stay.”
“Stubborn,” Pei Mingzan rested his head on Zhao Yao’s shoulder. “And what about you? Are you getting used to it?”
Zhao Yao hesitated for a moment. “It’s alright; they are very welcoming.”
In reality, he was still thinking about the photographs and the fact that they had known each other since childhood. He felt it was really something new. But his memories of his childhood were a bit fuzzy. He remembered “Peipei Ge,” but it was just a vague impression. “Why did you have a buzz cut back then?”
“At that time, it seemed cool. My brother had a classmate who loved to have a buzz cut. He was handsome and had a cool personality. Kids always liked to follow trends back then, so I shaved my hair like him,” Pei Mingzan said. “Why? Did you look at the photos and find me ugly as a child?”
“It’s actually quite cute, just a bit unexpected,” Zhao Yao thought carefully. “I don’t remember too well, but I recall you being quite fierce as a child, completely different from now.”
“How can you compare childhood to now? You were shy and blushed a lot as a child, and now you’re always putting on a serious cold face,” Pei Mingzan added, “Are you bothered that I know things about your childhood but didn’t tell you?”
“At first, I had some doubts. But then I thought, if it were me meeting you for the first time, I wouldn’t have openly talked about it either,” Zhao Yao said, feeling a bit ticklish as Pei Mingzan rubbed his neck. “But as we got closer, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Recalling those memories would be quite dull if I told you everything at once,” Pei Mingzan rubbed his face against Zhao Yao’s. “I thought I’d save the stories from our childhood for the days when you feel like reminiscing.”
Zhao Yao felt hot and itchy from Pei Mingzan’s rubbing. How had he not noticed before that Pei Mingzan liked to snuggle up so much? He raised his hand, pulled down Pei Mingzan’s mask, and tilted his head to kiss the corner of Pei Mingzan’s mouth.
Pei Mingzan paused for a moment. As he turned, he noticed a faint figure on the second floor of the Zheng family’s house. He raised his hand to support the back of Zhao Yao’s head and continued to kiss him. ⁽⁽ ପ( ´｡>༝<｡` )ଓ ⁾⁾ (≧∇≦)(≧∇≦)/ I SWEAR IM JUST OUTRIGHT SREAMING RIGHT HERE AND THERE !!! HAHAHAHAH CARRY ON READING
……
In the morning, the Zheng family was having breakfast.
Zhao Yao took his seat and looked at the dishes from H City on the table, feeling a sense of nostalgia. He picked up a few chopsticks to give them a try, and although they were a bit different from what Pei Mingzan made, they still had that familiar taste.
The people in the Zheng family were very warm and welcoming. Despite not having met them much, the atmosphere was great.
It was different from Yao Bai’s family, but there was a cozy atmosphere here as well.
Aunt mentioned the upcoming Chinese New Year and asked if Zhao Yao needed anything to prepare.
Zhao Yao paused for a moment and replied, “Not for now.”
Aunt nodded and said, “This morning, Xiao Qi mentioned that you don’t seem to like drinking much. I asked Uncle Wang, he said you’ve been focused on being healthy recently. I didn’t expect that. I thought you and my husband would enjoy a drink when you meet. How about having tea next time?”
Zhao Yao responded, “That’s fine. You can make your arrangements.”
He looked at Zheng Leqi, the younger of the two brothers and the one who had been observing him at the dinner table the previous day.
“If you have any other preferences, feel free to let Aunt know, no need to be shy,” Uncle added. “Why don’t you stay here for Chinese New Year this year? After all, it’s only a few days. Maybe you could extend your stay after the holiday?”
Zhao Yao hadn’t expected his uncle to be so enthusiastic and could only say, “We’ll have to see about the arrangements when the time comes.”
The next day when Zheng Leqi woke up, he felt a bit absent-minded. Especially when he saw Zhao Yao at the dining table. There was an uncomfortable curiosity in him, wanting to ask but hesitating. He saw his cousin hugging and kissing that person, their relationship seemed very close, and from the looks of it, the person was definitely a man, which piqued his curiosity even more…
Zhao Yao glanced at Zheng Leqi, who quickly averted his gaze.
