Why didn't you tell me earlier that my little sister is still waiting for me?

Li Chao, sweat dripping from his forehead, watched as the students and reporters below him were completely captivated by Sang Biao. Even the few reporters he had finally managed to secure were excitedly focusing their cameras on the dog in the dragon robe. He could already see tomorrow's entertainment headlines: "The Battle of the Forbidden City" has become a farce, and director Li Chao's new film may become the poster child for "dog movies"!

He crouched down and quickly got beside Lin Bufan, lowering his voice with obvious panic in his tone: "Bufan! Bufan! Think of a way! If we keep going on like this, our movie will be ruined before it even comes out! When the media writes about it, the headline will definitely be 'The First Weird Movie in History Starring a Dog!' How am I going to survive in the director circle in the future?!"

Lin Bufan was looking for luck in the direction of Sang Biao. He glared at Li Chao angrily. "You ask me? Who should I ask? Who told you to get this piece of shit for me? Movie promotion is a human thing. Why did you bring a dog here? Are you trying to show off your abilities?"

Li Chao felt even more aggrieved when he heard this, his face wrinkled like a bitter melon. "Oh my Brother Lin! Master Lin! Can you blame me for this? It's so easy for you to say that! Did I want to bring it here? It was it that insisted on coming along, and even made such a big scene! Can I control it? Do I dare to control it? You know its claws can leave marks on the concrete floor! Besides, it's now a top internet celebrity, the key to traffic! If I don't bring it, the publicity will be reduced by half. Are you happy with that?"

Lin Bufan was choked. Thinking about it, it made sense. He scratched his hair in frustration. It was a pity that he hadn't styled it today, so it felt wrong. He glanced at Sang Biao who was still strutting on the stage and accepting "worship" and gritted his teeth: "Okay, okay, you're so cruel! Now there's only one way!"

Upon hearing that there was a solution, not only Li Chao, but also Hu Yifei, Zeng Xiaoxian and others who were eavesdropping nearby immediately cast hopeful glances.

Lin Bufan took a deep breath and announced sadly: "Now, the only thing we can do is go find its mother!"

"Ah?!" Chen Meijia blinked her big eyes, looking innocent and confused: "Sang Biao... and Mom?"

Lin Bufan glanced at her as if she was an idiot: "Nonsense! People have their mothers, monsters have their mothers, and dogs have their mothers! It has no mother, so is it me who gave birth to it?"

Tang Youyou muttered quietly to the side, gesturing with her fingers: "Actually... I always thought Sang Biao was Director Lin's biological son... Your temperament of stirring up trouble, your persistence in stealing the spotlight, your energy of making people angry to death... are exactly the same!"

Guan Gu Shenqi nodded solemnly in agreement, "Hey... Soudesne... From a biological point of view, it's impossible, but from a spiritual perspective, what Youyou said makes a lot of sense!"

Lu Zhanbo also scratched his head and joined the discussion: "No wonder I feel that Brother Biao and Brother Lin have an inexplicable sense of intimacy..."

Lin Wanyu suppressed a smile and nodded gracefully, "Indeed, this unique... um... aura makes it hard not to make associations."

Lin Bufan listened to the chatter of these idiots, his face darkening and his blood pressure rising. He grabbed Li Chao, who was still complaining, and said angrily, "Don't listen to their nonsense! Sang Biao's mother is the old yellow dog that our school's janitor keeps, called Tiger Sister! She used to hang out in the woods behind the library! Send someone to look for her now! Once they find her, invite Tiger Sister over and let her take her disgraceful son away! A mother's love is like a mountain; it should be able to suppress this evil creature!"

Li Chao's eyes lit up as if he had grabbed a lifeline. "Sister Hu? Okay, okay! I'll go right away! I'll go myself!"

Li Chao rushed offstage in a hurry to find Sister Hu, leaving a clear space backstage. Zhanbo leaned against the wall, scrolling through his phone. Zeng Xiaoxian boredly fixed his hair in the mirror. Lü Ziqiao was still trying to figure out how to attract the attention of the younger female students in the audience. Someone suggested playing poker to pass the time, and everyone agreed, finding a folding table and sitting around. Zhang Wei's luck was terrible. After just a few rounds, his face was covered in paper slips, nearly obscuring his eyes. He looked like a mummy just crawled out of a pile of paper.

Just as Zhang Wei was about to wail from another round of losing, hurried footsteps sounded at the door. He looked up and saw Li Chao holding an old dog with yellow fur and a confused look in its eyes. It was Tiger Sister. She instantly grabbed a lifeline, ripping the paper off her face with a look of relief, saying repeatedly, "You're finally back! Stop playing around, stop playing around, it's time to get down to business!"

