Chapter 191: Bad Intentions
"At least I think if she doesn't have the time and energy to do all three things at once, it will affect her performance. From what I can see, Tan Mo is doing really well just dividing her time between her major and Professor Guo's research team. It proves that she can do both together," Shen Jingyi slowly explained. "But if she were to join us and got tired from doing all three things together, which one would she prioritize? She might focus on our research first because she just joined us, so she'll have to sacrifice her time with her studies or Professor Guo's research. Or, she might think that since she just joined us, she won't have to put much attention here at first.
Shen Jingyi paused and closed her eyes, trying to hide her intentions before continuing, "Either way, isn't it bad if she can't focus on the things she is doing? She will basically be wasting the team's resources and time. It's pretty unfair for those who are completely focused on the research. Of course, I'm not implying that Tan Mo would do that to us. It's just that no matter which side she chooses, it will never be fair."
Professor Zhao turned to glance at Shen Jingyi, and it made her anxious for a second before she quickly calmed herself down.
She knew that what she'd said made sense, and there was nothing for her to be nervous about.
Professor Zhao diverted his gaze as he laughed to himself.
After living for more than half a century, the professor could immediately tell what Shen Jingyi was trying to imply.
All he could do was blame himself for not spotting that side of her when he recruited her.
"So, you are against Tan Mo joining my research team?" Professor Zhao questioned her.
"N...no, of course not!" Shen Jingyi quickly shook her head. "I would be honored for such a talented person as Tan Mo to join us. I'm just worried she would choose to focus on other things than this."
Professor Zhao had already learned about Tan Mo's exceptional memory from Professor Guo. The only thing that they didn't know was that she actually had a photographic memory.
Yet, just from how well Tan Mo could remember things, Professor Guo had concluded that Tan Mo had enough energy to join Professor Zhao's research team as well.
Naturally, Professor Zhao had thought of the problem that Shen Jingyi had just raised.
Yet, rather than worrying Tan Mo would favor her studies or Professor Guo's research, he was more worried that Tan Mo could wear herself out, that she would sacrifice her rest so that she could do all of these things.
For a growing girl like Tan Mo, that was the worst possible thing that could happen to her.
That was why Professor Zhao had gone to ask Professor Guo for his opinion.
Professor Zhao didn't give Tan Mo the questions until Professor Guo had assured him that it would not be a problem for the 15-year-old girl.
The two professors were rivals in that they had both been trying to get Tan Mo onto their research teams, but since Professor Guo was sure that Tan Mo could handle the workload, he decided that it was fine for Professor Zhao to have her as well.
He believed that the decision would benefit Tan Mo a lot.
"I see." Professor Zhao smiled. "Why don't we ask Tan Mo herself?"
Just as Shen Jingyi was wondering when the professor would invite Tan Mo over, he turned to the door and said, "Tan Mo, come on in."
Shen Jingyi could not hide her surprised expression when she heard that.
Not only her, but everyone else was shocked as well.
None of them had actually thought that Tan Mo was already waiting outside the room.
Other than Wu Xiaoye, none of them had actually met Tan Mo before. Thus they were all curious about what the most famous student at Beijing University looked like.
As for Shen Jingyi, other than being surprised that Tan Mo was waiting outside, she was also worried that the young lady might have overheard what she had just said.
However, she quickly regained her composure as she knew that there was nothing wrong with what she had just said.
Shen Jingyi was sure that everyone could understand what she was trying to imply and wasn't worried that Tan Mo would, since she was still only 15 years old.
Her worries were immediately relieved when she thought about that.
The door was then pushed open, and in came a pure, pale-skinned girl.
She was so gorgeous that everyone could not help but hold their breaths.
Even though Tan Mo was still only 15 years old, her beauty could captivate anyone.
They couldn't even imagine what she would look like once she reached adulthood.
Not only that, her beauty wasn't of the type that would make people feel pressured that she was out of their league. Instead, her beauty felt more like that where people would want to be friends with her.
The moment they laid eyes on her, it was as if they were watching a calm stream inside a Zen garden. That was the best way to describe her beauty: calm but also warm like a hot spring at the same time.
"Xiaoye." Tan Mo greeted Wu Xiaoye with a smile before greeting everyone else. "Good morning, seniors. My name is Tan Mo."
Being greeted separately by Tan Mo made Wu Xiaoye feel special and happy. He was glad that he had treated her well in the past, and it was worth it since she remembered who he was and treated him differently than how she treated the rest of the research team.
"You heard it, right?" Professor Zhao turned to address Tan Mo. "Jingyi said she's worried that you might not have the energy and time to join our group."
"I did." Tan Mo nodded. "Um...which one is Jingyi?"
Professor Zhao pointed at Shen Jingyi. "The woman at the back."
Tan Mo nodded again.
She wanted to remember the faces of those who bore bad intentions toward her.
There was no way she didn't understand the meaning behind Shen Jingyi's words. She could understand the implications right away.
"Tan Mo, what I meant is that if you have the spare time and energy and give the same amount of attention to this research team, we are more than happy to welcome you to the team." Shen Jingyi smiled.
Tan Mo nodded, but she did not reply to her senior but turned to Professor Zhao instead. "Professor Zhao, does that mean if I don't have the energy and time, I don't need to be part of this research team?"
The rest of the students' jaws dropped when she said that.
It sounded as if Tan Mo wasn't keen on joining them.
When they tried to join the team, they had had to compete with a lot of other students just to land their spots, and Tan Mo was actually invited to join them instead of going through the same gruesome competition as they had.
Wu Xiaoye was suddenly having déjà vu.
It reminded him of when Tan Mo went to Professor Zhao's class, and the students voted not to let Tan Mo join them. When the results came out, Tan Mo was visibly happy.
It was as if she got the chance to skip class.
Wu Xiaoye could tell that things were about to go south. He knew he had to find a way to warn Professor Zhao.
However, Professor Zhao was much slyer than Wu Xiaoye thought. He had already thought of a way to counter this.
"Don't you dare say something like you aren't going to join because you don't have the time or energy," Professor Zhao scoffed. "I've already asked Professor Guo, and he told me that you have more than enough in your tank to join us. He even assured me that you would do well here also."
All the students were shocked to hear how highly Professor Guo viewed Tan Mo, to the point where he was this confident in her ability.
Chapter 192: Kindhearted Tan Mo
Shen Jingyi had not expected that Professor Zhao would have already asked Professor Guo about this and had received confirmation that Tan Mo had more than enough time and energy to do all these three things at the same time.
The only question was, how could she do that?
How was it possible for a person to multitask that many important things at once?
"And don't forget that you only used half a semester to complete all the questions I gave you." Professor Zhao smiled as he pointed at the stack of papers in Wu Xiaoye's hand, which was the perfect evidence. "Let's not forget that when you were answering the questions, you were also doing your studies and research with Professor Guo, and you even won the Ancient Text Competition. Professor Guo has told me that ever since you joined his team, they have been reviewing the literature of the Warring States Period at twice their normal speed.
All the students' eyes got wider and wider every time Professor Zhao added another thing to the list.
All they knew was that Tan Mo had won the Ancient Text Competition. They had completely forgotten about all the other things that she had been doing at the same time.
"I don't think you know this, but it took all your seniors here in this classroom at least a whole semester to complete all the questions. When we factor in the fact that they only had to focus on their History Department courses and didn't have to help another research team, you have completed these questions with just one-third of the effort that it took them. And their answers aren't as detailed as yours. I'm not saying that their answers were bad. They did make all the important points, but yours are just better. They didn't even include a reference list."
Tan Mo was speechless. At the same time, she felt as if she had been played by the professor. "Why are you asking me when you know everything?"
She was thinking that the professor could have just told Shen Jingyi the same thing he just had recounted without calling her into the classroom.
Tan Mo pouted. She was hoping that she might have the chance of some free time.
HMPH! Professor Zhao knew that he was right, that Tan Mo was planning something else. "So, you admit that you can help us out without straining yourself, right?"
