Chapter 106: Chapter 105: Jiang Shishi: I’ll Support You!
"Handsome Gu, are you free?"
"What’s up?"
"Come on out so we can split the money!"
"Where’d the money come from?"
"Xiaoya and I got an ad deal!" Jiang Shishi’s voice was filled with happiness. "Our follower growth is all thanks to you, so of course you get a share of the money we earned."
"You’re already getting ads?" Gu Zhao was shocked. "How many followers do you have?"
"Over two million!" Xiao Ya’s voice came through the phone, clearly also happy about earning some extra money for the first time. "It’s enough to land some pretty good ads."
"Congratulations," Gu Zhao said.
"So, let’s go out to eat and split the money while we’re at it," Jiang Shishi repeated. The main reason was that they hadn’t seen each other in a while, and she missed him.
Gu Zhao laughed. "Alright, then I won’t be shy about making a rich girl treat me."
"It’s nothing, I’ll take care of you!" Jiang Shishi joked, half-seriously. "We can’t compare to you in gaining followers, but when it comes to the scope and price of ads, you can’t compare to us. From now on, I’ll cover all your food, clothes, housing, and travel!"
Gu Zhao burst out laughing. "Hungry, hungry, want a hug?"
So, when they met up, Jiang Shishi gave Gu Zhao a big hug.
Even after Jiang Shishi was holding onto one of his arms, Gu Zhao was still savoring the feeling from a moment ago, because when she’d hugged him, she had actually rubbed against him from side to side.
Xiao Ya, with a teasing and slightly jealous look, came to his other side. "How did that feel?"
"The weather’s nice today!" Gu Zhao sniffed, making sure he didn’t have a nosebleed, then quickly replied, "Even though it’s autumn, it’s not cold yet. It’s the most comfortable weather."
Xiao Ya pouted, then grabbed onto Gu Zhao’s other arm.
Gu Zhao: ???
Passersby: ???
Xiao Ya bit her lower lip and said softly, "Consider it a little perk for my business partner. Don’t overthink it!"
"Let’s go, let’s go, time to eat, I’m starving!" Jiang Shishi pulled Gu Zhao along. "Xiaoya and I have checked out a bunch of restaurants lately. There’s an Old Yandu-style copper hot pot place that’s pretty good. Let’s eat that today."
The restaurant wasn’t far, so the three of them arrived at their destination quickly.
"Give me your account number!" Jiang Shishi said magnanimously.
Gu Zhao didn’t stand on ceremony. After giving her his account number, he asked again, "How much did you two actually make?"
"One hundred thousand!" Jiang Shishi said with a grin. "We’ll split it fifty-fifty. Don’t think it’s too little, Handsome Gu."
DING! Fifty thousand yuan arrived in his account.
"Fifty-fifty split... you mean fifty for the two of you?" Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow. "All I did was perform one fist routine. I don’t handle video operations or the ad business. Is it really appropriate for me to take half?"
"But if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have this hundred thousand, would we?" Xiao Ya smiled. "Besides, with a White Crane Fist routine like yours, you could be the penultimate act at the Spring Festival Gala. We’re the ones getting the better end of the deal."
Gu Zhao held up a finger. "Let me ask you a question: is the penultimate act the last one on the program?"
Jiang Shishi took off her jacket, revealing a form-fitting sweater underneath. She couldn’t help but be both exasperated and amused. "We play folk instruments, you know? We’re on stage all the time. How could we not know what ’penultimate’ means?"
Xiao Ya also laughed. "No matter how big of a star you are, the grand finale is always ’Unforgettable Tonight’."
"But nowadays, most people think ’penultimate’ means the finale, so using it that way isn’t really a mistake anymore," Jiang Shishi added.
The three of them looked at each other and laughed. Gu Zhao saw the waiter bringing their tea and nodded with a smile in thanks. Then he said to the two women, "In that case, I’ll accept it. Now I have the down payment for a car."
Jiang Shishi asked, "You’re buying a car?"
"I won’t use it often, but having one will be more convenient," Gu Zhao said.
