Chapter 402: What Else Can I Do?
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Compared to jeopardizing the safety of the entire crew, it was still tolerable for s.h.i.+ Jin to take a little advantage of their popularity. After all, this was a foreign land. It would be making a mountain out of a molehill to call the police just because of the smell.
Seeing that Director Ji had agreed, everyone was also quite happy. However, when they thought of s.h.i.+ Jin, everyone became unhappy.
“Just call me Little Yao.” In front of Ji Hanxue, Yao Jiahong was just a primary school student.
Ji Hanxue led the crowd towards the villa.
There was no one at the entrance. After entering the courtyard, everyone could clearly see the huge courtyard. There was indeed no problem accommodating so many people to rest for a night.
There were only two maids watering the flowers in the backyard. They were middle-aged women, Polish. They were not curious to see them and continued to do their work quietly.
Not only was there no one else, there were no cameras. Even s.h.i.+ Jin did not appear. The group of people did not encounter any problems.
Yao Jiahong asked Xiao Li to settle Ji Hanxue and the rest down, then he said, “Director Ji, s.h.i.+ Jin has a livestream on the second floor. After filming, the filming crew will leave from the right corridor on the first floor. As long as you don’t go to the right corridor, you won’t meet them.”
Ji Hanxue paused and nodded.
After Yao Jiahong left, the a.s.sistant director asked curiously, “Didn’t s.h.i.+ Jin want to join our production team just now? Why isn’t she here now?”
“Don’t try to read people’s minds,” Ji Hanxue said. “I’ll go up the mountain to take a look later.”
Not knowing if there was anything wrong with the air, Ji Hanxue decided to go alone.
The a.s.sistant director said, “I’ll go with you.”
Upstairs, s.h.i.+ Jin was live streaming. She spent a few minutes recording another song until she saw Yao Jiahong appear beside the filming crew and give her an OK sign.
It was only then that s.h.i.+ Jin said to the camera, “Everyone, I’ve already recorded everything. Those who should be doing their homework and cooking should go do their work too.”
“Daughter needs to rest well.”
“Are you going to eat too?”
“Waiting for the song! Go, daughter!”
“The first song was really nice to listen to, but the second song is still being downloaded!”
It was about time. The filming crew would not be filming the contestants’ private matters, so they got up and left.
***
As for s.h.i.+ Xuexin, due to s.h.i.+ Baozhi’s appearance and her guidance, the number of viewers had always been high, maintaining around a million viewers.
This number was not low at all for an artist who did not have a script and just randomly filmed a livestream.
After the livestream ended, s.h.i.+ Xuexin was very pleased when she heard the statistics. She said to s.h.i.+ Baozhi, “Auntie, it’s a good thing that you are here. The number of viewers we have today has always been quite good.”
s.h.i.+ Baozhi had a calm expression and did not say a word. With her status, this amount of viewers.h.i.+p was nothing.
s.h.i.+ Xuexin knew about s.h.i.+ Jin’s side and how she left midway, leaving her manager to entertain the fans. She heard that the number of viewers had not been high.
She opened her Weibo and saw that s.h.i.+ Jin’s name was on the top three trending topics.
#s.h.i.+ Jin Live King#
#s.h.i.+ Jin Recording What You See Is What You Get #
#s.h.i.+ Jin One Take#
She clicked on it and realized how popular s.h.i.+ Jin’s livestream was today.
Everyone was talking about s.h.i.+ Jin recording songs and posting the recording on the spot for the fans on Weibo.
There were also people who did the statistics. When s.h.i.+ Jin recorded the second song, the number of viewers never fell below five million. It was several times more than s.h.i.+ Baozhi and s.h.i.+ Xuexin’s efforts.
“What? How much?” Although s.h.i.+ Baozhi did not care about these superficial t.i.tles, she still asked.
“They didn’t say much. The fans are all amateurs. They don’t know how to appreciate it,” said s.h.i.+ Xuexin as she put away her cell phone.
s.h.i.+ Baozhi did not continue asking.
A few idol singers back in Country S who thought that s.h.i.+ Jin wouldn’t be able to release any music since she was abroad decided to take the opportunity to release their own singles. Yet, they could only watch with dumbfounded expressions as s.h.i.+ Jin defeated them.
Just as s.h.i.+ Xuexin was about to speak to s.h.i.+ Baozhi, there was a sudden movement beneath her feet.
