Chapter 59

Since Wen Jiu had seen it, there was no way she’d let him trick those girls away.
She couldn’t say anything outright, so she tugged on the two girls who were clearly tempted by his words.
They looked very young, unclear whether they were even in college yet. They looked like high school graduates spending their summer break trying out extra work.
“That’s a lie. If you go over later, who knows if there’s even a clearly stated 100-yuan daily wage. He might even coax you into paying money to ‘upgrade’ you to a better role.
Extras are all recruited in this area. Someone who just pulls you away like that definitely has a problem. If he only scams your money, that’s one thing, but what if he’s after your body instead?”
There were plenty of shady things in the film city, but outright human trafficking was unlikely. As for scamming money or taking advantage of people, that was another matter entirely.
This was already Wen Jiu’s toned-down version of the truth. The real situation was probably that the so-called assistant director used unspoken rules on young girls. As for whether the role suited them, or whether the drama would even air after filming, that was anyone’s guess.
As soon as the two girls heard this, one of them immediately backed out. “That’s way too disgusting. I’m not going with him.”
The other girl seemed to understand Wen Jiu’s subtext. Her eyes actually lit up. “Thank you for the reminder, sis. I have my own plans.”
“Hey-”
Seeing Wen Jiu was about to say more, the girl’s smile disappeared.
The two locked eyes, and Wen Jiu immediately understood the emotion in her gaze.
Mind your own business.
Then Wen Jiu could only watch as the passerby led the second girl away. Before leaving, he shot Wen Jiu a sidelong glance.
Walking together, the passerby and the girl oddly shared an eight-or-nine-tenths similarity in expression.
Rolling his eyes, the passerby said, “You missed this chance. Who knows how many years you’ll have to be an extra before anyone recognizes you? Hmph. Go drown in the crowd.”
Wen Jiu: “……”
After they walked far enough away, she turned her head and glanced at the camera not too far off.
The production team had said that if they openly looked for extra work with cameras, crews would give them roles easily because of the traffic, which would make it too easy and boring. So the cameras were deliberately hidden farther away, and even the show’s identification tags had been put away.
The director said they’d only come closer to film once the girls actually confirmed an extra role.
The film city was full of cameramen anyway, cameras everywhere. Seeing a few more near an extra recruitment area wasn’t strange, and no one bothered to ask what they were filming.
Though the cameras were far, the resolution was strong. Wen Jiu and the others were wearing microphones, so viewers in the livestream could hear everything just said and clearly see what had happened.
[Who said our Miss Wen would be buried? If Miss Wen debuts, I’ll be the first to stan!]
[Yes yes yes, me too. Isn’t there a saying, “Who you like, you become in your next life”? I stan Miss Wen for a very simple reason, I want to be a rich, happy girl surrounded by wealthy besties in my next life too.]
[Not sure if that guy was a scammer, but he sure looked like one. Even if extras aren’t all recruited in one place, open recruitment in broad daylight is still safer than being secretly taken away to meet privately.]
[Pull up a stool and sit tight! I want to see who comes to accuse Miss Wen of not helping people all the way. Didn’t the girl say she had her own plan? Plus, kind words can’t save someone determined to starve.]
[LOL sis, your prediction was way too fast.]
[Wen Jiu clearly has the ability, and she even has two young ladies backing her. Why didn’t she stop that girl? She’s so young, what if something happens?]
[Sisters, come look, the late-but-never-absent moral high-ground police are here.]
[I’m here, I’ll fight!]
The comments were cheerful and lively. No fan-war drama, passersby were having even more fun. They weren’t chasing idols, just watching for entertainment.
Novel fans had long separated the book from reality, not projecting the characters onto Su Yaoyao at all.
The director leaned back comfortably in his chair, letting out a long sigh before smiling.
The livestream ran 24/7, and viewer retention was getting higher and higher, with barely anyone leaving.
Even a livestream limited to fixed traffic could do this well, once the recorded version aired, who knew how explosive this show would become?!
