Chapter 410

They arranged a time, and Jiao Ba drove the family to the place Yang Yi mentioned.

After all, children of this age, influenced by the big environment, inevitably become curious about celebrities. Don't look at Jiao Yuan, Su An and the others usually appearing proper in front of elders; actually they have many thoughts, and in private they also talk about celebrities, especially sports stars and film/TV female stars. As for Xiao Youzi, although she cannot be called a fan-chaser, because she often watches TV, she also has favorite TV dramas, and naturally has favorite celebrities. Knowing they were going to Yixing Culture Headquarters to see celebrities, these two were very happy.

Meanwhile, Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma were thinking, if Yang Yi again raises the request to have their family cat act in TV or film, how to refuse.

Zheng Tan himself had originally decided not to get involved in those matters; acting in one movie was enough, and since he wasn't a professional in that line, there was no need to strive for it.

Yang Yi had one of his assistants come to pick them up; after showing identification and parking the car in the underground lot, they took the elevator up. The elevator was a dedicated one, requiring a card swipe and password entry, and only Yang Yi and a few other core personnel used it on ordinary days.

While in the parking lot, they also saw several familiar faces from TV, and Jiao Ma and Jiao Yuan glanced over there several times.

After the Jiao Family was led into the elevator, the few people who had parked their cars also walked to another elevator, but they didn't rush in; instead they first chatted about gossip, as they were not in a hurry.

"Just now that was Yang **oss's relative?"

"Maybe, otherwise they wouldn't have sent sara to pick them up," another said.

The Sara they were referring to was the assistant Yang Yi had sent over.

"There was also a cat just now. Black, did you see it?"

"Speaking of cats, could it be that one?"

"Are you talking about that movie from last year that caused a heated discussion? What was that cat supposedly called?"

"Z, I heard Xue Ding and them say it was probably called Z; back then it was treasured by Yang **oss and Kong Han, with no news leaked." The person who had been silent said, speaking of last year's cat that sparked online heated discussion, he was very interested, "Why don't we go up and take a look later?"

Last year a movie brought Xue Ding and Tao Qi into the spotlight, also allowed Shi Xiao Tian and Wei Wen to advance further, and moreover made Yang Yi known to more people. However, there are many doubts in it. Even now, no one knows; even if you ask the actors who participated, including Luo Na De from outside the company, no one is willing to speak. To be precise, they dare not speak. Over the past year, even bigger doubts have not been raised; the entertainment industry's winds and clouds surge, waves never cease. Past waves have not been mentioned again, but now that we have encountered this, several people inevitably feel a bit curious.

"What are you talking about?" the voice of high heels approached, and the person asked.

"Hello, Sister Wei," a younger person among them said with a smile.

The person who came over was Wei Kara and her agent.

"Kara, I heard you're going to participate in Totem?" a man around thirty asked. Totem is a big-budget film; being selected is also considered an acknowledgment of star status, but he is a singer, not very interested in acting in movies, his acquaintances are mostly singers, with few actors, and he doesn't have much interest competition with Wei Kara, so when speaking there's no jealousy.

"Not decided yet," Wei Kara said, unwilling to elaborate, and instead asked, "What were you guys talking about just now, Brother Wang?"

That Brother Wang didn't hide it, simply said it briefly.

Wei Kara's heart jumped; she recalled the person she had met yesterday in the residential area, and that black cat.

After several people entered the elevator, that Brother Wang suddenly said, "Kara, your fellow townsman has been doing very well lately."

Inside the elevator, hearing this, Wei Kara frowned slightly and lightly said, "Oh, she has good talent."

"There are plenty of talented people," Brother Wang also didn't say much, and after the elevator arrived he left with his two friends.

When only Wei Kara and her agent remained in the elevator, the agent standing nearby watched the numbers jumping in the elevator and said, "Stay away from that fellow townsman of yours; she's becoming more and more unrestrained, and will eventually dig her own grave."

"Hmm," Wei Kara lowered her head slightly, not knowing what she was thinking, just giving a soft acknowledgment.

Meanwhile, the people and cat brought to Yang Yi's office were intently staring at the magazine cover Yang Yi had given them.

Usually the Jiao Family doesn't read fashion magazines much; the only two copies at home were picked up after others finished reading them, and they're currently being used as table leg pads; as for new fashion magazines, no one in the Jiao Family pays attention.

At this moment, on the cover of a top-selling domestic fashion magazine, there is a model who looks somewhat cold and glamorous, as well as a black cat.

Jiao Ma stared at the magazine carefully, then uncertainly said, "Is this really our family's Hei Tan?"

Looking at it, it doesn't seem like it.

Not only Jiao Ma, but other members of the Jiao Family also felt that the cat on the magazine cover, resembling a black panther with a cold, hard aura, was nothing like their own mischievous, ill-behaved cat.

