Chapter Thirty: Visiting the Set and Wrapping Production

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“Congratulations to Yifei on wrapping! The entire cast and crew are throwing her a wrap party tonight to send off our leading lady!”

Amid the falling snow, Liu Yifei finally completed all her work with the cast and crew of Brotherhood of Blades.

Zhang Qianjun stepped forward and extended his hand.

“Celestial Fairy, you’ve worked hard these past few days. We haven’t known each other long, but you’re a good person—professional and dedicated, a fine actress. I’ll see you at the premiere.”

Liu Yifei looked at the man before her, her feelings somewhat complicated. It was hard to call him a bad person. He was upright and treated her reasonably well. Though his attitude could be awful at times, his actions were always genuine.

If only this man were mute.

Her emotions churned, and for a moment she forgot to take his hand.

“What’s the matter? I touched your thigh just now, and now you won’t even shake my hand?”

Damn it!

Liu Yifei was furious enough to swear, but she worried he might swear back, which would be even more embarrassing.

After barely managing to suppress her anger, she said helplessly, “Why do you always have to be like this? We’re having a perfectly normal conversation, and you always have to say things I don’t want to hear.”

Zhang Qianjun gave a slight shrug.

“Probably because the truth is hard to hear.”

What was she supposed to say now? Liu Yifei felt she was about to lose control. Seeing this, Liu Xiaoli stepped forward.

“Why do you two start bickering every time you meet? You’re like a couple of children.”

Then she turned to Zhang Qianjun.

“Qianjun, I heard you’re about to make another film?”

Zhang Qianjun looked at her in surprise.

“It was only finalized last night. You already know?”

“Last night, Xin Yiwu posted online that the long-awaited To Our Youth is finally going to reach the big screen. It has the same production team as Better Days, with Zhang Qianjun leading the cast.

“Today, every company in the industry with suitable actresses already knows. It’s a six-hundred-million-yuan China Film Group adaptation of a major intellectual property—a large-scale youth production.”

Zhang Qianjun rolled his eyes inwardly. Women really did love showing off. The contract had barely been signed, and the whole world already knew about it.

Liu Xiaoli smiled and continued, “Qianjun, after spending this time together, Auntie knows you’re a straightforward person who doesn’t like beating around the bush. So I’ll be direct. Xixi may still be immature in some ways, but she’s absolutely a hardworking actress. And this kind of role—a female university student—is something Xixi has experience playing. Could you let Xixi be the female lead in this film?”

Zhang Qianjun glanced around. The only other person nearby was his assistant.

Then he said, “No, Auntie Liu. Casting the same male and female leads in two consecutive films would be bad for the market and the publicity campaign. Bringing the two of them together again so quickly wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Liu Xiaoli clearly had no intention of giving up.

“Xixi will soon have two films released, so there’ll be some distance between them. It shouldn’t have too much of an impact.”

Zhang Qianjun shook his head.

“Really, it won’t work. Aside from pairing the same leads too frequently, the most important reason is that I want to give the female lead to my girlfriend.”

“Your girlfriend?” Liu Xiaoli froze. “Your girlfriend hasn’t even played the female lead in a television drama, has she? And you want to put her straight into the leading role of such a major production?

“Qianjun, it’s not that I object to the idea. I’m only considering it from the perspective of investment and box office returns. It wouldn’t be prudent.”

Zhang Qianjun remained unmoved.

“I can bear the risk.”

Liu Yifei watched as her mother seemed to be pleading with this man for a role. She felt faintly embarrassed and bitter.

But she said nothing. After all, Zhang Qianjun was the cleanest film producer and director they had ever encountered. Under his leadership, the production operated like an efficient machine, orderly and precise. For mother and daughter, from casting to joining the crew, it was the first time everything had felt so easy. They had truly experienced the simple pleasure of work being nothing more than work.

Even now, Zhang Qianjun had never asked for her contact information. He had never contacted either of them after work. Sometimes, she wondered if he really was a saint.

That was, until he insisted on casting his own girlfriend as the female lead in his next film.

“Zhang Qianjun, why are you so determined to use her as the female lead?”

Zhang Qianjun was somewhat bewildered. Did something like this really need to be asked?

“She’s an actress, and she’s my woman. I want to give her something better. Does that need an explanation?”

To keep her daughter from directly clashing with Zhang Qianjun, Liu Xiaoli picked up the conversation.

“Qianjun, there are many roles in this film. Your girlfriend doesn’t have the reputation or star power to worry about, so she could play another part. For example, Ruan Guan. That’s a very compelling role too.”

Zhang Qianjun shook his head again.

“She doesn’t want to play another vicious second female lead.”

“But Ruan Guan has a very good character profile,” Liu Xiaoli persisted.

Suddenly, the sound of running came from a distance.

“Husband!”

Zhang Qianjun turned his head. A figure leapt into the air and sprang onto him like a ragdoll cat. He hurriedly supported her bottom with his right hand and wrapped his left arm around her back, securing her body in place.

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“You’re finished filming?”