“Oh no, it’s an earthquake!” s.h.i.+ Baozhi immediately found a place to hide and s.h.i.+ Xuexin also threw her cell phone away to hide.
As s.h.i.+ Jin was well-prepared, she was not in a sorry state.
She sat on the sofa, hugging a pillow as she watched the chandelier above her slowly come to a stop.
Just like what she remembered in her previous life, the earthquake this time was indeed not strong. The area hit the hardest should be Mount Polaport.
She immediately switched on her phone. The news was already out.
The news reported that the earthquake this time was about level four. Logically, it shouldn’t have caused any casualties.
s.h.i.+ Jin glanced over at Mount Polaport. Even if nothing went wrong, it was worth it to let the entire crew leave the mountain just in case.
Yao Jiahong rushed upstairs. “s.h.i.+ Jin, are you alright?”
“I’m fine. What about you guys?” s.h.i.+ Jin asked.
“Everything is fine. There’s a phone call for you.” Yao Jiahong pa.s.sed his phone to s.h.i.+ Jin.
s.h.i.+ Jin picked up the call. It was from Fu Xiuyuan.
He must have logged on to the Polish news website and read the news, so he knew about the situation here…
Yao Jiahong could not help, but secretly calculate. Poland and China had a seven-hour time difference. Logically speaking, it was still early in the morning in China. Even in the wee hours, he was still paying attention to s.h.i.+ Jin’s situation…
Yao Jiahong came back to his senses and recalled that s.h.i.+ Jin had sent the entire crew down the mountain. She had even reminded himself and Xiao Li to be careful, especially to prevent earthquakes and other disasters. So how did s.h.i.+ Jin know?
Downstairs, everyone in the production team was dumbfounded.
“An earthquake just like that?” The a.s.sistant director was still in a daze.
“Seriously?” After watching the news on TV, everyone was finally convinced. However, because they lived on the first floor of the villa, they weren’t affected too much.
However, Ji Hanxue stood up. “The center of the earthquake is at that position on the mountain. Tomorrow’s filming plans might be ruined. I’ll go out and take a look.”
“Don’t go, Director Ji.” The a.s.sistant director pulled Ji Hanxue back. “Look at the news!”
In the news.
The scene cut to Mount Polaport.
Because they knew that there was a filming crew here, the reporters and rescue team rushed over.
Everyone had only experienced the shaking of the house and the flas.h.i.+ng of lights. They did not think it was serious. It was only when they saw clearly that the rocks on Mount Polaport had rolled down and smashed into the area they were filming and living in that everyone fell silent. The place that they had stayed in previously was now in ruins.
Forget about filming tomorrow, even going up now would be a problem.
Everyone thought of something. If not for that strange smell, everyone would still be living there at this time. Looking at those huge rocks, there were probably more than a dozen people who would be injured.
The a.s.sistant director muttered softly, “s.h.i.+ Jin is a little strange.”
Someone added, “That’s right. After she came to the mountain, there was that weird stench. That’s why we came down the mountain. Could it be that she deliberately created that smell to save us?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Earthquakes are extremely difficult to predict. How can s.h.i.+ Jin predict the future?”
“But no matter what, we owe s.h.i.+ Jin a favor for moving us here. Otherwise, we might have slept on the ground at the foot of the mountain. That place would have been easily smashed by rocks.”
Everyone nodded.
Ji Hanxue didn’t say anything and called the a.s.sistant director out.
Now that the entire crew was fine, they still had to give the news media and rescue team an explanation.
The next day.
After the earthquake, there were only one or two aftershocks that the human body didn’t sense. The impact wasn’t big, so the whole incident of the earthquake didn’t cause much of a stir. However, Ji Hanxue couldn’t film the sunrise scene he wanted.
s.h.i.+ Xuexin made use of this incident to post on Weibo. She made the trip seem grand and magnificent, as if she was not here to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion but to ride the waves and overcome the obstacles. Yet her dramatic words still garnered the sympathy of many fans.
On the other hand, s.h.i.+ Jin’s fans kept asking about her situation on Weibo.
s.h.i.+ Jin replied indifferently, “It’s nothing. Only the lights shook a little.”
It was indeed nothing. There were no casualties in this accident. Other than the destruction of the terrain of Mount Polaport, there were no other effects.
