Chapter 16: Emoji Package

"Zhao Ge, let's get the shot!"

The act of donating money and goods by kind-hearted individuals is also positive publicity for society. If a program only indulges in emotional manipulation of tragedies and excessively exaggerates dark, negative events while turning a blind eye to positive, uplifting actions, it will still attract viewership and discussions. However, it inevitably creates a psychological suggestion that "there are no good people in this world, so why bother being good?"

Yan Xi herself prefers programs that are willing to expose the dark side but also do not hesitate to promote good-hearted people.

Acknowledging good deeds encourages more people to do good things. She does not seek her program to have a massive impact, but at least she wants more people to know that there are still many kind-hearted people in this world. She wants those in despair to know not to give up hope, because maybe tomorrow they will receive salvation.

The donated items were being unloaded from the van by the staff. There were toys, stationery, clothing, electronics—everything one could think of, and all of excellent quality. The value of the entire truckload of goods was at least over three hundred thousand.

"It seems this kind-hearted person is a tycoon," Zhao Peng turned off the camera and looked at Yan Xi, "Do you think this tycoon might have donated to the welfare institute after watching our program?"

"Our program has tycoon viewers?" Yan Xi retorted.

Zhao Peng thought for a moment and couldn't imagine a tycoon sitting in front of the TV watching their kind of program, "Well, that's true. The power of the internet is strong. Our show really doesn't have that much influence."

Once back in the car, Yan Xi took out her phone and looked through her contacts list for a while. Finally, she returned to the main menu and opened WeChat.

"Mr. Yuan, sorry for troubling you this time." At the tendering meeting, the leader of the winning project smiled at Mr. Yuan Yi, who was sitting beside him. "The weather is perfect today, how about I treat you and everyone to a meal?"

"No need," Yuan Yi's expression remained unchanged, as if the loss of the tender had no effect on him.

"Mr. Yuan is too polite," the speaker smiled smugly, "It's just a meal, I can afford it."

Yuan Yi smiled slightly, stood up, glanced at the man who spoke, and took the suit jacket from his assistant, putting it on. "Sorry, I have work to attend to, I must take my leave."

"Then we'll meet next time."

Yuan Yi raised one eyebrow and gave the man a sidelong glance before striding out of the venue.

He had never intended to win the tender in the first place. The land might contain countless historical artifacts, and once the excavation began, it would be a hot potato that no one could handle.

Artifacts can't be damaged, which would force changes to the engineering plans. After all the fuss, the funds invested in the early stages could be better used for other projects. He knew the person who won this tender had the support of the Song Dynasty; otherwise, they wouldn't dare take on such a huge project.

He had long said that people who had been abroad for too long tend to become disconnected from the local reality. He wouldn't push anyone into a pit, but if someone sent people to secretly inquire about his tender documents and was eager to fall into the pit, he wouldn't stop them.

"Mr. Yuan," the assistant followed behind him, "Director Sun wants to see you..."

"I invest in films just to make money, not interested in their art," Yuan Yi interrupted. "As for the artists he manages, I'm even less interested. If he wants something, he should contact the producer directly."

"I understand," the assistant opened the car door for Yuan Yi. "I'll make sure the producer communicates properly with the crew."

Last time, a female star used her relationship with Mr. Yuan for publicity, sending out press releases hinting that a wealthy young master was pursuing her, but for the sake of art and freedom, she had to painfully reject him. Luckily, Mr. Yuan never paid attention to entertainment news, so no one bothered him with such matters. Otherwise, that actress would really be free now.

Yuan Yi didn't like to talk in the car, so there was only the sound of breathing and no other noise. When the WeChat notification sounded, it was particularly loud.

He lowered his head to unlock his phone, saw the sender's name, and paused for three seconds before opening it.

The person had sent a cute and flattering picture: a strange little monster with big, shiny eyes and its hands pressed together looking at him. He recognized this little monster; he had seen it in a comic book not long ago.

Until the phone went black, Yuan Yi didn't reply to a single word.

Yan Single Dog: "Mr. Yuan, the incomparable handsome and invincible Mr. Yuan, may I ask you a tiny, tiny question?"

She sent the message along with three or four animated images, all of various cute and flirty little animals. Yuan Yi twitched his nose. Wasn't she the one who said she didn't like using WeChat? He raised his chin and, with a touch of restraint, sent one word back.

Yuan Xiao Er: "Say."

Yan Xi didn't expect that Yuan Yi would actually respond to her. Though it was only one word with a period, at least it meant that he had seen her message.

Yan Single Dog: "Do you know someone named Yuan Yi?"

"This woman..."