In all honesty, Tan Mo had never planned to ditch the History Department in order to loaf around a little bit. However, when Professor Zhao had brought the question up, she did have a slight hope that she might be able to.
Of course, deep down in her heart, she knew she should not. Yet, she still would have liked to give it a try.
Just as she had told Wang Yuemu and Professor Guo's team, Professor Zhao had shown her respect, and she knew she had to repay that respect.
As long as people were nice to her, she would be nice to them as well.
That was why she had worked so hard to answer the questions given to her by Professor Zhao, because she knew she had to meet his expectations.
"Of course," Tan Mo said, nodding.
Professor Zhao looked satisfied, and he smiled and turned to Wu Xiaoye. "Xiaoye, why don't you introduce the research team and the work we do to Tan Mo before assigning something for her to do? Once you are finished, come to my office."
"Okay," Wu Xiaoye replied. She began to show Tan Mo around as Professor Zhao left.
After making sure Tan Mo was familiar with her surroundings, Wu Xiaoye chose a part of their research for Tan Mo to work on.
"Can you do this then?" Wu Xiaoye asked.
Tan Mo took a look and replied, "Yes."
They had a whiteboard in the research room so that the members could note down when they had the time to come and do their work, just like the one Professor Guo had in his research room.
Most of the requirements for Professor Zhao's research group were the same as Professor Guo's.
After checking her own schedule, Tan Mo wrote down her name in the time slots when she was free.
Now that she had another research project to work on, she had to adjust her time with Professor Guo's research team as well.
"You'll be on the same team as Zhong Liusi and Yu Jianan," Wu Xiaoye said.
He assigned Tan Mo to a different group than Shen Jingyi, since Shen Jingyi had made those catty comments about Tan Mo. Even though Shen Jingyi had thought that no one would understand her real motivation, Wu Xiaoye had. Whether the rest of the team had, he really couldn't say.
That was why he purposefully put Tan Mo on a different team than Shen Jingyi.
At first, he was worried that Tan Mo might not like the research topics this team was doing so he would have no choice but to put her on Shen Jingyi's team, but, fortunately, Tan Mo was happy with the topic.
Wu Xiaoye then introduced Tan Mo to Zhong Liusi and Yu Jianan.
At first, Tan Mo didn't know who they were since they hadn't spoken after she'd entered the room, but, after they introduced themselves, she could immediately tell who they were.
"Nice to meet you," Tan Mo greeted them with a smile. Other than Shen Jingyi, Tan Mo had a good impression of the whole research team.
She couldn't help but sigh and wonder how a person like Shen Jingyi could actually make it into such a team.
"I'll leave Tan Mo to you two then," Wu Xiaoye said. "Just make sure she gets familiar with what she's going to do first today. Don't make her start her work on the first day, okay? We don't want to scare her. Just give her a day or so to familiarize herself with the topic."
"We know," Yu Jianan scolded. "Do we look like we are that inconsiderate?"
"Just leave Tan Mo to us." Zhong Liusi laughed. "You don't have to worry about a thing."
"Good. Then I'm going to go to Professor Zhao's office now," Wu Xiaoye laughed and left the research room to go to the professor's office.
Zhong Liusi was very fond of her new junior, who had brought pride to their university.
It was her first time meeting Tan Mo in person, but when she'd first seen the young lady through the livestream, she knew she would like her personality.
"Oh, right! I watched the livestream of the Ancient Text Competition. What you did there was amazing," Zhong Liusi exclaimed. "To h*ll with friendship first, competition later. There's no way we can be friends with such an arrogant Tsinghua University, right? Those people deserved to be punished for being boastful and bullies. I liked how you were willing to take revenge on them for trying to humiliate us."
Tan Mo was dumbstruck once again.
Wait, no, I'm not that kind of person. I'm a gentle and kindhearted little snow fairy. I am not the type that seeks revenge.
Tan Mo suddenly realized that she might be in a pinch since her cuteness might not work on Zhong Liusi.
No, I've worked hard to make sure people think I'm a kind person. I can't let people think otherwise.
She quickly came to the conclusion that Zhong Liusi just didn't know her well enough.
Tan Mo was confident that once they got to know each other, her senior would see that she was a kindhearted person.
"She's right! Didn't you know that the big screen in the University's plaza was showing the livestream of the competition? Everyone cheered when they saw you winning round after round. The cheers were even louder when a few of the Tsinghua University contestants cried when they lost. (Yu Jianan was trying to explain the situation to Tan Mo.) And when you won the whole thing, everyone was cheering as if we had just won the World Cup or something!"
The first thing that caught Tan Mo's attention was that everyone thought she had made the other competitors cry, and she quickly explained, "They weren't crying because of me. They just couldn't accept the fact that they had lost." She pouted. "Seriously, how can they cry like that now that they are adults? Even I'm not a crybaby like them..."
Her pouting was so cute that Zhong Liusi and Yu Jianan began to like their new junior even more.
"Right? I think so too," Zhong Liusi agreed with a poker face, but she was planning something sly in her head. "I think they cried on purpose so that the others would think that you were bullying them."
Chapter 193: Deceptive Humans
"What? They did it on purpose?" Tan Mo's face turned pale immediately.
Her expression only made Zhong Liusi's heart soften even more. "You are still too young to know how cruel and deceptive humans can be." The senior sighed as she patted Tan Mo's head like she was her mother. "Don't worry, we will be here to protect you when people try to bully you."
"Yay! You are the best!" Tan Mo hugged Zhong Liusi's arm emotionally.
Yu Jianan glared at Zhong Liusi enviously and said, "I will be there to protect you as well."
"Thank you! You're the best also."
The seniors then began to explain the work Tan Mo had to do in the research team. Once the explanation was finished, Yu Jianan said, "Just let us know if you run into any problems when you start."
"Okay!" Tan Mo nodded.
"Everything should almost be the same as on Professor Guo's team." Yu Jianan smiled.
It was then that Shen Jingyi walked over to them and asked in a gentle tone, "Tan Mo, did you learn everything you need to know about the team?"
She had clearly heard Zhong Liusi talking about the competition since Zhong Liusi had a very loud voice. It was also possible that Zhong Liusi had done it on purpose for Shen Jingyi to hear.
"Pretty much. They told me everything in detail," Tan Mo replied with a smile as if Shen Jingyi wasn't her enemy and as if she trusted her.
Tan Mo acted as if she didn't understand the true implications behind Shen Jingyi's earlier catty comments.
"Is that so? If you have any problems when Jianan and Liusi aren't around, you can always ask me." Shen Jinyi was acting like a caring older sister to Tan Mo now.
"Thank you!" Tan Mo pretended to completely trust Shen Jingyi and gave her a pure smile.
Yu Jianan became worried when she saw that. She knew she had to figure out a way to warn Tan Mo to be wary of Shen Jingyi without making herself look as if she was trying to sour their relationship.
However, it wasn't as easy as it would seem.
Yu Jianan already knew what kind of personality Shen Jingyi had, while Zhong Liusi didn't. Zhong Liusi only knew that it was uncomfortable to talk to her.
In spite of not knowing how scheming Shen Jingyi really was, Zhong Liusi had never liked talking to her. She decided it would be best to ignore Shen Jingyi.
Zhong Liusi always avoided talking to Shen Jingyi and kept their interactions to the bare minimum. Even if Shen Jingyi made plans to include her, she would never leave any openings for the scheming girl to do so.
Zhong Liusi was the type of person who would always act according to her intuition. When people asked why she did what she did, she could never come up with an answer.
Yet that was the right way to deal with Shen Jingyi.
The only problem was that Yu Jianan could not rely on her team member to warn Tan Mo to keep her distance from Shen Jingyi. She was on her own.
This harsh reality made Yu Jianan let out a deep sigh.
...
After leaving the research room, Wu Xiaoye went straight to Professor Zhao's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in," Professor Zhao replied from inside.
Wu Xiaoye opened the door, and the first thing he saw was the professor writing something on a piece of paper, wearing a pair of reading glasses.
The professor raised his head and pushed his reading glasses down his nose a little so that he could see his student more clearly.
