Zou Weijun specially cleared her schedule to chase the TV drama produced by her son’s company.
Without needing Zou Weijun to lead the way, Old Madam Xie and the nanny Xiao Tian had already prepared everything. The old lady, who usually had low material needs, even asked Xiao Tian to buy a new TV set.
“The old one is too outdated. You cannot even see people’s faces clearly.”
The old lady muttered.
Zou Weijun could not help but chuckle: “It is not as exaggerated as you say. Alley Folks is produced by Xie Qian’s company, not starring Xie Qian himself…”
The old lady did not want to hear the truth.
Since it was produced by Xie Qian’s company, what difference did it make from Xie Qian starring in it himself?
The old lady just wanted to see the picture clearly!
Zou Weijun laughed, but still found time to go with Xiao Tian to buy a new TV for her mother-in-law.
Old Madam Xie had given Zou Weijun a large sum of pocket money to invest in stocks. Buying a TV for the old lady was nothing!
Old Madam Xie did not mind the trouble either. She called all her sons except Xie Jinghu one by one to remind them to watch Alley Folks on time.
Xie Yuping had not watched TV dramas for many years. Mainly because work was too busy. Over the years, the only thing he persisted in watching was the news broadcast. Now, with his old mother assigning him the task of watching the drama, Xie Yuping did not find it troublesome at all.
“I will watch it. I will try to make time!”
With the busiest eldest brother replying like this, Xie Qian’s second uncle and youngest uncle naturally expressed their agreement over the phone too.
Old Madam Xie was very gratified: “You all watch it. After watching, give Xie Qian some suggestions. Poor Xie Qian. His father is useless. You uncles have to care more.”
The old lady’s bias was so obvious, but the Xie family had no objections. Everyone was used to the old lady’s favouritism.
Moreover, the old lady was not wrong. Xie Jinghu was indeed useless. Xie Qian had a father in name only. He could only rely on his uncles for help!
Xie Jinghu nearly spat blood in anger.
Where was the unfilial son pitiful?
Just talking about cash flow, the unfilial son was the richest in the family. Even Xie Jinghu himself could not come up with that much money.
The wealthiest Xie Qian received unanimous sympathy and concern from the whole family. No one cared about Xie Jinghu’s feelings.
Xie Qian’s film company had only produced one TV drama, yet the entire Xie family treated it as a major event. They completely forgot that this film company originally belonged to Xie Jinghu. When Ji Xin was under Xie Jinghu’s name, none of the TV dramas it produced had received any attention from the Xie family!
Xie Jinghu did not think about it either. When Ji Xin was under his name, he did not care at all. A film company with a decent foundation gradually became half-dead. For years, it had not produced any fine works… Such film companies were everywhere. They were simply not worth the Xie family’s attention.
It was different now that it was under Xie Qian’s name.
The Xie family had no direct sense of how large the logistics company had grown. Whether Xie Qian could manage a film company well, besides the year-end financial reports showing profits, the most important thing was the works.
Alley Folks was a TV drama, but more than just a TV drama. It was Xie Qian’s heartfelt effort.
Young people starting businesses were always full of passion. The Xie family’s collective drama-watching action was a show of support for Xie Qian.
On the Xie family side, the whole family was still relatively reserved. Even their support was low-key.
The Peng family was more exaggerated.
Alley Folks had nothing to do with Peng Guoqing from beginning to end. Wang Shuang had at least worked as an extra on the set back then. Peng Guoqing could not even do that. He had always been Xie Qian’s little follower.
This opportunity to be a little follower was bought by Mrs Peng for 5 million.
As soon as the trailer for Alley Folks came out, Mrs Peng wished she could take a megaphone and shout around the capital.
My son has invested in a film company that has a new drama!
Grandpa Peng put on his reading glasses and carefully watched the trailer. He said “good” several times.
“I always said Guoqing is a smart child. He was just immature before. Once he matures, he immediately knows to do the right thing.”
Spending 5 million to invest in a film company was called doing the right thing?
If it were before, Peng Zong would have straightforwardly asked.
