He had seen the guests off too late yesterday, so he didn't go home. Instead, he booked a room on the second floor and was sound asleep when he vaguely heard voices coming from the hallway, including his and Jiang Cancan's names...
Oh no! I forgot that Chanchan is coming back to film the commercial today!
Jiang Xiaoman sprang to her feet, quickly dressed, and rushed out without even washing her face. Sure enough, several cars were already parked downstairs, and Jiang Cancan was standing in the open space by the door looking up.
"Xiaoman!" Jiang Cancan waved excitedly at Jiang Xiaoman when she saw him appear on the balcony with messy hair.
"Auntie! Please sit downstairs and have some tea. I'll wash my face and come right down!"
She didn't even come back for the New Year. Originally, the first thing she would do upon returning to the village was to go home immediately, but Jiang Cancan is no longer the ignorant rural girl she used to be. The director and the actress haven't left, so how can she leave alone?
Zhou Mingxing also came over. Seeing that Jiang Cancan was still so calm even at his doorstep, he couldn't help but nod in approval. Such a young child could resist the temptation of having her family so close by, and still insisted on following the rules of the activity. She wasn't willful and had the patience to do so. This was the talent that led her to great things.
Jiang Xiaoman came down quickly.
"Xiaoman!" Jiang Cancan excitedly rushed over.
"Oh, my little auntie~ I missed you so much! You didn't come back for the New Year, but I saw you on TV." Jiang Xiaoman hugged Jiang Cancan.
"You must be Xiaoman? I've been hearing Cancan talk about you the whole way here. But our family hierarchy is all messed up. Cancan calls me 'sister,' and you call her 'aunt'? What do you call me then?" Actress Su Yuan teased the inseparable aunt and niece with a smile.
The Chinese emphasis on seniority is something many foreigners probably can't understand.
"Aunt Su...?" Jiang Xiaoman called out tentatively.
"Hahahaha~" Su Yuan covered her mouth, and even the faint crow's feet at the corners of her eyes appeared when she laughed.
Even a child in the entertainment industry needs to be perceptive.
Even though Su Yuan is nearly forty, no one dares to call her "Auntie" to her face. Jiang Cancan called her "Sister Su" as soon as they met. This is definitely due to Zhou Mingxing's excellent teaching!
Su Yuan was initially a little embarrassed to be called "sister" by a young girl like Jiang Cancan, but now that she has an extra nephew like Jiang Xiaoman, it's really hilarious.
Tang Xianjian, the person in charge of Jinyan, secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the two spokespeople were so easy to talk to and got along well with the villagers on their first meeting.
Previously, most of the spokespeople they hired were for indoor advertising shoots. This is the first time they've filmed an advertisement in the deep mountains and forests.
Thinking of this, Tang Xian couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Who said that bad people come from poor and remote places?"
Langshan Village may be poor, but look at the people here—how simple, honest, and warm-hearted they are!
With Jin Chengjie's connections, the company naturally booked Jiang Xiaoman's homestay.
Su Yuan's agent looked rather displeased.
Forget about five-star hotels here, you can't even find a decent guesthouse. When has their A-Yuan ever suffered like this?
He originally wanted the other party to arrange a motorhome so they could stay at a farmhouse, with Su Yuan and her assistant living in the motorhome. To be honest, he wasn't at all comfortable with the hygiene conditions in the countryside.
The group followed Jiang Xiaoman up to the second floor.
The guest rooms on the second and third floors were vacated in advance, and Lang Ying helped to clean them. They were spotless, and she even picked a lot of tangerines and pomelos from the mountain to place in the corridors and rooms. The light tangerine scent smelled much better than the artificial fragrance of air fresheners.
Su Yuan's agent, who had been keeping a straight face, finally relaxed a bit when she entered the room. Although it wasn't a presidential suite, it was surprisingly spacious, furnished with traditional Langshan bamboo and wood furniture, and the bathroom was exceptionally clean with no unpleasant odors.
"Sigh~ Back when I was in my hometown, mice would fall down from the rafters at night while I was sleeping." Su Yuan couldn't help but tease her manager.
The agent was startled and couldn't help but look up at the beams of Jiang's guesthouse. He saw that they were similar to those of commercial housing in the city, with no beams that could hide rats. There was only a decorative plaster line around the edge, and it was clean without even a spider web. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Didn't we agree to avoid mentioning your past in your hometown when we're out in public?" the agent said with a displeased expression.
"Okay, I'm going to take a shower. You can go do your thing!" Su Yuan rolled her eyes and kicked her manager out.
Su Yuan was born in a poor county in Northwest China, which was even poorer than Langshan. How poor was it? Well, when Su Yuan was a child, her family only had one pot, and everything that was eaten by people and pigs had to be cooked in this pot.
They also suffer from severe water shortages. During the dry season, the whole family shares a small basin of water for washing their faces, which is only enough to wet a towel. By the time the last person finishes washing their face, the water has turned into mud, but they can't bear to throw it away. They have to save it to water the vegetable garden.