"I've put Tan Mo into Zhong Liusi and Yu Jianan's group," Wu Xiaoye reported.
Professor Zhao nodded, knowing that he could rely on Wu Xiaoye without telling him what to do.
"That Sheng Jingyi..." Professor Zhao slowly said her name as he put his pen down and removed his reading glasses. "You should pay more attention to her. See if she continues to act like she did just now in the future. It might sound like there are no bad intentions in her words, but I can tell she's scheming about something..."
Wu Xiaoye was stunned for a second and asked a question to confirm his suspicions. "Are you saying that she's scheming against Tan Mo? Or is it the whole research team?"
It was Professor Zhao's turn to be stunned, but he quickly caught on to what Wu Xiaoye meant. "Are you saying that Shen Jingyi has done something similar to another team member before?"
Since they were already on the topic, Wu Xiaoye decided not to hide it any longer. "Yes, she did. There have been a few cases similar to what happened today. As you mentioned, her words might sound like she means no ill will, but if one really pays attention to them, then it's obvious that she is trying to frame someone. And, when we challenge her, she always says that that wasn't her intention. Zhong Liusi and Yu Jianan have both gotten the same treatment from her. That's why they don't get along well with Shen Jingyi, to the point where they don't even want to talk to her."
It was clear that the two weren't sly enough to counter Shen Jingyi's tricks, but they could still run away from them.
"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" Professor Zhao frowned.
"It's pretty hard to bring it up." Wu Xiaoye smiled bitterly. "In the end, it still took her a lot of effort to be part of your research team. If I brought the matter to you, I could ruin her future. That could be devastating for her."
"Seriously, you don't know me well enough," Professor Zhao sighed as he pointed at his most prized student. "I don't care how good she is. As long as she has bad intentions, she's out of the team. I don't even care if she's the best among all of you.
And she wasn't even the best on the team.
"Of course, I'm not saying that every one of you should focus solely on your topics and not pay attention to your own benefits," Professor Zhao continued. "But, at the very least, no one should fight among themselves. There's no way I can forgive a person trying to use their teammates as a stepping stone for themselves. I don't want the team that I took a lot of effort to build up to become a place where people scheme against each other. A researcher should always focus on their own research.
Professor Zhao then got up and walked to the window to take a deep breath. "But now that we are halfway through the research, it's not right to suddenly remove her from the team. Despite being a schemer, she's still pretty good at her work. She has done her part in the research, and we can't just kick her out midway through it. It would just cause a whole ton of drama.
The professor then let out a long sigh. "I should've removed her from the team two years ago when the research had just started and before anyone had put their efforts into it. It's too late to do that now..."
All he could do now was prevent her from joining in future research and keeping her participation to the minimum.
Both Professor Zhao and Wu Xiaoye were kindhearted gentlemen.
Because of their personalities, their pride wouldn't let them destroy Shen Jingyi.
Wu Xiaoye continued to smile bitterly. "There was no way we knew what kind of a person she was when the team first got together. When I realized what a scheming personality she had, it was too late to do anything about it. There was just no way I was going to report it to you since it would make us look like we were bad people trying to get rid of her."
"Huh, really?" Professor Zhao raised a brow. "Then why are you telling me this now?"
"Weren't you the one who brought the topic up first?" Wu Xiaoye laughed. "I didn't know if you had finally noticed it because of Tan Mo or what, but now that you have realized it, I don't have to hold myself back anymore."
"I see..." Professor Zhao sighed and unconsciously tapped his finger on his desk.
Chapter 194: Jealousy
Professor Zhao had to do some deep thinking about how to solve this problem, and Wu Xiaoye decided to leave his office.
Everyone was now focused on their final exams.
That was why both Professor Guo and Professor Zhao's research teams halted their work for the exams.
Tan Mo finally had the chance to relax and rest for a while.
The most important thing she had to do when the semester ended was the registration for scholarships.
Even though the criteria for getting a scholarship wasn't solely based on students' exam results, but also on their extracurricular activities, it didn't mean that getting good results wasn't important. It was one of the most important criteria.
Lin Fuxi was aiming to get a scholarship. Thus she was completely focused on her studies.
However, when she returned to the dorm, the first thing she saw was Tan Mo watching a drama with her earphones on.
Lin Fuxi was shocked and call out to her roommate, "Tan Mo!"
The girl who was watching the drama heard someone calling her and quickly paused the show before taking her earphones off. "What's up?"
"Don't you have to study? Finals are just around the corner," Lin Fuxi said.
"Taking breaks in between is important too, right?" Tan Mo said as she scooped a piece of cake into her mouth.
When Lin Fuxi, who had been studying from early morning until late at night every day for the past few days, saw that Tan Mo actually had the time to rest, she felt that the world was unfair.
She had been working her *ss off, but was never noticed by other people. In contrast, Tan Mo was always having fun, and everyone kept praising her for her hard work.
From Lin Fuxi's perspective, Tan Mo never did any hard work because of her talent and spent most of her time having fun.
She bit her lip and asked, "Aren't you worried that you will get a bad result? You are famous now, and people will laugh at you for that." She couldn't hide her jealousy.
"They won't. Everyone knows that I'm also working with Professor Guo's research team, so they will understand." Tan Mo blinked innocently.
She didn't even tell her roommate that she was also now part of Professor Zhao's team.
The fact that Tan Mo had been picked to be a part of Professor Guo's team had been enough to make Lin Fuxi jealous to the maximum.
If Tan Mo were to let Lin Fuxi know that she had just gotten into Professor Zhao's team also, the roommate would be completely devastated and probably faint.
Since she was a kindhearted little snow fairy, there was no way she was going to let her roommate suffer such a fate.
If Lin Fuxi were to faint and leave, Tan Mo would've lost a source of enjoyment.
"Since I've been doing really great in the Chinese Department courses, it should be fine if I don't get the best results in the Finance Department courses. I just need to be good at one of them." Tan Mo took a sip of her bubble tea and enjoyed the chewy tapioca balls in her mouth.
Lin Fuxi was rendered speechless by Tan Mo's explanation even though it made a lot of sense.
It would be impractical to ask her to do well in both departments and would sound like they were forcing her to excel in all fields.
Lin Fuxi quickly came to the conclusion that Tan Mo was giving up on her chance at landing a scholarship since the scholarship was given according to their achievements in their own faculty.
No matter how well Tan Mo did in the Chinese Department, no matter how huge of a success she was there, she could never get the Faculty of Language Studies scholarship.
If Tan Mo really wanted a scholarship, she could only get it from the Faculty of Management Studies.
Since she had no achievements in her own faculty, Lin Fuxi was convinced that she would not get a scholarship.
Little did Lin Fuxi know, but Tan Mo's participation with the Chinese and History Departments was not something she had searched out. To be frank, she had been requested to help the research teams out.
As long as her own faculty did not request her to do anything, as long as no one went to her for help, she could live a normal life as a Finance Department student.
As long as nothing affected her future of taking over her father's company, she was fine with anything. All she wanted was to learn enough methods to manage a company so that her family business would not die in her hands.
Tan Mo's remark made Lin Fuxi think that since Tan Mo had been born into a rich family, she had never had to worry about money and thus had no need for a scholarship.
Lin Fuxi was extremely jealous of her roommate, since she needed the scholarship to secure her future. It was something she really needed.
Seeing how Lin Fuxi had gone into her own little world again, Tan Mo could not help but wonder what she was thinking about.
Tan Mo decided to let her roommate go back to her own business and put her earphones back on.
While the rest of the university was busy preparing for their final exams, this was the most relaxing time for Tan Mo.
After all the exams were over, Tan Mo packed some of her stuff and got ready to head home.
Since she still had a lot of her possessions at home, she only needed a small bag to carry her stuff.
As soon as she got to the gates of the university, she saw her parents and brothers waiting for her, but what surprised her the most was that Tan Jinqi was there as well.
She quickly ran toward her eldest brother excitedly and hugged him. "Brother!"
Tan Jinqi caught his little sister up in his arms with a gentle smile on his face.