Why does this kid keep looking at me?
The matter of celebrating the New Year at the Zheng family was settled. After finishing his meal, Zhao Yao returned to his room and saw a text message from Chen Xi. It was about “Mi Ying.” Mi Ying became a huge hit recently, and while there were some troubles a while back, they had been successfully resolved, leading to even greater popularity for “Mi Ying.” The expected profits had multiplied several times.
Zhao Yao was quite satisfied with these results. Not only that, but “Li Meng” had also successfully passed the review. Now, they are only waiting for the broadcast schedule. Unless something unexpected happens, it should air after the New Year. Unfortunately, it might coincide with the tail end of the holiday season, or perhaps even face a slight postponement, depending on the scheduling.
In addition to this, Chen Xi also sent over next year’s project list. Huihua didn’t have many projects, but they are all top-notch. Since they had built up a good reputation, many producers and directors were approaching them for collaborations. There was a backlog of projects at Huihua, which was why Chen Xi had been working overtime before the New Year to finally complete the anticipated project schedule. Now, they just had to wait for the post-holiday assessments and reviews to make the best selections.
This project list was also sent to Zhao Yao. He quickly skimmed through the projects, recognizing two that he had heard from his past life. But many others were unfamiliar to him. There was one particular drama that caught his attention.
It was a modern romance drama, different from the usual clichéd love stories. The concept and plot were incredibly fresh, instantly capturing his interest. But the plot didn’t seem quite suitable for the current market. Zhao Yao glanced at the preliminary evaluation in the project list. The story concept was promising, but the team behind the project seemed somewhat lacking.
He skimmed through the episodes of the script included in the appendix, and after a quick glance he frowned slightly. This script…
He mentioned a few promising projects to Chen Xi, and when he finally brought up the romance drama, he inquired, “Can we reorganize the team for this one?”
Now, Chen Xi was curious because this type of TV drama was considered mainstream. The probability of a modern romance series becoming a hit was average, but it had a high chance of steady returns on the expected investment, which wasn’t particularly large. The entire team for this drama was composed of newcomers, and it was their innovative storyline that had caught the attention of the evaluation committee among the modern dramas of the same period. Chen Xi was a bit surprised and didn’t understand why Zhao Yao had brought up the issue of changing the production team.
“The issue lies with the script, not the fact that the team is inexperienced,” Zhao Yao said as he dialed Chen Xi’s number. Quick note: They were just talking through sms before
Having reviewed every project, Chen Xi found the story quite appealing and asked, “Why is that? I thought the concept was actually quite good. The story genre is rather unique in today’s modern dramas.”
“Don’t judge it solely by the surface. Take a look at the episode scripts in the attachment,” Zhao Yao explained, “For example, the male and female lead scenes in the first episode. While the story concept gives room for imagination, the problem arises when you examine the script itself. It follows a well-worn path and lacks freshness, almost as if the story and the script are entirely disconnected.”
Chen Xi hesitated for a moment, then opened the script to assess the situation. While he hadn’t read many urban dramas, he had reviewed numerous plot summaries during project evaluations. After reading the beginning of the script’s first episode, he could already anticipate the direction of the storyline, and it significantly differed from the imaginative space presented in the story concept.
“Is this project based on an IP adaptation?” Zhao Yao inquired.
Chen Xi replied, “No, it’s not. For IP adaptations, we consider the original work’s popularity, and we’ll indicate that in the project evaluation. This project features an original script, and the script is written by a well-known industry screenwriter.”
Having a reputable screenwriter with good reviews was one of the standards for the project evaluation. Chen Xi had also overlooked the script issue after seeing the screenwriter’s name. To his surprise, the script for the first episode was quite clichéd.
Zhao Yao paused for a moment and said, “That’s strange. The story doesn’t align with the script at all. It’s as if the screenwriter received a basic script framework and started filling in the details.” He felt the content filled in didn’t match their expectations. “Be careful when investing. If it’s this script, I feel there’s a high risk of loss.”
Chen Xi replied, “I’ll have someone follow up on this issue.”
