Chapter 170: Sweetheart's Father

Although the confession failed, the hotel staff still had good chemistry. Seeing that Chen Jianhai resolved the most awkward part—the cake figurines—Daodun'er, An Xia, and Lu Bin gathered around and sang the birthday song. Meanwhile, Bai Cheng and the other girls surrounded Qin Mengqiu to give their blessings, perfectly and naturally separating her and Zhu Tingting.

The entire hotel was lively and festive. Apart from Zhu Tingting and Qin Mengqiu feeling complicated emotions, everyone else had a wonderful evening.

Around 9 PM, Qin Mengqiu, holding her flowers, refused Zhu Tingting's offer to walk her home and took a taxi by herself.

By 10 PM, the female employees had cleaned up the site and returned to their dormitory, leaving the male employees to move large props and take down the decorations from the trees. A large pile of beautiful, delicate flower petals, moon and star confetti, and colorful balls were packed into garbage bags.

"Pack these petals and fireworks neatly into silk bags before throwing them away. Don't cause trouble for the sanitation workers," Chen Jianhai instructed his employees while tying up the silk bags.

Thanks to sanitation worker Lao Chang, the area around Lang Ai Hotel was always the cleanest on the entire Huanhai Road. Because of this, Chen Jianhai was even more reluctant to trouble Lao Chang and his team, preferring to handle things as cleanly as possible himself.

He hadn't finished speaking when the electrician nudged Chen Jianhai, glancing at Zhu Tingting to signal him to stop talking. Chen Jianhai turned and saw Zhu Tingting silently squatting on the ground, head down, picking up the scattered stars and putting them into silk bags as if picking up pieces of his broken heart.

"Ah, it's really embarrassing," Chen Jianhai sighed. After all, confessing in front of so many acquaintances and being rejected would be super embarrassing for anyone.

Moreover, after all this time, Zhu Tingting had been so sweet and even got into fights for her, yet she didn't even agree to be his girlfriend. Anyone's pride would be hurt.

The next day, Boss Chen paid particular attention to the interactions between Qin Mengqiu and Zhu Tingting. Qin Mengqiu's eyes were red and swollen, clearly from crying. Zhu Tingting was dejected, seemingly pouring all his love into his beloved gardening work. From the moment he started work in the morning, he tirelessly moved through the bushes and grass, the sound of his large shears "snip, snip" sending chills down people's spines.

Both of them consciously avoided any opportunity for contact. Even the tattletale employee felt awkward all day, unsure whether to intervene or not. He could only stand by, sneakily observing, ready to report to the boss if anything seemed off.

While Chen Jianhai was indulging in gossip, Wen Zifan approached him and said, "Boss, there's something I need to report."

"A TV drama crew is very interested in our hotel and wants to come for a visit."

Chen Jianhai was taken aback, "Interested? How so?"

Wen Zifan explained, "They mean that if our hotel meets their location needs, they'll film here. The crew members and actors might also stay at our hotel."

Hearing about a movie shoot, Chen Jianhai's eyes lit up! His system task of establishing the hotel as a city landmark had been stagnant for a while. Among the three major options determining the city landmark task, cultural and social influence had been slowly increasing on the existing basis.

"What could expand social influence faster than being featured in a TV drama?" Chen Jianhai's eyes sparkled. If this works out, Lang Ai Hotel wouldn't just be famous in Nanjiang; it could become famous nationwide overnight! This would be much faster than Lin Suyang and Zhao An making videos!

Calming himself slightly, Chen Jianhai asked, "What's the drama crew, which company are they from, did you check?"

"I did," Wen Zifan replied, pulling out her notebook. "The drama is called 'Sweetheart,' produced by a media company in Chunyang Province, 'Didn't Expect There's One Here,' directed by Kou Cen."

Chen Jianhai was puzzled, "Kou Cen? What has he directed?"

Wen Zifan listed, "Quite a few: 'The Strongest Alien,' 'Running Era,' 'Love We Buried Those Years,' 'Inescapable,' 'Village War King'…"

Whoa! Chen Jianhai was taken aback.

"This director's range is quite broad! From sci-fi to youth pain to village themes, is he collecting genres?"

Wen Zifan chuckled at Chen Jianhai's comment, "Maybe. So this time, he's jumping into urban love drama."

After laughing together, Chen Jianhai hesitated and asked, "Is this crew reliable?"

Although he wanted the hotel to gain fame through a drama, he also hoped it would be a significant production. Even though he didn't know much about filmmaking, he knew that filming would occupy a lot of hotel space and resources, which would require considerable manpower and effort. If he wasn't careful and chose a poorly made small crew, it would be embarrassing rather than beneficial.

Wen Zifan hesitated, "Boss, I think it's worth a try."

"Why?" Chen Jianhai asked.

"Although you're not familiar with the director or his works, the producer is well-known—Han Zhongming."

Chen Jianhai's eyes widened, "Han Zhongming, the producer of 'For the People for a Hundred Years'?"

Wen Zifan nodded.

This is a big deal! Chen Jianhai rarely watched movies or TV dramas, but "For the People for a Hundred Years" was one he saw in the cinema with Xiao Lang and Xu Bo. The film had a grand lineup with hundreds of stars acting for free, and the scenes and storyline were impressive, leaving a deep impression on him.

If Han Zhongming is the producer, this drama is likely to be good! Seeing Chen Jianhai's interest, Wen Zifan added, "I heard Wu Kai is also starring."

Chen Jianhai was shocked, "Wu Kai? The Wu Kai I'm thinking of?"

Wen Zifan nodded firmly, "Yes, that Wu Kai, the movie star Wu Kai!"

"Wow!" Chen Jianhai gasped.

"He's a kung fu action star, how is he going to play a sweetheart?"

Wen Zifan gently shook her head, "No, he's playing the sweetheart's father."