"Why are you here? When did you get back? Did you take a leave from your work?" Tan Mo barraged her eldest brother with questions as it had been months since she'd last seen him.
"No, I finished my part," Tan Jinqi explained. "Come on, let's get into the car first. It's cold outside."
Luckily, Tan Mo had her winter cap, scarf, and gloves on so that she wasn't affected by the cold.
After everyone got into the car, Tan Jinqi finally explained, "Since Director Hou's next drama doesn't start shooting for several months, he introduced me to Director Liu Runlin. Most of Director Hou's dramas are urban dramas, so it'll be a huge change for me as Director Liu is more focused on historical dramas."
Even though Hou Yuehai became famous for his historical dramas, he didn't want to stick to a single genre for his whole career. He wanted to venture into different genres.
The drama that Tan Jinqi had just completed was an urban romantic drama.
"I have most of the Lunar New Year off, but I'll have to head back as soon as it ends," Tan Jinqi said.
"I want to go with you," Tan Mo suddenly said.
"Oh? Are you interested?" the rest of the Tan family asked at the same time.
"Yes!" Tan Mo nodded happily. "Since I have nothing to do on the winter break, I want to see how big brother works."
"But...aren't you going to spend more time with us as well? It's rare for you to be back for so long," Tan Jinyi wailed.
"Um...Brother Jinyi, aren't you forgetting something? President Mu has found you and Brother Jinsheng new instructors," Tan Mo said. "He asked Liu Shengtai, who was the teacher of the award-winning producer Lu Xiangcheng, for Brother Jinsheng, and He Haoyan, who was Tong Yanzhen's senior, for you. Aren't you two going to start apprenticing under them once the winter break starts?"
"Your little sister is right," Xu Mingzhen reminded them. "Since you two still have classes on weekdays, you two have to make use of the weekends and holidays. They aren't in B City right now, and don't tell me you are expecting them to come here just to teach you two. So, none of you are going to have the time to stay at home with Momo, get it?"
The reality hit the two brothers hard as they dropped their heads.
When they heard that Tan Mo wanted to visit Tan Jinqi while he was working, they had completely forgotten that they had no spare time during their holidays.
"Seriously, is this something to be depressed about?" Tan Wenci scolded them. "Jinsheng, did you forget that Liu Shengtai once said that Lu Xiangcheng would be his last apprentice?"
Chapter 195: His Intentions
"And He Haoyan, who is Dong Yanzhen's senior under the same master artist, is known to produce a purer form of art than his junior despite the latter being more famous. Dong Yanzhen produces art that aims to be marketable, while He Haoyan actually focuses on the art itself and isn't interested in fame or fortune." Tan Wenci sighed. "Seriously, both of you, do you think chances like this fall from the tree every day? Get a grip and get serious!"
"Dad is right." Tan Jinqi nodded his agreement. "Liu Shengtai did say that he wasn't going to accept any more apprentices. I can't imagine what it took for President Mu to be able to change his mind. I also wonder how the President managed to convince He Haoyan, who is known to have a very complicated personality, to accept you as his student."
The eldest brother paused and continued, "Even though President Mu is doing this because Momo won the Ancient Text Competition, finding two of the best in their fields to teach you two seems a huge favor. We definitely owe him a favor now."
"Don't worry. All I have to do is to continue to win more things for the school, and it'll be fine." Tan Mo smiled.
Tan Jinsheng and Tan Jinyi nodded happily.
"It's been months since I've last seen my big brother. That's why I want to go with him." Tan Mo was trying to cheer her two brothers up. "Since big brother started to work with this director, he has never been home when I've come back on the weekends. I haven't really had the chance to spend time with him. Even if I go to the set with him, I can only watch him from the sidelines. I don't really get to spend a lot of time with big brother compared to you two..."
Tan Jinsheng and Tan Jinyi thought about that and realized their little sister was right. They immediately felt better.
...
It didn't take long for the Lunar New Year to arrive.
The family was so busy during this festive event that the days passed by in the blink of an eye.
It had been a long time since the whole Tan family had visited Old Madame Xu during the Lunar New Year. Xu Mingzhen was the one who suggested that they not go.
She would visit her mother from time to time, but that was pretty much it. She decided not to take her husband and children with her to her old home during the Lunar New Year.
The reason was that whenever she did, Old Madame Xu would get angry at them for no reason and look down on them.
Xu Mingzhen was angry at her mother for despising her husband and children, who meant the world to her.
The situation got a little better once Old Madame Xu found out that the family was acquainted with Wei Zhiqian, but that only angered Xu Mingzhen more.
On one hand, the old lady wanted to get acquainted with Wei Zhiqian through Tan Mo, but, on the other hand, she still despised Tan Mo.
She acted as if being nice to Tan Mo would cost her a few years of her life.
The biggest problem was that Old Madame Xu was really bad at faking things, so she would insult Tan Mo from time to time without even realizing it.
And the only reason the old lady bothered to put up with Tan Mo was because she wanted Wei Zhiqian to support Yuan Zhengwen.
Xu Mingzhen found the whole situation annoying and absurd at the same time.
She wasn't going to let Old Madame Xu look down on Tan Wenci and her four children, nor was she going to let the old lady use Tan Mo as a stepping stone so that she could get acquainted with Wei Zhiqian.
That was why, in the end, the mother decided not to take the whole family back to her old home on the second day of the Lunar New Year.
Since they weren't doing that and had visited the Wei family on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the whole family decided to visit Qin Muye and her family instead.
Tan Mo had called Qin Muye the day before, and, in the middle of their conversation, Tan Mo decided to visit the Qin family the next day.
When Xu Mingzhen left the house, she noticed Tan Mo playing in the snow in the garden.
Since only a thin layer of snow had piled up in their garden, the three brothers were busy gathering all the snow scattered around the garden to one spot so that Tan Mo could sink her feet into it.
Tan Mo was having a lot of fun while her three brothers were starting to sweat even in the cold weather.
As soon as they'd gathered a small pile of snow, Tan Mo would jump into it and splatter the snow all around.
She looked so happy, and a huge grin was plastered on her face.
It reminded Xu Mingzhen of how Tan Mo would always step in snow when they visited Old Madame Xu in the past.
The only difference was that there had been no smile on her face in the past, unlike now, when she was smiling happily.
Tan Mo's mother couldn't help but gasp at how fast time had passed.
The children had all grown up, and she and Tan Wenci had gotten old.
Xu Mingzhen quickly recovered her wits and walked down the stairs into the garden with a smile. "Come on, kids. We are leaving."
The Tan family then departed to visit the Qin family.
On their way there, Tan Mo was chatting with Qin Muye on WeChat. Thus, the Qin family knew that they were going to have visitors soon.
When Tan Mo told Qin Muye that they were about to arrive, the latter quickly put on her shoes and ran outside to wait for them.
As the Tan family pulled up to the Qin family's driveway and noticed Qin Muye waiting by the gate, Xu Mingzhen frowned. "Why is that girl waiting outside?"
After they had parked the car and gotten out, Xu Mingzhen scolded Qin Muye, "Young lady, why are you waiting outside?"
"Because I'm the youngest. It's my responsibility to welcome the guests," Qin Muye said and quickly ran to Tan Mo, who had just stepped out of the car.
As soon as they entered the house, they were all surprised to find Wei Zhiqian there as well.
"Uncle!" Tan Mo's eyes lit up, and she quickly ran over to him.
All Qin Muye felt was a gust of wind that swooshed past her, and Tan Mo was gone.
By the time she realized it, her friend was already standing in front of Wei Zhiqian.
Qin Muye pouted. At first, she had been as important as Wei Zhiqian to Tan Mo, but slowly she had begun to lose out to this man as the years passed.
No matter when or where, as long as Wei Zhiqian was around, Tan Mo would run to his side without any second thought.
"Mr. and Mrs. Qin, Happy New Year!" Luckily, Tan Mo had not forgotten to greet Qin Muye's parents first.
Yet, she didn't wait for Qin Zhenglu and Dong Hanbi to respond, but quickly turned to Wei Zhiqian. "Uncle, why are you here?"
