Before Jiang Lingxi entered the meeting room, three people were already seated inside.
At the head of the table was a slightly plump middle-aged man, with a nameplate in front of him that read: Director Chen Weiwen.
The first seat to the right was also occupied by a young man with a somewhat arrogant expression, presumably one of the guests.
Sitting on a temporarily placed stool against the wall behind him was a woman with a serious expression; that seat was specifically arranged for the guests’ assistants.
Lu Zhengzheng, accompanied by Xu Ling’an and Su Cheng, also took a seat.
Jiang Lingxi sat down in the first seat to the left, followed closely by Su Yi, who sat next to her.
Jing Huai, who was left behind due to his gentlemanly behavior, noticed that the two seats closest to the director were already taken, squinted, took off his sunglasses, and sat down opposite Su Yi.
Chen Weiwen maintained his genial, good-natured expression, looked at the three guests who had just entered with their assistants, and glanced at his watch, "There are still twenty minutes, four guests have arrived, three more to go, let’s wait a bit longer."
The young man in the first seat on the right couldn’t help but click the pen in his hand, only to hear someone cough behind him, making his movements suddenly freeze.
Jiang Lingxi noticed this clearly from the opposite side and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Three minutes passed in silence.
Jing Huai broke the silence, "Director Chen, are we the only guests present today? Won’t the special invited judges be coming?"
Chen Weiwen glanced at him and nodded, "The five judges will only be present when the program starts recording officially. Actually, today’s gathering is to let everyone know each other in advance. The Calligraphy and Painting Chapter you’re participating in has a completely different process from the previous Go Chapter."
"Completely different?" The young man, who switched from tapping to twirling his pen, frowned and looked at the head seat, "In the last Go Chapter, it was a knockout match where losers were eliminated and winners stayed on stage. Are we not competing in calligraphy and painting this time? Then what are we recording?"
"Don’t worry," Chen Weiwen still smiled warmly, "once everyone is here and gets to know each other, I will definitely reveal some details in advance to prepare you. It’s almost six o’clock, the other three guests should be arriving soon."
After another cough, the young man became silent again.
Su Yi couldn’t help but glance towards the door.
Among the three guests who hadn’t arrived yet, there was someone she knew, Shen Huchen.
She didn’t care about the other two, but she hoped he wouldn’t be late!
Jiang Lingxi, sitting next to her, noticed her anxious mood and turned her head to glance over.
Su Yi happened to meet the gaze coming her way, and she pursed her lips to quietly explain, "Earlier in the hotel lobby, there was a young man with us, he’s also a guest and hasn’t arrived."
Jiang Lingxi realized this upon her remark, remembering that the first time she saw the young man, she found his eyebrows and eyes a bit familiar.
As they say, speak of the devil and he will appear; just as Su Yi finished speaking, there was a knock on the meeting room door.
The television station staff brought a few people over, and one of them was the young man.
However, the assistant following behind the young man stood out even more, a nearly two-meter-tall burly man in a black suit, looking more like a bodyguard than an assistant.
He almost got blocked by the doorframe when entering.
He closed his eyes unable to look directly. Read full story at NoveI-Fire.ɴet
There were still ten minutes before six o’clock, and all seven guests for the Calligraphy and Painting Chapter were gathered with their respective assistants.
Chen Weiwen glanced over the faces of the few people, pausing an extra two seconds when he saw Jiang Lingxi and Jing Huai, and his already smiling eyes turned into a squint.
"Good evening everyone, I apologize for gathering you at dinner time. But this meeting should be over in about half an hour, and the cafeteria downstairs is preparing dinner for everyone. When we’re done, we’ll go downstairs to eat together."
Hearing that dinner would be provided, Su Cheng’s eyes lit up, and he sat up straighter.
"Moreover, since everyone has come from all over, and you don’t know each other yet, this meeting is also for that purpose. Let me start, I’m the director of this Calligraphy and Painting Chapter, Chen Weiwen, and I’m very glad to meet such talented young people here. Sitting with you all makes me feel younger too!"
A non-formulaic speech immediately lightened the atmosphere in the meeting room.
After Chen Weiwen finished speaking, his gaze fell on Jiang Lingxi, "Among our seven guests, Jiang Lingxi and Jing Huai should be familiar to everyone. Teacher Jiang was the final winner in the previous Go Chapter of our ’Inheritance’ program. So, Teacher Jiang, why don’t you go first?"
Su Yi looked even more impressed now.
Previously, Su Cheng secretly registered her for the Calligraphy and Painting Chapter of ’Inheritance’, and then uploaded a photo he took of her unfinished painting. It was only after her selection that he told her about it.
At that time, she didn’t even know what ’Inheritance’ was, and the siblings used their only phone, using the neighbor’s internet, charging while watching a few episodes of the Go Chapter. But they didn’t catch the last episode.
Still, they learned about the program’s process, and she knew that reaching the end meant exceptional skill.
First Go, then calligraphy and painting, this newly acquainted friend was so outstanding that she could only look up to her.
Retracting her bright eyes from Jiang Lingxi, Su Yi inadvertently noticed the expression of the Jing Teacher sitting opposite her, and was momentarily stunned.
Although Teacher Jing was smiling, her intuition told her that he might not be in a good mood.
"Hello everyone, I’m Jiang Lingxi, an actor by profession. I’m glad to be part of this program to meet you all. I hope we have a pleasant cooperation in the next three days."
Chen Weiwen smiled and applauded as a gesture of welcome, and after Jiang Lingxi sat down again, he looked at Jing Huai, "Teacher Jing?"
"Hello everyone, I’m Jing Huai. Like Teacher Jiang, I’m also an actor and we’re in the same company. My hobbies include calligraphy and painting when I’m not filming. It’s a pleasure to meet fellow enthusiasts here."
Chen Weiwen gave another unbiased round of applause, "As for the remaining five guests, why not introduce yourselves in the order you entered the meeting room?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the young man on the right stood up abruptly, apparently holding back, and introduced himself without hesitation, "My name is Lu Sen, with three trees as in Sen, a descendant of Lu Ling, and I’m skilled in bird-and-flower painting."
When Lu Sen mentioned being a descendant of Lu Ling, Jiang Lingxi noticed that the last three arrivals had more serious expressions. She guessed Lu Ling must be a renowned painter.
Though he doesn’t exist in her memory, this painter must have appeared after Yuan Zhao.
Indeed, one couldn’t escape being influenced by family heritage.
After Lu Sen, Su Yi took a deep breath and stood up.
"My name is Su Yi, and I studied under... a very good elder with the surname Jian. I specialize in, uh, mostly nothing, as I’ve learned a bit of all traditional Chinese painting categories with Teacher Jian."
As she finished speaking, Lu Sen couldn’t help but let out a derisive laugh.
Again, it was followed by a cough.