Su Yuan's life wasn't good, but her luck was exceptional. While herding sheep for her family, she was spotted by a director who used to make movies. He thought her image and temperament were very similar to the second female lead in the film. Just then, the second female lead was arguing fiercely with the lead actress over billing order and threatened to quit the film. The director was initially furious, but when he saw the shepherdess Su Yuan, he thought, "Hey!"
Thank you for walking off the set; I've finally found a more suitable second female lead!
The director was satisfied with Su Yuan, and the female lead, who had a major falling out with the original second female lead, was even more satisfied with this little village girl. Perhaps to spite her nemesis, after the movie's release, the female lead praised the second female lead's acting skills at a media reception, saying that she was simply born to be an actress.
Regardless of whether the female lead was trying to promote Su Yuan and put down her rival, after becoming famous because of this movie, Su Yuan actually signed with the entertainment company that the female lead worked for.
I don't know if the actress is possessed by a magic spell, but she said that Su Yuan was born to be an actress. And Su Yuan, this little village girl, actually had a smooth journey in this industry, turning from a little village girl into a movie queen.
Perhaps because of her high starting point, Su Yuan's debut film was directed by a well-known director. With such a high starting point, less successful directors were hesitant to invite her. In addition to spending money, Jin Yan also used some personal connections to invite Su Yuan as their spokesperson.
At first, the agent was reluctant, after all, Su Yuan's rivals always liked to make a fuss about her background, mocking her for coming from the countryside and having an indelible rural vibe, making her a fashion lightning rod!
Jin Yan is indeed a well-known brand and a shining example of Chinese products in China, but on the international stage, it's practically synonymous with "tacky"... If Su Yuan takes on such an endorsement, which international fashion brand will dare to collaborate with them in the future?
Su Yuan couldn't help but roll her eyes at her agent's daydreaming.
Mr. Jin has even reached out to the company's CEO; how could she refuse?
Besides, even if she rejected Jin Yan's endorsement, would those international fashion brands really cooperate with her?
Stop kidding me!
Su Yuan felt that her rivals were not wrong. A person's background cannot be changed, so what if she has the simple and honest temperament of an ordinary person?
Since I can't get any international fashion endorsements anyway, I might as well be more practical... Come to think of it, Mr. Kim really offered too much; it would be foolish to refuse.
At this moment, Su Yuan and her agent could never have imagined that what they thought was a "rustic" endorsement of a national brand would soon bring them a social influence that was absolutely comparable to that of international big brands...
That evening, just as Su Yuan and the others checked into the Jiang family's guesthouse, Jiang Cancan finally returned to her grandmother's side after a long separation.
Zhou Mingxing is so good at handling people. Before Jiang Cancan even returned to the village, gifts for her grandmother, sister, Jiang Xiaoman, and other relatives and friends in the village were already delivered by express.
A whole truckload!
The items for Grandma Jiang and Jiang Yueyue were more practical: a large freezer, new clothes for the two of them for the New Year, and various candies, snacks, cigarettes, and alcohol for the New Year. Of course, Grandma Jiang didn't need these; they were for her to use when entertaining guests during the New Year.
The gifts given to Jiang Xiaoman, Jiang Yu, and Shan Yan were small trinkets like brand-name ties, wallets, and belts. These were things that villagers wouldn't normally spend their own money on, but male celebrities like Wei Sheng, who were often receiving such exquisite and expensive gifts, couldn't possibly use them all himself. So Zhou Mingxing simply made use of them, taking a handful from the storage room and giving them to Jiang Xiaoman and the others.
They're all businessmen now, and when they go out for business dinners, men can't wear bright red and green, so they need these little items to show off their understated luxury.
For villagers, the gifts are even more practical: various New Year's gift boxes, snack gift packs for children. You can buy a whole truckload for just a little money. They are presentable gifts that are not outrageous.
The villagers initially thought that Jiang Cancan's failure to return home immediately after returning to her hometown suggested she was getting a little carried away.
However, after receiving the gifts delivered by the assistant on behalf of Jiang Cancan from door to door, they changed their tune and praised her for "not forgetting her roots." Many people who were truly close to Grandma Jiang's family felt sorry for her having to work hard on her own at such a young age. After accepting the gifts, they brought some free-range chickens, eggs, glutinous rice cakes, and the like from their own homes to deliver to her.
The gift was delivered in the afternoon, but the person didn't get home until evening.
Seeing Grandma Jiang holding her eldest granddaughter with tears in her eyes, even the usually cold-blooded Zhou Mingxing couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat. Sigh! He's getting old, and he really can't bear to see such a scene. He decided to go back to his room to wash up and go to sleep.
That evening, Jiang Cancan nestled beside her grandmother, enjoying the warm reunion with her family after a long separation.
In Wuguiling Village, Laoshan Aozi, Young Master Jin, who had been neglected by his "wife" for several days, finally returned to Shanque's side.
Perhaps this is the inherent weakness of men: what they can't have always seems more alluring.