"Same reason as you." Wei Zhiqian nodded and moved a little so that Tan Mo could sit next to him.
Before the Tan family had arrived, Wei Zhiqian had been sitting on the end cushion of a three-person couch. Now, he had moved from the end to the middle seat so that Tan Mo could sit next to him.
He had another motive also. By doing this, no one else was able to sit next to the young lady, neither the Tan family or anyone else.
Everyone was glaring at Wei Zhiqian speechlessly.
They could immediately see Wei Zhiqian's intentions and mocked him for that in their heads.
Chapter 196: Selfish Best Friend
Tan Wenci and Xu Mingzhen and their three sons greeted the Qin family before taking a seat themselves.
Qin Muye had no choice but to sit down next to Qin Mufeng. She believed he was good enough to compete with Wei Zhiqian.
"Momo," Qin Muye called out, hugging Qin Mufeng's arm.
Qin Mufeng turned to look at her and sighed. It looked like Muye is planning to challenge Wei Zhiqian again...
He couldn't help but glance at Tan Mo, unable to understand which part of her had managed to charm both Wei Zhiqian and Qin Muye to the point where they would fight each other just to prove who was more important to Tan Mo.
"Why don't we visit Qing later?" Qin Muye suggested.
The moment Qin Muye saw the frown on Wei Zhiqian's forehead, she tilted her head up with an arrogant smile on her face. She had finally managed to get a reaction from him.
If she alone wasn't enough to challenge Wei Zhiqian, then all she had to do was do it with someone else.
All she had to do was bring Ming Yeqing's name up. Two best friends were always better than one.
And as Qin Muye had expected, Tan Mo nodded excitedly. "Yes! Let's do that."
"Aren't you in the same university as Ming Yeqing? Don't you guys meet up a lot?" Wei Zhiqian frowned, not realizing that the two of them were now best friends.
"We are, but we are always busy at school," Tan Mo explained with a sigh. "Qing also joined one of his professors' teams, and I have to do three things every day. You know that. Even if we are in the same school, we rarely get to meet each other. We don't even have the time to have lunch together."
Since Ming Yeqing was also busy on most days, he preferred to eat in the canteen that was closest to his faculty. He would even sometimes ask a teammate to buy his lunch for him so he could save the travel time and focus on his research.
It was basically impossible for them to meet.
"That's right!" Qin Muye nodded. "And I even have less time to meet up with them since I'm still in high school. Also, didn't Momo say she's going to visit her brother on the set after the Lunar New Year is over? Then, we'll even have less time to spend together..."
"Well, why don't you just invite him over? There's nothing to see outside during the New Year anyway. Isn't it better to stay indoors?" Wei Zhiqian let out a yawn and turned to glance at the three brothers of the Tan family. "Heck, it might be even livelier in here than out there."
The three brothers looked at each other speechlessly. What the h*ll are you looking at us for? Are we a nuisance to you now?
Wei Zhiqian then took his phone out and sent Qin Mufeng a message. "What's going on with Muye? Are she and Ming Yeqing a thing now?"
After sending the message, he thought for a second before sending another. "If that's the case, then as your friend, I have to warn you. They are still young and reckless, and who knows what will happen in the future? I'm not worried about Ming Yeqing since he's already gotten into Beijing University, and the pressure is gone. With his talent, he can do anything he wants without any worries. But Muye is a whole different story. She's still in high school. Shouldn't they wait until she graduates? What if the relationship affects her studies, and she doesn't get into Beijing University. Of course, I'm not saying she couldn't. She definitely could since she is smart. But, what if it affected her?"
Wei Zhiqian was sure that Qin Muye wouldn't face any problems with her studies under normal circumstances because she had her parents' genes.
As for Qin Murong, he was more like a mutation of the family in Wei Zhiqian's eyes.
That wasn't the end of Wei Zhiqian's messages as he typed another one. "What if this affects her test results and she can't get into Beijing University? With both of her best friends there, she would definitely feel ashamed. She even promised everyone that she would definitely make it, didn't she? So that she could be in the same school as Momo and Ming Yeqing. It would definitely be devastating if she failed to get in."
Qin Mufeng read the messages that Wei Zhiqian kept sending him and chuckled.
The latter's intentions were as bright as day. He didn't want Tan Mo to meet up with Ming Yeqing.
As his best friend, Qin Mufeng couldn't help but think how selfish his best friend could be.
"Is that so? I guess we'll have no choice but to let Tan Mo play with Ming Yeqing alone then," Qin Mufeng replied. He was curious as to how Wei Zhiqian would respond to that.
In spite of the fact that she was sitting next to Wei Zhiqian, Tan Mo did not take a peek at his phone out of respect for his privacy. When she saw Wei Zhiqian keep typing on his phone as if his life depended on it, the first thing she thought was that he was busy with work.
After replying to Wei Zhiqian, Qin Mufeng turned to look at him to watch his response.
The first reaction Wei Zhiqian had was a surprised one, which was quickly followed by him typing another message.
Seconds later, Qin Mufeng got another message from Wei Zhiqian. "So, you think there's something going on between Muye and Ming Yeqing as well?"
Qin Mufeng didn't know how to respond to that. Dude, aren't you the one who's not wanting Tan Mo to hang out with Ming Yeqing?
However, when Qin Mufeng thought about it, Wei Zhiqian's suspicions might not be wrong.
Suddenly, it made him suspicious of his sister's relationship with her best friend as well.
As the brother became lost in thought, Qin Muye grabbed his arm and begged, "Can we go out?"
This only worsened his suspicions. Wait, is Wei Zhiqian actually right this time? Is she really dating Ming Yeqing? She's just 15 years old. Well, it's not like I'm not allowing her to date, but she's still too young.
Qin Mufeng realized his friend might be right. Ming Yeqing was still a 15-year-old teen as well, and no one could tell what kind of person he would become in the future and whether he was going to be reliable or not.
The suspicion worsened when he realized that Ming Yeqing rarely hung out with guys of his age but would rather spend most of his time with Qing Muye and Tan Mo.
And now, Qin Muye was always talking about him.
The more Qin Mufeng thought about it, the more something seemed off.
"I think Zhiqian is right," Qin Mufeng agreed with his friend. "Why don't you invite Ming Yeqing over? There's nothing to do outside anyway."
Qin Muye was stunned by her brother's response and turned to glare at Wei Zhiqian. It was only then she suspected that her brother had been texting with Wei Zhiqian for the last few minutes.
Without many choices, Qin Muye decided not to call Ming Yeqing over since it was pointless.
What she had not expected was that her brother would insist that she invite him over to the house. "Aren't you going to call him?" Qin Mufeng asked.
He wanted to take a good look at this teenage boy that his sister kept talking about.
Qin Muye was utterly dumbfounded now. What the heck is wrong with him today?
Since Qin Mufeng kept insisting, Qin Muye had no choice but to phone Ming Yeqing and invite him over.
The truth was that Ming Yeqing was completely innocent.
It wasn't that he didn't want to play with guys of his age, but like Tan Mo, he had been admitted into Beijing University at the age of 15 and had even gotten to join a professor's research team. Most of the people he knew were adults who were at least five years older than he was, with some even ten years older.
He just didn't have to chance to meet and be friends with people of his own age.
Chapter 197: His Forceful Sister
The only two friends of the same age that Ming Yeqing had were Tan Mo and Qin Muye.
After a minute or so, Qin Muye returned with a disappointed expression. "Qing is now at his grandma's. He can't come."
Qin Mufeng raised a brow as he was devastated by the fact that his sister was now big enough to lie to him.
Just a few minutes ago, she was suggesting to Tan Mo to hang out with Ming Yeqing later, which was proof that he was free for the whole day.
Yet, when Qin Mufeng had asked his sister to invite Ming Yeqing over, the boy was suddenly busy.
Never did the brother expect this day to arrive so soon, the day where his sister would lie to him for another boy.
Qin Mufeng felt as if his heart was being penetrated by thousands of needles.