"Sir, are you okay?" The assistant in the front passenger seat noticed that Mr. Yuan seemed to be muttering about something, and when he turned around, he saw that his boss's face was clouded with anger, as if he had a deep grudge against the phone in his hand.

"Nothing." Yuan Yi didn't even raise his head and replied through gritted teeth, sending two words.

Yuan Xiaoer: Heh.

What does "heh" mean? Yan Xi felt like all the cuteness she had tried to sell just now had been wasted, and if he didn't want to reply, that's fine, but replying with "heh" wasn't right. She searched through her expression packs for a long time, finally finding a picture of a rebound reaction and sending it.

Heh, rebound!

Just after sending the expression, the second message from Yuan Yi came.

Yuan Xiaoer: I am.

Yan Xi stared at the message for a while, then silently withdrew the expression image she had just sent.

Yan Dan Shen Gou: Sorry, I sent the wrong image earlier.

This time, she sent a picture of a cute kitten with the words "You are so handsome" written on it. However, Yuan Yi, who had already learned her tactics, automatically ignored the cute picture and turned to make a call to a friend.

Zhang Wang, who was out shopping with his girlfriend, almost thought his ears were playing tricks when he received Yuan Yi's call.

Yuan Xiaoer called just to ask for an expression pack?

"Yuan Xiaoer, are you out of your mind?" Zhang Wang looked at the caller ID, confirming that it was indeed Yuan Yi. Normally, Yuan Yi wasn't one to chat online, let alone use expression packs. What happened today?

"I need an expression pack for arguing, the kind that wins the argument," Yuan Yi stated.

Looking at the disconnected call, Zhang Wang felt a ridiculous sense of absurdity.

After receiving the expression pack from Zhang Wang, Yuan Yi's frown deepened. The man in the image was too ugly, the woman's expression was too exaggerated, and the text in another image was too vulgar. After going through several, he finally chose one that looked aggressive without being crude.

Yuan Xiaoer: [Image]

Seeing the fierce-looking black cat with its claws out and the text "Don't want to talk to you" next to it, Yan Xi couldn't help but laugh. Was he trying to be cute with her? She found the strange contrast between Yuan Yi's villain-like face and this image quite amusing.

Since she was bored, Yan Xi sent him another image of an "I'm so fierce" kitten.

Yuan Yi, upon receiving the message from Yan Xi, furrowed his brows. What was she trying to say? Was she implying that her cat was fiercer than his? He continued to search through the expression packs and finally found a muscular leopard image.

Yuan Xiaoer: [Image of an invincible, powerful leopard].

"Hahahaha," Yan Xi couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, holding her phone.

"Xiao Yan, what happened?" Zhao Peng asked, seeing Yan Xi laughing uncontrollably. "Did you win the lottery?"

"No," Yan Xi wiped away the tears from laughing. "Nothing, I just saw a funny post."

"Stop looking at posts, the station just notified us. We need to interview a veteran, and the interview script has already been sent to your email. Get ready, we need to head over now," Zhao Peng glanced at the time. "Looks like we're working overtime today."

"Okay." With something more serious to do, Yan Xi stopped chatting and took out her tablet to open the email and read the interview script.

After finishing the interview with the veteran, it was already past 9 PM. Yan Xi and Zhao Peng grabbed a quick bowl of noodles at a restaurant before rushing back to the station to hand in all the material.

When Yan Xi finally got home, it was already past 10 PM. She took a quick shower and collapsed onto the bed, exhausted.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, the task the orphanage director had asked her to do suddenly popped into her mind.

To thank the kind-hearted man named Yuan Yi.

She suddenly opened her eyes, fully awake. She wasn't very familiar with Yuan Yi, and she hadn't even been able to remember his name before, but this man, who didn't seem very easy to get along with, had donated so many things to the orphanage.

She opened WeChat and saw the expression images he had sent. Yan Xi couldn't help but smile again.

Yan Dan Shen Gou: Excuse me, Mr. Yuan, do you have time recently? I'd like to trouble you with something and would love to invite you for a meal.

The next morning, Yuan Yi saw Yan Xi's message and snorted. Many people wanted to invite him for a "casual meal." What was this woman trying to do by inviting him?

He shoved his phone into his pocket and went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.

For some reason, his phone felt unusually uncomfortable in his pocket that day. Yuan Yi impatiently took it out and threw it onto the sink.

After spitting out the toothpaste foam, he glanced at the phone screen, which had splashed with water. He wiped it clean. As he was wiping, the screen suddenly lit up. He stared at the screen for a while before hastily opening WeChat and replying with one word.

[Okay].

If he had to eat, so be it. This woman owed him a meal anyway and should have treated him long ago.

He looked at himself in the mirror, touched his face, and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

This time, the phone behaved and no longer felt uncomfortable.