This showed that the studio had indeed been developing quite well recently. Even other companies had come looking for advantageous deals. It seemed that, at least, the situation had opened up. That so-called ban had likely become as porous as a sieve by now. As Xu Qingqiu's fame continued to grow, the ban was proving to be nothing more than a joke, bound to collapse sooner or later.

Avoiding the cameras, Chu Tian found Yiyi and Li Chunhua, who were following behind, and greeted them.

"Morning, Sister Hua, Yiyi! Morning, everyone! Why are we starting so early?"

"Teacher Lu's place is a bit far, so we need to leave early. Otherwise, we might hit the morning rush," Sister Hua explained.

Hearing her explanation, Chu Tian suddenly remembered it was Monday. No wonder.

"Brother Tian, this is for you!"

Chu Tian was puzzled looking at the phone Yiyi handed him.

"Isn't this Qingqiu's phone? Why are you giving it to me? You keep it."

Normally, Xu Qingqiu's phone would be with Yiyi during recordings. Why was she giving it to him this time?

"Ah, it's not for you to keep. Sister Qiu said she forgot to charge her phone last night. She told me to let you know and asked you to find a way to charge it and give it back to her later."

She forgot to charge it? Recalling how Xu Qingqiu had fallen asleep while they were on a video call last night, Chu Tian smiled faintly, somewhat speechless.

"Alright, I got it. Leave it to me."

Pocketing the phone, the group took the elevator downstairs.

By then, the show's recording had paused, roughly at the part where everyone was about to board the vehicles.

Only then did Chu Tian realize quite a number of guests had come. Including Xu Qingqiu, there were five in total, and they were all frantically looking for their respective assistants or agents.

They were about to depart immediately. With the hurried morning recording, many things hadn't been prepared, so everyone was scrambling to sort things out before the vehicles left.

Some sat quietly in their vehicles, not bothering to come out. After all, with only a few minutes to spare, what could they possibly do?

A staff member from the production team led them to a large bus. "We're taking this bus," the staffer explained. "We'll need to create some distance from them later, so if you have any urgent matters, handle them now." By that time, many people were already on board, most of whom appeared to be assistants or agents.

These "urgent matters" simply referred to anything concerning their artists that needed to be settled.

Chu Tian glanced at Yiyi, who decisively shook her head.

"Everything with Sister Qiu is all set. We don't need to go over there. Besides, she still has some content to record."

Hearing this, he understood. After all, she was the biggest star there, so adding some extra content for her was quite normal.

"Hey, are you Teacher Xu's assistants?"

Just as they finished speaking, a chubby-faced, average-looking, and somewhat effeminate young man approached them and asked excitedly.

Since everyone present was an artist's assistant, there was no need for pretense. Yiyi nodded, curious about his intentions.

"That's great! I'm a huge fan of President Xu—a five-year fan! I absolutely love her new song 'Little'! Could you possibly help me get an autograph later? Please, pretty please?"

Seeing the young man pout and act coquettish, Chu Tian grimaced and decisively turned away, losing all interest.

Even though he had seen all sorts of effeminate men in the entertainment industry in his previous life, he still found it hard to accept.

In professions like makeup artistry, styling, and fashion design, the proportion of effeminate men was very high, something everyone had grown accustomed to.

He held no prejudice in his heart. After all, personality and environment shaped an individual, and there was no need to view them differently.

But seeing a man—knowing he was male—put on such an affected, coquettish display with effeminate gestures right in front of him still made his skin crawl.

And with all the messy stories in the industry—tales of aggressively pursuing men or being caught between them—it was easy for him to feel physically repulsed. It was a reaction beyond his control; the best solution was 'out of sight, out of mind.'

Fortunately, Yiyi was well accustomed to such situations and handled them with ease.

After all, just as there was interaction between artists, assistants also had their own networks.

It was possible that the assistants of some artists had complex relationships with those working for other artists.

For instance, an assistant might be the sister or nephew of a certain agent. Or perhaps they were from the same hometown, were alumni, or had previously been colleagues at the same company.

It was completely normal for them to privately ask colleagues for an autographed photo or album of an artist they admired.

It was all about social niceties, and there was no point in refusing.

Besides, these assistants' circles were sometimes more well-informed than some celebrities. Take Yiyi, for example; she was Xu Qingqiu's personal life assistant. Yiyi knew better than anyone what Xu Qingqiu wore and ate each day.

It was no exaggeration to say that Xu Qingqiu might be so busy that she herself would forget what color underwear she had worn that day, but Yiyi would definitely know, as it was part of her job.

As for which celebrity met whom at night, what time they left, and what time they returned—life assistants knew these details better than anyone. They were often the ones who chauffeured the celebrities.

Therefore, influential contacts weren't always high-profile figures; often, the seemingly inconspicuous people around them were the most crucial.

These individuals might not have had much direct power, but they often possessed the information one sought.

Ignoring Yiyi's interactions with the others, Chu Tian found an opportunity to change seats and sat next to Li Chunhua.

The two of them were the quietest there. Chu Tian, for one, didn't need to concern himself with such networking and had no interest in meddling.

As for Li Chunhua, her status wasn't appropriate for such mingling, nor was she interested in getting involved, leaving Yiyi to be the social butterfly.

After all, with Xu Qingqiu being the top star on this particular show, Yiyi's own status had risen accordingly. This was especially true given Xu Qingqiu's rapidly rising fame, coupled with a brand-new album and a succession of newly released songs.

As her fan base grew, it naturally became easier to encounter her admirers among their peers.

It was perfectly normal for some of these assistants to be fans of hers.

The area was a network of waterways, requiring them to cross bridges from time to time. After getting on the highway, one could see flat fields with traces of the recent rice harvest.

At some point during the journey, the convoy gradually turned onto rural roads lined with dense trees on both sides.

Even though it was already late autumn, this area seemed untouched by any chill, with lush greenery stretching as far as the eye could see.

The bus slowed, maintaining a distance to allow for filming of the convoy ahead.

With few cars, sparse population, and beautiful scenery, this location was perfect for capturing footage of the convoy in motion. The shots might not all be used, but they definitely had to be filmed.

Even the most beautiful scenery can become tiresome after a while. Just as Chu Tian was drifting off to sleep, the convoy finally arrived at its destination.

The production crew members were the first to alight. After they communicated with the advance team already there, the convoy carrying the guests slowly approached.

"Is this the place?"

"I think so. What's the name of this village again?"

"I remember it's called Spring Breeze Village, right? It's a lovely name."

...

The program's schedule was all planned. Filming began as soon as they disembarked, with everyone following the director's cues.

"Where is Teacher Lu's home? Isn't anyone leading the way?"

"I know where it is; I've been here before. Follow me, everyone!"

This was all pre-designed content by the production team. The main purpose was to film snippets of the guests arriving and their reactions to the surroundings. This also served as a subtle way to promote the village; after all, tourists were a valuable resource these days.

After the guests had gone inside, the bus carrying the staff and assistants arrived at a more leisurely pace. Chu Tian was among the first to get off, still remembering that he needed to charge Xu Qingqiu's phone.

Her portable battery had died on the plane. She had forgotten to charge her phone, let alone the power bank.

There had been no time to buy a new one en route, so he had to find a solution locally.

Luckily, Yiyi had included the charger when she gave him the phone, which made things much more flexible.

Of course, he had his own idea; perhaps he wouldn't even need the charger.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.