On the other hand, since Ming Yeqing wasn't coming, Wei Zhiqian now had a smile on his face. "How long will you be gone to visit your brother at work?" he asked Tan Mo.
"Only a few days," Tan Mo replied as Wei Zhiqian picked up a strawberry. She quickly opened her mouth wide and pointed inside it.
Wei Zhiqian immediately let out a laugh as he was going to give the strawberry to her from the beginning.
Seriously, do you really think I'm eating this myself? Of course, I'm giving it to you.
Wei Zhiqian stopped his hand in front of Tan Mo's mouth.
The strawberry was huge and bright red in colour with its sour white part removed. Only the tasty part was left.
Despite that, Tan Mo still could not shove the whole thing in her mouth and had to take a bite first.
Even half of the strawberry was enough to fill her mouth. Her cheek would bump up a little and moved as she chewed the strawberry, just like how a squirrel would eat.
Wei Zhiqian did not lower his arm and patiently waited for Tan Mo to finish the first half.
"I'm just going to see where big brother works and how the set looks like," Tan Mo said after finishing the first half, and Wei Zhiqian fed her the rest of it. "Since the winter break is short, the next semester will start not long after the Lunar New Year ends."
"Did you book a hotel already?" Wei Zhiqian asked as he looked at her. He was asking another question through his stare.
Tan Mo instantly understood it and pointed at the shine muscats in front of them.
Wei Zhiqian took a glance at the grapes and could feel the pain in his head.
Unlike the Kyoho grapes, which were much softer, the shine muscats were very hard to peel.
After letting out a sigh in his head, Wei Zhiqian picked one up and began to peel the skin for Tan Mo.
"I'll be staying at the same hotel with my big brother," Tan Mo answered as she stared at Wei Zhiqian's hands, looking forward to tasting the grapes that he was peeling.
Wei Zhiqian finished peeling the grape and fed it to Tan Mo right away, not letting her dirty her hands.
He then turned to Tan Jinqi and asked, "Jinqi, what kind of hotel are you staying at?" His tone was like a father or uncle asking a question.
Do you really think you are my real uncle now? Tan Jinqi scolded in his head but still explained, "The crews are divided into three different groups. The directors, main actors, and special guests are all staying at a five-star hotel. The supporting actors stay in a four-star hotel, while the rest of the crew, including a few actors with minor roles, are staying in a three-star hotel. Since I'm an assistant director and have to coordinate with the director and main actors all the time, I get the benefit to stay in the same five-star hotel."
Tan Jinqi paused and continued, "And since I'm introduced to Director Liu by Director Hou, he's giving the same good treatment as well. It makes sense for Momo to stay in the same hotel as mine since it's easy for me to take care of her."
Tan Jinqi understood why Wei Zhiqian was worried, but he didn't need an outsider to tell him how to be an older brother to Tan Mo.
Seeing that Wei Zhiqian was peeling the grapes for Tan Mo, Tan Jinqi naturally picked one up and started to peel for his sister as well. There was no way he was going to lose to an outsider.
As for Tan Jinsheng and Tan Jinyi, they had started peeling for their dear little sister when Wei Zhiqian was talking to Tan Jinqi.
Just as Wei Zhiqian was about to feed Tan Mo her second grape, a plate of peeled shine muscats was placed in front of them. There was even a tiny fork on there so that Tan Mo wouldn't have to worry about dirtying her hand.
The sweet aroma and glistering flesh of the shine muscats immediately attracted Tan Mo's attention as she turned to look at them with her mouth wide open. She was so captivated that she didn't take a bite of the grape that Wei Zhiqian had just peeled for her.
Tan Jinqi pointed at the plate and smiled, "Your brothers peeled these for you."
Tan Jinsheng and Tan Jinyi nodded and showed their hands that were still wet with the grape juices.
Tan Mo quickly ate the grape that Wei Zhiqian peeled for her and picked one that her brothers had peeled up with the tiny fork.
"Thank you! You guys are the best!" Tan Mo smiled.
Qin Muye was staring at her best friend enviously and turned to glare at her brother.
Why aren't you peeling grapes for your cute little sister like they did?
Qin Mufeng looked at his sister speechlessly.
Are you serious? Tan Mo has three brothers and an uncle. It only took them like one minute to peel a bowl worth of grapes! You only have one brother, and you expect me to do the work of four people? Do you know how tiring that is?
Qin Muye scoffed at her brother, forcing the latter to let out a deep sigh before asking Auntie Li for a new plate of grapes so that he could peel them for his forceful sister.
As Qin Mufeng peeled the grapes alone, he did not forget to glance at Qin Zhenglu and Dong Hanbi from time to time.
Look at Tan Mo's parents. Look at how hardworking they were and gave Tan Mo three brothers. You guys should learn from them...
Qin Zhenglu and Dong Hanbi turned to look at each other before back at their son.
Qin Mufeng was lucky that they had guests over or else the parents would've hit his ass on the spot.
*
No one could stop the days passing by and the Lunar New Year soon came to an end.
Tan Mo followed Tan Jinqi to the film studio where he worked at.
Tan Jinqi did notify Director Liu of his sister's visit beforehand, that she just wanted to look around.
Before Director Liu could give out any warning, Tan Mo assured the Director that she would not cause any problem to them, that she would not take photos of the set and the actors.
Hearing how lovely and loveable Tan Mo was, Director Liu agreed to it right away.
On the next day they left B City, Tan Mo followed Tan Jinqi into the film studio and to where the set the filming crew would be working at.
Tan Jinqi settled his sister down in a dressing room and gave her a stack of papers. "This is the script. You can read it if you're bored."
Normally, the script was not meant to be shared with other people, but Tan Mo was no "other people"
Tan Jinqi was also confident that Tan Mo would not share the content of the script with outsiders.
It wouldn't be like her to do that as she was only interested in things that were related to her family. She wasn't keen on doing things that did not interest her, things such as leaking the script to the outside.
That was the kind of person Tan Mo was. The reason she chose to be a finance major student was so her three brothers could pursue their own dreams.
The reason she joined the two professors' research teams was that they requested her to do so.
However, now that she thought about it, there wasn't anything else that had really piqued her interest.
Chapter 198: Nonsense
Tan Jinqi was sure that his sister would completely forget the fact that she had read the whole script.
The only reason he gave her the script was so that she wouldn't get bored.
Tan Mo took the script and said, "Okay. Why don't you go on? I'm here to watch you work so that mom and dad can stop worrying about you, not give you troubles."
"Alright," Tan Jinqi smiled.
As the oldest brother, the fact that his 15-year-old sister was worried about him made him touched but also sad at the same time as he had failed as her brother. That was why he promised in his head that he would be better at what he did so that she wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.
Since Tan Mo had nothing to do, she decided to read the script. However, just a few pages into it, she couldn't bring herself to read it any longer as the plot was too cringy.
Tan Mo then snuck out of the room and hid in a corner where she could watch her oldest brother work.
Minutes after that, from what she could see, Director Liu was very focused on producing a good drama.
Even the makeup and costumes were top of the line.
Some might say that these weren't historically accurate, but Tan Mo could tell they did their best trying to preserve the historical features while making sure the costumes and makeup would appeal to the modern viewers.
After watching from the side for a while, Tan Mo got bored again and returned to the dressing room that was prepared for her.
Tan Jinqi returned when it was noon with lunch for Tan Mo.
Since the brother was worried that Tan Mo might not like the lunchbox that the crew had prepared, he decided to order food delivery for her instead.
"Did you read the script? How was it?" Tan Jinqi asked. He wanted to hear his sister's opinion as she was now part of Professor Tang's history research team, meaning that she would have a very good understanding of their own country's history.
Tan Mo shrugged as she responded, "I can't really tell... All I can say is that the plot is all over the place. At first glance, it looks like it's talking about taking over the throne, but it's different as the plot continues. Since the plot is taking place during the Northern and Southern Dynasty, the first impression it gives is the talents that the dynasty produce and the famous Seven Sages of the Bamboo Groove. But the deeper the plot goes, the less it's about taking over the throne but more about the elegant talents and romance. All in all, it has nothing to do with history."
