Chapter 320

Yang Yi didn't at first understand why the other person had such a suddenly cold and obviously distant reaction; after a while, thinking of something, he took out a business card and handed it over: "I'm from Yi Xing Culture, I came here to attend a conference about photographic art."

Cha Li remained wary; he didn't know what Yi Xing Culture was, but since it involved people in photography, that also counted as having some connection with them, so before fully understanding, Cha Li still regarded Yang Yi as a competitor.

The business card Yang Yi gave was fairly ordinary; it didn't list his specific position at the company, and the phone number was that of a backup mobile phone he had bought in Chu Hua Shi.

Cha Li glanced at the business card and then paid no attention to it; out of politeness, he didn't immediately throw it in the trash but slipped it into his pocket—he just wanted to quickly leave with the cat.

Seeing that the other person had no intention to continue speaking, Yang Yi also stopped talking. After the other person rode away on the small electric vehicle with the cat, Yang Yi thought back to that moment: the other's obviously wary glance when learning he was a photographer let Yang Yi infer a possible answer. He had actually handed over the business card merely out of curiosity, and the film he was investing in also involved some cat shots, but the cats needed to be of a precious breed—just like that black domestic cat earlier wasn't within his consideration. His original plan had been to find some trained, somewhat spirited cats; after seeing the words "Obviously So Pet Center" printed on that bag, he thought, if possible, cooperating with such a pet center wouldn't be bad either—this was just a spontaneous idea of his.

After someone looked into the pet center, Yang Yi returned to the hotel, watched most of the advertisements and videos Xiao Guo and the others had filmed, stayed up all night thinking about the video, and suddenly had an idea—but to pursue it he first needed to meet the person in charge of that pet center.

Yang Yi didn't wait long; the next day he received a call from Xiao Guo.

It turned out that after Cha Li brought Zheng Tan to the pet center, because the indoor temperature was a bit higher and also a little stuffy, Cha Li put his coat in the designated place for clothes nearby; the business card inside the coat slipped out then. No one noticed at the time, but when Xiao Guo later went to put away clothes, he found it, picked it up, looked at it, and upon seeing the words "Yi Xing Culture" on it, he became instantly excited.

Xiao Guo himself had made a lot of money from advertisements and videos, and had once rented a cat to a small theater troupe for a TV drama, so he naturally understood this professional commercial circle. Yi Xing Culture was one of them; he didn't know who the "Yang Yi" on the card was, nor what position they held at Yi Xing Culture, but since it involved that company, it meant there was potential business. He didn't bother with anything else, immediately calling Cha Li over to ask about what had happened then.

Cha Li didn't hide anything either; he said it all, after all it had only taken a few minutes at the time.

Seeing Boss Guo's unpredictable expression, Cha Li felt nervous.

"Boss, is Yi Xing Culture really that good? Could it be… they also do advertisements? How does our studio compare?" Cha Li asked. In his mind, their studio was the best in the circle—of course, limited to the cat-advertising circle.

Xiao Guo tapped Cha Li's head with the magazine in his hand and said, "You know what? Compared to them, our studio is like instant braised-beef noodles versus actual braised beef."

Cha Li: "……" Isn't that just saying the difference between losers and rich, handsome guys?

Looking at the packets of instant braised-beef noodles on the side table—two for a dollar, with hardly any beef—Cha Li remained silent.

After Xiao Guo pondered all night, he got up in the morning and made a call.

After receiving Xiao Guo's call, Yang Yi, upon hearing the other's self-introduction, also had a clue; he had already looked into the several key figures at that pet center during his investigation, so he knew what role Xiao Guo played in the team.

They arranged a time; Yang Yi came to the pet center, and under Xiao Guo's guidance walked around, also asking about Zheng Tan—but while Xiao Guo could talk about other things, he didn't want to say much about Zheng Tan, only revealing the hidden circumstances after Yang Yi revealed his identity.

Zheng Tan had always kept a low profile; although many in the cat circle knew the alias "blackc", they couldn't match it to an account, and thanks to Xiao Guo's deliberate concealment, no one could dig up Zheng Tan's real information. Now that the big boss of Yi Xing Culture had happened to encounter him and was also open to cooperation, Xiao Guo let slip a little.

Yang Yi didn't immediately decide on cooperation; he wanted to further understand the filming situation. For this, Xiao Guo invited Yang Yi to observe during the next shoot.

Yang Yi had long been itching to see exactly how it was filmed and how those cats performed. In those videos, many of the cats' performances looked perfect to him, especially that black cat. Moreover, although he sometimes took animal photos himself, compared with a professional pet photography team there was definitely a gap—just like his grandfather years ago, who couldn't photograph people or scenery well but could outshine anyone when shooting cats.

Thus, after leaving Chu Hua Shi for a while, Yang Yi flew back again when the pet center began a new round of filming.

