Chapter 153 Wrapping Up

"I inherited my genes from him. You reap what you sow, as the saying goes—like father, like son. There's actually a lot of truth to that," Su Tong said to Li Wen, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips.

"I... you wouldn't do that," Li Wen whispered.

Su Tong said nothing, stood up, and walked back inside.

Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao had fallen asleep again at some point.

"You should head back, and thank you." Knowing what Li Wen needed, Su Tong gave her a brief hug before letting her go.

"I... I don't want to leave." Li Wen pouted. All the fear she had felt toward Su Tong moments earlier vanished completely into thin air after that embrace.

Yet, this was only temporary; the terror Su Tong inspired had already taken deep root in her heart.

This time, Su Tong's outburst had frightened her far more than any previous one. At the same time, an immense wave of sympathy washed over her, making her feel that Su Tong's life was truly tragic, growing up in such a family.

"Right now, I just want to stay with Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao. Drive carefully on your way back. I'll be back in a while, and I'll treat you to a meal then." Su Tong led Li Wen toward the door.

Li Wen had lost all her previous temper and dared not resist, allowing herself to be nudged into the driver's seat by Su Tong.

After sending Li Wen off, Su Tong paid no attention to his father, who was sprawled out like a dead dog. He took a bath and lay down between Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao.

Two hours later, Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao woke up. Their fevers had broken, though they still had mild colds.

Su Tong woke up as well, pleasantly surprised. True to his divine physique, he was not only immune to all illnesses, but his very presence acted as a medicine, driving away sickness from those close to him.

Once cured, the two sisters were back to their lively, bouncing selves, beaming with joy. Su Tong dragged his heavily intoxicated father back to his room and left him there without another glance, setting about preparing a meal for the girls.

After eating, Su Tong produced seven comic books and handed them to Xiaoyu. "Xiaoyu, these are books for you and Xiaoxiao. From now on, before going to bed at night, you can read the stories inside to Xiaoxiao. Once you've finished these, I'll give you other fairy tales to read, and then you can tell those to Xiaoxiao too."

"Calabash Brothers!" Xiaoyu's eyes lit up. She was only ten years old; although sensible, she still possessed a strong childish nature and loved picture books and fairy tales.

"Give me one, give me one!" Xiaoxiao reached out, crying out eagerly.

"Here, though you can't read them anyway—there are words in here, you know," Xiaoyu said, handing one to Xiaoxiao.

"Don't take these to school; you can only look at them at home. Xiaoxiao, from now on, try to learn to draw them page by page. Haha, once you draw them well, you can take them to be published and earn a whole lot of little pennies," Su Tong laughed.

The Calabash Brothers did not exist in this world, and it had cost Su Tong three million points to exchange for this set of Calabash Brothers comic books.

The next day was Monday. Su Tong woke up early to make breakfast for Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao and saw them off to school.

"I'll be back again after some time. If you drink again, I'll take Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao and move out, and hire a nanny for them. You can live in this house all by yourself from then on," Su Tong said to his father, whose divine temperament seemed momentarily subdued. "Let me make it crystal clear to you: my wings have grown stiff. Stiff enough to carry Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao away with me."

His father's lips moved silently. He knew that a demon resided within his own heart.

Su Tong left Seaside City, bypassing Yandu and heading straight for Modu.

The recording for The Voice was scheduled for tomorrow.

Today's recording covered the top six to top four for Naji's team.

Su Tong's strength was evident, and the mentors fully supported his advance into the top four. His spot in the top four had already been secured.

Since the roster was pre-determined, even if something went wrong with his singing during the recording, he could always retake it—this wasn't a live broadcast.

After singing a song by Teacher Alin, Su Tong advanced to the top four.

Once in the top four, the four contestants immediately engaged in a PK round without any buffering time.

Su Tong then performed a song by Teacher Naji, winning the affirmation of both the live audience and the mentors, but because he remained an independent artist unbound by agency contracts, the final "evaluation" placed him in third place.

First place went to Xu Yanwei, a mega-star signed under Shi's Zhonghuang Entertainment.

Second place went to a young man signed with Xinghang Television.

Next, after the top three of all four groups completed their recordings, the massive four-group melee recording would take place.

Su Tong stayed in Modu for a day before flying back to Yandu with Lin Yin to resume the filming of Apartment of Love.

Without him, the producer and director, Apartment of Love could not possibly be filmed.

The production team of The Voice was quite frustrated. Su Tong stubbornly refused to sign a contract with them; otherwise, barring any manipulation, the first place in Naji's team would undoubtedly have been Su Tong's.

Entering the melee phase meant that training sessions would be even longer than before.

The format stipulated that after the semi-finals—when the overall champion was decided from the final four—the show would be broadcast live.

For the next month, Su Tong did not allow Zhang Xin to accept any new commercial engagements. He poured all his energy into directing Apartment of Love, occasionally slipping away to record episodes of The Voice.

During this period, he redeemed several songs and variety show proposals.

In truth, Su Tong also wanted to redeem some movie scripts, but making television series and making films were two entirely different things; his experience in cinema was still lacking, and he wasn't quite ready yet.

Mainly, his points were insufficient to afford casual redemption.

The Niannvjiao Studio had already been fully established, and the Niannvjiao Film and Television Culture Communication Co., Ltd. was officially founded right after Apartment of Love wrapped up.

Nearly all the Beijing Film Academy students who worked on Apartment of Love joined the company across all departments, including the directing team, production team, stage operations, cinematography, art design, and sound recording.

He managed to recruit these students not merely because Su Tong had displayed astonishing, all-encompassing competence during filming, but because during post-production, Su Tong completed the entire editing process in just two days and screened the first two episodes internally for the dozens of crew members.

Everyone laughed from start to finish and became brimming with confidence in the television series.

"Once this show is broadcast, it's going to trigger a storm of internet slang."

Everyone couldn't help yearning to watch the subsequent plotlines.

When a movie or TV series finished filming, the actors rarely knew what the final product would look like, or even how the plot would ultimately resolve.

This was because directors had to shoot numerous alternative scenes. For instance, in a kissing or bed scene, who knew if the censorship authorities would pass it? If they didn't, the director needed alternative footage to substitute.

If certain plot points driven by dialogue during a romantic scene were ordered to be cut by censors, replacements had to be found; otherwise, wouldn't the subsequent plot appear jarring and abrupt?

Without alternatives, now that filming had wrapped, were they supposed to travel back to some location and invite an actor back for re-shoots?

Was that even possible?

Even with the most brilliant actors, a brilliant TV show or film could easily be edited into utter trash by a terrible editor.

"Director Su, did you edit this yourself?" Wang Chao couldn't help asking.

"No," Su Tong denied, though this only made everyone firmer in their belief that he had personally wielded the editing scissors.

"It's a pity we can't broadcast it right now." Yang Feifei was equally satisfied with the series.

"And who's fault is that?" Su Tong retorted flatly. Even if Yang Feifei had offered to act for free, he wasn't particularly willing; she still had over five months left of her suspension.

Because of that remark, Yang Feifei sulked and refused to speak to Su Tong that evening when they got home.

As they sat down after dinner to rest and watch television, a sudden news broadcast caught Su Tong's attention. (To be continued...)