After a short pause, Tan Mo suddenly asked, "You did say that this is a historical drama, right? Are you sure?"
"I am," Tan Jinqi nodded. "Director Liu even hired a specialist to discuss the script with the scriptwriter. Now that you've mentioned it, I think the specialist is a history PhD student from Beijing University."
"What?" Tan Mo was surprised by it for a second before regaining her composure as she was only acquainted with a few of the history major students from Professor Tang's research team.
"Well, I don't really think it's a good idea to advertise it as a historical drama with accurate historical context..." Tan Mo shook her head.
Tan Jinqi believed his sister without a single doubt as she was one of the highly praised students by Professor Tang.
However, there was nothing he could do to change the script as it had approval from Director Liu. Not only that, the set was already built, and the drama was already heavily invested.
It was too late to change anything.
The only thing Tan Jinqi could do was remind Director Liu about the problem.
Although it wasn't his problem to worry, but seeing that he was introduced to Director Liu by Director Hou, he could tell that the two directors were close friends.
It was one thing if Director Liu would listen to him or not, but at the very least, he had to tell the director the problem they might be facing.
Tan Jinqi even regretted not showing Tan Mo the script earlier.
Judging from her brother's expression, Tan Mo could tell what he was thinking and asked, "Big brother, are you hesitating to bring this up to Director Liu?"
Tan Jinqi let out a deep sigh. "Yes. Even if I tell him now, it's too late to change anything. It'll take weeks to alter the script, and judging from what you had just said, and we might have to rewrite the whole thing. There's too much to lose if we have the whole crew wait for that long, and the actors might not have the time to reschedule."
The brother then pondered before continuing with a frown, "But, if I don't tell him and he proceeds with promoting the film as a historical drama, I'm worried that it might affect his credibility as a film director."
"Do you want my opinion? Just do what you think is right," Tan Mo said. "Sometimes, it's important to follow where your heart takes you."
Tan Jinqi smiled but still could not come to a decision.
He wasn't an indecisive person, but he didn't want to drag Tan Mo into it.
The only thing he was really worried about was how it would affect Tan Mo.
If he were to bring it up with Director Liu, the director would ask why he did not bring the problem up when he got the script a few months prior to that and waited until they were about to start filming.
He needed an explanation that could convince Director Liu without dragging Tan Mo into it.
And Tan Mo knew exactly what his brother was thinking and assured him that he should do what he thought was right and did not have to worry about her.
Despite not voicing each other's opinions out, the siblings could immediately tell what each other was thinking.
That was why Tan Jinqi only smiled at her as he would never do anything that would risk his sister being part of it.
Unless he was sure that Tan Mo would not be dragged into it, he would never bring it up.
The oldest brother would always choose to side with his sister instead of Director Liu. He didn't even have to think about it.
Suddenly, the door flung wide opened, and the siblings turned with a surprised expression. Outside the door stood a woman in her late twenties with a pair of gold-plated round glasses.
She charged into the room and scolded Tan Jinqi, "Assitant Director Tan, I can understand your sister being young and immature, but how can an adult like you be so immature as well? Are you going to let your sister spout nonsense like this?"
Tan Jinqi stood up angrily. He knew that working in the entertainment business would mean a certain amount of humiliation. Thus, he was prepared for it.
He could withstand anything, except when people were dragging Tan Mo into it.
"Like you are any better," Tan Jinqi scoffed. "Tell me, how long have you been eavesdropping on us?"
By chance, Yuan Qishan walked past the dressing room when the siblings were discussing the script.
It wasn't as if the soundproofing of the room was bad, but Yuan Qishan was extremely sensitive whenever someone talked about the script.
Thinking that the people inside the room might be talking about just that, she quickly stuck her ears to the door and listened to what they were talking about.
The first thing she heard was Tan Mo's comment on how bad the plot was.
Even though Tan Mo did not specifically say that the scriptwriter was bad, but the implication of saying that the script wasn't intended for a historical drama meant just that.
It was also an insult that the scriptwriter did not know her own country's history, nor was she well educated.
From the conversation Yuan Qishan overheard, she believed that Tan Jinqi would bring it up with Director Liu.
Chapter 199: Ripping Off
She wasn't really worried about rewriting the script as it would be impossible for Director Liu to do that due to funding problems, but it would still affect her reputation if the director deemed it was the scriptwriter's problem.
And if her reputation was affected, it would be hard for her to work with big-scale production in the future, and her wages would drop drastically.
Even if the siblings did not bring the problem up to Director Liu, they might still talk about it online and other people would eventually learn about it, which would affect her reputation as well.
That was why she had to step in and talk it out with them.
What she was angry about the most was the fact that Tan Mo, a 15-year-old girl, was talking bad things about the script that she wrote.
"I remember that your brother told me that you're 15 years old, right?" Yuan Qishan smirked. "What are you? A 9th grader or something? Aren't you just a high schooler? Do you really think you know our history just because you studied about it in class? It's much more complicated than you think, little girl. This isn't like reading something off a textbook!"
"You sure are a weird person," Tan Mo sighed. "I'm just chit-chatting in private with my brother here. What does it have to do with you? I mean, yeah, we are talking about the script, but we didn't mention anything about making changes to it. Aren't you the rude one here who suddenly charged into our room and started accusing us? I'm just having a normal discussion with my brother here. Do we have to get your permission to do that?"
Tan Mo was just stating the facts, but it only angered Yuan Qishan even more.
"So, tell me then, which part of my script is wrong? And why can't I get angry?" Yuan Qishan roared. "Who are you to tell me what to do? Do you really think Director Liu would accept my script if it wasn't good? Why don't you write one if you are that good? That's what you are implying here, right? That you know our country's history better than me? That you can write a better script than me?"
Yuan Qishan then turned to Tan Jinqi, "I hope you don't bring your sister here in the future. Kids can be naive and disrespectful these days and do things that would embarrass other people. She doesn't get a pass just because she's still a kid."
However, Tan Jinqi wasn't going to play nice with her and scoffed, "Seriously, look at how you are reacting just because you overheard someone discussing the problems in your script. How would you react when the drama premiers and everyone saw it? Do you think you can stop them from talking about it? If you can't handle criticism like this, how are you going to handle the criticisms from thousands, even millions of people?"
"That's not something you have to worry about!" Yuan Qishan scolded.
Seeing how high and mighty the scriptwriter was acting, Tan Jinqi was now curious as to where she graduated from. If Tan Mo was as naive as Yuan Qishan had said, then only a handful of people in the world would actually dare to say that they weren't.
Just as Tan Jinqi was about to ask, Tan Mo butted in. "Well, it's wrong to say that the script you wrote doesn't have any historical theme to it..."
Yuan Qishan reacted with a scoff.
"I know that there are a lot of limitations in writing a script for a drama, and there's no way that you guys are going to rewrite the whole thing just because of one single opinion. Heck, I ain't that shameless to do that and affect everyone's schedule," Tan Mo said. Compared to the excited Yuan Qishan, the little girl was much more composed. "And who am I to affect the filming schedule, right? That's why we are only having a casual conversation about it and nothing more."
Tan Mo paused and continued. "That's all it is, a casual discussion of the script that you had written. In my humble opinion, the history part of the script is too mediocre, but in terms of entertaining the viewers, I would say it's perfect. But, if it's about promoting the historical part of it, it might cause some misunderstanding among the viewers."
"Mediocre? Entertaining?" Yuan Qishan laughed. "Little girl, don't you know that we even hired a history PhD student from Beijing University as a consultant on this? Are you saying you are better than a PhD student? A 15–year-old girl? She's more than enough to be called a specialist in this topic! Do you want to challenge her? Well then, be my guest!"
"A PhD student from Beijing University?" Tan Mo raised a brow, not surprised by the news as Tan Jinqi had already mentioned it. "Can I know her name?"
Tan Mo wanted to know as she could later ask Professor Tang why could a PhD student be so unreliable and made such a huge mistake for allowing Yuan Qishan to create such a historical inaccurate script.