Li Chao had just placed Tiger Sister on the side of the stage when Sang Biao, who had been posing majestically, suddenly froze. His ears perked up, and his system-enhanced nose twitched rapidly. The next second, as if a switch had been flipped, he suddenly darted down from the center of the stage, dropping his mini-microphone and barking his way toward Tiger Sister.

Tiger Sister was startled by the sudden movement, her body shrinking back slightly, her eyes filled with alarm. Sang Biao, however, paid no attention. He circled Tiger Sister several times, wagging his tail like a rattle, gently rubbing his head against her leg, whimpering in a mixture of grievance and affection, as if expressing four years of longing. At first, Tiger Sister simply stared blankly at the strange dog in the dragon robe, until Sang Biao scratched at its paws and, reminiscent of the time when he was carried away at the full moon that year—sometimes squatting on the ground, pretending to be a puppy, sometimes barking in Lin Bufan's direction.

After about half a minute, Tiger Sister's eyes suddenly changed, and water shone in her cloudy eyes. She tentatively touched Sang Biao's head with her nose, and a low response came from her throat. Now, Sang Biao was completely excited, rubbing his furry head against Tiger Sister's neck. His arrogant look disappeared, and he looked like a child who had finally found his home.

"Wow...this is so touching..." Chen Meijia took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears, her voice tinged with tears. Lin Wanyu's eyes also reddened. She took out a tissue and gently pressed the corners of her eyes, whispering, "It's great that you can still recognize me after not seeing me for four years."

Lin Bufan stood by and rolled his eyes speechlessly. "Is it really that serious? It's as if you can understand what they are saying!"

Seeing that Sang Biao was taken care of, Lin Bufan stepped forward, grabbed Sang Biao by the scruff of his neck, and gestured to Li Chao to hold Tiger Sister: "Alright, alright, stop being sentimental here, let's get them backstage first, don't delay the business."

After the two dogs were settled, the promotional event resumed. The host cleared his throat and said with a smile, "That little interlude was very heartwarming. Now let's get back to the main topic. Next is the interactive question and answer session. Students and journalists, please raise your hands if you have any questions."

The audience raised their arms in unison, and the atmosphere became more serious than before. The host called on a quiet-looking female student.

The female student took the microphone and looked at Chen Meijia curiously: "I want to ask Sister Meijia, is this your first time filming? Do you feel particularly tired?"

Chen Meijia blinked her big eyes, looking silly and cute: "Tired? How can filming be tiring? It's fun!"

The female student was stunned for a moment and explained, "I mean, you are not a professional actor. This is your first time experiencing such high-intensity work. Will you be uncomfortable with it?"

"High intensity?" Chen Meijia tilted her head and began to count on her fingers. "Not very intense! We start work at nine o'clock every day and finish at five o'clock in the afternoon! We even have a two-hour break at noon! The crew hired a chef from a five-star hotel, so we can go there for delicious food anytime! When I'm not filming my scenes, I play with my phone and computer in the air-conditioned lounge. The wifi is super fast! It's not tiring at all! Oh, and we have two days off a week, all holidays off, and there are benefits!"

With every word she said, the students' eyes widened, their eyes filled with disbelief and deep envy. Chen Meijia looked at the gradually blazing eyes from the audience, tugged at Lin Bufan's sleeve with some uneasiness, and whispered, "Bufan, did I...did I say something wrong?"

Lin Bufan, who had been a corporate slave in his previous life, naturally understood what the students in the audience were thinking. He patted Chen Meijia’s head speechlessly!

At this moment, a boy couldn't hold it in any longer and shouted, "Senior Lin! Are you still hiring? I'll do anything from serving tea to pouring water!"

"Yeah, yeah! An intern is fine too!"

“This treatment is too good to be true!”

……

Seeing that the scene was about to turn into a job fair, director Li Chao quickly grabbed the microphone to control the situation: "Ahem! Classmates! Classmates, be quiet! Today is a movie promotion event, let's talk more about the movie itself. As for work matters, let's talk about it later!" As he spoke, he winked at the host, hoping that the other party would quickly smooth things over.

But the host didn't respond at all. Instead, he took two steps forward, holding the microphone, his eyes more blazing than those of the students in the audience: "Boss Lin! Can I cut in line? I have extensive hosting experience and can also write scripts! If your company is short of people, I'm always available!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the audience became even more lively, and even the reporters in the front row were eager to speak. Li Chao's forehead was sweating again. Just as he was about to speak again, a reporter holding a camera stood up and asked loudly, "Mr. Lin, please excuse me for a few minutes! Everyone knows that you have broken through many technological barriers in the field of AI intelligence, even developing groundbreaking products like mecha. And according to your introduction on the program "Yearning," your pharmaceutical industry has also made significant progress in research on cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Even the pet market has captured a significant share thanks to "Biaoge Paradise" products. With so many high-profit sectors spanning, why do you still want to make movies? Do you think the film industry is more profitable?"