While the director was secretly thrilled, Wen Jiu led Su Yaoyao and Qin Yao to a small production crew.
While others were recruiting extras, this crew was recruiting lead actors from the extras.
“There’s no choice, we’re just too poor. The producer ran off with the money. Right now, the whole crew is being held together by the director alone.”
“We already started filming. Stopping now would cost even more. The male and female leads couldn’t stick it out and left first, it’s fine, they paid breach-of-contract fees.
Thanks to that money, we can hold on a bit longer. See? We’re in that shed at the back, the smallest one.
My task today is to find new leads. It’s 200 yuan a day. I know it’s very little, so the director said we can sign a profit-sharing agreement…”
With no funding, there was no promotion, and profit sharing wasn’t even guaranteed. The assistant director, from this tiny crew, grew less confident the more he spoke.
“Can we take a look at the script?” Wen Jiu asked.
The assistant director scanned the area. Seeing that he truly couldn’t recruit anyone, he drooped and led the three of them back. “We wrote the script ourselves, it’s actually very good. We’re only able to keep filming because everyone here is driven by pure passion. But after filming, everyone will probably just go back to regular jobs and stop chasing such unrealistic dreams.”
His thoughts spiraled as he talked, his voice starting to choke. “Our director even borrowed money and took out loans to shoot this. He’s a good person… it’s just that we all know this drama will probably die before it’s born. We only hope he doesn’t do anything extreme.
I even wanted to invite him to haul cargo on the national highway with me at night…”
Amid the assistant director’s rambling, Wen Jiu and the others finally entered the set.
Compared to the white-moonlight young lady’s crew from that morning, this one truly looked impoverished.
Looking around the tiny shed, the most expensive thing was probably the large electric fan shared by the entire crew.
The actors were full of energy. Even though they were dressed in extremely simplified historical costumes, basically a few pieces of cloth layered together, they threw themselves completely into filming.
How simplified were the costumes? About like draping bedsheets over yourself at home and pretending you were wearing wide-sleeved robes.
The young lady and Su Yaoyao had already started flipping through the script.
The assistant director wasn’t worried about script leaks at all and let them read freely.
With limited funds, the crew shared physical scripts, only two copies total. The one he brought was used by the actors on set.
The pages were filled with scribbles and notes, clearly showing the actors’ passion.
Su Yaoyao was a novelist herself. A quick glance was enough for her to grasp the story. The young lady read even faster, scanning ten lines at a time.
“This script is good. If you film it at the planned quality, how much investment are you still lacking?” she asked.
The assistant director gestured with his fingers. “Thirty million.”
He said it a little awkwardly. “It’s not actually that much, but we just can’t scrape it together. The director sold his house, and with the breach fees from the original leads, we managed to gather eight million.”
In a film city where productions easily started with over a hundred million, even thirty million was pitifully small, let alone eight million.
“Are you interested in acting? Everyone in our crew is really nice, and you’ve seen the script, it’s good. But it’s only 80 yuan a day…” The assistant director’s voice weakened again.
He wasn’t blind. Just looking at Wen Jiu and the other two, it was obvious they weren’t ordinary people. Paying 80 yuan a day for faces like theirs was like asking a Beicheng University professor to tutor a three-year-old, completely absurd.
From a trace of confidence to utter hopelessness, the assistant director didn’t even dare ask them to consider anymore.
Just as he hit rock bottom, the young lady handed the script back to Wen Jiu, stepped forward, and lifted her sunglasses.
“I like this script. I’ll invest fifty million.
For the female lead, do you think the one beside me is suitable?”
She pulled Su Yaoyao forward a step.
“As for the male lead, I already have someone in mind. No acting fee needed. His acting and looks are both solid.”
Wen Jiu hugged the script tightly and followed closely behind the young lady.
A flash of last year’s matchmaking scene popped into her head. Could it be that…
“Don’t worry about capital-backed casting being awkward. You know the male lead. His name is Xie Junyu.”
Wen Jiu’s eyes lit up. If she hadn’t been holding the script, she would’ve started flailing her arms to express her shock.