Zhao Yao responded, “Alright, I’ll hang up.”
After Zhao Yao ended the call, Chen Xi pulled out the scripts for other projects to review. As he read, he thought of something else. How did Mr. Zhao understand romantic films so well? He had only recently ventured into the entertainment industry.
Did he grasp the formula just by watching the romantic genre? But, Mr. Zhao effortlessly pinpointed the issue…
Suddenly, he recalled the time he went to Mr. Zhao’s house and saw those discs. He thought. “Although Mr. Zhao switched careers to engage in entertainment industry, his dedication to studying high-quality works was really remarkable.”
-*
After hanging up, Zhao Yao received a call from Pei Mingzan. He said he was coming to pick him up and had already arrived downstairs.
Pei Mingzan came over today for a visit, bringing something with him. The interaction between the Zheng family and the Pei family had decreased, but they still exchanged occasional gifts and visits. Zhao Yao’s uncle and aunt had already welcomed Pei Mingzan with tea and conversation. It was only after chatting for a while that they found out Pei Mingzan had come to see Zhao Yao. Uncle Zheng asked a servant to inform Zhao Yao upstairs. Then continued discussing business matters with Pei Mingzan.
Pei Mingzan, the national film star, had quite a few fans among Zheng Leqi’s friends and classmates. In their circle in H City, there were many who knew about Pei Mingzan’s achievements. Some thought Pei Mingzan was stubborn and ignorant. But in the eyes of people like them, he is someone who dared to defy their family’s plans.He entered the entertainment industry and achieved significant success. For them it was really admirable.
Zheng Leqi noticed Pei Mingzan when he went downstairs to fetch something, or more precisely, he noticed the scarf Pei Mingzan was wearing. He had seen this exact scarf just yesterday when his cousin had entered the house wearing it. The scarf looked identical at first glance.
He couldn’t help but think about the person his cousin met last night and wondered if it was Pei Mingzan.
Pei Mingzan tilted his head slightly and noticed the boy who had been studying him closely. Last night, while waiting for Zhao Yao outside, he noticed a figure on the second floor of the villa. At the time, Zhao Yao had his back turned to the villa and hadn’t noticed the person, but Pei Mingzan had seen the person standing on the balcony, not moving…
Was that the youngest son of the Zheng family?
It was only when Zhao Yao came downstairs that he realized Pei Mingzan had been there for quite a while, just waiting to call him.
Zhao Yao’s aunt was aware of the good relationship between the two boys. She saw her husband engrossed in conversation with Pei Mingzan and tugged at his sleeve to remind him. She said, “Mingzan is here to see Xiao Yao. The weather is nice, why don’t you two go out for a walk?”
As they both left, Zheng Leqi’s gaze remained fixed on the doorway. It was then that his father spoke up, “Xiao Qi, don’t keep staring at people like that. You’ve been glancing at Pei Mingzan several times just now. That’s impolite.”
His mother added, “Weren’t you the one talking about Pei Mingzan earlier, saying someone in your class wanted his autograph? When your cousin returns later, you can ask him. Your cousin and Pei Mingzan are close.”
Zheng Leqi asked, “Mom, is my cousin really close to Film Emperor Pei?”
He didn’t mention the incident last night when he saw his cousin hugging someone. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that person was Pei Mingzan.
His mother replied, “Absolutely. When your cousin used to stay with us in the past, Pei Mingzan lived next door to our house. They used to play together all the time when they were kids.”
-*
Pei Mingzan drove, and the two quickly arrived at a famous local square. When they got out of the car, Pei Mingzan handed a hat to Zhao Yao and also gave him a face mask.
“So, are you saying you find the script strange?” Pei Mingzhan adjusted Zhao Yao’s hat and continued their conversation from the car.
“En.” Zhao Yao mentioned Chen Xi’s new investment project. He was originally interested by the story concept. But the script quality didn’t meet his expectations. “I know that in the film and television industry, a lot of the content is improvised by the actors. I actually don’t quite understand it, but I’m not very satisfied with the script.”
