Starting a new chapter in life

He Anzhi shook his head happily: "Don't worry, I'm the older brother, and I understand how an older brother wants to protect his younger sister. I will be good to you. I can't say that we won't quarrel in the future, but I will never lay a hand on you."

Zhizhi chimed in, "That's right. If he dares to bully you in the future, come to me and I'll beat him up for you. Don't worry, my brother can't beat me."

This made the girls around them burst into laughter, making the two of them blush. This was a good start, and what happened next was up to them.

After the banquet ended, He Jin'an drove Zhizhi and Fu Zixu away from the venue. He first took Fu Zixu home, and then the siblings returned home.

Fu Qiusheng didn't mince words. She directly called her uncle's house and briefly explained the information she had found about He Anzhi and He Jin'an, the siblings, during her investigation of Ping An Media. She also shared her impressions of the two.

Finally, I also mentioned An'an and Fu Zixu's conversation that evening. So, when Fu Zixu entered the house, he was met with enthusiastic questioning from his family.

An'an was in a similar situation. After learning about it, Jingyan couldn't help but sigh, "My little pig has finally learned how to root for cabbages."

An'an... she really is her mother.

With the support of the girl's parents and no objection from the boy's parents, He Jin'an, who had been single for nearly thirty years, finally got a girlfriend. Now, it's not even as easy for her to call her sister in the middle of the night to bother her, let alone find her after get off work.

When asked, he said he was accompanying his partner. He, who had previously said he didn't need to buy a house and that renting was more cost-effective, has now started looking at new apartments. When he mentioned it to Jingyan, his reason was:

If we get married in the future, we should live close to Xiaoxu's workplace. I can drive to and from get off work, but it would be best if she could walk to her company. It would be convenient and safe to be close to home.

Zhizhi exclaimed, "I never knew my careless brother could be so thoughtful. Indeed, there are no careless people in the world, only those who care and those who don't."

This made Fu Zixu a little embarrassed. The two children were getting along well and had a good relationship, which was something their family was happy to see. Apart from occasionally making a few jokes, they tried not to disturb them at other times.

The couple began to focus their attention on their daughter. Just then, Zhizhi's TV series had completed its pre-production work and entered the formal filming stage. The couple also started to frequently go to the film set to bring their daughter meals.

Of course, Zhizhi has moved to a temporary residence near the film set. Only the couple lives in the apartment, and they travel to and from the apartment using a motorhome and driver arranged by An'an's company.

With Hongyu Group as a backer, things have indeed changed dramatically. At the very least, the number of RVs has increased by eight, making it much easier for He Jin'an to mobilize and arrange them.

I used to see TV dramas on screen that were very polished and had beautiful visuals, but when I actually went to the filming location, I realized that the dramas were indeed deceiving; the actual filming locations were quite messy.

After all, with lighting and camera cables dangling all over the place, and a large number of staff and assistants, the scene was quite noisy.

To portray profound love, vows of eternal devotion, and heart-wrenching separations in such an environment truly requires acting skills and a strong sense of conviction.

He Zhijun and Jing Yan watched the actors rehearse from the sidelines. A crowd of people surrounded them, off-camera. They couldn't understand whether the actors' emotions were right or wrong; they simply couldn't imagine what the actual scene would be like when it aired on screen.

Even if a layperson watches the entire filming, they still can't connect the plot. Indeed, no profession is easy, and laypeople really can't understand it.

As the director of her first TV series, Zhizhi was actually quite unsure of herself and frequently called Director Liu during breaks in filming to ask questions.

Director Liu would visit the set when he had time, and take the opportunity to see how Zhizhi was filming, pointing out areas where she was lacking in consideration, or suggesting that a certain shot could be improved, etc.

Jingyan practically moved her kitchen to the film set. Since the RV has plenty of space, she can cook simple meals and drinks right there in the vehicle. Alternatively, she can move her equipment to a spare room on set to create a temporary kitchen.

Jingyan can make fresh fruit and vegetable juices, tea, and coffee. In the six months she has been with her children, she has learned a lot of new things, including coffee.

While it's hard to understand what's so good about that bitter stuff, quite a few people actually like it. Adding more fresh milk and sugar actually makes it taste pretty good.