"Why do you want to know? Even if I tell you, there's no way you would know who she is," Yuan Qishan mocked, thinking that there was no way a 15-year-old kid would be acquainted with a university student. "But, you will be shocked to learn who her professor is. Have you heard about Professor Tang? One of the best and most famous historians in our country? He's the one who wrote the textbook you are reading in high school now. That's her professor. She's part of his research team."
Tan Mo and Tan Jinqi turned to look at each other speechlessly. They had never thought that the PhD student would actually be someone Tan Mo was acquainted with.
Seeing that both Tan Mo and Tan Jinqi were speechless, Yuan Qishan thought that she had managed to scare them with the fact that the specialist they got was the student of a famous historian.
"Seriously, little girl, next time, think twice before you act. Do you really think that a high school student like you knows more about history than the student of a famous historian?" Yuan Qishan laughed.
"Could it be that Professor Tang recommended one of his students here for an internship?" Tan Mo murmured to herself, but Tan Jinqi still heard it. She turned to her brother and whispered, "I'll ask Professor Tang later if that's the case. This student is literally doing a poor job and ripping the director off."
After going through the list of students in Professor Tang's research team, the only person she could think of that would do such a wicked thing was Shen Jingyi. After spending some time with the team, the rest of the team members seemed reliable enough in her eyes.
"Since Director Liu has invested a lot in this drama, if he really promotes it as a historical drama with extreme historical accuracy, the backlash would be intense when the viewers saw that the drama isn't as accurate as he mentioned. It would affect Director Liu's reputation," Tan Mo chose to ignore Yuan Qishan and told her brother instead.
"It's true that the production will suffer some loses if they were to rewrite the script," Tan Mo continued, "But, it's still better than the viewers leaving bad comments and having a low view count, right? Wouldn't that cost even more? I'm sure that both the director and famous actors took this job because of how big the drama is projected to be, but if it's a flop, it will affect their reputations and their future."
Chapter 200: Fate Doing Its Job
Tan Jinqi nodded in agreement.
It was the thing that the brother was contradicted about. He wanted to warn Director Liu but was also reluctant to do it.
"You're right. How can the consultant produce such a low-quality product despite knowing how important it is," Tan Jinqi frowned. "Does she only care about the money and nothing else?"
It would affect not only Director Liu and all the first-rate actors but also Professor Tang if the so-called consultant was really sent here by him.
Tan Mo could not forgive the person for providing such a bad product that would harm Professor Tang's name.
People would blame Professor Tang when they found out the consultant he sent over did not give it their all and had done such a bad job.
He would be the centre of attention then.
"Enough is enough!" Yuan Qishan yelled, not expecting the siblings to not only despise the script that she had written but also looking down on the PhD student who was sent there as a consultant by Professor Tang.
"What is happening here?" Director Liu's voice suddenly came from behind the scriptwriter. "I heard someone arguing just now. Is there something wrong?"
"Director Liu!" Yuan Qishan exclaimed and noticed there was another person behind the director, who she was even more excited to see. "Ms. Shen!"
Tan Mo could not believe how accurate her premonition was. The person who was introduced to the crew by Professor Tang was really none other than Shen Jingyi. She didn't need Yuan Qishan to introduce them to know that Shen Jingyi was the indeed consultant the scriptwriter had mentioned.
See! I knew that the other seniors aren't that bad except her! She's the only one who has that vibe!
"Ms. Shen just got here and I was just about to introduce her to the rest of the crew," Director Liu said. "I heard you guys saying that there's something wrong with the script? What's the problem?"
If there was some problem, they still had the time to change it.
Yuan Qishan was afraid that Tan Mo and Tan Jinqi would say something that would go against her. Thus, she quickly explained first, "Director Liu! I know it's my fault for eavesdropping on them, but I can't just overlook this. They kept saying bad things about my script! Tan Mo here even says that the plot doesn't fit the actual history and is only enough to entertain the viewer. She also said that the history content in my script is too mediocre."
The scriptwriter's voice was starting to tremble. "A 15-year-old high schooler is doubting the script I wrote! She denies all the hard work, all the research I put into creating the script!"
Tan Mo frowned and objected with a pout, "When did I even deny your work? As I said, the script has entertaining value, but it is lacking in historical accuracy. Aren't you supposed to be good with language as a scriptwriter? Don't you know that speaking only half of what really happened could lead to serious misunderstandings?"
"You!" Yuan Qishan had no idea that the 15-year-old girl was smarter than she thought. "I've discussed the whole thing with Ms. Shen here! Are you saying you are better than her? That you know more than her?"
It was only then Tan Mo turned to smile at her senior. "Senior Shen, what a coincidence. I've never thought that I would actually meet you here."
"Same here," Shen Jingyi gently smiled, but deep down inside her, she could not believe that she would actually meet Tan Mo there.
It was more than enough to meet Tan Mo whenever she was in the research room, but now, she had to run into her teammate miles away from their university. Shen Jingyi could not believe the luck she had.
With Tan Mo there as well, things had gotten a little more complicated for Shen Jingyi. She was there as an intern as Director Liu had used his connection to request Professor Tang to send one of his students as a consultant for them.
Of course, Director Liu wanted Professor Tang to be their consultant, but even the famous Professor was reluctant to do so.
Fortunately, Professor Tang agreed to send one of his students over as an intern.
Internships as such would give extra scores to the student who had participated.
But seeing that everyone else had their own internship program and wasn't going to spend more time and energy on another program, Professor Tang decided to give a chance to Shen Jingyi, who hadn't joined one yet.
Never did he expect that Shen Jingyi would not treasure the chance she got.
All she wanted was the extra score she would get.
As the drama's consultant, Shen Jingyi believed that she didn't have to really teach them a lesson on history and was abusing the fact that Director Liu and Yuan Qishan didn't know much about the history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. That was why she wasn't going into the detail as she would during her research.
Fortunately for Shen Jingyi, Yuan Qishan was the type who would believe the elites from prestigious universities. The two instantly formed a good team.
When Shen Jingyi read through the script that Yuan Qishan had written, she thought that there wasn't anything wrong with the historical content in it.
The only problem was that she never thought if the plot fitted the timeline or not, nor the fact that it might be misleading.
To put it bluntly, Shen Jingyi didn't pay any attention to the work she was given, and to be frank, and she didn't care. All she cared about was the score she was going to get, and that was more than enough for her.
She was basically using the fact that the others weren't as proficient in history as her.
What she didn't factor into her calculation was that she would meet Tan Mo there.
Yuan Qishan was now staring at Tan Mo unbelievably after hearing the 15-year-old girl addressed Shen Jingyi as her senior.
Did Ms. Shen study at the same high school as this little girl? That's the only explanation...
However, Director Liu noticed that as well and asked, "Tan Mo, why are you addressing Ms. Shen as your senior?"
"Because we're going to the same university," Tan Mo replied with a smile.
Tan Jinqi turned to glance at Yuan Qishan with a mocking expression before explaining to Director Liu, "Momo took the high school graduation exam last year and was admitted to Beijing University with a full score."
So what if she's a 15-year-old? She's already a student at Beijing University! Tan Jinqi laughed in his head.
From what he could tell, Yuan Qishan would refer to the students from Beijing University with respect and come to the conclusion that she did not graduate from there.
Unlike the students from Hua University who always challenged Beijing Univerisity, students from other universities would always treat those from Beijing University with respect.
Yuan Qishan's eyes were as wide as they could get.
The little girl is a student at Beijing University? And I thought she's still a high schooler!
"Are you in the history major as well?" Yuan Qishan scanned Tan Mo top to bottom, still unable to believe what she had just heard.
"No, she's not," Shen Jingyi replied. "It's normal for her to address me as her senior since we are studying at the same university."
Yuan Qishan finally let out a sigh of relief. "So, even if you are a student at Beijing University, but you still aren't a history major student. You don't have the right nor the knowledge to tell me what to do. This script is approved by Ms. Shen here, and there's no problem with it, right?"