“You can’t really judge a script based on just a few episodes episode scripts . The production also depends on the director, actors, and the crew. But based on what you’ve said, it sounds like you need to be careful about potential investment scams,” Pei Mingzan brought up the topic of investment scams in the industry. “But I’ve heard of the screenwriter you mentioned, and there wasn’t any rumor of that sort circulating. There could be another reason.”
“Such as?” Zhao Yao asked.
Pei Mingzan explained, “The story concept and the actual script are often written by two different people. It’s quite common in the screenwriting industry to use ghostwriters or have someone else’s name on the script.”
Zhao Yao frowned slightly, “If that’s the case, it’s a pity for this story concept.”
“In general, if the story concept is proposed by the original author, then even if the script is poorly written, it’s unlikely to be terrible in the first few episodes. If at the beginning the script is too outdated and doesn’t attract the audience, it becomes challenging no matter how good the selling points are later on,” They navigated away from the bustling crowd in the square and headed towards a nearby shopping mall. “I think it’s the right decision not to invest. It’s too risky this way.”
“Chen Xi only provided me with the initial assessment form. The internal evaluation of the project at the company hasn’t been completed yet,” Zhao Yao explained. “It’s no wonder the initial assessment kept this project, the concept is really good.”
Pei Mingzhan paused for a moment and suggested, “If you value this framework and the following scriptwriters don’t intend to change the script, how about considering buying the rights?”
There were quite a few things to consider, and at least they needed to wait for a complete evaluation before making a decision.
Zhao Yao replied, “Let’s discuss it later.”
As the Lunar New Year approached, the shopping mall in the square was bustling with people. It was so crowded that nobody paid much attention to what was happening around them. Pei Mingzan and Zhao Yao blended into the crowd, and no one paid particular attention to them.
This was Zhao Yao’s first time experiencing such a crowded mall. If they weren’t careful, they could easily get separated by the oncoming crowds. “There are so many people here.”
Pei Mingzan casually held Zhao Yao’s hand. “Let’s go upstairs. There are fewer people up there.”
The lower floors were for affordable items, and as they ascended to the third floor, they noticed the crowd getting less. The two of them didn’t have a specific purpose for this outing. Pei Mingzan brought Zhao Yao out to get some fresh air. He was worried Zhao Yao might feel bored at the Zheng family’s house. Soon, Zhao Yao spotted a men’s clothing store not far away.
In his free time, he had developed a penchant for searching the internet for news about Pei Mingzhan. In addition to admiring his stunning photos, there were also Pei Mingzhan’s fashion blog posts. This particular interest had led him to notice the discussions among fans about Pei Mingzhan’s fashion choices. They felt that most of his clothing leaned towards cooler color tones. Despite him being a young man, his wardrobe lacked the eye-catching vibrancy it deserved.
“Are you buying clothes?” Pei Mingzan noticed where Zhao Yao’s gaze was directed.
Zhao Yao nodded, and the two of them entered the store to take a look.
The shop assistant quickly approached, asking about their preferences. When asked, Zhao Yao actively pointed to a set of clothes with orange tones on the left. Pei Mingzan was a bit surprised by this because it didn’t seem like Zhao Yao’s usual style. As far as he remembered, Zhao Yao typically dressed in simple black and white. And occasionally he would add gray or blue, rarely touching such vibrant colors.
Zhao Yao looked at the clothes that the shop assistant brought down and then pointed to Pei Mingzan, “Do you have a larger size? I’d like to see him try one on.”
Both customers were adorned in upscale attire and accessories. The shop assistant had been working in the store for many years and had a keen eye for details. They glanced at Pei Mingzan’s height and said with a smile, “Yes, please wait for a moment.”
“Your fans mentioned that you don’t wear bright-colored clothes much. I think the one you picked just now would suit you,” Zhao Yao looked around and considered selecting a few more items for Pei Mingzan.
“My friend said that after being in a relationship, you can’t help but buy clothes for your boyfriend,” Pei Mingzan ruffled Zhao Yao’s hair. He was a little disappointed he didn’t do it before. “I’ve noticed you’ve developed this habit recently. There are already several scarves at my place.”