Zhizhi and the others said it was milk coffee, but it was still different from the coffee in the store. There was nothing they could do about it; the elderly couple hadn't formally learned how to make it, so it was already quite good that they could.

With the elderly couple coming to make things difficult, the food quality of the crew and actors has improved. Although they still eat the crew's boxed meals, there are extra side dishes, chili oil, meat sauce, mushroom sauce, etc., to help them eat better.

Everyone was able to eat their fill, and after a while, several celebrities who originally needed to diet to maintain their figure were now being monitored by their managers and forbidden from having extra meals.

Looking at the pitiful child eating grass, Jingyan felt genuinely sorry for him: "Sigh, just to look good on camera, look how hungry he is. With this standard of living, do you think he'll have nowhere to spend all the money he earns?" she asked He Zhijun.

He Zhijun shook his head: "I don't think the money is enough. It's not spent on food, but on clothes. Look at their clothes for work every day; they change them almost daily, always getting something new."

Here, four or five outfits a season would be enough, and they could last for several years. But over there, they'd probably have to buy new clothes every month. That's such a huge expense! What a waste!

Zhizhi nestled close to her parents and laughed, "Every profession has its own rules. Actors, for example, rely on their looks. If they don't maintain a polished image, it'll be difficult for them to get high-quality scripts later on."

That's just how realistic this industry is. I'm so glad I didn't become an actress. I couldn't stand the hardship of not eating when I'm hungry." Zhizhi said, then pinched the little bit of fat on her waist with satisfaction. Hmm, it feels so good.

Jing Yangguang was so busy taking care of her daughter that she almost forgot her earlier vow to go to a place where peach blossoms were in full bloom and stay for a while, and also to watch the fantasy dramas that people were filming.

The filming of Zhizhi's palace intrigue drama did not go smoothly. It was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of 2006, but during the filming process, there were various unexpected situations such as actors having commercial performances, falling ill, or filming multiple projects at the same time, causing delays.

Several scenes underwent significant revisions by the scriptwriters midway through filming and required reshoots. Filming was finally completed at the end of January 2007.

On the day filming wrapped, Zhizhi finally breathed a sigh of relief. For the first time in the past six months, He Anzhi truly understood the difficulties of being a director.

Yes, many good actors are talented and can get a perfect take in one take, but more often than not, the final result is unsatisfactory and requires a reshoot.

To create aesthetically pleasing scenes with a sweet and intimate interaction between the male and female leads, while avoiding explicit content to prevent censorship issues, besides the actors' cooperation and camera angles, even body language needs to be carefully guided.

But Zhizhi was still a novice when it came to relationships. She probably didn't know as much as the actors themselves. That situation was both awkward and difficult. Luckily, Director Liu came to the rescue, otherwise those intimate scenes would definitely have been cut short.

In addition, Zhizhi is a young female director, and sometimes the actors would make teasing remarks while listening to her explain the scene. Although it wasn't excessive, it still made people uncomfortable.

There were two such incidents. When Zhizhi was filming, He Zhijun followed her almost the entire time, determined to protect his daughter's pure ears and not let other brats contaminate his little cabbage.

With her biological father's protection and deterrent effect, there were far fewer problems later on. When Jingyan went home to rest, she could always hear He Zhijun sighing about how hard his daughter had worked.

The work was tiring enough, since nothing is easy, but the large number of people and the less-than-ideal work environment made the father very worried. After some mental preparation, he decisively asked his older brother for help, asking him to contact some veterans to act as bodyguards for his daughter.

Although He Zhicheng was retired, he still had a lot of connections, including ways to contact retired special forces soldiers. And sure enough, this time he came through exceptionally well, finding two female veterans in just half a month.

They were all quite young, just over thirty. They had all been wounded during missions and retired from the military. The army had provided them with jobs and demobilization pay.

However, they were unwilling to do office work. After hearing that Commander He wanted to find bodyguards, preferably women, they took the initiative to contact him and were hired.

When he's with Zhizhi, if they're being flirtatious, he just needs to show his fists to intimidate them. Occasionally, he might even get a few chances to be an extra and earn some extra money. If there are any scenes involving physical action, he can earn even more. The two of them are happy and joyful doing it.