When Zheng Tan saw Yang Yi at the filming site, he was startled; he had an impression of this person, but didn't know why Xiao Guo allowed him to observe—normally Xiao Guo doesn't let others enter the filming site unless they are people he truly trusts. And this person…

Looking at Xiao Guo's demeanor, Zheng Tan felt that Xiao Guo was being somewhat cautious when dealing with Yang Yi, suggesting Yang Yi's background was not trivial.

No matter what background the other person had, Zheng Tan wasn't interested; his responsibility was simply to do today's job well.

At the start of filming, Xiao Guo's earlier wariness disappeared; he fully slipped into his usual state, directly leaving Yang Yi to the side, almost forgetting that person existed.

Yang Yi didn't mind being left out; he focused on the black cat under the lens and the other cats and dogs portraying different roles. One had to admit, the professional team was simply more capable: they knew which cat wouldn't sleep without clutching something, which cat would start to perk up at a certain time, which cat would react in what way after disliking a smell, and so on. Moreover, from its founding to now, the team had gained a deep understanding of the studio's few cats that regularly appeared on camera, resulting in high shooting efficiency and satisfying results. Xiao Guo said that black cat was their ace, and that was no exaggeration—just look at those cats' performances to see. Unfortunately, due to breed restrictions, that film couldn't feature this cat; only other cats could be used, following the film's script, which demanded a pedigreed cat.

However, the fact that this black cat couldn't play the film's role actually fulfilled Yang Yi's idea in his heart.

Yang Yi took up filming, largely influenced by his maternal grandfather. He had long wanted to make a documentary about the city, people, and cats; the film would record real life, show the pulse of the times and life, display and record the true side of the era, and by adding cats it would increase the documentary's appeal, drawing even those uninterested in documentaries to take a glance. However, it was difficult and he had never put it into practice. After the old man passed away, flipping through the thick photo albums made his idea stronger.

Watching the well-performing black cat in front of the camera, Yang Yi's smile grew larger and larger.

While filming the ad, Zheng Tan suddenly felt a chill down his back and almost made a mistake when jumping, but thanks to his rich experience and strong mental fortitude, he quickly steadied himself.

After filming, Yang Yi and Xiao Guo had a private talk in the room about Zheng Tan. Xiao Guo shook his head, saying, "I can't decide this; you need to go find its cat father and get his family's consent. Otherwise, even if you forcibly take it away, it won't cooperate, and you'll learn what a cat's claws are like."

Afterwards, Yang Yi and Xiao Guo signed a contract; the film crew borrowed a cat by selecting an experienced cat from their team, and a few people from this side went along to look after the cat's life and make it more cooperative for filming. As for Zheng Tan, Yang Yi went directly to his home to negotiate.

Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma were troubled; filming an ad was fine, Xiao Guo is an acquaintance, knows the background, also agreed to keep Zheng Tan's true information secret; even if it's popular in the cat circle, after all it's just a small circle, real life won't be much affected. Just as Xiao Guo himself has always thought, shooting ads for cat food and related products compared to professional films and TV is merely small-time; if he truly participated in a film/TV production and took up a large portion, the situation would be different. Moreover, the ad filming site here is close to home; if they take on Yang Yi's job, Zheng Tan would probably be away from home for a long time.

Given Zheng Tan's troublemaking nature, Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma really couldn't rest easy.

Persuading the Jiao family was no easy task, and Yang Yi hadn't expected to encounter such an obstacle.

Lure them with profit?

Sorry, the Jiao family isn't as poor as others think, nor are they obsessed with money; they won't buy that.

Threats?

As Xiao Guo put it, that cat will make you know what a cat's claws are like.

Or just wear them down until the Jiao family agrees.

Yang Yi originally planned to fly back to the capital tomorrow, but because of this matter he changed his mind, playing the emotional card, saying some sentimental things about art, about human feelings, about cat stories, saying this film promotes the consciousness of loving cats, which will let more people like and understand such a species that has infiltrated human society, has a not-so-good temperament, and is hard for people to comprehend.

In the end, the Jiao family loosened up, but that was only a loosening; the final decision still depended on Zheng Tan's own will, and only after Zheng Tan agreed did Jiao Ba reply to Yang Yi, agreeing to take part.

After hanging up, Yang Yi glanced at the sunlight outside the window for a while, then picked up his phone and pulled out the album inside; there was a copied old photo showing a very happy old man, with a yellow-and-white-spotted domestic cat standing on his shoulder, the cat affectionately leaning against the old man's head, slightly raising its chin to look at the lens, bearing a hint of lazy, overlooking demeanor.

Some say that people in the capital have an imperial air from being under the emperor's feet, yet also possess the warm vigor of the hutongs; and the cats of the capital have the spirit of the Forbidden City, also carrying the roguish vigor of the courtyard houses.

That black cat should be able to produce the effect he wants, right? Yang Yi thought. (To be continued...)