Zhao Yao paused for a moment. He hadn’t even noticed this himself. “Really?”
The sales assistant quickly brought over the clothes, and Pei Mingzan said, “Please bring this style in a size smaller.”
The sales assistant was a bit slow to react, thinking that the clothes they had just brought weren’t suitable. But when they saw the two handsome guys engrossed in conversation, they quickly reacted and said, “Please wait a moment.”
The color was indeed very vibrant, but it suited Pei Mingzan. It might not necessarily suit Zhao Yao.
After the sales assistant brought the smaller size, Zhao Yao hesitated while holding the hanger. On the other side, Pei Mingzan had already finished trying on the clothes and came out.
Zhao Yao’s eyes lit up. “This looks good on you.”
Seeing that Zhao Yao hadn’t gone to try on the clothes yet, Pei Mingzan urged him, “Hurry and try them on. You said you wanted to wear some bright colors, right? Young people shouldn’t always wear those old-fashioned clothes.”
Zhao Yao originally came to the store to pick out a few clothes for Pei Mingzan. But every time he picked something, Pei Mingzan would tell the sales assistant to add another one. As they tried on more and more clothes, they ended up grabbing a growing pile of clothing.
The sales assistant initially found the two handsome guys a bit unusual, always asking for an extra item with each selection. But as they continued to add to their choices, the slightly shorter handsome guy calmly said, “We’ll take all of them.” Her sales performance suddenly shot up by several points, and she became even more diligent in fetching clothes for them.
You should know that they may not even sell a single piece of clothing in a whole day here. The mall caters to middle and lower-income consumers, while their brand’s prices are on the higher side. When the headquarters opened this branch, during performance evaluations, their store would always be at the bottom. But now, with these two handsome guys buying clothes so readily, they’ve significantly boosted their store’s performance for the month.
The only strange thing was that the two handsome guys didn’t take off their masks or hats while trying on the clothes.
At the counter, there was a young girl who, seeing the sales associate bring more clothes, exclaimed, “Another one?”
“Two more,” the sales associate said with a smile. “Young people nowadays are different. They love wearing matching outfits.”
After buying their clothes, both of them had quite a few bags. Pei Mingzan had to leave their address for delivery, and then he led Zhao Yao out of the store. Once they had left, the girl at the counter noticed the “Pei” in the name and hesitated for a moment, “I feel like I’ve seen that handsome guy before, he looks a bit like Pei Mingzan.”
As they strolled around they felt a bit tired. The two of them found a Starbucks to take a break. Zhao Yao was browsing through the photos on his phone when he had taken a few pictures of Pei Mingzan recently. Pei Mingzan was naturally photogenic, and even these casual shots turned out quite striking. With his good figure and long legs, the more Zhao Yao looked, the more he liked them.
“What’s the matter?” Pei Mingzan noticed Zhao Yao staring at him.
Zhao Yao said, “Nothing.”
Just as he finished speaking, his phone rang, and it was a notification from Weibo about updates from the bloggers he followed. He clicked to see and found a photo posted by Pei Mingzan with two drinks on the table. “You posted on Weibo?”
“En.” Pei Mingzan swiped his phone. Many fans had already started leaving comments. He said, “Going out with you, but it wouldn’t be a good idea to post your picture, so I took this one. It’s a pity that I’m still a public figure, and some works are still being aired, so I have to consider the impact. Otherwise, I would have posted a photo to declare my ownership.”
“Mm,” Pei Mingzhan swiped his phone, and numerous fans had already started leaving comments. He said, “I can’t really post your pictures when we’re out together, so I took this one instead. It’s a pity, though. As a public figure, I need to consider the impact of what I share. Otherwise, I would have posted photos just to declare ownership.”
Declare ownership…?
Zhao Yao paused for a moment, looking down at the photo on his phone.
The author has something to say:
Pei Mingzan: Wait until I have no ongoing projects…
Luo Ge: Are you up to something???
I just made this one whole. I think at this point the chapter release is messed up. But expect 2 FLBOT chapters per week ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
Please buy the raws to support the author if you can.
If there are any mistakes/error, feel free to comment it down below.
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