When s.h.i.+ Jin woke up in the morning, she pa.s.sed by the first floor. When the fan from yesterday saw her, her eyes lit up and she rushed over. “s.h.i.+ Jin, you intentionally came to save us yesterday, right?”
“You’re thinking too much. How would I know that there would be an earthquake there?” s.h.i.+ Jin smiled and shook her head. Her eyes were clear and she did not look like she was lying at all.
The girl was stunned for a moment before saying, “No matter what, you’ve helped us a lot. Director Ji even said that he would thank you properly.”
“There’s no need to thank me. In a foreign country, it’s only normal to help each other out.” s.h.i.+ Jin waved at her and turned to leave.
“s.h.i.+ Jin.” Ji Hanxue walked out and stopped her.
s.h.i.+ Jin could only stop and greet him, “Director Ji.”
“You still helped us after all.” Ji Hanxue smiled and said, “Not only did you save so many people, but also the things I filmed, as well as all kinds of precious equipment. Let’s have lunch together?”
“Okay.” Since Ji Hanxue had already said so, there was no point in s.h.i.+ Jin rejecting him. “Then I’ll come over at noon.”
Ji Hanxue nodded. When he returned, he received another call. “Director Ji, there are media outlets that would like to ask you to tell them. How did you happen to move the entire production team down yesterday? Is there any inside information that you can reveal?”
“It’s not much of a coincidence. I just came down after filming.” Ji Hanxue himself was also curious.
However, no one would believe him even if he told them about it, and it would implicate s.h.i.+ Jin. He had already ordered the entire production team not to mention this matter.
This morning, he had gone to the mountains with the rescue team. The strange smell had disappeared without a trace, and the others had no reaction.
Let everyone just take it as a coincidence, then.
When Yao Jiahong heard that Ji Hanxue wanted to treat s.h.i.+ Jin to a meal, his hand that was holding the fruit froze for a moment. “It’s difficult to get a meeting with Director Ji. This is a rare opportunity.”
“He’s staying at the villa and wants to thank me, I can’t decline.”
“Stop it. I’ve been in this industry for more than ten years. Yesterday was the first time I spoke to Director Ji.” Yao Jiahong was not jealous at all.
s.h.i.+ Jin buried herself in work. It was not until noon that she packed up and went downstairs.
Although it was said that Ji Hanxue was treating her to a meal, he was using the things in the villa. This was because the food stored in the production team was basically all trapped on the mountain.
When they saw s.h.i.+ Jin coming over, the people in the production team did not have the same strong and cold att.i.tude as before. They greeted her politely.
“Director Ji is over there.” Someone pointed the way for s.h.i.+ Jin.
s.h.i.+ Jin walked towards Ji Hanxue.
Director Ji was looking at something with his back facing her. The a.s.sistant director at the side consoled him softly, “Forget it. As long as the people are fine.”
Ji Hanxue didn’t speak, but his back had an indescribable loneliness.
s.h.i.+ Jin took a few steps forward and greeted them.
“s.h.i.+ Jin is here?” Ji Hanxue turned around and smiled. “Sit.”
“s.h.i.+ Jin, have some tea.” The a.s.sistant director poured some tea for s.h.i.+ Jin and said, “I’ll go and settle that pile of things first.”
“What’s that?” s.h.i.+ Jin saw a few plants being thrown aside. Their leaves had withered and their petals had fallen.
“It’s the flowers that Director Ji planted. It wasn’t easy to find a farmer in another city to buy them from last time. When we went down the mountain yesterday, we didn’t bring them with us, thinking that everything would be fine. In the end, they were smashed into such a state.” The a.s.sistant director explained, “Look, the roots are already so damaged, it’s useless to keep them. It’s just that Director Ji spent so much effort…”
Ji Hanxue said, “If it’s destroyed, it’s destroyed. Even if it survived, I might not have been able to bring it back to Country S.”
This kind of item was very difficult to bring back and get through customs. However, this was also just Ji Hanxue’s self-consolation.
s.h.i.+ Jin took a look and said, “Are you throwing it away just like that?”
“What else can we do?” The a.s.sistant director felt that it was a pity and could only accept it.
“Give me the petals and leaves,” s.h.i.+ Jin said in a pleasant voice.
Ji Hanxue had listened to her songs last night and his impression of her had changed.
Seeing that Ji Hanxue didn’t object, the a.s.sistant director packed the flowers and placed them in a plastic bag and gave it to s.h.i.+ Jin.
