After Song Shu left, Zhang Hang shook his head and sat back down. Then he continued to give orders to Lao Li on the phone.
Soon, thanks to the Zhang family's substantial financial resources, all kinds of online news were finally suppressed half a day later. However, Lao Li said that the person leading the exposure of Yuanyuan's incident used a foreign IP address, and it might be impossible to track this person down in a short time.
The Chu family managed to stay perfectly hidden again.
Zhang Hang closed his eyes, turned off his phone, and leaned back on the sofa, his mind in a complete mess.
Since his elder sister's death five years ago, the Zhang family had been under the watchful eyes of countless people.
In the past, the Zhang family had always managed to turn danger into safety and successfully identify those who were behind the schemes.
However, in recent years, the Chu family had been growing more and more powerful, while the Zhang family had been on a downward trend.
If they hadn't diversified their business, they might not have been able to withstand the various pressures from the Chu family.
What on earth did Chu Heng want to do...
Why did he keep targeting the children?
...
As Song Shu left the Zhang family's residence, looking at the disappearing shadow of the luxury car, a wisp of black smoke suddenly welled up in her eyes, and her previously lively expression froze. She secretly tightened her grip on her phone until her knuckles turned white.
She took out her phone and sent a message: Zhang Haomiao has taken the child to the filming set. Wait for him there.
After the message was successfully sent, the screen went dark, reflecting her numb face.
...
An hour later.
At the filming set.
Yuanyuan hopped out of the luxury car. Looking at the magnificent set in front of her, she was so shocked that she craned her neck upwards.
"Wow, Uncle! You're building a palace here!"
"Even the place of the grandmaster isn't that beautiful!"
Zhang Haomiao's eyebrows lifted with pleasure at the compliment.
"Yuanyuan, do you want to take photos? Uncle will take them for you."
"Okay!"
Just as the little one was about to run forward, a bearded middle - aged man walked up obsequiously. He grinned at them so widely that his eyes were just slits, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes looked like a wild flower blooming.
"Hey, Actor Zhang! You've brought your daughter here today!"
Zhang Haomiao looked in the direction of the voice, nodded casually, and said with a smile, "Good morning, Director Zhao."
Although the man called Director Zhao seemed to be talking to Zhang Haomiao, his eyes kept darting towards the little girl beside them.
Zhang Yuanyuan immediately became alert. People with such a wide - eyed grin were usually not good guys.
Maybe this one was after her too.
However, Yuanyuan seemed to be wrong.
Director Zhao cheerfully offered a cigarette. After being refused by Zhang Haomiao, he took out a variety show contract. "Actor Zhang, I'll cut to the chase. I won't beat around the bush with you."
"Here's the thing. I saw all the news about your daughter this morning. She has quite an influence on the Internet right now, and many netizens have been caught up in a wave of interest in metaphysics."
"Currently, there aren't any serious metaphysics shows in our country. So I'd like to invite you to join me in creating a precedent."
"The terms are all written in the contract. Take a look?"
Zhang Haomiao frowned.
Wasn't this the same purpose as Song Shu's in the morning?
What were these two up to?
Director Zhao glanced at Zhang Yuanyuan. "Don't worry. This show will only invite you. The little girl will never appear on camera."
"I was thinking that since you have a divine... little celestial master in your family, it would be more convenient to cooperate with you."
Zhang Haomiao's eyes flickered a few times. Looking at Yuanyuan who was standing quietly beside him, he finally started to flip through the contract.
Director Zhao's voice droned on in his ear.
"Our country has strict regulations on this area. So I don't plan to directly say that this is a metaphysics variety show. We'll shoot it under the guise of a real - life supernatural escape room."
"The venues will all be arranged according to the classic traditional styles in our country, or they'll be some well - known haunted houses. The guests we invite will all seem like ordinary people on the surface, but in fact, they'll be exorcists."
"The combination of fantasy and reality will make the audience feel more involved."
"I have a feeling that if your daughter can give you some guidance behind the scenes, this show is bound to be a huge success!"
Director Zhao's eyes were full of greedy light as he frequently glanced at Zhang Yuanyuan.
His real intention was all too obvious.
Seeing that Zhang Haomiao was still deep in thought, Director Zhao took the initiative to turn the page of the contract. "Take a closer look at the project details. I'm sure you'll be interested."
"For example, this escape room location, Nanzhi Workshop."
"You may have heard of it. It used to be a very popular opera troupe. All the opera performers there were highly skilled. But later, a fire destroyed all their hopes, turning it into the desolate area it is today, a regret for everyone."
"If we film there, it's sure to cause quite a stir among the audience."
Director Zhao coaxed him patiently, flipping through the contract that showed photos of Nanzhi Workshop's former glory as well as its current dilapidated state.
Zhang Haomiao could sense that this place was extremely sinister even without Yuanyuan telling him.
He looked at Yuanyuan, his eyes filled with worry.
If he agreed, it wouldn't be a matter of whether Yuanyuan would appear on camera or not. She would definitely be worried about him...
With a "snap", Zhang Haomiao firmly closed the file and handed it back to Director Zhao.
"Sorry, I'm not interested."
The obsequious smile on Director Zhao's face froze. "But... this is a great opportunity to become famous! If we seize this chance, we can become the leader of the new variety shows."
Zhang Haomiao smiled, not the least bit angry. He said in a good - natured way, "Director Zhao, do you think I need this kind of popularity?"
Director Zhao was immediately at a loss for words.
Right! How could Zhang Haomiao need it!
He was not only a young top - tier actor who had won countless awards, but also a powerful figure in the entertainment industry with abundant resources at his disposal. The employees his company trained were all outstanding in the industry.
It had always been him who arranged things for others. When had others ever arranged things for him!
Looking into those gentle eyes, Director Zhao subconsciously took two steps back, suddenly feeling quite guilty.
He had been so carried away by his imagination just now that he had almost forgotten who he was dealing with!
He was here to beg for cooperation, not to negotiate...
Director Zhao gritted his teeth secretly. Reluctantly, he made a concession. "Then... does your company have any suitable celebrities who could give it a try?"
"Sorry, I..."
Just as Zhang Haomiao was about to refuse, the little one beside him suddenly tugged at his hand.
"What's wrong?"
Zhang Haomiao squatted down gently. Yuanyuan leaned over and whispered in his ear.
"Uncle, please agree. I want to accumulate merits."
Zhang Haomiao frowned. "What more merits do you need to accumulate, sweetie? You just need to enjoy life. Didn't your second uncle say that he donated to build a lot of hope schools for you?"
Yuanyuan shook her head seriously. "It's not enough."
"Master once said that I'll face a great disaster in the future. If I can accumulate more merits, I won't be afraid when the disaster comes."
"The cause - and - effect in the dark will help me offset the disaster."
"Based on our current progress, the merits we can get from dealing with little ghosts are too few. Only by solving the big problems that harm the residents can we get corresponding great merits..."
Zhang Haomiao felt a pang in his heart. It was as if his heart had been squeezed by several big hands.
After Zhang Zhenwei came back, he had shown them that letter. They had only wanted to protect the little one physically, but they had forgotten that this child was not an ordinary person.
Zhang Haomiao sighed. "Isn't there any other way? This will be very dangerous."