After being universally criticized online, I went viral on military-themed variety shows.

Chapter 648 An Unexpected Insider: If It Doesn't Work, Change the Filming Location

Even the general public can see that Huarong's "Human Taste" is likely intended to compete with "A Taste of Life," let alone Zhou Qi himself.

"I have no doubt that this is his plan!"

Tan Qiu got up, walked to the office door, locked it from the inside, then came back and looked at Zhou Qi, who was so angry that he kept taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "It's not just bad news, I also have some good news."

Zhou Qi poured himself a glass of water from his drinking glass and drank half of it in one gulp. "Go on," he said.

"Didn't you suspect that someone in our studio was bribed by Huarong? Every time we make a move, they know about it the moment we open their mouths."

Zhou Qi's expression tightened. "You've found out who it is?"

In fact, as early as when the initial group of guests was poached by Huarong, she already suspected that someone in the studio had connections with Huarong.

The reason she didn't take drastic measures to investigate and directly expose and expel this person was because she realized that the guests who could be poached by Huarong through various means were not the guests she truly wanted.

What she wanted were guests as steadfast as Guan Jing and as strong-willed as Jiang Hanying, who would not back down in the face of Huarong's threats.

Having this person around is perfect for helping her with the screening.

With this plan in mind, she tolerated him continuing to stay in the studio.

Now that the guest lineup is finally confirmed, she no longer has to worry about Huarong poaching her guests. Overjoyed, she was so busy with the pre-production preparations that she almost forgot about this person who was secretly working for both companies!

"We haven't found any key evidence yet, we just have a suspect."

"Who?"

"Tang Guo".

"Who, Tang Guo? How is this possible!"

Zhou Qi shook his head subconsciously, his face full of disbelief. "I've been sponsoring her since high school, and she came to work as my assistant right after graduating from university. Not to mention, it was this girl who recommended Jiang Hanying to me."

She had guessed about any of the studio's employees, but she never thought of Tang Guo.

Why did you start suspecting her?

"Don't even mention you, I was surprised myself to suspect her." Tan Qiu said, touching the cigarette pack beside her. Seeing Zhou Qi nod, she took out a women's cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and then turned her head to exhale. "Last night, everyone left quite late, right? When I was driving home, I happened to see Tang Guo on the side of the road who couldn't get a taxi, so I drove over, rolled down the window, and offered to give her a ride. She didn't refuse and got in the passenger seat."

"Then, when we were almost at her apartment building, her phone rang. I caught her glancing at the screen out of the corner of my eye and she immediately hung up. I casually asked her why she didn't answer, and she said it was a spam call."

After saying goodbye, she hurriedly got out of the car. I noticed that there was a 24-hour convenience store on the first floor of the apartment building where she lived. I had just run out of cigarettes in the car, so I parked on the side of the road and went in to buy a pack. When I was paying at the cashier, I heard her talking on the phone. When I turned around, we made eye contact, which startled her so much that she almost dropped her phone.

At first, I didn't pay much attention to what she said on the phone, since it all happened so suddenly. Later, when I was smoking in the car, I thought about it carefully and remembered some fragments, something about "that's enough, don't push me..."

Zhou Qi closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Tan Qiu paused when she saw this, skillfully stubbed out her cigarette, and stood up. "I'm going out. You can have some peace and quiet."

The office door opened and closed several times. After quietly downing a glass of whiskey, Zhou Qi clicked on Tang Guo's profile picture and messaged her privately: "Tang Guo, come to my office for a moment."

After a while, Tang Guo replied with "Received".

After waiting a while, there was a gentle knock on the office door.

"Come in." Tang Guo took a deep breath at the door and gently pushed it open to go inside.

"Sister Qi."

Zhou Qi's gaze fell on Tang Guo's face, but he didn't respond. He just quietly looked at the person standing in front of him.

Tang Guo was able to remain calm at first, but as time passed and she saw the fresh cigarette ash in the ashtray not far away, her face gradually turned pale.

Finally, she couldn't hold on any longer, "Sister Qi..."

Judging from her series of reactions, Zhou Qi didn't need any evidence at all. "I want to know, why did you do this?"

"me……"

I stammered for a long time but couldn't explain why.

With gritted teeth, I said, "Sister Qi, thank you for your guidance over the years. I have let you down!"

After saying this, he bowed deeply, turned around, and quickly left.

Zhou Qi watched her hurried departure, opened his mouth, and finally only let out a sigh of frustration.

Tan Qiu's office was next door. Through the open blinds, she watched Tang Guo enter Zhou Qi's office, and a while later she hurriedly came out, returned to her workstation and began to tidy up her things. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

After thinking about it, I got up and went to the next door again.

"Tang Guo...it seems to me she's planning to leave."

Zhou Qi nodded weakly: "Yeah, if you want to leave, then leave."

Did she explain why she did it?

Zhou Qi shook his head gently again. "No."

"You didn't ask either?"

"I asked her, but she wouldn't tell me."

"So you're just going to let her go like that?"

"Well, to be honest, I'm conflicted right now. I can tell she's genuinely interested in me, otherwise she wouldn't have gone to all that trouble late at night to find the guest I wanted. Without her, I wouldn't have noticed Jiang Hanying, and then none of this would have happened..."

But it's an undeniable fact that she secretly contacted Huarong. Let's just leave it at that. Considering she brought me four guests I was satisfied with, I won't pursue the matter further as she leaves.

Zhou Qi looked up and met Tan Qiu's worried gaze. He smiled and straightened his back. "Don't worry, this little thing can't defeat me. I'll pull myself together. There's so much work waiting for me."

"I have another concern. Tang Guo, as your assistant, participated in most of the brainstorming sessions. She knows a good grasp of the program's flow and creative ideas, as well as the filming location for the first episode. I dare say that if Xu Fenghuai knew, he would definitely come up with something similar, or even reserve the location for you in advance. Even if Tang Guo had no choice but to do this, and she said on the phone last night that she would stop sending them any more messages, we still have to be careful! What if?"

Zhou Qi's smile froze instantly. He glanced at the calendar beside him, which was filled with schedules, and said, "We still have more than half a month. If it doesn't work out, we can change the filming location?"

Tan Qiu stroked his chin and nodded. "If you decide to change the filming location, I have an idea. Why don't we just ask our guests in the group chat where they want to go?"