After taking the flowers and plants, s.h.i.+ Jin returned upstairs after eating.
The next day was the finals of the Ivy League Composition Compet.i.tion. She needed some time to prepare.
The next day.
Warsaw Philharmonic Music Hall.
s.h.i.+ Xuexin had already dressed up for today’s compet.i.tion.
To be able to hold a compet.i.tion in the same venue as the Chopin compet.i.tion, the Ivy League compet.i.tion had raised their standards.
Hearing her phone ring, s.h.i.+ Xuexin picked it up immediately. “Brother Chu Ling.”
“I heard that you’re going to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion soon? How is it, how’s your preparation going?” Chu Ling’s voice was gentle.
“I’m well-prepared. With my aunt’s guidance, I believe it won’t be a problem.”
Chu Ling said, “That’s good.”
“Brother Chu Ling, I will work harder. Look at how many fans I have gained these few days.”
“I saw.”
“Then, Brother Chu Ling, does what we said before still count?”
Chu Ling pondered for a moment before saying, “Of course.”
If she could get an international award, s.h.i.+ Xuexin’s value was self-evident.
This was especially true for piano compet.i.tions. Several people who had partic.i.p.ated in international compet.i.tions before had entered the entertainment industry and were all very popular.
It was said that one had to have a representative work in the entertainment industry to be able to go far. However, those people had not even won an award yet, but they were already recognized by their fans and the public accepted them very well. Needless to say, if s.h.i.+ Xuexin won the award…
“Brother Chu Ling, I’m waiting for the day you announce it.” s.h.i.+ Xuexin sounded extremely excited.
She hung up the phone and walked out. All the reporters had their eyes on her and started to interview her.
With s.h.i.+ Baozhi’s help, the cheers for s.h.i.+ Xuexin cheers were extremely loud.
“Miss s.h.i.+, can you accept our interview?” A reporter who could speak Country S’s language started to ask.
s.h.i.+ Xuexin adjusted her mood and gave a natural smile. “Sure.”
The reporter was about to begin asking questions when someone said, “s.h.i.+ Jin is here!”
“Who is s.h.i.+ Jin?” Someone was confused.
“Don’t you guys know? It’s the singer from Country S who was livestreaming yesterday. I heard that she was recording a song at her place. She got it in one take!”
Because s.h.i.+ Jin was recorded by the Polish film crew yesterday, the film crew received Yao Jiahong’s approval and uploaded the video to their local social media.
Although it didn’t cause as much of a stir as it did on Country S’s Weibo, it still attracted a lot of attention.
“Oh, I know, I saw her video yesterday! What a talent!”
On the internet, many Polish netizens expressed their great interest in s.h.i.+ Jin. However, the reporters did not have the chance to contact her.
Now that they heard that she was here, no one cared about interviewing s.h.i.+ Xuexin anymore. They immediately headed towards s.h.i.+ Jin.
As media personnel, they had keen senses and knew which interview would increase the popularity and traffic. Therefore, at that moment, they did not interview s.h.i.+ Xuexin. Instead, they went to s.h.i.+ Jin’s side to look for an opportunity to interview her.
s.h.i.+ Jin was dressed simply and professionally, completely different from s.h.i.+ Xuexin’s princess style. After she entered, she waved and greeted everyone.
Although their languages were different, body language was the best way to communicate.
She was tall and slender. Dressed in a white s.h.i.+rt and black business jacket, she looked even more slender.
The sapphire brooch on her chest added to her feminine charm. Her long hair that was tied up made her look carefree and neat.
Everyone’s eyes were focused on her. Not only did her outfit not lose out to the style of a princess, but it also showed her super charisma as a contestant in the finals.
In an instant, the cameras in the reporters’ hands kept pressing on the shutters, wanting to capture her entire person.
“Look over here!”
“Please look over here!”
s.h.i.+ Xuexin clenched her fists and remained silent as she watched the reporters leave.
s.h.i.+ Jin only accepted a few minutes of interviews before heading to the backstage. Some of the reporters had yet to obtain any useful information from the interview, so they followed behind to film her appearance.
Hu Lai tugged at s.h.i.+ Xuexin’s hand. “It’s alright, Xuexin. With just looks, you won’t be able to last long in such a compet.i.tion. It’s even more so in the entertainment industry..”