Lin Bufan took the microphone, smiled and shook his head. "Talking about money is too superficial. I make movies purely out of love. Whether I can make money or not has never been a consideration for me. To be honest, I have no interest in money." He paused, and a hint of nostalgia appeared in his eyes. "My happiest time was when I was studying art in school. My classmates and I squeezed into a small classroom to write scripts, and used simple equipment to shoot short films and edit short videos. Back then, I didn't think about becoming famous, I was just busy working for my dream. That kind of energy is very precious."

As soon as these words fell, before the audience could react, a burst of "tsk"s erupted from the stage. Hu Yifei crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Come on, who was it last time that said they were going to sell movie merchandise worldwide and make enough money to build three more water parks?"

Zhang Wei's eyes lit up. If the occasion wasn't inappropriate, he would have almost rushed over and hugged Lin Bufan's thigh, saying that he wanted to give him the money and that he was interested in it!

Lin Bufan pretended not to hear and was about to pass the microphone to someone else when another boy wearing glasses stood up and said, "Senior Lin! You've achieved so much, your brain is amazing! So, how do you think your IQ compares to those of top scientists, like Einstein?"

Lin Bufan raised his eyebrows and asked, "Do you know when Einstein was born?"

The boy was stunned for a moment and shook his head: "I can't remember the exact year, I think it was the end of the 19th century?"

"1879." Lin Bufan gave the year and pointed at himself. "I was born in 1987. He was born over a hundred years earlier. Why was he born so much earlier than me?"

Without waiting for the student to answer, Lin Bufan continued, "There are only two possibilities! First, he's the early bird that flies first. He knew his brain wasn't very bright, so he came out to take the test over a hundred years in advance!"

Lin Bufan paused, shook his non-existent bangs, and continued with a cocky look, "This second place is naturally because he wants to avoid my limelight! He knew that a genius like me would emerge in a hundred years, and he was afraid of being outshined by me, so he quickly came out and made a name for himself. At least he could gain a historical advantage!"

"puff--"

"Hahaha!"

The audience was silent for a moment, then erupted in thunderous laughter and applause, mixed with shouts of "Senior Lin is awesome!" and "I give you full marks for your pretense!" Everyone on stage was laughing so hard that even the usually reserved Lin Wanyu couldn't help but chuckle. Hu Yifei even gave Lin Bufan a blunt eye roll and sneered, "When it comes to shamelessness, you're truly unprecedented!"

The following interactive session unfolded in this cheerful and playful atmosphere. Students asked a few more questions about special effects and character development, and the filmmakers responded with humorous yet sincere responses, creating a lively atmosphere. Finally, with a group photo of the entire film crew and renewed applause, the campus roadshow concluded successfully.

After the event ended, everyone packed up and prepared to leave. Lin Bufan waved to Li Chao and the other members of the Love Apartment, "You guys go back first. I have something else to do. I'm going to go say hello to Old Kangtou."

He walked to the principal's office with familiarity and knocked on the door. Principal Kang's voice, full of energy but a touch of impatience, came from inside: "Come in!"

Lin Bufan pushed the door open and walked in, a charming smile on his face: "Old Kang, are you busy?"

Principal Kang was reading a document with his reading glasses on. He looked up and saw it was him. He snorted in annoyance, "How dare you come here, kid? I thought you only cared about your red carpet and pomp!"

"How could that be!" Lin Bufan came over with a grin, took out an exquisite tea canister from his bag, and placed it on the desk: "Here, I brought this especially for you. It's top-grade Mingqian Longjing tea. I know you like it."

Principal Kang glanced at the tea can, his expression softening slightly, but he remained unforgiving, "Don't try that! It's like a weasel paying New Year's greetings to a chicken—you have no good intentions! Tell me, what are you up to?"

"Look at what you said. I just came to see you. Thank you for providing the venue and support today!" Lin Bufan said sincerely, "I absolutely have no other intentions! I swear!"

Principal Kang looked at him suspiciously for a few times, then finally waved his hand: "Alright, alright, I'll take the tea, and get out of here! Just seeing you gives me a headache!"

"Yes, sir! Take care of yourself and don't miss me too much!" Lin Bufan achieved his goal and left quickly.