“Mm. Surprise, right? I specifically told Brother Kai to sneak me in.”

“Mm-hmm. How long are you staying? The crew is leaving for Ulan Buh tomorrow afternoon.”

“Until we go home together. I still have some time before my next project. I didn’t get to see the sea, but the grasslands will be wonderful too. Besides, don’t the grasslands have lakes as well?”

“Only the lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are called haizi. Do they use that name for grassland lakes too? And that’s not the same thing as the sea.”

“Who cares? Hurry up and kiss me!”

Mwah—

With that, Kang Qingzi took the initiative and kissed him. Zhang Qianjun responded passionately. The two of them clung to each other like a koala and a tree, kissing noisily without the slightest regard for anyone around them.

The three people nearby immediately wore three different expressions.

Assistant Chen Xiaoyu expressionlessly took out his phone, as though he were about to study the latest domestic news.

Liu Xiaoli looked somewhat awkward.

Liu Yifei was one part jealous, three parts envious, and six parts helpless.

After kissing for a while, Kang Qingzi seemed to notice the people nearby for the first time and shyly tried to climb down.

Zhang Qianjun also felt that this was not the right setting to carry on, so he put her down while keeping an arm around her.

“Qingzi, this is Liu Yifei. This lady is Liu Yifei’s mother, Auntie Liu Xiaoli. And this is my assistant, Chen Xiaoyu.”

Then he introduced everyone.

“Celestial Fairy, Auntie Liu, Xiaoyu, this is my girlfriend, Kang Qingzi.”

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Liu Xiaoli felt that there was no longer any way to continue the conversation. They said their goodbyes and agreed to meet again at the wrap party that evening.

Zhang Qianjun led Kang Qingzi back to the hotel. On the other side, Liu Yifei complained to her mother.

“Did they really have to be that desperate? The moment they finished talking, they turned around and left. They walked faster than I could run!

“Zhang Qianjun is practically a celebrity himself. Doesn’t he care about the effect this will have?”

Liu Xiaoli chuckled at her daughter’s gloomy expression.

“They’re young. It’s perfectly normal for them to have plenty of energy. Otherwise, why do you think Qianjun is so quick-tempered all the time?”

“Mom, why are you telling me this too?”

Liu Yifei protested.

“Don’t you always say you’ve grown up? Why are you still bothered by such a little scene?”

Liu Xiaoli teased her daughter.

“Besides, it may not be because they were desperate. That girl was clearly very nervous.”

————————

The moment Zhang Qianjun and Kang Qingzi shut the hotel door, they began pulling off their clothes.

“Why is this thing so difficult to take off?”

“That’s why the ancient population was so small!”

“Forget the top. Just take off what matters.”

“You didn’t prepare anything?”

“You didn’t bring any?”

“Oh, it’s fine. We don’t need it. My period just ended.”

————————

After indulging themselves several times, Zhang Qianjun noticed that it was nearly time to leave and hurriedly dragged his girlfriend out of bed to take a shower.

After a quick rinse, Kang Qingzi applied some skincare product—he had no idea what it was—to her body. Then Zhang Qianjun picked up the hair dryer and began drying her hair.

“Don’t blow it from the crown. How many times have I told you? You have to dry it layer by layer. The way you’re doing it, the top will be dry while the underneath and inside are still wet.”

Zhang Qianjun was thoroughly exasperated. He thought to himself that when he dried his own hair, he simply pointed the dryer at it. It was much more convenient, and he was done in no time.

Unable to bear it any longer, Kang Qingzi took the dryer from him and dried her own hair. In less than five minutes, her long hair was about eighty percent dry. Then she brought out a whole collection of bottles and jars and began applying products to her hair.

Once that was done, she started putting on makeup. Zhang Qianjun grew anxious and said, “That’s enough. We have to go.”

Kang Qingzi remained unmoved.

“How could that possibly be enough? I’m your face, after all. I’m almost done. Just wait a little longer.”

After several more “almost dones,” the two finally set off.

When they arrived at the wrap party, there was another round of cheerful introductions, and everyone learned that the beautiful young woman was Boss Zhang’s girlfriend.

Apart from the actors involved in the final grassland battle, most of the cast and crew were wrapping that day. Everyone with a name and a reputation began trying to pour drinks down Zhang Qianjun’s throat.

But in his previous life, Zhang Qianjun had been an ordinary man who could finish an entire bottle of Maotai and still make it home safely. In this life, with the system’s support, there was even less reason to worry.

After two rounds of clinking glasses, Zhang Qianjun had drunk more than three pounds of liquor and still stood as steady as a mountain. A few sharp-eyed people noticed that Boss Zhang was beginning to look excited. A hint of “I’m about to annihilate everyone here” had appeared on his usually expressionless, world-weary face.

Those whose minds were still quick enough immediately fled to find other targets. Those who could no longer react in time were knocked over one after another under Boss Zhang’s counterattack.

Seeing that the time was right, Liu Xiaoli picked up a glass of red wine and approached Zhang Qianjun. After a few pleasantries, the two returned to their earlier topic.

