Getting good news every day obviously wasn’t realistic.
For the next two days, Yang Qi’s routine was unchanged: feeding, cleaning, and training. His days were full and peaceful.
On the afternoon of the third day, a ssage arrived from Yang Pan’s secretary. It said the advertising team was ready and asked if the shoot could begin the next morning.
Yang Qi sent back a concise, "Okay."
Early the next morning, Yang Qi first finished his daily feeding of the wolf pack and the raccoons.
Then, he took Ta Xue to the back hills and left the little one in its mother’s care for the ti being.
He then returned to the Zoo, picked up Xiaojiu, and drove to the address the secretary had sent.
When he arrived, Yang Qi t Assistant Liu, who had been sent from Yang Pan’s company to help. He also t Director Wang, the project head from the advertising agency, and the shoot’s director, a man in his forties with slightly curly hair nad Wu Zhen.
Assistant Liu and Director Wang were both very warm toward Yang Qi, but Wu Zhen was lukewarm at best.
That is, until filming officially began.
Under the bright lights and before several professional caras, Xiaojiu sat on the prepared set.
It sat beside a nature-thed cat bed, next to which was a bag of the new cat food, "Lingcong."
"Xiaojiu, look here. Tilt your head a little... That’s it, hold it. Look a bit more curious, like you’ve just seen a new toy," Yang Qi instructed softly from off-cara, his tone even.
Xiaojiu imdiately complied. It gave an elegant tilt of its head, its heterochromatic gold and green eyes gazing into the cara. Its pupils dilated slightly under the lights, revealing just the right amount of curiosity—as if it were seeing sothing wondrous for the first ti.
"Great! Hold that!" the photographer shouted, imdiately capturing the shot.
"Xiaojiu, head down. Sniff the bowl. Your expression should be... hmm, a little disdainful. Then walk away," Yang Qi continued, issuing his next instruction.
Xiaojiu lowered its head to the bowl, its small nose twitching twice. Then it lifted its head, chin raised slightly, a clearly discernible, ’Is that it?’ look of disdain in its eyes. It turned gracefully and strutted to the other side of the set, turning its back to the cara and flicking the tip of its tail as if to express its displeasure.
"Cut! Perfect!" the photographer exclaid.
Nearby, Wu Zhen went from initial indifference to his eyes slowly widening, until finally, his mouth hung slightly ajar.
He’d been a director for years and had fild plenty of animal comrcials, but he’d never seen a cat so cooperative. Its expressions and gazes were so precise, it was as if it could fully comprehend complex human commands.
It was... it was like a little actor in a cat suit!
"This... This cat is incredible!"
Snapping out of it, Wu Zhen shot up from behind the monitor and hurried over to Yang Qi. The earlier indifference on his face was gone, replaced by excitent and disbelief. "Mr. Yang, your cat is amazing! Say... could we try sothing a bit more difficult? Like, have it perform so more complex, dynamic interactions?"
"We can try."
Yang Qi replied calmly, "As long as you can break down the actions and explain the effect you want, Xiaojiu can pretty much do it."
Wu Zhen was skeptical, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to try.
He imdiately grabbed the photographer and the prop master and quickly designed a few dynamic shots.
For example—
Xiaojiu leaping gracefully from a high perch, landing precisely in front of the food bowl, then picking up a piece of kibble and trotting over to place it in Yang Qi’s palm.
There was even a fun shot of it rolling to dodge a "flying" toy.
And once again, Xiaojiu’s performance stunned everyone.
The arc of its jump and the precision of its landing, the coordination and speed of its run, the timing and posture of its evasive roll—everything was executed flawlessly, with a precision that suggested countless rehearsals.
Crucially, the cat showed no hint of panic or impatience throughout the entire process. Its gaze simply followed Yang Qi’s cues and the action on set.
"Incredible! Absolutely incredible!"
"This cat’s practically a person, isn’t it?"
"It can really understand human speech? So smart!"
The crew on set, including Assistant Liu, who was only there to coordinate, and Director Wang, who was there to oversee, couldn’t help but gather around. They watched, buzzing with discussion and with faces full of awe, as Xiaojiu completed one "high-difficulty" move after another.
Several young won on the crew had sparkling eyes, looking like they wanted to scoop Xiaojiu up and cuddle it right then and there.
During a break, a few of the won couldn’t resist. Ard with snacks like sausages and dried fish, they cautiously approached Xiaojiu, who was resting quietly, hoping to feed it and get a little closer.
"Here, Xiaojiu, have a sausage! It’s super yummy!"
"I’ve got so dried fish over here for you, co on~"
"..."
Xiaojiu rely lifted its eyelids and glanced at the food in their hands. Its nose twitched slightly, and then it turned its head away, looking utterly uninterested.