In the past, when women flocked to him, Young Master Jin always felt that if he just nodded, plenty of women would want to marry him.
But now, there are people who would rather have his tadpoles than him, the heir of the Jin family.
Jin Chengjie was initially furious and even wanted to leave immediately without looking back.
But he was unwilling to accept it; this was the first time in his life he had been rejected by a woman.
No, the titmouse didn't just reject him; she used him to have her child and then cruelly abandoned him!
I don't know what this young master was thinking, but he actually stayed.
Shan Que hadn't originally intended to break up with him right away. After all, Young Master Jin had excellent genes, and she wanted to have two more children with him. Sigh~ When she saw him come back, Shan Que nestled over with her slightly protruding belly in her arms.
Shan Yun, the "cheap mother-in-law," nodded in satisfaction and personally cooked a bowl of egg noodles for Jin Chengjie, adding a full three local eggs!
The broth for the noodles was also chicken soup made from an old hen, showing that she was very satisfied with her son-in-law, Jin Chengjie.
"Thank you~" Jin Chengjie was flattered and picked up the large bowl.
I only remembered halfway through the meal, what's with all the thanks?
Shan Yun fattened him up to be fair and chubby, wasn't it because she valued his excellent genes?
This is unbearable!
Are all the women in Langshan perverts?
Chapter 247
Hearing that Jin Chengjie, that masochist, had actually gone back to Shanque's house, Jiang Xiaoman couldn't help but roll her eyes.
Forget it, let go of your desire to help others and respect their fate!
The netizens are right, you can't reason with a damned ghost. The younger brother would rather have a name but no status than be husband and wife with the titmouse. What can he do?
Besides, he has important things to do.
Big stars' time is very precious. They are paid by the hour. Su Yuan will only be filming in Langshan for two days. The director needs to finish filming her parts first, and the remaining establishing shots and close-ups can be filmed later.
Fortunately, they chose a good time to come to Langshan. The autumn air was crisp and clear, and Langshan offers different scenery at different times of the day.
At dawn, the mountains were shrouded in mist. Standing on the mountaintop, it felt as if you were floating on clouds, with a celestial palace of clouds and mist beneath your feet. A golden sun slowly rose from the clouds, its golden light reflecting different shades of the morning glow on the horizon. The photographer was so excited by this scene that he wanted to scream. If the director hadn't been glaring at him, he would have abandoned the actress and run off to take some good pictures of this mountain wonderland.
Jin Yan intended to release this advertisement as a pilot. The entire advertisement is divided into three parts. In the advertisement, Su Yuan and Jin Cancan play an ordinary mother and daughter who have lived in Langshan for generations.
It's just an advertisement shoot, so it's impossible for them to actually live like ordinary families in Langshan, running around in the mountains all day to earn money. It's just that some snippets of their lives have been artistically processed.
The "mother and daughter" wore Langshan embroidery costumes specially tailored for them by Jin Yan. They gathered pig feed, fed chickens, picked vegetables, and cooked. Of course, the highlight was Su Yuan, the "mother," teaching Jin Cancan, the "daughter," how to embroider.
On the surface, it seemed like a pro player was helping a bronze player, but in reality, Su Yuan even held the embroidery needle wrong, and it was Jiang Cancan who corrected her step by step.
Jiang Xiaoman then learned that before Grandma Jiang's eyesight deteriorated, she could also do Langshan embroidery. However, after her eyesight was damaged, she could no longer do it. But even though she couldn't do it herself, she taught Jiang Cancan by word of mouth!
Zhou Mingxing secretly slipped a red envelope to the photographer, asking him to take more footage of Jiang Cancan embroidering. If the footage couldn't be used in the final cut, he could take it back and create a persona for Jiang Cancan as an "intangible cultural heritage inheritor of traditional embroidery".
How rich in traditional Chinese culture!
It's much more fashionable than any "all-around singer and dancer".
This entire segment was filmed in Laoshan Aozi. Although the place was a bit dilapidated, all the stone houses in the village were covered with moss. In the eyes of the director and cinematographer, this was a symbol of history and art!
Hearing that Laoshan Aozi was planned to be relocated as a whole, the director was shocked, fearing that the local authorities would demolish these precious stone houses. Worried that Jiang Xiaoman and the others would not understand, he specifically instructed them to preserve these stone houses well, so that when Langshan is developed for tourism in the future, this place would be the perfect tourist attraction.
"Don't worry, it won't be demolished. You can come here to shoot footage in the future. These are all the villagers' old houses. They will raise bees and grow flowers here in the future. Where will they live if it's demolished?" Jiang Xiaoman wasn't stupid. She took the opportunity to make arrangements with the director for future filming.
Surprisingly, the director actually had this in mind.
The scenery in Laoshan Aozi is truly stunning, even though it's a bit remote! If he weren't so wealthy, he would have loved to lease the whole place out and turn it into a film and television base. Just renting it out to various period drama crews as filming locations would have made him a lot of money.