"Although there may be influence from filming techniques, this is indeed it." Yang Yi pointed at Zheng Tan and said to the Jiao Family.

Yang Yi's urgency in finding Zheng Tan was not because he wanted to invest again in a cat-element movie, but because he was entrusted with a request. This last year's magazine is basically no longer noticed by anyone; however, Li Wei's agent had contacted Yang Yi, saying they hoped to cooperate again. At that time Yang Yi knew the Jiao Family didn't want to increase their cat's exposure, so he told Li Wei's agent as much, and the matter was put aside. But not long ago, Li Wei came to the capital to attend a show, and when her agent chatted with Yang Yi, they brought up the topic again. Yesterday, after receiving Kong Han's call, Yang Yi thought to persuade again, seeing if the Jiao Family could loosen up.

Jiao Ba glanced toward Zheng Tan. Zheng Tan turned his head and even took a slight step back, indicating to Jiao Ba that he was unwilling.

Having thought it over, Jiao Ba said, "To be frank, Hei Tan had a serious illness at the end of last year, staying a week in the pet center, and now some pet commercials have greatly reduced filming time."

This statement is factual; compared to before, Zheng Tan's time spent filming with Xiao Guo has indeed decreased a lot, but Xiao Guo is observing Zheng Tan's physical condition, and if he confirms Zheng Tan is still strong, he will still increase the workload, something Jiao Ba didn't mention.

The older batch of cats participating in shoots at the pet center are gradually aging; now several of them have reduced activity levels, while the newly recruited cats for the shooting team are still in the 'training' period, not yet broken in. So lately Xiao Guo has been worried; looking around, only Zheng Tan still frolics happily. After having suffered an illness, aside from regularly going to Jiao Ba's office to report in, he hasn't shown much restraint. If it weren't for this time sending Jiao Yuan to school, the Jiao Family would be out traveling, and Zheng Tan would still have to be dragged by Xiao Guo to fill in.

"He got sick?!" Yang Yi still didn't know this. He had indeed been very busy this past year, and hadn't communicated much with Xiao Guo either. Since the Jiao Family didn't volunteer the information, Yang Yi naturally didn't know about Zheng Tan's situation.

When mentioning Zheng Tan's illness, the four members of the Jiao Family were not in high spirits; Jiao Ma especially did not want to recall the situation then.

Seeing the expressions on the Jiao Family's faces, Yang Yi knew today's matter couldn't be pursued further, otherwise he'd invite resentment; he thought he'd investigate clearly later and then talk about it.

Afterward, Yang Yi no longer brought up letting Zheng Tan participate in acting or other filming, and they chatted about some lighter topics.

"Don't worry, if Jiao Yuan gets bored he can come over to play; there's not much else here, just lots of stars." Yang Yi said jokingly.

Jiao Ma was unwilling for Jiao Yuan to have more contact with stars; although she also liked a few stars, letting Jiao Yuan interact with female stars? That would be better avoided; she would rather Jiao Yuan never come again.

Yang Yi also planned to treat the Jiao Family to a meal, but Jiao Ba politely declined.

Yang Yi didn't insist, but he sent some albums and DVDs with celebrity signatures to the Jiao Family, and also passed over the magazine that had just been shown, with Zheng Tan and Li Wei's photos as the cover image; Jiao Ma gladly accepted it, preferring to see a magazine featuring their own cat over celebrity autographs.

After thanking them, the Jiao Family said their goodbyes and left; Yang Yi had Sara show them around the company, and he could see that Jiao Yuan and Xiao Youzi were quite curious about the company. It was rare for them to come, so Yang Yi was happy to oblige, one reason being Zheng Tan, another being Fang Shaokang, knowing the Jiao Family's relationship with Fang Shaokang was still good, Yang Yi would also consider more.

While being shown around the company by Sara, they also ran into many familiar faces; those people were also curious about the Jiao Family, but they also knew not to ask too much.

When leaving, the Jiao Family again encountered Wei Kara; because they had just asked for an autograph the day before, and also being fellow townspeople, when Wei Kara greeted them, Jiao Yuan and Xiao Youzi chatted with her for a few more sentences.

Sara stood aside, merely smiling without speaking.

After Sara led the Jiao Family into the elevator, Wei Kara and her agent went to a secluded corner.

"Who were those people just now?" the agent asked.

"Probably friends of the boss," she paused, then Wei Kara added, "At the beginning of the year I returned to Chu Hua Shi to participate in the Provincial Fengyun Gala, and I had seen that Professor Jiao just now."

Wei Kara has a good memory; at the awards ceremony she carefully noted the faces and some information of each person who went on stage to receive an award, and afterwards she also re-watched the internal footage. Those people, today they can stand on this award stage, tomorrow they could stand even higher; even if they have no interaction in life, Wei Kara won't go on to become enemies with them, of course she doesn't need to be overly enthusiastic; when she meets them, she treats them with basic courtesy, which is fine. That's also why, when Professor Jiao previously asked for an autograph, Wei Kara's attitude was relatively good.