If Gu Zhao were still on his own, he naturally wouldn’t need a car. But now that Taoist Yan Song and Taoist Yi Hong were crossing between worlds with him from time to time, it had become a bit of a hassle.
Taoist Yan Song wasn’t so bad, as he only made calls to Qingcheng Mountain. But Taoist Yi Hong had personally made a trip back to Yandu last time, and Gu Zhao had to take him to the high-speed rail station in a taxi.
That’s why Gu Zhao decided to buy a car.
"Then let’s go look this afternoon?" Jiang Shishi’s eyes lit up. "We’ll help you pick one out!"
Gu Zhao’s eyes narrowed slightly. "And what kind of advice are you planning to give?"
"Whether it looks good, of course! You don’t expect us to help you analyze its engine performance and handling, do you?" Jiang Shishi said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Gu Zhao: "..."
’Although the girls are easy on the eyes, when it comes to buying a car, I’d still rather have Zhang Hang with me.’
’But since the offer’s already been made, I’m certainly not going to call Zhang Hang over to be a third wheel.’
"When are you shooting the next video?" Gu Zhao asked. "Do you need me to be in it?"
"No rush. You’re our trump card; we can’t just play you that easily," Jiang Shishi smiled. "Now that we have a follower base, our growth is actually quite fast on its own."
The two women were stunningly beautiful, and their collaborative Guofeng music videos were a feast for the eyes and ears. They combined the freehand brushwork and aesthetic palette of traditional ink wash painting with the trendy rhythms and beats of modern music.
Unlike the clickbait streamers who teeter on the edge of suggestive content, following them was called ’appreciating traditional culture!’
So, after their White Crane MV went viral, they had been labeled with tags like "traditional culture," "Guofeng art," and "intangible cultural heritage." They had joined the ranks of "positive energy" influencers, and even the Yangcheng Bureau of Culture and Tourism had approached them for a collaboration.
"Besides, we don’t have time recently. We have to go abroad in a few days," Xiao Ya said.
"Abroad? Where are you going?" Gu Zhao asked.
Jiang Shishi said, "The Yangcheng Folk Orchestra is doing a Southeast Asia tour. Lion City, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Siam. We’ll be gone for a month."
Gu Zhao reminded them, "Be careful when you’re out of the country. It’s not as safe as it is back home."
Xiao Ya replied, "We will be. We’ll be with the group the whole time."
"That’s good," Gu Zhao nodded.
’Although the news portrays Southeast Asia as quite dangerous, it’s actually safe in most cases. Besides, the two of them are sticking with the orchestra. If the entire orchestra were to be wiped out, it would become a diplomatic incident.’
Just then, Gu Zhao received a phone call. "Yunyang?"
Yunyang burst out laughing on the other end of the line. "You’re incredible! The Curse Technique you used on those two Sakura People—no one in their country can break it!"
"How do you know?" Gu Zhao asked curiously.
"Because they came looking for me, of course!" Yunyang complained first, then asked, "Is Martial Uncle Yi Hong with you? His phone is unreachable."
’Of course it’s unreachable. He’s in the Otherworld right now, overseeing the construction of Daluo Palace!’
Gu Zhao replied, "Martial Uncle is in seclusion for his Cultivation. Are those Sakura People looking for him?"
"It’s been over half a month. They couldn’t break it back in their own country, so naturally, they had to come back and beg us. They thought Martial Uncle Yi Hong was the one who cast the Curse Technique, so they went to White Cloud Temple first."
Yunyang explained, "White Cloud Temple told them Martial Uncle wasn’t there and wouldn’t give them his number. So, they had no choice but to call and beg Wang Runheng for help.
"Wang Runheng couldn’t make the decision, so he went to Taoist Xiu Xin. Taoist Xiu Xin couldn’t make the call either, and since he couldn’t reach Martial Uncle Yi Hong by phone, he called us here at Eight Immortals Palace. And that’s how I found out."
Gu Zhao clicked his tongue. "They’re really running around in circles."