The young lady ships Su Yaoyao and Xie Junyu?!
The assistant director suddenly lost his voice, stammering, “Xie Junyu? The Xie Junyu I know?!”
He rushed toward the pavilion. “Director! Director! I found a big investor!!”
The director was filming. The shout nearly knocked him off his tiny stool.
This take was ruined, it had to be scrapped.
Their precarious finances couldn’t support such waste.
The director’s face darkened. “I told you to recruit leads, and you come back alone, how dare you even say that?”
He didn’t see Wen Jiu and the others, and started shooing the assistant director away. “Hurry up and go recruit people!”
“Director, the male and female leads are secured! The male lead is Xie Junyu, the top-tier star everyone knows!”
The director stared hard at the assistant director’s face, again and again, barely holding it together. “Have you gone stupid from recruiting? Xie Junyu coming to film, can you afford his fee? Selling all of us wouldn’t be enough to hire him.”
“It’s real, it’s real! Xie Junyu doesn’t want an acting fee! And I found an extremely beautiful female lead, so beautiful that even barefaced she looks like an A-list star!”
“Not just that, I also pulled in new investment! Fifty million!!”
The director reached out and touched the assistant director’s forehead. “You stood in the sun too long and got heatstroke? Or did you eat poisonous mushrooms at lunch and start hallucinating?”
The assistant director directly dragged the director up from his low stool. “Director, come see for yourself. Once the investment arrives, I want to buy you a chair you can actually sit on.”
The moment the director saw the young lady, four words floated through his mind:
The sugar mommy has arrived.
The young lady casually took out a bank card and handed it to Wen Jiu. “Go negotiate.”
She patted Wen Jiu’s shoulder. “This drama will be under your supervision too. I’ll invest. You get half the profits, consider it your producer’s fee.”
“Any remaining money on the card is yours. No need to return it.”
Wen Jiu: …Huh?!
Did the Young lady just give her money again… again… again?
Wen Jiu was so happy she almost wanted to cry, but no tears came out. In the end, she simply swallowed her emotions and focused on discussing the finer details of the investment with the director first.
For the cameraman secretly filming My Besties, this tiny set left him with absolutely nowhere to hide.
If the crew hadn’t already been severely understaffed, he would’ve been kicked out long ago.
When the third staff member who doubled as a production runner and an extra appeared, the cameraman finally received word from the show’s director, giving him permission to film openly.
“Actually, we’re from the show My Besties. Those three over there are our guests.”
The runner-extra: ?
So the assistant director really had struck gold.
The livestream viewers were losing it.
[No one got slapped in the face, nothing especially dramatic happened, but why is this SO exciting, sisters!!]
[I suddenly don’t know who to envy more. Xie Junyu must be over the moon, getting to act with Su Yaoyao, the one he’s never gotten over. And the director’s luck just exploded too: investment doubled, leads secured, traffic and a sponsor falling straight from the sky.]
[Adding on: I envy Wen Jiu every single day. Didn’t you hear what the Young lady said? She invests, Wen Jiu gets half the profits?! AHHHH when will my bestie ever say something like that to me?!]
[Why are my eyes always filled with tears? Because I love money deeply… yet can never reach it. Please, just give me a Wen Jiu experience card.]
[I don’t want the Wen Jiu experience card. I want the bank card she’s holding right now.]
[The way the Young lady casually pulled out a bank card and handed it to Wen Jiu was so cool. AHHH I’m officially the Young lady’s number one fangirl.]
[Fake domineering CEOs: “Woman, you’re playing with fire.”
Real domineering CEOs: “Young lady, here’s the card. Spend however you want.”]
The crew had been struck by a sudden windfall. At lunch, everyone’s boxed meal even came with an extra braised egg.
Staring at the enormous sum of money, the assistant director didn’t dare spend recklessly. He was terrified of using it up by accident, better to save it for things that actually mattered.
As for contacting Xie Junyu, the Young lady handed that task over to Wen Jiu.
