Chapter Fourteen: The Thought Alone Is Rather Exciting

After taking a short break, Chen Qi approached the little boy again and spoke to him in a voice full of temptation, “Xiao Tong, how about we wash your mother’s feet too?”

The boy’s eyes lit up. He looked up at Chen Qi, then glanced at his mother, and finally nodded with excitement, “Okay!”

“Come on, let’s go fetch some water together,” Chen Qi gestured for the young mother to get ready at another filming spot while he took the little boy to the bathroom.

“Can you carry this basin of water over by yourself later?”

“Yes.”

“Great! If you really help your mom wash her feet, I’ll give you a running robot, how about that?”

“Okay~”

“And a remote-controlled plane?”

“Yes!”

“I’ll film it and show it on TV so your teacher can see, would you like that?”

“Yes!” At the mention of his teacher, the boy’s eyes gleamed even brighter.

Chen Qi, shamelessly fanning the excitement from the sidelines, had the four-year-old boy’s enthusiasm growing higher and higher, to the point where he could hardly wait.

Seeing his goal achieved, Chen Qi handed the half-filled basin of water to the boy and encouraged him, “Go on then.”

The little boy excitedly carried the heavy basin, toddling away with it.

Chen Qi quickly hid in a blind spot in the bathroom, out of the camera’s view.

Splash—splash—

Because Chen Qi had deliberately filled the basin a bit more, water splashed out as the boy walked, but he didn’t mind at all, carrying it with effort straight to his mother.

“Mom, time to wash your feet!”

Hearing her son’s clear voice, seeing him carrying the water, feeling his expectant gaze and somewhat awkward smile, the young mother broke into a genuine smile.

It was a smile from the heart.

The fixed camera captured this beautiful moment perfectly.

They had all the footage they needed, but Chen Qi didn’t interrupt the little boy’s process.

He didn’t dare dampen the boy’s enthusiasm.

He signaled the young mother to take her son into the room to continue.

Once she was seated, the boy imitated how his mother had just washed his grandmother’s feet, carefully pouring water and gently rubbing.

The cameraman, Xiao Wu, filmed the scene attentively, and only then did he realize the true meaning behind this advertisement.

In that moment, he looked at Chen Qi with newfound respect.

He knew the company had been collecting ideas for public service announcements, and over the past month, he’d filmed quite a few with the veteran staff.

But he felt that this particular ad was the most straightforward and easy to understand. Compared to some of the others—where even after filming, he still didn’t know what message they were conveying—this one was in a league of its own.

For some reason, his heart was suddenly set aflame. Being able to film such a refined ad himself would surely count as a small achievement in the department, wouldn’t it?

Thinking of the complex expressions those veteran staff would have when they saw the finished ad after turning down this assignment, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of anticipation.

He really was a little excited!

He wasn’t the only one. The grandmother and young father, standing behind the camera and watching, also fully understood the underlying message of the ad.

At that moment, both gazed at the young mother with warmth and emotion.

Especially the young father.

From a different perspective, he realized just how much he had overlooked in his daily life—so many things he’d grown numb to or taken for granted, now revealed as truly precious when seen from a third-person viewpoint.

Across the room, the boy, treating foot-washing as a game, was thoroughly engrossed.

Chen Qi, having already filmed the necessary shots, didn’t interrupt, letting mother and son play together while he and Xiao Wu reviewed the footage.

As lunchtime approached, the little boy finally finished washing his mother’s feet.

Led away by his father, he kept glancing at Chen Qi, wearing an adorable expression of wanting to say something but not daring to speak.

At first, Chen Qi, focused on discussing with Xiao Wu, didn’t notice. Later, when he did, he didn’t pay much attention—until he saw the boy’s hopeful gaze turn to disappointment. Suddenly realizing, he hurriedly handed over the promised toys.

Seeing the boy’s delighted face as he received the toys, Chen Qi couldn’t help but wipe an imaginary bead of sweat from his brow.

That was close!

The ad wasn’t even finished, and he had almost lost the boy’s trust.

When Chen Qi gave the child his toys, the young parents rushed over at once to refuse, but he quickly brushed them off with a few words.

After a simple lunch, as they prepared to continue filming, Chen Qi noticed the little boy growing drowsy.

“Sorry, he’s gotten used to napping in kindergarten,” the young mother explained with an embarrassed look, feeling guilty for delaying the shoot.

“It’s fine, it’s my fault for not thinking of that,” Chen Qi laughed, deciding to let the boy sleep and resume after he woke up.

The boy ended up sleeping for two hours.

Fortunately, the afternoon’s shooting went smoothly. With the lure of toys and snacks, the little boy cooperated very well.

By evening, all the required shots were finished—progress so quick even Chen Qi found it hard to believe.

He’d worried before that it might take two whole days!

While Xiao Wu packed up the equipment, Chen Qi had them record a few lines of ad copy. Since they hadn’t had time to do it during filming, it would have to be dubbed in post-production, though it wouldn’t affect the final result.

By the time everything was wrapped up, night had fallen outside.

Before leaving, Chen Qi didn’t forget to pay them for their performance. Since he’d originally said it might take two days, he generously paid them for both days.

Performance fee plus location fee came to a total of five thousand yuan.

To his surprise, however, the young mother refused.

No matter what he said, she wouldn’t accept the extra two thousand five hundred yuan.

Seeing her resolve, Chen Qi thought for a moment and didn’t insist.

“If all goes well, this ad should air on CCTV’s platforms soon. I’m not sure of the exact time, but it should be in the near future,” he told them before leaving, thinking they should be prepared.

He could already foresee the stir the ad would cause when it aired, and was certain many advertisers would try to invite the little boy to shoot commercials.

“Once it’s aired, it could have some impact on your lives—especially Xiao Tong. He might attract a lot of attention at kindergarten.”

The young mother paused, looking at him in confusion, perhaps not quite believing the ad could have such an effect.

Chen Qi smiled and said no more. “If I find out the exact broadcast time, I’ll let you know so you can be ready. We’ll head off now. Goodbye.”

He waved to the boy and left.

At the bus stop, Chen Qi took out five hundred yuan and handed it to Xiao Wu as a thank-you.

After all, he’d asked Xiao Wu to help out during his break; it would be wrong not to compensate him.

Seeing the money, Xiao Wu was clearly surprised and instinctively tried to refuse. But Chen Qi firmly pressed the money into his hand.

“Take it, take it—it’s part of the company’s filming expenses.”

Xiao Wu opened his mouth as if to say something, but finally said nothing and quietly accepted.

After hailing two taxis, Chen Qi arranged to meet Xiao Wu at the company the next day to organize the footage, and then each went their separate ways.