Now, Peng Zong had learned to be smart. Or rather, the sights from his New Year trip to Chengdu, and that meal with Wen Ying and the others, had changed Peng Zong’s view of his son.
Peng Zong no longer went against the wind to question his son Peng Guoqing’s abilities in front of his elderly parents and wife.
Peng Zong advised his old father to be rational: “It is just a trailer now. Wait until the episodes air properly before you see.”
Trailers were generally edited from the best clips.
Without watching the full episodes, one did not know the quality of the whole drama.
Even watching just the first two episodes was not enough. Whether a drama’s reputation collapsed or not would only be known later.
Peng Zong worried that his old father would boast too early, publicising Alley Folks everywhere, only to be greatly disappointed when the full episodes aired!
Unfortunately, Grandpa Peng did not appreciate it.
In the trailer, Grandpa Peng had already seen several familiar faces.
Veteran actors might not have as much popularity as current stars, but veteran actors had solid skills. Most cherished their reputations and were very cautious when choosing scripts. With these people in it, the full episodes of Alley Folks would absolutely not disappoint.
“What do you know.”
The old man snorted. He took out his reading glasses again to prepare.
From today on, the Peng family must guard Oriental Channel faithfully. They could not miss even a single trailer for Alley Folks!
Mrs Peng waited for the dog of a man to remind her not to be too flashy, not to spread the news that Peng Guoqing was a shareholder of Ji Xin Film too widely. Who knew, after waiting so long, the dog of a man did not mention it at all.
Had the dog of a man taken the wrong medicine?
Mrs Peng was surprised and uncertain.
Peng Zong was very calm.
Would his dissuasion make his wife hold back from saying it?
Since he could not dissuade her, why waste his breath!
Besides, Peng Guoqing becoming a shareholder of Ji Xin Film, Xie Jinghu already knew long ago. There was no point in covering one’s ears to steal a bell.
Knowing was knowing. Anyway, Peng Zong had given Xie Jinghu a perfunctory reply. Xie Jinghu could believe it or not.
But thinking carefully, even if Alley Folks really had good reputation, what did this drama have to do with Peng Guoqing? The whole Peng family was joyful. Outsiders who did not know the inside story might mistakenly think Peng Guoqing was an important creator of Alley Folks!
If this drama won any honours, Xie Qian should be the one to receive them.
That kid Peng Guoqing… Since he had become a shareholder of a film company, after the college entrance exam, he should still seriously learn relevant industry knowledge. Bosses did not need to do the work themselves, but if the boss knew nothing, he would be fooled by the people below.
…
In the capital, both the Xie family and the Peng family were looking forward to the official premiere of Alley Folks.
In the Wen family in Chengdu, on the evening of April 3, Wen Ying finished her homework early and sat in front of the TV, locking onto Oriental Channel.
Chen Ru was very surprised: “You want to watch TV?”
Wen Ying blinked her innocent big eyes: “…Cannot I?”
Of course not.
Chen Ru almost blurted it out, but forcibly held it back.
Actually, there was nothing wrong with it. Wen Ying had not watched TV at home for a long time. Maybe she was tired from studying recently and needed to relax?
Unknowingly, Wen Ying’s image in Chen Ru’s heart had changed from a slacker turning over a new leaf to a top student. Top students should have some privileges.
Chen Ru changed her tone: “It is fine if you want to. What TV do you want to watch?”
“I want to watch Alley Folks. This is a script created by Teacher Zhang from Tianjiao. Teacher Zhang used to write idol drama scripts all along. This is his first time transforming to serious dramas. I want to learn more from Teacher Zhang.”
Wen Ying’s words left Chen Ru unable to find fault.
It sounded not only like relaxation, but also a proper matter.
So Chen Ru sat on the sofa too.
“You mean Zhang Guangzhen. I remember The Princess’s New Clothes was written by him. He is switching to serious dramas now?”
Mother and daughter chatted while waiting for the premiere of Alley Folks.
The atmosphere was too harmonious. Old Wen was very jealous and forcibly interjected: “Transforming from idol dramas to serious dramas is not easy. I will watch too!”