That very afternoon, Wen Jiu went to Xie Junyu’s set to mooch a meal, and casually brought the matter up.
The moment Xie Junyu’s assistant heard, he hurriedly called the manager over. The manager rushed in to shut it down immediately.
“Putting aside the fact that it’s an unknown small production and we don’t know how it’ll be received after airing, just the fact that there’s no salary is already outrageous.”
“Our Xie Junyu isn’t going,” the manager declared.
Wen Jiu lowered her head and took a bite of meat.
“Digital contract. Profit-sharing based on broadcast revenue.”
She merely corrected the issue of payment. She didn’t try to persuade further, eating as though she’d really only come for lunch.
Then, in an almost casual tone, she added, “So he really can’t go? Then I’ll help him turn it down. Su Yaoyao rarely wants to try acting, this might be the only time she plays a female lead. Looks like the male lead will have to be recast.
There are kissing scenes in the script, too. No idea which lucky man will get to film kissing scenes with Su Yaoyao.”
Only after finishing that bite did Wen Jiu look up at the manager.
“You know Su Yaoyao. She visited your set yesterday, the director introduced her. Author of The Tycoon’s Wife and Immortal Heroes.”
Of course the manager knew who Su Yaoyao was. He didn’t need Wen Jiu to explain further.
A terrible premonition surged through him.
He suddenly whipped his head around toward his own artist.
Xie Junyu’s face was flushed red. He raised his hand like a complete idiot.
“I can act! I can act! My current drama wraps in five days, I can join the new crew on the sixth day!
Zero pay is fine! I don’t even need profit-sharing, I can work for free!”
He just wanted to film kissing scenes with Su Yaoyao.
At that thought, Xie Junyu felt his soul float upward, his brain completely freezing behind.
Manager: “……”
Never. Signing. Love-brained. Artists. Again!!!
Xie Junyu wrapped his drama five days later, in the morning.
Wen Jiu personally came to pick him up and delivered him straight to the new set.
Su Yaoyao had already settled into filming. When she saw him arrive, she looked over.
The summer heat was oppressive, and the warehouse set only amplified it.
Yet Xie Junyu felt as though a gentle breeze brushed his face, his gaze fixed on Su Yaoyao, unable to pull away.
“Teacher Xie, time for the costume photos?” the runner called out several times. He didn’t hear a thing.
Wen Jiu couldn’t stand it anymore and went over to smack him lightly.
“Back to work!”
Just then, the massive industrial fan rotated away, carrying off the breeze Xie Junyu had imagined, finally snapping him back to reality.
He rolled his eyes, grabbed Wen Jiu with his left hand and the runner with his right.
“Yes, yes, let’s go take the costume photos.”
He had kissing scenes to film.
Wen Jiu: “……”
On My Besties, Su Yaoyao was the permanent guest, her best friends were technically just along for the ride.
So Wen Jiu needed to head back to find the Young lady and the White Moonlight Young lady. She decided to leave the entire production team behind at the film set.
Over on the White Moonlight Young lady’s side, both filming and show recording had already wrapped. She was preparing to return to Beicheng, rest for two days, then enter the Immortal Hero crew.
She hadn’t gone far when Su Yaoyao called out to her.
“Jiujiu, the editing still needs material for the last two episodes. Take the crew with you, film you and Yao Yao.
I’ll be staying on set for the next three months to experience acting. I can’t be with you all the time, it kind of goes against the spirit of the show.
The audience probably wants to see you and Yao Yao together too, right?” She spoke directly to the camera, addressing the livestream viewers.
The viewers didn’t care whether Su Yaoyao or Wen Jiu could see the comments, they flooded the screen anyway.
[Wow, interaction segment!]
[Yes yes, we love Yao Yao, but we love everyone else too. Yaoyao, focus on acting, we’re totally fine watching Wen Jiu and the Young lady.]
[I can’t even imagine how happy the last two episodes will be with just Wen Jiu and the Young lady.]
Through the earpiece, the director relayed the audience’s reactions to Su Yaoyao and Wen Jiu.