The next mont, it rose gracefully. With a few deft leaps, it sailed over the small crowd and landed squarely in the lap of Yang Qi, who was sitting on a chair nearby, caught up in conversation with Director Wu. Xiaojiu found a comfortable position, curled up, and closed its eyes to rest.
The young won could only watch, a mixture of disappointnt and envy on their faces.
"So, what do you say? Thinking about it?"
Wu Zhen glanced at the lazy black cat in Yang Qi’s lap and resud their interrupted conversation in a low, persuasive tone. "That costu xianxia drama I ntioned... it just so happens we need a ’Spirit Pet’—one with real intelligence, that can cooperate for so special shots. Your Xiaojiu is perfect for the role! The chosen one, you could say!"
"Once it finishes filming this show, with a performance like this, it’s guaranteed to be a star. After that, the comrcials and endorsents will just keep rolling in. You’ll be set, just counting the cash!"
From their earlier chat, Wu Zhen already knew Yang Qi worked at the Zoo.
He assud Yang Qi was just an ordinary keeper, so he offered what he considered a handso fee for an animal: 200,000.
He had no idea how much Xiaojiu had just been paid for the cat food endorsent.
’But filming a TV drama?’
’Long hours, a complicated set, too much hassle... and the pay is only 200,000. Given my current financial situation, it’s not that appealing.’
’More importantly, filming would take up a huge amount of ti. It would leave no opportunity to interact with other animals and earn system contribution points. That goes completely against my core goal: to increase my strength and explore the path of cultivation.’
"I appreciate the offer, Director Wu."
Yang Qi politely declined. "But my main job is being a zookeeper. I can’t really get away from work, and it wouldn’t be right to take so much ti off."
"It won’t take that long! We’ll shoot all its scenes back-to-back. We can get it done in a week, tops!"
Wu Zhen didn’t give up. "Co on, my friend, just take the ti off! It’s an investnt in your future! The money will pour in later, I’m not kidding you. This is a rare opportunity!"
Yang Qi just smiled and changed the subject. "Director Wu, for a ’Spirit Pet’ in a xianxia drama, wouldn’t it be more convenient and cheaper to just use CGI? You’d probably have more control over the final result, too."
"You think I don’t want to?!"
Hearing this, Wu Zhen reacted as if Yang Qi had hit a nerve. He blurted out, "But that woman, Lin Qingyu..."
He cut himself off, realizing his slip of the tongue. He glanced around nervously, then awkwardly shut his mouth.
"What’s wrong?"
Yang Qi’s curiosity was piqued. He pressed quietly, "Is Lin Qingyu the female lead in that drama? What’s the story with her? Is she a diva? Demanding a real animal co-star?"
"..."
Wu Zhen’s eyes widened in surprise. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "My friend, how did you know? Is the news already all over the internet?"
"It’s not that hard to guess."
Yang Qi shrugged and replied in a low, smiling voice, "There’s plenty of news online about Lin Qingyu being a diva and difficult to work with. It seems like she causes so kind of stir every month."
"Combine that with what you just said, Director Wu... she’s probably making special demands on set again, right? Like no CGI, insisting on a real, intelligent animal to highlight her ’ethereal aura’ or ’natural charm’?"
Lin Qingyu was a young starlet who had shot to fa last year thanks to a costu drama. Her popularity was soaring, but it was accompanied by a constant stream of rumors about her being a diva, unprofessional, and difficult to work with.
It’s easy for fa to go to soone’s head, and that’s nothing new in the entertainnt industry.
"Sigh..."
After hearing Yang Qi’s explanation, Wu Zhen let out a deep sigh and simply shook his head, saying no more.
Yang Qi took the hint and didn’t press the issue.
’Whatever drama Lin Qingyu was stirring up had nothing to do with him, an industry outsider and a simple zookeeper.’
The break ended, and filming resud.
Thanks to Xiaojiu’s unparalleled cooperativeness and expressiveness, the shoot, which had been scheduled to take the entire day, was wrapped up smoothly before noon.
The boxed lunches ordered by Director Wang arrived right on ti, and the crew, who had been busy all morning, each grabbed one and started to eat.
Yang Qi didn’t stand on ceremony, grabbing a box for himself and sitting down in the rest area.
Just as he was about to open his lunch, a young woman with a ponytail walked over, blushing and looking a little nervous.
"Um... Yang Qi, sorry to bother you."
The woman’s voice was very quiet and shy. "Could... could I get a picture with you?"
"Of course."
Yang Qi put down his lunchbox and looked at Xiaojiu, who was sitting by his feet. "Xiaojiu, co on, pose for a picture with the nice lady."
"No, that’s not it."
The woman quickly waved her hands, her face turning an even deeper shade of red. She lowered her head, and her voice was barely a whisper.
"I was hoping... to get a picture with you."
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