“Qianjun, if the female lead truly isn’t suitable, could we invest part of the money in this film and learn from you how to operate the production as a whole?”

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Zhang Qianjun laughed when he heard this. Perhaps because he had already drunk quite a lot, he did not bother to restrain himself.

“Auntie Liu, I said you could borrow a hen to hatch an egg, but you can’t borrow a tiger to hatch a chicken. Besides, I don’t have the final say over the investment shares in my films.

“I’m not making excuses to brush you off. I’ve always been honest with you.”

Liu Xiaoli’s smile stiffened slightly, but she still asked with interest, “How does it work, then?”

“My films first have to pass through China Film Group. Usually, they take the entire project. If they think it’s necessary, they’ll release some of the shares to other companies. What kind of companies those are, I’m not entirely sure.

“But I can tell you this: I originally wanted to give Enlight Pictures ten percent of Brotherhood of Blades. Do you know what China Film Group said? ‘What standing does Enlight have to think it can take ten percent?’

“There are only three investors in Brotherhood of Blades: China Film Group, me, and Wanda.”

Zhang Qianjun felt his mouth growing dry and looked around for some water. At once, a pair of pale, slender hands twisted open a bottle of mineral water for him.

A glance from the corner of his eye told him it was his own assistant. Zhang Qianjun picked up the bottle and drained it.

Then he said to Liu Xiaoli, “And even if we let you invest, the budget is sixty million. How much would you put in, and what percentage would that buy you?

“Brotherhood of Blades had a budget of thirty million. Wanda invested ten million and received twenty percent. If you and Xixi want to enter the project, setting aside whatever other complications there might be, you’d have to put in twenty million of a sixty-million budget. If they gave you ten percent, that would already mean they were being generous.

“Even if it were me—if Xixi let me take whatever I wanted from her—I could violate my conscience just a little and gain both her wealth and her body. Can you guarantee that I would remain an upright gentleman for the rest of my life?

“Never overestimate human nature, especially when you’re the one in the weaker position.”

After this speech, Liu Xiaoli’s face shifted from green to white. She nearly failed to maintain her composure, but years of age and experience soon allowed her to steady herself.

“Qianjun, after hearing what you’ve said today, I have to toast you. You truly regard Xixi and me as friends.”

With that, she drained her red wine.

Zhang Qianjun smiled and finished the white liquor in front of him as well.

“Auntie Liu, I’ve had a little too much to drink, so let me add one thing. Friendship only survives through constant cultivation when both sides share the same interests. A few seemingly sincere words spoken under the influence don’t count for much, especially when it comes to so-called friendship between men and women.”

Just then, Kang Qingzi came over from the side, giggling.

“Husband, everyone on your crew is so funny. Every single one of them says such lovely things.”

Zhang Qianjun immediately pulled her onto his lap.

“That’s right. Everyone on your husband’s crew is a good person.”

Seeing this, Liu Xiaoli took the initiative to leave and returned to Liu Yifei’s side.

When Zhang Qianjun had first held a group dinner, he had established the rule that everyone could drink whatever they liked, and no one was allowed to force alcohol on anyone else. Liu Yifei had only drunk a little juice at the wrap party.

When she saw her mother return and was about to speak, Liu Xiaoli shook her head.

“Let’s take it slowly. This time isn’t suitable.”

Liu Yifei watched Zhang Qianjun laughing and joking with Kang Qingzi in the crowd. He seemed to have smiled more that evening than he had during the entire previous half-month. Her heart grew faintly sour.

When Kang Qingzi walked away with his assistant, Liu Yifei poured herself a glass of wine and went over as well.

Liu Xiaoli could only sigh when she saw this.

One day, her child would learn that the world did not revolve around her alone.

“Zhang Qianjun, let’s have a drink.”

Zhang Qianjun looked at Liu Yifei in surprise.

“You don’t drink, do you?”

“Who said I don’t? I simply don’t usually like drinking.”

“All right, Celestial Fairy. I’ll finish mine, and you can drink as much as you like. I wish you great box-office success in your upcoming film.”

With that, he downed his drink.

Liu Yifei curled her lips.

“As if I’m short of that much.”

She raised her glass and drained it as well.

“Actually, I envy you. You’re always so free and uninhibited.”

Zhang Qianjun smiled faintly.

“You could be that way too.”

Liu Yifei immediately scoffed.

“Do you know how many people I’m responsible for? How could I live like you? If I didn’t maintain good relationships with everyone involved, should I really go become a fairy?”

Zhang Qianjun raised his head. His eyes were slightly unfocused, and for the first time, he carefully studied the girl before him.

Many words rose in his heart, but in the end, they condensed into one thought:

Damn, she’s really beautiful!

“Celestial Fairy, as long as you treat unrelated people like NPCs the way I do, the world will naturally become peaceful.”

Looking at the man before her, Liu Yifei once again thought that it would be wonderful if he were mute.

“Heh. You know, every time you call me Celestial Fairy, I think you’re calling me ‘heavenly filling’! I’m not enlightened enough to treat everyone else like NPCs. Goodbye!”