Su Yaoyao blinked lightly at Wen Jiu.
“Go on, don’t keep Yao Yao waiting.”
And just like that, Wen Jiu dropped off Xie Junyu and took the entire My Bestie crew with her.
On the way, the Young lady clearly already knew the situation. Seeing the production staff, she wasn’t surprised at all.
They first sent Yue Ling to the airport, then returned to the hotel.
“Wen Jiu, where do you want to go play?” the Young lady asked.
Even without the last two episodes to film, she would’ve taken Wen Jiu out anyway.
“We’ve been to the beach, deserts are too hot this season…” Wen Jiu counted on her fingers one by one, finally landing on what she wanted.
“Skiing!”
Last year in Europe, they’d taken Su Yaoyao along, and once on the plane, they flew straight to Australia, jumping from winter in the Northern Hemisphere to summer in the Southern. Wen Jiu had missed out on winter skiing entirely.
She’d never tried it before, everything still felt new.
“Unfortunately, the season doesn’t line up. You can’t go skiing in La Plagne right now. And you’ve been to Australia plenty of times, probably not very exciting.”
The Young lady thought for a moment.
“Do you want to go to Dubai’s indoor ski resort, or Antarctica?”
Wen Jiu hesitated.
She wanted to go to both.
People usually thought of deserts when it came to Dubai, who would’ve guessed there was a ski resort? Judging by the Young lady’s tone, skiing there in summer was entirely possible.
Just imagining such a reverse-season architectural wonder was breathtaking.
But Antarctica in summer meant auroras. Going now would put them right in winter there, the scenery wouldn’t just be snow and ice.
Seeing Wen Jiu’s fingers tapping back and forth, her eyes spinning with indecision, the Young lady understood immediately.
She waved her hand decisively.
“No need to choose. We’ll do both.”
“First skiing, then Antarctica.”
“The Young lady is the best!” Wen Jiu grinned and hugged her arm, swaying back and forth.
They still took the Young lady’s private jet to Dubai. The flight path required approval, but with the Qin family’s extensive business dealings and frequent filings, it went through quickly.
When Wen Jiu led the cameramen onto the private jet, they gasped, then forced themselves to calm down, hands trembling as they tried to film properly for the audience.
The director’s team and remaining staff took a commercial flight, departing half a day later.
It could be said that neither Su Yaoyao’s nor the Young lady’s arrangements were ever part of the show’s original plan.
Constant travel, high personnel turnover, expenses were burning fast.
Seeing this, Su Yaoyao increased her investment again. The Young lady added even more. Buying international tickets for the entire crew was done extravagantly, without the slightest concern for budget.
The audience couldn’t see the director’s relaxed, blissful expression, only how insanely luxurious the private jet was.
[WOW. I don’t even want to scream, but Mom, I’ve seen a real private jet!! No, like, an actual private jet. I can’t even talk anymore.]
[Grinning in pure jealousy.]
[Wen Jiu, if you’re tired, can you let me take over and enjoy for a bit?]
[Cameraman, stop shaking, I want to see clearly.]
[After the mansion, I already expected the Young lady to have a private jet. But I never thought I’d actually get to see it.]
[So… are they flying to Antarctica on a private jet too?]
[How is someone like me, who’s never even been on a plane, supposed to live? I’m wriggling on my bed like a cicada pupa, wishing I could crawl into the screen and experience it myself.]
[Same.]
Before heading to the ski resort, the Young lady took Wen Jiu out for dinner.
Local specialty cuisine.
Wen Jiu couldn’t tell what the dish was made of. All she could say was that it looked beautiful, and tasted… oddly subtle.
Not bad, but definitely not good either.
“That’s camel meat,” the Young lady said.
Wen Jiu: “……”
It instantly became harder to swallow.
Seeing her reaction, the Young lady had the dish taken away and replaced it with a local home-style meal.
Wen Jiu spotted something familiar, lobster.
So this was their idea of home cooking??
L-luxurious. Seriously luxurious.