Seeing their reactions, He Zhijun and Jing Yan felt much more at ease. After the political drama ended, Zhizhi went to some banquet with An'an, and returned with two little followers.

That's right, at this dinner party, I ran into Chu Han and Chen Bin. These two are doing quite well now. They've set up their own studio. Chu Han's family has a military background, so he's good at shooting military-themed films. Two of the related films released in the last two years were directed by him.

Chen Bin's career path took an unexpected turn; he went into light comedy. Surprisingly, this genre has a considerable audience. Although he only starred in one TV series, it was still considered a successful career move.

The two men greeted Jingyan with such enthusiasm, but was it really appropriate to bring them back in the middle of the night? Fortunately, their main purpose was to see He Jin'an.

It's true that the two of them could find resources through Chu Han's family connections, but Chu Han has been constantly pressured by his elders to get married in recent years, which is extremely annoying. If he wants to get more resources from his family later, his marriage might become a condition for a deal.

He wanted to work hard for a few more years. He had originally planned to use this dinner to find other ways to get a couple of scripts, but he didn't expect to run into Zhizhi. Of course, it was great to see an old classmate again.

After chatting, I discovered that Zhizhi's brother had actually started a media company for his sister. With such a connection, how could I not take advantage of it? Ping An Media currently only has three directors signed, but there are directors coming to them seeking to sign them. How could He Jin'an, a businessman, not take them?

So, regardless of whether the timing was right or not, they brought the two of them back immediately after the banquet. An'an wanted to arrange for them to stay at a nearby star-rated hotel, but they refused, saying that they would just like a car to take them back to their home near the film academy.

They still live in room 302. When filming on location, they stay with the actors and crew. When they are in Beijing, they go back to their room. Although it is a bit far from here, An'an has a car, so it is still more convenient.

Zhizhi was puzzled: "I remember your family is well-off, and you've been working for several years, so why haven't you bought a house or a car? Didn't you have a good reputation? Why haven't you made any money?"

Chu Han… “Well, I haven’t taken any money from my family since I graduated from university. I have been earning money these past few years, but I still have to cover my daily expenses, so…”

Zhizhi nodded knowingly: "I understand. You're living a bit frugally, but since my brother signed with you, you definitely won't skimp on the salary and benefits. At least you'll have accommodation provided, so you won't have to spend any extra money."

He Jin'an quickly assured them, "Our apartment is in the city center, close to the company, and convenient for transportation in Beijing. If you both pass your driving test, I can provide you with a car. Of course, something too expensive is out of the question, but a Santana for each of you is possible."

This treatment was indeed excellent. This time, the two of them didn't say anything about going back to stay. They obediently followed An'an and left. They stayed in hotels when asked, and they didn't object to staying in apartments when asked. Since the one paying was the boss, they listened to her.

After the group left, Jingyan frowned: "Are these two children really living such a hard life?"

Zhizhi pouted: "You're just listening to their nonsense. Once when I was in school, I accidentally saw Chu Han's bank card balance. There were five zeros in it. I didn't see the number before it, but it wasn't one. Do you think he can spend all that money in just a few years?"

My brother is such an honest guy, he believes everything people say. But their reason for wanting to have a company as a backer, making it easier to get scripts, is probably true. It's really not easy for independent directors without much fame to make it big.

Jing Yan nodded: "They're both top students, your brother must have hit the jackpot this time, right? I wonder how well they filmed it."

"I heard that their graduation short film ranked first in the department, while mine was ranked seventh. What do you think of their skills?" Zhizhi's smile was a little fake when she said this, and she seemed to be unconvinced, but she had to face the facts.

Seeing her expression, He Zhijun quickly reassured her, "My daughter is already very capable. Maybe the idea behind your short film wasn't the kind of thing teachers appreciate. After all, everyone has a different perspective, but that doesn't mean you're inferior to others, right?"

Zhizhi shook her head: "The quality of the short films I shot back then was indeed not as good as theirs. Looking back at the short films from back then now, they were really poorly made. If it were me now, I probably wouldn't give them a high score either. I admit that."