However, Wei Kara didn't expect that the person who asked for an autograph back then would now be acquainted with her company's **oss.

Wei Kara was happily thinking that if they were truly acquaintances, they would have an extra word to say in front of the boss……

Why could Xue Ding and Tao Qi rise from obscurity in such a short year? Not only because of last year's movie, but also importantly because of a word from Yang **oss, because of a word from Yang Yi, these two seized the opportunity and rose.

After thinking, Wei Kara suddenly smiled.

"How come?" the agent said, somewhat bewildered by her sudden smile.

"Someone might be in for bad luck." Wei Kala said.

"Who?"

"That's my fellow townsman." Wei Kala said, lifting her foot and walking toward the stairs.

"A fellow townsman?" the agent raised an eyebrow. Usually, the fellow townsman people refer to when talking about Wei Kala, aside from Chang Ying who is both a singer and an actor, there is no one else.

Wei Kala, however, remembered that at the beginning of the year, when she participated in the ceremony in Chu Hua Shi, that Professor Jiao had asked many celebrities for autographs, saying they were for his own children. Others' attitudes were fine, but her fellow townsman had outright shown a cold face to them; fortunately, they were tolerant and didn't hold a grudge. If it were someone petty and vengeful, they might later sneer at some entertainment reporters, and given the online debates at the start of the year, there might even be another round of public criticism.

On Yang Yi's side, after the Jiao family left, he made a phone call. Before leaving the company in the afternoon, two documents were placed on his desk: one concerning Zheng Tan, focusing on the events when Zheng Tan fell ill; the other concerning the Jiao family, relatively simple, not too detailed, except for one matter—the provincial Fengyun ceremony that Professor Jiao attended at the beginning of the year, for which more information was found because two of their own artists were involved.

After looking at the documents in his hand, Yang Yi called over one of his assistants.

"Chang Ying has been doing quite well lately," Yang Yi said casually.

The assistant's heart jumped, glanced at Yang Yi, and knew that this boss was dissatisfied with some of Chang Ying's actions.

"Since she feels she can't keep up, just give her a break," Yang Yi said.

"Actually, she's quite talented in this regard."

Yang Yi laughed, "Talent? Is there a shortage of that in the circle? It's just that over the past two years she's been pushed too high, and she can't even figure out her own position." Artists who are lifted up and stepped on, offending everyone everywhere—no matter how talented, Yang Yi wouldn't want them.

The assistant beside him twitched an eyelid. This meant they would first give a warning; if she didn't mend her ways, they'd likely cross her name off Yang Yi's support list. The assistant silently lit a candle for Chang Ying in his heart.

In the following days, the Jiao family were all around the capital university; Jiao Yuan handled some paperwork, being taken by Jiao Ba to visit several friends in the capital. After everything was settled, the four members of the Jiao family plus the cat took a photo in Jiao Yuan's dormitory.

Jiao Yuan's roommate laughed beside him, saying, "It's fine that your parents and sister came over, but you actually brought a cat?" They had seen people bring dogs, but this was the first time they'd seen someone bring a cat, so they couldn't help but be curious.

"It's a member of our family; you can't go anywhere without it," Jiao Yuan said to his roommate.

Zheng Tan himself didn't have any particular feelings when he attended college back then; he didn't live much in school dormitories, so he barely remembered what his own school's dormitories were like. Comparing them to some dormitories at Chu Hua Da Xue, Jiao Yuan's place aside from a few minor differences was actually quite similar in layout—acceptable.

No matter how reluctant Jiao Ma was, when the time came she still had to leave.

With this departure, the next time they see Jiao Yuan will probably be around New Year.

Every year at the start of the school term, when Zheng Tan strolled around Chu Hua Da Xue, he could see parents who had brought their children to school wiping tears as they left; this time, it was Jiao Ma's turn. A son travels a thousand miles, the mother worries.

Jiao Yuan stood at the gate of the capital university, watching Jiao Ba's car drive away. Beside him, many young students full of confidence and ambition came and went; among them, Jiao Yuan was not conspicuous.

After the vehicle disappeared from sight, Jiao Yuan stood there for another minute, turned his head to look at the four large characters on the school gate, took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and walked into the campus.

Although Jiao Ma was smiling when she said goodbye to Jiao Yuan at the school gate, her eyes turned red once they got in the car, and she didn't look back when leaving; on the way from the capital back to Chu Hua Shi, Jiao Ma cried like crazy, Xiao Youzi cried along, and Jiao Ba tried to console them for a long time to no avail.

Continuing to stare at the road ahead while driving, Jiao Ba didn't know whether he was speaking to Jiao Ma or to himself.

"They have to grow up. They have to let go." (To be continued...)

ps: There might be a third update tonight.