Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 316 Close Range

The next morning, Zhai Da slept until he naturally woke up.

The bed at Xiaolu's house is very high-end, with good rebound and excellent support.

It won't lose its strength due to being too soft, nor will it be too hard and painful.

In short, it's a great place to sleep.

After waking up, Zhai Da made himself a cup of coffee, stood by the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out, his brows slightly furrowed.

This is even more outrageous than yesterday.

The entire northern part of Beijing seemed to be shrouded in a thick fog of yellow dust. Although it was 10 a.m., the sky looked as gloomy as dusk.

Would this level be considered a "sandstorm"?

In his previous life, he mostly lived in Shanghai and had never really seen it.
Just as they were speechless, his phone rang. Zhai Da glanced at it and saw that it was Lu Zetao calling.

"Good morning, Uncle Lu."

On the other end of the phone, Lu Zetao, in his villa in Dongyang County, said gently, "Xiao Zhai, are you in Harbin?"

Zhai Da glanced around instinctively, but ultimately chose to tell the truth.

What's there to be afraid of? It's just sleeping in someone else's daughter's empty house.

I, Zhai, have acted uprightly and honestly; what is there to hide?

"I am at Ziyan Garden."

There wasn't much surprise on the other end; instead, there was a hint of a smile: "You're in northern Beijing? How many days do you plan to stay?"

Zhai Da glanced at the weather outside the window and said uncertainly, "The plan is to leave tonight."

"There's this thing, Siwen's book is at a crucial stage of opening up the market, and a friend of mine who is a producer has contacted a talk show with a pretty good influence called 'A Quiet Distance,' and I'd like to ask Siwen to give it a try."

Zhai Da said, "That's a good thing. This show seems alright."

These days, reality shows haven't emerged yet, and talk shows occupy a large share of television programs. This show, "A Date with Luyu," named after its host Li Jing, is already considered quite influential.

If we exclude serious focus interviews and face-to-face interviews, it can be considered to be in the top tier.

Yu Xiaoli watches it occasionally; it's mostly for entertainment and lighthearted entertainment.

Lu Zetao's tone was somewhat helpless: "However, they made a request, saying they hope you can participate as well. You know, Siwen is a newcomer after all, and her online fame needs to be built up. She's really not enough to carry an entire episode on her own."

Zhai Da thought to himself, "So that's why you wanted to invite me."
That's understandable; Lu Siwen really can't carry an entire episode. After all, "A Date with Luyu" has a reputation.

If Zhai Da could be brought along, the situation would be different. He is already one of the three new generation gods and rarely participates in television programs.

Xiao Lu was unaware of this matter, because if Zhai Da couldn't be secured, the other side wouldn't budge, and Lu Zetao's notification was useless.

In fact, Lu Zetao was quite helpless. He suggested that, compared to "male and female writers", wouldn't "father and daughter writers" also generate a lot of buzz?
I can play too!

The other party didn't refuse at first. When they learned that Lu Zetao had also published a book, they were pleasantly surprised and asked for the title, saying they would prepare for it.

Then, there was no sound.

Lu Zetao seemed to sense Zhai Da's hesitation: "The recording location is in northern Beijing, and it will probably take about half a day."

As if fate were on his side, just as he was hesitating, his phone received a text message. Zhai Da glanced at the phone from a distance:
"Dear passenger, we regret to inform you that your flight has been cancelled due to extreme weather conditions."

Thinking of how hard Lu Siwen usually worked, and how she carefully protected Zhai Daming's "writer" status behind his back, he ultimately couldn't bring himself to refuse.

Fine, if "Face to Face" is gone, it's okay to be downgraded a level.

Zhai Da sighed and said, "Alright, I'm willing to participate, but the schedule is a bit tight. It would be best if we could record it in the next couple of days. I don't know if they can handle it over there."

If I can't do that, I'll just have to wait until next time I have time.

For example, one or two months later.

------

As it turns out, the name "Zhai Da" is quite alluring, and the production team is indeed very good at creating buzz.

Upon receiving the feedback, they immediately confirmed the recording time with astonishing efficiency, fearing that Zhai Da might change his mind.

This program, "A Date with Luyu," is based on host Li Jing's show. It is produced by her personal company and then sold to various TV stations for broadcast. Therefore, the response speed is much faster than that of the TV stations themselves. In addition, it is filmed in a fixed recording studio, so the set remains unchanged. Once the interview content is determined, it's done.

Zhai Da received a call from Lu Zetao in the morning and received confirmation by noon.

In the afternoon, Zhai Da went to Peking Union Medical College Hospital to peel an apple as planned. There, he ran into many big shots again: the director of the space agency, a military leader, the head of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and some retired figures whose previous ranks had also reached their peak.

It's over. It's really over.

For every visitor, Qian Xuesen would give a special introduction about Zhai Da.

People of this caliber don't carry business cards, or exchanging them would be beneath them. Meeting them in this special ward, and having it acknowledged by Mr. Qian himself, is enough.

Zhai Da wouldn't easily disturb him or try to take advantage of the situation; he wouldn't do something as trivial as using a star-destroying cannon to kill a mosquito.

The seemingly broad and weak "bond" actually sows many seeds.

When we finally left Peking Union Medical College Hospital, it was already four or five o'clock. The weather hadn't improved; in fact, it had gotten worse. The sand and dust created a natural phenomenon similar to "snowy haze." Due to diffuse reflection, the brightness of artificial light sources made the whole world look yellowish-brown, and it was impossible to tell whether it was dark or not.

Frustrated, Zhai Da put on a mask and drove his Land Rover to pick up Lu Siwen.

In the underground parking garage of Building 2, three or four men and women had been waiting for quite some time.

We were originally supposed to meet outside, but the weather today would be unbearable, so we changed it to Ziyan Garden. There were only three or four of us, so the table was big enough.

A little girl with a bowl cut was holding a notebook: "Isn't this too hasty? It was decided today, and the show is to be recorded tomorrow. Can the quality be guaranteed?"

Another person said, "Zhai Da's first appearance on a talk show already generated a lot of buzz, and it also means that every word he says is fresh and there's more to explore."

"I didn't expect Professor Zhai Da to have a residence in northern Beijing."

Do you think these two are a couple?

"No. Besides, Sister Jing said not to lead us in that direction."

"That's right. I remember reading online that Professor Zhai's girlfriend is that math genius from Harbin Institute of Technology."

In fact, these industry insiders have pieced together a lot of secrets, such as those backstabbing groups, couples who each do their own thing, and celebrities who get worse and worse and even start to have runny noses after recording for four hours.

To be honest, celebrities are human too.

They're just a bit less principled than the average person, a bit more adventurous, and have a few more flaws!
Nothing surprising.

As they were talking, a Land Rover pulled up in the garage, and Zhai Da and Lu Siwen got out one after the other, both wearing masks.

"Teacher Zhai, Teacher Lu!"

"Hello, we are the production team of 'A Date with Luyu'."

Zhai Da was still wearing his simple spring clothes, while Lu Siwen had changed into a dress. In fact, she was even behind on the news than Zhai Da. She only received a call from her father at noon, when she was still secretly eating beef jerky in her dormitory. She was dragged out in the afternoon to prepare for the interview.

Of course, it was a good thing that Zhai Da stayed an extra day, as she was finally able to go upstairs and into the house legitimately.

I'm so happy!

Since it was all work, Zhai Da didn't exchange many pleasantries and led everyone upstairs.

After entering, Zhai Da glanced around and said, "No need for slippers, please sit at the dining table first."

Lu Siwen skillfully took Zhai Da's slippers from the shoe cabinet, placed them beside Zhai Da's feet, then took out her own, and jogged into the house: "I'll go make a pot of tea."

Zhai Da asked in confusion, "Do you have tea sets at home?"

"Yes, there is a complete tea set in the study, as well as tea leaves left by my father."

Seeing the familiar face of this goddess from Peking University, the young people exchanged glances.

Are they living together?
There's no doubt about it!

Good heavens, I discovered a huge secret as soon as I walked in.

The expressions on their faces became a little unnatural, but they quickly suppressed them.

They are ethical media professionals and won't spread rumors.

Zhai Da, oblivious to the subtle changes in the others, began to seriously discuss the recording process. He explained that the interview had been rushed to such an extent because of him, so the proper work ethic was still necessary.

Interview programs are relatively simple. The so-called process is mostly just a few pre-set directions, such as "high school life segment", "writing segment", and "personal hobby segment".

At the same time, celebrities also have their own needs, such as promoting new works, showing affection in public, or demonstrating their interest in charity work.

Then set a few red flags, such as not mentioning the ex-wife, not mentioning past stains, and not asking who the child's father is.

So you see a TV host say, "I've heard you're passionate about charity."

Basically, it was requested by the celebrities themselves.

Another interesting mechanism is that if you say something wrong, react incorrectly, have a bad attitude, or unconsciously swear, you can yell "cut"!
Then ask again and record again!

It can be said that the people who came to be interviewed were treated quite well.

Compared to Yangshi, this place is a bit more superficial, but also a bit more free.

Zhai Da didn't have many demands regarding the former, only asking that the "weight" between the two not be unbalanced and that they not revolve around him in everything. He wanted to help Lu Siwen boost sales.

The latter, however, has only one meaning:
Don't bring up any melodramatic topics like "chicken neck boyfriend/girlfriend" or "emotional entanglements." At most, you can talk about how they were high school classmates.

(End of this chapter)